By TODD HEINTZELMAN

Racing correspondent

PORT ROYAL — Dylan Cisney returned to Port Royal Speedway victory lane

Saturday night after an epic four-car battle for the sprint car

feature win

Cisney, the Mayor of Port Royal, is hoping to carry that momentum into

Tuscarora 50 weekend.

A large, and very competitive field of sprint cars is expected with

the High Limit Sprint Car Series.

“It’s going to be tough,” Cisney said. “We’ve figured out

the first part of fair week. We got a fair opener win, and a Labor Day

win the other year, we’ve been close before, if we could knock off

a Tuscarora 50 win, it would be alright to retire and sit at home.”

He hasn’t had a full-time ride this season but picked up the Stewart

Smith Racing 27S ride when Robbie Kendall took time off to take care

of his newborn.

Saturday night was certainly one of the most satisfying wins of Cisney’s career.

“This means so much,” Cisney said. “I watched most of these on a couch

down the street this year. If you would have told me I’d be back in a

car for fair week, and knock off a win, I wouldn’t have believed you.

I had no plans.”

It didn’t look like he had sat out most of the season as he fended off

all challengers.

“It was tough,” Cisney said. “This was only my second feature of the

year in a 410. You start second-guessing things. Part of it seems like

riding a bike, and other things, this sport evolves and changes so

It’s so hard to stay good with these guys that run 80 races a

year. It’s not a normal track when we run after the late models, it

was extra-slick. I got up on the fence and had to earn it.”

Cisney, the 2023 Labor Day Classic Champion, finished sixth during the

Lynn Paxton Tribute Race on Labor Day.

Tonight’s feature pays $10,000 to win and the 58th Annual Tuscarora 50

tomorrow night pays $58,000 to the winner.

Former Tuscarora 50 Champions Brian Brown (2023) and Aaron Reutzel

(2019) return to the cockpit this weekend after recovering from

injuries suffered in crashes this summer.

Ryan Timms, who shocked the sprint car world by winning the Knoxville

Nationals in August, will be in the field, along with King’s Royal

Champion Anthony Macri, of Dillsburg.

Rico Abreu is the defending race champion and current High Limit

series point leader.

Lance Dewease, of Fayetteville, has the most Tuscarora 50 wins with seven.

The sprint car and limited late model track champions will be decided

tonight. Justin Whittall leads the sprints by 135 over five-time

champion Logan Wagner and 320 over 2017 champion Brock Zearfoss.

Port Royal’s Lane Snook leads the limited late models by 185 over

Mifflintown’s Ryan Zook.

Nick Sweigart led Logan Spahr by five points headed into the 305

sprint finale last night.

For the second time in three seasons, York’s Rick Eckert is the late

model track champion. If not for a mechanical failure in last year’s

finale, it would be three straight.

“My car was pretty good, but I probably drove it like a sissy because

I gave the points away on the last race, I broke,” Eckert said after

Saturday’s third place finish. “I

figured I could get up there and make a little time, but I was trying

to ride until near the end of the race, I wanted to finish and not

knock the deck out of this thing.”

Eckert, the 2011 World of Outlaws champion, didn’t want to take any

unnecessary chances after losing the title during last year’s final

race. .

“I won one here two years ago, and last year gave one away on the last

race, it’s always cool to win a championship, I didn’t think we were

going to be able to run all the races this year, and some things fell

through that I had to do, and I got to run them all.”

TUSCARORA 50 CHAMPIONS

9/21/1968 5 Mitch Smith

9/27/1969 5 Mitch Smith

9/11/1970 5 Mitch Smith

9/11/1971 77 Smokey Snellbaker

9/8/1972 1 Lynn Paxton

9/7/1973 29 Kenny Weld

9/7/1974 1 Lynn Paxton

9/20/1975 19 Steve Smith

9/10/1976 44 Jim Nace

9/17/1977 1 Gary Howsare

9/8/1978 33 Keith Kauffman

9/7/1979 56 Smokey Snellbaker

9/5/1980 1 Lynn Paxton

9/11/1981 29 George Ferguson Jr.

9/9/1982 1A Bobby Allen

9/9/1983 40 Dave Blaney

9/7/1984 29 Doug Wolfgang

9/7/1985 29 Doug Wolfgang

9/7/1986 29 Doug Wolfgang

9/7/1987 29 Doug Wolfgang

9/9/1988 19 Stevie Smith

9/8/1989 1A Bobby Allen

9/7/1990 11 Todd Shaffer

9/7/1991 11 Todd Shaffer

9/11/1992 3K Len Krautheim III.

9/10/1993 69K Don Kreitz Jr.

9/9/1994 461 Lance Dewease

9/8/1995 88 Todd Shaffer

9/20/1996 77 Fred Rahmer

9/20/1997 77 Fred Rahmer

9/12/1998 12 Greg Hodnett

9/11/1999 69K Don Kreitz Jr.

9/9/2000 77 Fred Rahmer

9/8/2001 88H Lance Dewease

9/7/2002 77 Lance Dewease

9/6/2003 7 Keith Kauffman

9/11/2004 12 Greg Hodnett

9/10/2005 88H Fred Rahmer

9/9/2006 25 Lance Dewease

9/8/2007 30 Doug Esh

9/7/2008 11 Mike Erdley

9/12/2009 22 Greg Hodnett

9/11/2010 21 Brian Montieth

9/10/2011 1 Stevie Smith

9/8/2012 30 Doug Esh

9/7/2013 69k Don Kreitz Jr.

9/6/2014 27 Greg Hodnett

9/13/2015 19m Brent Marks

9/10/2016 69k Lance Dewease

9/9/2017 69k Lance Dewease

10/28/2018 15 Donny Schatz

9/7/2019 87 Aaron Reutzel

9/12/2020 69k Lance Dewease (7)

9/11/2021 1 Logan Wagner

9/10/2022 39m Anthony Macri

10/5/2023 21 Brian Brown

9/07/2024 24 Rico Abreu