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Marks and Conley Score Victories in Knittel Memorial and Charlie Swartz Classic

Portsmouth Raceway Park once again hosted The Dean Knittel Memorial Saturday Night. For the second straight year, Myerstown, PA's Brent Marks captured the Tezos All-Star Circuit of Champions Winged Sprint Car race which paid $22,554 to win. Wheelersburg's RJ Conley took the checkers in the 3rd Annual Charlie Swartz Classic Super Late Model Feature which paid $5,000.

The 6th Annual Dean Knittel Memorial presented by Barbour Auto Parts, Roger Hemming Contractors, All of Her Creations, The Berndt-Murfin Insurance Agency & Sherman-Kricker Insurance, The Glockner Family of Dealerships, and Affordable Air once again served as the Ohio Speedweek Finale. Indianapolis, IN's Tyler Courtney claimed his second Ohio Speedweek Championship, as he won his first in 2021.

There were a total of 69 race teams on hand with 46 Sprints and 23 Late Models.

Angola, IN's Zeb Wise was the fast qualifier in the Sprints turning a lap clocked at -13.006. The quick qualifier in the Late Models was RJ Conley, who clicked off a lap of 15.475.

The 30-lap Dean Knittel Memorial was a thriller that witnessed four different leaders and only two cautions. While there were only technically three lead changes as far as there being a new leader at the stripe, there were several crossover moves that saw the lead swap back and forth on the same lap.

A couple of Californians paced the field for most of the race. Outside polesitter Michael Kofoid from Penngrove, CA got the jump at the start and led the first 18 laps with St. Helena, CA's Rico Abreu in tow. Abreu took a hard stab at the lead pulling up alongside Kofoid on lap 9 and again on lap 17. Marks rode in third the first 18 laps.

In a wild sequence, Marks pulled a slider on Abreu to take second off of turn 2 while working lap 18. However, Abreu got a big run down the back straightaway and barreled low down into turn 3 passing both Marks and Kofoid to go from third to first in a mere instant.

Abreu would lead the next four laps until Monrovia, IN's Justin Peck would steal the lead away on lap 23. Marks would capture the point from Peck on lap 26 going into turn 1, but Peck would cross him over and take it right back off turn 2. Moments later, the first caution of the race flew when Zane DeVault slowed.

Just one lap after the race restarted, Peck's left rear tire grenaded ending his chances of victory. Marks would inherit the lead and would hold off Abreu the last three laps even though Abreu managed to pull up alongside him three different times in those final three circuits.

Abreu would have to settle for the runner-up spot. Anthony Macri charged from 12th to third. Kofoid would place fourth. Skylar Gee rounded out the top 5. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Tyler Courtney, Kyle Reinhardt, Cap Henry, Chris Windom, and Cole Duncan.

Abreu won the dash to earn the pole. Circleville's Cole Duncan prevailed in the B-Main. One of many feel-good moments during the evening was Chillicothe's Danny Smith taking the win in the C-Main driving The Dean Knittel Tribute Car #54.

The Charlie Swartz Classic Late Model Feature was also very entertaining. Polesitter Adam Stricker from Batavia jumped out to the early lead and would pace the field the first 17 laps. The 24-year-old would eventually catch the tail end of the lead lap and would get bottled in behind two soon-to-be lap cars that were running side by side. The road block enabled RJ Conley to make a bold move going into turn one diving under Stricker and taking the lead.

A few late-race cautions would tighten the field, but Conley was on point every restart and wound up pulling away down the stretch. Four-time track champion RJ Conley has kicked off the season winning the first three races of the year at PRP.

Stricker would place second. Ashland, KY's Kirk Phillips finished third. Sunshine, KY's Avery Taylor moved up five spots to finish fourth. Wheelersburg's Kevin Wagner closed out the top 5. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Kenny Christy, Rod Conley, Kevin Terry, 2021 Charlie Swartz Classic Winner Josh Bocook, and Zach Hill.

