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It’s been pretty clear in 2022 that Jeff Halligan and Risser Motorsports have found consistency at Port Royal Speedway and will be a factor when they compete there.  They have also had their moments at other tracks around Central Pennsylvania this year but haven’t quite reached the level of consistency at those facilities that they are striving for.

This past weekend presented a great opportunity for Halligan and team to work on that area of their program.  With Port Royal Speedway closed for a summer break, the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts / Pine Hill Trailers / Keystone Ag Spraying, No.45 slated a weekend double at Big Diamond Speedway and Lincoln Speedway.

August 12:  Big Diamond Speedway / Pottsville, PA

     [27 cars, Heat 3rd (6), A-main 2nd (4)]

The rare appearance for 410 sprint cars at Big Diamond Speedway drew a field of 27 competitors who competed in three, 10-lap heat races set up by a pill draw.  The top six finishers from each would advance to the A-main, with the top three participating in a redraw to set the top nine starting spots.  The final six feature starters would come from the B-main.  

Halligan started sixth in the second heat race, which was led by a stout front row of Mark Smith and Freddie Rahmer.  Jeff made quick work of the second row, blasting his way into third on the opening lap.  He set his sights on the front pair but settled for a third place finish in the qualifying race.

Three of the strongest cars in attendance, Rahmer, Smith and Halligan, pulled starting spots two, three and four respectively in the redraw, setting up a tight battle from the drop of the green for the fans.

Before the 30-lap main event could take the green flag, polesitter Tyler Esh pulled off with issues and retired from the event.  

Halligan grabbed the third spot on the opening lap, but soon found himself in a battle with sixth place starter Dylan Norris, who wrestled the spot away for a handful of laps.  By the time the race reached lap ten, the top three were Smith, Rahmer, and Halligan.  Norris had gone pit-side.

Moments later, Halligan drove past Rahmer to take the runner up spot and set his sights on Smith.  The Ephrata, PA driver closed the gap in traffic and with about ten laps remaining took his shot at Smith.

Halligan’s slide job in turn four cleared Smith, but the slider took the No.45 all the way to the wall and the light contact with the fence was enough to allow Smith to cross over and regain the lead.  

Halligan wasn’t able to get close enough to take another shot at Smith and settled for the second place finish.

August 13:  Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA

     [34 cars, Heat 5th (4), B-main 2nd (4), A-main 17th (22)]

A large field of 34 cars signed in at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night.  Halligan’s last race at the Abbottstown oval resulted in a 6th place finish against a formidable 42-car PA Speedweek field.

The top four finishers would transfer to the A-main from each of five 8-lap heat races, with the top two being handicapped to the front based on their season points average.

Halligan started outside row two in heat number four but couldn’t hold his ground.  He slipped to fifth on the opening lap and sixth a lap later.  He battled back to fifth on the final lap but was unable to transfer to the A-main.

With Halligan’s first goal of advancing in the heat to land a mid-pack starting spot, or better, for the 30-lap finale, the goal now shifted to simply making the field.  Rolling to the green once again from the 4th position, on the opening lap Halligan wheeled his machine into the runner-up spot and away from the verge of not transferring.  He held a firm grasp on the spot and locked himself and the Risser Motorsports team into the main event.

Halligan started the main event from the 22nd spot and made steady forward progress over the first ten laps.  The third year 410 sprint car pilot raced in the 15th position for the majority of the event, then reached 14th on lap 22.

In the closing laps Halligan wasn’t able to maintain the track position he had garnered.  He slipped backwards a few spots in the running order and crossed the finish line in 17th.

“I really enjoyed Big Diamond.  I wish we had more opportunities to race there.  We made good decisions and were able to keep this Panther Chassis up front to compete for the win.“, Halligan commented.

“We struggled to find the right combination at Lincoln.  We need to get our short track program to a more consistent level.  That’s the missing piece right now.  Some trips there (Lincoln) this year we’ve been pretty good and other times we just miss the mark.  We’ll figure it out.  We learn every time out.  Just need to keep digging.“

Halligan has accumulated podium finishes at three Central PA tracks in 2022.  At Port Royal he has five top three finishes, including two wins.  He also now has a second at Big Diamond to go with a third at Williams Grove in limited appearances there.  His best finish at Lincoln Speedway, in a handful of appearances this season, is a sixth during PA Speedweek.

Up Next

Jeff and the Risser Motorsports team will return to Port Royal Speedway Saturday, August 20th for Open Wheel Madness III where $5,000 will be on the line for the 410 sprint car winner.   

Saturday will be Salute to The Military Night with FREE General Admission to ‘The Speed Palace’ for all past and present military with proper identification.   The PASS/IMCA 305 Sprints and USAC East Coast 360 Wingless Sprints will also be on the card.

Season Stats

32 races, 2 wins, 11 top 5’s, 17 top 10’s, 22 top 15’s

The past few weeks have taken Jeff Halligan and the Risser Motorsports team through the highs and lows of sprint car racing.

In late July he recorded a 6th place finish against the World of Outlaws at his home track, Port Royal Speedway, then in the very next race there struggled to disappointing finishes of 16th and 21st in non-sanctioned twin 20 lap features.

Saturday night brought Jeff and Risser Motorsports back to ‘The Speed Palace’, and they were determined to show which version of their team was the real one.

