PORT ROYAL
 The first annual Dupont Tyvek Keystone Cup Sprint Series came to an end with a Memorial Day show at the Port Royal Speedway.

 While Stevie Smith dominated the 25-lap 410 Sprint car feature, Fred Rahmer’s ninth place finish coupled with Greg Hodnett’s flat tire during the event gave Rahmer the first ever Keystone Cup championship.

 But the day belonged to Smith, who hails from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

 Smith set fast time during time trials, then drew the zero pill for feature inversion. He qualified through his heat race and beat Todd Shaffer off the line in the feature and never looked back.

 Smith’s only concern came during lap 19 when Daryl Stimeling spun directly in front of him in turn three. Smith narrowly avoided the spinning car and was able to keep a safe distance out front through the checkered flag.

 “I’m not going to argue the fact that starting up front on a day show at any race track isn’t an advantage,” said the driver of the RAACE Foundation No. 19 JEI Chassis. “I tried not to make any mistakes and on that original start tried not to give Todd (Shaffer) a chance to get his wheels in front of me. If I had to move down, he might have beat me to the corner and it would have been a different story.”

 Shaffer got three chances to outgun Smith on the start thanks to yellow flags.

 The first was for a multi-car crash in turn three when Steve Buckwalter spun and collected Clark Simonton, Sean Michael and Bill Brian, Jr.
 On the restart, Mark Smith tangled with Daryl Stimeling going into turn one for another caution.

 Smith got the jump over Shaffer and opened up a straightaway lead in just three short laps.

 Greg Hodnett, who entered the feature one point ahead of Rahmer in the chase for the Keystone Cup title suffered a flat tire on the eighth lap. Hodnett rejoined but was never a factor.

 Mike Wagner took second from Shaffer on lap nine and began to close on Smith in traffic until the Stimeling spin on lap 19. That opened the track for Smith and he drove off from Wagner over the final 11 laps.

 “It’s been a long week and we struggled at a few races but I think things seem to be going forward for our team,” said Smith, who has three feature wins this season. “We’re working hard to try and get there and I hope this is a sign of good things to come.”

 Smith said he will return to Port Royal a few more times this season including the upcoming Dream Race in early August that will pay $30,000 to the winner.

 “We are definitely coming back here for that race and I’m really looking forward to that,” he added. “I hope it all works out for you guys. I think you guys deserve it and it’s really something nice for sprint car racing.”

 Wagner, of Harrisonville settled for the runner-up spot with Millerstown’s Shaffer third, Mifflintown’s Keith Kauffman fourth and Bloomsburg’s Alan Cole fifth.

 Don Kreitz, Jr. led the second five across the checkered followed by Cody Darrah, Mike Erdley, Rahmer and Chad Layton.

 Rahmer ended the week with 755 points and no wins. Hodnett was second in points with 711 followed by Lucas Wolfe (622), Stevie Smith (596), Shaffer (561), Mark Smtih (541), Erdley (509) and Leppo (501). Wolfe was not in competition on Monday as he headed to New York to race with the World of Outlaws.

 Smith’s fast time over the 36-car field was 20.321 seconds.

 Heats were won by Bob Bennett, Simonton, Hodnett and Layton. The B-Main went to Bill Brian, Jr.