By Eric Westendorf
Sarver, PA (April 25, 2012) It is often said of championships that it’s harder to defend them than to win them and for the 2011 Budweiser Track Champions, that seemed true on Opening Night. But thankfully for Carl Bowser, Jeremiah Shingledecker and Mike Miller the road to the 2012 Track Championship is a long and winding one. Furthermore, every Friday Night is another opportunity to get back to their winning ways.
Defending Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprint Car Champion Carl Bowser went through some major growing pains on Opening Night while breaking in a new ride, “We didn’t get our new Eagle Chassis until the way home from our honeymoon last week, so we’re a little behind right now. It was actually great for us that Opening Night was pushed back or we might have missed a few races. ” The “Boggsville Bullet” looked to be struggling right out of the box; first by missing the redraw with a disappointing run in the heat and then again in the feature where he had to start near the tail of the field and struggled to make any progress to the front. “It wasn’t how we wanted to the start the season, but we’ll go back to the garage, get to work on the Factory Kahne shocks and get this Eagle flying around the track pretty soon!”
At the other end of the spectrum was former three-time Track Champion Kevin Schaeffer. Schaeffer started what he claimed at the banquet would be his last season behind the wheel with a feature win that was nothing short of impressive. Passing Western PA’s fastest rising Sprint car star Danny Holtgraver on a green-white-checkered restart after surrendering the lead to him late in the race after checking up to miss a spinning lapped car was a pleasant surprise to start the season. Winning one last Track Championship would be an epic way for “Cool Kevin” to go out on top!
For Jeremiah Shingledecker, it wasn’t so much of an individual letdown; rather the entire Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modified division was humbled a bit by the dominant performance of NY Invader Chad Brachmann. It’s no secret that upstate New York is the unrivaled hotbed of the monster Big Blocks and Chad Brachmann’s victory is further evidence that the boys up north can tow in to any track and run with the best the track has to offer! Shingledecker, along with rivals Brian Swartzlander, Kevin Bolland and Dave Murdick will look to get back to Sheetz Victory Lane this Friday Night.
Mike Miller burst onto the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman scene last season with three feature wins, six heat wins and a division leading eight top fives. Prior to 2011, Miller had been pulling double duty in a Big Block Mod and a Sportsman, but turned all of his attention to his Sportsman mount last season and it paid off in spades! Miller, however, competes in arguably the deepest and most competitively balanced division of Fab Four Racing and hungry young guns like Opening Night feature winner Corey McPherson, AJ Flick, Jim Fosnaught and Ryan Moyer are ready to make their mark on the Sportsman division. Veterans Wayne Carbo and Greg Beach are also looking like title contenders for 2012. But to do so, they’ll have to go through Miller and fellow veterans and former Track Champions Joe Kelley, Bob Egley and the impending return of Bob Lipinski.
As previously reported, 2011 Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Model Champion Dave Hess Jr. is on the shelf for the first few/several weeks of the season as he recovers from back surgery, so the 2012 Track Championship is completely up for grabs this season. Jared Miley fired the first shot of the war with a thrilling win on Opening Night; holding off a hard charging Chub Frank to take the checkers.
It’s hard to predict which drivers will make a run at the track championship as so many of our young local stars travel to regional and national races over the course of the season and likewise so many regional and national stars show up from week-to-week to muddy the water. One thing is for sure about the Precise Lates; you never know who is going to show up and take a run at the checkers on any given Friday Night!
Heading into this Friday Night, Opening Night feature winners Kevin Schaeffer, Jared Miley, Chad Brachmann and Corey McPherson lead the Budweiser Point Standings which can be viewed in the entirety at the newly relaunched www.Lernerville.com! While you’re there check out our YouTube channel by clicking the Video image at the bottom of the page!
This Friday is Silver Jacket Night. Break out those old-school silver satin jackets and wear them to the Action Track. Those in silver jackets will pay the Senior Admission price of just $10 and receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a free ticket to the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXI. As always, gates open at 5:00, racing starts at 7:30 sharp and kids 10 & under are free into general admission!
This Friday is Silver Jacket Night. Break out those old-school silver satin jackets and wear them to the Action Track. Those in silver jackets will pay the Senior Admission price of just $10 and receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a free ticket to the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXI. As always, gates open at 5:00, racing starts at 7:30 sharp and kids 10 & under are free into general admission!