By Aaron Fry
A holiday weekend ahead means big things for the Ti22 Performance FAST On Dirt tour as the 2023 season enters the home stretch. Saturday night, the tour will tackle the mammoth Pittsburgh Pennsylvania’s Motor Speedway in a standard $3,000 to win main event. On Sunday, the drivers will be competing for a $10,000 to win top prize in Wayne County Speedway’s “Pete Jacobs Memorial”.
N.E. “Pete” Jacobs was a car owner in the early 60’s who built racing’s version of a “Field of Dreams” when in 1964 he plowed under some of his farm fields to build Wayne County Speedway. The first green flag flew on June 26, 1965 and Pete nurtured the track’s growth until his passing on June 2, 1970. A year later, the track held a memorial race in his honor and the sprint car 50 lapper was won by Harold McGilton. Fifty-two years later, track promoter Jason Flory and the FAST tour will continue the tradition this Saturday night as we honor Pete Jacobs and his contributions to the sport once again.
As the tour enters the weekend events, Evans City, Pennsylvania’s Brandon Spithaler holds the tour point lead over Ricky Peterson by 183 points. While nowhere near clinching the title yet, Spithaler is headed into two tracks he is known to run very well on, including one of his 3 wins this season right at Wayne County Speedway. However, the tenacious team Ricky Peterson has around him has fought to overcome some serious adversity and bad luck. With the determination they have shown, there is no doubt they have what it takes to make a run at the championship over these last few events! Also, not to be counted out are the third and fourth place drivers of Danny Sams III and Jordan Ryan. North Port, Florida’s Sams has 2 wins on the season and Ryan’s consistency have helped keep both drivers in the title hunt. Jeremy Weaver, Jack Sodeman Jr and Mitch Harble are all still in contention for spots in the top 5.
On Saturday at Pittsburgh, gates will officially open at 5 pm with hot laps at 6 and racing at 7. Adult general admission is $21 with seniors admitted for $20. Students age 13-16 are $15, kids 6-12 are $5 with 5 and under free. RUSH late models and RUSH modifieds will also be on the racing card. For teams, pit passes will be $40 and we will be using the My Laps transponders. Rental on them will be $10. The main event payout will be as follows: 3000, 1500, 1000, 750, 650, 550, 500, 475, 450, 425, 400, 390, 380, 370, 360, 350, 350, 350, 350, 350. Heat races will pay: 40, 30, 20, 10 thanks to NAPA of Fremont, Mad Tree Brewing and Elite Wings USA. Hard charger and hard luck awards of $50 each will be provided by All Star Performance and Indy Race Parts.
For Sunday’s Pete Jacobs Memorial, gates will open at 2 pm. Driver meeting will be at 4:45 pm with engine heat at 5. Adult general admission is $25 with kids 12 and under free. Pit passes will be $40. We will be using the yellow Westhold transponders and rental will be $10 for the night. Mufflers WILL BE MANDATORY at Wayne County. The Pete Jacobs Memorial payoff will be as follows: 10000, 5000, 3000, 2000, 1500, 1300, 1250, 1200, 1100, 1000, 850, 700, 600, 500, 400, 400, 400, 400, 400, 400. Heat races and bonus money will remain the same as Saturday night from the same great marketing partners.
For competing teams, all cars must be on four corner Hoosier Racing Tires. The left rears must be the H12 or D12A and the right rears must be a H15, D15A or Medium. We do not mark tires. Wings must be flat top with maximum 2″ wickerbill. Again, mufflers mandatory only at Wayne County.
We look forward to seeing everyone out this weekend. Any teams with questions, please email Aaron at sprinter14@hotmail.com or call or text 740-703-3768.