By: Mike Ackelson
August 28, 2026 – For Immediate Release:

Spithaler’s Last-Lap Heroics and Lockhart’s First Career Victory Highlight Thrilling Drivers’ Appreciation Night at Tri-City Raceway Park
FRANKLIN, PA — Drivers’ Appreciation Night at Tri-City Raceway Park had fans on the edge of their seats on Friday night, delivering lightning-fast track conditions and a pair of white-knuckle sprint car features that were decided on the final lap.
The action-packed night commenced with a highly competitive field of 19 cars taking the green flag for the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply 410 Sprint 25-lap feature. AJ Flick quickly jumped into the lead from the second starting position, but the racing behind the former track champion was fast and furious. Brandon Matus, Bob Felmlee, Brandon Spithaler, Jacob Begenwald, Zach Morrow, Michael Bauer, and Carl Bowser engaged in a fierce battle, running three and four-wide as they fought for every inch of real estate. Clicking off laps at a blistering 122 mph, Flick was flying around the half-mile oval, missing the track record held by Ed Lynch Jr. by mere tenths of a second.
The lone caution of the feature waved on lap seven when Mike Lutz suffered a mechanical issue and was unable to clear the speedway. When the green flag dropped once again, Flick checked out like a rocket. Behind him, the war for second place raged on between Felmlee, Spithaler, Derick Hauck, and Matus. Spithaler eventually seized the runner-up spot and began his pursuit of the leader, with Felmlee and Hauck remaining locked in their own tight battle. As the laps wound down, heavy traffic entered the equation, giving Spithaler the break he needed to close to within striking distance of Flick.
With three laps remaining, the leaders waged an epic duel, separated by less than a car length at the white flag. Racing into turns one and two on the final lap, Spithaler executed a brilliant, hard-charging slider underneath Flick to take the lead off the second turn. He quickly checked out to establish a one-second gap, capturing his fourth win of the season and the 10th of his career at Tri-City. The milestone victory ties him with legendary drivers Ted Wise, Craig Rankin, and Jerry Matus for 13th on the track’s all-time win list.
“I knew I was fast and had some great battles to get to the front, but I thought the caution may have ruined any chance to get by AJ; I needed the lap traffic to slow him down,” Spithaler stated in victory lane. “I was really fast, and when we got back into traffic, it played into my favor. I threw a slider on him on the last lap and we touched a little. That’s not how I wanted to win, but hey, we parked here in victory lane. I love racing at this track—it suits my style and that was a lot of fun racing on a great track.” Flick held off a hard-charging Hauck to secure second, while Felmlee and Brandon Matus completed the top five.
The 21st Century Energy Group RUSH Sprint Car division followed with a spectacular, caution-free 20-lap feature. Fourteen-year-old Logan Lockhart grabbed the early lead at the start, while Devon Deeter, Brayden Blackshear, Zach Morrow, Gale Ruth Jr., and Blaze Myers put on a thrilling show behind him, swapping positions nearly every lap during the first half of the race. Myers eventually bypassed Ruth for second on lap 10 and set his sights on the teenager, who had accumulated a three-second lead. Lockhart hit his marks flawlessly, utilizing a high groove that no other competitor was attempting. However, Myers—the track’s all-time leading feature winner in the division—began utilizing his experience to shrink the gap, putting immense pressure on Lockhart over the final five laps.
Myers pulled even with the leader in turns one and two on multiple occasions, but Lockhart never blinked, timing his moves through lap traffic perfectly to maintain a slim advantage. With two laps to go, Lockhart wisely shifted down a groove to take away Myers’ momentum in turns one and two, completely neutralizing the threat through turns three and four to capture his first career RUSH Sprint Car feature victory.
“Wow, we finally put it all together tonight,” Lockhart said after the emotional win. “We’ve struggled really bad here, but to win just 15 minutes from my home is so special. I’m so happy to see how excited my dad is that we won. I want to thank everyone who comes out to support us. I knew we were fast, and using a groove nobody else was trying made the difference.” Myers settled for second, earning the $100 Kenny Cash bonus—an award presented at every RUSH Sprint race this season by Arnie Kent in memory of his late brother, Kenny Kent. Ruth finished third, while Blackshear and Deeter rounded out the top five.
