BRIGHT REPEATS IN USAC EAST COAST SPRINTS’ RETURN TO PORT ROYAL

By: Nick Fillman, USAC ECSC

Port Royal, Pennsylvania (April 10, 2021)………In the Rapid Tire, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series presented by Capitol Renegade return to the Port Royal Speedway Alex Bright of Collegeville, PA was able to repeat as the feature winner once the checkered flags flew, joining Briggs Danner as drivers to replicate their series wins on the 2021 tour.

Carmen Perigo, and Alex Bright would lead the field to the green for the twenty-five lap feature event with Bright grabbing the lead on lap one. Perigo would initially hang on to the second place position, before Steven Drevicki would work his way into the runner up spot by lap three.

While the top two on the field would separate themselves from the majority of the pack, and absolute hornets’ nest would ensue from about the fourth position to the end of the top ten. Cars two, and three wide trading positions left and right early on in the feature event. By at the conclusion of lap five Bright and Drevicki would hold a sizable lead on the field over Carmen Perigo, Rookie Colin White, and Briggs Danner. Nash Ely, Damon Paul, Chris Allen Jr. and a number of other cars would continue to wage an all-out war for positions six through ten as drivers jockeyed for position.

On lap eight the first caution flag of the event would fly as Colin White would spin out of the top four in turn one and two, with the field somehow missing the stopped car in the middle of the speedway. The restart would set up another shot for Drevicki to try and close the gap on Bright for the race lead with Perigo, Danner and Allen rounding out the top five.

Drevicki would hold close on Bright off of the restart as both drivers would pound the razor thin cushion around the high side of the speedway. Drevicki would continue to gain on Bright and be all over the tail tank of the Hummer Motorsports entry before tagging the wall in turns one and two and losing time to the leader Bright.

Heartbreak came on lap seventeen as Kenny Miller III tagged the wall in turns one and two and went for a wild flip while running in the third place spot. Miller had started nineteenth after a heat race crash would send him to the B Main. The restart would be set up with Bright still leading Drevicki over Briggs Danner, Joey Biasi, and Chris Allen Jr.

Bright would again get a great restart with Drevicki not backing down utilizing the middle groove of the speedway to try and get by Bright for the race lead. Behind the two leaders who again separated themselves from the field, Joey Biasi, Briggs Danner, and Chris Allen Jr. would trade third through fifth lap after lap. The red flag would again fly on lap twenty-one as Colin White went for a flip in turns three and four. White had rebounded from the tail of the field up to the eleventh spot before grabbing the wall in three and four.

The restart with four to go would set up one last shot for drivers within the top five to make their last moves to better their positions. Bright would nail his restart yet again with Drevicki in tow, but rather than try and attack on Bright for the lead, Drevicki would have to fend off the challenge of Briggs Danner for second. Biasi and Danner would trade the third spot back and forth, while Bright would distance himself from Drevicki for the race lead.

As the field came to the checkers Alex Bright would go on to win his third career USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series Feature, and second at the Port Royal Speedway over: Steven Drevicki, Briggs Danner, Joey Biasi, and Chris Allen Jr.

The win for the Hummer Motorsports team should come as no surprise as Bright utilized the same skill set as he did in the series previous appearance at Port Royal last August. Bright and Drevicki were among the only two drivers to be all the way against the small cushion and guardrail all the way around the Port Royal Speedway. Bright has started his quest for the series championship on the right foot by picking up a second place finish, and now his first feature event win of 2021.

Steven Drevicki would again come up bridesmaid on the night at Port Royal, but not for a lack of effort. Drevicki had worked his way all to the back bumper of Bright before an unfortunate run-in with the wall in turns one and two. From that point on in the feature event, Drevicki did not appear to have the same speed as earlier in the feature, and for good reason as the team discovered the right front of the axle in the number nineteen entry was severely bent following the contact with the fence. Drevicki and team will get things repaired and try again next week at Bedford before the USAC National series comes to town at the end of April.

Briggs Danner continued his consistency by finishing third in the feature event, in his series debut at the Port Royal Speedway. The nineteen year old rookie has been extremely impressive every time he straps in behind the wheel of the Bill Gallagher number 5G entry. Danner was not quite fast enough to catch the two leaders but held his own against some of the best drivers in the series.

