PORT ROYAL — Chase Dietz grabbed the lead on the opening lap and went unchallenged from there winning the Keith Kauffman Classic and $16,000 Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.

It was Dietz’s first Port Royal win of the season and nation-leading

seventh overall driving the John and Kelly Stehman No.23.

“Pulling off these wins is so difficult to do let alone here at Port Royal,” Dietz said. “This is the best I’ve felt here. I was comfortable running up against the fence. We’ve been working to get to

this point. It’s an awesome team we have here. We’re looking forward to next week. We’ve had an excellent start to the season, and I feel like we keep getting stronger. The communication and chemistry is what it’s all about.”

“It’s not about the money, but getting the wins for us as a team,”

Dietz said. “A lot of work goes into this. Awesome to be a part of

this event.”

It was also a nice early birthday present for the York driver as he

turned 29-years-old Sunday.

Kasey Kahne started on the pole in the Macri Motorsports 39M with

Dietz second, Danny Dietrich third and High Limit Series point leader

Aaron Reutzel fourth.

Kahne and Reutzel got the jump on Dietz and went low in the first

turn. Dietz ripped the top getting by Reutzel and then Kahne.

Kahne tried a third turn slider, but Dietz turned his car off the

cushion driving between Reutzel and Kahne to take command off turn four.

Dietz led by two-seconds quickly in the 30-lap feature honoring the

speedway’s all-time sprint car win leader in Kauffman (129). Troy Wagaman Jr. raced up to fourth as Brent Marks and Cam Smith,

driving the Jacob Allen 1A, raced hard for a top five spot.

Dietz started lapping slower cars with seven laps completed. He has a close call in turn three when Ryan Taylor spun bringing out the races only caution. Dietz controlled the restart as Reutzel passed Kahne for second.

Deitrich joined Marks and Smith in the battle for fifth spot.

By the half-way point, Reutzel had closed on Dietz as they started

lapping cars again. Dietz split two slower cars to increase his

advantage again. As Dietz pulled away blasting a fast top groove, Wagaman passed Kahne for third.

Dietz’s victory in the PA Posse Series race came by 2.6-seconds over

Reutzel and Wagaman.

“It was good to come here and see that what we’ve done here in the past still works,” Reutzel said. “I felt good tonight. We were

wide-open around the top and I was able to stay close to him in dirty

air and that says a lot about how good our car was. I’m happy our car was good. When you struggle here, it’s hard to figure stuff out.”

“I’m feeling really comfortable,” Wagaman said. “I feel like we needed the 50 because we were coming through the middle, and got really good the last 10 laps.

Kahne and Marks completed the top five. Smith, Dietrich, Ryan Smith, Kerry Madsen and Daison Pursley rounded out the top 10.

A stellar field of 47 sprint cars packed the pits preparing for this

weekend’s Bob Weikert Memorial. The Sunday finale pays $100,000 to win.

“We have a lot of momentum headed into next week and I feel like we’re capable of winning it,” Dietz said.

Reutzel, the defending Weikert Champion, was fastest overall in

qualifying with a lap of 15.163. Wagaman was fastest in the second

group at 15.515.

Heat races went to Dietz, Madsen, Dietz and Cam Smith. Lance Dewease and Doug Hammaker won the B-mains.

The 360’s from the Empire Super Sprints were making their first-ever

trip to Port Royal. Kyle Smith led the 25-lap feature early over Davie

Franek and Alex Therrien. Therrien passed Franek with five laps

completed.

Following a red with 10 laps to go, Therrien, of Victoriaville,

Quebec, passed Smith for the lead. He pulled away from there. Dietz

passed Smith for second, but Smith returned the pass securing the

spot. Dietz ended up third followed by Franek and Tyler Ross. Jordan

Poirier, Michael Walter, Matt Tanner, Dylan Swiernik and Zach Sobotka rounded out the top 10.

Heat races for the 32 cars were won by Ross, Dietz, Therrien, and

Smith. Sobotka won the B feature.