MECHANICSBURG, PA (September 18, 2026):  Chase Dietz passed the first and second place cars in turn four to take the lead on lap seventeen of the Kevin Gobrecht Challenge at Williams Grove Speedway. He went on to record his second victory at the track in 2026 and his twenty-first overall. Dietz collected $6,000 and he became eligible for a $3,000 bonus if he were to prevail in the Kevin Gobrecht Classic at BAPS Motor Speedway.

The inside line in turn four opened up for Dietz somewhat unexpectedly. He explained that he dove to the inside when the second place car of Buddy Schweibinz went high entering turn four. Then, the leader, Freddie Rahmer, Jr., also swung to the high side and jumped the cushion. Dietz’ momentum carried him past both cars in one fell swoop. He powered off the corner with a lead of several car lengths.

Dietz was able to stretch his advantage to almost two seconds before encountering some lapped cars. Dietz admitted to having some difficulty with Dylan Cisney. When he closed in on Cisney, his car got very tight in the dirty air. Although Dietz maintained his lead, Rahmer closed the gap considerably in the final three laps. Dietz never did put Cisney a lap down, but he was able to pass two other cars on the outside in turns three and four on the last lap, thereby eliminating any possible attempt by Rahmer to scoot past him on the inside in the final corners.

Schweibinz surged ahead of Rahmer and Logan Rumsey in turn one on the opening lap, but a flip by Preston Lattomus near the backstretch bridge nullified Schweibinz’ outstanding start. Ironically, Lattomus was the driver du jour of the Westbrook 1W, the car normally driven by Schweibinz at Williams Grove. Although Schweibinz was able to take control once again in his temporary ride–the Kreitz 69K–his lead over Rumsey and Rahmer was a bit smaller on the second try to get the race going.

Schweibinz raced out to a lead of nearly a full second over Rumsey in the first several laps. However, Rumsey found some speed on the inside line on lap five and he cut the margin down to under three tenths of a second. Soon after the leaders were scored for that lap, J.J. Loss coasted to a stop at the exit of turn two.

Rumsey made a serious challenge for the lead in turn three after the restart, but he could not pull off the pass. However, he got a good run on Schweibinz coming off turn four and he carried plenty of speed into turn one on lap six. Unfortunately, Rumsey clipped the inside guardrail in turn one and he careened up the track before capsizing over between turns one and two.

Rumsey’s misfortune moved Rahmer into second for the restart. Dietz, Austin Bishop, and Brent Shearer made up the balance of the new top five.

Rahmer and Dietz joined Schweibinz for a three-car breakaway when the race resumed.

Rahmer began stalking Schweibinz over the next few laps. He completed an impressive slider in turn three to take the lead in lap thirteen. Schweibinz attempted a counterattack in turn one, but Rahmer had better momentum on the outside line to maintain his lead.

Rahmer set the pace over the next few laps with Schweibinz in second and Dietz in third.

However, Dietz was able to drive by both Shweibinz and Rahmer coming through turn four on lap seventeen.

Dietz then began to pull away from Rahmer as the race continued. Schweibinz lost third to Bishop on lap twenty.

Due to lapped traffic, Dietz slowed his pace in the closing laps. Rahmer cut into the lead but he could not mount a challenge for the top spot.

Bishop finished third, ahead of Schweibinz and a fast closing Danny Dietrich. In the final laps, Dietrich passed three cars. Lucas Wolfe held on for sixth, followed by Cameron Smith, point leader Troy Wagaman, Jr., Dylan Norris, and T.J. Stutts.

Schweibinz, Rahmer, Wolfe, and Shearer scored heat race wins. Cisney copped the B Main. Rumsey was the fastest qualifier for the fourth time of the season. His best lap was 16.543 seconds during Group A. Dietz topped Group B with a lap of 16.706 seconds. Thirty-two cars participated in the program.

Dave Grube tipped his car over during his heat race. Like Lattomus and Rumsey, Grube did not require any medical attention.

It took three tries to get the 358 Sprint Car feature going.

