SPRINTS: Port Royal, Penna  96-06-01
June 1, 1996
Port Royal, Pennsylvania

Greetings from the Port Royal Speedway located in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. 
This was our first ever trip to this historic track.  For some reason we just
never got around to making the trip.  However, Saturday was a beautiful day to
go to the races so Mr. G and I loaded our truck up and headed off to Port
Royal, which turned out to be a two hour trip one way.  

We decided that since the World of Outlaws had been at Williams Grove on
Friday night (Steve Kinser won the feature) and they were at Lincoln Speedway
Saturday night (Mark Kinser won the feature) I decided it was time to visit
Port Royal.  I just could not go two weeks during racing season without seeing
a sprint car race.

Port Royal is located about 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) west of Harrisburg on
US 22, then southwest on SR 75 to 6th Street, then turn north.  The ride from
Harrisburg is beautiful.  US 22 travels through the mountains and follows the
Susquehanna River which provides some great scenery.  

Port Royal is a 1/2 mile (0.847 kilometer) semi banked clay oval located on
the Juniata County Fair grounds.  I would estimate the banking to be about 8
degrees.  Reserved seating in the main grandstand was $11.00.  The main
grandstand is reminiscent of the old fashioned style fair grounds grandstand
and covers the majority of the front stretch.  It is wooden and has eleven rows
and is covered with a new tin roof.  When one walks along the walkway at the
bottom of the grandstand they are about four feet above the racing surface
since the racing surface and the grandstand share a concrete wall.  There is
also a small concrete grandstand towards turn four.  Spectators may also bring
their own lawn chairs and sit in the center of the infield since the pits are
located on either end of the speedway.  One thing that is mandatory at Port
Royal is hearing protection if you sit in the grandstands.  The facility is not
ideally layed out for racing fans since the restrooms are located a good
distance away from the main grandstand by the main entrance to the fairgrounds.

It is a good walk to get to the bathrooms and it requires proper planning and
timing so that you do not miss any racing action.  

A unique aspect of the track is that starts come at the entrance to turn three
while the flag stand is at the entrance to turn one in the infield.  Signed
into the pits were twenty five (25) of the 410 sprints, twenty eight (28) late
models, twelve (12) semi lates, and twenty (20) thunder cars.  Gates opened at
5 PM, we were there, and warm ups were scheduled for 6:15 PM.  I knew we were
in for trouble as soon as I saw the track.  It was a mess!  Not only that but
three of the vehicles they use to run in the track had managed to crash on the
front stretch in front of the main grandstand.  Two of them required towing! 
At 7:15 they were still grooming the track but they allowed the late models,
semi lates and the thunder cars out to assist them in running the track in.  At
7:30 PM the sprint cars were also allowed out to get heat in their engines. 
The first hot laps, semi lates, hit the track at 7:45 PM!  Heck they were only
running an hour and a half behind schedule and to me the track still looked
awful rough and wet.

Prior to hot laps for the sprints it was announced that Mark Richard driver of
the #5K would not be present due to a case of appendicitis.  Prior the nights
racing event Mark was third in the points standings for the 410 sprint
division.  The only incident during hot laps was the #555 of Mike Wells spun in
turn two and came to a stop in the grove sideways.  Although the Outlaws were
racing at the Lincoln Speedway the #88 of Todd Shaffer and the #461 of Lance
Dewease were both present since the Outlaw event was not televised last
Saturday night TNN televised the Outlaw race live from Williams Grove) and they
are one and two respectively in the points.

Heat races for the sprints were eight laps in distance with six cars to
qualify.

Heat One Line Up
Row 1:	#15 Vince Snyder	#30 Daryl Stimeling
Row 2:	#1 Rick Hench		#55 Mike Wagner
Row 3:	#61 Tony Greener	#461 Lance Dewease
Row 5:	#U5 Trevor Utt		#12F John Fraker
Row 6:	#79 John Bear
The #U5 of Trevor Utt scratched from the heat.

The green lights had not even come on and the #1 of Rick Hench was off and
running causing a complete restart.  Hench was warned by track officials that
if he jumped the start again he would be sent to the rear of the field.  On the
restart there was some minor contact and the #461 of Dewease ended up against
the outside guard rail in turn four bringing out the yellow again and requiring
another restart.  The pole sitter #15 of Snyder was having mechanical problems
and went into the pits.  The #461 was pushed off and was able to rejoined the
field.

