PORT ROYAL, Pa. – Jeff Halligan was the last driver standing in a wild night of racing for the Weikert’s Livestock 410 Sprint Cars as the young gun picked up his second victory of the season Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.
Rookie series driver Derek Hauck and Trenton Sheaffer led the field of 22 410 sprint cars to the green flag, and it was Hauck getting the early jump over Sheaffer, Ryan Timms, Halligan and Ryan Taylor on the opening lap.
Dylan Cisney moved into the fourth position on lap two before cracking the podium for the first time one lap later. By lap four Cisney was up to second and one lap later it was Timms, the 15-year old from Oklahoma, moving into the final podium spot.
However, it was all Hauck up front for the first ten laps of the event. Cisney and Timms were putting on a spirited battle for the runner-up position, while simultaneously gaining quickly on the leader.
One lap later Hauck had caught the tail end of the field and that was the opportunity needed for Cisney as he was able to garner the top spot with 13 laps to go of the 25-lap event coming out of turn four.
Timms followed suit and moved into the runner-up spot on the same circuit, while four-time defending track champion and ninth-place starter, Logan Wagner, was coming fast and up to fifth as well.
Cisney’s advantage on the field sat at 1.044 seconds with 10 laps remaining, but that would be wiped out two laps later when Tyler Walton came to a stop on the frontstretch. This is where things started to get wild.
It appeared the crowd was set to witness an epic battle between a pair of No. 5’s up front, however Timms blew a right rear tire while under caution and was forced to the pit area for repairs. He would rejoin the field.
Cisney led the field back to the green flag, with Hauck, Halligan and a pair of Wagner’s in tow. Halligan got by the rookie for the runner-up position and brought Logan Wagner with him.
However, with the three drivers locked ever-so-tightly coming down the backstretch, Wagner and Hauck made contact and sent both of them spinning. Wagner broke a rear axle and got on his side to bring out the red flag, but both drivers were ok.
Halligan and Cisney swapped lines for the lead following the restart, which allowed Mike Wagner to slide into the second position past Halligan. However, two laps later Cisney’s hopes at victory went away as he flipped over while leading in turn three as a result of a flat left-rear tire. He was ok, but would not return to the field.
With the lead now in his hand, Mike Wagner brought the field back to the green flag with five laps remaining. However, it only took one lap for Halligan to get by the veteran for the top spot. From there it was smooth sailing as the driver of the No. 45 went on the score the victory over Wagner and Mike Walter II.
Ryan Taylor and Sheaffer rounded out the top five.Â
Jeff Rine earned the super late model victory, with Jared Miley winning the second feature of the night in the division. Andrew Yoder won the limited late model feature.
The Finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. Jeff Halligan, 2. Mike Wagner, 3. Mike Walter II, 4. Ryan Taylor, 5. Trenton Sheaffer, 6. Gerard McIntyre, 7. Kassidy Kreitz, 8. Ryan Timms, 9. Justin Whittall, 10. Tyler Bear, 11. Alex Bright, 12. Nick Sweigart, 13. Bill Jones Jr., 14. Ron Aurand, 15. Dylan Cisney, 16. Derek Hauck, 17. Logan Wagner, 18. Dan Shetler, 19. Tyler Walton, 20. Lucas Wolfe, 21. Austin Burke, 22. Rick Lafferty