Whittall Gets Redemption, Hare Wins 358 Thriller, Dodson Picks Up 305 Win

Story By: BRAD STRAWSER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – 7 days ago, it was “heartbreak hotel” for Justin Whittall as his rear tire exploded while leading at Port Royal Speedway. On Saturday, July 19th, Whittall redeemed himself and took home his first win of the 2025 season.

Mike Thompson and Dominic Melair would make up the front row of the 25 lap A-main event with Thompson leading the opening circuit.

The first caution of the race would come out after just one lap for the 12J of Derek Hauck who would slow to a stop on the front stretch.

As the race came back to green, Justin Whittall would begin his march to the front, but he would have to get by battling cars of Doug Hammaker and Blane Heimbach.

Whittall would battle those two for the fourth position over the next eight laps before getting by them both and would begin charging down Garrett Bard for the third position.

As he chased down Bard for the third position, Bard would reel in the top two cars as Mike Thompson and Dominic Melair were battling for the lead with twelve laps remaining.

Whittall would go past both Bard and Melair for the second position in turn one with eleven laps to go in the race and would have Thompson within an arms reach coming down the backstretch.

Just one lap later, Whittall would throw a sliding pass for the lead on Thompson in turns three and four. He got the car to stick to the track and held on to the top spot and would do so for the remaining nine laps of the feature.

Mike Thompson would hold on for the second spot and Blane Heimbach would steal the third spot away from Garrett Bard at the finish line.

Gerard McIntyre would claim hard charger honors for passing 10 cars and finishing in ninth and Jake Karklin was the night’s J&S Classics Warrior Award recipient.

The 358 sprint cars returned to Port Royal Speedway for the first time in 5+ years, and their feature event made up for the lost time. Ayden Hare passed Derek Locke with 2 laps remaining to claim the win on Saturday night.

Eli Tuckey would start alongside Derek Locke on the front row of the 20 lap A-main event with Locke taking the lead early.

Hare, who started in the 5th position, would hold his spot for much of the early race, but would charge to the front late in lapped traffic to set up the winning restart.

Hare, Locke, Bryn Gohn, and Cody Fletcher would all battle for top spots in the final 5 laps of the race in heavy lapped traffic, but a caution with 2 laps remaining would set the stage for the finish.

Hare would charge around the outside of Locke in turn 1, but wouldn’t run away with the win. Locke would hang with Hare around the speedway, with the two drivers tapping tires on the backstretch on the final lap, but both able to continue seeing Hare being able to hold on to win and Locke finishing in the runner up spot.

Bryn Gohn would finish in the third position.

Doug Dodson would pick up the win in Penns Valley Meat Market PA Sprint Series 305 sprint car competition.

Dodson would battle with Mike Melair early, with Dodson taking the lead away with 15 laps remaining.

Dodson would open up his lead over 2-seconds over the A-main, but would see it dwindle late in lapped traffic as Josh Spicer and Mike Melair began to close in.

His lead however would be more than enough to hold on for the win and get back to Kish Bank victory lane at Port Royal Speedway.

Josh Spicer would finish in 2nd and Mike Melair would round out the top 3.

Port Royal Speedway will not be in competition on Saturday July 26th as they allow their drivers to take the week off or compete at other tracks.

Port Royal Speedway will be back in action on Saturday August 2nd with Weikert’s Livestock 410 sprint cars, Penns Valley Meat Market PA Sprint Series 305 sprint cars, and Zimmerman Truck Repair limited late models.

FULL RESULTS:

410 Sprints – Winged
410 A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 67-Justin Whittall[8]; 2. 11T-Mike Thompson[1]; 3. 12-Blane Heimbach[4]; 4. 95-Garrett Bard[5]; 5. 22-Doug Hammaker[3]; 6. 77-Michael Walter[10]; 7. 45-Jeff Halligan[7]; 8. 55-Logan Wagner[11]; 9. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[19]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12]; 11. 22E-Nash Ely[6]; 12. 99-Devin Adams[16]; 13. 98-Ricky Peterson[9]; 14. 35-Austin Bishop[13]; 15. 41-Logan Rumsey[21]; 16. 47K-Kody Lehman[17]; 17. 26-Curt Stroup[20]; 18. 45S-Samuel Miller[22]; 19. 10-Jake Waters[24]; 20. 55M-Domenic Melair[2]; 21. 2-AJ Flick[14]; 22. 5K-Jake Karklin[18]; 23. 24B-Dustin Baney[23]; 24. 12J-Derek Hauck[15]

