Stevie Smith takes $5,000 from Port Royal Speedway during Night Before The Tuscarora 50,

Tuscarora weekend continues Saturday with Tuscarora 50 finale

PORT ROYAL, PA. (September 9, 2016) - For the first time in 2016 and for the fourth time in his career, the “Black Bandit” Stevie Smith is a main event winner against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions at Port Royal Speedway, this time scoring the Night Before The Tuscarora 50 victory to officially kick-off Tuscarora weekend at the “Speed Palace.” Smith, who started third on the feature grid, took command for the first time on lap 12, eventually holding back Greg Hodnett and Lucas Wolfe by nearly 2.5 seconds to score the $5,000 top prize. It was Smith’s 17th career victory with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, equaling his father’s total on the all-time Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions win list.

“I am really happy to be out here tonight,” Stevie Smith said in victory lane. “I’ve always really enjoyed racing at Port Royal and I like winning at Port Royal. Although, I have to be truthful, I like winning at any track. It seems like it gets harder and harder to win every year. This track is putting on a great show for us here this weekend. I can’t thank everyone enough. They are the real reason why we are out here.”

Pole sitter Greg Hodnett took command during the initial Night Before The Tuscarora 50 main event start, leading Brock Zearfoss and Stevie Smith by the flag stand for the first time. Despite Hodnett’s ability to quickly extend his advantage at the front of the field, reaching a near-two second lead by lap 5, it was Lance Dewease who was creating the most noise.

Within two circuits, sixth starting Lance Dewease was already putting pressure on Stevie Smith, Brock Zearfoss, and Greg Hodnett, ultimately stealing third from Smith at the completion of lap two, and second from Zearfoss on lap three. The Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, native locked himself down on the bottom of the speedway, erasing Hodnett’s near-two second lead by lap eight, eventually driving under the familiar No. 27 on lap nine during a battle in traffic.

Unfortunately for the pilot of the Don Kreitz-owned/No. 69K, the dominance would soon come to an end, unexpectedly pulling to a stop on the backstretch on lap 11. This would allow Greg Hodnett to inherit the lead once again, followed by Stevie Smith and now Dale Blaney.

Greg Hodnett’s campaign at the front of the field would only last a single circuit, eventually overtaken by Stevie Smith with a textbook slide job between turns three and four on lap 12. That move would prove to be the winning move with Stevie Smith surviving the remaining 18 circuits of the 30 lap main event to earn his place on the coveted Port Royal Speedway victory lane stage, crossing under the final checkers nearly 2.5 seconds ahead of Greg Hodnett and Lucas Wolfe, who worked his way back to a podium finish by lap 13.

“We were just so tight at the beginning. It took us half of the race to really get going,” Stevie Smith explained. “Lance (Dewease) was really good tonight. I’m not sure how we would have ended up if he wouldn’t have broke. I just had to go where the car told me to go and where I thought the car was right. It hasn’t been right a lot this year, but it paid off tonight.”

The 49th running of the Tuscarora 50 will cap off a full weekend of competition for the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions at Port Royal Speedway, awarding a minimum of $12,000 after 50 laps of green flag competition on Saturday night, September 10. The Tuscarora 50 finale, a show-up points event for the Arctic Cat All Stars during their third and final Port Royal Speedway appearance of 2016, will also award lap money on top of the five-digit payday, which will be accumulated during the entire main event.

Port Royal Speedway will open Tuscarora 50 pit gates and main gates at 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 10. A mandatory drivers meeting will be held at 5:45 pm, followed by hot laps at 6:30. For more information, please visit Port Royal Speedway live on the Web at www.portroyalspeedway.com.