Traveling The Circuit

It is difficult to believe that September is just about over and the first day of Fall will soon be upon us and unfortunately as the days go by so does the racing season. When the season began many of us, myself included, were wondering just how the changes with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars would affect the series. I think most of us were pleasantly surprised as the series regulars appear to be supporting the new Boundless Motorsports ownership. Other than Ted Johnson's attempt at a "hostile takeover" in mid-July things seem to be going smoothly.

Boundless replaced Competition Director Bobby Jackson with Dean Miracle and they seem determined to hire competent officials to run their programs however it did take Lernerville Pit Steward, Smokey Schempp, to get the World of Outlaws drivers to get in their proper positions. Oh well, I guess even the nation's premier sprint car series can have an off night!

I for one was quite skeptical of Boundless" attempt to launch a nationwide Late Model series but after seeing several of their shows in 2004 I have become a Late Model fan. There first area show at the Lernerville Speedway drew a huge crowd that was treated to a spectacular race as Chub Frank charged to the front and brought home his first WoO Late Model victory.

The series did have a rather difficult time getting organized at the Challenger Raceway in July and the criticism of the series and track officials was definitely justified. Sitting in the stands one could clearly see the yellow caution light had come on prior to David Scott's spin and the decision to send Scott to the rear was definitely unpopular with the crowd. Scott and his crew were very upset at the time but when the video was reviewed with series officials all of the parties appeared to be happy with the call.

Another traveling series, the All-Star Circuit of Champions, returned to the area for the Labor Day weekend. A series season high of 52 cars were in attendance at the Lernerville Speedway for the Earl and David Bauman Memorial on September 3rd. Jeff Shepard, aboard a brand new ride, started in the front row of the feature and led the entire 35 laps. He also captured the Sharon Nationals crown two days later. Unfortunately Shepard and car owner, Barry Jackson, had a disagreement when Shepard wanted to renegotiate his contract with the team and he vacated the ride a short time later. That is really too bad as Shepard is an excellent driver who is now looking for a ride and an equally excellent sprint car team is looking for a driver! While I do not agree with the All Stars' decisions to travel to Canada and New Mexico(these trips just seems to far for a regional series) the series does appear to be regaining some of its popularity.

I did catch a few other series' this season and I will cover them in another column. In the meantime be sure to get out and enjoy the racing action before it all ends. Mercer Raceway Park, Sharon, Challenger and Lernerville are among the area tracks that still have specials scheduled. And for all you drivers and race teams remember that now is the time to start contacting and courting those sponsors and potential sponsors for 2005.

If you are looking for press releases, marketing proposals or newsletters highlighting your team contact me at the e-mail address below.

Be safe in your travels and remember that news, notes and comments are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

It is difficult to believe but the end of the 2004 racing season is rapidly approaching. The 2004 points championships will be decided this weekend at Lernerville, Mercer, Sharon and Tri-City and the season ending specials begin next weekend.

A few weeks ago I made my first trip to the Eriez Speedway in Erie, PA. The track runs Sunday evenings and is the sister track to the Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY. The track is fairly flat and similar in size to Mercer Raceway Park.

A seven division program is featured each week with the Late Models headlining. Doug Eck, Scott Gurdak and Dick Barton are among the regular competitors so there are quite a few cars and drivers that fans from Southwestern PA would recognize. The entire program was completed by 9:45 so even with the long ride home I was able to be in bed by midnight.

I would like to thank Jennifer Gustafson and the entire Eriez Speedway staff for their hospitality. Due to my commitments at the tri-City Speedway I cannot make it back to Eriez this season but I hope to be back at the Stateline Speedway a few more times on Saturday nights. By the way Stateline has an Enduro scheduled for Saturday, October 2nd. It pays $1,000.00 to win and the rules and registration forms are available at www.statelineeriezspeedway.com.

