Danner Turns Heads During Super Late Model Debut 

One driver that turned some heads during the Appalachian Mountain Late Model Speedweek event at Bridgeport Motorsports Park on Sunday night was Briggs Danner.

Danner made his first ever Super Late Model start on Sunday night behind the wheel of the Jim Bernheisel owned No. 31

. The Allentown, PA driver ran inside the top five for the entire 40-lap distance and came away with a fourth place finish at the checkered flag.

“I felt really

good, I had a lot of fun, it definitely wore me out. I hope I get to do it again sometime,” relayed the 23-year-old Danner.

“Once I half got into a rhythm I felt pretty decent. It was tough to pass, you re

ally had to drive it hard and guys like Satterlee and Bernheisel, they’ve been around a while and they know what they have to do.”

“I really wanted to finish on the podium. I felt like I was racing pretty good with those guys, I caught a couple breaks with some racing deals and restarts. I kept getting stuck on the bottom and the track was really greasy except for the one lane around the berm. I had to fight my way to get to the top, then when I was finally able to restart on the top they went single file so that really didn’t help me out.”

A few weeks back during a regular Saturday night program at Bridgeport, Danner hopped behind the wheel of the car for the first time, getting a couple practice sessions throughout the night.

“It (those laps) helped a lot. We finished where we did tonight because I was able to qualify well and I was able to qualify well because I was comfortable on my own. I think I could have had a better lap but I can’t complain, these guys have been doing it for a while. Denny and Jim Bernheisel along with everyone from Lazer Chassis gave me a really good car to be able to do it so it’s not just on my end,” Danner said.

Danner, who has quickly become one of the most versatile drivers in the Northeast, has driven Modifieds, TQ Midgets, SpeedSTR’s, Dirt Midgets, Winged and Non-Winged Sprint Cars and USAC Silver Crown cars in recent years.

The Super Late Model was the first time he had ever sat on the left side of any type of race car.

“The Modified is getting to be like one of these, but you sit in the middle, so you’re not moving around as much. Everything is exaggerated and the right side of the car is a long ways away. It was a big adjustment. I feel comfortable by myself but having to work around traffic and with other guys is a lot different,” Danner explained.

Over the past few years, the money that is able to be earned racing a Super Late Model on a national level has grown astronomically. Still though, Danner was not sure when asked if a Late Model career is something he thought about pursuing.

“It’s fun for sure. This was a track that I know, so that definitely helped me out a lot. It’s like anything else, you go do different things and learn, that’s part of it. There’s not a whole lot of Late Model racing around here and we’re already doing a lot of traveling with the Sprint Car. People ask me all the time what I want to do or where I want to be and I really don’t know,” noted Danner.

“I just like to jump in different stuff and race what I want, when I can and be good at it.”

When asked about how the deal came together to drive one of Bernheisel’s cars, it was actually his USAC Sprint Car owner Tim Hogue that matched them together.

“When Kutztown and the Fall Clash Series announced their Late Model race, right away I wanted to run it. Tim Hogue, who I drive the Sprint Car for is good friends with Jim Bernheisel. We got to talking and he said, let’s do somet

hing somewhere else first but that race isn’t until September. He said that Bridgeport was coming up and it was a track that I was comfortable with and that’s why we’re here.” he summarized.

This coming week the USAC National Sprint Cars invade for the annual Eastern Storm. One week that Danner has had circled on his calendar for almost a year.

In 2024 during the Eastern Storm opener at Grandview Speedway, Danner raced to his first career triumph with the USA

C National Series and was in contention to win a few more. throughout the week.

“I would like to repeat, I think we’re owed a little bit of redemption after last year. I think realistically we had three races won, maybe even four and if we were not in contention to do the same this year then we went in the wrong direction. We definitely have to be just as consistent as we were last year and put ourselves in good spots to be right there again,” outlined Danner.