410 B Feature (8 Laps): 1. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[2]; 2. 26-Curt Stroup[1]; 3. 41-Logan Rumsey[3]; 4. 45S-Samuel Miller[4]; 5. 24B-Dustin Baney[6]; 6. 10-Jake Waters[5]; 7. 7-Chris Smith[7]; 8. D57-Jeff Miller[8]; 9. 53-Mark Smith[9]; 10. 99Y-Shane Yost[10]

410 Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55M-Domenic Melair[1]; 2. 67-Justin Whittall[7]; 3. 98-Ricky Peterson[3]; 4. 77-Michael Walter[6]; 5. 35-Austin Bishop[8]; 6. 99-Devin Adams[4]; 7. 26-Curt Stroup[2]; 8. 45S-Samuel Miller[9]; 9. 7-Chris Smith[5]; 10. 99Y-Shane Yost[10]

410 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22E-Nash Ely[2]; 2. 45-Jeff Halligan[3]; 3. 11T-Mike Thompson[4]; 4. 55-Logan Wagner[7]; 5. 2-AJ Flick[5]; 6. 47K-Kody Lehman[6]; 7. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[8]; 8. 10-Jake Waters[1]; 9. D57-Jeff Miller[9]

410 Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Doug Hammaker[1]; 2. 95-Garrett Bard[5]; 3. 12-Blane Heimbach[7]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[4]; 5. 12J-Derek Hauck[8]; 6. 5K-Jake Karklin[9]; 7. 41-Logan Rumsey[6]; 8. 24B-Dustin Baney[3]; 9. 53-Mark Smith[2]

410 Hot Laps (2 Laps): 1. 45-Jeff Halligan, 00:15.614[8]; 2. 5K-Jake Karklin, 00:15.727[27]; 3. 12J-Derek Hauck, 00:15.883[24]; 4. 12-Blane Heimbach, 00:15.901[21]; 5. 55-Logan Wagner, 00:15.906[20]; 6. 95-Garrett Bard, 00:15.910[15]; 7. 67-Justin Whittall, 00:15.939[19]; 8. 22E-Nash Ely, 00:15.999[5]; 9. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 00:16.004[23]; 10. 53-Mark Smith, 00:16.072[6]; 11. 22-Doug Hammaker, 00:16.087[3]; 12. 77-Michael Walter, 00:16.118[16]; 13. 11T-Mike Thompson, 00:16.166[11]; 14. 98-Ricky Peterson, 00:16.220[7]; 15. 47K-Kody Lehman, 00:16.235[17]; 16. 99-Devin Adams, 00:16.274[10]; 17. 2-AJ Flick, 00:16.281[14]; 18. 55M-Domenic Melair, 00:16.330[1]; 19. 26-Curt Stroup, 00:16.399[4]; 20. 41-Logan Rumsey, 00:16.405[18]; 21. 45S-Samuel Miller, 00:16.469[25]; 22. 24B-Dustin Baney, 00:16.578[9]; 23. 7-Chris Smith, 00:16.912[13]; 24. 10-Jake Waters, 00:17.204[2]; 25. 99Y-Shane Yost, 00:17.768[28]; 26. D57-Jeff Miller, 00:19.525[26]; 27. (DNS) 5W-Lucas Wolfe; 28. (DNS) 35-Austin Bishop

42 entries
305 Sprints – Winged
305 A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 20-Doug Dodson[4]; 2. 71-Josh Spicer[7]; 3. 36-Mike Melair[1]; 4. 19-Kruz Kepner[8]; 5. 5V-Braeden Varner[3]; 6. 97-Kenny Heffner[5]; 7. 20P-Ace Pruitt[2]; 8. 42-Jim Pattock[16]; 9. 44-John Braim[11]; 10. 5-Logan Spahr[10]; 11. 28R-Jason Roush[6]; 12. 75-Dylan Shatzer[12]; 13. 2-Erin Statler[14]; 14. 4J-Jacob Gomola[13]; 15. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet[21]; 16. 25-Dustin Young[20]; 17. 7H-Kyle Hart[17]; 18. 46-Mike Alleman[18]; 19. 89-Nick Sweigart[26]; 20. 8-DJ Cassler[15]; 21. 15-Alan Rhodes[19]; 22. 8C-Mike Koehler[23]; 23. 89D-Chris Dolan[22]; 24. J9-Jerald Harris[24]; 25. 7-Drew Young[25]; 26. 98-Croix Beasom[9]

