Newswire Sept. 30, 2025 | Thorson's PA Purple Patch, National Open Week, Eliason Back in KCP #18 and MORE!!

Written on 09/30/2025
Nick Coward

Sprint Car Daily  | Thorson Hot, National Open, Eliason Back w/ KCP, Aussie Battles!

Sep. 30, 2025 | RACECAR Illustrated

 

Good morning sprint car fans, it is Tuesday, September 30th, 2025 — my name is Nick — and this is the Sprint Car Daily, your daily dose of sprint car news, results, and storylines from around the dirt world, presented by RACECARIllustrated.com.

RACECAR Illustrated is a mobile app and website devoted purely to dirt sprint car racing. You’ll find news and results including the Sprint Car Daily podcast, gain exclusive access to media galleries, and be able to browse our rolling calendar of over 300 sprint car events from across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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We’ve got a packed show today, let’s fire off!

 

High Limit Recap – Path Valley Speedway Park, PA

Tanner Thorson is getting the hang of this winning thing. Two weeks ago it had taken him 84 tries to crack Kubota High Limit Racing victory lane. Now he’s done it twice in just over two weeks. The Nevada native scored his second career High Limit win last night at Path Valley Speedway Park — only 16 days after breaking through at Lernerville.

Thorson started fifth and worked his way forward, slipping by Brad Sweet and then race leader Giovanni Scelzi on lap twenty-two of thirty-five. From there he had to survive a furious charge from Brady Bacon, who stormed from tenth to finish second. Scelzi led the opening twenty-one laps but settled for third, his third straight podium.

Earlier in the night, Brad Sweet set quick time at 9.57 seconds, won his heat and the dash. The other heat wins went to Chase Randall, Thorson, and Danny Dietrich, with Brent Marks claiming the B-Main. Daison Pursley took Hard Charger honors, advancing twelve spots from twenty-third to eleventh.

At the end it was Thorson the winner, Brady Bacon second, and Giovanni Scelzi third. It was the series first visit to Path Valley, it was a pretty crazy night, the 1/4 mile bullring looked very tricky with not a lot of room to make mistakes, the feature took multiple tries to get started and was even stopped for an open red fuel stop before the halfway point, all in all it turned out to be a very good race once they figured it out.

Looking at the championship picture — Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel both had to use provisionals, Abreu actually tipped over in one of the many start attempts but got back out and finished 15th, Reutzel was 17th while Brad Sweet started on the pole but faded a little bit to finish 6th. After forty-six of fifty-one scheduled races, Rico Abreu Racing leads the all important owners’ chase, Ridge and Son Racing trails by thirty-four and KKR49 now sits fifty-two back.

The High Rollers now take a weekend break from points racing to go chase the National Open at Williams Grove against the Posse and Outlaws before beginning that final 5 race stretch back at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas on October 10th and 11th.

Sources:

  • High Limit Racing results & recap – High Limit Racing Official

  • FloRacing coverage archive – FloRacing.com

  • Race Monitor/SpeedHive timing – Path Valley Speedway Park

 

Williams Grove National Open Build-Up

Continuing with the 63rd Annual J & S Classics National Open at Williams Grove Speedway. As mentioned, this is one of the rare occurrences we get to see the Outlaws, High Rollers and the PA Posse collide — while the winners purse might no longer be one of the biggest there is certainly no doubting the National Open’s place as one of sprint car racing’s crown jewels.

Friday night brings the 39th running of the National Open Preliminary, a 25-lap showdown paying twelve thousand dollars to win. Then Saturday, it’s the one everyone circles — the 40-lap National Open finale, paying a still eye-watering seventy-five thousand dollars to the winner, with just north of $190,000 total purse on the line.

The top 3 Outlaws enter with momentum — point leader David Gravel is as consistent as ever, Buddy Kofoid claimed last year’s prelim and Carson Macedo is the defending National Open champion. Donny Schatz is chasing his seventh career National Open win, he is coming off a pair of top 10s last weekend in his first appearances in a Sides Motorsports entry. The PA Posse will be without Anthony Macri but they'll still fire back with the likes of Grove point leader Troy Wagaman Jr., Freddie Rahmer, Danny Dietrich, and of course five-time champion Lance Dewease, who could tie Schatz’s record with another victory.

