5/11/2025
Selinsgrove Speedway
5/10/25 - Eckert, Snook, Geesaman Score 2nd Wins of Year at SG, Kepner Wins in Thrilling 305 Feature
Written by Bert Wojcik
Selinsgrove, PA - With other high-profile races going on around the area, a great crowd packed into the Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday Night for the 4th night of stock car auto racing in Snyder County for Ladies’ Night at the Fastest Half Mile on the East Coast. The night was sponsored by Rockey Auctions and was also host to the Auto Racing Club of Hagerstown, who ensured that each feature winner received a commemorative ARCH checkered flag. On what turned out to be the nicest evening of the season so far, fans saw York, PA’s “Scrub” Rick Eckert pick up his second Selinsgrove Ford Super Late Model win of the year. Kreamer, PA’s Kruz Kepner picked up his first Keller’s Auto Body PA Sprint Series 305 Sprint Car win of the season, as well as a pair of back-to-back winners as Mifflintown, PA’s Lane Snook scored his second straight Creekside Auto Sales Limited Late Model presented by Viper Risk Management (King Risk Partners) feature and Annville, PA’s Jasen Geesaman picked up his second straight Superior Homes Roadrunner Feature event.
20 Selinsgrove Ford Super Late Models signed in for what turned out to be much better track conditions than last week. Even with the deluge of rain over the past week, the track was much smoother and formed a nice cushion for the drivers to lean on as well as much less tire wear than the past few weeks. Shermandale’s Shaun Jones and Georgetown, DE's Ross Robinson brought the field to the green flag with Jones taking the early lead from Robinson. Eckert started 8th and wasted no time making his way into the top 5, slicing his way towards the front with 2 and 3 wide racing going on behind him. The first caution would come out on lap 8 for Beavertown’s Hayes Mattern coming to a stop while running 3rd with an electrical issue that would end his night.
The Delaware Double File Restart would see Jones out front with Robinson and Eckert behind him. Jones and Robinson got a great restart and pulled away from Eckert. Before the front got in some lap traffic, a 3-wide battle between Dover, PA’s Gene Knaub, Greencastle’s Gary Stuhler, and Shermandale’s Mike Lupfer ensued with Knaub taking the advantage. He would soon be fighting with Denton, MD’s Matt Glanden and would put the nose in front for the 8th spot coming to the halfway point. Meanwhile upfront, Jones would start to get into lap traffic with Robinson and Eckert chasing him. Eckert would start to close in on Robinson and sent it deep into 1 and 2 where Robinson was forced to run the high-side. Eckert would use his run off the bottom to propel himself into second with 10 laps to go. Jones started to hit lap traffic at this time, allowing Eckert to close in. Just as that happened, the 74 of Manchester’s Randy Christine Jr. would come to a stop in 3 and 4 as well as Harrisburg’s Chad Julius, bringing out the 2nd yellow of the feature.
The restart came with 7 laps to go where Jones got a good restart on Eckert, but Eckert was a master of getting the run off of turn two and was on the back deck lid of Jones quickly. Jones tried to take Eckert’s momentum away, but he bobbled off of turn 2 allowing Eckert to close back in. Down in turn 3, Eckert would get a little tight through the middle of 3 and 4. Jones would pull away from Eckert off the corner with 5 laps to go. Jones then pushed up in 1 and 2 when Eckert finally pulled alongside him, the two battling for the lead down the back straightaway. Eckert put his nose in front and cleared Jones into 3 and 4 where took the lead with 3 laps to go and never looked back as he took his 14th career Selinsgrove Ford Super Late Model victory as well as the Donnie’s Automotive Hard Charger Bonus going +7 . Jones would finish second, Middleburg’s Andrew Yoder in third, Knaub who also passed a thrilling 7 cars on the night, and Robinson rounded out the top 5.
“Maybe I’m just old,” Eckert said in High Caliber Cranes Victory Lane, joking about knowing how to save his tires. “I qualify terribly when there's speed in the race track. I figured we could race decently. The racetrack was really nice tonight. It was slippery and wide. You can go around people. It seemed like Shaun had a softer tire on. With the last caution I saw there was 8 to go and I figured we could run hard enough to overheat his tires. He got out on me by a couple car lengths and I thought he needed to start slowing up. His tires started to die right when mine started going and that's all it took.”
