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.
