AdSense

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Logan Wagner Bags $5000 Open Wheel Madness 410 Sprint Car Victory, Jason Shultz and Doug Dodson Score Wins as Well

 

By- Justin Snyder

Port Royal Speedway– PORT ROYAL, Penn. (April 10, 2022) –It was Logan Wagner and Anthony Macri crossing the start/finish line at Port Royal Speedway one-two in Weikert's Livestock 410 Sprint Car competition for the second consecutive weekend as Wagner picked up his 13th career victory at the Speedway Saturday evening.

The win was worth $5000 in total as part of the Speedway's Open Wheel Madness promotion and vaulted Wagner to second in the series point standings in his drive for five consecutive championships at the track.

"It takes everyone to make this deal happen and I can't thank everyone enough for making this possible," said Wagner. "I think if we do our part, this team will be sitting in victory lane a few more times this season and I'm excited to keep going."

Michael Walter II and weekend invader Parker Price-Miller lined up on the front row for the 25-lap A-main and it was Walter holding off the All Star Circuit of Champions regular to lead the opening circuit.

Wagner started third on the grid and after falling back to fourth on the first lap of the event, the Harrisonville, Pa. ace settled back into a podium spot on lap two. Macri, who started ninth on the grid, moved into sixth on lap three and cracked the top five one lap later.

Walter held more than a 1.3 second advantage by then, but his lead was cut in half with 18 to go after he got into the outside guardrail in turn's three and four. One lap later Wagner slid under Price-Miller in turn's three and four to take the runner-up position at the line and he set his sights on Walter.

Walter approached the back of the field two laps later and was struggling to dispatch of Jordan Givler. This allowed Wagner to close in on both racers and Wagner split the pair exiting turn two to take the lead down the backstretch. Walter and Wagner made brief contact racing side by side approaching turn three, but both drivers went unscathed as Wagner held the lead with 15 to go.

"Hats off to the 33 team as they ran a great race early and he made me work for it," said Wagner. "I felt myself get up into a car there and I wasn't sure if it was him, but we were just racing hard and both wanting the same spot."

Two laps later the caution flew for the No. 67 of Justin Whittall, who came to a stop on the inside guardrail of the frontstretch. The yellow flag wiped out a 1.99 second advantage for Wagner over Walter and put Macri right on the bumper of the runner-up for a restart.

After a caution for debris thwarted his first attempt at moving into the second position, Macri quickly overtook Walter for the runner-up position on the restart on the restart. With 10 laps remaining Wagner had already built up a 1.709 second advantage on the field, but five laps later Macri had cut the advantage to .984 as lapped traffic once again came into play.

Macri closed to the tail tank of Wagner coming to the start/finish line and it looked like the pair were set to duke it out again, but a red flag for a flipping TJ Stutts on the frontstretch halted racing action. Stutts walked away from the incident unharmed.

Wagner controlled the restart and any hope of a victory for Macri vanished as Wagner pulled away with ease. He went on to take the checkered flag by a margin of 1.725 seconds over Macri, Walter II, Jeff Halligan and Price-Miller. Zeb Wise, Gerard McIntyre Jr., Mike Wagner, Lucas Wolfe and Dylan Cisney rounded out the top 10.

Kassidy Kreitz, making only her second career 410 Sprint Car start, earned the $500 Valley Supply Hard Charger after going 24th to 14th on the night and 18th-place finisher Kody Lehman earned the J&S Classics $1000 Warrior Award via a random draw.

"I can't say enough about our Zemco team and this just proves that we have a really good racecar and we're ready for some of these bigger shows that are coming up," said Wagner. "It was a lot of fun out there and it was a breath of fresh air to cross the line in front of the 39 car."

410 Sprint Car Feature, 25 Laps: 1. Logan Wagner. 2. Anthony Macri. 3. Michael Walter II. 4. Jeff Halligan. 5. Parker Price-Miller. 6. Zeb Wise. 7. Gerard McIntyre Jr. 8. Mike Wagner. 9. Lucas Wolfe. 10. Dylan Cisney. 11. Blane Heimbach. 12. AJ Flick. 13. Lynton Jeffrey. 14. Kassidy Kreitz. 15. Pat Cannon. 16. Jared Esh. 17. Curt Stroup. 18. TJ Stutts. 19. Kody Lehman. 20. Jordan Givler. 21. Justin Whittall. 22. Ryan Smith. 23. Tyler Bear. 24. Steve Buckwalter. _______________________________________________________________________

For the second consecutive season, Jason Shultz piloted the Ritter Racing No. 35 360 Sprint Car to an April victory with the United Racing Club at Port Royal Speedway.

The win was worth $2000 and came over a pair of hard charging competitors in Ryan Smith and Anthony Macri. The win marks 12 consecutive URC triumphs at the Speedway by drivers who also regularly compete in the 410 Sprint Car division as well.