Joey Biasi made his season debut at the Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night, and was rewarded with a top five finish. Biasi started the feature event in the tenth spot and worked his way through the pandemonium that was occurring inside the top ten during the feature event. Biasi nearly got by Danner for third before the final red flag on the feature event flew. Biasi and team are fast each and every time the enter the pit area for a series event and will be ones to watch as the season goes on.

Chris Allen Jr. continued his reputation of consistency by grabbing the final spot in the top five. While Allen was inside the top ten last week at the Bridgeport Speedway, contact during a caution would end his bid at grabbing the win, leaving him with a 19th place finish to start the season. A big rebound would be given to Allen and team as he would run a solid, and smooth event coming home with a well-earned top five finish.

The night would see some carnage as three drivers would get upside-down in a rare occurrence for the series. Shawn Donath would suffer a steering arm failure in hot laps sending his car for a wild tumble in turns three and four. While Kenny Miller lll, and Colin White would see their impressive nights come to an end following contact with the outside wall. Both drivers and their teams will go to work and have their cars repair for the next event.

Twenty-Eight cars would enter the pit area on Saturday afternoon for the early start time event due to potential weather. Heavy mist would plague the speedway for most of the afternoon before the sun would ultimately make an appearance during hot laps. A big thank you goes out to all of the teams who made the tow out to the Port Royal Speedway with the questionable weather forecast and put on a fantastic event for all of the fans in attendance and watching live online.

Next up for the Rapid Tire Services, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, Presented by Capitol Renegade, is the first appearance of the season at the legendary Bedford Fairgrounds on Friday, April 16th.

USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CAR PRESENTED BY CAPITOL TRAILERS RACE RESULTS: April 10, 2021 – Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, Pennsylvania

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, 6 qualify, 3 redraw) 1. 5G-Briggs Danner, 2. M1-Mark Smith, 3. 3BC-Nash Ely, 4. B1-Joey Biasi, 5. 19-Brody Adamsky, 6. 7B-Aidan Borden, 7. 23-John Stehman, 8. 67-Jason Cherry, 9. 12w-Troy Fraker. NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, 6 qualify, 3 redraw) 1. 71-Chris Allen Jr., 2. 32-Colin White, 3. 57-Damon Paul, 4. 11-Mike Thompson, 5. 21K-Tommy Kunsman, 6. 96-Lee Kauffman, 7. 7-Ed Aikin, 8. 10m-Mike Meyers. NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, 6 qualify, 3 redraw) 1. 20-Alex Bright, 2. 19-Steven Drevicki, 3. 21-Carmen Perigo, 4. 83-Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 5. 17J-Jonathan Swanson, 6. 117-David Swanson, 7. 83s-Billy Ney, 8. 88J-Joey Amantea, 9. 23m-Kenny Miller lll. NT

SEMI: (8 laps, 6 qualify, 3 redraw) 1. Kenny Miller lll, 2. Ed Aikin, 3. John Stehman, 4. Mike Meyers, 5. Jason Cherry, 6. Joey Amantea, 7. Billy Ney, 8. Troy Fraker, 9. Christian Bruno, 10. Shawn Donath. NT

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Alex Bright, 2. Steven Drevicki, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Joey Biasi, 5. Chris Allen Jr., 6. Carmen Perigo, 7. Damon Paul, 8. Tommy Kunsman, 9. Ed Aikin, 10. Mike Thompson, 11. Nash Ely, 12. Lee Kauffman, 13. Jonathan Swanson, 14. Brody Adamsky, 15. Jason Cherry, 16. Aidan Borden, 17. John Stehman, 18. Joey Amantea, 19. Mike Meyers, 20. David Swanson, 21. Colin White, 22. Kenny Miller III, 23. Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 24 Mark Smith. NT

USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CAR PRESENTED BY CAPITOL TRAILERS POINTS: 1-Alex Bright-152, 2-Briggs Danner-150, 3-Steven Drevicki-143, 4-Tommy Kunsman-116, 5-Damon Paul-111, 6-Chris Allen Jr.-98, 7-Joey Amantea-98, 8-Mike Thompson-94, 9-Jonathan Swanson-93, 10-Ed Aikin-92.

NEXT USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CAR PRESENTED BY CAPITOL TRAILERS RACE: April 16, 2021 - Bedford Speedway - Bedford, Pennsylvania