pennsylvaniasprintseries Archives

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]

Second chance precedes Walp’s first PASS win

YORK HAVEN, Pa. (May 18) – Second chances don’t always happen, so when John Walp got one Saturday night at BAPS Motor Speedway, he took full advantage, leading from start to finish and winning the 20-lap PA Sprint Series feature. It was Walp’s first feature win. Walp had spun out while leading Friday night’s IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature at Clinton County Speedway, so getting another chance at a front-row starting spot was too good to pass up. Walp grabbed the lead from fellow front-row starter Jaremi Hanson and held Hanson at bay to score a 2.319-second victory. “The car was awesome,” an emotional Walp said in victory lane. “The track held moisture all night. We were spot on. I couldn’t ask for anything better.” BAPS was a likely place for Walp’s breakthrough in his no. 5 Sprinter. His best previous PASS finish was a runner-up showing at this track last August, and he finished third in the feature on April 20 Hanson stalked Walp throughout the event but never able to complete a challenge. [Read More]

Duke tops Port Royal for fourth PASS win of season

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (May 11) – Ken Duke Jr. outran fellow front-row starter Jonathan Jones for the first-lap lead in Saturday’s Pennsylvania Sprint Series feature at Port Royal Speedway and made that advantage hold up for the 20-lap distance to score a wire-to-wire victory, his fourth of the season. The win was Duke’s second of the year at the Port “Speed Palace.” He has finished no lower than sixth in seven IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car features run so far.With 12 straight green-flag laps to the finish, lapped traffic became an issue, but Duke finessed that issue and held his lead to the end. Jones chased Duke for the entire race and collected his third straight runner-up finish at Port Royal. Roger Irvine, Doug Dodson and Devin Adams completed the top five. Zach Newlin, who only qualified for the feature with a last-lap, last-turn pass in his “B” main, advanced from 24th starting spot to 10th, earning the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Burnin’ Rubber Award for hard charger. PASS is now averaging 41 cars per appearance at [Read More]

Sweigart blasts past PASS foes at Port Royal Speedway

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 27) – In a performance worthy of his nickname, “Nitro” Nick Sweigart blasted the Pennsylvania Sprint Series field to earn his first victory since 2017 in the 20-lap feature Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. Flying past competitors on the outside from his 10th starting position, Sweigart took the lead from Jaremi Hanson on lap seven and never looked back, scoring the win by a 1.448-second margin over Jonathan Jones, who passed Hanson in the fourth turn of the final lap. Zach Newlin finished fourth, with Ryan Lynn taking fifth. Sweigart raced to seven top five finishes last year, including two runner-ups, but he hadn’t visited victory lane since August of 2017 at BAPS Motor Speedway. He had added two more top fives this season and had finished in the top 10 in all five previous PASS IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car events. A stellar field of 39 cars was in the pits and with the large field, Port Royal lead promoter Steve O’Neal added two starting positions to enable 26 cars to [Read More]

Newlin, Reigle race to PASS wins at BAPS Motor Speedway

YORK HAVEN, Pa. (April 20) – Defending Pennsylvania Sprint Series champion Zach Newlin joined Cale Reigle in visiting victory lane for the first time this season Saturday at BAPS Motor Speedway. Newlin led all the way to win the regularly scheduled 20-lap IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature after Reigle led all 19 laps of the evening’s first race, which completed a feature rained out two weeks earlier with one lap run. In the make-up feature, Devin Adams, Billy Ney, Newlin and Ken Duke Jr. followed Reigle across the finish line. The first feature was stopped following an early flip by Jake Frye but from that point Reigle sailed in front of the field while Ney, Larry McVey and Newlin dueled behind him. Duke put on the evening’s charge, coming from 11th to fourth over the final seven laps. Ney surprised regular fans by racing low, the opposite of his norm. The scheduled feature saw Ganoe follow Newlin across the finish line, with John Walp, Ken Duke Jr. and Landon Price completing the top five. Newlin [Read More]