Another cool moment was at the conclusion of the Late Model Feature when race leader RJ Conley, who was donning a throwback paint scheme honoring his late father Delmas, came up on Charlie Swartz's grandson Lucas Crooks, who was sporting a throwback paint scheme honoring his grandfather. Area Late Model fans are very familiar with the battles that Delmas Conley and Charlie Swartz had back in the day, as is RJ Conley, who said in victory lane afterward that it is very special to win "Charlie's race" as he grew up watching he and his dad battle.

PRP and Dean Knittel Memorial Promoter Jeff Knittel acquired nearly 300 sponsors to assist with this year's race. There were bonuses littered throughout the Sprint Car field.

Portsmouth Raceway Park will have this coming weekend off before returning for a big, two-day show July 1st and 2nd. On Saturday, July 1st will be "The Preliminary Night to The Boone Coleman Memorial" presented by Army. It will pay The Giovanni's Pizza Late Model winner $5,000. Also on the card will be The Gampp's Power Equipment Modifieds racing The Jim McGraw Memorial, as well as The BluePrint Event Tent & Inflatables Rentals Sport Mods.

Then on Sunday, July 2nd will be The Boone Coleman Memorial "Gator 50" presented by Berndt-Murfin Insurance, which will pay Late Models $10,000 to win. Also racing on July 2nd will be Modifieds and The O'Reilly Auto Parts Limited Lates.

For more details regarding PRP, log on to www.portsraceway.com.

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Late Models 23 Entries

A Feature 1 30 Laps | 00:18:48.595

1. 71C-RJ Conley[2]; 2. 68-Adam Stricker[1]; 3. 21K-Kirk Phillips[6]; 4. 159-Avery Taylor[9]; 5. 33-Kevin Wagner[8]; 6. C7-Kenny Christy[4]; 7. 71R-Rod Conley[5]; 8. 97-Kevin Terry[17]; 9. B1-Josh Bocook[10]; 10. 7H-Zach Hill[11]; 11. 7-Audie Swartz[13]; 12. 73B-Austin Mullett[15]; 13. 1C-Lucas Crooks[18]; 14. 41-Jody Adkins[19]; 15. 22-Brent Cornett[14]; 16. D8-Dustin Linville[7]; 17. 37-Jacob Hawkins[3]; 18. 93-Mike Sark[16]; 19. 1-Corey Lewis[22]; 20. (DNS) 00-Justin Cooper; 21. (DNS) 11-Darren Kattine; 22. (DNS) 73T-Russel Throckmorton

Dash 1 6 Laps | 00:01:41.000

1. 68-Adam Stricker[2]; 2. 71C-RJ Conley[6]; 3. 37-Jacob Hawkins[3]; 4. C7-Kenny Christy[1]; 5. 71R-Rod Conley[4]; 6. 21K-Kirk Phillips[5]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:09:22.000

1. D8-Dustin Linville[1]; 2. 159-Avery Taylor[3]; 3. 7H-Zach Hill[2]; 4. 7-Audie Swartz[6]; 5. 73B-Austin Mullett[5]; 6. 97-Kevin Terry[8]; 7. 41-Jody Adkins[4]; 8. 73T-Russel Throckmorton[7]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:11:46.627

1. 33-Kevin Wagner[2]; 2. B1-Josh Bocook[4]; 3. 00-Justin Cooper[5]; 4. 22-Brent Cornett[3]; 5. 93-Mike Sark[6]; 6. 1C-Lucas Crooks[8]; 7. 11-Darren Kattine[7]; 8. 1-Corey Lewis[1]

