From ASCOC
PORT ROYAL, PA. (Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014) – The University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions are hoping to put an end to the domination of the Pennsylvania Posse at this weekend’s 47th Annual Tuscarora 50 weekend at Port Royal Speedway. The event takes place Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. as part of the 160th Annual Juniata County Fair.
When the UNOH All Stars invaded Port Royal in April for the Bob Weikert Memorial, Hodnett would take the victory but it wasn’t easy as four time All Star champion Dale Blaney pressured him most of the way.
The 2013 Night Before event drew 39 cars and saw Greg Hodnett wire the field for the $5,000 payday
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With 40 cars in action, last year’s Tuscarora 50 saw a rousing event as both Danny Dietrich and Brian Montieth came from deep within the field to challenge leader Don Kreitz Jr. for the lead with Montieth taking control nearing the 10-to-go point. Montieth’s rally put Kreitz’s elbows up and the Sinking Spring veteran surged back to the front a few laps later to drive to his third career Tuscarora victory while pocketing over $13,000 for the checkers.
This year, Friday’s Night Before The 50 sprint car program will pay the winner $5,000 to win the 30 lap feature event and $400 just to start.
Packer’s Concessions of Centre Hall is sponsoring a $200 fast time award for the fastest Night Before The 50 qualifier in time trials.
The super late models are also on the Friday card with group time trials slated in warm ups.
Saturday’s 47th annual running of the Tuscarora 50 will see a total event purse of some $42,000 posted for the sprinters including a paid B Main. Sponsored by Ramsey’s Car Washes, the Tuscarora 50 main event will pay $12,000 to win and $500 just to start. Each lap of the Tuscarora 50 will pay $25 to lead and the Packer’s Concessions fast timer for the 50 will receive a $300 cash award.
The econo lates will join the 410 sprints for the 50, racing in a special, rare, topless event.
This will be the 32nd and 33rd events in 2014 for the UNOH All Stars with 15 different drivers picking up series wins thus far.
Blaney must be considered a contender to upset the PA Posse! The Hartford, Ohio driver scored his 13th UNOH All Star win this past Saturday at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, running his career series total to 112. “The Low Rider” hasn’t scored this many UNOH All Star wins since 1996 when he won 17 features.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Danny Holtgraver also posted a UNOH All Star win at Attica this past Friday, the third series win of 2014. He currently is third in the All Star’s national points.
And NEVER count out “The Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild. The Wooster, Ohio driver has a pair of UNOH All Star wins in 2014 and sits second in the series national points.
The pair of races are points battles in the UNOH All Star’s Eastern Region standings where Hodnett leads four time national All Star champion Tim Shaffer by just 16 markers. Shaffer scored his first UNOH All Star win of 2014 two weeks ago at Mercer Raceway Park in Western Pennsylvania.
Danny Dietrich sits fifth in the UNOH All Star Eastern Region standings and recorded a series win at Lincoln Speedway in June.
And to add even more excitement to the weekend’s events, the pair of races will determine the Port Royal Speedway track champion for 2014 and the title fight couldn’t be any closer.
After Monday’s Labor Day Classic for the sprints at Port Royal, both Rick Lafferty and Chad Layton are tied for the point lead with 4,825 markers. Both men have a win at the historic oval already this season.
Layton is already a two-time Port Royal rack champion, having scored the laurels for Middleswarth racing in 2010 and in 2012. If he would be able to take over the point lead and claim the crown with the conclusion of this weekend’s All Stars Sprints races, it would be an unprecedented eighth career track title for his car owner, Dave Middleswarth. Aside from Layton’s two titles, the Middleswarth stables garnered crowns with Keith Kauffman as their driver at the track in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2007.
Lafferty, a self-owned race, is looking for a first ever track title however after taking over the point lead from Mike Wagner at the track on August 30. Traditionally, Lafferty has performed better than Layton on slick track surfaces like the one that the Port Royal oval usually produces over the course of the 50 events.
And not to be counted out at this point is 2006 track champion Mike Erdley of Elizabethville, who sits just 50 points out of the lead coming into the weekend. Erdley too sometimes excels at slick track surfaces and on the heels of his car owner Randy Lisi’s just released retirement announcement effective at the end of the season, the Cinderella story of the Tuscarora 50 weekend at Port Royal lays in his hands.
Defending track champion Blane Heimbach currently sits fourth in season points, at a 120-point deficit to the tied leaders. A bad night by any or all of the previously mentioned trio could thrust Heimbach right back to the top of the standings, a position he held for over three-quarters of the 2014 season since it began in April.
Admission to the Juniata County Fair that surrounds the speedway is FREE both nights with adult race general admission priced at $25 on Friday and $30 on Saturday. Students ages 12 -18 are admitted to the races for just $5 both nights.
Camping is available adjacent to the fairgrounds for the economical flat price of only $30, regardless of length of stay.
Gates for both racing programs will open at 4 p.m.
For more information go to www.portroyalspeedway.com