Local racing season continues trend of different winners

The trend of different winners on the local sprint car circuit continued last weekend as three more drivers added their names to this year’s list. Only one driver has won more than once on the local circuit all season, that being two-time winner Freddie Rahmer.

Last Friday, All Star regular Zeb Wise claimed his first ever Williams Grove win in that track’s opener. Wise was one of several All Star drivers to head east after the All Star weekend in Ohio was postponed due to wet track conditions.  Ironically, another All Star, Hunter Schuerenberg, headed west and won against the IRA sprints on the same night.

At the Grove, Wise was part of a tight three-car battle that saw him edge Dillsburg’s Anthony Macri by just 0.182 seconds after a last-lap pass.

At Lincoln on Saturday, Lewisberry’s Kyle Moody raced to his first win in several years, besting Lincoln’s most recent winner — York’s Chase Dietz — for the victory. 

And at Port Royal Saturday, it was Devon Borden taking his first win of the season. Borden, however, has been very close all season. In fact, the win moved the youngster from Washington state to the top of the Central PA series standings.

Borden actually did double duty at Williams Grove on Friday, finishing fifth in the sprint car feature and fourth in the 358 sprint car event.

One driver who made his first start evert at Williams Grove on Friday also came east after the Ohio postponement.  Sean Rayhall is from Winston, Georgia, but has been doing some sprint car racing in Ohio. But Rayhill is not known as a sprint car driver, at least not yet. His background in racing is in road racing.  In fact, Rayhall was the 2017 champion of the LMP3 European LeMans series.

On Friday at the Grove, Rayhill made it into the feature by winning the consolation event. He finished 20th in the feature.

Cody Fletcher’s win in the 358 sprint car feature at Williams Grove Friday was his first-ever victory at the track. His grandfather, the late Harry Fletcher, fielded winning cars at the Grove for many years, and Cody’s father Bobby also raced there.

The Fletcher family owns Williams Grove National Open wins with both Johnny Grum and Steve Smith. But Cody's win Friday was the first for the family at the historic oval since wins by Smith in the mid-1980s.

Weird problems: Two local tracks ran into some strange situations last weekend. Hagerstown had to postpone its show after qualifying had been completed when an electrcial transformer blew up on the track grounds.

Selinsgrove had even worse problems, as they never even got to race after the main water line to the track burst during the week. The track had to cancel not only last Saturday’s show, but the one planned for this coming week as well.

THIS WEEK

Williams Grove returns to action Friday evening with the 410 sprint cars headlining a triple-open-wheel show. The wingless USAC East Coast 360 sprint series and the PASS 305 sprints are also on the slate.

The late models race at Bedford on Friday.

On Saturday, Lincoln will again host the 410 sprints and the 358 sprints, while Port Royal has the 410 sprints, super late models and limited late models on York County Racing Club night.

Hagerstown goes to the post Saturday with the late model sportsmen and the UMP modifieds as headliners. Look for extra features after last week’s electrical problems.

Path Valley’s Saturday show includes wingless super sportsmen, PASS 305 sprints and micro sprints.

BAPS Motor Speedway has a two-race weekend slate. Saturday is “Start Them All” night with all competitors on hand starting the features. On the racing card are the super sportsmen, 602 crate modifieds, Legends, extreme stock cars and scramble cars.

Then on Sunday, the 410 sprints return to BAPS in a show that also includes the wingless super sportsmen and the 602 crate modifieds.

2023 J & S CLASSICS CENTRAL PA SPRINT CAR SERIES presented by HOSEHEADS

Listing: position, car number, driver, points, series wins

After 4/8

1.         23        Devon Borden               201       1

2.         8/51 Freddie Rahmer                             188       2

2.         48        Danny Dietrich              188

4.         39M      Anthony Macri               176       1

5.         13        Justin Peck                               145       1

6.         99m      Kyle Moody                               125       1

7.         2D        Chase Dietz                              110       1

8.         5w        Lucas Wolfe                              91        1

9.         26        Zeb Wise                                  80        1

10.       5          Dylan Cisney                             75        1

11.       5e        Brandon Rahmer                       68

12.       19        Brent Marks                              65

13.       67        Justin Whittall                58

14.       75/5      Tyler Ross                                56

15.       24        Rico Abreu                                50        1

15.       44        Dylan Norris                              50

17.       91        Kyle Reinhardt              46

17.       16        Matt Campbell               46

19.       1x         Chad Trout                               45

19.       45        Jeff Halligan                              45

19.       4          Zane Rudisill                             45

22.       33        Gerard McIntyre Jr                    42

23.       39        Troy Wagaman Jr                      38

23.       55        Mike Wagner                            38

25.       69k       Lance Dewease            35

25.       49        Brad Sweet                               35

25        9P        Parker PriceMiller                      35