Smith wins 75th annual Labor Day Classic
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PORT ROYAL - Ryan Smith took the lead back from Justin Whittall with
four laps left to win the 75th annual Labor Day Classic for the sprint
cars Monday afternoon at Port Royal Speedway.
Smith earned $7,500 for his first win in the historic event, which
also served as the Lynn Paxton Tribute race. It was his second Port
Royal win of the season in the Kreitz Racing 69K with legendary
mechanic Davey Brown Sr.
"I wasn't real comfortable running the fence," Smith said. "I could
make some speed. I figured I had to move down when I caught lapped
cars. I started really struggling in one and two and Justin drove by
me like I was on jack stands."
"I had to regroup, then we caught a yellow, and I was able to follow
him for a while and gather my thoughts," Smith said.
Smith started on the pole and grabbed the lead of the 25-lap feature
as Whittall raced into second.
The top two streaked away from Mark Smith and James McFadden, who was
making his debut in the Macri Motorsports 39M subbing for Anthony
Macri.
Smith, of Kunkletown, was searching around for the fastest line, while
Whittall was pounding a narrow cushion up against the fence.
It didn't take long until they were lapping slower traffic.
Whittall took the lead from Smith as they raced off the second turn on lap 11.
A yellow for debris slowed the pace. Chase Dietz pitted from sixth
spot. He did rejoin the field.
Danny Dietrich took third from McFadden on the restart as the racing
line shifted to the inside in turns three and four. Whittall led by
1.3-seconds with 10 laps to go.
Another yellow slowed the pace again. Smith ducked under Whittall on
the restart, but couldn't clear the pass. He tried to race a lane
higher than Whittall through turns three and four, but Whittall stayed
out front.
One final yellow gave Smith another shot. He got another really good
restart sticking right with Whittall, who stayed on the cushion in
turns one and two. He got a great run off the bottom of turn two
passing Whittall as they raced down the backstretch and into turn
three on lap 21.
"I drove it in there and it stuck, but I couldn't quite clear him,"
Smith said. "He stayed on the top and finally I passed him. Really
cool to win this race. I'm blessed to be the guy in the seat. That
thing is unreal to drive."
It was all Smith from there as he'd win it by 1.1-seconds over
Whittall. McFadden passed Dietrich back for third. Dietrich and Mark
Smith completed the top five.
"I should have went to the bottom," Whittall said. "I'm dejected. We
haven't had no luck this year."
"We're happy with the first day in the car," McFadden said. "I'm
learning how to drive it. It's a lot different than what I'm used to.
I could have driven it a lot harder than I did. I'm really happy with
the outcome."
Dylan Cisney, Troy Wagaman Jr., TJ Stutts, Logan Wagner and 19th
starter Parker Price-Miller rounded out the top 10. Lucas Oil Late
Model Dirt Serie regular Ricky Thornton Jr., driving a second Indy
Race Parts car, finished 12th.
Matt Campbell, McFadden and Smith won the heat races for the 29 cars.
Price-Miller won the consolation.
Each heat race ran qualifying time trials against only the other cars
in their respective heats. Mark Smith was fastest overall at 15.966.
Whittall was fastest in heat two at 16.108 and Ryan Smith fastest in
heat three at 16.121.
Port Royal returns to action Thursday with opening night of Tuscarora
50 weekend featuring the High Limit Sprint Car Series. The speedway is
in action Friday night as well before the 59th Annual Tuscarora 50
Saturday night paying $59,000 to win for the sprint cars.
RACING RECAP
Mason Zeigler won the Butch Renninger Memorial for the late models
Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway. He earned over $8,400 for his
second win in the event. Hayes Mattern, Justin Weaver, Matt Cosner and
Rick Eckert completed the top five. Gregg Satterlee and Trevor
Feathers finished sixth and seventh and tied for the track
championship. Feathers earned the title with two features wins to
Satterlee's one.
Middleburg's Andrew Yoder won the limited late model portion of the
Renninger and $3,333. Spike Moore, DJ Myers, Lane Snook and Kyle Lee
completed the top five.
Christian Bruno dominated the USAC East Coast wingless 360-sprint car feature.
Gregg Satterlee won the Paul Long Memorial for the late models Sunday
night at Selinsgrove Speedway. He earned $10,063. Zeigler, Mattern,
Cosner and Ross Robinson completed the top five.
Yoder made it a clean sweep of the weekend as he won the limited late
model feature. Mike Walls, DJ Myers, Daulton Bigler and Jaxton Garman
completed the top five.
Chris Dolan won the 305 sprint car feature. Ken Duke Jr., Tyler
Erdley, Mike Alleman and Timmy Bitner completed the top five.