Qualifying 1 | 00:01:03.000

1. 71C-RJ Conley, 00:15.475[6]; 2. 21K-Kirk Phillips, 00:15.658[2]; 3. 71R-Rod Conley, 00:15.791[16]; 4. 37-Jacob Hawkins, 00:15.809[3]; 5. 68-Adam Stricker, 00:15.890[13]; 6. C7-Kenny Christy, 00:15.941[19]; 7. D8-Dustin Linville, 00:15.944[11]; 8. 1-Corey Lewis, 00:15.955[5]; 9. 7H-Zach Hill, 00:16.023[7]; 10. 33-Kevin Wagner, 00:16.079[18]; 11. 159-Avery Taylor, 00:16.136[12]; 12. 22-Brent Cornett, 00:16.180[22]; 13. 41-Jody Adkins, 00:16.291[21]; 14. B1-Josh Bocook, 00:16.392[9]; 15. 73B-Austin Mullett, 00:16.393[15]; 16. 00-Justin Cooper, 00:16.443[14]; 17. 7-Audie Swartz, 00:16.541[23]; 18. 93-Mike Sark, 00:16.797[20]; 19. 73T-Russel Throckmorton, 00:16.883[8]; 20. 11-Darren Kattine, 00:17.111[17]; 21. 97-Kevin Terry, 00:17.291[10]; 22. 1C-Lucas Crooks, 01:03.874[4]; 23. (DNS) 81-Brandon Fouts, 00:17.291

410 Sprints - Winged 46 Entries

A Feature 30 Laps | 00:22:25.003 | Tezos

1. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[12]; 4. 55-Michael Kofoid[2]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee[8]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[5]; 8. 33W-Cap Henry[20]; 9. 4-Chris Windom[13]; 10. 22-Cole Duncan[21]; 11. 45-Tim Shaffer[4]; 12. 70-Scotty Thiel[11]; 13. 25R-Jordan Ryan[17]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson[19]; 15. 32B-Dale Blaney[18]; 16. 101-Cody Maroske[24]; 17. 13-Justin Peck[6]; 18. A79-Brandon Wimmer[10]; 19. 29-Sye Lynch[15]; 20. 97-JJ Hickle[14]; 21. 11N-Harli White[22]; 22. 4S-Tyler Street[23]; 23. (DNF) 26-Zeb Wise[9]; 24. (DNF) 23Z-Zane DeVault[16]; 25. (DNF) 54-Danny Smith[25]

B Feature 12 Laps | 00:06:16.931 | Classic Ink USA

1. 22-Cole Duncan[3]; 2. 11N-Harli White[1]; 3. 4S-Tyler Street[5]; 4. 101-Cody Maroske[8]; 5. 1B-Keith Baxter[6]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[7]; 7. 2-Ricky Peterson[9]; 8. 28M-Conner Morrell[2]; 9. 46-Michael Bauer[11]; 10. 23-Zeth Sabo[4]; 11. 09-Craig Mintz[17]; 12. 9-Trey Jacobs[12]; 13. 54-Danny Smith[16]; 14. 71M-Caden Englehart[10]; 15. 5J-Jake Hesson[15]; 16. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[14]; 17. (DNF) 19P-Sean Rayhall[13]

C Feature 10 Laps | 00:08:56.353 | Computer Man

1. 54-Danny Smith[3]; 2. 09-Craig Mintz[2]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[8]; 4. 83X-Nate Reeser[6]; 5. 4U-Josh Davis[4]; 6. 4XS-Cale Stinson[7]; 7. 4X-Bradley Ashford[5]; 8. 24L-Lee Haskins[10]; 9. (DNF) 40-Logan Fenton[9]; 10. (DNS) 32-Bryce Lucius; 11. (DNS) 59-Bryan Nuckles

Dash 6 Laps | 00:03:26.167 | Elliott's Custom Trailers and Carts

1. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 2. 55-Michael Kofoid[1]; 3. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer[5]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[4]; 6. 13-Justin Peck[7]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[10]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee[6]; 9. 26-Zeb Wise[8]; 10. A79-Brandon Wimmer[9]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:48.354 | Hunt Brothers Pizza

