KREIDER POUNCES LATE TO CAPTURE MASS THRILLER AT BRIDGEPORT
Kemery Charges From 10th for First Sportsman Win of 2026; Ploski, Sandone and Bartik Add Their Names to Victory Lane
SWEDESBORO, NJ — Jared Kreider was waiting for an opportunity — and when it came, he didn’t hesitate.
Kreider capitalized on a late-race turn of events and made his move when it mattered most, taking the lead at the white flag to capture the DCB’s Plumbing & Heating Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series main event at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.
Steve Kemery charged from tenth to score his first victory of the season in the Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman Modifieds, while Stan Ploski, III picked up his first 2026 victory in the 20-lap Victory Fuel Wingless Sprint A-Main.
Nick Sandone, III survived a spectacular, race-long battle to win the Straight Up Construction Street Stock feature, while Tyler Bartik went flag-to-flag to claim the Xcel Modified A-Main.
Shelby Kelly and Jared Kreider brought the MASS field to the green, with Kreider immediately jumping into the lead. Tim Iulg quickly went on the attack, taking second from Kelly before wrestling the top spot away from Kreider on lap two.
Behind the leaders, Kelly, Troy Betts and Jeremy Kornbau waged an intense battle for third as Iulg continued to set the pace.
For much of the next 20 laps, the top five remained intact — but the pressure continued to build.
Kreider began reeling Iulg back in when a caution flew for a slowing car on the backstretch. Debris was spotted on the racing surface and initially appeared to have come from the slowing car.
Race control soon discovered otherwise. The debris was the front wing from race leader Tim Iulg’s No. 19. Suddenly, the complexion of the race changed completely.
Iulg executed a strong restart, but without the front wing, his car lost its nose entering turn one and drifted up the high banks.
Kreider pounced. The No. 24 pulled alongside Iulg, who fought hard to keep Kreider pinned tight through the corners. The battle continued until they came to the white flag, when Kreider finally powered into the lead.
Behind them, point leader Troy Betts closed rapidly as Iulg again fought a push through the corner. Iulg managed to hang on to second, but there was no catching Kreider.
Jared Kreider raced under the checkered flag to capture a dramatic MASS victory at Bridgeport. Iulg held on for second, followed by Betts, Kelly and Kornbau. Eddie Wagner finished sixth, with Dave Brown, Ryan Schultz, Adam Carberry and D.J. Tanner, Jr. completing the top ten.
The Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman Modified feature produced another charge through the field.
Randy Rommell and Dave Damiano led the field to the green, but third-place starter Ryan Anderson wasted little time, grabbing the lead by the completion of lap one.
Anderson led Rommell, Damiano, Billy Chester and P.J. Bozowski during the opening laps before Rommell’s bid ended with a spin between turns one and two on lap four.
Anderson remained in command on the restart, with Bozowski, Damiano, Steve Kemery and Ronnie Solomon, III making up the top five.
But Kemery was coming. After starting tenth, Kemery methodically worked his way toward the front before driving past Anderson for the lead on lap 11.
Solomon, showing a return to his 2025 form, moved around Anderson several laps later to take over second. Bozowski held fourth while last week’s winner Matt Peck charged all the way from 17th to fifth.
Point leader Jesse Hirthler was making a charge of his own from the 18th starting position. Hirthler caught Peck and completed the pass for fifth with five laps remaining.
Out front, however, Kemery would not be denied.
Steve Kemery drove to his first victory of the 2026 season, with Solomon recording his best finish to date in second. Anderson finished third, followed by Bozowski and Hirthler.
Peck finished sixth, followed by Matt Ellery, Christopher Buffalino, Jr., Ryan Simmons and Chester.
Stan Ploski, III wasted no time getting to the front in the Victory Fuel Wingless Sprint feature, ripping around polesitter David Swanson to take the early lead.
But Jonathan Swanson was never far behind. Swanson pressured Ploski throughout the 20-lap affair and was officially scored as the leader on lap seven. The two continued to battle relentlessly before Ploski reclaimed command.
From there, Ploski held his ground and raced to his first victory of the 2026 season.
Current point leader Jonathan Swanson settled for second, with Wayne Scott third, Greg Shepsis fourth and J.P. Vallancourt fifth.
The Straight Up Construction Street Stocks delivered one of the wildest races of the night.
The scoring sheet may show Nick Sandone, III leading all 15 laps of the non-stop feature at the start-finish line — but that doesn’t begin to tell the story.
Sandone and Richie Page swapped the advantage more than a dozen times throughout the feature, trading sliders and crossover moves lap after lap.
Then Jeramy Doerr joined the fight. During the second half of the race, it became a three-car battle for the victory, and as the field charged out of turn four toward the white flag, Sandone, Page and Doerr went three-wide for the lead.
