Full Circle Fire: Ryan Smith, Don Kreitz, the Iconic 69K, and the Legendary Davey Brown

The roar of a 410 sprint car engine at full song is unmistakable—900 horsepower screaming through the Pennsylvania night, dirt flying like shrapnel, and the car dancing on the ragged edge between control and chaos.

For Ryan Smith, that sound just got a whole lot sweeter.

There was a time when Smith wondered if his days wheeling a top-tier 410 were finished. Years of bouncing between rides, chasing seats, and watching the big wins slip just out of reach had taken their toll. Then, late in 2024, Don Kreitz picked up the phone with a straightforward offer… Come run the 69K and see what happens.

One late-season shot at BAPS turned into sixth place. Conversations deepened over the winter. By the start of 2025, the handshake was sealed. Ryan Smith—the Kunkletown Kid—was sliding back into the most famous ride in Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car racing.

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Where It All Began

Rewind to 2012. A hungry young Smith stepped out of midgets and micros and into the raw, unforgiving world of 410 Sprint Cars. His classroom? The Kreitz Racing shop. His instructor? Don Kreitz himself.

For two full seasons, Smith lived the life—wrenching late into the night, learning how to read a track like a book, dialing in stagger and stagger angles while the car shook violently under him. Don Kreitz taught him racecraft: when to push, when to wait, and how to make the car do what you want even when the cushion is gone and the ruts are eating tires alive.

Smith soaked it up like a sponge. Then he struck out on his own in 2014—running USAC, invading tracks from Attica to Australia, stacking wins that proved he belonged anywhere.

But the pull of that shop, that special kind of blue 69K, and those early lessons never faded.

Now the circle has slammed shut. Smith is in the 69K, and this trio—Smith, Kreitz, and the still-wrenching Davey Brown—is chasing checkered flags together.

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The 69K: Pennsylvania Posse Royalty park the Kreitz Racing 69K in the pits and heads turn. That living Legend—polished, imposing, a rolling piece of dirt-track lore—rolls in to the Pits like it owns the place, which, on many nights at Port Royal or Williams Grove, it damn near does.

Don Kreitz has kept the operation lean, loyal, and lethal for decades. Family first, no nonsense, maximum speed. When he needed a driver who already spoke the language of the car, who knew every bolt and every bump at the local Tracks, he didn’t audition strangers.

He called the kid he helped mold.

Smith says the moment he buckled in, it felt like slipping into an old, perfectly broken-in glove—familiar, responsive, and brutally fast when you get it right. The chemistry ignited instantly. The results followed.

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Davey Brown: The Living Legend Under the Hood

Most mechanics his age would be telling stories from a rocking chair. Not Davey Brown.

Davey Brown, with decades of grease under his fingernails and wisdom earned from the 1960s onward, shows him some old-school secrets that separate good drivers from great ones. Now well into his 90s, the Legendary Davey Brown is still on his knees beside the 69K (27 years and counting), tools in hand, eyes sharp as ever, making that stagger swing with the same touch that helped build winners since the early days of sprint car racing.

He’s a Central Pennsylvania institution—quiet, no-flash, all substance. Fans catch glimpses of him trackside, hunched over the car during hot laps, adjusting this, tightening that, muttering insights only decades of experience can produce. When Smith fires off the line and the 69K launches like a rocket, part of that launch is pure Davey Brown magic.

The same hands that guided a teenage Smith through his first brutal 410 seasons are now fine-tuning the car for another run at glory.

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Victories Speak Louder Than Words

Port Royal Speedway has become Ryan Smith’s personal playground in the 69K.

He’s ended long droughts with dominant performances there—charging from mid-pack, hunting down leaders like Chase Dietz, and parking the car in Victory Lane with room to spare. Multiple wins in 2025, including comfortable margins that left the Posse shaking their heads. Strong Speedweek showings. Top-fives piling up. Even when sharing the ride early with names like Daryn Pittman and Christopher Bell, Smith’s laps in the 69K stood out.

He’s not just fast—he’s comfortable. The car feels like home. The lessons from 2012 are paying dividends now: smoother entries, better exits, the ability to carry speed where others scrub off precious momentum.

Don Kreitz stands in the pits with that quiet, satisfied grin—the look of a man who bet on the right driver… twice. Davey Brown keeps turning wrenches, keeping the machine razor-sharp.

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Bottom Line

Ryan Smith didn’t just land a ride.

He reclaimed his fire—thanks to Don Kreitz’s unwavering belief and the timeless, steady hand of Legendary Davey Brown.

The 69K is thundering around the half-miles again: loud, proud, and dripping with history.

No second-guessing. No looking in the rearview.

Just pure, unfiltered Posse Power doing exactly what it was built to do.

This isn’t a nostalgia tour.

It’s a full-throttle takeover—and the best chapters are still being written.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Ryan!