Due to several circumstances, there was until recently no written history available for most of the first decade of PASS competition. A lengthy research project involving multiple racing newspapers has filled in much of that void, but we remain limited to what the papers included for each race.
We have full results for many races, but only the top 10, top 5, or less for others. It’s possible that we’re missing some races completely we have incomplete records from 1998-2008.
1998 was the “exhibition season,” when cars with the new economy V8 engines (now known as RaceSavers) ran against Pennsylvania 4-cylinder sprints. We have incomplete results from four races, all at Hesston Speedway, and we understand that at least six were run. Please help us get beyond this point:
July 25 – Danny Bolger winner; we have top 5 only. Nothing indicates this was the first race.
August 22 – Bolger again; no other finishers listed, only that Rodney Peters spun on white flag lap while leading.
August 29 – Shawn Howe winner; top 5 only.
September 12 – Rodney Peters winner; no other finishers listed.
1999 was the first full season for the series, and we have results from 13 races, all held at Hesston. We have complete results from 4/24, 5/1, 5/15, 5/29, 6/5, 6/19, 6/26, 7/10, 7/24, and 8/21. We know it rained on 5/8, 7/31, and 8/14 (and maybe 8/28).
We have partial results as follows:
June 12 – Our results are pretty complete, but they show Todd Lynn finishing both 4th and 6th, so we need clarification.
August 7 – Judi Bates winner; top 5 only.
September 4 – Bates winner again; no other results listed.
We have nothing from 5/22, 7/3, 8/28 (maybe rain), or anything after 9/4.
2000, unfortunately, has much less complete results than ’99. Hesston was the only track until Path Valley ran for the first time on August 4.
For Hesston, we have complete results for 4/15 (season opener), 4/29, 5/6, 6/3, 7/8, 8/5, 8/12, and 8/19. Rain is noted for 4/22, 5/20, 5/27, maybe 6/10, and 7/15.
We have partial results as follows:
May 13 – Judi Bates winner; top 3 only.
June 17 – Bates winner again; top 3 only.
June 24 – Vince Snyder winner; top 3 only.
July 1 – Bates winner; top 10 only.
August 26 – Snyder winner; results include teams from other divisions in the final four positions, so these may not be complete or correct.
September 2 – Rodney Peters winner; no other results listed.
No results are shown after 9/2 for Hesston.
For Path Valley, we have complete results for 8/4, 9/22, and 10/6. No other results have been found, although there was some indication a race was run on 9/1.
Update 2
Once again, we have full results for many races, but only the top 10, top 5, or less for others, and we might be missing some races completely.
Please take another look to see if you have any records that would add to ours. We thank you in advance for any help you can give.
2001 – Hesston and Path Valley are both running our series regularly now, and initial races are held at Trail-Way, Clinton County, and Port Royal – so it’s starting to get complicated.
Hesston – It looks like PASS is only running every other week at Hesston this year. We have complete results from 5/12, 6/9, 6/23, 8/4, and 9/1, with rain on 5/26 and 7/7 (and we know that the 4/28 season opener had been delayed by rain at least once). We have incomplete results from 4/28 (J.R. Fogelsonger winner; top 5 only); 7/21 (Ryan Lynn winner; top 5 only), and 8/18 (Joe Davis winner; top 5 only).
Path Valley – Path also seems to have been running more-or-less every other week. We have complete results from 6/1, 6/15, 6/29, 8/10, 8/24, and 9/7, with rain on 5/18. We have incomplete results from 4/13 (Bob Gutshall winner; top 10 only); 4/20 (Mike Alleman winner; top 10 only); 5/4 (Scott Ellerman winner; no other results), and 9/21 (Scott Ellerman winner; no other results). 7/13 and 7/27 are either missing, were rained out, or had nothing scheduled.
Trail-Way – We have full results for 5/11; no other dates indicated.
Clinton County – First-ever PASS race was 7/20, with 17 cars present, but results are incomplete (Joe Zap winner; top 5 only). CC also ran 8/17, but results are incomplete (Todd Lynn winner; top 10 only). No other dates indicated.
Port Royal – First-ever PASS race was 9/15, and results are incomplete (Jason Shultz winner; top 10 only).
Update 3
This posting has needs for 2002 and 2003. Although we need some help with a few seasons beyond this, we’ll stop the posts after this until January.
As has been the case with earlier seasons, we have full results for many races, but only the top 10, top 5, or less for others, and we might be missing some races completely.
