Story By: JUSTIN SNYDER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – There’s a storm brewing in Juniata County in the form of high powered Sprint Cars!
Port Royal Speedway is set to host this Saturday, June 18th, the AMSOIL INC. USAC Racing Sprint Cars, the Silver Crown Sprint Cars and the Weikert’s Livestock winged Sprint Cars as part of the 15th annual USAC Eastern Storm tour.
This will be the series’ 11th attempt at visiting the Speed Palace as eight events have been held and two were lost as a result of weather and the Covid-19 outbreak.
The annual wingless event will pay $6000 to win and also features the Winged Sprint Cars competing for $5000 to win. This will be a first ever visit to the track for the Silver Crown Sprint Cars, who will be vying for an $8000 prize, and has only further ensured this season’s Eastern Storm visit will be one of the most highly anticipated visits in recent memory to the Speedway.
Gates Open at 4:00pm with racing set to kick off at 7:00pm. GA- $30, Students- $15, Pits- $40
Port Royal Speedway has been an annual visit of the USAC wingless sprint cars dating back to 2012 with past winners being Damion Gardner (2012), Dave Darland (2013), Brady Bacon (2014), Robert Ballou (2015), Bryan Clauson (2016), Chris WIndom (2017-18) and most recently Tyler Courtney in 2019.
The annual week-long event features visits to six different tracks across six consecutive days along, with the single visit of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series. CJ Leary most recently captured the Eastern Storm crown in 2019.
Justin Grant enters the weekend as the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint points leaders and he holds a narrow 19-point advantage over second-place Brady Bacon. Robert Ballou (-23), Emerson Axom (-27) and CJ Leary (-50) complete the top five.
In Weikert’s Livestock 410 action, Rick Lafferty enters the weekend as the most recent winner in the division as he held off Blane Heimbach and Mike Wagner last weekend.
Logan Wagner sits on top of of the series’ point standings in his drive for five consecutive championships and he holds a 210-point advantage over Jeff Halligan. Mike Wagner (-225), Lucas Wolfe (-235) and Justin Whittall (-465) complete the top five.
The USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series is one of the most historic and prestigious series in all of open wheel competition and list some of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport as past champions. This season marks their first-ever appearance at the Juniata County oval.
Kody Swanson enters the weekend as the leader in the series point standings and he holds a narrow 3-point advantage over second-place Logan Seavey. Justin Grant (-15), CJ Leary (-15) and Brian Tyler (-46) make up the rest of the top five.
Adding to the intrigue of the event will be a special pre-race Driven2SaveLives ambassador meet and greet with Emerson Axom in the commercial building located behind the main grandstands. The event will take place from 2-4:00pm and will see Axom meeting with fans with his Clauson Marshall Racing No. 47BC car on display, along with several giveaways, raffle items and more!