Archive for category: prsprint1

Kody Hartlaub felt like his second career 410 sprint car win was within reach last Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.

He had good reason to feel that way.  He timed 5th quickest overall, then led every lap in his heat race, winning by over 2.3 seconds, to earn the pole for the A-main.

Hartlaub led 19 laps, but unfortunately, bad luck intervened.

“That one stings.  A bolt came out of the brake pedal on lap 2, and I had no brakes. I feel so bad for my guys and my sponsors. I feel we had that one,” a disappointed Hartlaub explained.

“I was able to hang on to the top spot for most of the race, but the lack of brakes became extremely challenging. I tried my hardest to race the car to maintain as much speed as possible, but unfortunately, we dropped a few spots and ended up 5th.”

LEARNING FROM CHALLENGES

Coming off his first career 410 sprint car win six weeks ago, Hartlaub was feeling good about his team’s growth and progression through the 2025 season. 

Hartlaub was inching closer to that moment for several races.  The Williams Grove victory gave the East Berlin (PA) driver an average finishing position of 6.75 over a four-race stretch, a significant improvement over his average finish of 16th in the four races before that stretch.

With the Central Pennsylvania season heading into the home stretch, this was the timely momentum Harlaub, team owner Pat Brewer, and the entire NinetyFive Motorsports team needed.

The showing this past Friday certainly proves Hartlaub’s win in August was not a fluke, and it also shows the team can work through challenges and find their rhythm again.

The weekend after that August 15th win, Hartlaub kept the momentum going with two more top ten finishes at Williams Grove Speedway’s Jack Gunn Memorial and Lincoln Speedway’s Kramer Klash.  However, the final weekend of August brought challenges and frustrating nights for Hartlaub and his team, who finished outside the top ten twice and failed to make the starting field once.

Hartlaub, Brewer, and the NinetyFive Motorsports team are well aware you can’t rest on your laurels in sprint car racing.  What works today may not work tomorrow.  It is a constant battle to find the combination needed to be competitive every time a team unloads.

“Some of the things we tried Labor Day weekend didn’t work like we had hoped, but that’s what you have to do in this sport.  You have to constantly work to get better, but sometimes you learn the most from the things that don’t work,” Hartlaub explained.

“We took a week off at the beginning of September, and we worked on the changes we felt we needed to make to get our speed back.  It felt good to see that pay off by getting back in the top ten at Williams Grove.”

Hartlaub was referring to the team’s effort back on September 12th, where he recorded a runner-up finish in his heat race and a 6th-place finish in the feature.

The following night at Lincoln Speedway, Hartlaub struggled, dropping out of the main event at the halfway point due to an ill-handling racecar, once again proving that what worked yesterday may not work today.  The team went back to work that week to get ready for Williams Grove, and we now know they bounced back strong and nearly captured another win.

It’s an ongoing battle for every team in sprint car racing, a roller-coaster ride if you will, but when a team overcomes those challenges and achieves success, there’s nothing quite like that feeling of satisfaction.  It’s only a matter of time until Hartlaub feels that again.

UP NEXT

Hartlaub and the NinetyFive Motorsports team will return to Williams Grove Speedway Friday night for the final tuneup before the National Open.  Saturday night, they will venture to Bridgeport Motorsports Park in Swedesboro, NJ, to take on the High Limit Racing series on the high-banked 4-tenths mile oval.

As the summer heat built, so did the schedule of races for the 95 team and Kody Hartlaub. Eyeing an extensive Speedweek schedule, with 10 nights of action, Kody and team had a long stretch of late nights and hard work ahead of them. Even with Mother Nature ruining a few nights of action, the grind of Speedweek is something that local teams have to persevere through.

With the first two races being scratched with teams already at the track and ready to compete, BAPS Motor Speedway, on Sunday, would be the first show to be completed. Hartlaub and team started out the night on a good note, with a 2nd place effort in group qualifying. Things took a turn in the heat, after a slide back to 7th, made for a necessary trip to the B Main. Luckily, the driver and team were able to make an A Main appearance and ended up starting off Speedweek with an 18th-place finish.