I also made my first visit of 2004 to the Sharon Speedway and the renovations are truly amazing. The new concession areas and restrooms are just as nice as those at PNC Park and Heinz Field. The new enclosed grandstand also provides an excellent view of the track. The Blaney, Weller and Kirila families have certainly done a great job with the facility!!

The August 21st program was the second annual Victory Junction Gang Camp benefit and camp founder Kyle Petty was joined by Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney and Ken Schrader. The NASCAR drivers competed in a 12 lap match race in the Green Flag Sprint cars. Schrader picking up the victory over Blaney with Stewart finished third with Petty coming home in fourth. It was Petty’s first time ever in a Sprint car and he did very well. I think that the smaller top wing and the absence of a front nose wing would make the Green Flag Sprints a little trickier to drive
and Petty handled himself very well.

Sharon still has several shows scheduled including the Sharon Nationals on September 4th and 5th and the Second Annual Fall Classic for E-Mods, Pure Stocks and Green Flag Sprints on September 18th. For additional details visit their website at www.sharonspeedway.com.

The Tri-City Speedway will hold their final regular show this Sunday, August 29th.
Jared Larson has already claimed the Sprint Championship and Andy Priest has a solid lead in the Modifieds. The E-Mod and Pro Stock division titles are still up for grabs so I will update everyone after this week’s show.

Tri-City hosts the Oil Region Labor Day Classic on September 5th. The program features the BRP Modified Tour, the MACS Late Models and the Pro-Stocks. Their final program will be the Eighth Annual Applefest 100 for the Pro-Stocks and the Apple Core 20 for the Thunder Cars on September 12th.

Be sure to get out and catch some racing action before it is all over. Until next time be safe in your racing travels and remember that news, notes and comments are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

The calendar indicates that the Full Moon for this month will occur on Saturday, July 31st but if you stopped by the Lernerville Speedway on Friday, July 23rd you might have thought the Full Moon was a few day early.  After a rather cloudy day the sun came out to provide the fans with a comfortable evening.  Things were going along very well until the first Sprint Car heat race hit the speedway.  Before one lap was completed Gary Kriess Jr. flipped in turn four and landed in the catch fence.  Although the Troy Preston #1P was heavily damaged, Kriess was uninjured.  It did however take a few minutes for the speedway safety crew to figure out how to get the car removed from the fence.

The racing action resumed with Chad Hill taking the lead and the “Pizza King” appeared to be headed to a heat race victory with Lady Luck intervened.  Hill was about to lap the slower car of Matt Kriess when the two got together flipped violently in turn one.  Both drivers were shaken and although it took a few minutes for them to emerge from their damaged vehicles they were also uninjured.  After a successful start to the season Hill has certainly been bitten by Bad Luck in the past few weeks as he has destroyed two cars; hopefully Good Luck will be back with the 44 team very soon as Chad is scheduled to ace at the Knoxville nationals in a few weeks.  Chad is one of the best up and coming drivers in Western PA and always greats his fans with a smiling face.  If you get the chance stop by his business, Sirena Pizza, which is located in the Franklin Village Shopping Center in Kittanning, PA.  The shop is decorated with racing memorabilia and the pizza is great as well!!

Jamie Smith held on for the win to capture his first checkered flag of the season at Lernerville.  Business commitments have kept Smith from being a weekly competitor at the track this season but it certainly was good to see the bright red and yellow #5 back at the track.

The “Upside Down Club” welcomed newcomer, Karl Baker, of York, PA as its newest member in the second Sprint Car heat race.  Baker cut the third turn corner a little tight and ended up flipping several times.  Once again only the car was damaged and baker was able to make repairs and compete in the feature event.  Ed Lynch Jr. picked up the victory in heat race #2 and Indiana Invader, Cameron Dodson, got the win in heat race #3, which fort7unately went off without any red flags.

