FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
East Berlin, PA – September 26, 2025
by Addicted2Dirt PR & Media Mgmt
Image Credit: Jeremy Zarfos / WRT Speedwerx
Kody Hartlaub felt like his second career 410 sprint car win was within reach last Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
He had good reason to feel that way. He timed 5th quickest overall, then led every lap in his heat race, winning by over 2.3 seconds, to earn the pole for the A-main.
Hartlaub led 19 laps, but unfortunately, bad luck intervened.
“That one stings. A bolt came out of the brake pedal on lap 2, and I had no brakes. I feel so bad for my guys and my sponsors. I feel we had that one,” a disappointed Hartlaub explained.
“I was able to hang on to the top spot for most of the race, but the lack of brakes became extremely challenging. I tried my hardest to race the car to maintain as much speed as possible, but unfortunately, we dropped a few spots and ended up 5th.”
LEARNING FROM CHALLENGES
Coming off his first career 410 sprint car win six weeks ago, Hartlaub was feeling good about his team’s growth and progression through the 2025 season.
Hartlaub was inching closer to that moment for several races. The Williams Grove victory gave the East Berlin (PA) driver an average finishing position of 6.75 over a four-race stretch, a significant improvement over his average finish of 16th in the four races before that stretch.
With the Central Pennsylvania season heading into the home stretch, this was the timely momentum Harlaub, team owner Pat Brewer, and the entire NinetyFive Motorsports team needed.
The showing this past Friday certainly proves Hartlaub’s win in August was not a fluke, and it also shows the team can work through challenges and find their rhythm again.
The weekend after that August 15th win, Hartlaub kept the momentum going with two more top ten finishes at Williams Grove Speedway’s Jack Gunn Memorial and Lincoln Speedway’s Kramer Klash. However, the final weekend of August brought challenges and frustrating nights for Hartlaub and his team, who finished outside the top ten twice and failed to make the starting field once.
Hartlaub, Brewer, and the NinetyFive Motorsports team are well aware you can’t rest on your laurels in sprint car racing. What works today may not work tomorrow. It is a constant battle to find the combination needed to be competitive every time a team unloads.
“Some of the things we tried Labor Day weekend didn’t work like we had hoped, but that’s what you have to do in this sport. You have to constantly work to get better, but sometimes you learn the most from the things that don’t work,” Hartlaub explained.
“We took a week off at the beginning of September, and we worked on the changes we felt we needed to make to get our speed back. It felt good to see that pay off by getting back in the top ten at Williams Grove.”
Hartlaub was referring to the team’s effort back on September 12th, where he recorded a runner-up finish in his heat race and a 6th-place finish in the feature.
The following night at Lincoln Speedway, Hartlaub struggled, dropping out of the main event at the halfway point due to an ill-handling racecar, once again proving that what worked yesterday may not work today. The team went back to work that week to get ready for Williams Grove, and we now know they bounced back strong and nearly captured another win.
It’s an ongoing battle for every team in sprint car racing, a roller-coaster ride if you will, but when a team overcomes those challenges and achieves success, there’s nothing quite like that feeling of satisfaction. It’s only a matter of time until Hartlaub feels that again.
UP NEXT
Hartlaub and the NinetyFive Motorsports team will return to Williams Grove Speedway Friday night for the final tuneup before the National Open. Saturday night, they will venture to Bridgeport Motorsports Park in Swedesboro, NJ, to take on the High Limit Racing series on the high-banked 4-tenths mile oval.
ABOUT KODY HARTLAUB
Kody started racing go-karts in 2005. Over five seasons, he won championships at Hunterstown and Shippensburg, and finished 2nd in the PA State series. Following the 2009 season, he moved up to race 600 micro sprints on a limited basis, but then spent a few years away from the sport. In late 2015, Kody tested in a 358 sprint car and started a partial schedule in 2016. In 2018, he raced the majority of the season but then sat out again in 2019. He returned to 358 sprints in 2020 on a very limited schedule, then in 202,1 he was able to complete his first full season at Lincoln Speedway.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2024 410 Sprint car rookie of the year at Williams Grove and Lincoln speedways
2023 Lincoln Speedway 358 Sprint car champion, including 3 victories
2022 358 sprint car Rookie of the Year at Williams Grove Speedway
2022: 2nd in Lincoln Speedway & SUMMER SERIES 358 sprint car points
2022: 5th in Williams Grove Speedway 358 sprint car points
2021: first career 358 sprint car victory (Lincoln Speedway)
Follow Kody’s season:
Website: KodyHartlaub.com
Facebook: Kody Hartlaub Racing
X (Twitter): @KodyHartlaub
THANKS TO OUR 2025 PARTNERS!
Brewer Home Improvements
J Fuels
Bigham Appraisal
Moose Blocks
Griffith Plumbing Services
T&N Solutions
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Sponsorship opportunities with NinetyFive Motorsports are available for the 2025 season! Email us at Hartlaub.Kody@gmail.com.
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- administrator on Sep 26, 2025
- Article Date: 9/26/2025 by Addicted2Dirt PR