Not only do April showers bring May flowers, but they also bring canceled races.
(Western Pennsylvania invader Colton Flinner visited victory lane Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. Photo Rick Rarer)
This past weekend was another wet one which found many race tracks in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania forced to cancel. With the cancellations, several area drivers decided to head east to Port Royal Speedway Saturday, one of Pennsylvania’s premier dirt tracks. Despite a two-hour rain delay, the track was able to complete their racing program and for two western Pennsylvania drivers, it was a great night.
Young Colton Flinner has been making a name for himself in the super late model ranks the past two seasons and Saturday he made his presence known once again by winning the 25-lap nonstop feature. The win was the second of his career at Port Royal Speedway.
Colton’s win did not come easy though, as he held off 14-time winner Dylan Yoder at the checkers for the win. ”We were trying a new car the last few times we were here. This is the car we had in Florida and it’s really good. I hope nothing ever happens to it,” said Flinner in victory lane. “I didn’t know Yoder was coming, but he’s so good at this place on the top. So I’m just glad to hold him off”.
With the All-Star Circuit of Champions canceling their weekend of racing George Hobaugh of Evans City found himself at Port Royal again this season. Hobaugh took advantage of a front row starting spot to lead the first eighteen laps of the sprint car feature and nearly the win. One of the hottest drivers in the country right now, Danny Dietrich would get by Hobaugh on lap nineteen and score his fourth win of 2019. Hobaugh would hold on for a career-best fourth at the Juniata oval.
Defending Lernerville Speedway champion AJ Flick also had a good night finishing sixth in the sprint car feature while other locals, Sye Lynch, Jack Sodeman Jr, and Gary Kriess all made the feature event. This Saturday Port Royal will present Open Wheel Madness featuring 410, 305, and URC sprint cars with racing slated for 6:00 p.m.
George Hobaugh (40) and AJ Flick (2) both had good runs at Port Royal this past weekend. Photo by Rick Rarer.
Lernerville Speedway was one of the tracks that fell victim to rain this past weekend. After losing their season opener to rain the track will try again this Friday with another “Fab 4” racing program headlining the show. Racing gets underway at 7:30 sharp. This Friday will also be Autism Awareness Night at the track.
Hummingbird Speedway had their first practice day of 2019 scheduled for this past Saturday but it also fell victim to rain. Both Hummingbird and Thunder Mountain Speedway will have practice sessions scheduled this Saturday. Action at Thunder Mountain will get underway at noon while practice at Hummingbird will take the green flag at 5:00 p.m.
The newly opened Michaels’ Mercer Raceway will hold their “grand opening” race this Saturday with a regular five division show featuring the big block modifieds. 305 sprints, limited modifieds, mini stocks, and mod lites will round out the program. Saturday will also be the first night of points at the Mercer oval with racing getting underway at 7:00 p.m.
With the cancellation of the 30th annual Sprint Nationals featuring Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions at Attica Raceway Park over the weekend, the event will move to this Friday and become a one day show. The All-Stars will stay in Ohio Saturday and compete at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville competing a two-race weekend.
Central Pennsylvania’s hottest driver Lance Dewease continued his winning ways by dominating the Weldon Sterner Memorial at Lincoln Speedway this past Saturday. The win was the second consecutive victory for Dewease and brings his win total to nearly 13,000 dollars in just two races.
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About Rick
Rick Rarer, a Franklin resident, is the owner of Racestud.com and SprintCarNews.com. He has been covering racing for 18 years, taking racing photos for 13 years, and has covered races at over 100 tracks in 15 states. Most recently, Rick won the Bill Steinbach Media Award at the Lernerville Speedway Annual Awards Banquet.
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