ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. – On Saturday at Lincoln Speedway, Tyler Ross owned up to his recent shortcomings, that failing to qualify for three of his four Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek races was merely the aftermath of his driving faults.
He sounded this kind of humility after the best turnaround of them all: a trip to victory lane at the three-eighths-mile clay oval in the Pigeon Hills.
Ross led all 30 laps from the pole to race to the $5,000 victory Saturday at Lincoln
“We’ve been struggling … the driver’s been making mistakes and getting us in trouble,” Ross said his interview in victory lane. “My guys, they’ve stuck with me. This car has only run three times and it’s a rocketship. I can’t believe I’m standing here.”
“I grew up on the saying that you’re going to have more bad nights than good nights,” Ross later explained in a phone interview. “As long as you can keep that in the back of your mind, you just kind of keep moving forward because the good nights are going to come eventually.”
Ross’ win, his second of the year and first since April 24, didn’t even come in his usual Lincoln car. Ross wrecked the initial car Saturday, June 26 in round two of PA Speedweek at Lincoln and since the mini series ran at BAPS Motor Speedway the following night, Ross has ran a car more geared toward the four-tenths-mile track in York Haven.
The discrepancies between Lincoln and BAPS aren’t substantial, but winning in the backup car while the primary machine gets repaired adds some savor.
“It was pretty rewarding to pull one off,” Ross said. “Starting [on the pole] was obviously a big factor, but, honestly, we’ve been struggling so bad I wasn’t sure if we’d be good enough to stay up there.”
The 27-year-old took off at the start and was never closely challenged throughout the course of the feature. In the end, it stood as a 2.776-second victory over Jimmy Siegel.
Ross is an electrician for V.P. Electrical Contracting out of Avondale, Pa., and in his first full year driving Rick Lefever’s baby blue No. 75 sprint car. Last year, Ross started in his personally-owned No. 5 machine before reevaluating his program after losing an engine Sept. 4 at Williams Grove Speedway.
While Ross’ race team went on the mend, Chase Dietz left Lefever for John Trone’s operation, which ultimately opened the door for Ross and converged two needs. But that door with Lefever had already been opened when Ross drove for the car once in 2018.
“We’ve stayed really good friends,” Ross said. “[Rick] has helped us with our family car too.”
With Lefever, Ross is contending for the Lincoln track title, where he’s currently ranked fifth, 870 points off Freddie Rahmer’s leading pace.
His family team is back, too, and will primarily focus on Williams Grove for the remainder of the season.
– Mark Smith passed Pat Cannon with two laps to go Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway to pick up his seventh sprint car win of the year in the Mach 1 Chassis 360 National Open.
It’s Smith’s 29th career win in a 360 at the track and he earned a cool $5,075 for his efforts.
– Anthony Macri, Brent Marks, Danny Dietrich and Ryan Smith are headed to Eldora Speedway to vie for the Kings Royal crown this week.
Macri, a six-time winner this year, has united with veteran car owner Bernie Stuebgen for his first crack in the Indy Race Parts No. 71. The six-time winner this year is set to make his third appearance at the Rossburg, Ohio, clay oval.
Some news this morning: @AnthonyMacri7 and @indyraceparts unite for the 37th and 38th Kings Royal at @EldoraSpeedway this week. It’s a deal only through the lucrative event, but has potential for more.👇https://t.co/MdRiyaDcOA
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) July 12, 2021
At seven wins, one already with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series earlier this year, Marks is having his best season yet. The 30-year-old has already won a sprint car racing Crown Jewel – the 2019 Williams Grove National Open – and is in a favorable position to cash in even bigger by the end of the week.
As for Dietrich, he’s run as steady as anyone though his win total (two) is well below his standard. The Gettysburg, Pa., driver is hopeful, having nine finishes in the top four the past 10 races.
Smith, meanwhile, takes a stab at the lucrative event in the BJD Motorsports No. 6, a ride that’s rekindled his joy for racing. Smith is a three-time winner this year and recently placed eighth in the PA Speedweek standings.
– Jared Esh was discharged from a local hospital late Saturday night, receiving stitches in his nose after a piece of debris struck him in the face during his heat at Port Royal Speedway.
According to the driver of the Tom and Fran Chiappelli No. 98, the debris was a mud clot that damaged the visor area of his helmet, which caused his nose to severely bruise and swell. Originally, Esh was being treated for a broken nose, but then later found out nothing was actually broken.
– In the 358 feature Saturday at Lincoln, Brett Strickler topped his brother, Jordan, to bag the $2,000 prize.