From the Paper

By LEN SAMMONS Greg Mitchell has been a member of the Delaware motorsports community his entire life. On Saturday, the sun shined on him as he soaked in the glory of having nurtured Middleford Speedway back to life and into the kind of facility he had only dreamed about when he purchased the shuttered track. “I spent a lot of …

By STEVE BARRICK Aaron Reutzel’s drive to victory at Port Royal Speedway Friday night was an heroic effort. Reutzel had returned to racing one night before in the first of three days of High Limit Sprint racing after having sat out several weeks recovering from a significant injury to his right foot after a violent crash at Eldora Speedway. In …

By LEN SAMMONS Tyler Shullick’s season looked finished on Monday, August 18, at Fremont Speedway in Ohio, when his dirt 305 Sprint Car erupted in flames, leaving him with burns to his hands and face and a trip to the hospital and then a burn center. Just 11 days later, however, Shullick was at N.Y.’s Oswego Speedway, strapped into the …

Mat Williamson Goes From Nightmare To Sweet Dreams By LARRY OTT What started out as a nightmarish evening for Mat Williamson and his No. 88 Buzz Chew team eventually turned into a dream trip to Ransomville Speedway’s victory lane during the 40th Ron Martin Summer Nationals Super DIRTcar Series 75-lapper. Williamson arrived at Ransomville Aug. 12 for the Summer Nationals …

– Long-Time Announcer, EMPA Press Assoc. Founder; Sponsorship, Public Relations Specialist – By EARL KRAUSE Ernie Saxton, a nationally known auto racing columnist with Area Auto Racing News, long time “Voice of Grandview Speedway”; and specialist in the art of public relations and sponsorship in the sport, passed away on August 17 at age 84 after a brief illness that had …

By LEN SAMMONS Austin Beers has earned a golden opportunity to drive for four different asphalt Modified car owners at the age of 22, thanks to his on-track performances, and he’s capitalizing on it with incredible success. The second-generation driver currently leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings with 10 of 16 events completed. If he clinches the championship, …

By JACK O’CONNOR At Sharon Speedway’s Lou Blaney Memorial this past Saturday, Dale Blaney was looking to recreate the magic his brother Dave had last year, and as the laps wound down, he was giving local fans that glimmer of hope. The Hartford, OH driver started the 35-lap feature in fourth, but instantly fell back a spot to fifth and …

By STEVE BARRICK Shannon Slaughter, a 22 year-old Sportsman racer at Grandview Speedway became the first female feature winner in race track history Saturday night when she led the 25-lap Sportsman feature from start to finish. To do it, she had to hold off a determined effort on the part of Addison Meitzler, who had won two Sportsman features earlier …

By LEN SAMMONS It’s funny how things sometimes go full circle. Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell met as teenagers playing online racing video games. At one point, to pursue his own racing career, Bell slept on Briscoe’s family couch. When Briscoe’s NASCAR hopes were going nowhere, it was Bell who helped find him a path to success. Last year, when …

Twelve Year-Old Caleb Newlin Is Impressing As Sprint Co-Announcer By STEVE BARRICK A fresh, new voice being heard more and more often whenever the PASS 305 Sprint Cars are in action in Central Pennsylvania is that of 12-year-old Caleb Newlin, of Millerstown, PA, whose command of calling the on-track action alongside Stephanie Dodson is every bit as proficient as the …