portroyalspeedway Archives

Bittner Perseveres, Wins at Racy Port Royal

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Aug. 2, 2025) — While the other divisions running at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night were completing their preliminary races, Timmy Bittner was going back and forth on the access road behind the backstretch, trying to sort out an ignition problem. Persistence paid off. With the problem finally under control, Bittner fought his way into second place behind Erin Statler in the early running, then caught Statler in traffic on lap 13, came out with the lead after a furious three-way battle that also included Doug Dodson, and finally held off Dodson and Josh Spicer in another hotly contested battle to earn the 20-lap feature win. It was the Beech Creek racer’s second career River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series win – although he has won features elsewhere – and his second this year at Port Royal. Perhaps more importantly, it strengthened his position atop the RaceSaver IMCA National points over defending series champion Lee Goos Jr. of South Dakota. With the ignition issues, the evening hadn’t always looked that [Read More]

Dodson Powerful in Port Royal Win

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (July 19, 2025) — Doug Dodson’s starting position – outside of the second row – presented an opportunity the veteran racer from Middletown wasn’t going to pass up. On the initial start of Saturday’s 20-lap River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series feature at Port Royal Speedway, Dodson quickly moved into second place and was challenging early leader Mike Melair when the caution flew on lap three for Croix Beasom, who flipped at the fourth turn end of the frontstretch. Melair fired off strong on the restart, but Dodson wasted no time getting back to work. Just two laps later, he executed a clean slide job in turns one and two to take the lead—a position he never gave back. Dodson, smooth in traffic over the final four laps, cruised to the checkered flag for his 11th career PASS win, crossing 1.705 seconds ahead of last week’s Port Royal winner Josh Spicer. Spicer stormed from seventh to second, passing Melair on the final circuit. Melair, piloting the Rod Ort-owned entry, settled [Read More]

Spicer Breaks Through with PASS at Port Royal

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Jul. 12, 2025) — Josh Spicer is a proven frontrunner, with multiple wins to his credit, but in 86 prior starts with the River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series dating back to 2018, his best finishes were a pair of seconds. Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, the racer from Julian – in Centre County just northwest of State College – took care of that issue and became the fourth racer to score his first ever PASS victory in 2025, leading all the way to claim the 20-lap feature. Spicer used the outside line to grab the early lead from his second starting position, with Friday night’s Selinsgrove winner Ken Duke Jr. following him. On lap eight, the defending PASS Champion slowed with engine failure. That moved Drew Young into the runner-up slot, and he would challenge Spicer on this and each subsequent restart, but Spicer was not to be denied. On lap 10, Tyler Schell and Dustin Young tangled, with Young hitting the outside wall between turns three and [Read More]

Sweigart Breaks Record with Third KRC Win At Port Royal

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 [Read More]

Bittner and Kepner Take PA Sprint Series Checkers at Port Royal

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 [Read More]

Sweigart Dominates PASS Opener

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Apr. 19, 2025) — “Nitro Nick” Sweigart’s plan to focus on Port Royal Speedway in 2025 got off to a perfect start Saturday with a dominating victory in the 20-lap River Valley Builders PA Sprint Series feature at the “Speed Palace.” The veteran driver from Myerstown, already the leading career winner at Port Royal among active RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car competitors, officially won Saturday’s feature by 1.399 seconds over Logan Spahr, but he had given up multiple large leads when the race’s four yellow flags waved, only to quickly rebuild his margins at the next green. Despite the efforts of several challengers, none could compete with the Jon Williams-owned no. 89. The win was Sweigart’s 12th in a PASS career that dates to 2017, but it was his eighth at Port Royal, where he trails only Garrett Bard (13) and Jeff Miller (12) in career victories. He and Miller are the only two-time champions of the Keystone RaceSaver Challenge at Port Royal, and he will defend his champion title when the race takes place on [Read More]

Sweigart sprints to second Keystone RaceSaver title

By Frank Buhrman and Stephanie Dodson PORT ROYAL, Pa. (July 20, 2024) – Nick Sweigart wired the field at Port Royal Speedway Saturday to become only the second driver ever to win the River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series’ biggest race, the Keystone RaceSaver Challenge, twice. The veteran driver, who returned to PASS last season after a couple of seasons running 410 sprints, collected his 11th career victory with his latest win. Seven of those have come at Port Royal. Sweigart joins Jeff Miller as the only drivers to win the Keystone RaceSaver Challenge twice in its 13 runnings. His seventh Port Royal win overall moved him into third place in overall PASS wins at the track, trailing only Miller and Garrett Bard, each with 12. In victory lane, the winner revealed that he plans to retire at the end of this season, making the win all the more meaningful. Owen Dimm, who joined Sweigart on the front row for the race start, finished second. Dimm was able to cut into Sweigart’s lead several times in [Read More]

Spahr wins from 11th at Port Royal

By Stephanie Dodson and Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (June 22, 2024) – It was a performance reminiscent of a year ago for River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series defending champion Logan Spahr. Starting 11th in a strong field of IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, Spahr blasted through the field and took the lead from race-long frontrunner Doug Dodson with two laps to go, crossing under the checkered flags in front by 2.179 seconds for his second win of 2024 Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. That’s not in the same league as his performance last year, when Spahr won seven of the year’s first 10 races, but it was the team’s second of the year and at the least a hint of better things to come, and it was especially welcome with PASS’s return to Port Royal this weekend for the season’s biggest race, the Keystone RaceSaver Challenge. Despite the disappointment of not winning, it also was a boost for the veteran Dodson, who had scored top-10 finishes in six of seven starts this year but had [Read More]

Speedy recovery, speedy driver Austin Reed

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (June 1, 2024) – Talk about a quick turnaround! Just two weeks to the night after injuring his hand in a wicked flip into the trees while heading for a runaway win at Hagerstown Speedway, Austin Reed planted his no. 34 IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car in victory lane after charging through the field to win the 20-lap River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series feature Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. He became the fifth different winner in PASS’s rain-hampered 2024 season, and the win was his eighth with the series and first at Port Royal. Reed started 11th in a tough field, already narrowed down from 44 entrants, and by lap 12 he was up to third, behind race-long frontrunner Owen Dimm and determined challenger Mike Melair. As Dimm and Melair waged a fierce battle for the lead, Reed patiently waited for his chance, and on lap 18 he pounced, passing both drivers. In those last two laps, the winner pulled away slightly and edged Dimm by 1.273 seconds, with Melair [Read More]

Sweigart rides high side to Port Royal PASS victory

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (April 20, 2024) – Two weeks ago, Nick Sweigart committed to the high side of Port Royal Speedway’s racing surface, and while his racing line thrilled the crowd, he needed some late attrition among other front-runners for it to result in a fourth-place finish in the River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series makeup of the 2023 Keystone RaceSaver Challenge. This Saturday night was very different. Hanging high, and hitting the wall once, the Myerstown veteran shot from his sixth starting position into second on the opening lap, then got past early leader Ken Duke at the beginning of lap three. From that point on, Sweigart was atop the Speed Palace leaderboard and despite his critical appraisal of his driving over the last half of the race, he held his lead in traffic and scored a 2.159-second victory over defending PASS champion Logan Spahr, who took the runner-up spot from Duke on the final circuit of the 20-lap feature. The feature ran non-stop and was completed in less than seven minutes. Only [Read More]