Dallas Schott and Shultz led the field to the green flag and while the two battled for the top spot, it was actually third-place starter Macri taking the top spot and credited with leading the opening circuit.

Shultz went to the bottom in turn's one and two and the pair swapped the lead again in turn's three and four. Shultz was the leader coming to the flag stand on lap two.

Andy Best got turned around in turn's one and two to halt racing action with a caution with 20 laps to go. Shultz held off Macri on the restart, while seventh-place starter Smith moved into a podium spot.

Smith and Macri battled hard over the next two laps for the runner-up position, while ninth-place starter Pat Cannon cracked the top five with 15 laps to go.

Shultz approached lapped traffic with 14 laps remaining and with 10 laps to go, both Macri and Smith had closed to piut the top three under a blanket down the backstretch.

Macri gave it his best effort with six laps to go as he got by Shultz for the lead in turn's three and four, but Shultz again held off the challenge to lead the lap. The move also allowed Smith to take the runner-up position with five laps remaining.

Smith stayed close to Shultz over the final four laps and he stayed close enough to make Shultz work for it, but Shultz was able to hold on for the victory over Smith and Macri. Schott and Cannon rounded out the top five followed by Derek Locke, Briggs Danner, Derek Hauck, Ryan Stillwagon and Adam Carberry in the top 10.

"I didn't see those guys too much, but they definitely let me know they were there," said Shultz. "I felt like the rabbit and the dogs were chasing me. I was just running scared out there and to win like this is pretty special for me."

For Smith, it was just a matter of too little, too late and he was disappointed with the runner-up finish.

"It seems like this car here is really good no matter where we go," said Smith. "To come up second isn't bad, but we just ran out of time and needed to start up a little higher."

URC Sprint Car Feature, 25 Laps: 1. Jason Shultz. 2. Ryan Smith. 3. Anthony Macri. 4. Dallas Schott. 5. Pat Cannon. 6. Derek Locke. 7. Briggs Danner. 8. Derek Hauck. 9. Ryan Stillwaggon. 10. Adam Carberry. 11. Mike Thompson. 12. Ryan Taylor. 13. Devin Adams. 14. Jake Karklin. 15. Andy Best. 16. Ken Meisner. 17. Davie Franek. 18. Josh Weller. 19. Cory Thornton. 20. Will Brunson. 21. Craig Pellegrini. 22.  Ed Aiken. 23. Cameron. Merriman. 24. Brian Carber.
_______________________________________________________________________

Doug Dodson scored his first career Port Royal Speedway victory during the 2022 season debut for the PennsValley MeatMarket PA Sprint Series 305 Sprint Cars Saturday night in dominating fashion over Domenic Melair and Kenny Heffner.

Heffner and Ian Detweiler led the field to the green flag  and it was Heffner getting the early advantage. Dodson, who started fourth, moved into the runner-up position on the opening lap.

11th-place starter and defending track champion, Dave Grube, moved into seventh at the completion of lap one and was up to fourth by lap four. Meanwhile, 2020 track champion Garret Bard had advanced from 16th to eighth as well.

A two car incident in turn two brought the caution out with 16 laps remaining. Dodson tried the bottom at both ends of the Speedway on the restart, but Heffner held off all advances. The caution flew a second time for a car stopped in turn two.

Heffner again held off Dodson's advances on the restart, but it only took one more lap for Dodson to take the top spot as he used a move through the middle of turn's three and four to inch ahead coming to the line with 14 to go. Three laps later Grube's march to the front ended when he came to a slow at the turn four exit.

From there it was all Dodson as he held off Domenic Melair, Heffner, Bard and Mike Alleman. Austin Reed, Tyler Snook, Kruz Kepner, Ken Duke and Logan Spahr rounded out the top 10.

"Once I got out front and could run the line I wanted, I knew I could keep my momentum and be good," said Dodson. "To be really good and to get the win here is a dream come true and it was a blast out there."

PASS 305 Sprint car feature, 20 Laps: 1. Doug Dodson. 2. Domenic Melair. 3. Kenny Heffner. 4. Garrett Bard. 5. Mike Alleman. 6. Austin Reed. 7. Tyler Snook. 8. Kruz Kepner. 9. Ken Duke Jr. 10. Logan Spahr. 11. Josh Spicer. 12. Ian Detweiler. 13. Erin Statler. 14. Larry McVay. 15. John Fiore. 16. Branston Shue. 17. Jake Waters. 18. Dustin Young. 19. Austin Greenland. 20. Paul Moyer. 21. Dave Grube. 22. Andrew Boyer. 23. Roger Irvine. 24. Carl Reigle.

Photos by Michael Fry

No comments: