PORT ROYAL — The 33rd Edition of Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek kicks off Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
There’s more money available to the drivers than ever before. The series consists of 10 races in 11 days with $107,000 on the line for just the feature winners. The series point fund has also been increased this year to a total of $30,000 with $6,000 going to the series champion and $3,000 for second.
Brent Marks of Myerstown is the defending series champion. He won five of the nine races last year. Danny Dietrich of Gettysburg beat Marks for the championship two seasons ago without winning a feature.
Before winning the NASCAR cup series championship in 2021, Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif., dominated Speedweek earning the title in 2020. He won four of the nine races and finished second twice during the 2020 series.
Other recent champions include Mechanicsburg’s Lucas Wolfe in 2019 and the late Greg Hodnett of York in 2018.
The Williams Grove feature pays $8,000 to win. Anthony Marci won the race last year. The series moves to Lincoln Speedway Saturday night for the Kevin Gobrecht Memorial paying $10,092 to win. Macri also won that race last year. The first weekend of Speedweek concludes at BAPS Motor Speedway for another $8,000 to win race. The race was rained out last year. Marks won at BAPS during Speedweek in 2021.
The series returns to Lincoln on Monday night for an $8,000 to win race. Marks won there last year. It’s off to Thunder on the Hill at the Grandview Speedway on Tuesday night for the $10,000 to win Hodnett Cup. Rico Abreu won last year, while the previous two years were won by Larson. Christopher Bell won in 2019 and Larson in 2018.
Speedweek heads to Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway Wednesday night for $8,000 to win. Marks won last year, the race was rained out in 2021, and Larson won in 2020.
A rare Thursday night off for the series follows Hagerstown.
The Mitch Smith Memorial paying $20,000 to win at Williams Grove Speedway is set for Friday, June 30. Marks won the race last season.
The series’ first stop at Port Royal is Saturday, July 1 for the Greg Hodnett Classic paying $10,000 to win.
The change is the schedule this season is due to the 4th of July holiday falling on a Tuesday. Port Royal hosts the finale this year on Monday, July 3, with $15,000 going to the winner of the Keith Kauffman Classic. ort Royal’s race time is 7 for both shows with gates opening at 4. The late models join Speedweek at Port Royal on Saturday and the 360 sprints on Monday.
Marks swept the Port Royal races on his way to the title last year. Larson won the only Speedweek race at Port Royal in 2021. Macri and Larson split the races in 2020.
In between the Port Royal races, the series heads to Selinsgrove Speedway on Sunday, July 2 for the Opperman/Bogar/Heintzelman Memorial paying $10,000 to win. Dietrich won at Selinsgrove last season, Marks in 2021 and Dietrich in 2020.
Hall of Famer Fred Rahmer owns the most Speedweek championships with 13. Hodnett had five and Wolfe has four. Lance Dewease has three.
Dietrich’s first title came in 2016. Stevie Smith dominated the series in 2015. Steve Smith won the first Speedweek series in 1991. Keith Kauffman won it in 1996.
A total of 231 Speedweek races have been held at 12 different tracks with 48 different winners.
Lance Dewease owns the most Speedweek wins with 31 followed by Rahmer at 30, Hodnett at 26, Dietrich at 12 and Stevie Smith at 11. Larson has 10 followed by Marks with nine.
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