pasprintseries Archives

Stephanie Dodson: Finding Her Voice in the Tower

By Ben Deatherage MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (May 20, 2026) — In the heart of Central Pennsylvania sprint car country — where engines echo through the Susquehanna Valley and some of the biggest names in the sport compete — Stephanie Dodson has found her place. For nearly three decades, she competed behind the wheel, starting in go-karts before eventually moving into Midgets and RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Cars. Today, it’s high above the track, in the announcer’s tower. A former driver turned play-by-play voice of the PA Sprint Series, Dodson is part of a growing wave of women in motorsports — but still one of the few regularly calling races corner to corner. It’s a role she never planned. And a path that, like most of her life in racing, found her along the way. Built Into Racing “I don’t think I even had a choice to get involved in racing,” Dodson joked. Her father, George Stevens, raced Stock Cars. Her uncle, Gary Stevens, competed across Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada in Small Block Modifieds. When her uncle stepped [Read More]

Bittner Goes Wire-to-Wire at Hagerstown

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (May 16, 2026) — Timmy Bittner put together a flawless evening Saturday night at Hagerstown Speedway, sweeping the program and wiring the field in the multi-sanctioned RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car feature. Thirty-four RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Cars filled the pit area for the event, which was co-sanctioned by the River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series, Virginia Sprint Series, and Laurel Highlands Sprint Series. Bittner, from Beech Creek, Pennsylvania, opened the night by winning his heat race before earning the pole position for the 26-car main event. Once the green flag waved, the No. 01 machine never surrendered the top spot. Behind him, several drivers battled intensely for podium positions throughout the feature, including Logan Spahr, Colton Hendershot, and Kenny Heffner. Despite pressure from the contenders, Bittner remained composed and drove away to score his second victory of the 2026 season and first with any of the three touring series this year. Spahr charged from ninth starting position to finish second, while Heffner completed the podium in third. Hendershot crossed the stripe fourth ahead of Ryan [Read More]

Weaver Breaks Through with First Port Royal Sprint Car Victory

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (May 2, 2026) — Lock Haven’s Jeff Weaver completed a steady climb to the top at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night, earning his first River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series feature win at “The Speed Palace” against a strong field of 47 RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Cars. Weaver, who has shown speed throughout the season with two heat race wins and a B-Main victory, finally converted that pace into a feature triumph. Starting up front, he led all 20 laps and crossed the line 1.678 seconds ahead of Timmy Bittner of Beech Creek. After beginning his PASS career in 2018, Weaver spent his early seasons competing primarily at smaller tracks, earning a win at Path Valley Speedway in 2020. He began racing at Port Royal the following year, steadily improving with a 10th-place finish in his second start, a top five the next season, and a third-place run two years ago. Saturday night marked the breakthrough he had been building toward. The closing laps proved challenging as Bittner, a familiar rival [Read More]

Heffner Takes Delayed Port Royal Feature

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Apr. 18, 2026) — Kenny Heffner added to his reputation as one of Port Royal Speedway’s most reliable front-runners in the River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series by taking the 20-lap make-up feature Saturday from April 4. Heffner fought off a determined Jarrett Cavalet to win the Penns Valley Meat Market feature that had been rained out two weeks ago. It was his fifth career win at the “Speed Palace,” a track just over an hour south of his Watsontown home. Heffner lined up fourth on the grid for the race—he had been a heat race winner for the event on April 4—with Cavalet, from Hollidaysburg, taking the early lead. The race only went one lap before Friday night’s Selinsgrove winner Drew Young got into the turns three and four guardrail, barely avoiding a flip and ending his night. Another caution followed, this time for a slowing Tyler Brehm. Doug Dodson, who had started fifth, also pulled into the pits during the stoppage. The next restart set the stage for [Read More]

Drew Young Tops Selinsgrove

By Frank Buhrman SELINSGROVE, Pa. (Apr. 17, 2026) — Former rodeo competitor Drew Young of Beaver Springs scored his second Selinsgrove Speedway victory, and fifth of his career, Friday night in the 20-lap River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series feature at the big Snyder County oval. Young, the track’s 2025 Sportsmanship Award winner, inherited first place on lap two when Dustin Young of Danville, no relation, blew his engine after taking the early lead. Drew Young then held off several challenges from 2025 PASS and Selinsgrove Rookie of the Year Chris Dolan of York to win by 0.183 seconds. Drew Young was runner-up in the PASS season standings last year. He joined the RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car tour as a regular in 2021 after a four-race trial the year before and scored his first series win in 2023. Dolan notched his best career finish and was more than two seconds ahead of third-place finisher Kruz Kepner of nearby Kreamer, the 2025 PASS champion who also claimed the track’s IMCA Sprint Car division title last year. Although [Read More]

Jim ‘Cowboy’ Kennedy: A Life Remembered

By Ben Deatherage EVERETT, Pa. (Apr. 21, 2026) — RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car racer Jim “Cowboy” Kennedy never needed much to go racing — just a car, a wrench, and a reason to keep going. For nearly seven decades, the Pennsylvania native carved out a place in sprint car racing that few could ever match, continuing to compete well into his 90s before his passing on April 2 at the age of 91. But long before the tributes, the Hall of Famer had already told his story — in conversations with reporters, at racetracks, and in the quiet, in-between moments that defined a life spent chasing the next green flag. A Life That Spanned Generations Kennedy was born on August 7, 1934, into a world far different than the one he would come to know behind the wheel of a Sprint Car. The United States was deep in the Great Depression, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early years of his first term, working to steady a nation searching for its footing as parts of [Read More]

Spahr On Rails at Hub City Oval to Win at Hagerstown

By Jim Haines HAGERSTOWN, Md. (Apr. 11, 2026) — Logan Spahr had his car like it was on rails at Hagerstown Speedway Saturday, showing speed all night long by sweeping his heat and staying strong through the feature to take his first win of the season. Thirty-nine RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Cars signed in for the event, co-sanctioned by the Virginia Sprint Series, Pennsylvania Sprint Series, and the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series. Logan Spahr and Ryan Lynn paced the field to green, with Spahr jumping out front as Jeff Miller and Mike Melair quickly closed in. Kenny Heffner, Ryan Lynn, and Ken Duke Jr. were all part of the lead pack early. Spahr continued to lead with Miller staying close while Melair worked his way into second as the field shuffled for position behind them. After a yellow for a spin and a stalled car, the action resumed with Donnie Hendershot showing speed as he moved into second and set his sights on Spahr. Hendershot closed the gap but ran out of laps as Spahr raced under [Read More]