Wild cards include Knoxville Nationals winner Ryan Timms, local ace Justin Whittall, and Brent Marks is coming off a win at the Grove last Friday night against local competition. Adding a little intrigue — KCP Racing announced yesterday that Cory Eliason will make his debut in the number eighteen this weekend, replacing Emerson Axsom and reuniting with the team for at least the remainder of the Outlaw season. Eliason drove for KCP back in 2021. Axsom wheeled that car in 17 starts after taking over when Gio Scelzi unexpectedly vacated the seat at Eldora back in July, earning one top 5 and 6 top 10s. It’s a solid experienced fit to fill the seat but Eliason has bounced around this year, he has 44 starts but it’s been slim pickings with a best finish of second at Skagit in late June, 8 top 5s and 21 top 10s.

Both nights of the Natty will of course be live on DIRTVision, that all begins Friday.

Sources:

 

Lincoln Speedway – Weather & Makeup Update

Abbottstown, PA — Persistent showers halted the Fallen Heroes program at Lincoln Speedway on September 27 after preliminary events. On Sunday the track announced that both A-Mains will now be run during Lincoln’s October 18 season finale.

Sources:

 

ASCS Frontier Region Wraps Season

Sheridan, Wyoming — The ASCS Frontier Region wrapped its 2025 season Saturday night at Sheridan Speedway in Wyoming, and Canadian Kelly Miller closed it in style. Miller came into the weekend effectively with the 18-race championship sown up, that didn't stop the Albertan driving the Pat Beck Motorsports No. 2jr to victory lane for win number 8, over Elijah Gile and Austyn Gossel. The win sealed Miller’s third consecutive Frontier Region crown, adding to a dynasty run for the veteran from Lethbridge. Zach Blurton got his first career Frontier Region win in Friday night action. The weekend at Sheridan Speedway brings to a close the 34th year of Frontier Region under the ASCS banner.

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BAPS Motor Speedway – Racing Community Raises $10,000

York Haven, PA — BAPS Motor Speedway in PA announced via press release on Monday it has raised $10,000 to support the families of three police officers killed and two others wounded in a September 17 incident in North Codorus Township. Fans and teams contributed through a driver helmet collection on September 20, with donations continuing at the track office afterward.

General Manager Kolten Gouse praised the overwhelming response from fans, teams, sponsors, and neighbors, while Lt. Braxton Ditty of the Newberrytown Police Department called the community’s compassion and generosity “nothing short of incredible.” Donations remain open through the Honor Their Service portal in partnership with the Northern York County Regional Police Department and the York County Safety Collab. If you would like to donate, in the description you can find the link to the BAPS press release containing all the information to do so.

Sources:

 

Weekend Preview – Australia

Down under things are really starting to wind up with a massive weekend incoming:

Murray Bridge Speedway in South Australia hosts the “Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge” on Saturday, October 4th, followed by the Australian Sprintcar Stampede on Sunday, October 5th. The Battle of the Bridge will pay $5,000 to win while the Stampede will close out with a 10k to win finale on Sunday night. The likes of Jock Goodyer, Matt Egel, Tate Frost and Brock Hallett are all nominated.

Up north and fresh off an ultra exciting Thunder on the Downs last weekend Toowoomba Speedway fires off Round 1 of the Ultimate Sprintcar Championship on Saturday. Ultimate Sprint Car Championship is a 7-race series that runs until April 2026.

All major events at both Murray Bridge and Toowoomba will stream live on Clay-Per-View all season long.

Sources:

 

 

And that’s today’s Sprint Car Daily for Tuesday, September 30, 2025 — from Thorson’s purple patch in Pennsylvania, to National Open anticipation at Williams Grove with big money and big prestige on the line, Cory Eliason back in the KCP eighteen, Kelly Miller seals that ASCS Frontier crown, $10,000 raised at BAPS for fallen officers, and a stacked weekend ahead in Australia.

All links, show notes, and the full transcript are in the description below. If I missed anything or got something wrong, please feel free to reach out. Thanks for firing off with me — catch you next time!

 

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ENDS ARTICLE.