Please take another look to see if you have any records that would add to ours. We thank you in advance for any help you can give.
2002 – Overall results much more complete than previous season. Hesston and Path Valley continued a more-or-less every-other-week alternating schedule. Trail-Way and Clinton County appeared not to return, but Port Royal was back, and Gamblers (Hidden Valley) ran for the first time.
Path Valley – We have complete results for every race we know was run, but based on an every-other-week schedule, we are missing 7/19 and 9/27 and don’t know whether races were run those dates. Otherwise, it looks like this (showing race winner only): 3/15 Joe Davis; 3/29 J.R. Fogelsonger; 4/5 (would not be a normal race night, but we have a report showing rain); 4/12 Todd Lynn; 4/26 Rick Mayberry; 5/10 Davis; 5/24 Scott Ellerman; 6/7 Davis; 6/21 Davis; 7/5 Nathan Gramley; 7/19 (possibly missing race); 8/2 Ellerman; 8/16 Ellerman; 8/30 Travis Keeney; 9/13 T. Lynn; 9/27 (possibly missing race); 10/4 Chris Meleason.
Hesston – Complete results in hand for 4/20 (noted as season opener) Roger Fickett; 5/4 Rodney Peters; 6/1 Vince Snyder; 7/13 Joe Davis; 8/10 Todd Lynn; 8/24 Scott Ellerman; 9/28 J.R. Fogelsonger (noted as season closer). Rain indicated on 5/18, 6/15, and possibly 7/27.
Incomplete results: 6/29 Nathan Gramley (top 5 only); 9/7 Brett Knable (top 5 only).
Gamblers/Hidden Valley – Only race found was 7/20 Nathan Gramley, complete results.
Port Royal – Only race found was 9/15 Vince Snyder, complete results.
2003 – Hesston and Path Valley continue alternating weeks, but Gamblers has multiple races, and Lincoln, Bedford and Susquehanna (BAPS) join Port Royal among the once-or-twice tracks. Number of races with incomplete results much higher than 2002.
Path Valley – Complete results for 4/11 Todd Lynn (apparent season opener after one or more rainouts); 4/25 Von McGee (racing rained out after heats on 4/25 and feature run 5/9); 5/9 Ryan Lynn (4/25 make-up feature also run this date); 8/1 Travis Keeney; 8/29 Jim Roush; 9/12 McGee; 9/26 Dusty Shatzer; 10/3 Jason Shultz; 10/17 Joey Hershey; 10/24 Brandon Keller. Rain indicated on 5/23 and 7/18.
Incomplete results: 6/6 McGee (top 3 only, although Area Auto Racing News noted 27 cars on hand, making this the first PASS race at PV to require a consi); 7/4 Shultz (top 5 only); 10/10 Keeney (may be complete with top 18, but it looks like the end of the finishing order was cut off in the story).
Question marks: No results from 6/20 (would have been an alternating-week date), or from 6/27 and 9/19 (which would not have been alternating-week dates, for where there is some indication races might have bene run. Also, 8/15 would have been an alternating-week date, but Bedford ran a PASS race this date.
Hesston – 4/19 (Ryan Lynn winner) is the only race for which we have complete results. It apparently was the season opener after one or more rainouts. Rain is indicated for 5/17, 5/31, and 8/9.
Incomplete results: 5/3 Justin Siegler (top 5 only); 6/14 Joe “Zap” Zapotoczny (top 5 only); 7/12 Von McGee (top 5 only); 7/26 Brett Knable (top 5 only); 8/23 Chris Meleason (top 5 only); 8/30 Siegler (top 5 only).
No other races found after this date.
Notes: 6/28 would have been an alternating-week date, but Port Royal ran that date. No races found after 8/30.
Gamblers – 6/21 Rain; 7/19 Von McGee (top 5 only); 8/16 Jim Roush (top 10 only).
Port Royal – 6/28 Brett Knable (complete results); 9/13 Rain.
Lincoln – 7/5 Rob Mellott (complete results).
Bedford – 8/15 Rod Ort (top 5 only; story says 31 cars on hand).
Susquehanna/BAPS – 8/31 Tommy Beavers (complete results); 9/5 Joey Hershey (complete results).
Thanks again for looking in your piles of old stuff, and thanks for any help you can provide. We’ll be back with more years in about a week.
Thanks in advance!
Frank Buhrman
Editor’s Note. Got any informations, contact Frank or leave a short reply below!
Best of luck trying to fill in the blanks. Quite a research project you have undertaken. But you are definitely the man for the job!👍