“Yeah we went pretty soft,” Jones said after his second place run. “I wanted to try and get out as far as I could and I knew those guys were coming. When the last caution came out I saw Eckert was second. I’m like well, I’m either going to win this or I’m not. I ran as hard as I could there at the end. Should have gone with a harder tire in the end.”
The Keller’s Auto Body PA Sprint Series 305s were next on the track for their second feature of the season at Selinsgrove with 35 cars in attendance. The series brought along a special guest to announce with series announcer Steph Dodson. 12-year-old Caleb Newlin, son of former series competitor Zach Newlin, was working alongside Dodson for the night and was the star of the show! Danville’s Dustin Young was sponsored by the “Are You Garbage” podcast, who spent time filming throughout the night and got some video of Newlin doing his thing. Be on the lookout for more info on comedians Kevin Ryan and H. Foley and their night at the track very soon!
Kruz Kepner and Julian, PA’s Josh Spicer led the field to the green flag. It was three-wide to start between Kepner, Spicer, and Logan Spahr of Lewisberry. Spicer and Kepner would battle side-by-side for the lead. The first caution would come out on lap 2 for Christopher Dolan after he got in the wall, tearing off the right wing sideboard as well as a wheel. Dolan was uninjured but done for the night.
On the restart, Kepner held off a charge from Spicer, who was all over the back tail tank of Kepner. Kepner pulled away and the top 5 settled in with side-by-side battles all through the field. Spahr found something on the top side and started to put pressure on the 71 of Spicer at the halfway point of the 20 lap feature when Spahr got a run off of turn 4 to get around Spicer for second. Spicer wasn't done yet as he closed in on Spahr and Kepner and made it a three way battle for the lead. Spahr was looking to the inside of Kepner off of 4 but couldn’t make the move. Spahr tired again off of turn 2 and still couldn't find a way around Kepner. Spahr was all over the back of Kepner with 5 laps to go. Spahr kept throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Kepner where multiple times they were side by side until third place running Spicer went around while running in the third spot, bringing out the yellow flag for the second time.
A three lap shootout would bring them back to green. Spahr tried the inside of Kepner but couldn’t do it. He would try the outside in turn 4 and Kepner shut the door. Spahr was all over Kepner. Spahr made slight contact with the wall in turn 2. A last ditch effort wasn’t enough as Kruz Kepner scored his second career Keller’s Auto Body PASS 305 Sprint Car win at Selinsgrove. Spahr would settle in for second. Fleetwood’s Landon Price, Dustin Young, and Lock Haven’s Jeff Weaver were the rest of the top 5. Tyler Snook crossed the line in 3rd, but was light at the scales. After discussion with PA Sprint Series Officials, Logan Spahr was later disqualified for unsportsmanlike actions and leaving the track prior to his scheduled technical inspection. This put John Braim into the fifth spot. Timmy Bittner picked up the Len Krautheim Auto Sales Hard Charger honors, going +14 on the night.
“I knew I wasn't the best. I didn't pull away from them,” Kepner said in High Caliber Cranes Victory Lane. “He (Spahr) was a little upset with me for blocking a little bit. But at the end it comes down to who wanted it the most and we wanted it the most.”
Creekside Auto Sales Limited Late Models presented by Viper Risk Management (King Risk Partners) had to follow up a fantastic Keller’s Auto Body 305 feature. Selinsgrove’s Jim Yoder and Allensville, PA’s Kenny Yoder brought the field of 17 to green. Jim Yoder got the early lead as Renovo’s Maddox Smith got around Kenny Yoder for the second spot with Middleburg’s Andrew Yoder, who pulled double duty in both the Super and Limited on Saturday Night, getting around Kenny Yoder for third. Lane Snook would also pass the fading Kenny Yoder for 4th on lap 4. The field started to settle in as Andrew Yoder got tight into 1 and 2. Snook closed the gap but lost a ton of momentum, allowing Andrew to get away. Snook was fast enough to close back in on Andrew Yoder when the yellow was thrown for Devin Frey spinning in four on lap 8.
