From Lernerville Speedway
Sarver, PA — (June 20, 2014) — A week after Friday the 13th with a full moon, all hell broke loose at Lernerville Speedway as Budweiser points leaders broke or surrendered leads, cars flipped in three of four divisions and even when the cars stayed wheels down, they were some wild wrecks. But with the bad comes the good as “Double Duty” Dave Murdick picked up the Diehl Mods feature win and a top ten finish in the Pitkavish Late Model just moments later. Dave Hess Jr. won said Precise Late Model feature after avoiding early attrition and then running down Defending Track Champion and Budweiser Points leader Alex Ferree. Brandon Matus inherited the lead from Budweiser Points leader Carl Bowser mid-race and held off Jack Sodeman Jr. to score his first checkered flag and fence climb of the season. Corey McPherson capped off the night with a dominant feature win in the Pic-A-Part Sportsman division to join Bowser and Ferree as three-time feature winners.
With a DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede provisional on the line, newlywed Dr. Brad Rapp brought the Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modifieds field to the green flag flanked by last week’s feature winner Dave Murdick. The Mid-Season Championship format does not penalize last week’s feature winner by starting from 10th (12th in the Sportsman) on the starting grid due to the provisional at stake. Murdick darted out to the lead from the drop of the green flag and fended off a hard-charging Budweiser Points leader Rex King Jr. for the majority of the 25-lap A-Main. Murdick finally shed King for good as “Cooter” had to stand on the brakes and fight the steering wheel to keep from spinning in turn one on lap 22. Defending Track Champion Mat Williamson and All Time Division Wins leader Brian Swartzlander tried to run down Murdick, but were unsuccessful in doing so. Murdick scored his second straight feature win, (the 30th of his Lernerville Career), surpassed Rex King Sr. in the points to move into second place and is locked into the $3,000-to-win DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede A-Main in October. That’s a pretty good night!
Williamson and Swartzlander chased Murdick the whole way to the checkered flag as Swartzlander’s longtime sponsor McCutcheon Enterprises Inc. watched on the from hospitality suite in the press box. Chad McCutcheon and the fine folks from MEI raised over $300 for Juvenile Diabetes Research! Rex King Jr. held on to finish fourth after his near washout in the closing laps. Rex King Sr. finished fifth ahead of Tom Winkle, Brad Rapp, Chris Haines, Steve Feder and Jeremiah Shingledecker. Heats were checkered by Mat Williamson and Tom Winkle.
Both Dave Murdick and Brian Swartzlander took a quick swig of cold water and strapped right back into their respective Precise Late Models – owned by Jimmie Pitkavish and Jim Detman respectively – for what seemed more like a rolling demolition than a 25-lap feature early in the stages. Garrett Krummert slid into a brief lead in turns one & two, only to see two-time feature winner Russ King check up, cross under and pass him down the back straightaway and into turn three to officially take the lead on lap one. Krummert slid off the top of turn two on lap five and lost several spots, but despite being saved by the caution, he had to take it pitside with a flat LR. King chose the outside position for the restart and paid for it as contact with John Garvin Jr. resulted in King sliding off the back.
The next six laps clicked off one at a time for a series of cautions, but Ferree took the lead from Garvin on one of those restarts. During those cautions, in no particular order; King was sent sailing off turn two and down towards the puckerbrush; Boom Briggs and John Garvin Jr. got together on the front straightaway which resulted in Garvin and Geisler violently sailing off turn one; Mike Norris clipped the inside of turn three and flipped wildly; Ken Schaltenbrand broke; Shaun Jones spun out in the Rhodes CR9; Dan Angelicchio went to the pits with a flat; and Russ King jumped the cushion again in turn two then retired to the pits; thus the aforementioned week late effect of a full moon on Friday the 13th!
The race actually became a race again on the lap 14 restart with Alex Ferree on the pole and Solom, VA’s Mike Benedum in his Lernerville debut on the front row. Hess restarted third, but made quick work of Benedum to take second and so began his pursuit of a red hot Alex Ferree. By lap 20, Hess was reeling in Ferree on an open track. Hess briefly took the lead exiting turn two, as Ferree slid off the back. Ferree battled back and held the lead at the flagstand, but Hess carried the momentum into turn one and took the lead clear down the back chute. Once out front, Hess dashed to the checkered flag to score his 15th career Super Late Model feature in his season debut and in doing so pocketed a track provisional for next weekend’s 8th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com.
Alex Ferree tailed Hess to the checkers and is also locked into Saturday Night’s $30,000-to-win, 100-lap A-Main by virtue of being the current Budweiser Points leader. WoO LMS star Chub Frank and traveler Mike Benedum came from mid-pack to finish third and fourth in a Firecracker tune-up. After finishing third in the Diehl Mods feature, Swartzlander turned in a fifth place finish in the Precise Lates feature. Lynn Geisler, Boom Briggs, Dave Murdick, Chuck Sarver and Gary Lyle rounded out the Precise Top Ten. Heats went to Boom Briggs, Dan Angelicchio and John Garvin Jr., while Todd Bachman picked up the B-Main win.