The Sprint Car Feature saw Mike Shearer jump into the lead from his front row starting position.  As Shearer set his sights on the victory Ed Lynch Jr. quietly worked his way into second place and took over the lead on Lap 13.  Lynch went on to capture his eighth Lernerville victory of the season and appears to be on his was to capturing the 2004 divisional points championship as well.  Shearer held on for second with Rod George finishing third.  Jody Keegan, who has been a regular visitor to Western PA this season, finishing fourth for his best Lernerville finish to date with Jamie Smith completing the top five.

The real story of the Sprint Feature finish was Dan Shetler.  Shetler and Smith were racing for fifth place and Shetler got pinched into the front stretch wall as the two were about to cross the finish line.  Shetler made contact with the wall and cartwheeled to a sixth place finish!!  Shetler also struck the supports of the flagstand bending them in the process.  I have been attending the races at Lernerville my entire life and this is the first time that I remember such extensive damage done to the flagstand.  Head Starter, Spanky Hall, and his assistant Donny Gallagher never flinched and quickly displayed the red flag to warn the rest of the field of the accident.  A few years ago I saw a similar accident at the Fremont Speedway and both the flagman and his assistant jumped off of the flagstand without displaying the red flag or the red light!!  On that evening if it were not for the outstanding driving ability of Byron Reed, who brought the entire field to a top, I shutter to think of the consequences.  Shetler was the fifth and thankfully last sprint to flip this past Friday evening so maybe now you can understand why I said there must have been a “Full Moon” over Lernerville Speedway on July 23rd.

By the way the track crew did a great job repairing the starter’s tower so that the racing action could continue.  I do feel sorry for Tom Roenigk, who in addition to being one of the race coordinator’s this year is also the track maintenance foreman.  Roenigk has replaced much of the front straight fence this season as Chad Kemenah tore down a portion in May and Bob Puz tore down another section a few weeks ago.  I guess we all know where Tom will be this week!  I also want to applaud Tom and his crew for all their hard work and the thankless hours they spend getting the speedway ready for each Friday’s racing action.
 As the season heads into August be sure to get out and visit some of the fine tracks in the Tri-State area.  I will be returning to Lernerville this Friday and I hope it is a quiet and uneventful night of racing action.   Remember that news, notes and comments are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

On Tuesday, July 20th it was off to the Lernerville Speedway for the running of the Silver Cup XII.  Although a 30% chance of scattered showers were forecast no rain fell at the Sarver oval.  Definitely a huge accomplishment as it seems every time the World of Outlaws visit Lernerville the rain comes along as well.  The controversy over ownership of the series has been dominating the racing headlines and it appeared as though only a skeleton crew of officials made the trip to Lernerville.  I guess time will tell if  Boundless Motorsports can overcome the loss of Bobby Jackson and Richard Day among others.
 
PA Posse member Greg Hodnett set the fast time of the evening at 12.951 and was the only driver in the 12 second bracket.  Hodnett and the Apple Chevrolet crew are a great combination and definitely have the talent and equipment needed to run with and beat the World of Outlaws.
 
Local drivers Rob Eyler and Chad Hill each won their respective heat races so a tip of the hat to both of these drivers!!  Eyler brought home a very respectable 16th place finish but unfortunately Hill had mechanical problems and ended up in the 25th position.  Hopefully the “Pizza Man” can get back on track this Friday.  I also noticed that Hill is already pre-registered for the Knoxville Nationals so “Good Luck” to one of the nicest drivers who is also one of the hardest chargers on the local circuit as he tackles the best sprint car drivers in the business!!
 
The feature event got off to a rocky start as the on track World of Outlaws officials had a difficult time realigning the field after an accident involving Craig Dollansky on the initial start.  It appeared as though neither of the WoO on-track officials had much experience in this capacity and it took quite a few laps and the intervention of Lernerville Pit Steward, Smokey Schempp, to get the cars lined up correctly.  A tip of the hat to Smokey as he is one of the best speedway officials around!!
 
