By Frank Buhrman
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Jun. 28, 2025) — “Nitro” Nick Sweigart has made no secret of his 2025 goals revolving around Port Royal Speedway, and he checked a big one off his list Saturday in the River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series Keystone RaceSaver Challenge, becoming the first driver to win the Port Royal Speedway classic three times.
Sweigart, from Myerstown, led the 14th annual KRC feature nearly all the way, but a furious challenge from runner-up Christian Rumsey of New York turned the last four laps into a lead-swapping race for the ages.
When the top two encountered slower traffic on lap 17, it looked like Sweigart’s lead was far too great for that factor to make any difference, but Rumsey found something that helped him slice off large chunks of the margin in the third and fourth turns, and with four to go he slipped underneath Sweigart and into the lead.
Undaunted, Sweigart came back exiting turn four, and for the next two laps the lead switched hands a couple more times before the eventual winner put a lapped car between himself and Rumsey and took the checkered flag with a 1.169-second margin of victory.
Rumsey had to fight off Dustin Young on the last lap to hold onto second by one-third of a second.
With 51 RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car teams on hand, representing five different regional groups (and five states), just qualifying for the feature was perhaps the ultimate test.
The race purse, already double that of a normal River Valley Builders PASS race, was bolstered further by multiple lap sponsors, whose awards were distributed evenly throughout the field, and by team entry fees designated for specific purse distribution.
