TDN

TDN

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Fosnaught and King Jr Win in Close Battles; Lynch Cruises and Ferree Runs Away; The Story From Lernerville




Some nights, the re draw just works out this way. Another night of fab four action at Don Martin's Lernerville speedway saw some heavy hitters start up front, and while it can make for great action on the occasions when that happens. The conditions that provided a very slick but yet very smooth racing surface perhaps took a little edge off the anticipation in some respects.

But when the likes of Ferree, King, King Jr, and Lynch draw near the front in for feature starting spots, good theater still exists when you really watch the battles behind them.

Let's get to the action.




SPORTSMAN


Jim Fosnaught describes his second win of the season with announcer Dow Carhahan


It was the race that wasn't quite sure it wanted to start, but when it did, it gave some of the best action of the night. The opening lap took three laps to get in the books as an assortment of cautions on the multiple green flag drops. But when they finally got underway for good, it was Mark Sanders in front early on while being chased by last week's winner Chris Schneider in the #19 machine and Jim Fosnaught. Title contender Corey McPherson suffered a flat tire very early in the race and didn't factor into the mix up front.

Schneider took the lead from Sanders on lap two and once behind both front runners, Sanders and Pat Hanley waged a terrific battle for the third spot that lasted the entire race. Schneider got comfortable in the lead for a handful of laps, but lurking right behind was Fosnaught who used the low groove to perfection. Fosnaught crept up patiently and took the lead from Schneider on lap 10 as Schneider did his best to use any momentum from the top side that he could find.

Schneider got the lead back momentarily following a lap 13 restart, but Fosnaught got it back a lap later and survived a restart on lap 17 to take home a hard earned victory, his second of the season.

"I just had to stay patient tonight" Fosnaught said. "The track was obviously very slick and I knew the bottom was where the traction was. I was barely on the throttle because it was so slick. I had to watch Chris Schneider because he's a heck of a driver and I know he likes the high side but I knew if I could tuck underneath him I could probably keep him at bay."

With the win, Fosnaught now finds himself in the lead of the sportsman stock point standings.

Top 10:

1. Jim Fosnaught
2. Chris Schneider
3. Pat Hanley
4. Mark Sanders
5. Rob Shook
6. Bob Egley
7. Corey McPherson
8. Brett McDonald
9. Terry Young
10. Mike Miller


LATE MODELs

Alex Ferree would not and could not be caught tonight, despite the best efforts of a hard charging Mike Pegher Jr, a second starting Russ King, and a surprise visitor in Morgan Bagley. The Kilgore, TX native and current tour driver on the World of Outlaw Late Model tour stopped by looking for a little extra seat time in preparation for June's Firecracker 100.

But the locals on their home track proved too much for Bagley to get around Friday night, though he tried his best, moving from his 8th starting spot to 4th in just a handful of laps. As we said earlier though, Ferree was in another world and during the longer green flag stretches of the feature would work all three grooves while stretching his lead to over three seconds at times. It was Ferree's second win of the season.

"That track was just so slick and so smooth tonight" Ferree said. " I started to get a little bit tight in the middle, so I went down low and that wasn't the answer and actually made it worse. So I had to pick up the pace a little towards the end."

Currently, it looks as if Ferree and King might just have the battle to watch as far as the season points pan out as just a mere three points separate the two competitors.

Top 10:

1. Alex Ferree
2. Russ King
3. Morgan Bagley
4. Mike Pegher Jr
5. Michael Norris
6. Jared Miley
7. John Garvin Jr
8. Kenny Schaltenbrand
9. Dave Murdick
10 Garrett Krummert

MODIFIEDS

As easy as Ferree made it look in the late models, King Jr was well on his way to doing so in the modifieds. Pole sitter Rex King Jr took off from the green flag like he'd been shot out of a cannon compared to the rest of the field and dominated early on during Friday's modified feature. But behind him, the previous week's winner Mat Williamson chipped away lap by lap. The St Catherines, Ontario driver started 10th and on such a slick surface it seemed like it would be a chore for him to find his way to the podium on this night.

A lap 9 restart saw the field bunch up one more time, but King Jr got away again en route to his second win of the season. Williamson made it interesting though, shaving four second lead to less than half a second in the last handful of laps and even drew close enough to make slight bumper contact with King Jr in the last set of turns. 

Dave Murdick brought out an older piece and it worked like a charm as he moved his way through the field for a hard fought third place finish, while perennial favorite Brian Swartzlander actually faded from his front row starting spot ending up in seventh.

King Jr and Sr sit firmly in the top two spots in the season standings with Murdick and a very consistent Brad Rapp still within reasonable striking distance.

Top 10:

1. Rex King Jr
2. Mat Williamson
3. Dave Murdick
4. Rex King Sr
5. Brad Rapp
6. Jeremiah Shingledecker
7. Brian Swartzlander
8. Mike Turner
9. Ralph McBride
10. Rodney Beltz

SPRINTS

Former sprint champion Eric "Turkey" Williams has had a tough start to the season and was most likely thrilled to find himself on the pole of Friday's sprint feature.  He was probably thrilled until he saw who was lined up next to him on the front row.

That would be Ed Lynch Jr, who now has 108 sprint feature wins at the action track. But Williams threw everything but the kitchen sink at Lynch in order to snag his first feature win of the season.

Williams drove away early on, working especially well down low while Lynch worked the top shelf. And while Lynch whittled away at Williams' lead, the race still looked like one that Williams could hold onto until a lap 14 caution for Mike Miller bunched the field back up.

