Sweigart rides high for Port Royal PASS win

Results

By Frank Buhrman 

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Aug. 22) – “Nitro” Nick Sweigart has made some heroic charges from the back of the field to good finishes this season, but he got a good starting position Saturday and made the most of it, wiring the field for his second Pennsylvana Sprint Series feature win of the season at Port Royal Speedway.

Sweigart drew the pole for the 20-lap IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature, outdueled outside front row starter Kirsten Hess for the lead and then held off charges from Doug Dodson and Gar­rett Bard.

Dodson made his most determined challenge in the race’s only restart, on lap four. Dodson went for an inside pass but couldn’t pull it off. Sweigart, Dodson and Bard then pulled away from the field, with all three cars running an extreme high line. 

With the race remaining green the rest of the way, that battle continued in traffic, but Sweigart handled the lapped cars and never allowed another serious challenge.

On lap 14, Bard slipped past Dodson for second, and three laps later, Dave Grube moved into the third spot, but Sweigart was in control the rest of the way.

The win was Sweigart’s third overall in an up-and-down season that has seen him finish in the top five in six of his 11 starts and outside the top 10 in the remaining five.

Feature results – 1. Nick Sweigart; 2. Garrett Bard; 3. Dave Grube; 4. Doug Dodson; 5. Domenic Melair; 6. Larry McVay; 7. Kassidy Kreitz; 8. Landon Price; 9. Erin Statler; 10. Devin Adams; 11. Justin Mills; 12. Kirsten Hess; 13. Jimmy White; 14. Jaremi Hanson; 15. Kyle Keen; 16. Dylan Smith; 17. Daryl Stimeline; 18. Brody Adamsky; 19. Jared Zionkowski; 20. Fred Arnold; 21. An­drew Boyer; 22. Ian Cumens; 23. Reed Thompson; 24. Jason Bergstresser; 25. Dustin Young; 26. Branstin Shue.

Related Articles

Feature

Last lap pass keeps Spahr PASS perfect in 2023

By Frank Buhrman SPRING RUN, Pa. (May 13, 2023) – This time it was different: No Eshenaur no. 5 and no up-front starting position, but with some incredible racing in traffic and a bump-and-run on the last lap, Logan Spahr kept his 2023 River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series record perfect with an improbable victory in the 25-lap feature at Path Valley Speedway Saturday night. It was Spahr’s fourth IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car win in four tries this year and his fifth straight dating back to last October’s Keystone RaceSaver Challenge. While the other wins came in the Wally Eshenaur’s KR MacDonald/High Tech Metals/RL Snyder Electric sprinter, this one was in the Spahr family’s no. 14 car, which is available when the primary car takes a race off. A little luck didn’t hurt Saturday. After coming all the way from 16th starting position to third, Spahr used a lap 17 restart to take second from fast-improving Croix Beasom. Then, when he and leader Mike Melair hit traffic after only a couple of green flag laps, [Read More]

Events

PASS heads back to Selinsgrove

By Frank Buhrman  SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Foiled by rain on their last scheduled visit, Pennsylvania Sprint Series competitors return to Selinsgrove Speedway Saturday night to run their second 2021 feature at the big Snyder County oval. PASS IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars will run qualifying events and a 20-lap feature. The first IMCA RaceSaver event of 2021 at Selinsgrove was won by New Yorker Justin Mills on April 10. Mills is expected to return Saturday, along with Garrett Bard and Ken Duke Jr., the last two PASS and IMCA RaceSaver national champions. Duke also is the hometown favorite.  Gates will open at 5 p.m. for Saturday’s program, with racing scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Adult general admission is $15 and on Family Night, students 17 and under will be admitted free. Pit admission is $30. 

Results

Ellerman sprints to IMCA East Coast Nationals crown

By Jim Haines  HAGERSTOWN, Md. (May 24-25) – Scott Ellerman used his outside front row starting spot to the best possible outcome Saturday night, staying smooth and never letting challengers move him off his line to the finish of the East Coast Nationals main event at Hagerstown Speedway. The IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car checkers were good for $1,000. Ellerman, who admitted to not having much luck at the draw, had run third in the final heat and was left with the number two pill and outside pole start. “This win means a lot,” said Ellerman, who beat fellow Pennsylvania Sprint Series regular Ken Duke to the finish by maybe a car length. “We’ve had motor trouble and we’ve had car trouble. It’s been real frustrating. We definitely got our confidence back.”  Christian Rumsey, Steven Kenawell and Jonathan Jones rounded out the top five in the holiday weekend special, co-sanctioned by PASS, the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series and the Virginia Sprint Series.  Jacob Gomola and Ellerman paced the field to green, with Ellerman grabbing the lead [Read More]