The #1 of Hench now found himself on the front row and in control of the heat
and did not have to worry about the start.  Once the green came out he was off
and running.  The #461 of Dewease started to move up and passed last weeks
feature winner #61 Greener on the back stretch.  On lap one Dewease passed the
#30 of Stimeling in turn four and set his sights on the #55 of Wagner who was
running second.  On lap five the #30 of Stimeling passed the #61 of Greener in
turn three while Dewease closed in on Wagner.  Dewease closed on Wagner and
Wagner closed on Hench but there was never any threat of positions changing.
Heat One Qualifiers
#1, #55, #461, #30, #61, #12F

Heat Two Line Up
Row 1:	#65 1/2 Christine Karns	#27 John Franker
Row 2:	#121 Judi Bates		#2H Dave Hahn
Row 3:	#22M Brian Miller	#10 Len Thompson
Row 5:	#555 Mike Wells		#29 Keith McMannus
The #29 of McMannus was not the Bob Weikert Livestock sponsored #29 which I am
assuming was running the World of Outlaw show at Lincoln.

When the green came out the #65 1/2 of Karns started going to the rear
immediately.  The #2H of Hahn took the lead although one had to wonder about if
he was going to stay there.  Every time he went through turn one I could see
flames around the left side of the rear axle.  On lap one the #121 of Bates
passed the #27 of Franker to take second.  On lap two the yellow comes out for
the #29 of McMannus who had come to a stop in turn four.  The running order
was: #2H, #121, #10, #27, #555, #65 1/2.

The field takes the green and on lap four the #121 of Bates got high in turn
two which allowed the #10 of Thompson to pass her and take over second.  By lap
six Thompson was closing on the #2H of Hahn and on lap seven Thompson ducked
low in turns one and two and passed Hahn for to take the lead.
Heat Two Qualifiers
#10, #2H, #121, #27, #555, #65 1/2

Heat Three Line Up
Row 1:	#1/2 Von McGee		#66K Steve Kenawell
Row 2:	#77T Jess Thomas	#2C Will Cramer
Row 3:	#88 Todd Shaffer	#17 Alan Cole
Row 5:	#76 Jamie Steffy	#12B Brian Montieth

The green came out quickly followed by a yellow for a false start.  When the
green came out again it was not a great start but it the racing stayed green. 
Somehow the #17 of Cole was in the lead and by lap two the #88 of Shaffer was
up to second followed by the #77T, #2C and #76 which is how they finished.  The
#12B of Montieth spun after taking the white flag but he was far enough back
that the field took the checkered flag as he sat in the grove in turn two.
Heat Three Qualifiers:
#17, #88, #77T, #2C, #76, #1/2

There was a consi for the late models and then hot laps for the thunder cars
and the semi lates and then the sprint feature was supposed to be run. 
However, Walt Dyer the owner of the #461 was as mad as all get out and
complaining to track officials.  First he was complaining about the poor
condition of the racing surface and then the posted line up for the feature.  

Walt felt that the #461 should be ahead of the #88 since the #88 was the
points leader.  However, track officials told Walt to read his rule book and
that the #88 and the #461 were "in the penalty box" since both cars missed last
weeks racing at Port Royal.  According to the rule book the cars in the penalty
box are lined up by the most number of points which put the #88 of Shaffer in
front of the #461 of Dewease.

Walt did win the battle over the track surface though since the grader came
out and did extensive work in turns one and two while the push trucks worked in
turns three and four.  After the grader left the push trucks then helped to
finish running in the track in turns one and two.

25 Lap Feature
Row 1:	#1 Rick Hench		#121 Judi Bates
Row 2:	#77T Jess Thomas	#55 Mike Wagner
Row 3:	#2H Dave Hahn		#88 Todd Shaffer
Row 4:	#461 Lance Dewease	#10 Len Thompson
Row 5:	#17 Alan Cole		#30 Daryl Stimeling
Row 6:	#27 John Franker	#2C Will Cramer
Row 7:	#61 Tony Greener	#555 Mike Wells
Row 8:	#76 Jamie Steffy	#12F John Fraker
Row 9:	#65 1/2 Christine Karns	#1/2 Von McGee
Row 10:	#79 John Bear		#22M Brian Miller
Row 11:	#12B Brian Montieth	#66K Steve Kenawell
Row 12:	#29 Brian McMannus	#15 Vince Snyder


As the green came out the #1 of Hench took off.  The #55 of Wagner was
pressuring the #121 of Bates but she held him off.  On lap one Wagner got on
the inside of Bates and as they entered turn one they made contact with Bates
holding off Wagner as they went down the back stretch.  