On the ensuing restart, Lynch looked for one Williams slip and got it on lap 15 as he executed a hi/lo switch to perfection, taking the bottom away from Williams. It looked as if Lynch was on his way to checking out, but in lapped traffic towards the last final laps, Williams krept up on Lynch using every part of the track that he could find. But Lynch kept his cool and patiently weaved his way though to the victory.

Carl Bowser and Jack Sodeman Jr charged from deeper starting positions to earn third and fourth respectively while rookie AJ Flick continued to impress, driving from the back of the field to a respectable 9th place.

"Yeah, we always get a reaction here" said Lynch Jr responding to a chorus of cheers and boos from fans in attendance. " It was a pretty tricky track tonight; I think lapped traffic really helped me out at the end there. Sometimes it's better to be second in those situations, but the car worked well tonight and we shook down a few things getting ready for the Silver Cup."

Top 10:

1. Ed Lynch Jr
2. Eric Williams
3. Carl Bowser
4. Jack Sodeman Jr
5. Brandon Matus
6. Dan Shetler
7. Mike Lutz
8. Brent Matus
9. AJ Flick
10. Scott Priester

 For Full Results you can check out Lernerville Quick Result Page

Lernerville Quick Results

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Commentary; "There Were More Cars Last Week Weren't There?"





Welcome to the middle of the season, that joyous time of year to be a dirt racing fanatic. School's out soon, there'll be a race every night of the week across the country. It's a great time of year. Just typing this paragraph has made me pine for a hamburger, a beer....and a race on a hot summer night. Seriously if someone could give me just all of those things, I'd be a happy camper and I wouldn't have a thing to complain about!


And now that we've approached this point of the season, you can hear the voices in the stands, and see the rhetoric sprawled out across almost every message board to varying degrees....Where are the cars?









"It's the economy!", "It's the rules!" , "Too many divisions!"  are the popular answers most of the time with a good deal of "Enforce the rules!", "Purses need raised" and "Too many tracks!" thrown in for good measure, into a debate that we see every year across many forms of media. Everyone seems to have an answer too.

And those who think they've put their finger on it might just be onto something with the aforementioned explanations, especially the rules, enforcement, too many divisions arguments.

Here's the thing, those issues can be cyclical and have been issues for years. Car counts dip and grow and dip again. We've all seen tracks and sanctions throw re-active answers to decreasing car counts, and for the most part, that's what they are, re-active and short-lived hence we go through another round of asking "Where are the cars?" 

I don't claim to have any better answer than the next person either. The economy has gone through massive recessions in the 70's, 90's and just a couple of years ago, and drivers still fielded teams. And let's face it, if tracks start throwing money into purse bumps in an attempt to draw cars, there'll be less places for what cars there are to race. And it's not like the concept of purse bumping even worked in the short term, sometimes it even keeps some cars away.

I cringe at the thought some people present, that tracks make money hand over fist. They act like tracks have never once endured a cost increase. First of all taxes, mortgages, insurance, food cost and other ancillary expenses have seen sharp price increases and the general public still pays the same ticket price it has been paying for years.

It's not a time to panic though. Special events still draw decent amounts in many places, and although area racing programs look a little bit lighter this year, you have to remember that we haven't seen the best weather of the season yet and there's still 2/3 of the season to go for some guys to get their stuff out.

However, in all the above explanations about where the cars have gone, one explanation hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm not saying it's a cure all, it won't help counts this week, month or year.

Perhaps, and I know this is a reach, but perhaps it is a simple fact that more drivers are hanging it up and selling off their operation out of the area, and fewer prospective drivers are replacing them.

That's simple, easy, and as good an explanation as their might be. More cars are going away, and there's not enough young people that care to start racing.

Why don't more young people race? That's a good question and I'm not sure enough people involved in dirt racing promotion have done due diligence in investigating why. I'm sure they're aware. I'm sure they see the gradual dissipation of their fields. They know 3-4 guys are putting their operations up for sale in the next year or two in any particular division and probably only 1-2 guys will fill the gap.

Many promoters survive on a week to week mentality, it's how they stay in business, but it doesn't leave time to do proper marketing research. Not when you're placing a food order one minute, on the grader the next, or replacing boards in the stands or any other mundane task after that. But it needs to be addressed at some point. It's time to for once, take a pro-active step.

Let's face it, we're not converting young dirt fans to racers. And why that is can be for another article. But in the meantime, we need to find out why, and how to change that. Is it that there's less young people in the stands to get interested? And of the one's that are in the stands, fewer and fewer of them seem interested in racing something.

Do the stands at your track look like a smattering of grandparents, and older families of drivers and crew members? I'm not sure that most promoters have ever undertaken extensive customer research about the dynamics of their crowd. They couldn't tell you how many of what kind of fan exist in their bleachers. Nor have many talked with promoters at successful facilities to see what they do to attract a younger audience.

But in dirt racing the adage "The strong will survive" is completely spot on! The facilities that take the proactive step of giving a hard, honest evaluation of where they are in how well do they pull in the younger crowd and what they need to do to get better. Those are the places you know will survive, they're a step ahead and it's a big one.

It's not just an investment in future crowds, it's an investment in future drivers. Like I said, it's not panic time, but it is time to start getting our youth involved in the sport, and keeping them involved.

In the meantime, get to the track, get there as often as you can, and bring a kid or two, or a person that's never been before. It's simple, invite that neighbor when you see him out mowing the grass and say "hey, wanna check out some races this weekend?"

