FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026):  A.J. Flick claimed his third championship in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. His first two titles came in 2023 and 2024.

“This whole week is so cool,” he said. He added, “I think consistency is important and I think that helped me.”

Flick started the week out very strongly, with wins at Michaels Mercer Raceway and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He was fourth at Lernerville Speedway and fifth in the finale at Tr-City Raceway Park. His worst finish of the week was ninth at Sharon Speedway on Saturday night.

Flick was especially happy with his fifth place finish in the final round because he was not very comfortable in the car.

Other race winners during Speedweek were:  Dale Blaney, at Lernerville, Logan Wagner, at Sharon, and Brandon Spithaler, at Tri-City.

Flick’s total earnings for the week were $14,750, which included the $3,000 championship stipend.

One other driver earned more than $10,000. That was Spithaler, who grossed $10.175.

Flick was one of sixteen drivers to enter all five events comprising Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. A total of sixty-one racers competed in at least one round of Speedweek.

The top ten drivers in the point standings shared the point fund, as follows:

1.     A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
2.     Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
3.     Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
4.     Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
5.     Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
6.     Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
7.     Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
8.     Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
9.     Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
10. Jacob Begenwald, 302 points, $500

Interestingly, one driver in the top ten in points missed a show along the way. Ricky Peterson was absent from Sharon because he had another commitment. He won the FAST on Dirt Sprint Car Series event at Skyline Speedway instead.

FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026):  Brandon Spithaler saved his best Speedweek performance for the final night of the five race series. The victory at Tri-City Raceway Park, his first of the season, netted the driver from Renfrew, PA a cool $6,000. He also finished third in Speedweek points, adding another $2,000 to his stash. Spithaler’s total winnings for the week amounted to $10,175, second only to the Speedweek champion, A.J. Flick.

Spithaler noted that “2026 hasn’t been very kind to us. We lost a motor, we trashed a car, we switched chassis. I think we’ve hit on something now.”

He added, “I felt like I was better than him, Ricky (Peterson, who finished a distant second). I was worried when he got by Logan (McCandless, the early leader), but I kept plugging away and I got by him (Peterson).”

Spithaler was especially good in traffic. He explained, “I am a fan of traffic. If we get a long run, I like picking my way through.”

Peterson, who held on for second place, had an opposite opinion about the traffic conditions. “I was really good early. I had issues with the lappers. I think I left a lane open for Brandon, and he got away from us.”

Mark Smith put on a strong charge in the second half of the race to grab the third position. He noted that it was a challenging night and that he changed some things around on his car between the heat and the feature. “We got it going, but it was a little too late. Maybe we needed 35 laps.”

The first ten positions in the starting line-up were reserved for the four heat winners and six of the fastest qualifiers.

Logan McCandless drew the pole position. He was joimed on the front row by the professor, Michael Bauer. Matt Farnham and A.J. Flick pulled the second row, followed by Peterson and Spithaler. Smith and Jeremy Weaver landed in row four. Then came Jared Zimbardi and D.J. Christie. Row six belonged to Tim Shaffer and John Jerich.

The initial start was waved off due to a crash between turns one and two, which claimed Jerich and Christie. Both cars tumbled, but neither driver was injured.

When the field was realigned for the start, Shaffer moved to the outside of row five and Bob Felmlee and Cody Bova became the new sixth row.

McCandless surged into the early lead, followed by Farnham, Bauer, Flick, Peterson, Spithaler, Weaver, Smith, Shaffer, Felmlee, and Zimbardi.

McCandless was exceptionally strong through the first half of the race. His lead grew to more than 1.8 seconds over Farnham through the first nine laps. Peterson moved into second position on lap ten. Gradually, he cut into McCandless’ advantage. On lap fifteen, the margin dwindled to just under a half a second.

Moving into the second half of the contest, McCandless began to have difficulty navigating through the traffic. Peterson narrowed the gap even further over the next few laps. On lap eighteen, Peterson drove by McCandless for the lead.

Meanwhile, Spithaler was closing in on both Peterson and McCandless. Spithaler moved ahead of McCandless on lap nineteen. Just one lap later, he passed Peterson in traffic.

In the final ten laps of the race, Spithaler was clearly superior to Peterson. The lead continued to grow with each lap. He was more than four seconds ahead of Peterson by lap twenty-six. The margin reached 5.338 seconds on the final lap.

Smith cracked the top five on lap sixteen. He held fourth from lap sixteen through lap twenty-nine. On the final trip around the big half mile, Smith moved into third.

McCandless held on for fourth, one spot ahead of Flick, who clinched the Speedweek championship with a steady performance. He was in or just outside the top five for the entire race.

Shaffer edged Farnham for sixth. Greg Wilson, Bauer, and Bova completed the top ten.

Flick, Weaver, Zimbardi, and Peterson won the heat races. Tyler Esh copped the B Main.

Brandon Matus was the night’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 17.622. However, his night went downhill after that. While running in a transfer position on the last lap of his heat race, Matus flipped hard between turns three and four. His crew thrashed to get the car ready for the B Main with assistance from Spithaler and Weaver, among others. However, Matus finished fifth, with only four cars making the A Main.

Spithaler was the fastest member of Group B. His time was 17,796.

Blaze Myers took the lead on lap six of the RUSH Sprint Car feature and he cruised to an easy victory over Luke Mulichak. The early leader, Zach Morrow, finished in third. Brayden Blackshear and Samantha Priest were fourth and fifth. Lucas Roessner, Devon Deeter, Logen Lockhart, Grayson Bayle, and Ricky Tucker, III, rounded out the top ten. Myers and Roessner took the preliminaries.

