By Frank Buhrman
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (My 31, 2025) — Timmy Bittner kept the streak alive, then Kruz Kepner smashed it.
On a cold night, Port Royal Speedway officials heated up the action by dividing the 50-car River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series field in half and running two complete features. Bittner extended the series’ run of new 2025 winners to eight with an impressive 2.694-second win over Mike Melair in the first feature.
Kepner then became the season’s first repeat winner in the second feature, finishing 1.279 seconds ahead of Logan Spahr.
For Bittner, from Beech Creek in Clinton County, it also was his first career PASS victory, although he has won elsewhere and is a former RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car Pennsylvania State champion. It was his second win in about 48 hours, coming after he took the checkers Thursday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in an Allegheny Sprint Tour event.
Kepner’s win was his eighth with PASS – again, augmented by victories in other IMCA events – and it strengthened his hold on the early season PASS points chase. For the driver whose Kreamer home is just up the road from Selinsgrove Speedway, though, it was his first win at Port Royal.
First-starting John Braim grabbed the initial lead in the first feature, with “Nitro Nick” Sweigart and Bittner battling for second. Bittner won that battle, then got past Braim on lap five. After a strong challenge from Sweigart, Bittner built a healthy lead. Lapped traffic did nothing to diminish it.
Mike Melair got past Sweigart with five laps to go and took second, but he had nothing for the winner, either. At the end, it was Bittner taking the win over Melair and Sweigart.
The second feature had a wild start, with third-starting Kolby Weaver spinning while going for the front in the first and second turns. Miraculously, the entire field got past, although there was some contact with Logan Spahr during the spin.
A complete restart saw Kepner grab the lead with Spahr and Jason Roush battling for second. Kepner, meanwhile, built a nice lead, but Spahr began to cut into it when lapped traffic entered the picture on lap eight.
Just as it appeared there might be a battle for the lead in traffic, the cars of Cory Stabley, Cody Hoover, and Landon Tressler tangled in the third and fourth turns, ending their day and temporarily removing traffic from the competition equation.
Kepner got a good lead on the restart, and while traffic became an issue again on lap 17, the leader had enough of a margin by that time to pass under the checkered flag comfortably ahead.
Following Kepner and Spahr across the line was Kenny Heffner in third.
Kruz Kepner celebrates in victory lane after winning the second main event of the night for the River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series at Port Royal Speedway on May 31. The win was his second of the 2025 PASS season, eighth overall, and his first at Port Royal. (Photo by PASS Series)
The race format, splitting a large field of cars into two features, was tried successfully last season at Virginia’s Winchester Speedway and will be used there and at Hagerstown Speedway later this year. Both races pay the full PASS purse and full points.
