Archive for month: April, 2022

Never underestimate the value of back to back solid performances for a race team.  It’s proof one good result wasn’t a fluke.  It confirms correct decisions are being made.  Most of all, it brings confidence.  In motorsports, a confident driver behind the wheel can be more valuable than almost anything else.

Jeff Halligan is on exactly such a roll lately.  Saturday’s 4th place finish at Port Royal Speedway was his second consecutive top five finish, not to mention he has passed thirteen cars in recording three top-10 finishes this season.

April 9:  Open Wheel Madness / Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     (27 cars, Qualifying 2nd, Heat 3rd, A-main 4th)

A chilly April afternoon saw 27 teams register to get their shot at the $5,000 winner’s share.  Time trials were completed in a group format, with three groups set by pill draw.

Halligan’s qualifying run as part of group two was somewhat eventful.  The Ephrata, PA driver completed a very quick first lap just before the engine on his Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts, No.45 shut off unexpectedly, robbing him of a second lap that would likely have been even better.  Zeb Wise’s second lap knocked Halligan from the top of the chart by 0.062 seconds.

Upon his return pit-side, Halligan’s team immediately went to work and resolved the issue in plenty of time for Jeff to assume his starting spot inside row two for the second heat race.  He temporarily slipped back to 4th in the opening laps, but he was able to overtake Blane Heimbach to finish 3rd, just missing the redraw by one spot.

As the sun began to set, Halligan lined up 8th for the 25-lap feature event.  From the drop of the green, he began his workmanlike grind toward the front, climbing into 7th after five laps, then to 6th after ten laps.  Halligan was fast and battling with Zeb Wise for a spot in the top five when the red lights flashed on for T.J. Stutts, who was uninjured in the crash.

The late break in the action bunched the field with four laps remaining.  Halligan capitalized on the situation, clearing Wise for good to take 5th, then raced past Parker Price-Miller for the 4th spot as the main event drew to a close.

“We were really good tonight.  Each time I got by someone, I was able to track down the next guy, even in traffic.  I never had a chance to get in clean air to find out how good we really were, but I know we passed some really good cars“, a clearly energized Jeff Halligan said.

Halligan now sits 5th in the competitive season championship point standings at Port Royal Speedway.  The top five are only separated by 165 points.  To provide some context, a win is worth 350 points and there are still 25 races remaining in 2022.

“The car is really balanced well right now.  We just need to improve our starting spot to give ourselves a chance to be on the podium.  In two weeks, we have a big race here (at Port) with the All Stars, so we have been trying things the past few weeks.  We want to make sure we are ready for that race.  You have to be on your game for a race like that”, Halligan commented.

Up Next

Jeff and the Risser Motorsports team will return to Port Royal Speedway Saturday night, April 16th for the final tune-up for 410 sprint cars before the All Star Circuit of Champions roll into town for the $10,000 to win Keith Kauffman Classic at ‘The Speed Palace’ on April 23rd.

Season Stats

5 races, 0 wins, 2 top 5s, 3 top 10s

There were a lot of smiles in the Risser Motorsports pit after Jeff Halligan’s top five effort at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night.  They had waited a long two weeks to get back to the track.

It was a different scene than two weeks earlier.  That weekend the team missed the show at Williams Grove Speedway, then watched a promising third place starting spot at Port Royal slip away when Halligan ended up turned the wrong direction and in the fence on a chaotic initial start.    

When the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts, No.45 finally rolled out of the trailer again at Port Royal Speedway on April 2nd, Halligan was more than ready to strap back in and turn the page.

April 2:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     (30 cars, Qualifying 2nd in group, Heat 4th, A-main 5th)

Due to forecasted chilly evening temperatures, the start of Saturday’s show at ‘The Speed Palace’ was moved up to 4pm, meaning teams would be treated to another tricky daytime surface.  Thirty teams signed in for the group time trial format show.

Halligan kicked things off on a positive note for Risser Motorsports by laying down the 2nd quickest lap in his group.  As a result of the 4-car inversion used to set the heat race lineups, Jeff lined up 3rd for his 8-lap heat race.  While the top six finishers would transfer to the A-main, the real goal was to finish top two.  Only those two would participate in the redraw, ensuring a starting spot in the first three rows for the day’s finale.

The car wasn’t quite where it needed to be for the tricky surface and Jeff slipped back a spot on the start.  He was never able to close the gap and had to settle for a 4th place finish, which translated to a 10th place starting spot in the 25-lap feature.  It wasn’t the redraw spot they were aiming for, but on the bright side, they were in the race and they knew what they needed to change.

Halligan’s machine was noticeably stronger when the green flag waived on the main event.  He surged into 7th by the completion of the opening lap, continued his charge into 5th with two laps complete, and reached 4th by lap six.  Over the next few laps, four cars waged a heated battle for two positions.  On lap 9 Jeff emerged from the exchange in 5th.  He held that spot to the checkered flag, sealing his first top-5 of the 2022 season.

“I felt like I left a couple spots on the table.  The guys gave me a really good car.  I made a couple decisions that I wish I could go back and change.  I got myself in dirty air and lost ground I had made up.  Port (Royal) is slick but it always has multiple grooves.  It’s tough to make up ground on a daytime surface “, Halligan explained.

“We just need to race the track, make the car better, and be ready to seize opportunities that come to us.  It will help when we can race more.  It’s been tough to get in a rhythm and learn a lot this Spring with the weather we’ve had here in PA, but we’re getting there.  I’m pretty happy with where we are so far “, Halligan commented.

While they may not have the finish to prove it, they also feel they were good enough for a podium finish before the crash a couple weeks ago at Port Royal.  Halligan also said the team learned a few things at Williams Grove back in March, so they are looking forward to their next trip to the legendary Mechanicsburg, PA oval.  

With over 6 months of racing ahead of them this season, it’s highly likely this team will make some headlines in Central PA in 2022.

Up Next

Jeff and the Risser Motorsports team will be back in action at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, April 9th when the 410 sprint cars race for a $5,000 top prize as part of the Open Wheel Madness show that also features the URC 360 and PASS/IMCA 305 sprint cars.