Duke prevails at Path Valley for third straight PASS win

SPRING RUN, Pa. (April 13) – Ken Duke Jr. preserved his 2019 Pennsylvania Sprint Series winning streak Saturday night, winning the 20-lap feature race at Path Valley Speedway more than four tenth’s of a second over Doug Dodson. The Selinsgrove racer has now captured all three IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car features run so far, but this was hardly an easy win. With 21 of the 22 sprinters on hand making the call for the feature, traffic was an incessant issue on the wide Path Valley quarter mile. Mike Alleman grabbed the early lead but just as the leaders were moving into heavy traffic, a lap seven caution bunched the field. On the restart, Duke, who had moved from sixth starting position into third, shot to the front. The longest green-flag run of the night followed a lap nine restart and Duke made it through traffic well enough to keep his challengers at bay. Terry Schaeffer got into the turn three wall with two laps remaining, but on the restart, Duke chose the middle lane and [Read More]

Duke prevails in PASS feature at Port Royal

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 6) – Ken Duke Jr. grabbed the lead from Nathan Gramley in turn two on lap 12 and went on to win Saturday’s 20-lap Pennsylvania Sprint Series feature at Port Royal Speedway. It was Duke’s second straight IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Series victory for 2019. The largest field in Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car racing so far this year, 43 cars, entered the race, and 25 of the 26 starters completed the distance. Entries came from as far away as Vermont and North Carolina. Late-charging Johnathan Jones got past Gramley with two laps to go and took second place. Gramley held on for third, followed by Nick Sweigart and Ryan Lynn. From his fourth starting position, Duke has quickly assumed the runner-up spot behind Gramley, with Dabrosky, Lynn and Scarborough giving chase. Traffic gave Duke his chance on lap 12 and the 2016 PASS champ made the best of it. At one point his lead stretched to more than three seconds before Jones, who moved from sixth to second over the last five [Read More]

First doubleheader of season this weekend for PASS

PORT ROYAL, Pa. – The first two-race weekend of the season for the IMCA RaceSaver Pennsylvania Sprint Series should bring out the largest sprint car fields seen so far in 2019 in Central Pennsylvania. A 40-car field or even better is expected Saturday, April 6 when PASS is at Port Royal Speedway for that venue’s first night race of the season. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing is set to start at 6 p.m. at the historic Juniata County Fairgrounds track. Zach Newlin, last year’s point champion, is among those planning to be on hand, as are several other former Port Royal winners and a good selection of 2019’s large rookie field. On Sunday, BAPS Motor Speedway in York County, now 65 years since its opening, will feature an all-open wheel racing night. More than 30 pre-entries have been received for this show, which will begin at 5 p.m. Again, the field will include multiple former BAPS winners and members of this year’s rookie class. BAPS and Port Royal are the two speedways appearing [Read More]

Duke delivers opening night PASS feature win

SPRING RUN, Pa. (March 23) – 2016 Pennsylvania Sprint Series champion Ken Duke Jr. gave notice that he’ll be in the hunt for a second championship in 2019, winning the season-opening feature event Saturday at Path Valley Speedway. Duke made a low-side pass of Kyle Ganoe just past the halfway mark in the race and worked lapped traffic over the final circuits to grab the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car win. Ganoe held on for a runner-up finish, followed by hard-charging John Walp, Jeff Weaver and Devin Adams. Ganoe had grabbed the early lead from the pole, with outside front row starter Dave Grube spinning on the first lap. That moved Cale Reigle into second and that pair led the field for the first nine laps until a red flag for Kyle Keen’s tip-over after an incident with Austin Graby. On the restart, Duke passed Reigle, then chased down Ganoe. The race went under caution one last time when Reigle damaged his steering in an encounter with an infield marker tire. Duke pulled away when the [Read More]

Newlin scores emotional Port Royal PASS victory

PORT ROYAL, Pa. (June 30) – Zach Newlin picked up his first-ever Pennsylvania Sprint Series win Saturday at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night. Along with being a huge win for the entire team it was a fulfillment of a promise as Newlin dedicated his biggest win to William Sweger, who passed away July 15, 2017, at the young age of 12 after a courageous battle with leukemia. Newlin later said he was “damn near crying” for the final three laps of the make-up event from May 5. Newlin had started on the pole and may have breathed a sigh of relief when perennial favorite Jeff Miller got caught up in a early tangle with Dave Grube. Jonathon Jones started third and pulled ahead as the front pair ran side-by-side for the lead. Newlin eventually shot into the lead and never looked back. Jones held on for second followed by Dylan Shatzer, Nick Sweigart and Drew Ritchey. Feature results – 1. Zach Newlin; 2. Jonathon Jones; 3. Dylan Shatzer; 4. Nick Sweigart; 5. Drew Ritchey; 6. [Read More]