Story By: BRAD STRAWSER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – The USAC National Sprint Cars would kick off the night Saturday at Port Royal Speedway.
Pole sitter Briggs Danner took the lead. Danner would be followed closely on the opening lap by 4 starter Brady Bacon, and that theme would continue throughout the opening 27 laps of the 35 lap A-main event.
Danner and Bacon would gap the field over the first portion of the race before the battle and pressure for the lead would mount up seeing Danner go hard into the outside wall in turns 1 and 2. Danner would end up bending a radius rod and would result in him drawing a caution and bringing his night to an end.
Bacon would inherit the lead with just 8 laps to go and hold on to win with the USAC National Sprint Car series with CJ Leary and Alex Bright rounding out the podium.
“I was just going to have to stay there and pressure him until he did make a mistake,” said Bacon in victory lane when talking about his strategy of running down Briggs Danner. “He was getting through lap traffic well. He just got into that cushion a little hard a few times and went up into the wall.”
For the USAC Silver Crown division, there would be 3 lead changes in the A-main, with the most important one taking place in the 4th corner of the last lap. Daison Pursley would cross the finish line in first earning his first career USAC Silver Crown win.
Brady Bacon and Pursley would lead the field to the green for the 50 lap A-main with Bacon taking the early advantage.
Justin Grant, who started in 4th, would find himself in a 3-way battle for the lead with Bacon and Pursley 15 laps in to the feature event, and would take away the 2nd spot from Pursley with 34 laps remaining.
Grant would continue to battle with Bacon over the next 13 laps before officially taking the lead with a slider in turns 1 and 2. Daison Pursley would use the same move in turns 3 and 4 with just 18 laps left.
Pursley would use the top side of the race track to run down Grant over the final 18 laps while continuously banging into the cushion and the outside wall, but still keeping the car running.
With lapped traffic playing a heavy factor in the final laps in the race, Pursley would make his move, a slider in turns 3 and 4, to try and take the lead. Grant would turn his car back down the hill a bit to stay alongside Pursley with the two cars banging tires coming down the front stretch.
Grant would continue to be the leader into turns 1 and 2 on the white flag lap, but in turns 3 and 4 Pursley would use the top side of the track to mount momentum to get by Grant for the win.
“I feel like there were a lot of scary moments there,” explained Pursley in victory lane. “It’s Port Royal. If you want to win, you have to do stuff like that.”
Justin Grant would finish in 2nd and Brady Bacon would round out the podium for the night.
Full Results:
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 15, 2024 – Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, Pennsylvania – 17th USAC Eastern Storm – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – USAC Eastern Blast
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-18.205; 2. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-18.273; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-18.463; 4. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-18.531; 5. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland-18.539; 6. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-18.589; 7. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-18.608; 8. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-18.637; 9. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-18.662; 10. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-18.679; 11. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-18.681; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-18.684; 13. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-18.780; 14. Alex Bright, 27, Heffner-18.816; 15. Steven Drevicki, 19, Drevicki-18.882; 16. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin/Fox-18.895; 17. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-18.912; 18. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-18.941; 19. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-18.980; 20. Carmen Perigo, 21, Stehman-19.035; 21. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-19.041; 22. Korbyn Hayslett, 1H, Hayslett-19.101; 23. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-19.116; 24. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-19.244; 25. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-19.254; 26. J.T. Ferry, 18J, Ferry-19.286; 27. Jason Cherry, 67c, Cherry-19.763.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Anton Hernandez, 3. Kyle Cummins, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Mitchel Moles, 6. Chase Stockon, 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8. Korbyn Hayslett, 9. Hunter Maddox. 2:41.099
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Alex Bright, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Ricky Lewis, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Carmen Perigo, 8. J.T. Ferry, 9. Tom Harris. 2:38.904
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Briggs Danner, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Steven Drevicki, 5. Joey Amantea , 6. Carson Garrett, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. Justin Grant, 9. Jason Cherry. NT
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Carmen Perigo, 4. J.T. Ferry, 5. Korbyn Hayslett, 6. Tom Harris, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Jason Cherry. 3:31.941 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (4), 2. C.J. Leary (6), 3. Alex Bright (9), 4. Daison Pursley (13), 5. Mitchel Moles (3), 6. Logan Seavey (5), 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (8), 8. Justin Grant (12), 9. Ricky Lewis (2), 10. Steven Drevicki (15), 11. Robert Ballou (17), 12. Chase Stockon (19), 13. Jake Swanson (11), 14. Kyle Cummins (14), 15. Tom Harris (23), 16. Matt Westfall (7), 17. Charles Davis Jr. (10), 18. Carmen Perigo (20), 19. Joey Amantea (18), 20. Korbyn Hayslett (22), 21. Carson Garrett (21), 22. J.T. Ferry (24), 23. Briggs Danner (1), 24. Anton Hernandez (16). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-22 Briggs Danner, Laps 23-30 Brady Bacon.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-1356, 2-C.J. Leary-1335, 3-Brady Bacon-1311, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1304, 5-Daison Pursley-1279, 6-Mitchel Moles-1175, 7-Justin Grant-1171, 8-Robert Ballou-1152, 9-Kyle Cummins-1123, 10-Jake Swanson-1015.
