October 3, 2025 | By Alex Nietem, WOO Sprint Car PR

The National Open’s Unique Atmosphere

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.—Sprint Car racing’s crown jewels always provide a palpable atmosphere, but none resemble what the J&S Classics National Open at Williams Grove Speedway delivers.

The electricity of the National Open is built on rivalry.

On one side, you’ve got the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. The longtime best Sprint Car drivers in the country invading tracks from coast to coast all year long. On the other side, you’ve got the Pennsylvania Posse. The toughest local competition the World of Outlaws face ready to defend their territory on the biggest stage with major money on the line.

Fans are perhaps the biggest contributors to the rivalry. Pennsylvanians are some of the most passionate in the nation, and they bring every ounce of energy to the National Open to cheer for the Posse and shower the World of Outlaws with boos.

“I think the hype of it from the fan standpoint is crazy, crazy good,” said six-time National Open winner, Donny Schatz. “The guys that they (Pennsylvania fans) come there and see weekly that they may not like are definitely who they like when the Outlaws come to town because I don’t know that they dislike the Outlaws, but they definitely cheer for their guys and kind of take them as a whole versus when they single them out on a weekly program. It’s pretty intense. A lot of hype and a lot of camaraderie on that side of it.”

Five years ago, a few unfortunate fans decided to poke the bear as Schatz was waiting to be pushed off for the 40-lap finale. The result was a record-extending sixth National Open title and a Schatz interview in Victory Lane that’ll be played for years.

“I remember sitting there waiting for the race to start, and people were screaming obscenities and all these different things,” Schatz recalled with a laugh. “You just kind of chuckle. You don’t normally get an opportunity like that. Obviously, we won the race, so it’s kind of the first thing that popped in my mind was, ‘Thanks for the extra motivation.’ There’s a lot of things you sit and chuckle at when you hear them, and obviously, I think there’s a lot of alcohol involved and a lot of people riling people up. It’s just all part of it.”

That rivalry also makes for a unique, rewarding feeling for the winner on the World of Outlaws side. Sure, it’s nice when the crowd is on your side and cheering for you in Victory Lane, but hearing the boos and knowing you’ve won as an enemy brings its own kind of satisfaction.

“It’s just a different type of gratification,” said Carson Macedo, the defending National Open champion. “You know, I won the Roth (Dennis Roth Classic) race last year, and it paid 83 grand. I remember distinctly getting to Victory Lane, and it’s a different type of happiness. When I won that race, I was around hometown fans, and I remember seeing most of the crowd, I can’t speak for everyone, being genuinely happy to see me win the race. You could hear it with their cheers and all that good stuff.

“There’s that type of happiness, then there’s the other kind you get at the National Open, which is seeing the fact that you’re really not supposed to win the event. You’re really kind of the rival that everybody is rooting against. To win the race and to win a race in my scenario, being from the state of California, you probably shouldn’t win is gratification in itself just because it’s so hard to kind of overcome those challenges. When you do and you’re the villain, so to speak. I feel like it’s just as gratifying as being on the other side of the fence.”

Then there is the other side of the fence. The feeling of competing in the “Keystone State’s” biggest event as a PA Posse representative. Few know it as well as Fayetteville, PA’s Lance Dewease. He’s one of the region’s most successful drivers ever with a résumé that includes five National Open triumphs in four different decades. Competitors like Dewease are well aware of the passion their fans display, and they don’t want to let them down.

“Our fans are diehard fans,” Dewease said. “They want us to beat the Outlaws, and we’re an area that has done it probably more regularly than other areas have. We take deep pride in doing it… It always means a lot. I pride myself on trying to win our big local shows. I’ve been fortunate enough to win it five times against the best in the business. It’s a pride thing with us guys here.”

The National Open creates an uncommon unity among the Pennsylvania fans. They have their week-to-week allegiances, but those vanish when the World of Outlaws come to town. If you’re representing the PA Posse, they’re cheering for you during the “Natty O.” Nothing proved this more than 2013.

“It doesn’t have to do with me, but I’ll use Fred Rahmer as an example,” Dewease said. “Fred Rahmer, during a weekly show there when he was still racing, wasn’t very well liked by our fans. But when he won his one and only National Open, there probably wasn’t a single ‘boo’ in the place for him because of two things: He was retiring, and because he beat the Outlaws. We always joke that they’ll hate you the week before, but they’ll love you the week of if you beat them (the World of Outlaws).

“I’m pretty low key. I’m a pretty mild-mannered person, so I don’t get those types of ups and downs, but I just think it shows how passionate the fans are because the guys they don’t care for week in and week out, they’ll cheer them on for the next two days of the National Open.”

That unity even extends to the drivers. The Pennsylvanians who want to beat each other more than anything at a weekly race still want to win when the World of Outlaws come to town, but if they can’t, one of their normal rivals might be the next best option.

“It’s a cool deal,” said, Freddie Rahmer, Fred Rahmer’s son and former World of Outlaws winner at Lincoln Speedway. “If we can’t be up front and have a chance at either night, I want somebody I race against every week to because it’s just better for the area. It’s good for everybody to represent our part of the country as best we can and see where you’re at versus everybody else… It’s just cool. I know the nights I’ve ran well or been with my dad or Stevie (Smith) or anybody involved, the fans are just so into it.”

The next edition of the National Open is ready to roll this weekend at “The Grove.” The fans are as passionate as ever. The World of Outlaws and PA Posse representatives are ready for battle. All of it promises to create an atmosphere that can’t be found anywhere else in the sport.

For tickets to the 63rd running of the J&S Classics National Open (Oct. 3-4) at Mechanicsburg, PA’s Williams Grove Speedway, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.