Local Racing
Gravel Grabs Grove Gold
WILLIAMS GROVE, PA(Pittsburgh Racing Now – July 25, 2020): David Gravel raced to victory in the Summer Nationals for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Williams Grove Speedway. It was his seventh career victory at the track where the Connecticut driver first climbed behind the wheel of a Sprint Car. He earned $20,000 for his efforts.
Gravel noted “clean air in winged racing is so important,” and he enjoyed that condition all night long. Gravel started on the front row of his heat, which he won handily, and then he started on the front row of the dash as well.
Although he finished second in the dash, that was his goal, as it gave him the faster outside line for the start of the feature event. “I got a good start and the cautions went my way, so I didn’t have to deal with any traffic.”
Donny Schatz had the pole position by virtue of his dash victory, with Gravel positioned next to him. Brock Zearfoss and Brad Sweet were in row two, followed by Jacob Allen and Lance Dewease. Logan Schuchart and last night’s winner, Shane Stewart, were in the fourth row, Daryn Pittman and Ryan smith were in row five for the start of the 30 lapper.
Gravel powered past Schatz at the drop of the green flag, Sweet was third and Dewease was in fourth. But soon after the leaders crossed the line, Tim Shaffer flipped his mount on the front stretch. He was unhurt, but the car was done for the night.
Gravel chose the outside for the restart and, once again, he drove away from Schatz. Sweet, Dewease, and Zearfoss followed. Dewease made a significant move, though, and he assumed second. Sweet also moved ahead of Schatz, who was losing power. His car coasted to a stop with a terminal motor problem.
Dewease was moved to the front row for the restart, but he was no match for Gravel. Gravel started to build a lead again, but the racers were only able to complete three more laps. Anthony Macri brought out the yellow, which was immediately followed by a red before another lap was completed. This time, there was a three-car tangle in turn two which eliminated Lucas Wolfe, Steve Buckwalter, and Kraig Kinser.
With so many interruptions, World of Outlaws officials called for a fuel stop.
The restart was single file. And, it was determined that all further restarts would be single file because the inside line was so much slower than the preferred outside lane.
Gravel again assumed command and led Dewease, Sweet, Schuchart, Allen, Zearfoss, and Pittman for six more rounds. Sheldon Haudenschild brought out another caution when he also lost power.
Gravel led the next eleven laps before another engine failure caused the final caution of the night. This time, the victim was Danny Dietrich. Gravel had almost a three second lead when the caution came out for the track’s points leader.
Gravel got away cleanly for the final go. He clicked off the remaining eight laps without difficulty. Dewease fought off a challenge from Sweet to maintain second position. Teammates Schuchart and Allen rounded out the top five. Brent Marks was sixth, followed by Zearfoss, and Carson Macedo, who started 23rd. Macri rebounded to finish ninth. Pittman was tenth.
Dewease was satisfied with second. “How the racetrack was tonight, we weren’t very good. The track was hard to pass on.” He had good luck, though. “Schatz breaking helped me and when they went to single file that really helped me.” Indeed, Dewease had lost second briefly to Sweet on the last double file restart, back on lap five. Nonetheless, Sweet agreed that the officials made the right call to change the restarts to single file because of track conditions. Dewease was confident that his veteran crew, led by car owner Donnie Kreitz and ace mechanic Davey Brown, could build upon the outcome to get ready for the National Open coming up in early October. Dewease would like to get the 100th win of his career before then, but it would be a fitting achievement for him if it were to happen in the most prestigious race of the year.
The four heats went to Schatz, Allen, Sweet, and Zearfoss. The B Main victor was Buckwalter. Schatz won the dash. The evening’s fastest qualifier was Shane Stewart, at 17.167 seconds. Stewart also had motor problems in the A Main.
The weekend at Williams Grove caused a shake-up in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Championship points standings. Schatz left Lernerville Speedway Tuesday night with a 4-point lead over Brad Sweet. Today, Sweet leads Logan Schuchart by 18 and Schatz now sits in third-place, 26-points out of the top spot.
Williams Grove Speedway will host the York County Racing Club on July 31. Extra purse money will be at stake for both the 410 and 358 Sprint Cars. Coming up on August 7 will be the Billy Kimmel Memorial featuring the 410 Sprints and teh Super Late Models. A three-division Sprint Car program was added for August 14. Joining the 410 and 358 winged Sprints will be the USAC Eastern 360 Sprints, which race sans wings.
PITTSBURGH, PA (May 3, 2024) Rain is forcing local tracks to cancel their events this weekend.
Lernerville Speedway was the first to pull the plug on Friday’s program after late afternoon showers and an ominous forecast forced the tracks hand. Racing returns to ‘The Action Track’ on Friday, May 10 as the Jay’s Automotive ULMS Late Models take center stage, complemented with the remaining Fab4 racing divisions.
Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway was next to throw in the towel. PPMS and BRP Modified Tour officials made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the BRP Big Block Modifieds + Cinco De Mayo Fiesta event. The event will not be rescheduled. All tickets purchased online will be fully refunded. PPMS and BRP look forward to scheduling a 2025 date! PPMS hopes to be able to get in Nostalgia Night and Action Event next Saturday.
Rain late Friday evening and through the early morning hours on Saturday brought over a half-inch (0.51) of rain to Latrobe Speedway, forcing the cancellation of Saturday’s (May 4) FAST-Five racing program. The rain gauge at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, just 2 miles away, continues to record the rain. The airport forecast calls for an 80 % chance of showers, mainly before 1 pm, and a 100% chance of showers continuing again tonight.
