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With the racing season finally getting underway in Pennsylvania, Lane Snook would take aim at his own 23 car and the local racing scene. With only a few shows being completed over the past month, any opportunity to get on the track was valuable. While April still has a lot to come, let’s look back at the first three races of the 23 team’s season.

March ended up only seeing the 23-car race one time. That being the season opener at Port Royal Speedway, in the super late model ranks. Having a strong run in the heat race and picking up his first super heat win, opening day was going well. While running in the top five during the feature, the driver and team hit a snag.

“We had a stone get in between the oil pump belt and the pulley, where it chewed the teeth on the oil pump belt and made it come off.” This ended a promising run that Lane felt was going to result in a top-five run. Nevertheless, the team would end up posting a DNF, took some precautions, and had the super motor looked over before running it again.

The team’s next race would take place as the calendar flipped to April with a two-race weekend. Beginning at Bedford Speedway in the limited car, the team would pick up in that division, where they left off in 2025. Starting on the pole of the heat and winning put him in the redraw, where he would end up rolling off 3rd in the feature.

“I didn’t get our tires hot enough before the race, as they didn’t fire off, and I made a mistake in turn 1 of the first lap, which made us fall back to 7th.” After a restart, Snook was able to regroup and start his march to the front. Ending up with the lead near the halfway point, Lane held on to grab his first win of the season. A strong rebound from a disappointing showing a few weeks before.

After staying up into the early hours of the morning after Bedford, the team would wake up for a home game at Port Royal Speedway. Off the bat, the team battled some adversity. Folding the nose in during hot laps, the crew thrashed and was able to make repairs and get Lane out for the heat race, where he drove from 4th to the win. Redrawing the 2 pill, the team was poised for another shot at a win. Mother Nature put a pause on that, however, with rain falling during the 410 sprint car feature and canceling the race.

“We start 2nd in the makeup feature, if we’re able to make it.” All in all, another strong night that the team could be proud of.

Something else the young driver from Port Royal can be proud of is his growth with the fans and people in the industry. Lane was able to take part in a fan meet and greet on Saturday at The Speed Palace.

“The meet and greet was cool for sure, getting to see a lot of faces I haven’t seen all winter,” stated Lane. “I feel like we are gaining recognition,” stated Lane, and went on to mention, “with the season we had last year, that definitely helped to put my name out there.”

Snook was honored during opening ceremonies for part of that dominant season, as Port Royal presented him with his 2025 track champion accolades.
“I’m very grateful for all the people I’ve met over the past few years and everyone who has helped me throughout my career.” Lane also mentioned some of the new relationships he’s made over the offseason and how he hopes to continue those and help himself grow.

As the team continues to try to duplicate the efforts of 2025 in some capacity, their schedule ramps up, giving them a lot more opportunities to test their equipment. April will hopefully feature a lot more super late model racing. April 10th and 11th will feature trips to Selinsgrove and Port Royal, respectively, both in super late model competition.

The same setup will repeat on April 17th and 18th, with Selinsgrove and Port. Then the team takes aim at the Lucas Oil Late Models, as they travel to the mid-Atlantic region. The team will plan to compete at BAPS Motor Speedway on April 25th, for the series first visit to the speedway for a $25k to win show.

Make sure to stay tuned to the team website (LaneSnookRacing.com) and socials for any schedule changes and results. Even though the first few shows have been up and down in results, Snook and team look to smooth things out and get back into their groove throughout the rest of April.

With the career season of 2025 behind him, the offseason was a great time for the team to reflect and get prepared for 2026. The “offseason” for Lane, however, has consisted of a lot of travel and crew work. “I left to go on the road Saturday night, after I raced at Eldora.” 

Since that October date, Lane has been traveling around with the G.R. Smith Motorsports 22 team and Drake Troutman. Helping out on the crew and gaining more experience, and even getting to participate in the pitstop challenge at Gateway Dirt Nationals, the winter months have been busy. 

Traveling coast to coast and visiting tracks like Charlotte, Whynot, the Dome, and Central Arizona has made for a quick offseason. The road tripping will continue as the 22 team heads to the southeast to race in Georgia and Florida. 

“I’ve probably been home 3, maybe 4 weeks since then (October),” stated Snook. “I’ll be down in Georgia and Florida until about the middle of March, when I fly back home to start racing.” While March will start the race season in Pennsylvania for Lane, his actual race season will kick off in a few weeks time at the DIRTCar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. 

In a deal that has been in the works for a little bit, Lane will have the opportunity to pilot the Jerry Foster-owned number 5, UMP modified. The division that races the most and is coined the “Iron Men of DIRTCar Nationals”, Snook will get to try his hand at racing one of the biggest and most talented fields in the modified division. 

“I think Jerry wanted to race more often than Drake was able to, so Drake threw the idea around of putting me in it, as I wanted to go to Florida and race. Since Drake is planning on racing the late model while the mods are at Volusia, the deal just kind of came together.” Lane has helped out with not only the late model side of Drake’s racing venture, but has also helped a few times with the 5 car, when Drake has run modifieds. Snook had gotten the chance to get to know Jerry Foster through this, and it will hopefully benefit both parties. 

The young Port Royal, PA racer will plan to race “Tuesday or Wednesday, through Saturday (Feb 3rd-7th), then we’ll see how that goes and see if Jerry wants to do anything after that.” This will be a great chance for the young driver to prove what he has, but it won’t come without challenges. This is a new track for Lane and a new car to learn. 

With a big season planned for 2026 in the late model ranks, Lane will then have to refocus after this long trip away. Time away for Snook has helped in the past, and all of the things he has learned have definitely started to pay off for him. So aside from the new opportunity at the start of the year down south, what does preparation for 2026 in the northeast look like? 

“My crew has been hard at work getting the cars done at home, so I’m able to race this year.”

Being that in past seasons, Lane was at home more to assist with prep, the burden lands on the crew, but after such success in 2025, there is no doubt that the family and crew know how to get the cars prepared and have them ready to compete come March. The super late model season is still planned to kick off for Lane at Port Royal in late March. While the team schedule is still being figured out, Lane will plan to focus on more super late model racing in 2026 and continue to grow and learn from his time on the road. 

With the success of last season and Snook tallying 20 wins, new eyes and attention have found the team. “We have a lot of great new sponsors that I’m looking forward to getting their product or business out to the racing world.” 

As Lane continues to build his racing career, all of the preparation from not only a race car standpoint, but also a sponsor and fan standpoint, grows and brings about exciting opportunities to build his brand. “We are working on T-shirts and hats,” mentioned Snook. 

“It wouldn’t be possible without my parents for supporting me to do what I love, all of the crew help that I have at home, and all the great sponsors that continue to help me out every year, and all of the new sponsors coming on board!” 

Fans can tune in to watch the DIRTCar Nationals via DIRTVision to see the start of Lane’s season. Make sure to stay tuned to upcoming releases to get schedule updates and also check out the team’s website, LaneSnookRacing.com, for updates and stats.