Eric Westendorf
July 24, 2011 (Sarver, PA) The second attempt to pull off Nostalgia Night was again thwarted by a nasty summer storm that brought brilliant lightning and a deluge of rain to the Action Track mere minutes after the gates opened on Friday, July 22. If so inclined, one could have kayaked in front of the grandstands and rode the river of raging rapids down onto the Action Track!
Fab Four Racing will return on Friday, July 29 for Ryan Automotive Night with some extra cash on the line for the DIRTcar Sprints as they race for $2,000-to-win. General Manager Gary Risch Jr. is in discussions with Jimmie Pitkavish and Don Gamble to reschedule both the Pitkavish Memorial Modified Race and try a third time to honor the retired heroes of Fab Four Racing on Nostalgia Night.
All the rainouts, eight to be exact, have created what feels like an abbreviated season of Fab Four Racing in 2011 and we’re just five weeks away from crowning the 2011 Budweiser Track Champions. With five Fast Fridays to go, Carl Bowser and Brian Ellenberger are tied atop the Budweiser Point Standings in Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprints with 245 points each. Rod George is just 19 markers behind them and has two wins in the past eight days, checkering features at both Mercer and Dog Hollow last weekend. Brandon Matus (207) and Kevin Schaeffer (202) are still in the hunt, but are dark horse candidates to take the 2011 crown.
Dave Hess Jr. is running away with the Budweiser Points in the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models and seems to be a lock to defend his 2010 Budweiser Track Championship and the brand new Rocket Chassis that comes along with it. Hess leads Jared Miley and Gregg Satterlee by an astonishing 83 points, that’s over two full nights of points! John Garvin Jr. is just two points behind Miley and Satterlee, but seems unlikely to make up 85 points and pass the three superstars of the division.
Once again the Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modifieds has the closest battle in the points as 2009 Track Champion Jeremiah Shingledecker leads Defending Track Champion Kevin Bolland by just eight points, with Dave Murdick just six markers behind Bolland. Brian Swartzlander won the most recent Diehl Mods feature of Friday, July 15 but a DNF two weeks earlier has him 20 points behind Murdick and 34 behind Shingledecker. Oddly enough, all four Diehl Mods stars have two feature wins at the Action Track this season!
Mike Miller has a comfortable, but not insurmountable, 19-point lead over Corey McPherson in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman. AJ Flick, Rob Shook and Defending Track Champion Joe Kelley are all within a night’s worth of points from Miller and could play a hand in deciding the 2011 Budweiser Track Championship.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature tops the Lernerville wins list with eight. Other wins leaders for 2011 are Dave Hess Jr. with four wins the Precise Lates and Chris Schneider with three in the Pic-A-Part Sportsman. Several drivers have a pair of feature wins including Brian Ellenberger in the Ti22 Sprints; Gregg Satterlee in the Precise Lates; Jeremiah Shingledecker, Kevin Bolland, Dave Murdick and Brian Swartzlander in the Diehl Mods; and Mike Miller in the Pic-A-Part Sportsman. Cole Duncan, Danny Smith, Daryn Pittman, Jack Sodeman Jr., Carl Bowser, Danny Holtgraver, Chub Frank, Boom Briggs, Corey McPherson, Rob Shook and Joe Kelley all have one Fab Four feature win in the books for 2011.
Despite the fact that the 5th Annual Firecracker 100 and Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Twin 30s, both presented by GottaRace.com, are in the books, there is still a wide variety of special events remaining on Lernerville Speedway’s 2011 schedule. “Summer Vacation” School Bus and Kid’s Bike races are just nine days away and will be joined by the first Enduro 100 of 2011 and the always entertaining Trailer Races on Tuesday, August 2. Enduro and Trailer Race rules can be printed from our website www.Lernerville.com or picked up at our office during normal business hours or next Friday night in the press box!
September features a pair of sprint shows as the All Star Circuit of Champions make their only 2011 visit to the Action Track on Friday, September 2 and the World of Outlaws return on Saturday, September 23 for the Commonwealth Clash. The 2011 season will conclude as it has the past two seasons with the fast growing DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede. The three-night show featured over 200 cars in 9 divisions last year, resulting in cars having to pit in the infield for the first time in the 40+ year history of Lernerville Speedway.
If you need a late model fix, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will be at Dog Hollow Speedway this Tuesday, July 26 for their first local appearance since the exhilarating Firecracker 100 last month. Tickets are just $25 for general admission or $60 for a family pass. The family pass includes two adult tickets and up to three tickets for kids 15 and under plus free hot dogs and drinks for the family! This will be a standing room-only event, so get their early if you want a good seat! Pit passes are also available for $38. For more information log on to www.WorldofOutlaws.com/LateModel or www.Dog-Hollow.net.