Newsmaker of the Week

Jimmy Phelps’ win in the Outlaw 200 at Fulton Speedway for Dirt Modifieds is a maker of news for two reasons. First, the win was worth $20,000 which is one of the highest first place payouts of the season. Anytime someone makes that much money, it’s big. Second, the win demonstrated that Phelps is peaking at exactly the right time …

Two great names in dirt tracking arose anew this past weekend and did so when there was big money on the line. Stevie Smith sprinted to the front at Lincoln Speedway to win the rich $20,000 Dirt Classic, making himself a favorite in this coming week’s Williams Grove National Open. Billy Pauch proved again that he is King Of The …

Newsmakers Of The Week have to do something extraordinary. Mere winning isn’t enough. Matt Sheppard, who has been a frequent Newsmaker this summer, had to do something noteworthy – and different. He did. After winning his tenth race of the first 20 on the Super DIRT Series circuit at Brewerton Speedway, Sheppard finished second the next night at Weedsport in …

The biggest race for 358 Modifieds is the Freedom 76er at Grandview (PA) Speedway. It’s a race that can make a driver’s season with a victory. It can also ruin it with a heartbreaking loss. Grandview veteran Jeff Strunk, a ten time track champion, has seen both sides of Freedom 76er drama. He had won the race five times, including the …

Any top sports figure distinguishes themselves from the rest every time they face down adversity and bounce back from it. Matt Sheppard did just that last week. He won the rich Mr. DIRT Lebanon Valley race, the Canandaigua and Utica-Rome features and both track’s championships over the span of four days. Remarkable, newsworthy in its own right, of course. But Sheppard …

When one of the great ones gets his first win after an extended period of time, that’s a feel good racing story. Jimmy Horton’s Modified win at Orange County Fair Speedway was an occasion positively awash with excitement. For one thing, Horton hadn’t won a race at Middletown in twenty years. More importantly, Horton’s personal annual win streak of 44 …

Fans of 410 Sprint racing who took in the All Star Circuit Of Champions races at Grandview (PA)  Speedway and Lebanon Valley (NY) Speedway saw the first and only races in the Northeast that Steve Kinser is likely to drive in this season and likely the last two races of his career. The Sprint Car Legend, in a class by himself, …

One of the greatest Sprint Car races ever run. An Instant Classic. That’s what the 2016 Knoxville Nationals Saturday night A-Main is being referred to after invincible Donny Schatz was passed for the lead – as in passed – by Jason Johnson. When Johnson took the checkered flag, the packed grandstand went berserk. Johnson himself was emotional mix of humility, …

The racing world awoke Sunday morning shocked and saddened by the news that popular Bryan Clauson has been severely injured in a crash at the Belleville Midget Nationals in Kansas. Perhaps, many reasoned, he would grit his teeth, pull through, and come back better than ever. But the Monday morning reports of the death of Bryan Clauson cast a pall …

From wrecked race car to feature win. That was path traveled by second generation 410 Sprint Car driver Freddie Rahmer, Jr., who wadded up a car Tuesday night at Grandview, then, three nights later, won on one of 410 Sprint Car racing’s most legendary stages, Williams Grove Speedway. It’s hard to imagine what must have been going through young Rahmer’s …