After numerous rainouts at Dirt’s Monster Half Mile, Mother Nature finally decided to be kind to us. The fastest cars on dirt would roll into town on Thursday evening for night number two of Western PA Sprint Speedweek featuring the top sprint car drivers from across the region. PPMS would see qualifying, nine heat races, two b mains, and three feature events. Dylan Norris (17), from Hanover, would outpace a record-setting field of 410 Winged Sprint Cars to pick up the win in the 20-lap sprint feature. Jonathan Taylor (5) would win the 25-lap feature for the Elite Motorsports UEMS Modified Series, and Logan Koteles (64K), from Stockdale, would pick up the win for the Fuel Required Hobby Stocks.
A record-setting 39 410 winged sprint cars would be signed in and ready to battle for 24 starting spots during night number two of Western PA Sprint Speedweek. They were broken into four groups for qualifying and Brandon Spithaler (22) would set the fast time for group one and the overall fast time during qualifying with a time of 16.644. John Jerich (3J), from Worthington, had the fast time for his group and the second overall fast time at 16.973. After qualifying, their four heat races would ensue, plus two b mains and the 24-car field would be set for their 20-lap feature. Jerich (3J) would be your pole sitter and to his outside starting second was Norris (17). The second starting row consisted of Tim Shaffer (49X) in third with Dale Blaney (32B), from Hartford, OH, starting in fourth, while Dave Blaney (10), from High Point, NC, started in fifth. At the start of the event, the red flag was out before the first lap was complete for a multi-car crash on the front stretch that included one that flipped. All drivers were ok and once the cleanup took place, a complete restart would ensue. Norris (17) would jump out to the early lead with Jerich (3J) in second, and Dale Blaney (32) in third. By lap three, Norris (17) would have a 3-second lead, and by lap five, he extended it to 3.9 seconds. At the halfway point, Norris (17) still had the lead with Jerich (3J) in second, Dave Blaney (10) in third, Dale Blaney (32B) in fourth, and Shaffer (49X) in fifth. With five to go and Norris (17) still leading, Dave Blaney (10) would take second away from Jerich (3J) who fell to third. Norris (17) would lead the remaining five laps of the event and go on to win the second night of Western PA Sprint Speedweek. Following him to the line was Dave Blaney (10) in second, Shaffer (49X) in third, Dale Blaney (32B) in fourth, and Jerich (3J) would round out the top five. The heat race winners were Brandon Spithaler (22), Mark Smith (M1), Dave Blaney (10), and AJ Flick (2). The b main winners were Ricky Peterson (2P) and Brandon Matus (13).
Racing resumes at Dirt’s Monster Half Mile tomorrow night June 1st, 2024, for Champions Night with an Action Event and the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. Join us for a trackside ceremony honoring our 2023 Track Champions! Also on the card are the Rohrich Automotive RUSH Late Models, Pittsburgh Trucking Center Pro Stocks, Fuel Required Hobby Stocks, Crawford Auto Repair Open Four Cylinders, and the All Ways Safe Flagging and Traffic Control Young Guns. Gates open at 5 pm, hot laps at 6 pm, and the racing action will begin at 7 pm. Visit ppms.com for more info. PPMS has a GPS address of 170 Kelso Rd, Imperial PA, 15126.