Jeff Halligan Nets Tenth Top-10 of 2022 Season

Jeff Halligan and the Risser Motorsports team have been steadily getting better and better as the season has unfolded.  As the team has shared before, their approach to the season has been a phased one.  With key races circled on the calendar, each race leading up to the milestone events is an opportunity to prepare, improve and be ready for the test.

The most recent marked event on the team’s calendar was the Bob Weikert Memorial, in which the team earned a podium finish against the All Star Circuit of Champions.   Following that, the team turned their focus to Pennsylvania Speedweek, which begins in late June.  Halligan kicked off the team’s month of June and Speedweek preparation by winning at Port Royal Speedway in the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts, No.45.

June 11th:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     [21 cars, Heat 1st (1), A-main 9th (9)]

Halligan started on the pole of the last of three 8-lap heats for the 21 cars on hand.  He never gave the rest of the field a chance to take a shot at him.  The Ephrata, PA wheelman dominated the heat, winning by 4.076 seconds over Michael Walter II and Mike Wagner.  Trenton Sheaffer and Logan Wagner rounded out the top five.

The starting lineup for the 25-lap feature event was set using a handicapping format, which placed Halligan on the inside of row five as the highest point man in the season standings to record a top three finish in the heat races.

Although Halligan has made a habit of advancing in nearly every race he has competed in at the fairgrounds half-mile in Port Royal this season, on this night he wasn’t able to move forward during the A-main.

“We were a couple adjustments away from passing cars.  I was good in (turns) one and two, and I could get runs on guys, but I just couldn’t get through (turns) three and four the way I needed to.“, Halligan shared.

“We’ve been really consistent with a lot of top-10’s, so I’m definitely happy about that.  Now we’re aiming for top-5’s on a regular basis.”

Up Next

Jeff Halligan will be back at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night, June 18th for Open Wheel Madness II, featuring the ‘USAC Eastern Blast’ USAC National Sprint Cars racing for $6,000, USAC Silver Crown teams competing for $8,000, & the 410 winged sprint cars  chasing a top prize of $5,000.

With no racing slated at Port Royal on June 25th, the event will be the final chance for Halligan and crew chief Kyle Defibaugh to fine tune the Risser Motorsports No.45 before PA Speedweek rolls into ‘The Speed Palace’ on Wednesday, June 29th.  The team plans to compete in several Speedweek events.  More details will be released soon.

Season Stats

17 races, 1 win, 6 top 5’s, 10 top 10’s, 12 top 15’s