305 B Feature (10 Laps): 1. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet[3]; 2. 89D-Chris Dolan[1]; 3. 8C-Mike Koehler[2]; 4. J9-Jerald Harris[4]; 5. 7-Drew Young[7]; 6. 89-Nick Sweigart[11]; 7. 12-Roger Irvine[6]; 8. 88-Fred Arnold[12]; 9. 53W-Jimmy White[5]; 10. 1M-Paul Moyer[15]; 11. 07-Landon Tressler[14]; 12. 32B-Ethan Beasom[9]; 13. 32A-Austin Greenland[8]; 14. 1J-Reece Raudabaugh[21]; 15. 47-Benjamin Miklos[10]; 16. 17K-Stevie Kenawell Sr[13]; 17. 80-Dave Wickham[17]; 18. 85-Tyler Schell[20]; 19. 6-Caleb Harris[18]; 20. 01-Timmy Bittner[16]; 21. 25S-Zach Rhodes[19]

305 Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Josh Spicer[1]; 2. 97-Kenny Heffner[3]; 3. 36-Mike Melair[5]; 4. 4J-Jacob Gomola[2]; 5. 7H-Kyle Hart[4]; 6. 89D-Chris Dolan[7]; 7. 53W-Jimmy White[10]; 8. 32B-Ethan Beasom[6]; 9. 17K-Stevie Kenawell Sr[9]; 10. 80-Dave Wickham[8]; 11. 1J-Reece Raudabaugh[11]

305 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 75-Dylan Shatzer[1]; 2. 19-Kruz Kepner[4]; 3. 20-Doug Dodson[6]; 4. 2-Erin Statler[8]; 5. 46-Mike Alleman[5]; 6. 8C-Mike Koehler[3]; 7. 12-Roger Irvine[9]; 8. 47-Benjamin Miklos[2]; 9. 07-Landon Tressler[7]; 10. 6-Caleb Harris[10]; 11. 8H-Josh Hoke[11]

305 Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5V-Braeden Varner[8]; 2. 98-Croix Beasom[1]; 3. 20P-Ace Pruitt[7]; 4. 8-DJ Cassler[4]; 5. 15-Alan Rhodes[6]; 6. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet[5]; 7. 7-Drew Young[9]; 8. 89-Nick Sweigart[10]; 9. 1M-Paul Moyer[3]; 10. 25S-Zach Rhodes[2]

305 Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 28R-Jason Roush[1]; 2. 5-Logan Spahr[2]; 3. 44-John Braim[3]; 4. 42-Jim Pattock[5]; 5. 25-Dustin Young[10]; 6. J9-Jerald Harris[8]; 7. 32A-Austin Greenland[9]; 8. 88-Fred Arnold[7]; 9. 01-Timmy Bittner[4]; 10. 85-Tyler Schell[6]

305 Hot Laps (2 Laps): 1. 5-Logan Spahr, 00:18.105[8]; 2. 20-Doug Dodson, 00:18.401[22]; 3. 12-Roger Irvine, 00:18.502[34]; 4. 42-Jim Pattock, 00:18.552[20]; 5. 19-Kruz Kepner, 00:18.654[14]; 6. 75-Dylan Shatzer, 00:18.698[2]; 7. 98-Croix Beasom, 00:18.705[3]; 8. 7-Drew Young, 00:18.706[35]; 9. 36-Mike Melair, 00:18.719[17]; 10. 28R-Jason Roush, 00:18.723[4]; 11. 5V-Braeden Varner, 00:18.751[31]; 12. 97-Kenny Heffner, 00:18.762[9]; 13. 89-Nick Sweigart, 00:18.764[39]; 14. 8C-Mike Koehler, 00:18.772[10]; 15. 20P-Ace Pruitt, 00:18.777[27]; 16. 71-Josh Spicer, 00:18.823[1]; 17. 4J-Jacob Gomola, 00:18.910[5]; 18. 21C-Jarrett Cavalet, 00:18.924[19]; 19. 1M-Paul Moyer, 00:18.944[11]; 20. 53W-Jimmy White, 00:18.985[37]; 21. 7H-Kyle Hart, 00:19.009[13]; 22. 44-John Braim, 00:19.045[12]; 23. 01-Timmy Bittner, 00:19.089[16]; 24. 25S-Zach Rhodes, 00:19.097[7]; 25. 46-Mike Alleman, 00:19.127[18]; 26. 85-Tyler Schell, 00:19.164[24]; 27. 89D-Chris Dolan, 00:19.177[25]; 28. 88-Fred Arnold, 00:19.181[28]; 29. 25-Dustin Young, 00:19.228[40]; 30. 15-Alan Rhodes, 00:19.246[23]; 31. 2-Erin Statler, 00:19.311[30]; 32. 1J-Reece Raudabaugh, 00:19.405[41]; 33. 8-DJ Cassler, 00:19.621[15]; 34. 80-Dave Wickham, 00:19.637[29]; 35. 32B-Ethan Beasom, 00:19.753[21]; 36. J9-Jerald Harris, 00:19.803[32]; 37. 47-Benjamin Miklos, 00:19.856[6]; 38. 17K-Stevie Kenawell Sr, 00:19.978[33]; 39. 07-Landon Tressler, 00:19.987[26]; 40. 6-Caleb Harris, 00:20.089[38]; 41. 8H-Josh Hoke, 00:27.069[42]; 42. 32A-Austin Greenland, 00:55.325[36]