In the RK Virgile Iron and Steel Pro Stock 20-lap feature, Curt J. Bish won the initial drag race off turn two against Josh Seippel to take the early lead before the first of two cautions flew for a spinning Matt Bernard in turn one. Bish cleared Seippel once more on the restart to set the pace, while Seippel, Brandon Connor, Bobby Whitling, and Jake Whitling engaged in a furious battle for second through fifth. The final caution of the event flew when something broke on Bernard’s machine, requiring a tow back to the pit area. Bish continued to lead the field on the restart, with Bobby Whitling moving into second. Disaster struck Bish on lap 14 when he cut down a right-rear tire entering turn three, ending his stellar run and handing the lead to Whitling. Whitling never looked back, cruising to the checkered flag to earn his 68th all-time victory at the facility.
“Every win is so special here and we have a bunch of them,” Whitling noted. “I feel bad for Curt breaking, but sometimes racing luck is on your side, and tonight I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Rounding out the evening’s action was the Complete Car Care Center RUSH Stock Car 15-lap feature, which commenced with a wild, three-wide battle for the lead through turns one and two. Raiddan Wilson maximized the bottom groove to emerge with the top spot, setting the pace while William Baker and Cole Laskey pinned themselves to his back bumper. On lap eight, Baker spun in turn four while attempting a pass, triggering the event’s first caution. Just one lap after the restart, Baker looped his machine again in turn four, bringing out the final caution of the race. Wilson held his lane perfectly on the bottom for the remaining distance to claim his second victory in three weeks. The win marks the fifth of his career at the speedway, tying him with Billy Myers Sr. for second on the division’s all-time wins list.
“I love racing here, it’s so much fun,” Wilson said. “It feels really good to be back up celebrating with my grandparents.”
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply 410 Sprint Feature 25 Lap Results: 1. 22 Brandon Spithaler [6] 2. 2 AJ Flick [2] 3. 12J Derek Hauck [5] 4. 6 Bob Felmlee [7] 5. 13 Brandon Matus [1] 6. 46 Michael Bauer [8] 7. 11 Carl Bowser [9] 8. 3JB Jacob Begenwald [4] 9. 32 Jeremy Kornbau [14] 10. 47L Dusty Larson [11] 11. 27 Zach Morrow [3] 12. 14K Tori Knutson [10] 13. 19M Bodey McClintock [15] 14. 3J Joel Mellon [13] 15. 82M Vivan Jones 16] 16. 30 Jazlyn Boyles [18] 17. 33 Brent Matus [17] 18. 86 Mike Lutz [19] 19. 5 Jeremy Weaver [20] DNS 23JR Jack Sodeman Jr. DNS 55 Scott Rogers
1st Heat Race Finish: 1. 13 Brandon Matus [2] 2. 22 Brandon Spithaler [3] 3. 46 Michael Bauer [3] 4. 11 Carl Bowser [5] 5. 55 Scott Rogers 6. 19M Bodey McClintock [7] 7. 33 Brent Matus [6]
2nd Heat Race Finish: 1. 27 Zach Morrow [1] 2. 6 Bob Felmlee [5] 3. 3JB Jacob Begenwald [3] 4. 14 Tori Knutson [7] 5. 3J Joel Mellon [6] 6. 82M Vivan Jones [2] 7. 30 Jazlyn Boyles [4]
3rd Heat Race Finish: 1. 2 AJ Flick [1] 2. 23JR Jack Sodeman Jr. [2] 3. 12J Derek Hauck [3] 4. 47L Dusty Larson [6] 5. 32 Jeremy Kornbau [5] DNS 86 Mike Lutz DNS 5 Jeremy Weaver
21st Century Energy Group RUSH Sprint Car 20 Lap Feature Results: 1. 58 Logan Lockhart [2] 2. 41 Blaze Myers [6] 3. 24 Gale Ruth Jr. [5] 4. 10 Brayden Blackshear [3] 5. Devon Deeter [1] 6. 5B Joe Buccola [8] 7. 21 Grayson Bayle [10] 8. 17 Trent Marshall [7] 9. 21N Samantha Priest [13] 10. 68 Zach Morrow [4] 11. 1t Ricky Tucker III [9] 12. 9 Arnie Kent [15] 13. 213 Lucas Roessner [16] 14. 82 Ashton Riggle [14] 15. 63L Wyatt Long [12] 16. 16 Jayden Shiffer [18] 17. 13K Kevin Kaserman [20] 18. 17M CJ McClintock [19] 19. 18 Brandon Fiedler [21] 20. 20A Jesse Armstrong [17] 21. 7 Cooper Macormac [11]
1st Heat Race Finish: 1. 5B Joe Buccola 2. 54 Devon Deeter [3] 3. 41 Blaze Myers [4] 4. 21 Grayson Bayle [1] 5. 21N Samatha Priest [5] 6. 213 Lucas Roessner [6] 7. 17M CJ McClintock [7]
2nd Heat Race Finish: 1. 24 Gale Ruth Jr. [1] 2. 10 Brayden Blackshear [5] 3. 1t Ricky Tucker III [6] 4. 7 Cooper Macormac [3] 5. 82 Ashton Riggle [4] 6. 20A Jesse Armstrong [7] 7. 13K Kevin Kaserman [2]
3rd Heat Race Finish: 1. 17 Trent Marshall [3] 2. Logan Lockhart [1] 3. 68 Zach Morrow [5] 4. 63L Wyatt Long [4] 5. 9 Arnie [2] 6. 16 Jayden Shiffer [6] 7. 18 Brandon Fiedler [7]
RK Virgile Iron & Stel Pro Stocks 20 Lap Feature Results: 1. 7W Bobby Whitling [5] 2. 07 Jake Whitling [4] 3. 84S Josh Seippel [2] 4. 55C Brandon Connor [3] 5. J19 Jason Fosnaught [8] 6. 23 Pat Fielding [6] 7. 19T Troy Norman [9] 8. 29 Curt J Bish [1] 9. 7B Matt Bernard [7] DNS 57 Jason Kimmy
Heat Race Finish: 1. 84S Josh Seippel [1] 2. 55C Brandon Connor [2] 3. 29 Curt J Bish [7] 4. 07 Jake Whitling [5] 5. 7W Bobby Whitling [3] 6. 23 Pat Fielding [4] 7. 7B Matt Bernard [8] 8. j19 Jason Fosnaught [9] 9. 19T Troy Norman [6] DNS 57 Jason Kimmy
Complete Car Care Center RUSH Stock Car 15 Lap Feature Results: 1. 77 Raiddan Wilson [3] 2. 2C Cole Laskey [1] 3. 620 William Baker [2] 4. 97m Robert Switzer [4] 5. 15* Darr Diegleman [5] 6. 22s Michael Smiley [6] 7. Morgan Croscutt [7]
Heat Race Finish: 1. 620 William Baker [1] 2. 77 Raiddan Wilson [2] 3. 2C Cole Laskey [3] 4. 97M Robert Switzer [6] 5. 15* Darr Diegelman 6. 22s Michael Smiley [4] 7. 42 Morgan Croscutt [5]
Upcoming Races

