5.1.21 Pennsylvania Sprint Series Results
By: Frank Buhrman
After an incredible three-car, 12-lap battle, Dave Grube II of York Springs held on for the win Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, taking the PA Sprint Series 20-lap feature by 0.970 seconds over last week’s winner, Ken Duke Jr. of Selinsgrove, with Kenny Heffner of Watsontown taking a career-best third, just 0.179 seconds behind Duke.
Grube started on the pole and led the entire 20 laps, but his Spearhead Rentals/MAN Contracting/Zeigler’s Service Center #3D never shed its multiple-car competition, which also included Kassidy Kreitz and Justin Mills early in the race. It was when Kreitz suddenly slowed and dropped out on lap 8 that the stage was set for the lengthy final fight.
On that restart, Heffner grabbed second from Duke, but six laps later the 2019 IMCA/RaceSaver National Champion retook the spot in his Fairfield Auto Group/Apache Tree Service/Bud Godek Auto Body #67. Two laps later Heffner was back in second, and on the next lap he went for the lead, with his Morgan Paving/Maloney Builders/Coyle’s Lawn Maintenance #97 and Grube’s #3D making contact on the backstretch.
That allowed Duke back into second, but even with lapped traffic becoming a factor, Grube was able to hold on for his sixth career PASS win and second at the Port, where he won his first PASS feature in 2017.
“This team needed a win,” Grube said in victory lane. “It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been in victory lane – and a long time here. We’ve been really fast lately, and we’re really dedicated to running for points here.
“I’ve got to thank Mike Balser, Mike Stauffer and my Mom and Dad for supporting me.”
Grube apologized for the contact with Heffner, explain that he was trying to hold his line at the bottom in a car that was set up to run at the top of the track.
Devin Adams of Lebanon made a late charge to take fourth and might well have been a factor in a 25-lap race. Mills was near the leaders all race and came home fifth.
Completing the top 10 were Garrett Bard, Drew Young, Erin Statler, Austin Reed and Dakota Schweikart. Bard’s strong run from 17th starting position earned him the Penns Valley Meat Market Hard Charger Award and a similar award from the evening’s sponsor LandPro Equipment of Mifflintown.
Schweikart and 14th-finishing Bob Garvey each advanced nine positions on a night when PASS racers found the Port Royal surface racy even after 410 sprint and super late model features.
With another big field of IMCA/RaceSaver sprinters on hand – 44 – qualifying events were fiercely competitive. Drew Young, Reed, Mills and Grube took the heat wins. The battle between young Mills and veteran Roger Irvine in the third heat was a particular crowd-pleaser, as was Dustin Young’s pass for the final transfer spot at the finish line of heat four.
Doug Dodson won the 21-car B-Main, which had the evening’s most serious contact, when Fred Arnold’s #88 lost steering and hit the inside front stretch well after contact from Nick Sweigart.
This week’s PASS action returns to Selinsgrove Speedway, where the RaceSaver sprinters join the Patriot 360 sprint tour and the roadrunner stocks for Saturday night action starting at 7:00 p.m.
For the latest schedule information and news, visit www.pasprintseries.com or the PA Sprint Series Facebook page.
Results from Port Royal Speedway May 1
HEAT 1 – 1. 7-Drew Young; 2. 97-Kenny Heffner; 3. 99-Devin Adams; 4. 52-Jeffrey Weaver; 5. 95-Garrett Bard; 6. 11M-Mikell McGee; 7. 11X-Robert Garvey; 8. 51-Dave Graber; 9. 21-Andrew Boyer; 10. 11W-Donnie Wise; 11. 71-Josh Spicer (DNF).
HEAT 2 – 1. 34-Austin Reed; 2. 55-Dom Melair; 3. 2-Erin Statler; 4. 78-Dale Schweikart; 5. 41Z-Jared Zionkowski; 6. 20-Doug Dodson; 7. 8-Nick Sweigart; 8. 88-Fred Arnold; 9. 53W-Jimmy White; 10. 19-Kruz Kepner; 11. 46-Mike Alleman.
HEAT 3 – 1. M1-Justin Mills; 2. 12-Roger Irvine; 3. 85-Josh Beamer; 4. 1-Rowdy Heffner; 5. 78C-Dakota Schweikart; 6. 87-Austin Graby; 7. 54-Mike Melair; 8. 10-Jake Waters; 9. 99-George Riden; 10. 21M-Cassandra Minium; 11. 03-Branstin Shue.
HEAT 4 – 1. 3D-Dave Grube; 2. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 3. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 4. 18-Ian Detweiler; 5. 25-Dustin Young; 6. 80-Dave Wickham; 7. 107-Colton Hoover; 8. 1M-Paul Moyer; 9. 0Z-Zach Rhodes; 10. 31-Roger Weaver; 11. 18A-Alex Schmiedel.
B-MAIN – 1. 20-Doug Dodson; 2. 11M-Mikell McGee; 3. 11X-Robert Garvey; 4. 8-Nick Sweigart; 5. 19-Kruz Kepner; 6. 54-Mike Melair; 7. 87-Austin Graby; 8. 51-Dave Graber; 9. 107-Colton Hoover; 10. 21-Andrew Boyer; 11. 1M-Paul Moyer; 12. 80-Dave Wickham; 13. 53W-Jimmy White; 14. 46-Mike Alleman; 15. 99-George Riden; 16. 18A-Alex Schmiedel; 17. 11W-Donnie Wise; 18. 03-Branstin Shue; 19. 0Z-Zach Rhodes; 20. 10-Jake Waters (DNF); 21. 88-Fred Arnold (DNF). DNS – 21M-Cassandra Minium; 31-Roger Weaver; 71-Josh Spicer.
FEATURE – 1. 3D-Dave Grube; 2. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 3. 97-Kenny Heffner; 4. 99-Devin Adams; 5. M1-Justin Mills; 6. 95-Garrett Bard; 7. 7-Drew Young; 8. 2-Erin Statler; 9. 34-Austin Reed; 10. 78C-Dakota Schweikart; 11. 12-Roger Irvine; 12. 41Z-Jared Zionkowski; 13. 78-Dave Schweikart; 14. 11X-Bob Garvey; 15. 55-Dom Melair; 16. 8-Nick Sweigart; 17. 85-Josh Beamer; 18. 52-Jeffrey Weaver; 19. 20-Doug Dodson; 20. 1-Rowdy Heffner; 21. 54-Mike Melair; 22. 18-Ian Detweiler; 23. 25-Dustin Young; 24. 19-Kruz Kepner (DNF); 25. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz (DNF); 26. 11M-Mikell McGee (DNF). DNQ – 87-Austin Graby; 1M-Paul Moyer; 53W-Jimmy White; 18A-Alex Schmiedel; 03-Branstin Shue; 11W-Donnie Wise; 88-Fred Arnold; 99-George Riden; 0Z-Zach Rhodes; 80-Dave Wickham; 71-Josh Spicer; 51-Dave Graber; 46-Mike Alleman; 31-Roger Weaver; 21-Andrew Moyer; 10-Jake Waters; 107-Colton Hoover; 21M-Cassandra Minium.