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.
My racing weekend once again started on Friday evening at the Lernerville Speedway. Unfortunately Mother Nature let the rain begin after several heat races had been completed and a lengthy rain delay followed as the new Lernerville management team was determined to beat the weather.
John Flinner captured his first victory of the 2004 season as he held off David Scott and Doug Eck. Young T.J. Wright, son of Late Model veteran Larry Wright, was uninjured after taking a nasty flip down the front stretch.
The Pure Stock feature also saw a familiar face return to the Lernerville victory lane for the first time this season as Joe Kelley held off a determined Greg Beach for the win. Beach is a talented young driver and I certainly expect him to be around for many years to come. Another front runner, Scott Bochek, made his 2004 debut and brought home a tenth place finish. The number 75 is always one of the sharpest looking cars on the track and I expect to see it back in victory lane very shortly.
The Sprint Feature was up next and hard charger Chad Hill led the entire distance to capture his first feature victory of the 2004 season. Hill held off his brother-in-law Ed Lynch Jr. in the feature event that took nearly one hour to complete and was marred by two nasty flips. The first flip saw Mike Shearer lose the handle in turn four and flip violently near the pit entrance. The car was badly damaged but fortunately Shearer was not injured. The second flip involved Attica, Ohio visitor, Brandon Martin, Gary Rankin and Scott Bonnell and occurred just as the checkered flag was waving. Martin and Rankin got together at the flagstand sending Rankin flipping down the front stretch. Just as his car was coming to rest Rankin was struck by Scott Bonnell who had no where to go. It appeared as though Rankin's car was destroyed however he was not injured. The accident occurred near the same spot that Rankin flipped on March 26th. In both cases Rankin was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully he has gotten all of his bad luck out of the way early in the season and better things await him as the season progresses.
The modified feature was postponed until this Friday due to the late hour and I was headed home to get a little sleep. The Mercer Raceway Park's Western PA Sprint Championships were next on my schedule but heavy rains and a dismal weather forecast resulted in the event being cancelled by noon. Owner, Vicki Emig, has struggled to complete several special events scheduled in the past few years and due to scheduling conflicts the event will not be rescheduled. The BRP Modified Tour is scheduled to stop by MRP for the Bill Emig Memorial on June 5th. The event will feature three 25 lap features for the modifieds so be sure to add this event to your schedule.
The skies in Western PA finally brightened up as the race cars were filing into the Tri-City Speedway pit area on Sunday afternoon. The 24 car sprint feature saw Jared Larson hold off Fremont, Ohio's Bobby Clark for a well deserved victory.
By the luck of the draw defending E-Mod champion, Brett Rhebergen, started from the pole and to some this seemed to mean certain victory but last week's feature winner, Shawn Domhoff, had other plans. A very determined Domhoff was able to defeat Rhebergen and bring home his second Tri-City feature win of the year. The E-Mod paint schemes are among the best I have seen in many years and I am unable to pick just one favorite. The 34R of Rick Robinson features the orange, black and red of previous years and the 80R of Tim Rhoades is a beautiful rainbow colored machine. The 2B of Fred Bratchie features a vibrant bright blue with an Elvis motif of course and the Scott Bidwell 3J is gorgeous as well. Be sure to check out Deon's
photo page for all of the great pictures!! The division is considered a support class but if the paint jobs and the on track action are any indication this division is one to watch in 2004.
Well if all goes well I should be moved into my new place by this weekend and with that comes a new e-mail address I hope to pass along next time. Until then be sure to keep up to date by checking out the Keystone Breakdown newsline for the latest news and happenings. Hope to see you at the track!!
