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:

1.     A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
2.     Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
3.     Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
4.     Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
5.     Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
6.     Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
7.     Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
8.     Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
9.     Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
10. 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.

IMPERIAL, PA (May 28, 2026):  A.J. Flick romped to his second straight win in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. This one came at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and it was worth $4,000. It was his second win of the season at PPMS and his fifth overall. Flick now has sole possession of the most career Speedweek wins–eight–breaking a tie with Dale Blaney.

“The number two pill made my life so much easier,” Flick said. Ironically, while the pill draw was in progress, the track crew was working on the outside line. Their efforts produced a lightning fast groove at the very top of the track. Flick added that “the track prep really made a difference.”

Without the track prep, Flick thought that the track was going to take rubber. “But, it was go, go, go.” He explained that he did not dare to slow his pace as the race went on, despite his commanding lead, because “I knew that the 49 (driven by Cale Thomas) and the 98 (driven by Ricky Peterson, Jr.) would be coming.”

The track prep did require Flick to change his approach to the set-up on his car. “We had to go backwards on the set-up to go with what would have been better early in the night (when there was still moisture in the surface).”

Thomas, who recorded his second consecutive runner-up finish of Speedweek, commented “it was super fun. Hats off to the track crew, they did a good job bringing the surface back to life.”

The third place finisher, Ricky Peterson, Jr., agreed. He added, “we’re just tring to get better each night, We’re just chipping away at it. We’re giving it 110% effort.”

Unfortunately, both Thomas and Peterson will be missing from Speedweek action in the days ahead due to prior commitments to race elsewhere with Ohio-based tours. Thomas will compete with the All Star Circuit of Champions on Friday in Indiana, and Peterson will be in action with the FAST Series in Ohio, weather permitting. Both drivers anticipate returning to complete the Western PA Speedweek after they satisfy their other obligations.

Once again, the first ten starting positions were reserved for the heat winners and fast qualifiers. The random draw placed Michael Bauer on the pole, with Flick as his running mate. Jason Shultz and Carl Bowser were next in line, followed by defending Speedweek champion, Jeremy Weaver, and Peterson. Dale Blaney drew into row four, along with Mark Smith, The final preferred spots went to Thomas and Brandon Matus. Billy Dietrich and Brandon Spithaler earned sixth row starts based upon their heat race finishes.

Flick reached turn one ahead of Bauer on the opening lap of the race, which was shortened to twenty circuits due to anticipated fuel consumption. Flick planted the right rear tire of his machine in the freshly manicured top groove.

Bauer, known as the Professor, tucked into second, also on the high line, but he was already several car lengths behind the leader by the completion of lap one. Schultz, Bowser, Peterson, Thomas, Blaney, Smith, Brandon Matus, and Weaver followed suit.

Flick stretched his advantage over Bauer in the clean air. Bowser advanced to third in the early laps. Thomas and Blaney also moved ahead of Shultz. Bowser picked up the second position by the midpoint of the race. Meanwhile, Thomas and Peterson were also moving forward in the running order.

Despite racing through traffic in the closing laps, Flick grew his lead to more than 3.7 seconds at the checkers. Thomas and Peterson supplanted Bowser, and Smith came on strong to nab fifth at the finish. Shultz, Blaney, Spithaler, Brandon Matus, and Jacob Begenwald rounded out the top ten.

Veteran Carmen Perigo was the hard charger, passing eight cars on his way to twelfth.

Three heats were needed for the twenty-eight cars that registered for the event. The winners were Brandon Matus, Thomas, and Flick. David Kalb scored the win in the B Main. Dale Blaney was the evening’s fastest qualifier, at 16.204 seconds. Astonishingly, he was more than a second faster than any other competitor.

The support was provided by the Woah Nellie Modified Series. Jonathan Taylor registered the win aboard his new Lethal Chassis. The other podium finishers, Mason Lobb, and Dan Davies, were also driving the same brand of car.

Jonathan Taylor wrestled the lead away from his brother, Evan, on the opening lap. Evan ran in second for the first sixteen laps. One lap after Lobb moved into second, a caution was thrown for debris on the speedway. That wiped out Jonathan Talor’s lead of more than four seconds.

On the restart, Lobb and Davies applied pressure to Jonathan Taylor, However, within a lap or so, Jonathan regained his momentum and he began to slip away from them.

Ty Rhoades charged into the fourth position in the final eight laps of the race. Evan Taylor held on for fifth. Coleton Longwell, David Stremme, Andre Leyfield, Wyatt Scott, and Andrew Hammond completed the top ten.

Evan Taylor won the dash over his brother, Jonathan, who made some spectacular slide jobs to reach second. The heat wins went to Leyfield and Longwell. There was no B Main needed for the fifteen cars. Jonathan Taylor was the fastest qualifier with a time of 21.155 seconds.