Hello again race fans. Area racing is plentiful this weekend. Port Royal Speedway hosts a four division show of sprint cars, late models, pro stocks and enduro cars. Racing starts at 7.
At Selinsgrove, the 358 sprint cars are joined by late models, pro stocks and roadrunners. Lincoln has a fireworks display along with 410 and 358 sprint cars, and central PA legend cars. Williams Grove features super sportsman racing along with 305 sprint cars, 358 late models and street stocks. The biggest show is at Hagerstown, where the World of Outlaws late models are in action.
Next week, the USAC wingless sprint cars invade the region. They will race at Grandview Speedway on Tuesday and Williams Grove on Wednesday.
The ride swap season has started here in Central Pennsylvania. Daryn Pittman has taken over the Jesse Keen-owned No. 17 car previously driven by Pat Cannon. Cannon returns to 358 sprint car action in his old ride, the Zane Highlands No. 3. I have not heard who will drive the Pete Postupak No. 25 car; Pittman recently won in that car at Grandview.
The super sportsman cars were part of last week's Bedford Speedway Three State Flyers late model program. Aaron Eichelberger won the event. Bobby Hockenberry of New Bloomfield is the current sportsman point leader. Hockenberry has won a race this season at Port Royal. A large contingent of fans follow Hockenberry to the Juniata County track.
It was nice to see Steve Wilbur back in a sportsman car last Sunday night at Bedford. Wilbur has not raced since last summer when he was seriously burned in an accident at Williams Grove. Wilbur finished 20th.
The battle of the late models last week end actually turned out good for both Bedford and Central PA Speedways. Bedford had the traveling Three State Flyers series on hand and local driver Nick Dickson ran in the event, with 32 cars on hand. Central PA Speedway had 46 late models, including Lewistown driver Waylon Wagner, who finished 12th. Wagner had a good weekend that included a win Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.
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I want to clear up some confusion about the race. An area fan mentioned to me they felt the story I penned in this paper about Wagner's victory made it sound like Wagner was lucky to win. I certainly did not mean anything of the sort and I was surprised the reader interpreted the story in that manner. Waylon Wagner did a great job and his car came on strong during the second half of the race. Wagner went up on top of the track and blasted through the field much like we've seen from Scotty Haus and Tim Wilson. Wagner drove the wheels off the car and earned everything he got. I was happy to see him get the win.
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I was honored to work last Sunday night's Three State Flyer race at Bedford with the dean of area race announcers. Frank Sagi has been lured out of retirement and is the traveling series announcer. I enjoyed sitting beside him and just listening. Sagi has a way of telling a story while calling a race.
Sagi is 70-plus years old and has been announcing shows for over 45 years. Sagi got his start when he signed on at Hagerstown Speedway to be a scorer. The track was dry and dusty one day and the announcer was a radio DJ who was having trouble seeing the race cars. In frustration he handed the microphone to Sagi and told him to announce the race. The rest is history and a star was born. I'm glad he is back and I'll look forward to the next two races I will get to do with him this season.
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The Appalachian Dirt Late Model Series is right around the corner. The series starts at Hagerstown on June 6 and finishes June 12 at Bedford. Port Royal Speedway hosts the series June 11.
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Congratulations go out to Steve Bailor of East Waterford on winning the 358 late model feature at Susquehanna Speedway. Bailor purchased a former Eric Zembower car.
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Published reports in The Patriot-News this week indicate Lucas Wolfe has signed a deal to race in the Indy Lights Series next season. Wolfe will continue to run the 5W sprint car the remainder of this year.
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NASCAR comes to our region the next two weeks. This week end Dover, Delaware hosts action. The Autism Speaks 400 is on Fox TV Sunday starting at 2 p.m. Next week the Cup cars are at Pocono.
Until next week, please drive safely!
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Craig Rutherford writes about motorsports for The Sentinel. He is associated with Port Royal Speedway.