If as a sport we start paying more attention now, we can help alleviate the "where's the cars" issue for years to come and add some layers to our foundation.


Now then, about that hamburger, beer and races tomorrow.....

Stay DIRTY folks!


Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Friesen Exhibits Total Domination; More Big Wins for O'Neal, McFadden & McDowell


Our 12th 'Driver of the Week' award of the season goes to Stewart Friesen for his near perfection over Memorial Day weekend. Friesen embarked on his journey to perfection Saturday night when he entered his big block modified and 360 sprint car at the Utica-Rome Speedway in New York. Friesen came away with heat and feature wins in both cars, as well as winning a sprint car dash. As if that wasn't enough, Friesen entered the Memorial Day, Race of Champions sanctioned, Victory 200 at Utica-Rome Speedway and captured the $10,000 first place prize. During the feature he lapped all but eight cars, which is impressive before you even consider the quality of cars that he was racing against. It's also worth mentioning that he won his heat, making him a perfect 7-for-7 over the past two days.


Honorable Mentions:

Don O'Neal:
Indiana native Don O'Neal found himself in victory lane following the first Crown Jewel late model race of the season. The Lucas Oil "Show-Me 100" at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO paid $30,000 to the winner, just one of the many reasons that 60+ cars entered in the event. The win didn't come easy either. O'Neal fought off battles from the likes of Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jesse Stovall and more en route to finding victory lane.



James McFadden:
McFadden, who traveled all the way from the land down under to compete at Fremont (OH) Speedway this past weekend made the trip worthwhile Sunday night when he won the $10,000 ASCoC finale. After scoring a top 5 finish the previous night in his first visit to the track, McFadden was the class of the field behind the wheel of the Gaerte no. 3G. Look for McFadden to rack up some more wins as he stays in American soil to race at various tracks up through the Knoxville Nationals before he returns to his native land.





Dale McDowell:
The driver out of Chickamagua, Ga. doubled up on the weekend with the Ray Cook promoted Spring Nationals series. McDowell has won his last three starts with the series. His wins on Friday at Boyd's Speedway and Saturday night at Dixie Speedway totaled up to a whopping $10,000. The weekend results also marked his 2nd and 3rd straight wins with the series, dating back to the May 8th event at Duck River Raceway Park that also paid a cool $4,000 to the winner.




Races to keep an eye on this weekend:

  • First four nights of Appalachian Mtn. Speedweek
  • WoO Sprints at Attica & I-96
  • WoO Late Models at Delaware Intl.
  • ASCS National at Salina Speedway & Eagle Raceway
  • Lucas Oil Late Models at Tazewell & Florence
  • Kasey Kahne's "Dirt Classic" qualifier at Roaring Knob
  • All Star Sprints at Wayne County

Previous TDN 'Driver of the Week' Winners:

Week 11 (5/12-5/18): Daryn Pittman
Week 10 (5/5-5/11): Christopher Bell
Week 9 (4/28-5/4): Shane Stewart
Week 8 (4/21-4/27): Shannon Babb
Week 7 (4/14-4/20): Bobby Pierce
Week 6 (4/7-4/13): Jonathan Davenport
Week 5 (3/31-4/6): Dale Blaney
Week 4 (3/24-3/30): David Gravel
Week 3 (3/17-3/23): Kyle Strickler
Week 2 (3/10-3/16): Rico Abreu
Week 1 (3/3-3/9): Chris Madden

Monday, May 26, 2014

Western Pennsylvania Super Late Model Power Poll: Week 4



Hey kids, It's Monday night so It's time for my weekly update to the rankings. This week, only Lernerville, Dog Hollow, PPMS, Eriez and AMP scored. McKean, Marion Center and Bedford had specials. Roaring Knob had tractor pulls instead of races.

Racing for Heros Raceway can't be bothered to put out press releases for their races even three full days later, so they're no longer going to be a scoring track and will not count towards these rankings.

Anyways, lets get to the rankings.

1. Alex Ferree, 16 points. Alex regained the top spot on these rankings with a win at PPMS Saturday and a third Friday at Lernerville. He's clearly having another great season.

2. Clate Copeman, 14 points. Clate picked up the win at Dog Hollow this weekend to remain second in these rankings. He didn't run so well at Marion Center, but it doesn't count towards these rankings because they had a special.

3. Mike Blose, 12 points. Mike stays near the top despite not racing at a scoring track this weekend.  He ran fourth at Marion Center though.

4. Duane Stiner, 11 points. Duane moves into the top ten with a win at America's Motorsports Park. I will admit I don't know much about this guy, but he's apparently damn good at AMP.

4. Russ King, 11 points. "Wreck Em" Russ ran fourth at Lernerville on Friday. I'd like to deduct points for his bullshit slide job on Doug Eck that could have ended up in tragedy though. I can't wait until someone gets tired of his shit and gives him the ass whopping he deserves.

5. Darrell Bossard, 9 points. Darrell picked up yet another top five with a fourth at Eriez Sunday. He's damn good up there in the northern tier. I never expected him to remain near the top of these rankings, but if he continues running the way he is, he's definitely going to.

6. Ron Delano, 8 points. Ron ran second at Dog Hollow Friday to move into the top ten on these rankings. He's one of those guys that's under-the-radar good. He doesn't run the area's big specials all that often, but he's always in the hunt whenever he's in the field.

6. Mike Knight, 8 points. Mike stays in the top ten despite chasing NDRL Northeast races all weekend.

6. Brandon Delano, 8 points. Brandon stays in the top ten even though he didn't run any scoring tracks this weekend. I don't think he ran any tracks this weekend.

