7/1/2025
BAPS Motor Speedway
Dietrich wins J&S Classic Speedweek Race!
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: It doesn’t matter if it’s a regular 410 Sprint Car show or Pennsylvania Speedweek, when Danny Dietrich rolls through the gate at BAPS Motor Speedway, he is the favorite.
Dietrich can run anywhere around the York Haven, Pa., facility. High, low, and even through the middle. The car handles with perfection, and the Gettysburg driver seems to know exactly what to do with it.
That was the case, again, Sunday night at BAPS. Dietrich got to the lead in a hurry and was able to hold off a charging Chase Dietz to take the win in the 30-Lap J&S Classics presents Pennsylvania Speedweek event.
This one was special for a variety of reasons. The most notable is that it was Dietrich’s 24th-career win at the racy oval, which ties him with legendary Central PA standout Keith Kauffman on the all-time win list.
“He’s someone I idolized,” Dietrich said. “He could wrestle a car. I didn’t do it from 18th like he would say he did. It’s different now, but he is someone who is a racing legend for me when I was growing up.”
Dietrich wasted little time getting to the front. He started fourth on the grid and was running second when the caution was displayed on Lap 2.
Lucas Wolfe had the point on the restart, but Dietrich was making up a ton of ground through the third and fourth corner. It was no surprise that he was able to pull the trigger on a slider at that end of the speedway to take the lead on Lap 4.
It didn’t take long for Dietz to flex at the front of the field. After starting second and falling back to third, he slipped past Wolfe in Turn 4 on Lap 5 and beat him back to the line for position.
Over the rest of the race distance, Dietz was all over Dietrich. The Stehman Motorsports driver showed the leader his nose multiple times in traffic in an entertaining battle for the $12,000 winner’s check.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to hold those guys off,” Dietrich said. “I had my wing forward to get through traffic and really get through three and four the best. I didn’t know where to be in one and two, and I didn’t want to get tight [in three and four] and give up everything.
“I could send it pretty hard in three and four, and I figured Chase was knocking down the boards. I told Jake [Sgrignoli] under the red that I didn’t think that was going to last 30 laps, so I just wanted to be a veteran and drive through the middle and be smooth.”
It was the right play.
Dietz made one last attempt to slide Dietrich in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 26. The Ohio Speedweek champion was able to motor around the top to hold the spot, and he was able to open some distance to take the win by .667 seconds at the stripe.
“We were confident going into Ohio after that All Star win,” Dietrich said. “My guys have been busting their butts, and this humidity is so high. It’s unreal.
“Thank you to the fans for coming out. This place is packed for the opening night of Speedweek. I can hear all of the cheers when I’m in the car on the racetrack, so this is pretty cool.”
Dietz settled for second. He was followed by Ryan Smith, Freddie Rahmer, and 11th-place starter Anthony Macri.
In the Super Sportsman main event, Jay Fannasy started on the outside pole and dominated the 25-Lap main event to cap the evening.
Fannasy beat Tyler Wolford back to the stripe to complete the first circuit and walked away from the field. Kenny Edkin, who started sixth, got to second on Lap 6, but he was 2.214 seconds behind at the checker.
Scott Dellinger started 10th and got to third. He was followed by Timmie Barrick and Wolford, who held on for fifth.
Submitted By: Kolten Gouse
