Weikiert #29 “replica” driven by Logan Schuchart
Photo Source: WRX Speedwerx

The All Star Circuit of Champions made the journey to Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania this Saturday for the Bob Weikert Memorial. Held in honor of the legendary car owner, a star studded cast treated the thousands of fans in attendance to a truly fantastic night of 410 sprint car racing. With an overall A-main purse of  $34,000 and close to $4,000 in contingency money posted for the taking, many of the biggest names in the circle of sprint car racing made the trip to Pennsylvania. A few of  those in attendance included Kyle Larson, Jac “The Wild Child” Haudenschild, Danny Lasoski, Tim Kaeding, Brad Sweet and three time All Stars Champion Dale Blaney. 

Behind the wheel of a Weikert Livestock #29 replica, Logan Schuchart of Hanover, PA started off the night in proper fashion. Driving for his Grandfather and Hall of Fame racer Bobby Allen, Logan would set quick time in qualifying with a lap of  15.376 seconds. Logan’s quick lap earned a new one lap track record, previously held by Mike Erdley. 

The Kasey Kahne Racing #49 entry of Brad Sweet earned pole position for the 30 lap A-main by way of winning the six lap dash. Sweet sat alongside  Tim Shaffer in row 1, followed by Cap Henry and Doug Esh in row 2.

Brad would hold the lead until lap six when he was overtaken by Tim  Shaffer. Shaffer’s hold on the top spot would be short lived as well. Doug Esh used the high line to his advantage and on lap 9 overtook both Sweet and Shaffer to take control.

Esh,  driving the #98 for Tom and Fran Chiappelli battled his way through lap traffic until the caution flag flew for a spinning Ryan Taylor. Green flag racing then resumed until lap 13 when defending race winner Greg Hodnett slowed and the field was stopped to refuel.

Troubles For Larson

Doug Esh celebrates in victory lane
Photo source: WRX Speedwerx

After working his way from the 22nd starting position all the way to challenge for the sixth spot, Kyle Larson found himself pointed in the wrong direction due to brake issues on his machine. Esh would remain at the helm for the remaining 14 laps, holding off a late charge from Brad Sweet. Esh jumped the cushion while fighting through lap traffic in the closing laps, allowing Sweet to gain ground. However, when the checkers waved it was Pennsylvania native Doug Esh out front which was a  delight to the large crowd at Port Royal. 

“I felt pretty good in the dash and we did a bunch of things to the car and actually changed back,” said Esh. “There was some tough competition up front there. We started going and Brad Sweet starting hanging a little bit and we about got in trouble down there in four. I got to lapped traffic and we were way more maneuverable than those guys. I wanted to win this for the Pennsylvania guys and I didn’t have much help up there. We got it done and PA Posse stands victorious against the All Stars once again.”

Below is a complete rundown of all heat races, B-main and A-main. 

Heat 1 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[4] ; 2. O-Justin Henderson[1] ; 3. 98-Doug Esh[5] ; 4. 747-Davey Sammons[3] ; 5. 7-Chad Layton[9] ; 6. 29-Logan Schuchart[6] ; 7. 80-Trey Gustin[10] ; 8. 1K-Kyle Larson[7] ; 9. 7K-Dan Shetler[8] ; 10. 59-Jac Haudenschild[2]

Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 39-Greg Hodnett[2] ; 2. 55-Mike Wagner[4] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[5] ; 4. 56-Nate Snyder[1] ; 5. 18-Ryan Bohlke[7] ; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich[10] ; 7. 13-Jason Leffler[3] ; 8. OL-Rick Lafferty[9] ; 9. 45-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 10. 40-Caleb Helms[8]

Heat 3 – Dragon Race Fuel (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 27-Lance Dewease[3] ; 2. 12-Blane Heimbach[2] ; 3. 20-Ryan Taylor[1] ; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[6] ; 5. 83K-Tim Kaeding[5] ; 6. 3-Pat Cannon[8] ; 7. 52-Jim Shuster[9] ; 8. O7-Mark Coldren[7] ; 9. 11-Mike Erdley[4]

Heat 4 – Kinsler Fuel Injection (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 5-Dylan Cisney[1] ; 2. 1Z-Danny Lasoski[4] ; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 4. O7 i-Cliff Brian[2] ; 5. 54-Cap Henry[5] ; 6. 8H-Keith Kauffman[8] ; 7. 33-Curt Stroup[9] ; 8. 44-Joey Hershey[7] ; 9. 75-Nicole Bower[3]

Dash – Outerwears Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature

1. 49-Brad Sweet[1] ; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 3. 54-Cap Henry[3] ; 4. 98-Doug Esh[5] ; 5. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[6] ; 6. 2-Dale Blaney[4]

B-Main – MSD Ignition (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 45-Danny Holtgraver[2] ; 2. 29-Logan Schuchart[1] ; 3. 1K-Kyle Larson[7] ; 4. 59-Jac Haudenschild[6] ; 5. 7K-Dan Shetler[10] ; 6. 13-Jason Leffler[4] ; 7. OL-Rick Lafferty[14] ; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[11] ; 9. O7-Mark Coldren[8] ; 10. 75-Nicole Bower[5] ; 11. 52-Jim Shuster[15] ; 12. 33-Curt Stroup[16] ; 13. 80-Trey Gustin[17] ; 14. 8H-Keith Kauffman[13] ; 15. 44-Joey Hershey[9] ; 16. 11-Mike Erdley[3]

A-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (30 Laps)

1. 98-Doug Esh[4]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[6]; 4. 1Z-Danny Lasoski[8]; 5. 54-Cap Henry[3]; 6. 55-Mike Wagner[7]; 7. 27-Lance Dewease[10]; 8. 59-Jac Haudenschild[14]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[5]; 10. 12-Blane Heimbach[16]; 11. O-Justin Henderson[18]; 12. 45-Danny Holtgraver[13]; 13. 7-Chad Layton[24]; 14. 83K-Tim Kaeding[11]; 15. 747-Davey Sammons[9]; 16. 83-Tim Shaffer[2]; 17. 1K-Kyle Larson[22]; 18. 5-Dylan Cisney[21]; 19. O7 i-Cliff Brian[17]; 20. 18-Ryan Bohlke[23]; 21. 56-Nate Snyder[19]; 22. 39-Greg Hodnett[15]; 23. 20-Ryan Taylor[20]; 24. 29-Logan Schuchart[12]

Hard Charger: 7-Chad Layton[+11]