It wasn't just another sprint car win for Sunbury's Mark Smith Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway.
This one was special.
Very special.
As a kid, Smith grew up in the garage of Kramer Williamson as his dad would take him there.
So, to win the inaugural Kramer Cup was super special and emotional for Smith.
Williamson - a sprint car Hall of Fame driver and 1978 Selinsgrove Speedway champion - lost his life following a sprint car crash last August at the Lincoln Speedway.
"I wanted to be the first one to win the Krammy Cup," said Smith. "I call it Krammy Cup because that's what I called him all the time. He taught me a lot as far as fabrication and stuff. I grew up in his shop. My dad would take me down when I was little. I used to be in the way. ... in the road. I grew up around him and wanted to be the first one to win it. My little guy wanted the pink cup, he heard they were going to have a pink cup and said 'dad you've got to win that.' "
Williamson was a sprint car fabricator as Smith is now with his Mach 1 chassis.
It was Smith's sixth win at Selinsgrove this season and seventh overall in 360 sprint car racing. He has a comfortable lead in the point standings as his closest competitor T.J. Stutts didn't finish the race due to a bent wheel.
Selinsgrove's Jim Yoder held off Danville's Steve Campbell by less than a second to win the 25-lap main
event for the late models. Campbell's finish allowed him to maintain his point lead.
At Williams Grove Speedway, Don Kreitz Jr. passed rookie Austin Hogue with five laps to go to win the sprint car feature Friday night.
Kreitz earned $4,150 for his 60th career Grove win and the second of the season. He also took the point lead back from Greg Hodnett, who was racing at the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa.
Hogue led the first 20 laps before Kreitz drove by on the bottom of the speedway to pick up the win and point lead. Hogue settled for second with Curt Michael, Doug Esh and Alan Krimes completing the top five.
Kevin Nouse won the 358 sprint car feature at the Grove, beating Matt Campbell and Adrian Shaffer. It was Nouse's fourth Grove win of the season, the 12th of his career. He leads the points, seeking his second straight championship.
Rick Laubach won the 358 modified feature Friday night at Big Diamond Speedway over Kevin Smith, Duane Howard, Meme DeSantis and Colt Harris.
For the eighth time in the past nine years, Donny Schatz won $150,000 in the Knoxville Nationals finale at the Knoxville Raceway in south-central Iowa. It is sprint car racing's biggest prize.
He led all but one of the 50 laps.
For the third straight season, Brian Brown finished second to Schatz. Kerry Madsen was third followed by Craig Dollansky and Justin Henderson. Stevie Smith finished 11th in a car owned by Hall of Fame driver Fred Rahmer.
Pennsylvania drivers Greg Hodnett and Lucas Wolfe finished fifth and sixth in the B-main and Danny Dietrich finished 16th. Brent Marks was involved in a nasty wreck during the C-main, but was not hurt.