DAN LEAPER GETS FIRST CAREER MASS WIN IN INAUGURAL VISIT TO MIDDLEFORD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE………

(July 17, 2026):  Dan Leaper of Douglassville, PA captured his first career win Friday night at Middleford Speedway with the DCB Plumbing & Heating Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series presented by Capitol Renegade. Leaper took advantage of picking the pole starting position in the Tanner Bros. Dairy Store re-draw to lead all 25 laps of the $1000 to win feature event sponsored by Betts Garage Towing and Hauling.   

“I seem to do really well on these smaller tracks,” proclaimed Leaper in victory lane, “I definitely found something halfway through the heat race, and we made some adjustments before the feature and they really paid off.”   

Leaper shared the Capitol Custom Trailers front row with Robbie Stillwaggon, the driver that had beaten him in the first heat race. With that in his mind, Leaper wasted no time grabbing the lead at the start with Stillwaggon settling into the runner-up role. Behind the lead duo, numerous battles were being waged which saw the top two in points, Tim Iulg and Troy Betts, both fall back several positions in the opening laps. The track was proving to be very racy as side-by-side battles became the norm with drivers trading positions each lap around the ¼ mile oval. “Slick” Rick Lafferty was on the move and began to challenge Stillwaggon for second as Leaper continued to pace the field. Two-time Series winner Dave Brown Jr. was now making his presence known as he took over 4th after starting in 7th. Lafferty moved into second just before halfway and began to move in on Leaper just as the leader caught lapped traffic. Leaper was able to negotiate the first lapped car with a nice move that gave him a little breathing room. However the yellow appeared on lap 16 for Eddie Wagner who coasted to a stop on the inside of the front straightaway with a broken driveshaft.

This put Lafferty on the rear tail tank of Leaper, and as the green reappeared, Lafferty kept pace with the leader. However Leaper, now with clean air in front of him, showed it was his night as he slowly opened up his lead.  Behind the leaders Brown suddenly had his hands full with Iulg and Betts, as this trio put on a crowd-pleasing duel for fourth. Leaper held sway and proved he was the class of the field on this night, as he crossed the finish line 0.995 seconds ahead of Lafferty for his first career MASS victory. Lafferty finished as the runnerup for the second time in a row, followed by first heat race winner Robbie Stillwaggon. Tim Iulg won the battle for the fourth position with point leader Troy Betts fighting back for fifth, making this his ninth top five finish in the 10 series races so far this season.        

Rounding out the top ten were Dave Brown, Ryan Stillwaggon, Cody West, Janney Electric Hard Charger Shelby Kelly and DJ Tanner.  Heats were won by Robbie Stillwaggon and series rookie Tyler Grau.  Tim Iulg set the new track record at 13.795 in hot laps, winning the Next Generation Construction Quick Time award for the fifth time this year. Eight drivers turned laps under 14 seconds during the evening.    

MASS will be back in action next Saturday, July 25th at the Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, NJ for Series event #11 of 2026.  Pit gate opens at 4pm, Grandstands at 5pm, with cars on the track at 6pm.  

7/17/26

DCB’s Plumbing & Heating Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series presented by Capitol Renegade

Middleford Speedway, Seaford, DE

All-State Auto Glass Heat #1: 1.) Robbie Stillwaggon ($50) 2.) Dan Leaper 3.) Troy Betts 4.) Rick Lafferty 5.) Cody West

All-State Auto Glass Heat #2: 1.) Tyler Grau ($50) 2.) Ryan Stillwaggon 3.) Dave Brown 4.) Tim Iulg 5.) Zach Fields

A-Main Feature Results (25 Laps):

1.) DAN LEAPER 2.) Rick Lafferty 3.) Robbie Stillwaggon 4.) Tim Iulg 5.) Troy Betts 6.) Dave Brown 7.) Ryan Stillwaggon 8.) Cody West 9.) Shelby Kelly 10.) DJ Tanner 11.) Tyler Grau 12.) Zach Fields 13.) Kurt Rainey 14.) Eddie Wagner 15.) Tim Tanner  

Contingency Awards: 

Tin Hoagie Customs Highest Pill Draw $50: Cody West 

Next Generation Construction Quick Time in Hot Laps $50: Tim Iulg 13.795 

Professional Design Services Most Laps Led $100: Dan Leaper

Bitner Automotive Lightning Fast Lap in Feature $50: Dan Leaper 

Janney Electric Hard Charger Award $50: Shelby Kelly +5 

Kreider Manufacturing Hard Luck Award (25% off Order Coupon): Tim Tanner

WheelsofSpeed.com Lucky 13th Place Starter $30: Kurt Rainey

JWK Electric 12th place finisher $50: Zach Fields

Insinger Performance Tail End of Lead Lap (10 Gal. Fuel): Zach Fields