24 entries
358 Sprints – Winged
358 A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 4-Ayden Hare[5]; 2. 77-Derek Locke[2]; 3. 22-Bryn Gohn[6]; 4. 66A-Cody Fletcher[4]; 5. 42U-Tyler Ulrich[11]; 6. 19R-Tylar Rutherford[3]; 7. 22K-Eli Tuckey[1]; 8. 29R-Seth Schnoke[8]; 9. 1A-Chase Gutshall[9]; 10. 14-Colton Moyer[13]; 11. 461-Colton Hendershot[10]; 12. 59-Steve Wilbur[20]; 13. 13-Bo Gordon Jr[16]; 14. 15S-Cole Small[18]; 15. 76-Michael Smith[19]; 16. 39T-Olivia Thayer[23]; 17. 22JR-Brian Wolf Jr[21]; 18. 3-Will Brunson[14]; 19. 34-Andy Best[7]; 20. 70D-Frankie Herr[12]; 21. 54-Brett Wanner[17]; 22. 3E-Ethan Greak[24]; 23. 12-Ashley Cappetta[15]; 24. 17-Cole Young[22]

358 Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22K-Eli Tuckey[2]; 2. 66A-Cody Fletcher[4]; 3. 34-Andy Best[3]; 4. 461-Colton Hendershot[5]; 5. 14-Colton Moyer[8]; 6. 13-Bo Gordon Jr[6]; 7. 76-Michael Smith[7]; 8. 17-Cole Young[1]

358 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Derek Locke[2]; 2. 4-Ayden Hare[3]; 3. 29R-Seth Schnoke[1]; 4. 42U-Tyler Ulrich[8]; 5. 3-Will Brunson[4]; 6. 54-Brett Wanner[6]; 7. 59-Steve Wilbur[7]; 8. 39T-Olivia Thayer[5]

358 Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19R-Tylar Rutherford[1]; 2. 22-Bryn Gohn[3]; 3. 1A-Chase Gutshall[5]; 4. 70D-Frankie Herr[7]; 5. 12-Ashley Cappetta[6]; 6. 15S-Cole Small[8]; 7. 22JR-Brian Wolf Jr[2]; 8. 3E-Ethan Greak[4]

358 Hot Laps (2 Laps): 1. 17-Cole Young, 00:16.910[1]; 2. 34-Andy Best, 00:16.920[7]; 3. 1A-Chase Gutshall, 00:17.171[15]; 4. 22K-Eli Tuckey, 00:17.188[4]; 5. 4-Ayden Hare, 00:17.196[8]; 6. 19R-Tylar Rutherford, 00:17.564[3]; 7. 461-Colton Hendershot, 00:17.592[13]; 8. 77-Derek Locke, 00:17.598[5]; 9. 29R-Seth Schnoke, 00:17.719[2]; 10. 3-Will Brunson, 00:17.775[11]; 11. 54-Brett Wanner, 00:17.809[17]; 12. 22-Bryn Gohn, 00:17.818[9]; 13. 14-Colton Moyer, 00:17.826[22]; 14. 42U-Tyler Ulrich, 00:17.835[23]; 15. 59-Steve Wilbur, 00:18.090[20]; 16. 70D-Frankie Herr, 00:18.131[21]; 17. 13-Bo Gordon Jr, 00:18.185[16]; 18. 76-Michael Smith, 00:18.353[19]; 19. 39T-Olivia Thayer, 00:18.509[14]; 20. 12-Ashley Cappetta, 00:18.742[18]; 21. 22JR-Brian Wolf Jr, 00:19.050[6]; 22. 15S-Cole Small, 00:19.071[24]; 23. 3E-Ethan Greak, 00:22.485[12]; 24. (DNS) 66A-Cody Fletcher