On lap three the #10 of Thompson passed the #77T of Thomas in turn two.  The
#88 of Shaffer was moving up and was pressuring the #55 of Wagner who managed
to pass Bates in turn four.  On lap six the #55 of Wagner and the #121 of Bates
were battling again for position.  However, this time they were also joined by
the #88 of Shaffer who tried to pass both on the inside going into turn two. 
Unfortunately for Shaffer he ran out of racing room and got pinched into the
inside guard rail and lost several positions.

During all this the #461 of Dewease was beginning to move through the field. 
On lap eight Dewease managed two pass the #77T of Thomas and the #121 of Bates
in turn two.  On lap nine the caution came out for the #2C of Cramer who had
hit the inside guard rail with his front end and was sitting sideways in the
racing grove.  The running order was: #1, #555 (-1), #55, #10, #12F (-1), #88,
#461, #1/2 (-1), #77T, #65 1/2 (-1).  The #12F of Fraker who was down a lap
stayed in the back of the field instead of moving up into the thick of things.

As the field took the green the #1 of Hench was off and running again.  The
#88 of Shaffer was pressuring the #10 of Thompson for the third spot which he
took in turn four on lap ten.  By lap thirteen Shaffer had passed the #55 of
Wagner taking over the second position while the #10 of Thompson was closing on
the #55 of Wagner.  On the back stretch Thompson used a lapped car and shot to
the inside and passed Wagner who had gone to the outside of the lapped car.  On
lap fifteen the caution light came on for debris on the track which took away
the cushion that Hench had from the fast closing #88 of Shaffer.  The running
order was: #1, #88, #10, #55, #461, #77T, #17.

When the green came back out Shaffer wasted no time and muscled his way to the
inside of Hench in turn four and completed the pass taking over the lead. 
Before lap fifteen could be completed the yellow was back out for the 31 of
Hench who had a flat rear tire.  He was given two laps to make the repairs
which he did and rejoined the field shotgun.  On the restart the #461 of
Dewease passed the #55 of Wagner in turn four and took over the third position.

By lap eighteen Dewease was beginning to close on the #10 of Thompson but by
lap twenty he had fallen back again.  On lap twenty two the yellow was out
again for an accident in turn four involving the #27 of Franker who was sitting
sideways in the grove and how had been collected by the #17 of Cole.  Both cars
were removed from the track and taken to the pits.

With just three laps to go it was obvious it was going to be battle to the
checkers.  As the green came out the #461 of Dewease quickly went to work on
the #10 of Thompson and passed him coming out of turn four.  The #55 of Wagner
then managed to pass Thompson in turn one.  However, no one was going to catch
the #88 of Shaffer who took the checkered flag with a healthy margin over
second place Dewease.

Top Six Finishers
1.) #88 Todd Shaffer,  2.) #461 Lance Dewease,  3.) #55 Mike Wagner,
4.) #10 Len Thompson,  5.) #77T Jess Thomas,  6.)  Rick Hench

Victory Lane Interview  

The track announcer welcomed Todd back to victory lane and Todd said it was
good to be back.  The car the team ran was a car that had been sitting around
the track and they decided to put it back together to see if they could find
victory lane again.  Two weeks ago Todd flipped a brand new car out over the
fence at Williams Grove.

Todd then congratulated Port Royal for having an excellent surface in the
beginning of the year and for having the worst surface he has ever raced on
tonight.  Todd said it was rough and bumpy and that it was extremely hard to
pass anyone.

Late Model Results
Heats were 8 laps in distance with 6 cars to qualify.
Heat 1: 9 Cars 		Winner:	#1 Scottie Haus
Heat 2:	10 Cars		Winner: #39 Mike Hess
Heat 3:	9 Cars		Winner: #18 Sam Capriano
Consi was 5 laps in distance with 4 cars to qualify
Consi:	8 cars		Winner: #33 Carl Billet
20 Lap Feature 
Top Five Finishers out of 28 starters
1.)  #1 Scottie Haus	2.)  #39 Mike Hess	3.)  #33 Carl Billet
4.)  #88 Rich Myers	5.)  #06 Jeff Smith

Semi Late Results
12 Lap Feature with no Heat Races 
Top Three Finishers out of 12 starters
1.)  #77x Tom Krape	2.)  #88 Rick Yohn	3.)  #5 Alan Noss

Thunder Cars
12 Lap Feature with no heat races
22 cars.  Unfortunately we did not stay since it was getting late and we had a
two hour drive to get home. :-(

Next week, weather permitting we plan to attend the Friday night show at
Williams Grove where the 410 Sprints and the NAPA Super Sportsman are scheluded
and possibly even another Saturday night show to see the 410 Sprints at one of
three possible locations.
 
As always I welcome any news, comments, suggestions or questions.  You can
reach me at:  rgould@oehs.upenn.edu