6. Rob Blair, 8 points. Much like Mike Knight, Rob was chasing the NDRL all weekend, but stays in the top ten based on previous finishes this season.

So that's the top ten. See yinz jags next week.




Sunday, May 25, 2014

Dustin Smith Edges Out Brandon Spithaler for BOSS series win at Mercer


Mercer BOSS Winner Dustin Smith

In a photo finish Dustin Smith captured his first Buckeye Machine BOSS wingless series win of the season Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park.

Smith found himself in a drag race to the line with Brandon Spithaler and beat him to the to the checkered flag by .014 seconds.

"I had no clue he was that close to me, because he hadn't shown the nose to me the whole race," Smith said. "I knew he would be coming though, because he runs so good here with out the wing on. I thought we had it though, but I saw his wheel to my right side as we crossed the line."

Arnie Kent and Smith brought the field to green for the 25 lap main event. Smith got the advantage on the start, but Bob McMillin spun on the front stretch to bring out the caution.

On the restart Smith again got to the lead and was able to pull out to a comfortable margin. Meanwhile behind him Spithaler and Kent were in a heated battle for second. They continued to battle hard swapping the spot a couple of times until Gary Rankin slowed to a stop in turn one on lap seven.

Smith would pull away again when the green flag flew, while Kent and Spithaler renewed their heated battle for the runner up spot. Spithaler lost his brakes about halfway through the race and Kent was able to get by to secure second for the time being.

"There were no rear brake pads on my car and all the fluid was gone too," Spithaler said. "I slowed up a little bit and Arnie got by me. Then I just decided to go for the win and hope I don't hurt anything on the car."

Spithaler certainly went for it as he used the outside line to pass Kent in lapped traffic with five laps left and then set his sights on Smith. Coming the white flag Spithaler was a car length behind Smith and rocketed to the outside to pull closer to the Kokomo, Indiana native as they came out of turn four ultimately ending in that photo finish.

"I gotta congratulate Dustin," Spithaler said. "He ran a great race tonight. I didn't know who won. I knew it was very close."

Kent ended up third and was the highest finishing local that doesn't follow the full BOSS tour. Friday night winner at Raceway 7 Mike Miller finished fourth and Jack Sodeman, Jr rounded out the top five.

For Smith it was his third career BOSS victory. The two previous were at Wayne County Speedway. It was a nice momentum boost for what had been a tough start to the season.

"I am real happy to get a win tonight for my friends on the crew who've been helping me out," Smith said. "I have run good here the past few years. I had a third and a fourth here before."

Kent, Spithaler, Tony Beaber and Aaron Middaugh won the heat races and 305 Outlaw Sprint Warrior regular Andy Feil won the B Main in just his second career 410 start. Feil was also the hard charger moving from his 17th starting spot in the main up to eighth.

The 358 modifieds were the first feature in the program with JR McGinley and Jimmy Holden on the front row. Holden got the lead early. He was able to keep it the whole way as he diced his way through lapped traffic and held of Gary Smoker to pick up the win. Kyle Fink finished third followed by, McGinley, and 12th starting Eric Gabany.

Shawn Fleeger and Gabany won the heat races.

Jim Morris survived a few cautions and was able to pick up the win in the Outlaw Sprint Warrior division. Morris was able to hold off 12th starting Michael Bauer who was looking for his third straight win.  George Hobaugh, Feil and CJ Jones rounded out the top five.

Mike Miller and Bauer picked up the heat wins.

Pat Fielding Poses in Victory Lane with Track Owner Bill Altman
Pat Fielding was able to pick up the feature win in the stock class, his first of 2014. Leigh Wheeler, and Rusty Moore completed the podium.

Caleb Hickcok made a late race pass on Tim Callahan to win the mini stock feature to complete the program.

There will be Truck and Tractor pulls at the speedway tomorrow and next Saturday the 360 Patriot Sprint Tour will make its way to Mercer.

BOSS Sprint Series Results
1. (2)   77     Dustin Smith, Kokomo, IN
2. (3)   57b   Brandon Spithaler, Evans City, PA
3. (1)   18     Arnie Kent, Mercer, PA
4. (7)   82     Mike Miller, Wapakoneta, OH
5. (6)   23jr   Jack Sodeman, Jr, North Jackson, OH
6. (8)   3t      Tony Beaber, Gibonsburg, OH
7. (4)   91x   Aaron Middaugh, Polk, OH
8. (5)   13     Brandon Matus, Wampum, PA
9. (17)  08    Andy Feil, New Castle, PA
10. (11) 14   Chad Wilson, Toledo, OH
11. (9)   5x   Gale Ruth, Jr, Pleasantville, PA
12. (10) 3j    Johnny Beaber, Gibonsburg, OH
13. (15) 4     Michael Fischesser, Cincinnati, OH
14. (12) 32m Derek Hastings, Forest, OH
15. (19) 31    Chuck Wilson, Perrysburg, OH
16. (14) 24m  Adam Miller, McDonald, PA
17. (13) 5       Bob McMillin, Wampum, PA
18. (20) 1r      Gale Ruth, Sr, Pleasantville, PA
19. (16) 97     Scott Hardman
20. (18) 16     Gary Rankin, Renfrew, PA
Lap Leaders- Smith 1-30
Heat Winners- Kent, Spithaler, Beaber, Middaugh
B Main Winner- Andy Feil



Saturday, May 24, 2014

Williamson Gets Back on Track, Pegher Wins Thriller; Holtgraver Dominates;.the story from Lernerville








Friday night at Lernerville Speedway had a little something for everyone in attendance as another fab four race night went in the books. Fans got to see Mat Williamson look like well, Mat Williamson again so to speak as the defending modified champion not only finished his first feature in three weeks but put the field to his rear, coming up with his first Lernerville win in 2014.