Page fired another slider at Sandone and momentarily grabbed the advantage.
Sandone answered immediately. He crossed Page back over, blasted down the backstretch to reclaim the lead and held his line through the outside groove of turns three and four.
This time, Sandone wasn’t giving it back. Nick Sandone, III crossed the line first after a breathtaking 15 laps of non-stop racing. Page finished second, with Doerr third, Spider Ensinger, Jr. fourth and Shane Grosso fifth.
Scott Freed, Mike Walsh, Joe King, Pete Reynolds and Gary Bozowski, making his first start, completed the top ten.
The second Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman Modified feature delivered one of the night’s feel-good stories.
After mechanical trouble struck his own race car, Ethan Bill climbed behind the wheel of a borrowed machine — and proceeded to put it in Victory Lane.
George Gareis paced the field for the opening eight laps before Bill made his move just beyond the halfway point, taking over the lead and racing to the checkered flag.
Bill collected the victory over Gareis, Brad Roberts, Tommy Klimkowski and Walter MacIntyre.
Tyler Bartik left little doubt in the Xcel Modified A-Main. Bartik led all 12 laps to score the victory, controlling the race from green to checkered.
Tyler Forino crossed the line second, followed by Doug Newbigging, Gage Landis and Griffin Hendershot to complete the top five.
It was another action-packed night on the high banks of Bridgeport Motorsports Park, where late-race drama, charges through the field, three-wide battles and first-time 2026 winners once again put on a show for the fans.
Don’t miss more exciting racing action next Saturday night as the USAC EC Wingless Sprint Cars headline the ticket with National USAC star Briggs Danner is scheduled to compete in the August 15 event. pits open at 4:00, grandstands 5:00, cars on track at 6:00
RESULTS
DEMERS HEATING & COOLING SPORTSMAN A-MAIN (25 LAPS)
1. Steve Kemery, 2. Ronnie Solomon, III, 3. Ryan Anderson, 4. P.J. Bozowski, 5. Jesse Hirthler, 6. Matt Peck, 7. Matt Ellery, 8. Christopher Buffalino, Jr., 9. Ryan Simmons, 10. Billy Chester, 11. Charley Cossaboone, 12. Duncan Molesworth, 13. Dave Damiano, 14. Mike Hughes, Jr., 15. Jimmy Wyers, 16. Pete Serra, 17. John Scarpati, 18. Ethan Young, 19. Drew Ziegler, 20. Dylan Morris, 21. Brian Rogers, 22. Tom Carpenter, 23. Aiden Spencer, 24. Randy Rommell, DNS – Brayden Morrison
DEMERS HEATING & COOLING SPORTSMAN NON-QUALIFIERS (15 LAPS)
1. Ethan Bill, 2. George Gareis, Jr., 3. Brad Roberts, 4. Tommy Klimkowski, 5. Walter MacIntyre, 6. Melissa Scarpati, DNS – John Norcia, Frank Holmes, Wayne Weaver, Hunter Ploski
DCB PLUMBING & HEATING MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES A-MAIN (25 LAPS)
1. Jared Kreider, 2. Tim Iulg, 3. Troy Betts, 4. Shelby Kelly, 5. Jeremy Kombau, ,6. Eddie Wagner, 7. Dave Brown, 8. Ryan Schultz, 9. Adam Carberry, 10. D.J. Tanner. Jr., 11. Rick Lafferty, 12. Ryan Stillwaggon, 13. Kenny Laureno, 14. Zack Fields, 15. Bob Lilick, Jr., 16. Andrew Turpin, 17. Kurt Rainey
VICTORY FUEL WINGLESS SPRINT A-MAIN (20 LAPS)
1. Stan Ploski, III, 2. Jonathan Swanson, 3. Wayne Scott, 4. Greg Shepsis, 5. J.P. Vallancourt, 6. Don Ottati, 7. David Swanson, DNS – Shea Wills, Nate Smith, Andrew Hunt
STRAIGHT UP CONSTRUCTION STREET STOCK A-MAIN (15 LAPS)
1. Nick Sandone, III, 2. Richie Page, 3. Jeramy Doerr, 4. Spider Ensinger, Jr., 5. Shane Grosso, 6. Scott Freed, 7. Mike Walsh, 8. Joe King, 9. Pete Reynolds, 10. Gary Bozowski, 11. Mike Baldwin, 12. Gary Klimeczak
XCEL MODIFIEDS A-MAIN (12 LAPS)
1. Tyler Bartik, 2. Tyler Forino, 3. Doug Newbigging, 4. Gage Landis, 5. Griffin Hendershot, 6.Harry Landis
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