Mark Kinser jumped into the lead as the feature got underway but his cousin, Steve, took over on lap 14.  It was another Steve and Sammy showdown as Sammy Swindell moved into second placed and slowly reeled in the leader.  Swindell made his move for the lead on lap 24 and he then pulled out to a comfortable lead and went onto a convincing win.  After being the so called “Bad Boy” on the WoO circuit Swindell seems to have mellowed a bit in recent years and he was quick to credit his son, Kevin and Larry Smith Jr. for the victory.  Seems as though both crew members are 15 and 16 years old respectively so I would say they did a great job!!
 It is hard to believe that August is rapidly approaching so I am going to try and make a few more road trips before the regular season draws to a close.  Be safe in your racing travels and remember that news, notes and comments are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

Jean Lynch is an unassuming lady that you can find each week at several local speedways each week watching her son compete in the sprint division. She is much more than a statistician for the race team; she is one of the most respected public relations figures in all of motorsports an as I like to call her”The First Lady of Auto Racing.”

I was always intrigued by how Jean became such a prominent figure in a field that is dominated by males; after all when she began her motorsports career women were not even allowed into the pit area. Jean’s interest in auto racing began when she accompanied her husband to local speedways. Ed Sr. was a mechanic at the time and Jean was a spectator. Area flagman, Jack Freeman, approached Jean and asked her if she would be interested in helping him operate the Latrobe Speedway. Freeman was going to do the track prep, his mother would be running the concession stand and Jean would be in charge of “everything else.” Jean accepted and one of the nation’s premier motorsports promoters had begun her career. In the early years her responsibilities included event marketing, hiring the staff needed for each event and even selling tickets and pit passes. Quite a remarkable accomplishment for a married lady raising several young children.

It was through her work at the Latrobe Speedway that Jean met Al Gerber, who was in charge of the Race of Champions. At that time the Race of Champions was held at the Langhorne Speedway and local tracks were honored to have a qualifier at their facility and send a local representative to compete with other top East Coast drivers. Gerber was impressed with Jean and offered her a position promoting the Race of Champions. Jean accepted and spent 30 years working for Mr. Gerber as the event grew in prominence and later moved from the Langhorne Speedway to the Trenton and Pocono Speedways and is now held at the Flemington Speedway.

Jean was also the publicity director that worked with Don Martin to bring the Lernerville Speedway to national prominence. This hard work paid off as Lernerville Speedway was the first Western PA facility to host the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and Martin was named the RPM Promoter of the Year.

Mrs. Lynch’s involvement in the national racing scene continues to this day as she has sent the past 28 years promoting the East Bay Winternationals each January and she still assists the DIRT organization with their SuperDIRT Week each October in Syracuse, NY. In addition Jean is the Vice President of the All-Star Circuit of Champions and has also served on the Executive Board of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, IA. I believe her involvement in both of these organizations indicate just how much respect the entire motorsports community has for Jean and the knowledge and professionalism she has brought to both the local and national racing scenes.

Although her husband and son have always gotten the majority of the media attention as they dominated and continue to dominate the winner’s circle at the local racetracks Jean has quietly climbed to the top of the motorsports world as well. We in Western PA are fortunate to have such a competent and nationally respected individual in our midst. Thank You Jean Lynch for all of your hard work and dedication you certainly are “The First Lady of Auto Racing.”

In other news from the Tri-City Speedway it appears as though the dominance of Rod George and Ed Lynch Jr. in the Sprint has ended as Jared Larson has picked up two feature victories while George and Lynch have one each. Larson has indicated he will be a regular at the speedway and the four time Sharon Speedway Champion currently leads the point standings as well. Jimmy Weller III, Todd Bauer and Andy McKisson have also shown significant improvement and any of these three drivers could also pick up a feature victory in 2004.

Brett Rhebergen has also seen his dominance of the E-mod Division challenged by a much improved Shawn Domhoff. Domhoff won the first two features of the young season and also has a victory at PPMS. His hard work during the off season has certainly been rewarded and I expect we will be hearing quite a bit about this driver in 2004. Mike Samuelson picked up his career first E-mod victory driving the Mopar powered #80 a few weeks ago as he passed Kari Gasser on the final lap for a hard fought victory. Gasser is another driver that should be in victory lane very soon. The petite lady racer has led the feature event on several occasions this year and could very well make Tri-City history as the first female feature winner at the facility.