USAC EASTERN STORM POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-339, 2-Mitchel Moles-327, 3-C.J. Leary-318, 4-Justin Grant-291, 5-Daison Pursley-290, 6-Robert Ballou-290, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-286, 8-Logan Seavey-276, 9-Briggs Danner-273, 10-Kyle Cummins-254.
BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER PRESENTED BY SPIRE SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-417, 2-Kevin Thomas Jr.-411, 3-Brady Bacon-407, 4-Daison Pursley-382, 5-Logan Seavey-363, 6-Mitchel Moles-363, 7-Justin Grant-354, 8-Kyle Cummins-320, 9-Robert Ballou-310, 10-Jake Swanson-293.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-99, 2-Robert Ballou-94, 3-Logan Seavey-94, 4-C.J. Leary-85, 5-Joey Amantea-76, 6-Justin Grant-71, 7-Kyle Cummins-68, 8-Brady Bacon-60, 9-Matt Westfall-52, 10-Carson Garrett-50.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 16, 2024 – Action Track USA – Kutztown, Pennsylvania – 17th USAC Eastern Storm – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Brady Bacon (18.245)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (18.205)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Matt Westfall
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Alex Bright
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Justin Grant
Irvin King Hard Charger: Daison Pursley (13th to 4th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Alex Bright
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 15, 2024 – Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, Pennsylvania – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – USAC Eastern Blast
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: (top-16 locked into the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 9, Dyson-19.816 (New Track Record); 2. Daison Pursley, 21, Team AZ-19.858; 3. Kody Swanson, 77, Doran/Binks-19.943; 4. Logan Seavey, 22, Rice/Abacus-20.042; 5. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-20.098; 6. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-20.264; 7. Mitchel Moles, 119, Reinbold/Underwood-20.285; 8. Chase Stockon, 69, Pink 69-20.342; 9. Chase Dietz, 86, Lee-20.361; 10. Shane Cottle, 53, Five Three-20.503; 11. Kyle Steffens, 08, Steffens-20.521; 12. Briggs Danner, 10, DMW-20.539; 13. Alex Bright, 24, Haggenbottom-20.593; 14. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-20.668; 15. Robert Ballou, 97, Lein-20.715; 16. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-20.857; 17. Trey Osborne, 81, BCR-20.922; 18. Mark Smith, 01, L & M-21.111; 19. Chris Fetter, 15, Fetter-21.321; 20. Mark Bitner, 4, Yeska-21.361; 21. Nathan Moore, 48, Thomas/Moore-21.381; 22. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-21.533; 23. Tom Savage, 38, Savage-22.008; 24. C.J. Leary, 6, Klatt-NT; 24. C.J. Leary, 6, Klatt-NT (Time of 20.223 disallowed); 25. Kaylee Bryson, 26, Pierce-NT (Time of 20.272 disallowed); 26. Trey Burke, 60, Legacy/Wilson-NT (Time of 20.462 disallowed); 27. Gregg Cory, 32, Williams/Cory-NT (Time of 21.309 disallowed).
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps, top-8 transfer to the feature) 1. Mark Smith, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Trey Burke, 4. Mark Bitner, 5. Chris Fetter, 6. Nathan Moore, 7. Kaylee Bryson, 8. Trey Osborne, 9. Dave Berkheimer, 10. Tom Savage, 11. Gregg Cory. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Daison Pursley (2), 2. Justin Grant (6), 3. Brady Bacon (1), 4. Matt Westfall (5), 5. Kody Swanson (3), 6. Chase Dietz (9), 7. Mitchel Moles (7), 8. Alex Bright (13), 9. Briggs Danner (12), 10. Logan Seavey (4), 11. Kyle Steffens (11), 12. Carmen Perigo (16), 13. Mark Smith (17), 14. Trey Burke (19), 15. Brian Ruhlman (14), 16. Shane Cottle (10), 17. Robert Ballou (15), 18. Kaylee Bryson (23), 19. Chase Stockon (8), 20. Mark Bitner (20), 21. Chris Fetter (21), 22. Trey Osborne (24), 23. C.J. Leary (18), 24. Nathan Moore (22). 28:53.852 (New Track Record)
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-29 Brady Bacon, Laps 30-49 Justin Grant, Lap 50 Daison Pursley.
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kody Swanson-321, 2-Justin Grant-291, 3-C.J. Leary-282, 4-Logan Seavey-248, 5-Kaylee Bryson-205, 6-Taylor Ferns-196, 7-Bobby Santos-183, 8-Mario Clouser-158, 9-Kyle Steffens-156, 10-Trey Burke-145.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-109, 2-Robert Ballou-100, 3-Logan Seavey-94, 4-C.J. Leary-85, 5-Joey Amantea-76, 6-Justin Grant-75, 7-Kyle Cummins-68, 8-Brady Bacon-60, 9-Matt Westfall-53, 10-Carson Garrett-50.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 21, 2024 – Madison International Speedway – Oregon, Wisconsin – 1/2-Mile Paved Oval
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Practice Fastest Driver: Brady Bacon (19.689)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Brady Bacon (19.816)
Irvin King Hard Charger: Alex Bright (13th to 8th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Race: Daison Pursley