Tag Archive for: #openwheel

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

The World of Outlaws annual summertime swing through Pennsylvania provided Jeff Halligan and Risser Motorsports with three opportunities to measure themselves against the best in the business.

Halligan seemed to be peaking at the perfect time leading up to the summer test. His most recent pair of outings included a nearly perfect night at Williams Grove and a victory at Port Royal Speedway.

July 20:  Port Royal Speedway / Port Royal, PA

     [33 cars, Qualifying 9th, Heat 2nd (3), Dash 6th (5) A-main 6th (6)]

The first of the three summertime tests for Halligan took place where he has been most comfortable and successful in 2022, Port Royal Speedway.  The Ephrata, PA wheelman has two wins, four total podium finishes, and sits third in the championship points there aboard the Risser Motorsports / TheTreeCenter.com / Victory Auto of Lewistown / EMM Sales & Service / Jake’s Golf Carts / Pine Hill Trailers / Keystone Ag Spraying, No.45.

The midweek contest between the PA Posse and the Outlaws drew 33 teams to take a shot at the $20,000 top prize.  Despite a fairly late slot in the qualifying order (23rd), Halligan tripped the timing light as the 9th quickest in the field and put his team in position for a good night.

Four 8-lap heat races were scheduled, with the top 5 finishers advancing to the main event.  Only the top two finishers from each qualifier would earn a spot in the dash and the opportunity to improve their starting spot inside the first four rows on that main event. 

Having earned the third starting spot in the first heat race, Halligan did not want to waste the opportunity.  He immediately went to work, using the low side off turn two to take 2nd away from outside front row starter Lance Dewease.  Jeff never relinquished the runner-up spot, driving his way directly into the dash and feature in one shot.

In the dash, Halligan didn’t have the same opening lap success that he did in the heat race.  A poor start dropped him from his 5th starting spot to 8th, but he soon got back to work and was able to climb back to 6th by the checkered flag, giving himself the outside row three starting spot for the lucrative A-main.

In the 30-lap A-main, Jeff was in an intense battle for a top five spot from the drop of the green.  During the first third of the event, he slipped in and out of the top five.

As the race reached the middle phase, Halligan raced his way into the 4th position and began eyeing a podium spot.  Entering the final ten laps, Anthony Macri closed on Halligan and grabbed the 4th spot away.

A few laps later, Brent Marks battled his way past the No.45 to claim 5th.  Halligan went on to finish 6th to record his first career top ten with the World of Outlaws.

July 22:  Summer Nationals Night 1 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     [36 cars, Qualifying 25th, Heat 6th (6), B-main 3rd (3), A-main 25th (23)]

Halligan and the Risser Motorsports team rolled into Williams Grove Friday for night one of the Summer Nationals with momentum.  They were coming off a top ten against the Outlaws at Port Royal, plus a heat win, a dash win and a top ten finish in their last trip to ‘The Grove’.

Qualifying carries critical importance in the World of Outlaws format and Halligan’s night didn’t get off to an ideal start.  He timed 25th quick in the field of 36 cars, putting him 7th on the grid for the first heat race of the night.

The top five finishers from each 8-lap heat race transferred directly to the A-main, but Halligan wasn’t able to climb that far.  He grabbed 6th on the opening lap but could not quite reach a transfer spot and was relegated to the B-main.

Halligan started 3rd in the 12-lap last chance qualifier, often referred to as the B-main.  The race is a bit like going for it on 4th down in football.  There is a hint of desperation and urgency.

Jeff needed to hang on to a top four finish to transfer to the 30-lap main event and he did just that.  After briefly taking over 2nd about mid-race, Halligan flashed under the checkered flag in 3rd.

The A-main didn’t unfold with the comeback of the night story the team was hoping for.  After starting 23rd, Halligan was not moving forward in the early going and made the smart decision to call it a night eight laps into the event to save his equipment.  He was credited with a 25th place finish.

July 23:  Summer Nationals Night 2 / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     [35 cars, Qualifying 29th, Heat 7th (8), B-main 11th (7)]

Saturday’s finale of the Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway fell into the category of ‘same story, different day’ for Halligan.

A qualifying effort below expectations led to another battle from the back half of their heat race and a trip to the B-main.  This time he wasn’t able to convert on ‘4th down’ and find his way to the A-main.  Instead, an 11th place finish ended his night one step short of the goal.

“We had a good weekend overall.  We proved we can run with anyone at Port Royal, and I guess we proved that despite some good runs at Williams Grove, we don’t quite have it all figured out there yet.“, Halligan said with a grin.  

“It was a productive weekend for us despite the final results at Williams Grove.  Seems like we’ve been either really good or really bad there this year, so we need to find some consistency.  We were able to compare ourselves to the fastest cars in the country on the same night on the same surface.  That helps us learn about our car.“

Up Next

Jeff and the Risser Motorsports team will return to Port Royal Speedway this Saturday night, July 30th, for the 16th Annual Living Legends Dream Race, which boasts a hefty $60,000 total purse.

Each 20-lap segment of the main event offers $6,000 to win and $500 to start, plus there is a $3,000 bonus for sweeping both events.  This means everyone who qualifies will take away a minimum of $1,000 and someone could walk away with $15,000 if they win both segments.

Season Stats

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