Dick Tobias Classic at Action Track USA: Miller Wins USAC East Coast Thriller; Danner & Bruno Also Victorious in Season Finale`
Carraghan & Dennis Are Slingshot Winners on August 30
Kutztown, PA (August 30)— “I just decided I had to ‘man-up’ and run it harder into one, and it worked.”
That’s how Kenny Miller III explained his ability to blast into turn one and execute a perfectly timed slide job on race leader Christopher Allen with just four laps remaining in the Dick Tobias Classic at Action Track USA. The move enabled Miller to grab his second victory of the season in USAC East Coast Sprint Car competition, although it also took some last lap heroics to secure the triumph.
Sunday’s Tobias Classic closed out the 2026 racing season at Action Track USA. Joining Miller in the winner’s circle were Briggs Danner (River Valley Builders All Pro SpeedSTRs); Christian Bruno (Hyper Racing 600 Sprints); Dave Carraghan (All Star Slingshots); and Khloe Dennis (Junior Slingshots).
The 2026 Action Track USA point champions were determined on Sunday, with Tim Buckwalter staking claim to his fifth SpeedSTR title (also his fourth in the past five years), tying him with Billy Pauch Jr. for most SpeedSTR championships at the clay oval on the Kutztown Fairgrounds. Connor Gross captured his first Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Championship, and Brett Bieber notched his sixth point title in the All Star Slingshot division. The Junior Slingshot point crown will be worn by Landon McNichol.
Kenny Miller III, from Morgantown, PA, started tenth in the main for the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars presented by Baer Den Farms.
With Christopher Allen Jr. battling Briggs Danner for the race lead, Miller deftly sliced his way through the pack, slipping past Ed Aikin for third position on the sixth circuit. Miller quickly caught the lead duo, and he soon was joined by current USAC East Coast point leader Christian Bruno.
Allen fought off repeated attempts by Danner as Bruno scuffled with Miller for third. Bruno fell out and Danner suddenly slowed to a halt with only six tours left, leaving Allentown to deal with Miller during he final laps.
With four to go, Miller executed that slide job in turns one and two, then made it stick by roaring ahead as they motored down the backstretch.
Allen wasn’t ready to concede, however, throwing a slider of his own on the final trip around the clay. As he drifted up in front of the No. 23m, Miller had to stand on the brake pedal and they still made front bumper to rear bumper contact. Miller turned hard left, charging down the banking and back into the lead. He protected the bottom in three and four, winning by a couple car lengths over Allen, with Steven Drevicki third, Ed Aikin finishing fourth, and Kyle Spence going 14th to fifth.
The win is Miller’s second USAC East Coast Sprint Car triumph in the Dick Tobias Classic, with the first one coming in 2024.
A great field of 24 USAC East Coast Sprint Cars entered the fray, meaning four of them would go home early because the organization only starts 20 cars in its A-mains.
Heat races went to Allen, Joey Crilly, and Bruno. Blaine Emery won the Consolation race.
Young Jase Smith started on the pole of the 30 lap main for the River Valley Builders SpeedSTRs. Smith hustled outside pole sitter Steven Drevicki for the top spot as Drevicki set the pace on laps one and two. But his No. 1 slowed suddenly and Smith shot by to take over the number one position.
With Briggs Danner and Bobby Butler moving into the top five just prior to the halfway point, Smith, who calls Boyertown, PA home, figured he would have to fend off their challenges at some point.
Daniel Schumaker diced with Danner for the runner-up slot, running side-by-side for several laps before Danner claimed it and set sail after the race leader.
Danner caught Smith, but was unable to pass the No. 27 until the final trip around the banked oval. Smith had been working the bottom to perfection as Danner pounded the cushion on the high side. On the last lap, Danner powered to the outside of Smith, then forged ahead as they rumbled down the backstretch.
Danner, from Allentown, PA, flew to the victory, bookending his Action Track USA season with his second win of the year—the first coming in the season opener on May 3.
Smith settled for a disappointed second, with Schumaker scoring yet another podium finish by placing third. Bobby Butler and Scott Houdeshell rounded out the top five.
Douglassville, PA’s Tim Buckwalter clinched the SpeedSTR point championship back on August 12, when he recorded his fourth consecutive feature win. After an early race mishap on Sunday, he came from the rear to finish eighth in the Dick Tobias Classic.
After dropping out of the USAC East Coast Sprint Car feature, Christian Bruno of Deptford, NJ roared to victory in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint main, fending off numerous challenges from Briggs Danner. And like Danner, Bruno bookended his Action Track USA campaign as he also won the opener for the 600 Sprints on May 3, then scored win number two in the season-ender on Sunday.
Danner started on the pole with Bruno on the outside of row one, and it was Bruno grabbing the top sot on the first trip around the clay. He then defended his position as Danner made repeated attempts to overtake him on both the high side and by diving under Bruno’s No. 5B.
At the finish, it was Bruno registering his tenth career 600 Sprint triumph at Action Track USA over Danner, with Zach Curtis completing the podium. Geordan Marrero finished fourth and Asbury, NJ’s Connor Gross crossed the line in fifth, which secured his first-ever point title at Berks County’s Baddest Bullring.
Dave Carraghan notched his second win of the season in the 20 lap All Star Slingshot feature. Carraghan, from Emmaus, PA, dashed by Brian Smith in the early going to grab a lead that he would not relinquish.
Smith finished as the runner-up, with Brett Bieber hustling him all the way to the checkered flag. With his third place effort Bieber, from Oley, PA, clinched his second straight All Star Slingshot point crown, and the sixth of his illustrious career. Dylan Hahn, who was chasing Bieber in the point standings, finished fourth in Sunday’s race with Mason Lineman completing the top five.
