Speedy recovery, speedy driver Austin Reed

By Frank Buhrman YORK HAVEN, Pa. (Aug. 29) – George Riden had been trying to get his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car out to the track more often. It paid off Sunday night, when the Elizabethtown veteran won his first Pennsylvania Sprint Series race in nine years, taking the 20-lap feature at BAPS Motor Speedway. Riden drew the outside pole and took the lead from polesitter Drew Young on lap three. He then fought off a ferocious challenge from Dom Melair, whose efforts to go past the leader fell just short. “Work has gotten pretty busy,” Riden said in victory lane. “Racing had to be put on the backburner but these guys over here have been working their butts off and we finally found some speed. It’s been a long time, man, so I’m just happy, just happy.” The win was Riden’s seventh with PASS but his first since Sept. 29, 2112. All six previous wins were at Path Valley Speedway. The veteran racer was a PASS regular from 2005-13 but has run sporadically since then [Read More]

By Frank Buhrman  PORT ROYAL, Pa. (July 18) – Garrett Bard notched Pennsylvania Sprint Series win number four of the season at Port Royal Speedway Saturday, coming from seventh starting spot – the biggest advance to a win since the season opener May 30 – and holding off a determined veteran Nathan Gramley at the end.  With defending IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national and PASS champion Ken Duke Jr. and Gram­ley, both former Port Royal champions, on the front row, it might have seemed that things would be settled there, but Bard and several other challengers had other ideas.  Gramley built a nice little lead in the early laps, but a caution bunched the field again, looking to improve on three straight runner-up finishes. Of the group behind the pair, it was Bard who made the move, passing both Duke and Gramley over the next five laps. The veteran Gramley kept Bard in his sights, though, and when a close brush with the outside wall caused the leader to drop to a lower line, Gramley [Read More]

By Frank Buhrman  PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Aug. 22) – “Nitro” Nick Sweigart has made some heroic charges from the back of the field to good finishes this season, but he got a good starting position Saturday and made the most of it, wiring the field for his second Pennsylvana Sprint Series feature win of the season at Port Royal Speedway. Sweigart drew the pole for the 20-lap IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature, outdueled outside front row starter Kirsten Hess for the lead and then held off charges from Doug Dodson and Gar­rett Bard. Dodson made his most determined challenge in the race’s only restart, on lap four. Dodson went for an inside pass but couldn’t pull it off. Sweigart, Dodson and Bard then pulled away from the field, with all three cars running an extreme high line.  With the race remaining green the rest of the way, that battle continued in traffic, but Sweigart handled the lapped cars and never allowed another serious challenge. On lap 14, Bard slipped past Dodson for second, and three [Read More]