1. A79-Brandon Wimmer[2]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 3. 13-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 25R-Jordan Ryan[5]; 5. 11N-Harli White[1]; 6. 28M-Conner Morrell[3]; 7. 19P-Sean Rayhall[8]; 8. 54-Danny Smith[10]; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser[9]; 10. 59-Bryan Nuckles[7]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:48.124 | CSI Shocks

1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 3. 97-JJ Hickle[2]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 5. 23-Zeth Sabo[3]; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson[7]; 7. 9-Trey Jacobs[5]; 8. 4U-Josh Davis[9]; 9. 4XS-Cale Stinson[8]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:03:48.676 | All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads

1. 55-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 70-Scotty Thiel[2]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[4]; 4. 23Z-Zane DeVault[3]; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[5]; 6. 101-Cody Maroske[8]; 7. 46-Michael Bauer[6]; 8. 32-Bryce Lucius[7]; 9. 40-Logan Fenton[9]

Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:03:56.600 | Kistler Racing Products

1. 99-Skylar Gee[3]; 2. 4-Chris Windom[1]; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[4]; 4. 33W-Cap Henry[5]; 5. 1B-Keith Baxter[8]; 6. 71M-Caden Englehart[6]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 8. 4X-Bradley Ashford[7]; 9. 24L-Lee Haskins[9]

Heat 5 8 Laps | 00:04:37.238 | Mobil 1

1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[4]; 3. 29-Sye Lynch[2]; 4. 32B-Dale Blaney[5]; 5. 4S-Tyler Street[6]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[3]; 7. 5J-Jake Hesson[7]; 8. 09-Craig Mintz[8]; 9. 2L-Logan Forler[9]

Qualifying | 00:00:26.134 | Hercules Tire

1. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:13.006[27]; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 00:13.014[7]; 3. 11N-Harli White, 00:13.029[1]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:13.066[19]; 5. 55-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.130[25]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:13.154[13]; 7. 97-JJ Hickle, 00:13.210[15]; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.233[38]; 9. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:13.263[32]; 10. 70-Scotty Thiel, 00:13.287[22]; 11. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 00:13.293[9]; 12. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:13.309[5]; 13. 23Z-Zane DeVault, 00:13.324[23]; 14. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 00:13.378[2]; 15. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.400[42]; 16. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.410[10]; 17. 22-Cole Duncan, 00:13.423[24]; 18. 29-Sye Lynch, 00:13.436[43]; 19. 23-Zeth Sabo, 00:13.438[14]; 20. 4-Chris Windom, 00:13.453[33]; 21. 46-Michael Bauer, 00:13.463[26]; 22. 59-Bryan Nuckles, 00:13.468[8]; 23. 9-Trey Jacobs, 00:13.501[16]; 24. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.503[21]; 25. 81-Lee Jacobs, 00:13.505[46]; 26. 32B-Dale Blaney, 00:13.518[41]; 27. 19P-Sean Rayhall, 00:13.535[6]; 28. 83X-Nate Reeser, 00:13.543[3]; 29. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:13.544[17]; 30. 101-Cody Maroske, 00:13.564[28]; 31. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:13.601[36]; 32. 2-Ricky Peterson, 00:13.636[12]; 33. 4S-Tyler Street, 00:13.651[45]; 34. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:13.667[30]; 35. 5J-Jake Hesson, 00:13.769[44]; 36. 4XS-Cale Stinson, 00:13.795[11]; 37. 09-Craig Mintz, 00:13.824[40]; 38. 33W-Cap Henry, 00:13.848[37]; 39. 71M-Caden Englehart, 00:13.927[35]; 40. 54-Danny Smith, 00:14.008[4]; 41. 4U-Josh Davis, 00:14.019[18]; 42. 2L-Logan Forler, 00:14.028[39]; 43. 40-Logan Fenton, 00:14.155[20]; 44. 4X-Bradley Ashford, 00:14.566[29]; 45. 1B-Keith Baxter, 00:14.610[34]; 46. 24L-Lee Haskins, 00:14.860[31]

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