August 6:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     [31 cars, Heat 2nd (3), A-main 2nd (9)]

The hot and humid Central PA summer afternoon saw a very solid car count of 31 entries register and draw a pill to get their starting spot in one of four 8-lap heat races.  The top five finishers from each heat would transfer directly to the A-main.  The remainder of the field would be relegated to the B-main, from which the top four finishers would fill out the feature field.  

Halligan lined up inside the second row in heat number two and immediately went to work to make sure he secured one of the valuable top three spots, which would be handicapped in the feature lineup.

On lap five, Halligan was able to wheel the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts / Pine Hill Trailers / Keystone Ag Spraying, No.45 into the runner-up position.  He held on to finish a comfortable 2nd.

Last week, Halligan had uncharacteristically gone backwards from his starting spot in the track’s twin twenty lap features.  It left the team with a bad taste in their mouth and determined to not repeat that type of performance.  They spent the week going over the car with a fine tooth comb, making sure everything was as it was supposed to be and replacing components as needed, and now it was time for their work to be tested.

Halligan took the green for the 25-lap feature event from the 9th starting spot and moved up to 7th on the opening lap.  The initial progress continued and turned into a pattern.  

Halligan had built up significant momentum and rhythm.  He climbed to 6th by lap six, 5th by lap nine and 4th by lap ten when the red flag appeared for Devon Borden’s crash in turn two.

Restarting 3rd, Halligan seemed to stall over the next dozen laps.  The caution lights flashed on after leader Gerard McIntyre took the white flag with Blane Heimbach and Halligan in tow. 

On the ensuing restart, Halligan wrestled 2nd away from Heimbach and flashed under the checkered flag in the runner up position, completing a run that was much more in character for the Ephrata, PA resident and his team during the 2022 season.

“I think tonight showed a lot about our team.  You often see teams get into an extended rough stretch or on a hot streak.  It’s a big deal to me that we had one bad week and were able to do what it took to get right back to the type of performance we know we’re capable of.“, Halligan shared.

“We might have even had a little more for them if the yellow hadn’t come out.  We were really rolling at that point, but the car wasn’t quite as good after the restart.  We are all feeling pretty good, but we know we still have work to do to be where we want to be for the Tuscarora 50.  It’s only a month away now.  There are only a few races remaining for us to prepare.“

Up Next

With Port Royal Speedway shut down this weekend, Halligan and Risser Motorsports will venture to the 3/8-mile Big Diamond Speedway in Pottsville, PA on Friday night August 12th, then they will return to Lincoln Speedway on Saturday night.

“I’m excited for this weekend.  It’s a chance for us to just go race with nothing at stake.  We can just focus on learning and improving while we have some fun.  Racing at a variety of tracks makes a team better in the long run.“, Halligan commented.

Season Stats

30 races, 2 wins, 10 top 5’s, 16 top 10’s, 21 top 15’s

Jeff Halligan unloaded the Risser Motorsports No.45 at Port Royal Speedway Saturday night  feeling pretty good about his chances to grab his share of the $60,000 total purse on the line for the Living Legends Dream Race, and he had every reason to.

He was coming off a 6th place run there against the World of Outlaws just ten days before, plus he had two wins this season at the Juniata County half-mile in the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts / Pine Hill Trailers / Keystone Ag Spraying, entry.

July 30:  Living Legends Dream Race / Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

      [27 cars, Qualifying 17th, Heat 4th (6), A-main #1 16th (11), A-main #2 21st (16)]

The format for the 16th annual event took on a slightly new look for 2022.  The PA Speedweek time trial and heat race format would be used to set the lineup for the first of two twin 20-lap features.  The lineup for the second feature would be based on the finishing order of the first race but would use an inversion of either the top 4, 6 or 8 finishers in the first race.  The inversion pill would be drawn by the winner of the first feature.  

Halligan has been strong all season at Port Royal, but his qualifying lap left him 17th in the field of 27 cars.  He would have to make some moves in his heat race to begin working his way back toward the front of the starting field for the first feature.

Three 8-lap heat races were on the car, with the top six finishers from each transferring to the first feature.  The top two finishers would take part in a redraw to set their spot among the first three rows.

Halligan took the first step toward battling back from his qualifying deficit by advancing from his 6th starting spot in heat number two to finish 4th.  While it wasn’t a redraw spot, it did set him up to start 11th in the first feature.  From there he could hopefully climb his way into one of the inversion spots.

At the drop of the green on the first 20-lap A-main, Halligan didn’t have the car he needed to surge forward, so he settled into a rhythm, searched for a line that worked and waited for things to come to him.

It never materialized.  Instead, Halligan slipped back to 16th by the time the checkered fell on the first main event.  The Risser Motorsports crew used the ten minute break to make adjustments that would hopefully help Jeff rally in the second 20-lap main event.

This particular Saturday night just wasn’t coming together for Halligan and his team.  The changes didn’t help, and he fell a few more spots in the running order.  With seven laps remaining, Halligan retired from the race and was credited with 21st officially.

“Nothing is ever easy in this deal.  If you think you have it figured out, you don’t.”, Halligan said.

“We’ve been pretty consistent this year because we have a good baseline for our cars.  It just didn’t work tonight.  We’ll go over the car and make sure everything is good, but we just need to keep working hard and figure out how to make the right adjustments when we need to.“

Up Next

Jeff and the Risser Motorsports team will be aiming to return to form at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night August 6th when ‘The Speed Palace’ hosts a regular show for 410 sprint cars, super late models and 305 sprint cars.

Season Stats

29 races, 2 wins, 9 top 5’s, 15 top 10’s, 20 top 15’s