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Dewease and Macri Win Semis at Port Royal’s Living Legends Dream Race

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Port Royal Speedway

PORT ROYAL, PA (August 1, 2020): Port Royal Speedway paid tribute to a fallen leader Saturday night. The 14th Annual Living Legends Dream Race, one of the highest-paying events on the track schedule, recognized the visions and accomplishments of Don Clark, the former president of the Juniata County Fair Board. During his tenure, Clark fought a courageous battle against cancer, but he never allowed the dreaded disease to interfere with his work on behalf of the facility and its programs. Sadly, Don Clark died before the 2020 season commenced.

The Living Legends Dream Race presented the 410 Sprint Cars in an unusual format. All of the cars participated in time trials which were used to set up a pair of twin semi-features using an odds/evens system. Each 16 lap race paid a purse, with the winner getting $2,000. The top ten finishers transferred to the A Main, which would have paid another $10,000 to the winner. The remaining cars went into a B Main, with the top four finishers advancing to the finale. The Super Late Models ran a more traditional program of time trials, heats, B Main, and an A Main to cap off the festivities. Unfortunately, rains hit the speedway before feature time. In fact, the final Late Model heat race and the pair of B Mains were delayed briefly by a shower, but they were completed. So, the fields are set for the make-up dates.

There were 31 Sprint Cars registered for the contest. Brock Zearfoss was the fastest qualifier, at 16.110 seconds. Logan Wagner was second fastest, at 16.157 seconds.

In the first Semi, Brent Marks jumped out to the early lead, followed by Lance Dewease, Ryan Smith, Brock Zearfoss and Steve Buckwalter. Marks seemed to have things well in hand until he got into lapped traffic. Dewease ran the inside line and began chipping away at the lead. Marks’ pace was slowed on the oputside by a lapped car and that gave Dewease the opportunity to cruise past in turns one and two. Marks was second. Zearfoss ans Buckwalter go by a struggling Smith in the final laps. Ryan Taylor, defending Dream Race winner A.J. Flick, Jeff Miller, Kyle Reinhardt, and Justin Whittal were the other transfers.

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The second Semi was a much more lively affair. Tyler Bear took the lead, but Anthony Macri and Logan Wagner chased him down. The three traded sliders on several laps. Macri made the winning move on Wagner with the laps counting down. then came Wagner, Bear, T.J. Stutts, and Dave Blaney in the Lou Blaney tribute car. Jared Esh made his first start for Tom and Fran Chiappelli pay off with a creditable sixth place finish. Mike Wagner charged ahead to seventh, followed by Blaine Heimbach, Jeff Halligan, and Kody Lehman.

The B Main winner was Dylan Cisney, trailed by Jason Solwold, Kyle Smith, and Paulie Colagiovanni.

Hayes Mattern was the quickest of the full-fendered set. He turned a time of 18.614 seconds. His speed did not carry over to his heat, however. That was won by Mason Zeigler. Max Blair, Michael Norris, and Gregg Satterlee also prevailed in their respective heats. Gene Knaub copped the B Main, which was the last race of the night before the heavier rains. There were 33 Super Lates on hand.

The Sprint Car portion of the Living Legends Dream Race will be made up on August 22, as part of the Open Wheel Madness IV show. That program will now have twin features for the 410 Sprints, plus complete events for the 305 Sprints and the USAC East Coast 360 Sprints (no wings). The Late Model portion will be made up during the 166th Annual Juniata County Fair. It will be paired up with the 17th Annual Butch Renninger Memorial. The 410 Sprints and Limited Late Models will also compete that night.

Next week, August 8, Port Royal Speedway will present the Tribute to Curt Hershey along with the Salute to the Military Night. Hershey was an engine builder of some renown in the area before passing recently. In addition to the racing for the 410 and 305 Sprints and the Super Late Models, there will be a pre-race concert to entertain the fans.

Dirt Racing

Mother Nature winning the weekend as local tracks cancel events

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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.

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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.

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Dirt Racing

Flick, Norris, Rudolph and Dietz Victorious at Lernerville

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Photo: Paul Arch

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.’

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“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.”­­­­­­

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Local Racing

Historic Stock Cars to run at Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

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PVGP

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.”

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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.

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