Dirt Racing
Whittall, Hare, and Dodson Winners at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA (July 19, 2025): It was a winged Sprint Car extravaganza at Port Royal Speedway, as the Speed Palace hosted three divisions on the same night. Justin Whittall stretched his point lead with a win in the headline 410 Sprint Car ranks. Ayden Hare rode the rim in the late going to score in the only 358 Sprint Car appearance at the track this season. Doug Dodson claimed the win in the finale for the 305 Sprint Cars.
Whittall Whallops 410s
Justin Whittall made up for last week’s misfortune at Port Royal Speedway by registering a dominant victory in the twenty-five lapper. His margin of victory was more than 4.8 seconds.
“We’ve had a couple taken away from us, especially last week,” Whittall noted. He blew a tire on the final lap with a commanding lead. “I learned something from last week.” He explained, “I just babied it, stayed away from the boards.”
After exploding the tire last week, he hit the outside wall, bending the front of the chassis. “This is a whole new car. Thanks to Mark Smith for fixing a couple of cars for us.”
Mike Thompson had the pole for the event, with Dominic Melair on his right flank. Doug Hammaker was lined up in third, with Blane Heimbach as his dancing partner. Garrett Bard and Nash Ely were next in line. Then came Jeff Halligan and Whittall. Rickey Peterson, Jr. and Mike Walter, Jr. made up row five. Logan Wagner and Lucas Wolfe claimed row six.
Thompson sailed away with the early lead over Melair, Heimbach, Hammaker and Bard. The pace slowed almost immediately after the first lap was scord, as Derek Hauck came to a stop. On the restart, Thompson picked up where he left off. Melair remained in second, followed by Bard, Hammaker, and Heimbach.
Whittall was up to sixth by lap five. He continued his progress to the front. In five more laps he was up to fourth.
As the race neared the halfway point, Melair was closing on Thompson. Melair made a move to the inside of turn three to take the lead briefly. By the time the lead duo reached turn one, though, Thompson was back in command.
Whittall was still on the charge and took over second from Melair. On lap fifteen, Whittall used a slider in turn two to take the lead from Thompson, who was having the race of his life.
Over the final ten laps, Whittal built upon his lead. Thompson remained in second, ahead of Bard. Meanwhile, Heimbach was digging himself out of a hole. He was picking off cars with some regularity.
At the checkers, it was Whittall over Thompson, Heimbach, Bard, and Hammaker. Walter, Logan Rumsey, Logan Wagner, Gerard McIntyre, and Wolfe.
Thompson was ecstatic with his career best finish in a 410 Sprinter. “I’ll tell you what. I didn’t know if Justin finished the race, because I sure as hell wouldn’t deserve being up there,” he said as he gestured up to victory lane.
For Heimbach, third place was a recovery in a couple of ways. First, it represented a recovery from an injury sustained two weeks ago when he was hit in the face by something. He explained that he was fortunate that the object hit him in the nose rather than in either of his eyes. “I got my bell rung. I was just sore for a couple of days.” The second was his drive back to the front in the second half. “We had the back-up lights on early. We just couldn’t keep pace.” He explained that he was able to search around and find some grip while his competitors seemed to be spinning their tire as the race drew to a close.
The trio of heat races went to Melair, Ely, and Hammaker. McIntyre won the B Main.
Hare Raising Finish in 358 Race
Seventeen-year-old Ayden Hare was aggressive in the final laps of the 358 Sprint Car race at Port Royal Speedway. He used the top groove to reach second moments before the final caution, with two laps to go. Then, he drove around the leader on the outside of turn four heading toward the white flag.
With the laps winding down, Hare was racing in third behind veterans Derek Locke and Cody Fletcher. However, while the leaders were slicing through some lapped cars, Hare entered the fray on the top. He reached second just before the final caution came out with two laps remaining. Then, on the restart, he stayed on the outside and followed Locke for three quarters of a lap. When Locke dipped low in turn four heading to the white flag, Hare sailed by to grab the lead.
“They kept running the bottom and I pounded the top,” Hare said. He added, “I thought he (Locke) was going to slide me, but I was committed to the top.” the second-year racer added.
Eli Tuckey and Locke made up the front row forthe twenty lap special at the Speed Palace. Tyler Rutherford and Fletcher were in the second row, followed by Hare and Bryn Gohn. Andy Best and Seth Schnoke. Chase Gutshall and Colton Hendershot occupied row five, with Tyler Ulrich and Frankie Herr in row six.
Locke rode the rim in turn one to take control of the race from Tuckey. Fletcher settled into third, followed by Gohn, Schnoke, Rutherford, Hare, Best, Gutshall, and Ulrich.