A quick turnaround followed as the team moved to Lincoln Speedway on Monday. The NinetyFive Motorsports car was quick right out of the gate. With Kody taking home quicktime and making the redraw out of the heat race, the night was looking up. Rolling off on the outside of the front row of the feature, which was his best starting spot of the season, Kody was able to maintain and even challenge early for the lead, before slipping back just a few spots and garnering a 4th place finish. This was his best A Main result of the season.

“We finally just put a whole night together from time trials to the feature.” Hartlaub went on to mention that they “changed some things and went more aggressive than we normally do setup-wise, and I really think that benefited us later.”

Rain gave the team a chance to recoup on Tuesday before making a trip to the Port Royal Speedway on Wednesday. Even with little experience at the track, Hartlaub was able to start off the night strong yet again, by going 5th quick in time trials and transferring into the feature from the heat race. Starting 15th, and in one of the weirder features of the year, Kody was able to finish in 18th. This started the real grind for the team, as this began a streak of four-straight nights of racing.

Hagerstown Speedway was next up and would be the second large half-mile of the week. Again, Hartlaub would have a good qualifying effort and be able to transfer into the feature out of the heat. Kody would end up not finishing the entire feature and exit on lap 9 of the race. An upsetting result, but the team would again grind to get the car ready for another night, this time at Williams Grove.

The Mitch Smith Memorial took center stage on Friday. Kody and team again unloaded with a fast 95 car. Qualifying 5th and running second in the heat meant the team would roll off 10th in the feature. Getting a good jump and grabbing the 9th spot for a few laps would be the best part of the 30-lap feature, as Hartlaub would slide back and ultimately pull off with 7 to go in the feature.

“This is a humbling sport,” mentioned Kody. “Just as soon as I thought we had Williams Grove figured out, they proved to us this week that we don’t.”

Trying to put that night behind them, the team headed to Port Royal Speedway for the Greg Hodnett Classic. Fighting from the time the team left the shop, the track surface proved to be tough to get a hold of. Timing 13th in his group and finishing 8th in his heat, the B Main would be the place where the 95 would round out the night. Missing the transfer and finishing 13th in the B Main was a stark contrast to that of Wednesday night’s effort.

Travel trouble on Saturday and the fact that the team hurt two motors over the course of the week would ultimately lead to the team deciding to skip the final race of the week at Path Valley. Nonetheless, the team completed Speedweek with some newfound knowledge on what the car needs to maybe find some extra speed.

“Still have a little bit of work to do, but I feel like we are making the right gains,” said Hartlaub.

Even with the team missing a few nights with rainouts, it was still a massive undertaking to compete in all the races they did.

“I don’t think some fans actually understand what all has to happen between each race. You still have all the same car maintenance,” mentioned Kody. And a lot of teams have to continually restock all of their fuel, tire, and other expendable part supplies. Hartlaub went on to mention that he is glad that Speedweek is only a once-a-year event, as it is a lot of strain and sleepless nights preparing for the next show. 

“I want to thank all my crew and family for everything this past week,” knowing just how much effort everyone put in to make it happen.

The team will get a much-needed week to regroup before racing action starts back up, and it’s soon time for the Outlaws to come to town and pose another challenge to the 95.

“We never back down from a challenge, and I’m excited to see what will happen.”

RECENT RESULTS (starting position in parentheses)

• Date/Location:  June 30, 2025 / Lincoln Speedway, Abbottstown, PA
• Results:  Qualifying 1st, Heat 4th (4), A-main 4th (2)

• Date/Location:  July 1, 2025 / Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville, PA
• Results:  Rain

• Date/Location:  July 2, 2025 / Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA
• Results:  Group Qualifying 5th, Heat 4th (2), A-main 18th (15)

• Date/Location:  July 3, 2025 / Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, MD
• Results:  Group Qualifying 10th, Heat 5th (5), A-main 22nd (19)

• Date/Location:  July 4, 2025 / Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
• Results:  Group Qualifying 5th, Heat 2nd (2), A-main 20th DNF (10)

• Date/Location:  July 5, 2025 / Port Royal Speedway, Port Royal, PA
• Results:  Group Qualifying 14th, Heat 8th (7), B-main 13th (11)