“We have lost to the Zemco car six times in a row and at least three of those times we finished second,” Cisney said about the track championship at the half-mile track. “In 2017, I led the points the entire year and lost it by five points to Brock Zearfoss at the end of the year. That is one spot on the race track over the entire year. That one will bother me until the day I die. That would have meant a family-owned sprint car team out of Port Royal would have won the championship.”
While he may not be the head of a family operation now, it is still the kind of team with which the average fan can relate.
“We all have full-time jobs,” Cisney said. “At the end of the day, I’m a construction salesman and we also have an RV mechanic, a truck driver and a truck mechanic on our team.”
Because of this, Cisney primarily runs a Pennsylvania schedule, although he will venture out on occasion and last year, he picked up a Interstate Racing Ass’n victory at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway.
As the new year kicked off, Cisney won the Port Royal season opener for the second time. While he can dream about joining the World of Outlaws or the All Stars, he knows that really is not in the cards. On top of that he has a city to run.
As for becoming mayor, Cisney said in some ways it happened by chance.
“I got appointed at large when the previous mayor resigned in the middle of his term,” he said. “I was involved in some things that were happening at the time and attending meetings as a citizen. I was always the one willing to stand up and talk.”
Port Royal is designated as a borough and is governed by a seven-person council. Mayor Cisney is not a voting member except in the case of a tie, and he also holds veto power.
His mayoral duties are different than the mayor of New York City, but that does not make him less serious about his job.
“I am in charge of public events, like parades and things like that, and public safety,” he said. “Although we have not had a police force in town since I was a little kid, if we did, I would oversee that.”
Cisney wants the residents to take pride in living in Port Royal. One thing needs to be clear. He may be a dedicated racer but says when it comes to matters like a curfew and dust control, Port Royal Speedway must be held accountable. As for a future in politics, that remains to be seen.
Cisney is old enough now to appreciate how life always seems to come full circle. He can vividly recall those days watching larger-than-life heroes from his perch under the old grandstand. The track has undergone a facelift and is thoroughly modern in every way. Things change.
Now, Dylan Cisney is one of the stars. Looking back, he says, “When I was a kid Keith Kaufmann was the local celebrity. Everybody knew him and it was a shock if you saw him in public. It was like does this guy really go to the store? Now 30 years later, I get the same reaction when I am out. It is neat to see it from the other perspective.”
Dylan Cisney is making his mark on multiple fronts, and in his case being called “The Mayor” is more than just a nickname.
This story appeared in the May 31, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