The first attempt failed because of a spectacular crash on the frontstretch that eliminated the cars of Brock Hammaker, Steve Owings, and Josh Tuckey. Although Chase Gutshall was also part of the wreck, his crew made repairs and he was able to resume competition. Denny Gross and Reece Raudabaugh were not collected in the incident, but they, too, retired from the race at that juncture. None of the drivers were injured.

The second attempt was waived off due to a false start.

On the third try, Austin Reed took advantage of his pole position to grab the early lead over his running mate, Andy Best. Best got his Ford powered mount cranked up on the outside line to take the lead away on lap three.

Best led the remainder of the race to collect $2,500, but his journey to victory lane was interrupted briefly on lap nine due to a spin by Jacob Galloway.

Reed was more than 2.6 seconds back at the finish of the twenty-five lapper. Derek Locke was third, followed by Dylan Smith and Cody Fletcher. Matt Findley, Cole Young, Gutshall, Chance Hendershott, and Bryn Gohn completed the top ten.

Locke has a thirty-point lead over Reed heading into the final night of points for the 358 Sprint Car division. Fletcher is now fifty points behind Locke.

Hammaker, Tuckey, and Smith won the preliminaries. No B Main was needed to set the twenty-four car starting field. Best was the fastest qualifier overall in the timed hot laps.

Kenny Edkin turned over in his heat race but he was not injured.

Next week, the 410 Sprint Cars will tune up for the upcoming National Open featuring the World of Outlaws. The race will be part of the PA Posse Series. The 358 Sprints will provide support.

PORT ROYAL, PA (September 12, 2026):  James McFadden, of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, got off to a bad start on Tuscarora 50 weekend at Port Royal Speedway. But he ended it on the highest of high notes. In both preliminary night programs, he crashed. Hard. He destroyed a car. But the Macri Motorsports crew got home to Dillsburg, PA late on Friday night and they assembled a new car for the finale. And they never missed a beat.

McFadden started eleventh in the fifty lapper that closed out the weekend of speed during the One Hundred Seventy Second Juniata County Fair. He took the lead with a big slider during a lap nineteen restart. He led the remaining thirty laps without a significant challenge.

McFadden was the third different driver to take the 39M to victory lane in 2026. The regular driver, Anthony Macri, won the King’s Royal and Pennsylvania Speedweek, among other events. But he was hurt twice. A substitute, Kasey Kahne, won his first World of Outlaws race at Williams Grove Speedway. And, now, McFadden won the Tusky 50. As he put it, “it just shows how good this team really is.” McFadden gave props to the crew chief, Joe Mooney, with whom he worked during their days at Kasey Kahne Racing.

McFadden said that he channeled his inner Anthony Macri. He was running the high groove with complete abandon, much like Macri would have done. That was pretty impressive, considering that Port Royal Speedway does not rank very high on his list of favorite venues. He much prefers the smaller tracks. He admittedly struggles on the big, fast half miles that host many of the sport’s crown jewel events.

McFadden said that he always wanted to win one of those special races before he retired. He just never thought that it would come at the Speed Palace.

McFadden told the massive crowd that he considers himself to be the Aussie in the Posse. He related that his career stateside began in Pennsylvania and that his first World of Outlaws victory came in a Pennsylvania car, Zane Highlands’ number three, at Williams Grove Speedway.

In closing, McFadden expressed thanks to Nick Macri, the winning car owner, for not removing the seat after the inauspicious start to the weekend.

Second place went to Tanner Holmes. The Oregon racer was at the helm of the Buch Motorsports entry, which is based in Lancaster, PA. He was ecstatic to perform so well in the team’s home state.

Brent Marks, from Myerstown, PA, completed the podium. Marks is a former winner of the Tuscarora 50. He was seventh at the fuel stop and he came on strong in the second half of the race. He gave credit to the adjustments that his crew made during the break.

Danny Sams, III led the first nineteen laps of the race after starting from the pole. Kody Hartlaub chased him early, before giving way to Kahne. Holmes battled with Kahne for several laps before taking over the second position on lap eleven.