Next Saturday, May 11, Latrobe plans to hold the Dave Kittey Memorial ULMS Super Late Models. The 30-lap $4,000-to-win feature also offers bonuses for ULMS racers. The FASTrak Pro Late Models, the Joe’s Body Shop & Towing Pure Stocks, the Special T Metals LLC Modified 4 Cylinders, and the Marilungo Disposal LLC Strictly Stock 4 Cylinders will also be on the card.
SARVER, PA (April 26, 2024) AJ Flick picked up his first Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car win of 2024 at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night and Michael Norris made it back-to-back wins in the Late Model Division.
Flick started fourth on the grid and passed leader and pole-sitter Carl Bowser using the bottom side on lap 8 while Bowser worked the high side. Bowser wouldn’t go away easily, pulling side-by-side with Flick at the halfway mark. Flick eventually was able to hold Bowser at bay, building a three-second lead as he encountered lap traffic.
A caution flag with five-laps-to-go bunched up the field but Flick got an impressive restart and kept the field at bay to pick up the victory. Bowser finished second and Michael Bauer finished third after starting eighth.
“I didn’t expect it to slick off as much as it did,” Flick said about the track conditions. “It was odd because it wasn’t really wide but yet the actual racing groove was getting slick and starting to come in already. I missed it in the heat race, but come feature time it seems like we’re starting to dial it in a bit more.”
Norris started 10th and put on a clinic coming through the field to make it two straight at ‘The action Track.’
“Luck was on our side tonight,” Norris said. “I always seem to have late race cautions. Thanks to John Garvin for leaving me a lane, he got me pretty good on that last restart but I knew as long as I could be even with him going into turn one, the top was so good and it was.”
Erick Rudolph made the trip to Sarver from Ransomville, New York and it paid off. Rudolph took home the feature victory in the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified main event.
“There’s something about Lernerville Speedway,” said Rudolph. “It’s one of my favorite tracks in the country and anytime we get a chance to come down here it’s always something we look forward to.”
Tyler Dietz proved to be the class of the field once again, garnering his first feature win in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock main event. Dietz survived a late race restart and held off front row starter Tim Bish and a hard charging Chris Schneider to grab the checkered flag.
“I kind of thought that he (Bish) was going to take the bottom,” Dietz stated, remarking about the crucial restart. “I was hoping he would go high because I think I was better up high but I just never got the chance to go up there.”
PITTSBURGH, PA (April 24, 2025) The Historic Stock Car Racing Association (HSCRA) is joining the lineup of racing groups at this year’s Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (PVGP) Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. This is the first time the HSCRA will race in the PVGP Historics 3-day weekend, July 26 to 28, 2024.
“We are thrilled to welcome the HSCRA to our 2024 event,” said Dan DelBianco, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. “Their participation not only broadens the appeal of the PVGP Historics but also aligns with our mission to celebrate all automotive history. This is a fantastic opportunity for race fans of all types to witness the power and beauty of historic stock cars in action.”
The HSCRA, renowned for its commitment to preserving and celebrating the history of stock car racing, will bring a new dimension to the PVGP Historics. The group is open to all stock cars that ran in one of the major NASCAR series.
“The HSCRA is anxious to bring NASCAR to Pittsburgh,” said Carlus Gann of HSCRA. “We look forward to making this a regular stop on our tour. Western Pennsylvania has deep roots in racing, and building a world-class track at Pitt Race in Beaver County makes it a perfect fit.”
The most popular class is Generation 4 Cup cars built for the 1992-2007 seasons. During this era, teams built a few cars for the two road courses on the schedule.
“We are hoping for a full field of meticulously restored stock cars,” added Chris Evans of the HSCRA. “Former NASCAR winners like Joe Nemechek and a competitive lineup of today’s top historic stock car drivers will be on hand.”
Gary Moore, a seasoned participant in over a dozen PVGP races, knows the intricacies and challenges of the Pitt Race track. Moore will be showcasing his 1969 Mercury Cyclone (right), victoriously driven by Cale Yarborough, exclaiming, “It’s quite the adventure behind the wheel!”
The HSCRA will have a practice session in the morning and a qualifying race in the afternoon on Friday, July 26. A morning and afternoon practice session on Saturday, July 27. Sunday, July 28 will see the HSCRA have a short morning warm-up prior to being one of the featured Sunday afternoon races.
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Motorsport Festival features two weekends of racing action. The first weekend is the PVGP Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The second weekend is racing through a 2.33-mile road course set on the streets of Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. In addition to the race weekends, the PVGP stages car shows, parties, road rallies, and a black-tie formal. The PVGP’s mission is to provide residential care, treatment and support for people with autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities – donating $6.7 million to charity since 1983.
Dewease and Hammaker Get First Wins for New Car Owners at Williams Grove Speedway
Mother Nature winning the weekend as local tracks cancel events
McLaughlin goes back-to-back at Barber Motorsports Park
Macri Gets Third Straight Kauffman Classic at Port Royal; Amantea and Craig Perigo Also Score
Flick, Norris, Rudolph and Dietz Victorious at Lernerville
Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
Team Penske Penalized for St. Pete Infractions. Newgarden Stripped Of Win
Historic Stock Cars to run at Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway Cancels Saturday Program; Pivots To Flood Relief Drive
