Sentinel photo by TIM SHUMAKER
Jeff Miller (No. 57J) hold off a fast moving Logan Wagner for his second win in his rookie year in the 410 Sprint car division at Port Royal Speedway.

PORT ROYAL — It’s hard enough to win one sprint car feature during a rookie season let alone two.

Jeff Miller accomplished that with his second win of the season Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.

Miller, 24, of Huntington, earned $3,600 driving his family-owned 57J. He did have a late-race challenge from defending track champion and current points leader Logan Wagner.

“I saw Logan there,” Miller said. “He showed me his nose. I held that thing flat to the floor. I was going to stuff it in the fence or beat him. There were four lapped cars and everywhere I went they blocked me. I was able to get through. You can’t mess around. Logan is fast right now. When I saw his nose, I knew I had my hands full.”

Miller and his family-owned team made some changes to their car for this week after struggling since their first win on May 11.

“The last couple weeks didn’t go as planned,” Miller said. “We changed the car around 180-degrees back to the same deal we won the first night on here this year. What a world of difference. This is best place to race in the country. I got my car balanced out a little better and it definitely helped. The track was good tonight. Starting up front helped, but we had a good car.”

Miller started third and watched front-row starters Tyler Walton and Jake Sodeman dice for the lead in the opening laps.

“They were going at it hard,” Miller said. “I thought I had a better car, but I had to find the right time to make my move on them.”

Miller took the lead as they raced off turn two on lap four and then streaked away from the field. Jared Esh passed Walton and then moved into second when Sodeman fell off the pace.

Lucas Wolfe was up to fourth from 11th just ahead of ninth starter and points leader Logan Wagner, who nearly made a three-car pass in turns one and two. He passed two cars, but Wolfe stayed ahead of him as they raced down the backstretch.

Wolfe and Wagner swapped third a few times before Wagner secured the spot. They caught and passed Esh as well.

Miller had a straight away lead when Wagner took second with 10 laps to go. With seven to go, Miller had four slower cars in front of him and was having trouble getting by them.

Wagner closed significantly as Miller worked his way by those cars. He ducked under him in turn one, but Miller’s momentum off the cushion kept him out front and on to the win by .377 over Wagner with Wolfe finishing third.

“We got racing hard with Lucas and he checked out,” Wagner said. “I had no idea he was up front. I thought when I got by Lucas that was the last car. That was my fault as a driver I should have known who was ahead of me. He did drive a hell of a race. He was banging off the wall the whole time. I was impressed.”

Esh and Blane Heimbach completed the top five. Dylan Cisney, Tyler Reeser, TJ Stutts, AJ Flick and Kyle Smith rounded out the top 10.

Heat races for the 22 sprint cars were won by Miller, Wagner and Stutts. In the 25-lap feature for the late models, it was Austin Berry taking the early lead over Kyle Hardy. Eighth starter Dylan Yoder was up to third by lap seven. Hardy took the lead as Berry slowed off turn two on lap 10.

The first yellow flag flew with 10 laps completed. Hardy and Yoder battled for the lead after the restart. Yoder was on the bottom and Hardy in the middle groove.

Another yellow interrupted their battle with 12 laps completed. Hardy controlled the restart as Andy Haus peeked under Yoder for second. Yoder moved up a lane to try and keep his momentum up. He got a great run off the cushion and shot by Hardy down the backstretch taking the lead on lap 15.

Yoder, of Selinsgrove, split two slower cars with two laps to go securing the win over Hardy and Haus. Although he came into the night as the points leader, it was his first win of the season.

Mike Lupfer and Gene Knaub completed the top five. Gary Stuhler, Tim Smith Jr., Rance Garlock, Nick Dickson and Jeff Rine rounded out the top 10.

Todd Snook won the 20-lap limited late model feature after a battle with Troy Miller, who settled for second. Andrew Yoder, Ryan Zook and Devin Hart completed the top five.