The high speed hijinx continued in the Peoples TWP DIRTcar Sprints as Dan Shetler got upside down on the opening lap of the 25-lap A-Main, but luckily landed wheels down. Cory Good went off on the hook as collateral damage. Then on lap three, Scott Priester took a wild series of barrel rolls and came crashing down on four wheels but with his top wing completely ripped off the car. It appears, however, that it did its work to absorb and dissipate the impact, as did the other onboard safety equipment as Scott walked away unharmed. Between these two wrecks, Budweiser Points leader Carl Bowser took the lead on the complete restart and Brandon Matus came to second just before Priester’s flip.
After the lap three restart, Bowser quickly reeled in the tail of the field on lap six, while Matus gave chase. By lap eight, something was amiss on Bowser’s #10 car as he did a wheel stand exiting turn two, jumped the cushion in turn four and then looked completely out of shape in turns one & two; turned out to be a flat right rear that sent Bowser to the pits and despite the rapid attention by his pit crew, Bowser was not able to answer the bell for the restart. Matus inherited the lead and straight up refused to settle for second for the third straight week. Instead he parked his family owned #13 in Sheetz Victory Lane and then celebrated by climbing the fence on the front straightaway.
Jack Sodeman Jr. crossed the stripe second followed by Billy Dietrich who notched his best finish of the season for car owner Skip Dougherty. Logan Wagner returned to the Action Track and finished fourth ahead of Mike Lutz in the McMillin #5M. Brandon Spithaler was sixth, while North Carolina hot shoe Lance Moss finished seventh ahead of Brent Matus, Dan Kuriger and George Hobaugh. Scott Priester and Logan Wagner were heat race victors.
They say it’s better to be lucky than good sometimes. But when you’re good and lucky, you’re nearly invincible and that proved true for Corey McPherson as he drew the pole for the Mid-Season Championship A-Main in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman. Flanked by Rob Shook, McPherson took the lead at the drop of the green flag and was never seriously challenged on the way to his third feature win of the season and 17th of his still early career tying John Britsky and Glenn Noland for ninth all time in the division.
The battle behind McPherson, however, was hotly contested as Rob Shook, Joe Kelley, Mike Miller, Mark Sanders and Terry Young all battled for positions two through six. At the finish line, they crossed Young, Kelley, Shook, Sanders and Miller. Jim Fosnaught salvaged a decent seventh place finish after spinning mid-pack and nearly wiping out the back half of the field early in the race. David Sugar flipped in the incident but climbed out of the car and walked away unscathed. Brett McDonald was eighth, Aaron Easler was ninth and Bob Egley finished tenth. Jim Fosnaught, Mike Miller and Joe Kelley picked up heat race wins earlier in the evening.
Finally, next week is our biggest racing weekend of the season as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and best Dirt Late Model drivers in the country call on the Action Track for the 8th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com. A recent turn of events has opened the door for a lot more drivers to make their way to Lernerville Speedway for the three-day mega show featuring complete World of Outlaws Late Model Series programs Thursday & Friday Nights and $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100 A-Main and $3,000-to-win Uncle Sam 30 on Saturday Night.
Advance reserved tickets are still on sale for just $69 on our website www.Lernerville.com or by calling the speedway office during normal business hours at (724) 353-1511. The advance $69 three-day package also includes a FREE pit pass upgrade offer for Thursday & Friday Nights. This offer continues through 11:59PM on Wednesday, June 25.
Peoples TWP DIRTcar 410 Sprint Feature: (25 Laps)
1. (13) Brandon Matus, Wampum
2. (23Jr) Jack Sodeman Jr., N. Jackson, OH
3. (27) Billy Dietrich, Biglerville
4. (RG3) Logan Wagner, Bedford
5. (5M) Mike Lutz, Wampum
6. (22) Brandon Spithaler, Evans City
7. (23) Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC
8. (33) Brent Matus, Wampum
9. (08) Dan Kuriger, New Brighton
10. (40) Geroge Hobaugh Jr., Chicora
11. (C9) Charlie Cornelius, Ellwood City
12. (44) Pete Landram, Jeanette
13. (4K) Bill Kiley, Cabot
14. (2) AJ Flick, Apollo
15. (10) Carl Bowser, Sarver
16. (11) Scott Priester, Rimersburg
17. (40X) Cory Good, Smicksburg
18. (7K) Dan Shetler, Johnstown
Heat Race Winners: Scott Priester, Logan Wagner