Dewease, PA Posse Prevail Against All-Stars at Williams Grove and Port Royal
By Kyle Magda
The Tezo's All-Star Circuit of Champions made a stop to Central Pennsylvania after Tyler Courtney won the first night of the Northeast swing at Bridgeport Speedway. The PA Posse was ready for the All-Stars and the Posse took the top seven spots in Friday's feature at Williams Grove.
Lance Dewease was in normal winning form with Kreitz Racing at Williams Grove Speedway Friday night. Dewease charged from eighth to first around a red-hot Anthony Macri to score another victory at the Grove. Car owner Don Kreitz Jr. becomes the winningest 410 sprint car owner at Williams Grove.
The first night of the Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway saw Anthony Macri dominate to a nine-and-a-half second victory at the Speed Palace. The Legend Mike Wagner finished second to Macri.
The PA Posse looked good all weekend. They took care of the All-Star Circuit of Champions drivers and pole-sitter Lance Dewease led every lap of the 29-lap feature Sunday night, winning $29,000 in the Bob Weikert Memorial.
Macri tried running Dewease down Sunday night, but the Concrete Kid fell short of sweeping the weekend. Dewease drew the pole for the feature and Macri started ninth. Danny Dietrich was fastest in qualifying in the No. 29W Bob Weikert throwback scheme.
After plenty of rainouts in Central Pennsylvania already this spring, both Williams Grove and Port Royal caught a break in the weather for a nice weekend of racing.
Outlaws Dominate at Williams Grove, Larson Gets Darlington XFINITY Win
By Kyle Magda
The famous Outlaws vs. Posse rivalry was in full effect Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway in the first night of the Morgan Cup for the World of Outlaws.
Kasey Kahne Racing driver Brad Sweet drew a 1 for the Pole Dash and led all six laps and also every lap in the 25-lap feature to take home the $10,000 victory. It is Sweet's second victory at the Central PA track. Posse member Brent Marks came home second and 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz completed the podium. Rico Abreu finished fourth after starting on the front row and Lincoln winner Anthony Macri completed the top-five.
Defending National Open winner Lance Dewease finished seventh in the 25-lapper. Freddie Rahmer won the Last Chance Showdown and also earned the Hard Charger Award, going from 21st to 12th in the feature. Brad Sweet became the fifth different Williams Grove winner of 2023 in five races.
38 cars were on hand for the first night of the Morgan Cup at Williams Grove Speedway. Unfortunately, Mother Nature won the final night and the event was cancelled Saturday night. Selinsgrove Speedway has the $5,000-to-win Ray Tilley Classic for the 410 sprints on Sunday, May 14.
2021 NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson picked up his first win at Darlington Raceway Saturday afternoon in the 200-mile XFINITY race, holding off a hard charge from John Hunter Nemechek in the final corners. Larson's last two XFINITY wins have come with JR Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. The No. 10 Kaulig Racing car in XFINITY has won twice this season, the other coming at Circuit of the Americas with A.J. Allmendinger.
Dover winner Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for Sunday's Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. Truex dominated the event in 2021 by leading 248 of 293 laps en route to winning. Bubba Wallace joins Truex on the front row for the 400-mile race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third in his No. 47 Dale Jarrett Tribute/JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. William Byron is on the second row with Stenhouse. Ross Chastain completed the top-five and Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez starts alongside.
Christian Eckes picked up the victory in Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway. It was the second victory of the season for Eckes. Stewart Friesen finished runner-up, followed by Tanner Gray, William Byron and Carson Hocevar, who also finished sixth in the XFINITY Series debut for Spire Motorsports. Rajah Caruth scored a series-best sixth in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet. TRICON teammates Bubba Wallace and pole-sitter Corey Heim finished seventh and eighth.
One week after finishing runner-up in the Kansas ARCA race, Dean Thompson finishes ninth for TRICON and Kaden Honeycutt comes home 10th after jumping into the No. 20 Young's Motorsports Chevorlet.
The Goodyear 400 returns to the Darlington Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series. Defending series champ Joey Logano won last year's race at the Lady in Black.
NASCAR Gateway Recap
By Kyle Magda
NASCAR visited World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for the Truck and Cup Series for the second-straight year.
It was a marathon of a Cup race after a lightning delay and two red flags for repairs to the Turn 1 wall, pole-sitter Kyle Busch took home the victory after leading 121 of the race's 243 laps. Busch had an XFINITY Series victory there in 2009, so it was his second trip to victory lane at Gateway.
Denny Hamlin was able to get to second in the final two laps and defending Gateway winner Joey Logano got around Kyle Larson in the final turns to finish third. Larson and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top-five. 28 cars finished on the lead lap in Sunday's EnjoyIllinois.com 300.
Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race saw a wild ending to the 200-mile event. Zane Smith led the event late until contact from second-place running Ty Majeski ended both of their days and allowed eventual race winner Grant Enfinger to inherit the lead. The victory was Enfinger's second of 2023 and another win for GMS Racing. ARCA Menards Series driver Jesse Love made his series debut for TRICON Racin, filling in for defending Gateway Truck winner and an ailing Corey Heim. Love finished ninth in the No. 11 Toyota.
Carson Hocevar made his Cup debut for Spire Motorsports while Corey LaJoie filled in for a suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet. Hocevar's day ended early, but the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner finished fourth in Saturday's race. Chase Purdy also brought home a top-five for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Enfinger won the second leg of the Triple Truck Challenge and pocketed an additional $50,000 for the victory. Christian Eckes came home second and Stewart Friesen finished third after leading 10 laps.
Some other news and notes: William Byron led 30 laps in Sunday's Cup race and finished eighth. Kyle Larson ran second to Kyle Busch in the closing laps, but lost two spots in the final two laps to end up fourth. Larson was also the highest-finishing Hendrick Motorsports car after starting 22nd.
Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney led 83 laps at Gateway and finished sixth. Team Penske showed speed the last few weeks and another victory for the organization can come soon.
Rowdy Maglite Racing Media