Grube leads the way to Hagerstown checkers

By Jim Haines  WINCHESTER, Va. (April 29, 2023) – With most of the Eastern race tracks raining out, the return of IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars to Winchester brought a good field of sprinters to the Virginia oval co-sanctioned by the Virginia Sprint Series and Laurel Highlands Sprint Series.  Zach Rhodes topped the 24-car main event for his first win in the sanctioned division. Heats kicked off the night with Donnie Hendershot, A.J. Barton, Jarrett Rosencrance and Dave Grube taking wins. The feature lined up with Rhodes and Fred Arnold on the front row.  Rhodes had the best line at the start with Arnold dropping in for second right away, as the rest of the field tried to get their own line working to move forward. Rhodes liked the bottom and stayed glued to it with Arnold and Logan Jones fighting over second with the other positions changing every lap.  Jones made his way to second and Arnold fell to third with Donnie Hendershot and Dave Grube trying to run them down. Jones was all over [Read More]

By Jim Haines  NATURAL BRIDGE, Va. (Aug. 7) – Matt Mullins joined the Virginia Sprint Series four years ago after having raced other divisions.  But being from Iowa, he always wanted to race a Sprint Car and Saturday night fulfilled a life-long dream of not just racing Sprinters but winning in one.  Mullins and Chris Ware paced the IMCA RaceSaver field to green with Mullins out first, Ware right behind and Mike Leraas and Daren Bolac racing for third.  Mullins was really rolling out in clean air while Ware tryied to stay in touch. Bolac made it to third with Leraas fourth. Mullins was still out front flying as Bolac and Leraas advanced. Brandon McLain made his way to fourth as Bolac was closing in on Mullins, but laps ran out as the leader flashed under the waving checkered flag for his first feature win.  Next week it’s off to The Greater Cumberland Raceway in Cumberland, Md., with the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series on Saturday night Aug. 14.  Feature results – 1. Matt Mullins; 2. Daren [Read More]

By Jim Haines  ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (May 10) – Jerald Harris moved to the top and took off for his first win of the year to top a Fast Friday Virginia Sprint Series field at Dixieland Speedway. Charlie Ware and Bill Rice paced the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car field to green with Harris going to the top and flying around to lead lap one with Rice holding off John Karklin for second and Bron­zie Lawson in fourth.  Karklin got by Rice as did Lawson and Brandon McLain, but Harris was up high and rolling, keep­ing distance on the field. The top group was racing hard to catch Harris as the laps were clicking off with Andy Best and Jake Karklin trying work up through the field before laps ran out.  After a quick caution for a spin, Harris was back to the top and rolling. Lawson fell out but was replaced by Best. With the white flag in sight, Best was under John Karklin and Jake Karklin was all over his dad for third. As [Read More]