McFadden made his big push following the lap sixteen restart. He was fifth at the caution. In just three laps, he was up to second at the next interruption. He made his move to the front of the pack on the restart.

McFadden led to the break at lap twenty-five. Holmes was second, followed by Troy Wagaman, Jr. Rico Abreu, Danny Dietrich, Kahne, Marks, Sams, Chase Dietz, and Logan Wagner made up the rest of the top ten.

When the race resumed after the break, Abreu moved into second place, Holmes and Wagaman battled for third, with Kahne holding down fifth. Holmes slipped to fourth for a few laps. However, he regained second a couple of laps before the final caution, on lap thirty-seven.

Dietz got the jump on Holmes on the final restart. Abreu continued in third. Marks moved up to fourth, with Wagaman fifth. Dietz and Dietrich battled for sixth. Marks and Wagaman then shuffled Abreu back to fifth in the closing laps.

McFadden took the checkers almost two seconds ahead of Holmes. Marks was third, followed by Wagaman and Abreu. Dietz, Dietrich, Daison Pursley, Ryan Smith, and Justin Whittall completed the top ten.

Pursley was the hard charger, at plus fourteen.

Holmes, Wagner, Hartlaub, Kahne, Wagaman, and Sams won the six heat races. Brian Brown was the winner of the B Main. Mike Walter took the C Main. Rico Abreu was the evening’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 15.368 seconds. Dietz was the best of Group B. His time was 15.409 seconds. Fifty-five cars participated in the final night of racing.

PORT ROYAL, PA (September 10, 2026):  Ryan Timms was in the right place at the right time at Port Royal Speedway. The young racer from Oklahoma City inherited the lead when Chase Dietz suffered a flat right rear tire with three laps remaining in the first preliminary feature of the fifty-ninth running of the Tuscarora 50.

For Dietz, it may have been a matter of the racing gods evening the score with him. Earlier in the feature event, he tangled with a lapped car and did a 360 spin but was able to keep moving. A lapped car flipped in the incident, but Dietz was not called as part of the red flag. Under High Limit Series rules, Dietz was allowed to maintain his number one position for the restart. After that, Dietz built a lead of over five seconds which was eliminated when James McFadden flipped. Dietz then raced out to a comfortable one second lead in just three laps before his luck changed.

Rico Abreu led the first five laps of the race, with Dietz running in second. Justin Peck, Timms, and Tanner Thordson made up the balance of the top five in the early going.

Dietz made a bold outside move to take the lead from Abreu on lap six. He was able to squeeze between Abreu and the wall in turn two. Dietz maintained his lead through lap twenty-two despite his close call on lap eight.

Peck and Timms moved ahead of Abreu on the restart following that wreck. Abreu held fourth until late in the race when Reutzel blasted by him.

Timms passed Peck for second with five laps to go. Timms picked up the point for the final restart after Dietz’ misfortune. Timms then drove to an easy win over Peck. The differential was 1.350 seconds. Aaron Reutzel was third, followed by Rico Abreu and Doug Hammaker.

Giovanni Scelzi, Justin Whittall, Kerry Madsen, Troy Wagaman, Jr., and Tanner Holmes completed the top ten.

Dietz, Timms, Abreu, and Tanner Thorson won the four heat races for the fifty car field. Ryan Smith, who was the night’s fastest qualifier at 15.320 seconds, was the B Main winner. Brent Shearer won the C Main.

Neither Zach Hampton nor James McFadden required medical attention after their spills during the feature. Likewise, Brock Zearfoss was not injured from his flip in hot laps.

Chris Dolan, of York, led from start to finish in the twenty lap nightcap for the 305 Sprint Cars. A pair of second generation racers, Tyler Erdley and Cole Dewease, were second and third. Braeden Varner and Jarrett Cavalett completed the top five. Doug Dodson, Dustin Young, Chris Meleason, Croix Beasom, and Ken Duke, Jr. held positions six through ten.

Ken Heffner’s twelfth place finish was good enough to clinch the track championship for the 305 Sprints.

Dolan and Varner split the heat race wins. There was no B Main needed for this invitational event which attracted twenty of the top twenty-four in seasonal points.