Tri-City Speedway will host a regular “5 Star Racing” Program on June 13th with the Victim’s Resource Ladies Modified Tour headlining the program on June 20th and the Giant Eagle and Edward Jones Fireworks Extravaganza rounding out the month of June on the 27th.

Until next time be safe in your travels and remember that news, notes and constructive criticism are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

The Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York is one of the tracks where Late Model stars such as Chub Frank, Ron Davies and David Scott got their starts and since the MACS Series was stopping by the track for the Memorial Day weekend I also decided to stop in for a visit. The track is located just over the PA/NY line north of Sugar Grove, PA and is about a two hour and fifteen minute drive from the Butler area. I traveled via Routes 8, 227 and 27 and it was a scenic trip through Pennsylvania’s “Oil Country.”

The Late Model feature saw local hero Chub Frank bring home a very popular victory. A hard charging David Scott battled his way to a sixth place finish after starting 13th. South Park’s Keith Barbara, a MACS Rookie of the Year Contender, was involved in a nasty heat race accident and competed in the Matt Christopher 66 in the feature.

I also had the opportunity to see the four checkered flag finish of flagman, Spanky Hall. Rumor has it that this spectacular flag show may be seen at the Lernerville Speedway sometime this season. Spanky is certainly one of the most popular and friendliest officials in the area and his flamboyant style has earned him many admirers in southwestern PA now that he is making a stop at the Lernerville Speedways on Friday nights in 2004.

Stateline Speedway runs each Saturday evening through August and starts promptly at 7:00PM. If you are looking for an action packed evening of racing you might want to add this facility to your travels in 2004. Until next time be safe in your racing travels and remember that news, notes and constructive criticism are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars made their first local appearance of the season this past week at the Lernerville Speedway. A great crowd and a field of 55 cars were greeted by sunshine and warm temperatures both of which have been difficult to find at the speedway when the World of Outlaws have been in town. I credited the new Lernerville flagman, Spanky Hall, with bringing the sunshine to the track but whatever the reason it was great to finally beat Mother Nature!!

Donny Schatz set the fast time for the evening with a 13.084 but struggled in both his heat and the dash and dropped out of the feature with mechanical problems on lap 20.
A scary incident in heat race number 2 saw Paul McMahon get together with Chad Kemenah while racing for the final transfer spot which resulted in McMahon clipping the front stretch and flipping. A portion of the catch fence was torn down but fortunately McMahon was uninjured. His crew worked diligently to repair the car and McMahon managed to win the B-Main and finish 14th in the A-Man. A tip of the hat goes out to Tom Roenigk and the Lernerville officials who quickly repaired the fence so that the racing action could resume.

The feature event saw long time series rivals Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell lead the field to the green flag. Swindell led the first 21 laps before Kinser got under him to bring home the victory. Swindell held off a hard charging Tim Shaffer for second and Craig Dollansky got under Danny Lasoski on the final lap to bring home a fourth place finish.

Current Lernerville point leader Ed Lynch jr. was the top local finisher. Lynch started 20th and finished sixth, serving notice that he is certainly a threat to pick up another World of Outlaws victory when the series returns to Lernerville in July.

I think the new Lernerville management team of Tom Roenigk and Barb Bartley did a great job as both the car count and the fan count were better than they ha been for the last few World of Outlaws races at Lernerville. Hopefully the wet spring weather is out of the way and the speedway can get in a few Friday night programs without the rain interfering.

If things go as planned I hope to make my first visit to the Stateline Speedway this Saturday. Am told it is a racy little facility and with the MACS Late Models in town it should definitely be a good show.

Until next time be safe in your travels and remember hat news, notes and constructive criticism are always welcome at sprintcarfan@zoominternet.net.