September 4 – Bob Tarr Memorial – Pro Stock King of the Hill $700 to win – Practice for Oil Region Classic open to all cars

September 5 – BRP Mod Tour $2,500 to win – Rays Race for Pro Stocks $2,011 to win $200 to start – RUSH Sprint Cars $1,000 to win

September 6 – 410 Sprint Cars $4,000 to win – RUSH Late Model Touring Series $4,000 to win – RUSH Stock Cars $400 to win – Econo Mod Maina Tour $1,000 to win

Ticket Pricing
General Admission
Adults (17+) $15.00
Students / Seniors/ Military $13.00
Kids 10 and Under FREE
Pit Passes (3+) $35.00

Special Races
General Admission
Adults (17+) $20.00
Students / Seniors/ Military $15.00
Kids 10 and Under FREE
Pit Passes (3+) $40.00

Marketing Partners
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, 21st Century Energy Group, RK Virgile Iron & Steel, Complete Car Care Center, Marsh Heating & Cooling, Erie Beer, KEI Klapec Express Trucking, Shambaugh Towing, McCandless Ford, United Community Independence Program, Close Racing Supply, Schaeffer’s Oil, BKI Bert Klapec INC, Clarion County Community Bank, McCandless Trailer Sales, Heffren Septic systems, Gates & Burns Reality, Bernards Electrical Service & Troubleshooting, Sunbelt Rental Meadville, MAD Tree Service, Friedhaber’s Appliances, PJ’S Excavating & Concrete, Top Notch Tree and Stump Services, Vape Shop & Game Room, Tionesta Builders Supply, First Rate Reality, Log Cabin Restaurant, MAD MAC BBQ, Bish Heating and Cooling, Forbidden Fantasies Adult Cabaret, Triple Sanitation, Franklin Service & Supply and Oil Creek Family Campground, Flea Flickers, Allegheny Toyota, American Legion Post 0334
Tri-City Raceway Park is proudly owned and operated by Josh and Kyrsten Shiffer and is located at 3430 State Route 417 in Franklin, Pennsylvania. The historic half-mile dirt oval offers competitive racing and special events in a welcoming, family-oriented atmosphere.

For the complete 2026 schedule, ticket information, and updates throughout the season, visit http://www.racetri-city.com and follow Tri-City Raceway Park on Facebook.

Photo Credit to Scott Goodman Photography