Dirt Racing
Abreu Absolute at Grandview
(Bechtelsville, PA June 28, 2022): After spending some time with his family, Rico Abreu made his 2022 Pennsylvania Speedweek debut in grand style, winning his heat race and leading wire-to-wire in the 35 lap feature. His third career Speedweek win was worth a cool $10,000 and his name will be engraved on the perpetual trophy for the Hodnett Cup. The Hodnett Cup honors the memory of six-time Thunder on the Hill champion, Greg Hodnett.
Brett Kressley, the Saturday night points leader at the track, used a long green flag run to chase down the leaders and grab the lead just past half way in the NASCAR 358 Modified undercard.
Abreu noted that “we just put ourselves into position all night.” He also gave props to this crew led by veteran wrench Ricky Warner. “This team is starting to gel,” Abreu added. Plus, he explained that his equipment is fresh.
Abreu caught a break when the caution came out when he encountered heavy lapped traffic with twenty-three laps completed. “It worked in our favor. I didn’t want to get beat up there, so I kept cheating up but the lapped cars were getting away from me.” The maneuver was almost a costly one, as second place runner, Brent Marks, got his nose under him just as the caution light flashed on.
Marks, who eventually dropped to third, agreed with Abreu. “That was a little frustrating race. I got under Rico and then the yellow came out.” Marks added that things always seem to happen that way for him at Grandview Speedway.
Anthony Macri dug himself out of a hole to finish second. After starting on the outside of the front row, he lost valuable track position on the opening lap. “I messed up on the initial start and two or three cars got by me.” Macri, who was strong in his heat using a middle groove, struggled for most of the race. “The bottom started to clean up and then it took some rubber,” he explained. He was able to drive past Marks, and he reached the tail of Abreu’s car, but there was nothing left to make a bid for the win.
Abreu and Macri were on the front row, with Christopher Bell and Marks in the second. Kyle Larson and Danny Dietrich were in row three. Tanner Thorson and Justin Peck launched from row four, with Austin Bishop and Lucas Wolfe taking off from the fifth row, Ryan Smith and Kyle Moody departed from row six.
Abreu led the charge into turn one, but there was plenty of action going on behind him, Marks reached second, followed by Bell, Macri, and Larson. Bell moved into second on lap two, but Marks wasn’t prepared to give up the spot. The two battled back and forth before Marks claimed the position just as the yellow came out.
On the restart, with seven complete, Bell dove low in turn one and the two ran side-by-side for half a lap. Marks thundered off the top of turn four to hold the second position.
With Abreu leading Marks, things were getting interesting elsewhere in the top five. Dietrich and Larson were making their presence known to Bell and Macri.
That race within the race ended when Larson turned over in between the third and fourth corners. His car sustained a broken left rear wheel, but it was unknown if that precipitated the crash or resulted from it. In any event, the four-time winner of this event was out before the halfway mark.
Abreu led the next nine laps, with Marks staying in his shadow. Marks drew closer as Abreu slowed his pace to stay behind the lapped cars. Marks made a bold move on the inside of turn three but his attempted pass would not have counted even if it had been completed because the caution came out for the final time. Fortunately, both lead cars were able to avoid the spinner ahead of them.
On the ensuing restart, Abreu and Marks both went low into turn one. Macri tried the middle groove and found enough grip to drive by Marks for second. Abreu stayed low, in the rubber, and pulled away until he reached the rear of the field. This time, he tucked in behind the last car and moderated his pace again.
Macri drew in on the leader, and soon the top five or six cars were running nose to tail. Abreu stayed in line and did not attempt to pass any of the slower cars. The last of them slid up out of the groove and Abreu darted ahead, ensuring his victory.
Macri crossed in second, with Marks third. Dietrich was fourth, and Bell was fifth. Thorson edged pout Peck in the final laps for sixth. Ryan Smith, Wolfe, and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. completed the top ten.
Four heats were conducted for the thirty-one cars on hand. The winners were Abreu, Peck, Thorson, and Larson. Jeff Halligan won the B Main. Macri set the fastest time of the night, at 12.025 seconds.
The unofficial points for PA Speedweek finds Macri ahead of Marks by 84 markers. Peck is third, nineteen points back from second. These three drivers are the only ones eligible for the ten for ten bonus offered by Selinsgrove Ford, as they have logged top ten finishes in each race so far. Wolfe, Stutts, Freddie Rahmer, Jr., Dietrich, Halligan, Dylan Norris, and Chase Dietz make up the rest of the top ten.
In the NASCAR 358 Modifieds, Mike Lisowski jumped out to the early lead, followed by Jared Umbenhauer, Duane Howard, Brett Kressley, Ron Kline, Alex Yankowski, and Craig Whitmoyer. Umbenhauer took control just a couple of laps later.
Kressley moved into second soon thereafter and he chased down the leader in traffic. Kressly made his move to the front, leaving Umbenhauer in second, while Howard, Yankowski, Lissowski, and Jeff Strunk battled for positions in the top five.
“The long green lag run helped me,” Kresslesy said. He (Umbenhauer) got caught up in lapped traffic.”
A quick caution with four laps remaining gave Howard a shot at the leader, but Kressley was up to the task.
