BIRDSBORO, Pa. — The Speedway at Pagoda Motorcycle Club opened its 2026 oval track season on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon and the 85 entries did not disappoint, treating the large crowd to an exciting Champions Classic season opener.
With 16 River Valley Builders SpeedSTRs on hand, Tim Buckwalter held off his good friend, Dustin Morris, to notch the victory in a 40 lap feature. In the Hyper Racing wingless 600 Sprint A-Main, Kyle Spence made his first-ever visit to The Speedway @ Pagoda pay off handsomely, as he went home a winner.
Brett Bieber, fresh off his seventh All Star Slingshot World Championship in 2025, started the new season with a feature triumph in that division’s 20 lapper. Mertztown, PA’s Aubrey Romig dominated the Junior Slingshot 15 lap main, winning handily over Mason Noll.
“One of these times, he is going to beat me, and that will be alright,” stated SpeedSTR victor Tim Buckwalter as he pointed to his buddy, Dustin Morris, in victory lane. “He wanted to learn about this roundy-round stuff, so I taught him. And we’ve been best friends ever since.”
Sunday, however, was not to be the day that Morris finally got the better of his friend. But he came pretty close; never letting Buckwalter pull away and repeatedly attempting to stick the nose of his No. 15 under the race leading No. 52.
Delaware’s Jason Musser darted to the lead in the 40 lap Champion’s Classic, setting the pace for the first seven trips around the D-shaped oval. Buckwalter was on the move early, slashing his way from seventh to third by the time lap three was scored.
On a restart with seven tours complete, Musser and runner-up Dan Lane Jr. pushed up the banking in turn two, allowing Buckwalter to dash under them and nose into the lead. Coming off turn four, though, Musser and others got out of shape and took an excursion through the infield grass, causing all sorts of commotion in the middle of the pack. The result was a flip by Jasper Ziegafuse and lap eight was not scored, putting Musser back in front. Ziegafuse was uninjured in the flip, but his car was too badly damaged to continue.
Under the ensuing yellow, Lane’s mount suddenly stopped on the backstretch and had to be towed off the track. That put Buckwalter on the outside of Musser for the restart, and it didn’t take long for Tim to blast by Musser and take the top spot. Morris followed Buckwalter past Musser, and the race for the lead was on with more than three-quarters of the race still to be run.
Buckwalter held his line on the high side at both ends of the speedway, leaving Morris with no choice but to try and dive under the leader. Did he think about attempting a big old slide job on his buddy? “Oh yes, I thought about it,” laughed Morris afterward. “But I just couldn’t quite set him up, or get myself set up properly, to try it.”
Buckwalter held on for the narrow win over Morris, with Musser relegated to the final podium spot. Steven Drevicki and Scott Houdeshell completed the top five when the checkered flag waved.
A large field of 41 Hyper Racing 600 Sprints was on hand for the opener, and their victory went to a driver who had never seen, let alone raced on, The Speedway @ Pagoda.
Kyle Spence has won races all over the country, including a pair of Golden Drillers at the Tulsa Shootout. He said he loves going to new tracks, and he immediately became a fan of the D-shaped oval.
A furious and immensely entertaining three-car scuffle for the top spot took place in the early stages of the 25 lapper for the 600’s. The fight between pole sitter Brian Carber, Spence, and Nate Freed, with Tim Buckwalter right behind them, had Carber playing defense as he led the way, with Freed working the bottom groove and Spence living up to his “On the Fence” nickname.
Spence got a big run off the top of turn four, powering past Freed and Carber to grab the point on lap six. Freed wrestled the runner-up position from Carber on the same lap, and Carber would soon head to the infield with a flat right-rear.
Connor Gross entered the picture as he diced for third with Buckwalter, Christian Bruno, and Adam Buchel as the race headed for the halfway point. Buckwalter eventually managed to claim the third position, then motored past Gross and Freed to snatch second with just a trio of circuits remaining.
Spence was gone by that time, gassing his Curt Matherly-owned No. 89 to the win with Buckwalter settling for runner-up cash. Dylan Kontra took advantage when Freed and Gross tangled momentarily and both of them slipped back a few spots. Kontra wound up third with Bruno and Buchel rounding out the top five.
Sometimes a racer is simply in the right place at the right time, and that was the case for Brett Bieber in the All Star Slingshot feature on Sunday.
Jon Laureigh controlled the point for the first dozen tours before EJ Hatch slipped by him to lead the 13th revolution. On a restart with seven to go, both Laureigh and Hatch washed up the track as they accelerated off turn two, and Brett Putnam made his bid for the number one spot, charging to the low side. Putnam went to the head of the class, but contact between he and Laureigh in the fourth corner left both cars stopped and forced a caution flag.
That incident handed the top spot to Brayden Ketchum, but he had 13th starter Brett Bieber alongside him for the restart. Bieber throttled to the lead as they headed into turn one, and the “Oley Jet” proceeded to pull away and record the triumph over Ketchum and Justin House. Amanda Angstadt and Daniel Betz finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Aubrey Romig is coming off a very successful 2025 season in the Junior Slingshot class, and she is starting the new campaign in the strongest way possible.
Romig won twice in a February trip down south. Last Sunday, she raced to her third victory of the young season in a dominant effort on The Speedway at Pagoda. Romig started on the pole of the 15 lap affair and led all the way to the checkered flag.
Mason Noll chased Romig to the finish, and Landon McNichol came out on top of a terrific battle with Alex Cosselman and Anna Strachko to secure third place. Cosselman and Strachko made up the top five.
