9.9.21 Pennsylvania Sprint Series Results
By: Frank Buhrman
Buddy Schweinbinz, possibly the youngest driver among the 48 entered at Port Royal Speedway, showed that a little experience and a lot of talent can go a long way, winning the 20-lap PA Sprint Series feature Thirsday night at the Juniata County “Speed Palace.”
The Petersburg, N.J., resident, a rookie with the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series, took the lead on a lap 10 restart and never looked back, scoring his first victory in a full-sized sprint car by 1.159 seconds over runner-up Devin Adams.
After finishing second to Dom Melair in his heat, Schweinbinz drew thethird starting position and quickly established his BAMF LED Off-road Lighting/Atlantic Racing Engines/E. R. Dietz Masonary #35 as a challenger to early leader Donnie Wise. When Melair hit the third turn guardrail and flipped violently to bring out the red flag on lap 10 – he was not injured – Schweinbinz made his move for the lead on the restart.
Devin Adams tried to challenge after a final late caution, but the race belonged to the New Jersey teenager.
Moving up from 600 micro sprints this season, Schweinbinz has had an up-and-down year, with several DNFs and poor finishes balanced against two top-fives at Bridgeport Speedway in MASS races and an eighth at Selinsgrove Speedway with PASS back in May. This was his first trip to Port Royal.
For Wise, the former road racer in his first full season with PASS, the night had the highest of highs before ending on a low note. The Middleburg driver in the DW Motorsports/Gutshall’s Automotive/DWR #11W, whose best previous finish was 23rd, was second to Garrett Bard in his heat, then raced into the lead from his front-row starting spot. The Melair caution seemed a blessing, coming as the leader was entering traffic, but Wise was unable to head off Schweinbinz on the restart, then dropped several more positions before falling out of the race a couple of laps from the finish.
Adams, on the other hand, viewed his runner-up post as a highlight of a sub-par season, a possible springboard to a strong close for the year.
Doug Dodson, with characteristic bad luck, had drawn the 11th starting position but put on an impressive charge to finish third. Austin Reed had started beside Dodson on row six and followed him to the front, finishing fourth.
The story of the night behind the leader, though, was Kenny Heffner of Watsontown, who came from 25th starting position to finish fifth. He earned the Penns Valley Meat Market Hard Charger Award with his finish, which appears also to have been the biggest position gain for a PASS feature all season.
Completing the top ten were Jeff Weaver, Nathan Gramley, Kruz Kepner, Kassidy Kreitz and Erin Statler. Like Heffner, Kreitz and Statler came through the field after qualifying through a B-Main, moving up 13 and 14 spots, respectively
Eleventh-place Josh Spicer also climbed from the final row, an advance of 15 positions.
With an amazing 48 cars on hand and a super-tacky track after an unexpected afternoon rain, heat races were critically important, and those wins went to Dustin Young, Dom Melair, Bard, and Gramley.
The only serious incident during qualifying took place at the start of the third heat, when Kassidy Kreitz got into Ken Duke Jr., who flipped hard into the inside pit wall. Fortunately, he was not injured.
Likewise, the twin B-Mains, with 14 and 11 starters, respectively, were ultra-competitive, with only three qualifiers out of each. Josh Bricker and Kreitz took those wins.
Hard-Luck Awards, also sponsored by Penns Valley Meat Market, went to Will Brunson and Logan Spahr as the top non-qualifiers.
Former announcer, promoter and public relations specialist Tedd Reitz was the night’s presenting sponsor, and he and Penns Valley both added significantly to the prize money available for PASS competitors.
The PASS racing weekend continues Saturday, September 11, at Lincoln Speedway, where the RaceSavers join super late models and 358 sprints for an action-packed program.
For the latest schedule information and news, visit www.pasprintseries.com, the PA Sprint Series Facebook page, or @pasprintseries on Twitter.
Results from Port Royal Speedway, September 9
HEAT 1 – 1. 25-Dustin Young; 2. 58-Nathan Emig; 3. 9-Ronnie Rough; 4. 88-Fred Arnold; 5. 26-Ryan Lynn; 6. X-Josh Bricker; 7. 8-Will Brunson; 8. 1M-Paul Moyer; 9. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet; 10. 99-George Riden; 11. 46-Mike Alleman; 12. 0Z-Zach Rhodes.
