Newsmaker of the Week

What does it take to make news on the World Of Outlaws circuit? Beat Donny Schatz, that’s what. And that’s what PA Posse favorite Greg Hodnett did, at Lincoln Speedway last Wednesday, making the hugely partisan Keystone awash in excitement. But Hodnett wasn’t done. At Williams Grove two days later, Hodnett raced Schatz on even terms for the entire race, settling …

Youth will be served. That adage certainly applies to contemporary auto racing where more and more winners are relying on the exhuberance of youth to shine on the speedways, rather than the wisdom of experience. This past Saturday, sixteen year old Ryan Krachun shocked the racing world when he won the Modified feature at New Egypt Speedway. New Egypt is …

Tested tough asphalt Modified veteran Chuck Hossfeld is used to winning big races and championships. Once a ‘young gun’ who raced all over the Northeast, Hossfeld has settled into a more predictible pattern – that of racing for the RoC championship and winning the high profile, rich races along the way. Hossfeld got his northeastern season off to the best …

The sport of racing is a swinging pendulum, from the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, often within days of one another. Pennsylvanian Cody Darrah’s first pinnacle came when he earned the ride in Kasey Kahne’s World Of Outlaws team. He savored life on the road at Sprint Car racing’s highest level for several years. Then, the axe …

For Jackie Brown, Jr., Thanksgiving dinner came four and a half months late. That’s because the delayed ‘Gobbler’ at Accord Speedway was finally completed last Tuesday night. For Brown, it was well worth the fast. By the time the lap money, purse, and other cash incentives were tallied Brown earned over $7,800 for his efforts. Brown’s win was the richest …

Domination. That’s what driver Doug Coby asserted over the field of NASCAR Whelen Modified Touring Series competitors in Sunday’s Icebreaker, the opener of the 2015 Tour season at Thompson (CT) Motorsports Park. Demoralized. That’s the feeling rivals must have had when they left Thompson after Coby started up front and stayed there, save for a few laps when desperate pit strategies …

‘Ryan’s World’. That’s what a trio of like named Newsmakers turned the racing fraternity into this past weekend with fourhigh profile wins in three states. The first ‘Ryan’ is Pennsylvanian Smith, who shocked the 410 Sprint community with a win Saturday at Attica (OH) Raceway in the first points race for Tony Stewart’s All Star Sprint Series. For Smith, it …

It was as powerful a statement as could possibly be made by a Sprint Car driver. Danny Dietrich’s aggressive drive to victory Friday on the hallowed soil of Williams Grove Speedway came with some heady driving on a challenging track. The triumphant charge singled out Dietrich as the man to beat in the year to come at ‘The Grove’ and …

The racing community was dealt a double dose of sorrow this past week with the sudden deaths of two of its most prominant people. Andrew Fusco, noted New York State attorney, lifelong race fan, the legal council behind the formulation of the DIRT orgnization, died suddenly. He was 62. Three days later, Earl Baltes, builder, owner and promoter of Eldora …

Breaking free from the grip of winter was no easy task for Fred Putney and his track crew. But last Sunday afternoon, the widely respected Lincoln (PA) Speedway track preparer gave the 410 Sprint drivers and their fans a place to race after promoters Don Leiby and Alan Kreitzer decided to ‘go for it’. Greg Hodnett and Mike Heffner are …