Preston, MD’s Khloe Dennis stormed past Anna Strachko on the 13th circuit of the Junior Slingshot main, completing the lap just before the caution appeared. Dennis led the final two tours to collect her third victory of the season at Action Track USA.
Kenna Evans wrestled the runner-up spot from Strachko off turn four on the final revolution, with her sister Kylin finishing fourth and Billy Pauch III crossing the line in fifth. His fifth place effort, combined with Landon McNichol falling to 11th in the final rundown, was not enough for Pauch to pass McNichol in the points chase. McNichol, from Hellertown, PA, wrapped up his first Junior Slingshot championship after a chaotic last lap of the feature that saw him drop out of the top ten. Luckily for McNichol, 11th place was good enough to clinch the 2026 title.
RESULTS:
USAC East Coast Sprint Car Feature, 30 laps: 1. 23m-Kenny Miller III, 2. 71-Christopher Allen Jr., 3. 19-Steven Drevicki, 4. 7-Ed Aikin, 5. 42-Kyle Spence, 6. 22R-Ronald Helmick, 7. 83-Bruce Buckwalter, 8. 10-Joe Kata, 9. 67x-JR Fulper, 10. 12-Blaine Emery, 11. 03-Matthew Swift, 12. 39x-Scott Frack, 13. 35-Shane Braxton, 14. 37-Jordan Fulton, 15. 39T-Olivia Thayer, 16. 3H-Heidi Hedin, 17. 2-Briggs Danner, 18. 3BC-Christian Bruno, 19. 45R-Brett Rose, 20. 51-Joey Crilly.
DNQ: 33c-Matt Chowns, 67-Jason Cherry, 75-Greg Shepsis, 44-Gary Huston.
River Valley Builders All Pro SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1. 78-Briggs Danner[9]; 2. 27-Jase Smith[1]; 3. 15S-Daniel Schumaker[8]; 4. 04-Bobby Butler[11]; 5. 5S-Scott Houdeshell[6]; 6. 86-Kenny Miller III[10]; 7. 7-Cale Zangli[5]; 8. 52-Tim Buckwalter[14]; 9. 1R-Billy Pauch Jr[12]; 10. 04M-Alex Bright[19]; 11. 8-Earl Paules[17]; 12. 26-Tyler Kehs[18]; 13. 28-Brad Arnold[3]; 14. 15-Dustin Morris[15]; 15. 96-John Anderika[20]; 16. 1-Steven Drevicki[2]; 17. 25X-Dan Lane Jr[4]; 18. 21R-John Repsik[7]; 19. C6-Jasper Zeigafuse[13]. (DNS) 24-Sammy Martz Jr.
Hyper Racing 600 Sprints Feature, 30 laps: 1. 5B-Christian Bruno[2]; 2. 99-Briggs Danner[1]; 3. 21-Zach Curtis[5]; 4. 01-Geordan Marrero[3]; 5. 14C-Connor Gross[10]; 6. 86-Adam Buchel[27]; 7. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[6]; 8. 95-James Roselli[29]; 9. 76-JT Bierman[4]; 10. 65Z-Jake Fisher[9]; 11. 95F-Nicholas Fauci[7]; 12. 14Z-Tony Zajonczkoski[8]; 13. 14H-Jackson Herr[25]; 14. 22M-Luke McCloskey[14]; 15. 56-Tim Henry[16]; 16. 127-Korey Inglin[15]; 17. 17M-Gavin Marrero[20]; 18. 56G-James Gropp[28]; 19. 19A-Brody Adamsky[19]; 20. 7A-Amari Robinson[17]; 21. 17-Aubree Bane[22]; 22. 42-Rockey Johnson[21]; 23. 7R-Luke Repsik[23]; 24. 13-Wayne Scott[13]; 25. 7-Gage Marrero[26]; 26. 12S-Brianna Snyder[24]; 27. 15L-Landon Smith[12]; 28. 17V-Jack VanVarick[11]. (DNS) 6-Tom Alloco.
Speedway Entertainment All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1. 3-David Carraghan[2]; 2. 12-Brian Smith[1]; 3. 32-Brett Bieber[7]; 4. 42H-Dylan Hahn[9]; 5. USA1-Mason Lineman[6]; 6. 55A-Amanda Angstadt[13]; 7. 35A-Aubrey Romig[11]; 8. 11-Colton Lineman[17]; 9. 17J-Jon Imhoff[14]; 10. 1T-Tyler Ulsh[4]; 11. 04-Devin Knispel[10]; 12. 18-Mackenzie Henn[15]; 13. 77-Daniel Betz[3]; 14. 56-Makensey Miller[12]; 15. 21H-Hunter Handelong[8]; 16. 16K-Hannah Kormann[5]; 17. 10C-Chris Ackerman[16].
Speedway Entertainment Junior Slingshot Feature, 15 laps: 1. 79-Khloe Dennis[5]; 2. 10K-Kenna Evans[8]; 3. 5A-Anna Strachko[2]; 4. 14K-Kylin Evans[7]; 5. 15-Billy Pauch III[19]; 6. 7D-Dawson Gulick[4]; 7. 44-Jonathan Severn[3]; 8. 99-Rockey Johnson Jr[14]; 9. 39-Brody Shelton[15]; 10. 23G-Gavin Wolfe[12]; 11. 72-Landon McNichol[6]; 12. 02-Joey Osowski[17]; 13. 00-Anthony Dinatale[10]; 14. 5M-MJ Tralies[1]; 15. 2-Brody Bednar[16]; 16. 43-Mason Noll[9]; 17. 23-Brayden Bednar[13]; 18. 16B-Brody Jennings[11]; 19. (DNS) 38-Kaleb Stofflet. (DNS) 44M-Dylan Miller.
[Photo courtesy of Mike Knappenberger Photos]
