PASS visits The Groves this weekend

By Frank Buhrman  PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 3) – ‘Nitro’ Nick Sweigart found lightning in the extreme top groove at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night.  Sweigart outdueled Dave Grube II, Garrett Bard and the rest of a 54-car Pennsylvania Sprint Series field to win the 20-lap IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature at the Juniata County Speed Palace. The early battle between defending national and series champion Bard and Grube set the initial standard. On lap seven, the inside-running Grube made the lead pass, but Josh Bricker tipped over on the front stretch, bringing out the red and negating Grube’s run.  Sweigart joined the fray on the ensuring restart and the leaders pulled away in a furious battle, with Grube running low, Bard high, and Sweigart higher.  After a few laps, Bard began to fade and Grube and Sweigart engaged of several laps of exchanging the lead before the latter finally won the duel. By this time, Ken Duke Jr. had moved into the top five from 14th starting position, but the final five laps saw [Read More]

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 8, 2023) – After hitting his stride at the end of the 2022 River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series season, Logan Spahr picked up right where he left off Saturday night. Spahr wired the field to capture the 20-lap 2023 IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car main event at Port Royal Speedway, where the series is sponsored by Penns Valley Meat Market. The race kicked off the Silver Anniversary season for PASS, one of the oldest IMCA RaceSaver regional groups in the nation.  Spahr led a youth movement that also included runner-up Seth Schnoke (3.07 seconds back), fourth-place Dylan Shatzer and fifth-place Zach Rhodes. Another member of the youth contingent, Owen Dimm, came home sixth. That left it up to third-finishing Ken Duke Jr. of Selinsgrove to uphold the honor of the veterans, and his run did so nicely. Duke is hardly ancient, but he has more PASS starts (238) and victories (22) than the other top-five finishers combined (131 and three, respectively). Spahr, who moved from micro-sprints into full-sized [Read More]

By Frank Buhrman HAGERSTOWN, Md. (June 15, 2023) – The River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series will make its only 2023 appearance at Maryland’s Hagerstown Speedway this Saturday, joining a co-sanctioned program hosted by the Virginia Sprint Series and also involving the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series. It’s a Dad’s Night Out special program for Father’s Day weekend, with the IMC RaceSaver Sprint Cars racing, along with the wingless super sportsman cars that normally run at Path Valley Speedway, and the track’s regular late model sportsman division. PASS has only run in seven races at Hagerstown (although some teams have run more when VSS was racing there without the PASS co-sanction) and no driver has won more than once, which creates an opportunity for those drivers with single wins who plan on racing: Ken Duke, Jerald Harris, a VSS regular, Stevie Kenawell and Mike Melair. One could end the evening as the first two-time winner for a PASS race. To do that, though, they’ll have to overcome Logan Spahr, who won the first six PASS races [Read More]