Those fans also got to see former sprint champion Danny Holtgraver take advantage of an off night for the All Star Sprints, by coming home and taking care business and making it look easy in his feature win. The sprints and mods sandwiched what was probably the best feature of the season in terms of entertainment value in 2014 as Mike Pegher Jr picked as hard earned win as there is at the action track while a surprise awaited everyone in victory lane in the sportsman.


Modifieds:


Williamson had drawn the wrath of the racing gods in his last two appearances at Lernerville, suffering engine failure not once but twice, which pushed him down to 12th in the season standings. It's early on in 2014, but we could say that Friday night may be a turning point in the current campaign. 



Tom Winkle drew the pole for the feature and for eight laps looked as if he had a strong enough car to keep himself situated at the front. Meanwhile, behind him lurked some stout competition. Perennial frontrunner Brian Swartzlander once again saw himself the victim of misfortune. It was apparent his car wasn't turning to the left so well on lap 1 and it didn't get any better on lap 2 as Swartzlander went out of the park in turns 1 and 2 as he continued to suffer misfortune for yet another week.



Behind the battle up front, Williamson had picked through the five cars ahead of him and set his sights on Winkle, taking the lead on lap 9 while Jeremiah Shingledecker followed him to the front.


But to keep himself in the lead, Williamson would have to withstand three restarts on lap 21 and yet another one a lap later when Shingledecker and Winkle made contact on the front stretch battling for second. Shingledecker got by on the outside as Tom Winkle was sent spinning to set up one final restart that saw Williamson hold on to collect the win while pole sitter Winkle managed to climb back up to 8th in the remaining laps.

Brad Rapp and Shingledecker recorded heat wins, for Rapp it was his third such win in four nights of racing.




"We've had the worst luck the last two weeks with this big block " Williamson said. "It just feels nice to actually finish a race. We came down here and we didn't think we were going to win and I'd never run this motor before and I didn't know how it was going to run. But right from the drop of the green I knew we were going to be good.



"He (Winkle) was good. I was just kind of biding my time, I knew I had 25 laps to do it. I was just trying to see where I was good and I was bad and I tried to judge where I could get by him, if I could get by him. I could see where I could gain on people and they could gain on me. I just had to keep my line and not screw up for 25 laps.



"We went 21 laps without a caution and sure enough the last few laps we couldn't get it done without a caution, Williamson added referring to the late race restarts. "Once the first late caution comes out you know there might be a couple more because people get a little excited and start driving over the edge."







Finish:



1. Mat Williamson
2. Jeremiah Shingledecker
3. Steve Feder
4. Dave Murdick
5. Rex King Jr
6. Brad Rapp
7. Rex King Sr
8. Tom Winkle
9. Mike Turner
10. Rick Regalski

Late Models:

For entertainment value, the Late Models provided the best feature of the night, even though the first 2/3 of the race saw John Garvin Jr pace the field from the pole but behind him, Mike Pegher Jr had picked his way from 8th to second in a matter of seven laps. And when Alex Ferree joined the party at the midway point and the stage was set for an epic battle among the three cars which was made five cars later on when Chub Frank and Russ King joined them on a late race restart.



Once again Brian Swartzlander had trouble in turns one and two to bring out the late race caution, and with just a handful of laps remaining the top three emerged from the back stretch in a battle for the win as Pegher Jr, Ferree, and Garvin made it three wide going into turn four as PegherJr sliced through both competitors to take the lead. Pegher endured a late race restart and held on while the action behind him to take his second career super late model victory at Lernerville.




"It was a fun race and the cautions helped us out there at the end" Pegher said. "I have to thank Lynn, he and I are at the shop every night working on this thing. We had a couple of bad weeks there but hopefully we're back on track now.



Pegher Jr got much more than he expected in the result. "When I drew a seven, I would have just been happy with a top 5, we'll take it."



The late model heats had a terrible moment when in heat two, Doug Eck was sent into the front stretch wall just exiting turn after some contact with Russ King.  Eck was okay and safety personnel responded quickly to the gruesome looking accident while his car had to be up righted and removed by flat bed truck.  Alex Free and Brian Swartzlander and John Garvin took the three heat races.






Finish:

1. Mike Pegher Jr
2. John Garvin Jr
3. Alex Ferree
4. Russ King
5. Chub Frank
6. Colton Flinner
7. Garrett Krummert
8. Gary Lyle
9. Dave Murdick
10. Chuck Sarver

 

Sprints:

 

A somewhat sparse fourteen car sprint car field was put to bed by former track champion Danny Holtgraver, and he made it look easy. Starting from the 10th spot, Holtgraver made his way through the field on a surface that was getting more slippery by the lap, with little bite to be found, except in certain places.



But easy as it looked, running down top competitor Jack Sodeman Jr from the front row can be a daunting set of circumstances for any driver.  Sodeman Jr looked like the class of the field early on, amassing a greater than four second lead while Brandon Matus gave it his best shot taking the high side early on and challenging for the lead. Matus couldn't find enough upstairs to carry his momentum though and had to settle for a third place finish.

Holtgraver methodically worked through the field and passed Sodeman Jr on lap 12 which he never relinquished. Carl Bowser and Mike Lutz took the heat wins.