Best survived a scare on lap three when he spun twice on the backstretch. Although he made contact with the outside wall on one rotation, no other cars struck him.
Locke maintained his advantage over the next four laps while Tuckey and Fletcher were battling for the second position. Gohn remained in fourth, followed by Hare.
While things were orderly among the top five, behind them, the action was intense. A flip by Ethan Greak on lap seven bunched the field up and the action in the middle of the pack intensified on the restart. As the field was passing through turns three and four, chaos broke out. Brett Wanner and Frankie Herr, who were fighting for positions in the top ten, tangled, with both racers flipping. Herr left the ballpark. Wanner remained on the track and a few other racers were collected. Fortunately, no drivers were injured in either incident.
Locke opened up an advantage again on the restart. Fletcher worked past Tuckey. Gohn continued in fourth, followed by Hare. Within a few laps, though, Hare raced past both Tuckey and Gohn.
With five laps remaining, Locke caught the rear of the field, allowing Fletcher and Hare to draw in on him. Locke and Fletcher played cat and mouse as they wove their way through traffic for a couple of laps. Then, the top lane cleared for Hare, and he was mixing it up with the two veterans.
A caution with two to go eliminated the lapped traffic for the leaders. Locke was on the point, but Hare was on his tail for the restart. Fletcher, Gohn, and Ulrich comprised the rest of the top five for the two lap dash.
When the green flashed on again, Locke stayed in the middle of the track, Hare went to the topside once more. Locke had a slight advantage through turns one and two, but Hare had a full head of steam going into turn three and his momentum carried him past Locke coming through turn four.
Hare led the final lap without any counter from Locke. Gohn slipped by Fletcher. Ulrich helf onto fifth. Rutherford, Tuckey, Schnoke, Gutshall and Colton Moyer completed the top ten.
Locke admitted to moving some of the lapped cars during that furious battle with Fletcher and Hare before the caution. “I had to do something, we were basically three wide.” He second guessed himself in the stretch run with Hare, though. “He (Hare) was running the bottom when we were lapping cars. I moved down which may have been a mistake. But, if I went to the top, he probably would slide me.
Gohn, who claimed third late in the contest, said that he was “tickled” with that finish. “We’re a really low budget team. We run maybe five races and then we sit out for two years.”
The three heats belonged to Tuckey, Locke, and Rutherford. There was no B Main, as all twenty-four cars that signed in started the A Main.
Dodson Da Man in 305s
The PASS IMCA 305 Sprints wore the nightcap. Doug Dodson started in his favorite position, fourth, but it took him several laps before he could chase down the early leader, Mike Melair. Dodson then led the final fifteen laps to secure the victory.
“I didn’t take off as good as the 36 (Melair), but when he moved down, I got going,” Dodson said.
Melair had the pole for the twenty lapper, with Ace Pruitt to his right. Braeden Varner and Dodson lined up in their shadows. Then came Kenny Heffner and Jason Roush. Josh Spicer and Kruz Kepner took row four and Croix Beasom paired up with Logan Spahr in row five. They were followed by John Braim and Dylan Shatzer.
Melair surged ahead of Dodson on the opening lap and withstood one caution before surrendering the lead to Dodson’s slider in turn two. Pruitt and Varner wrestled for the third spot before Spicer joined the party.
Spicer was third by the halfway mark, and he continued his forward march in the second half of the race. He was second and closing at the conclusion of the contest.
Melair held on for third at the checkers. Kepner and Varner completed the first five. Then came Heffner, Pruitt, Jim Pattock, John Braim, and Spahr.
Four heats were staged for the 305s, with the wins going to Spicer, Shatzer, Varner, and Roush. Jarrett Cavalet took the honors in the B Main.
Coming Events
Port Royal Speedway will be dark next week in respect to the Summer National World of Outlaws event at Williams Grove Speedway.
Action will resume at the Speed Palace on Saturday, August 2. The 410 and 305 Sprints will race, along with the Limited Late Models.
There will be no racing on August 9 due to the Knoxville Nationals.
The 19th Annual Living Legends Dream Race will be held on August 16. The 410 Sprints and Super Late Models will be in action.
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.
Alex Palou wins fourth straight pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway
Rough day for Wright at Michigan
Opportunistic Wagaman Wins at Williams Grove
Heim holds off Honeycutt to win Truck race at Michigan
Flick is Speedweek King
Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing win the pole position for the 110th Indianapolis 500
Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean involved in multi vehicle crash during Indy 500 practice
New York Dog wins the Wienie 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NASCAR community mourns the loss of champion driver Kyle Busch
