Story By: JUSTIN SNYDER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – Port Royal Speedway is set to return to racing Saturday, July 1st and Monday, July 3rd as part of the 33rd Annual Pennsylvania Speedweek presented by Red Robin – Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group.
This year’s ten-race schedule will visit six different speedways in Pennsylvania and Maryland and features an increased point fund for drivers who support all ten events.
The point fund will pay out a total of $30,000; 1. $6000 2, $3000 3. $2700 4. $2500 5. $2200. This is all on top of the nightly purses.
Specific to the Port Royal Speedway, Saturday’s time trial event presented by Ramsey’s Car Wash and Garage will pay $10000 to the winner of the Weikert’s Livestock 410 Sprint car feature and the Selinsgrove Ford Super Late Models will compete for $4000.
Monday’s Speedweek finale will pay $15,000 presented by Valley Supply and the United Racing Club 360 Sprint Cars will also be on the schedule racing for $2000.
Steve Buckwalter won the last feature event at the Speedway and he will be looking to make it two in-a-row Saturday night.
Devon Borden enters the week as the points leader with Mike Wagner in second trailing by 70 points. Jeff Halligan (-125), Dylan Cisney (-170) and Gerard McIntyre Jrn(-310) round out the top five.
Jason Shultz picked up the most recent win with the URC 360 Sprint Car Series at the Speedwayin 2022. Anthony Macri and Shultz both own two career URC victories at the Speedway while Steve Buckwalter, Lucas Wolfe, Greg Hodnett (2), Mark Smith, Randy West, Ryan Wilson, Earl Halaquist and Hank Rogers Sr. are also past winners at the Speedway.
Gates open at 4:00 pm EST and racing is set to kick off at 7:30pm EST both nights.
Both nights- General Admission- $30, Students- $20, Pits- $40
Saturday’s event will once again honor the late Greg Hodnett for the fifth consecutive season as it will be the Greg Hodnett Classic paying $10,000 to the winner.
Also, on the card for the night will be the Super Late Models racing for $4000. Rick Eckert currently leads the standings by 80 points over Dillan Stake with Hayes Mattern (-90), Jeff Rine (-95) and Gary Stuhler (-210) rounding out the top five.
The event will once again be an all-day affair as several activities are planned to honor Hodnett and to benefit The Greg Hodnett Foundation, which was established to honor the memory of Hodnett and benefits the families of drivers who may pass away racing.
There will be a Greg Hodnett Foundation Cornhole Tournament presented by Mid Penn Cornhole to benefit the foundation and the cost/person to register is $20. Partners will be random selection and registration starts at 10:30am, with the tournament schedule to begin at 11:45am. Cash prizes will be handed out to the top three teams.
Finally, there will also be an auction featuring several pieces of memorabilia and various donated items to benefit the foundation. Hodnett’s car owner, Mike Heffner, will host the auction and they are continuing to accept donations up until the day of the event. There will also be a table with merchandise for sale to include the brand-new Greg Hodnett Memorial shirts.
Monday’s event will honor the all-time winningest driver in the history of the Speedway in Keith Kauffman. There will also be a Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank blood drive during the day!
Pennsylvania Speedweek has been a yearly tradition at the Juniata County Speedway dating back to 1998, where Jeff Shepard picked up the first victory. Other winners include Lance Dewease (4), Don Kreitz Jr., Keith Kauffman (4), Mark Smith, Todd Shaffer, Fred Rahmer, Cody Darrah, Greg Hodnett (3), Justin Henderson, Tyler Walker, Blaine Heimbach, Lucas Wolfe (4), Steve Buckwalter, Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, Kyle Larson (2) and Brent Marks (2).
Brent Marks enters the week as the defending speedweek champion. Other past champions include Fred Rahmer (12), Greg Hodnett (5), Dewease (3), Kauffman, Steve Smith, Stevie Smith and Larson.