"We were good tonight, it just took me a little while to get going"  Holtgraver said. "I couldn't hit where I needed to hit and I couldn't get off the bottom of two to save my life but once I got to the front I told myself I'd better start hitting it. It was a fun race track tonight and I was able to get up through."




Finish:


1. Danny Holtgraver
2. Jack Sodeman Jr
3. Brandon Matus
4. Eric Williams
5. Mike Lutz
6. Dan Shetler
7. Brent Matus
8. AJ FLick
9. Billy Dietrich
10. Pete Landram


Sportsman:


Terry Young is having a season to.......well, never mind. Young turned the wheel over to Chris Schneider, much to everyone's surprise, and Schneider rewarded the decision with a feature win. Schneider gave up the early lead and got it back which he later described as a "brain fart". First he gave it up to Rob Shook on lap three who gave it back the next lap, and then he gave it up to Corey McPherson on lap seven.



McPherson and Schneider and Shook dueled for the win through a caution filled feature. McPherson lost his bite on lap 13 and opened the door for Schneider, and he took full advantage as he slammed the door on the two time defending champion taking the win in the process while McPherson held on for second and last week's winner, Jim Fosnaught took a hard fought third.



In victory lane Schneider described his key to victory on the slippery surface. "Slower is faster".


Finish:


1. Chris Schneider
2. Corey McPherson
3. Jim Fosnaught
4. Rob Shook
5. Mike MIller
6. Mark Sanders
7. Pat Hanley
8. Aaron Easler
9. Brett McDonald
10. Joe Zambotti







To check out Eric Westendorf's always well done recap click here: Fab Four Race Report



For the full field rundown of Friday night's action click here: Fab Four Quick Results

Friday, May 23, 2014

The DIRT Network Roundtable; Volume 2



And here we are for round two of TDN roundtable. This is where all of our contributors here at TDN share opinion on any number of dirt racing related topics and pass on useful information, including the best places to eat after the races (Sheetz, and it's not even close), and expand on their thoughts.








1. Recently we've seen where All Star Sprint Association chief Guy Webb has said that the operation is currently running on 65% of last years sponsor revenue and some point fund money has not been paid or has been delayed speaking directly to Mike Heffner who basically had to work out an arrangement to get 2013's funds.  Penn Live Article- ASCoC Sprints That has happened before unfortunately in all divisions and all sanctions to varying degrees over the years, but when those two facts are coupled together, it does make one wonder. First. how concerned are you about the future of the All Stars and secondly, what would you do to help make the series viable and attractive to new sponsors?




I am concerned for the future of the All Stars. Not only due the financial concerns of the series but also due to the seemingly lack of interest by teams to follow the tour. Teams in Central PA and Ohio don't have to travel to get a decent payday. Smaller teams can't afford to travel to South Dakota for a race. I feel to keep the series viable and attract sponsors and teams, is to cut the schedule back to 25-30 races and stay where the cars are. Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, even a trip to Michigan. Lower sanction fees to get interest from tracks in those states that don't normally run Sprints, but have cars in the area to pull from.-Pat Miller

The All Stars would get a better following if they made the Florida Speedweek an East Regional title only and not for National Points. They need to realize what they are, a PA/OH series. Like Pat said they lose teams because they schedule races in South Dakota and Minnesota. Despite scheduling those tracks they do have a pretty good following this year with Haud, Blaney, Shaffer, Holtgraver and Kemenah leading the way. If they ran in OH, PA, maybe NY, MI and IN only I think they'd get a few more full time teams.- Jerin Steele

This bad press leads me to believe the All-Stars are in trouble for future seasons. This will probably result in the series re-defining itself next season with either a condensed schedule or maybe fewer races with increased purses and lesser travel times to attract more full-time drivers. Ohio Sprint Speedweek should remain a staple and as was discussed  above, the schedule should be focused on OH and PA. - Trever Steele



2. Keeping with sprints. It looks as if the top 4 have broken away a bit in the World of Outlaw standings as of now. And Daryn Pittman is in the middle of a surreal hot streak as we speak, yet only leads by a handful of points. We all know that Donny Schatz gets hotter as the season goes along, and Pittman stayed consistent and paced the way last year, but at this time do you feel that Saldana and McMahan will be able to keep up the same level over the course of the remaining schedule, and which one do you feel poses the biggest threat to Pittman and Schatz?



Pittman and KKR are so dominate this season. As I type this he has just put together four wins in a row, including two at the Grove. Even for how good Donny and company are during the summer, I think he's going to have a hard time keeping up. I must say I'm interested to see if Saldana can keep dominating qualifying. I want to see him put more wins together, and then I'd say he's a title contender. Still a long way to go.-Pat Miller

It is great for sprint car racing to see these four teams be as competitive as they have been this year. Four way points battles haven't happened too much in the World of Outlaws. Donny Schatz won't go away as obviously his track record shows when the purses increase in the summer he and his team step their game up. Pittman though has been outstanding. Some people had questions about that first title win last year (qualifying giving him a big points advantage etc) and he has answered them with his performance this year. McMahan and Saldana aren't going anywhere either. It should fun to follow all year long. - Jerin Steele

It's one of the most grueling schedules in all of motorsports, and with so many races it's no surprise that the champion often runs away with the title. However, this year it seems like the format will allow Pittman, Saldana, Schatz and McMahan all to have a reasonable shot at the title heading into the summer events. But in the end, I think that it will be Schatz and Pittman that prevails to battle for the title down the final stretch run.  I think that it will be hard for Saldana to continue rattling off quick times in time trials, but I do see him as the biggest threat to overtaking Schatz or Pittman for the title. - Trever Steele







3. Let's talk some late models for a minute. With Josh Richards sitting out this season and Darrell Lanigan in absolute command of the points, What will you be watching out for from the rest of the gang, what will keep your interest piqued? It seems like the most anti climactic WoO LM season in recent memory.