On the restart, the battle of Andrew Yoder and Snook resumed and both were closing in on Smith for second. Andrew would look under Smith, securing the second spot and bringing Snook with him for the 3rd spot after Smith pushed up in turn 4. Snook would close in on Andrew Yoder. Andrew got a little high and had to get out of the throttle as the car high sides a little bit. Snook would get around Andrew for 2nd and set his sights on the 27 of Jim Yoder for the lead. Side by side down the front-stretch, Snook got the better run off of turn two and took the lead with less than 8 laps to go. Snook would begin to pull away from Yoder and the rest of the field. Jim Yoder would fall back into line with Andrew Yoder closing in. Side by side off of turn 2, Andrew Yoder still working under Jim Yoder. He finally cleared his uncle Jim Yoder, but he had over a straight away to make up in a lap and a half. The gap was too much to overcome as Lane Snook scored his second straight Creekside Auto Sales Limited Late Models feature win. Andrew Yoder, Jim Yoder, Maddox Smith, and York Haven’s Zach Kauffman rounded out the top 5. Casey Steinhoff would go +7 to pick up the MAPCO Machine Shop Hard Charger Award.
“We put the harder tire on,” Snook said in High Caliber Cranes Victory Lane after doing the Lane Frost Hand Wave on the roof of the car. “I was waiting for them to come in. I slid up across the track and Andrew got tight in the center of three and four. I was getting off the bottom really well. Jim (Yoder) was running a bit higher so I could run it deeper into the corner. I could enter hard and exit with as much speed as everyone else. After breaking a shock last week, this week was smoother than last week for sure.”
The final feature of the night was the Superior Homes Roadrunners. Before the races, an announcement was made that the Roadrunners would be dissolving to become the Street Stock division. Posted on Facebook: “After much discussion between management and our technical officials, we are switching gears from Roadrunners to Street Stocks. Their rules are on our website as of right now at raceselinsgrove.com/Rules . If you were at our meeting, please check out the online rule set as there were some minor additions to clear up some questions that we received. With this division change, there are also some schedule changes. Most of these will be announced in the coming days, but the most important one for our prior RRs and new Street Stocks is that you will NOT be running on Friday, May 16th. The first race for Street Stocks with their new rule package will be on Kids' Night, Saturday, May 31st. More details to follow in the coming days. Stay tuned to our social media and raceselinsgrove.com for updates.”
Shermansdale’s Daren Rice and McClure’s Aiden Mitch would bring the 16 car field to green. Middleburg’s Nate Stroup would get to the early lead as Rice faded back. It didn't take long for Mitch to feel pressure from last week’s winner Jasen Geesaman from the 7th spot. It only took Geesaman one lap to be up into second place and fighting with Stroup for the lead. Stroup would fall victim to Geesaman for the lead on the second lap. Lap four would see the yellow fly as the 17 of Austin Webster would spin all by himself in turn 4.
The green flag would come back out with 11 laps remaining. McClure’s Brad Mitch, who won the first two Superior Homes Roadrunner features to start the year, coming from the 15th starting spot after being DQ’d from his heat race for being light at the scales, was already in the 5th spot, and was batting with Keith Bissinger for the 4th spot. Mitch and Bissinger would make contact sending Bissinger around for the second caution of the feature.
On the restart, Brad Mitch would get into Jake Jones and contact from Jones sent the 26 of Stroup around. Stroup would resume. Jones would continue as well, but without the hood after it was folded up in the incident.
On the restart, Rice would slow up and pull it in. Jones and Jason Trump get together. Trump would continue and Jones would call it a night. Meanwhile up front, Geesaman was in full domination mode. The best battle of the race was for fourth through seventh, with racing between Catawissa’s Tom Underwood, Gordon, PA’s Matt and Kris Ney, and Keith Bissinger. Bissinger would find a way to get around both Matt and Kris Ney, continuing on to then take fourth from Tom Underwood. Underwood and Kris Ney would go at it with Ney taking the 5th spot for the moment. Underwood would find his way back around Kris Ney and take 5th. Meanwhile, with over a second and half lead Jasen Geesamen would take his second straight Superior Homes Roadrunner feature event win. Brad and Aiden Mitch, Bissinger, and Underwood rounded out the top five. Brad Mitch in his 10M went +13 to score the Ricey’s Lawn Care Hard Charger.
“As I said last week, this car likes it here for some reason,” Geesaman said in High Caliber Cranes Victory Lane “A little rougher than I like. Hold onto it and hope the 10 wouldn't catch us.”
The next event at the Selinsgrove Speedway features the return of the 410 Sprint Cars this Friday, May 16th for the Ray Tilley Classic alongside the Keller’s Auto Body PA Sprint Series 305 Sprint Cars.
Log onto www.raceselinsgrove.com for all updated news and points, as well as results.
Check our Social Media Pages on Facebook at Selinsgrove Speedway & Raceway Park, on Instagram @raceselinsgrove, and on X @selinsgroverace.
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