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.

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (May 30, 2026):  Chase Dietz has been quite good for most of the 2026 season in Pennsylvania, but Saturday night at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway, he needed a little bit of luck to reach victory lane. The win was his fifth of the season at the track, the second of the year with the PA Posse tour, and eighth overall. The $6,000 triumph moved him back into a tie with Aaron Reutzel for the most wins nationally.

Dietz was racing in the second position when the leader, Logan Rumsey, jumped the cushion between turns three and four with four laps remaining. Dietz turned under him to grab the lead. Rumsey fell off the pace and stopped on the backstretch, setting up a four lap dash to the checkers. Dietz held off Freddie Rahmer, Jr. to get the win.

Dietz, who now leads the point standings at the track, on the Posse tour, and in the Keystone King Series, commented, “I needed a little bit of friggin’ luck, I wasn’t too good.” He explained that he was frantically making adjustments while trying to close the gap. He added, however, “Logan (Rumsey) would have been alright, but he jumped the cushion, maybe his tires gave out.”

As a Posse Series race, the starting line-up was determined according to speedweek rules. So, the top eight positions were assigned by the luck of the draw. The eligible drivers were the four heat winners and the fastest qualifiers from each heat race.

Rahmer Jr., who entered the event tied with Dietz for the track point lead, drew the pole. Rumsey was next to him for the start of the thirty-six lapper. Dietz was slotted in third, along with Aaron Bollinger, who was making his first start in car 75 for Rick Lefever. The third row consisted of Austin Bishop and Chad Trout. The last two of the preferred starting spots went to the Australian, Ryan “Fig” Newton, and Justin Whittall. Lance Dewease and T.J. Stutts occupied the fifth row. They were followed by Troy Wagaman, Jr. and Brock Zearfoss.

Rumsey snookered Rahmer Jr. on the start. Rumsey won the race to turn one, went to the cushion, and began to drive away. Rahmer Jr. continued in second, ahead of Dietz, Newton, Bollinger, Cameron Smith, Whittall, Dewease, Wagaman, and Stutts.

Danny Dietrich fell off the pace on lap two, causing a caution. He pitted and, after receiving service, he returned to the fray. However, officials sent him back to the pits, presumably because he entered the track after the field was given the one lap to go signal.

With the benefit of a single file restart, Rumsey picked up the lead again. Rahmer Jr. rode along in second. Dietz and Newton were locked in a battle for third, with Bollinger in fifth. Newton took over third, and held the position through the red flag, which came on lap fourteen.

Bollinger and Whittall tangled in turn one, with Whittall turning over in the process. Neither driver required medical care.

Rumsey took off again on the restart, but Rahmer stayed closer this time. Dietz pressed Newton for third, overtaking him on lap sixteen. Meanwhile, the action was heating up between Bishop and Wagaman for the fifth position.

Rahmer Jr. closed in on Rumsey when the leader got into lapped traffic. However, Rumsey got some breathing space when he put a couple of the slower cars down a lap. Rahmer Jr. was not as nimble getting through the slower cars, and Dietz reeled him in.

Dietz took over second on lap thirty. He shaved almost .2 seconds per lap from Rumsey’s lead before disaster struck the leader. Rumsey got into the fluff between turns three and four, handing the lead over to Dietz. Soon thereafter, Rumsey coasted to a stop on the backstretch. He required a tow back to the pit area.

Dietz thus assumed the point for the restart with four laps remaining. Rahmer Jr. lined up right behind him, with Newton holding the third spot. Then came Bishop and Wagaman.

The first three spots did not change in the final laps of the contest. However, Wagaman and Cameron Smith moved ahead of Bishop. Dewease also moved forward into seventh. Stutts, Zearfoss, and J.J. Loss completed the top ten.

Ryan Smith, the thirteenth place finisher, was named the hard charger. He advanced ten positions during the event.

Trout, Newton, Whittall, and Bishop were the heat race winners. Kody Hartlaub won the B Main. Dietz set the fastest time of the night, 13.038, during Group B qualifications. Rahmer Jr. topped the first half of the field with a lap of 13.146.

Talan Haas flipped on the frontstretch in the B Main. He was not injured.

Jayden Wolf snapped Cody Fletcher’s four-race winning streak in the 358 Sprint division. Wolf, who started second in the twenty lap affair, led the entire race to collect $2,000. The contest was marred by a vicious wreck involving Brock Hammaker. Hammaker was transported to a nearby hospital after recieving care from the medical staff.

Tyler Ulrich, who started on the pole, raced in second until lap fourteen when he suddenly pulled into the infield on lap fourteen. That handed the position to Cameron Merriman, who had climbed from seventh on the grid.

Ashley Cappetta brought out the first caution for her spin in turn four. Hammaker’s wicked crash occurred on the restart.

Wolf paced the field for the final restart and he completed the race with no further incidents. Merriman was second, followed by Steve Owings, Eli Tuckey, and Fletcher. Tim Wagaman, Matt Findley, Austin Reed, Michael Smith, and Wyatt Hinkle completed the top ten.

Hinkle received the hard charger award for passing eight cars. Will McNeal also passed eight cars, but he finished two positions behind McNeal.

Wolf was relieved to get the win after a couple of failed attempts earlier in the season. “I needed to stay consistent,” he said. “This shouldn’t be my first of the year. I should have three by now.”

The three heat wins went to Merriman, Tuckey, and Fletcher. Hammaker won the B Main.

McNeal and Trevor Stover flipped in turn one during their heat race. Neither of them were injured.

Several of the 358 Sprint competitors were disqualified for failing to report to the scales after their heat races. They were allowed to race in the B Main though.

Lincoln Speedway will host the All Stars Circuit of Champions on Saturday, June 6. Support will be provided by the 358 Sprints. The Super Late Models will compete on June 13 as part of the Appalachian Mountain Speedweek. The 410 Sprints will also be on the card for that must see event.