Lanigan is almost assuredly going to win the points this season, but that doesn't mean the series can't be interesting. McCreadie is turning up the heat and getting more comfortable in the Rockets. Eckert hasn't quite gotten used to the Rocket house car yet. Chub is looking better than he has in a few years. The ROTY race is pretty interesting. The Firecracker should be pretty interesting this year with what should be a stronger local/regional presence with less "national" stars showing up due to the NDRL race down south and no Bloomer or Richards.-Josh Bayko

Josh is right, Lanigan is pretty much a lock for the title. They also have to deal with the fact that their two crown jewel events The Firecracker and The USA Nationals were scheduled against by another sanction for the first time. Let's face it those races will not have as good of fields this summer. That doesn't mean the racing won't be good though. Like Josh said there may be a bigger regional presence, but I think the fact that it is a three day race weekend keeps some of those regional teams away. - Jerin Steele

 I think the story of the rest of the season will be if Rick Eckert can find a way to get some wins in the Rocket House Car and challenge Lanigan for the title.  Also, it will be interesting to see how the regional drivers stack up against the Outlaws at the major races like the Firecracker and USA Nationals. Only 12 Amains have been completed so far, I think its still a bit early to call it anti-climatic, there are still roughly 30 races left. - Trever Steele






4. Locally there are two subjects to broach concerning late models. First, Dog Hollow actually pulled off by all accounts, a successful Sunday rain date this past weekend. As of right now they're still running Friday nights, but could it be possible that it could be one area option for a Sunday only track down the road at some point and be viable to the tune of not going out of business? The place has endured some sharp criticism over the years (mostly deserved) but could this particular ownership group turn it around?


Obviously it's early on for the new management, but from a few of the racers and crew I know, I've heard positive things. Opening night they were registering cars until 7:30, and even ran out of food, but I really don't think they knew what to expect. This past weekend neither was an issue. Some of the positive things I've heard were that the new clay was providing a great racing surface and not a lot of dust, the pits were leveled out, and the grandstands were fixed up. I was kind of surprised they didn't actually schedule some Sunday nights, I know in the past they've had success with Late Model and Sprint specials. I hope they consider running more Sunday's being that there aren't a lot of tracks in the area taking that chance. I'm willing to give any racetrack a chance, I know what it was like before. Hopefully these guys actually listen to the racers and fans.-Pat Miller

They should absolutely switch to Sunday late afternoon/evenings as their regular night. They will always be playing third fiddle on Friday nights behind Lernerville and Bedford, and that will be reflected some in car counts, but more in fan counts as the season wears on. If they really want to maximize earnings potential, they could run Sundays and pull fans and a few cars from both tracks.-Josh Bayko

It's always good to hear of tracks reopening, especially a track that cut its season short the prior season. I was surprised to hear that the new management decided to make up the Friday rainout last Sunday. I'm not sure if its viable option to move to strictly Sunday racing, but I could see them scheduling some more specials on Sundays in the future. By the sounds of it, the new management is going in the right direction and they certaintly have the potential to make Dog Hollow successful again. - Trever Steele


5. And secondly, Stateline Speedway will be back open and operating again later on this summer, although we're not sure exactly what they have planned yet, but what does it's opening mean potentially to the NY/PA border late model scene. Should they try Friday and leave McKean with the Saturday dates? It seems like a lot of work and investment to get the place back up to par, will it be worth it?




I wish them the best up at Stateline and all... but the northern tier has a hard time supporting two super late model tracks, let alone three. Fridays are especially tough up that, as evidenced by the decline of Raceway 7 and the abject failure that was the last version of Tri City. Stateline would have just as much issue. The best thing for Stateline would be a specials only format, and bring in a bunch of different specials. Bring in the WoO late models or sprints. Bring in the SDS. Give USAC a ring and see if you can get in on the Eastern Storm next year. The NDRL KoD could be an option. So could the Lucas Oil series. Any of those are sure to bring in the fans in droves.-Josh Bayko







6. We don't condone fighting at the track, let's just understand that right now! But......from time to time, disagreements occur and fisticuffs prevail, this is human nature and has been a part of racing since it's inception. But tell us. what was the most memorable dirt track pit fight you ever saw, oh and it can't be one that you actually incited! Seriously, what's a pit disagreement that you've witnessed that you'll never forget?




This is a tough one. I've been around more shouting matches than actual brawls. It never seemed to guys in the "premier" classes either, it was always the guys racing for a cold pizza and a warm 6-pack. Guess it just goes to show you the passion of racers and crews at all levels.-Pat Miller

I've seen more fan fights over the years than racer fights. The closest thing I ever saw to a fight in the pits was a night at a paved Flemington in 94' or so. Asphalt modified star Pete Brittian was running late models at the time. He started dead last in the feature and won, hitting literally ever car on his way to the front. When he pulled into the pits, dudes were trying to punch him in the car. Pete got out of the car and it was quickly broken up. After everything died down, Pete just laughed about it. Pete was a funny, funny guy.-Josh Bayko







7. Lastly, the DIRTcar 358 Modified series opened up this past weekend to lukewarm car counts in Cornwall and Merrittville, and not much in the way of star power. The Canadian participation has always been good, but the tour itself just doesn't have much in the way of American support. Is this series in trouble? What can be done to save it, and lastly, should it be saved or re-introduced/repackaged altogether?