HEAT 2 – 1. 36-Dom Melair; 2. 35-Buddy Schweibinz; 3. 19-Kruz Kepner; 4. 52-Jeffrey Weaver; 5. 10-Jake Waters; 6. 7-Drew Young; 7. 56-Tyler Snook; 8. 97-Kenny Heffner; 9. 54-Mike Melair; 10. 8-Nick Sweigart; 11. 28R-Jason Roush; 12. 53W-Jimmy White.
HEAT 3 – 1. 95-Garrett Bard; 2. 11W-Donnie Wise; 3. 20-Doug Dodson; 4. 11M-Mikell McGee; 5. 83-Larry McVay; 6. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 7. 5-Logan Spahr; 8. 03-Branstin Shue; 9. 2-Erin Statler; 10. 21-Andrew Boyer; 11. 17K-Stevie Kenawell (DNF); 12. 67-Ken Duke Jr. (DNF).
HEAT 4 – 1. 23-Nathan Gramley; 2. 99-Devin Adams; 3. 34-Austin Reed; 4. 14X-Cale Reigle; 5. R6-Reed Thompson; 6. 71-Josh Spicer; 7. 32A-Austin Greenland; 8. 107-Colton Hoover; 9. 43-J.R. Booth; 10. 80-Dave Wickham; 11. 9-Maria Romig; 12. 15-Matt Rader (DNF).
B-MAIN 1 – 1. X-Josh Bricker; 2. 7-Drew Young; 3. 97-Kenny Heffner; 4. 8-Will Brunson; 5. 54-Mike Melair; 6. 56-Tyler Snook; 7. 99-George Riden; 8. 8-Nick Sweigart; 9. 1M-Paul Morgan; 10. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet; 11. 46-Mike Alleman; 12. 28R-Jason Roush; 13. 53W-Jimmy White; 14. 0Z-Zach Rhodes.
B-MAIN 2 – 1. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 2. 2-Erin Statler; 3. 71-Josh Spicer; 4. 5-Logan Spahr; 5. 03-Branstin Shue; 6. 80-Dave Wickham; 7. 32A-Austin Greenland; 8. 43-J.R. Booth; 9. 15-Matt Rader; 10. 21-Andrew Boyer; 11. 9-Mariah Romig. DNS – 107-Colton Hoover; 17K-Stevie Kenawell; 67-Ken Duke Jr.
FEATURE – 1. 35-Buddy Schweibinz; 2. 99-Devin Adams; 3. 20-DougDodson; 4. 34-Austin Reed; 5. 97-Kenny Heffner; 6. 52-Jeffrey Weaver; 7. 23-Nathan Gramley; 8. 19-Kruz Kepner; 9. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 10. 2-Erin Statler; 11. 71-Josh Spicer; 12. 25-Dustin Young; 13. 26-Ryan Lynn; 14. 88-Fred Arnold; 15. 7-Drew Young; 16. 83-Larry McVay; 17. 11M-Mikell McGee; 18. X-Josh Bricker; 19. R6-Reed Thompson; 20. 11W-Donnie Wise (DNF); 21. 95-Garrett Bard (DNF); 22. 9-Ronnie Rough (DNF); 23. 36-Dom Melair (DNF); 24. 14X-Cale Reigle; 25. 58-Nathan Emig (DNF); 26. 10-Jake Waters (DNF). DNQ – 8-Will Brunson; 5-Logan Spahr; 54-Mike Melair; 03-Branstin Shue; 56-Tyler Snook; 80-Dave Wickham; 99-George Riden; 32A-Austin Greeland; 8-Nick Sweigart; 43-J.R. Booth; 1M-Paul Moyer; 15-Matt Rader; 21C-Jarrett Cavalet; 21-Andrew Boyer; 46-Mike Alleman; 9-Mariah Romig; 28R-Jason Roush; 107-Colton Hoover; 53W-Jimmy White; 17K-Stevie Kenawell; 0Z-Zach Rhodes; 67-Ken Duke Jr.