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Big Weekend Of Local Racing In Western PA

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Steve Skarupa Photography

PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – This weekend presents a couple of different options for local race fans both on dirt & asphalt.  Fans can have their pick of the action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Here’s what’s going on:

Fab 4 Friday at Lernerville Speedway:

  • It’s a Fab 4 Friday at “The Action Track” with the Peoples Natural Gas 410 Sprints, Precise Racing Products Late Models, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks on the schedule.  Carl Bowser holds a nine-point lead over A.J. Flick in the Sprints standings.  Flick comes into the race having won three-in-a-row.  Colton Flinner holds a 14-point lead over Tyler Dietz in the Late Model standings.  Garrett Krummert holds an 11-point lead over John Mollick in the Modifieds standings with Rex King Jr. one point behind Mollick.  Tyler Dietz holds a four point lead over Corey McPherson in the Pro Stocks.  For more information visit www.lernerville.com and if you can’t go watch it on www.lernerville.tv.

7 Divisions Saturday at PPMS:

  • Seven divisions of racing will take to “Dirt’s Monster Half Mile” as the Winged 410 Sprint Cars, RUSH Sprint Cars, RUSH Late Models, Pro Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Young Guns and 4-Cylinders visit Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.  This will be the first appearance of the winged sprint cars at PPMS this season.  Zach Morrow leads Jeremy Weaver by 2-points in the RUSH Sprint track standings with Andy Feil one point back in third.  Ben Policz holds a 6-point lead over John Mollick in the RUSH Late Model standings.  Dave McManus holds a three-point lead over Ryan Moyer in the Pro Stocks standings.  Stephen Shelpman holds a 19-point lead over Karlee Kovacs in the Hobby Stocks standings.  In the Young Guns division Philip Bubeck sits 54-points ahead of Eric Reynolds and Noah Bubeck is 25-points ahead of Cameron Hollister in the 4-cylinder standings.  For more information visit www.ppms.com.

Whelen Modified Tour Visits Jennerstown on Saturday:

  • The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour makes its second appearance at Jennerstown Speedway on Saturday night for the Laurel Highlands 150.  Justin Bonsginore won the Wade Cole Memorial 133 two months ago going wire-to-wire from the pole position.  Craig Lutz finished second followed by John McKennedy in third.  Matt Hirschman and Calvin Carroll rounded out the top 5.  Saturday’s race distance is longer and there will be live pit stops instead of a half-way break.  For more information visit, www.jennerstown.org.
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Mercer Raceway To Honor Hawkins On Saturday:

  • Michael’s Mercer Raceway is planning on honoring the late Brandon Hawkins on Saturday night with the $2727 to win, $227 to start “Big Mav Classic”. Hawkins tragically lost his life at age 26 on July 20 at a construction accident. Hawkins is survived by his son Maverick, his parents Dave and Chrissy and his girlfriend Ashley. Hawkins 27H car will be driven by Kyle Colwell and start 27th. Every car that finishes behind the 27H will donate and extra $50 to start the race back to Maverick Hawkins. For more information visit www.mercerracewaypark.com.

Two-Sprint Shows and Mid-Atlantic Modifieds At Lincoln:

  • Lincoln Speedway on Saturday will feature a double-dose of sprint car action with the 410-Sprints and 358-Sprints on the schedule.  In addition to the sprint cars Lincoln will feature the Mid-Atlantic Modifieds and a make up feature from August 1st.  For more information visit www.lincolnspeedway.com.

5-Features In 1-Night At Port Royal:

  • Thanks to Mother Nature Port Royal Speedway is using this weekend to make up some feature events so fans will get nights of feature action in one night.  Saturday night will feature a full program for the 410 Sprint Cars to go along with two make-up features, plus the regularly scheduled PASS/IMCA 305 Sprint Car event and the USAC East Coast wingless 360 series event.  For more information visit www.portroyalspeedway.com.

Tri-City and RUSH Sprints To Honor Hawkins On Sunday:

  • Tri-City Raceway Park and the RUSH Sprint Car Series will pay tribute Hawkins, a former Micro Sprint standout, moved to the RUSH Sprint Cars when the class debuted in 2018 along with his brother Scott and father Dave. The trio also competed together in 2019 as well before Brandon made the move to the “305” Sprints where he won his first feature on July 17 at Bedford Speedway, just days before his passing. Jeremy Weaver leads the Equipment Rental Options Weekly Series points by 31 over Zach Morrow. For more information visit www.tricityracewaypark.com.

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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Dirt Racing

Tim Shaffer Wins Herb Scott Memorial at PPMS

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Tommy Hein

IMPERIAL, PA (April 20, 2024) Aliquippa’s Tim Shaffer started on the pole position and survived several caution flags and restarts to win the Herb Scott Memorial Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS).

“Boy I earned that one huh,” said Shaffer following the race.  “These wins just keep getting better and better. Herb Scott won a lot of features and I have a long way to go to catch him, but my career went on the road and it became hard to win races. It’s kind of back home racing now for me and it’s a lot of fun.”

Brock Pinkerous and Dave Hess Jr. staged an epic battle over the last several laps with Pinkerous scoring an emotional runner-up finish.

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“Congrats to Tim on the win,” said Pinkerous, who hails from Ellenville, NY. “He’s really good at this track. Him and Dave are legends around this area. It’s really cool to battle with them; they raced me clean and I raced them clean. Even though we didn’t win tonight, this is for my uncle tonight who passed away about a month ago. I hope he’s watching over us tonight, and I really love you uncle Chris.”

“We were really good on those restarts,” said Hess, the 39-year-old Waterford, Pa. driver. “A little tweak to the car and maybe a gear change and we could have had something for the leaders. Once those two (Shaffer and Pinkerous) got rolling, they were a little better than I was.”

Kyle Lukon finished fifth and Logan Roberson rounded out the Top 5.

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[4]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[21]; 4. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 5. 17R-Logan Roberson[19]; 6. 10S-Joe Martin[16]; 7. 36-Cody Dawson[7]; 8. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[10]; 9. 42-Daryl Charlier[6]; 10. 184C-Justin Chance[13]; 11. 21J-Jim Rasey[24]; 12. 184P-Cole Petrelle[20]; 13. 77-Tom Klein[23]; 14. 57-Charlie Sandercock[11]; 15. 36B-Colby Beighey[15]; 16. 18-Mike Wonderling[25]; 17. 29-Ryan Hare[17]; 18. 60H-Brian Huchko[22]; 19. 9R-Mike Reft[14]; 20. 25-Zachary Kane[9]; 21. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker[18]; 22. 75-Jared Miley[3]; 23. 60-Brandon Burgoon[2]; 24. 14AJ-AJ Miller[8]; 25. 14G-Jake Gunn[12]

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