Seavey Nips Danner In Thrilling Eastern Storm Finale at Action Track USA

Veteran Pat Bealer Holds Off Young Chargers in 600 Sprint Main

Kutztown, PA (June 16) — As USAC’s Eastern Storm Finale grew near, anticipation mounted with everyone wondering, “can this year’s second edition match, much less surpass, the 2023 debut of the non-wing 410 Sprint Cars at Berks County’s #1 bullring?”
The answer, Virginia, is a resounding, “YES!”
The Father’s Day event at Foley Cat Action Track USA, featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship Series, lived up to the hype in a 40 lap, incredibly competitive and exciting A-Main. Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey notched his second win of the Eastern Storm tour, beating local favorite Briggs Danner to the checkered by a scant 0.043-seconds!
Pat Bealer, the veteran from Lehighton, PA, captured the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint feature, holding off young chargers Connor Gross and Billy Koch in a hotly contested 25 lap romp.
In the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car headliner, Seavey lurched into the lead from his pole position starting spot, while fourth-starting Danner slipped past Brady Bacon for third on the opening trip around the oval. Danner’s next victim was Jake Swanson, who he disposed of by throwing a well-timed slider off turn four on the third circuit.
A caution with four down bunched up the field once again as Bacon headed to the work area under the yellow. Last year’s Action Track USA winner, Kyle Cummins, was now fourth with Daison Pursley, a USAC Midget race winner at the Kutztown Fairgrounds speedway in 2021, sitting in fifth.
On the restart, Danner began to hassle Seavey for the top spot as Swanson, Cummins, and Pursley engaged in a spirited battle for third.
Pursley finally wrestled the final podium position from Swanson on lap 16. A few tours later, Ricky Lewis slapped the wall in turn one with violent force, causing his No. 41 to pirouet about three times in mid air before it nearly tipped over but came to rest on all four wheels. Lewis was unhurt but his car was too badly damaged to continue.
On the restart, Justin Grant launched into the fourth position and Mitchel Moles entered the top five at the halfway mark of the 40 lapper.
Lap 26 had the fans on their feet as Danner executed a perfect slide job on Seavey to grab the lead as the duo throttled off turn four. But Seavey returned the favor on the following revolution as Grant and Moles scuffled for third.
Danner continued to harass the leader and actually stuck his nose in front of Seavey’s Abacus Racing No. 57 with seven to go, but Seavey was able to regain the point before they crossed the stripe to complete the next lap.
On the final jaunt around the ultra-racey clay playground, Danner gassed his Hogue Racing No. 39 on the top side of turns three and four, then shot down off the banking in one final attempt to outrun Seavey to the finish line. But Seavey had just enough horsepower and grip to edge Danner as they flashed under the checkered flag. It was the closest finish of the Eastern Storm Tour, and the large crowd showed their appreciation to both drivers as they congratulated each other in Weaknecht Archery Victory Lane.
By virtue of his third place finish, Moles was crowned this year’s Eastern Storm Champion. Grant wound up fourth in the final race and Pursley completed the top five.
Joey Amantea, from Mount Pocono, PA, was the race’s Hard Charger. Amantea climbed from 20th to 10th during the 40 lap affair.
Kyle Cummins set quick time but his fast lap, 10.539 seconds, was just slightly off his track record from 2023. Cummins’ record lap remains at 10.406 seconds.
Grant, Lewis, and Moles won heat races as 23 entries competed in the Eastern Storm Finale.
In the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint main, Pat Bealer stalked race leader Jake Fisher for the first 16 circuits before he was able to muscle inside Fisher’s No. 65z and grab the top spot. The first caution occurred with 18 complete and Billy Koch now the top challenger to Bealer.
James Roselli moved to third on the restart and Connor Gross, who started 13th, zipped into fourth place. They remained in those spots, with Koch and Gross dueling with one another as they hassled Bealer, until the yellow appeared with five to go. Gross got by Koch for second and a final caution, with three tours left, gave him and Koch one more shot at the leader. The savvy Bealer never wavered from the low groove as he fended off the challenges of his younger pursuers. Bealer took the checkered for his second career 600 Sprint triumph at Action Track USA, beating Gross to the stripe by almost a half-second.
Koch earned a well deserved third with defending point champ Christian Bruno finishing fourth and Kyle Lick rounding out the top five.
A terrific turnout of 61 entries took part in the 600 Sprint portion of the show. Six heats were run and the winners included Koch, Bobby Butler, James Roselli, Gross, Adam Buchel, and Dakota Barlet. A trio of B-Mains went to Dylan Kontra, Craig Whitmoyer, and Alex Ruppert.
Foley Cat Action Track USA only takes a few days off before its next event on Wednesday, June 19. The four weekly divisions, the All Pro SpeedSTRs, Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, along with the All Star and Junior Slingshots, will compete in qualifying heats, B-Mains, and feature races. The SpeedSTRs will run two features on the 19th as they make up the Ronnie Tobias Memorial that was rained out after the heats on June 5.
Pits open at 4 p.m. with grandstand gates swinging open at 5:00. Warm-ups begin at 6:15 with heat races going green just a few minutes after hot laps and opening ceremonies.
This will be the final event until July 10, as the speedway goes silent for its annual summer break when one of the country’s largest Folk Festivals takes over the fairgrounds. There will be NO RACING on June 26 and July 3.
Eastern Storm Finale RESULTS:
USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Finish, 40 laps: 1.Logan Seavey, 2.Briggs Danner, 3.Mitchel Moles, 4.Justin Grant, 5.Daison Pursley, 6.Kyle Cummins, 7.Jake Swanson, 8.Kevin Thomas Jr., 9.Robert Ballou, 10.Joey Amantea, 11.CJ Leary, 12.Chase Stockon, 13.Hunter Maddox, 14.Alex Bright, 15.JT Ferry, 16.Tom Harris, 17.Carson Garrett, 18.Ricky Lewis, 19.Charles Davis Jr., 20.Scott Frack, 21.Matt Westfall, 22.Brady Bacon, 23.Carmen Perigo.

Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Finish, 25 laps: 1.Pat Bealer, 2.Connor Gross, 3.Billy Koch, 4.Christian Bruno, 5.Kyle Lick, 6.James Roselli, 7.Bobby Butler, 8.Colin White, 9.Zack Weisenfluh, 10.Connor Mirabelli, 11.Fred Heinly, 12.James Hendricks, 13.Vincent Gueci, 14.Dan Lane, 15. Dylan Hahn, 16.Aidan Donaldson, 17.Zach Curtis, 18.Jake Fisher, 19.Tyler Henry, 20.Joe Nemeth, 21.Adam Buchel, 22.Alex Ruppert, 23.Tim Buckwalter, 24.Dakota Barlet, 25.Sonny Tete, 26.Ryan Rochelle, 27.Gabe Gerber,, 28.Jasper Ziegafuse, 29.Dylan Kontra, 30.Craig Whitmoyer, 31.Shelby McLaughlin.
DNQ: Zack Bealer, Cooper Fritz, Richie Hartman, Parker Hendricks, Kory Inglin, Damien Bower, Dennis Stavinsky, Jeff Federspiel, Kevin Nolf, Gunnar Pio, Christopher Tittle, Weston Doklan, Cole Gerber, Jordan Tittle, Gavin Danner, Danny Buccafusca, Jack Fraser, Anthony Tramontana, Amanda Onimus, Jacob Lynch, Richie Ptaszynski, Lukas Kostic, Kevin Thomas Jr., John Barnett, Michael Nolf, Tony Parlanti, Sammy Martz Jr., Peyton Knecht, Matt Chowns, Brent Shearer.
600 Sprint Mad Scramble (Top Five; winner transfers to feature): 1.Kyle Lick, 2.Tyler Henry, 3.Zach Curtis, 4.Zack Bealer, 5.Jake Fisher.