The nightcap for the Mini Stock division went to Camden Franz. There was a constant three car battle for second throughout the fifteen lapper. Sheriff Tim Callahan prevailed, with Jordan Wheeler and Justin Forsyth following. Fifth went to Andy Thomson. Kevin Dotten, Michael Phillipson, Andrew Thompson, Ben Aley, and Jacob Wheeler were sixth through tenth.

MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 29, 2026):  For the first time in its eighty-seven year history, Williams Grove Speedway welcomed a father and a son into victory lane on the same night. Lance Dewease, of Fayetteville, scored his 118th career win and second of the season in the hadlining 410 Sprint Car division. Cole Dewease, also of Fayetteville, recorded his first career win and first of the season in the PASS 305 Sprint Cars. Father and son each started from the pole position and led the entire distance in their respective events.

“It went pretty good from the start,” Lance Dewease said. “It rubbered up pretty good,” he added. “I figured if I could beat Brock (Zearfoss) into (turn) one, we’d be OK.”

Lance Dewease noted that “the cautions helped me out, it got the lapped cars off the bottom.” He explained that when he was pacing himself off the lapped cars, things got a little congested ahead of him, and he slowed down, but his car stopped working. So, he needed to pick up his pace and he was able to do that without the lapped cars ahead of him.

The feature line-up was established per the speedweek format. The top eight starting positions were reserved for the four heat winners and the fastest qualifier from each heat race.

Dewease drew the pole, with Zearfoss on his flank. Chad Trout and Brent Shearer were slotted into row two, followed by Chase Dietz and Danny Dietrich. The final preferred positions went to Cameron Smith, who was making his second start in Jacob Allen’s 1a, and the current point leader, Troy Wagaman, Jr. Buddy Schweibinz and Logan Rumsey made up row five, with Preston Lattomus and Ryan Smith right behind them.

Dewease rolled into turn one ahead of Zearfoss, who fell in line behind him. Shearer, Dietrich, Trout, Dietz, Cameron Smith, Wagaman, Schweibinz, and Rumsey made up the balance of the top ten in the early going.

Dewease built his lead over Zearfoss to almost .3 seconds through the first ten laps. During that time, Dietrich moved into third on lap eight and Dietz took over fourth one lap later. Shearer continued in fifth.

The first caution was displayed on lap ten for a spin by J.J. Loss in turn one.

The racers remained in the same running order for three quarters of a lap under the renewed green. However, Dietz got under Dietrich in turn four to take over the third spot.

In the middle stage of the race, Dietz closed in on Zearfoss. Dietz claimed the runner-up position on lap twenty-one. At that time, he trailed Dewease by more than .6 seconds.

Zearfoss tangled with Shearer on lap twenty-three while battling for the fourth position. Zearfoss  spun around in turn two, but somehow he managed to keep his car moving. Nonetheless, the caution came out and he was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. Although Zearfoss had a collapsed nose wing for his troubles, he was able to continue.

The field realigned for a two-lap dash to the checkers. Dewease had the point, followed by Dietz, Dietrich, Shearer, and Wagaman.

Dewease got away cleanly and he maintained his advantage to the checkers. He became the first repeat winner in the brief history of the PA Posse Sprint Car Series. Dietz, who leads the series points, was nearly 1.6 seconds behind him on the final trip around the venerable oval. Dietrich, Shearer, and Wagaman completed the top five. Trout, Cameron Smith, Rumsey, Schweibinz, and Justin Whittall were the next five finishers.

Kody Hartlaub was the hard charger, passing six competitors on his way to thirteenth. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. matched that feat, but he was right behind Hartlaub at the checkers.

Dietrich, Dewease, Cameron Smith, and Trout were the heat winners. Austin Bishop prevailed in the B Main. Chase Dietz was the top qualifier on the night. His lap of 17.357 topped Group A. Zearfoss led Group B with a time of 17.678 seconds. Thirty-two racers entered the event.

Cole Dewease sat on the pole for the PASS IMCA 305 Sprint finale. Croix Beasom was his partner. Mike Melair and Chris Meleason were in row two, followed by Kenny Heffner and Landon Price. Jonathan Swift and Chris Dolan manned row four. Then came Zach Rhodes and Tyler Brehm.

Cole Dewease followed the exact same strategy as his father did at the start. He entered turn one on the bottom and quickly established a lead over Beasom. Meleason, Price, and Melair made up the early top five.

Meleason moved into second four laps into the contest. Beasom continued in third through lap thirteen, when the only caution flew. Melair and Rhodes were fourth and fifth at the time.

Cole Dewease drove away from Meleason on the restart. Beasom struggled after the race resumed, and he fell out of the top five. Melair, Rhodes, and Duke moved ahead.

Cole Dewease built a lead of almost 3.3 seconds in the closing laps. Meleason, Melair, Rhodes, and Duke rounded out the top five. Dolan, Logan Spahr, Brehm, Beasom, and Mike Alleman were sixth through tenth at the finish.

Cole Dewease noted that the caution was an opportune development for him because it got him out of lapped traffic. “I was fast enough in the rubber,” he added.

Erin Statler, who finished thirteenth, was the hard charger. She passed seven cars during the twenty lapper.

Brehm, Dolan, and Rhodes won the heat races for the twenty-eight car field. Tyler Erdley copped the B Main.