At the checkers, it was Kressley, Howard, Umbenhauer, Yankowski, and Billy Pauch, Jr. Strunk, Lisowski, Craig Von Dohren, Whitmoyer, and Rick Laubach completed the top ten.
The heat victories belonged to Laubach, Kline, and Whitmoyer. The B Main victor was Bobby Trapper, Jr.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (June 5, 2026): Troy Wagaman, Jr. cashed in on the opportunities given to him to win the Lynn Paxton Classic at Williams Grove Speedway. The second win of the season for the defending track champion and current points leader was his first ever with the All Stars Circuit of Champions, which celebrated fifty-five years of competition at the famed oval. Wagaman received $8,000 for his efforts, matching his payday from the Tommy Classic held earlier in the season.
Wagaman benefitted from two miscues by Danny Dietrich, who had led from the start of the non-stop thirty lapper. The first came on lap fifteen, when Dietrich narrowly avoided disaster coming off turn two. The other came ten laps later when Dietrich slid out of the groove between turns three and four.
“I don’t know if I would have gotten him,” Wagaman said modestly.
He was trailing Dietrich by nearly 1.6 seconds in the middle of the race, but Wagaman squeezed between Dietrich, a lapped car, and the backstretch guard rail to take the lead. Preston Lattomus nearly spun at the exit to turn two, Dietrich came up on him quickly, made slight contact, and almost spun as well, but there was just enough room for Wagaman to scoot by. “I thought he missed it, got too close to the lapped car,” Wagaman explained.
Wagaman then built up a slight lead of his own, which evaporated in traffic. Dietrich drove under both Wagaman and the lapped car between turns three and four on lap twenty-four, but Wagaman came storming back on the next lap to regain the lead. Dietrich slid off the bottom in the same area, and Wagaman pounced. “Danny showed me the bottom. I was struggling on the top and I got down to the bottom after that.”
Wagaman, from Hanover, dedicated the win to his ailing grandmother, adding that he will get to see her on Sunday afternoon.
The starting line-up had a last minute shuffle when Lance Dewease got a flat while the cars were getting into formation. Dewease pitted for a fresh tire, but forfeited his second starting position. He rejoined the field for the start, and put in on an impressive drive to fourteenth from the rear of the twenty-six car field.
Dietrich thus moved to the front row, joining the Dash winner, Cale Thomas. Wagaman and Brady Bacon made up the second row, followed by Doug Hammaker and Kasey Kahne. Brock Zearfoss and T.J. Stutts came next. Chase Dietz and Parker Price Miller were in row five, and Austin Bishop was paired with Ryan “Fig” Newton in row six.
Dietrich wasted no time blasting into the early lead up on the cushion in turns one and two. Wagaman used a more conservative line to reach second. Thomas fell into line in third, ahead of Hammaker, Bacon, Stutts, and Kahne.
Dietrich seemed to have the race under control through the first half of the event. However, things changed suddenly on lap fifteen. He avoided a crash, but lost the lead. Dietrich wasn’t done quite yet, though.
Wagaman was still running the top in turns three and four despite having trouble getting past a lapped car. That allowed Dietrich to flash by on the inside to take the lead away. However, Wagaman came back to lead lap twenty-five when Dietrich slid up the track in almost the same place on the track.
Wagaman changed lines for the remainder of the race, and he paced himself off of the lapped cars, figuring that Dietrich would have to drive around them all if he were to make another bid for the win. However, Wagaman took the checkers 1.120 seconds ahead of Dietrich, who was driving his back-up car after crashing at Selinsgrove Speedway the night before.
Bacon, Stutts, and Dietz completed the top five. Zearfoss, Hammaker, Kahne, Price Miller, and Newton were the next five finishers.
J.J. Loss was the hard charger, advancing seven spots to finish thirteenth.
Kalib Henry, the current All Stars points leader and defending series champion, was the highest finisher from the tour, at seventeenth.
Hammaker, Dewease, Dietrich, and Kahne were the heat winners. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. won the B Main. Stutts was the fastest qualifier, lapping in 17.112 seconds in Group A. Dietrich was the best in Group B. His lap was 17.290 seconds. Thirty-eight cars checked in, including ten All Stars points chasers.
Ageless Steve Wilbur added another Wingless Sportsman victory to his resume. He led Tony Jackson for all twenty laps. “Tony’s hard to beat wherever we go, and to hold him off all of those laps was something,” Wilbur said. “It just feels so good to beat Jackson. I didn’t come all the way from Mechanicsburg to get my a$$ kicked,” he added with a laugh.
Wilbur claimed to use an old right rear tire dating back to his days at Silver Spring Speedway, which closed in 2005.
Cliff Brian, Jr. was third, one spot ahead of the hard charger, Brett Perigo. Brandon Shearer, Derek Shaffer, Brian Nace, Scott Smith, Curt Stroup, and John Edkin were fifth through tenth in the non-stop affair.
Jackson and Wilbur split the heat race wins. There was no B Main necessary for the nineteen car field.
Next Friday, Williams Grove Speedway will present fan appreciation night. All in attendance will get to mingle with the 410 and 358 Sprint Car racers in the front pit area before the start of the action. There will be free potato chips and candy during the pit party. Fireworks will also be part of the fun.
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:
- A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
- Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
- Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
- Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
- Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
- Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
- Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
- Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
- Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
- 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.
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Flick is Speedweek King
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