I don't think there should be big block modified and small block modifieds anymore. I think there should be modifieds that utilize the super late model engine rule of anything goes, and sportsman class that is crate motivated. Yes, I know, eventually all modifieds would be powered by an aluminum 430 built by Cornett or Clements or whatever, but you wouldn't have to worry about having different weights and different chassis for different engine combinations. Then you combine what is the 358 series and big block SDS into one bigger tour and combine point funds.-Josh Bayko 


And that'll do it for this edition of TDN Roundtable. We'll be at Lernerville and Mercer this weekend for Fab Four Friday and BOSS Wingless Sprint action on Saturday. Have a great memorial day weekend everyone and remember to honor the great veterans who sacrificed for our freedoms. To all you vets out there we say THANK YOU, for keeping us FREE!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

National Winged Sprint Car Rankings - Round 2

I'm back! A lot has happened in the last two weeks since "Round 1" was released. A lot of rain that is... But we did get some racing in albeit with a threat of unfavorable weather every night.

With that said, let's take a look at this week's Top 10 in the national 410 sprint car driver rankings. Daryn Pittman vaulted from no. 5 to the top spot. His 4 consecutive wins and an additional podium finish speak for themselves as to why he is currently the hottest driver in the nation.

Brian Brown lead the charge to the top by moving from the "unranked" category into the no. 2 slot! Stevie Smith was quick to follow, moving the whole way up to no. 3 on the board.

Overall, 5 of the 10 drivers made their way into the rankings for the first time this year.

1. Daryn Pittman
Four straight wins on the World of Outlaws tour is no small task. The reigning champion made it happen and will look to continue his streak Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

LW: 5 (+4)






2. Brian Brown
Brown struggled when he went out west with the WoO but has since returned closer to home to dominate his "home track". Brian Brown has won back to back shows at Knoxville. Look for him to challenge for the top spot if he keeps running this strongly.

LW: Unranked






3. Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith showed that he can still compete - and win - against the stiffest competition in the country. After topping the 48 car field at Lincoln Speedway for his first WoO win in years, he continued to impress with back to back top 5 finishes with with World of Outlaws at Williams Grove.

LW: Unranked







4. Joey Saldana
If it wasn't for Pittman winning every race that he has entered over the past week, we'd be talking about how strong Saldana has been running in just his second year with Motter Motorsports. Joey Saldana has five top 5 finishes in the past two weeks, including 3 runner-up finishes.

LW: 1 (-3)






5. Donny Schatz
The five-time World of Outlaw champion has run phenomenally of late. He has finished in the top 6 in his last six start, due in part to him timing in quicker than we're accustomed to. Though Schatz has ran tough, he hasn't made any headway on Pittman or Saldana who have been running just a little better.

LW: 3 (-2)







6. Paul McMahan
With only two finishes outside of the top 7 since our last ranking, McMahan has maintained a mid-level spot this week. His impressive qualifying has balanced out the fact that he hasn't "wow-ed" us as of late.

LW: 2 (-4)






7. David Gravel
A win and a runner-up finish in World of Outlaws action keep the Connecticut native in this week's rankings. He's walking on eggshells, balancing on the line of falling out based on his recent inconsistency.

LW: 4 (-3)







8. Jac Haudenschild
Haudenschild's first 410 sprint car win came recently in ASCoC action at Mercer Raceway Park, coming just one night after a runner-up finish with the All Stars at Lernerville. Haudenschild also recorded a top 5 with the World of Outlaws at Lincoln and another runner-up finish at Roaring Knob.

LW: Unranked






9. Kyle Hirst
The second Roth Motorsports car in the rankings comes in at #9. Kyle Hirst is an up-and-coming star that will be opening eyes in the coming years. His most recent win came with the King of the West 410 series at Thunderbowl Raceway.

LW: Unranked






10. Dave Blaney
It's understood that Dave Blaney hasn't been able to run sprint cars much in recent years. This year he has broken out the car more often and the rust has been shaken off. Following a 6th place run at Williams Grove with World of Outlaws, he fought off Jac Haudenschild and Mike Wagner at Roaring Knob to pick up $3,500.

LW: Unranked




Falling out of the rankings:

  • Shane Stewart (LW: 6)
  • Terry McCarl (LW: 7)
  • Rico Abreu (LW: 8)
  • Greg Hodnett (LW: 9)
  • Dale Blaney (LW: 10)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Western Pennsylvania Super Late Model Power Poll: Week 3


So yeah, I know, I said there would be up every Monday evening and it's actually Tuesday morning. Let me explain myself on this one. Yesterday was my wife and I's wedding anniversary, and I took her out to dinner. Plus it was our first night out alone after the birth of our baby girl 3 months ago. I wasn't going to put a damper on all of that by diverting my attention to dirt late models. I would have caught a bunch of shit over it, and frankly, some things are more important than racing.

That said, there wasn't a whole of shaking up this weekend. Marion Center, PPMS, McKean County and America's Motorsports Park all rained out, and Racing for Hero's Speedway doesn't start their season until next week. That left Lernerville, Bedford, Roaring Knob, Eriez and Dog Hollow (who utilized a Sunday raindate for their program after raining out Friday. By all accounts it was rather successful. Maybe a move to Sunday evenings would be a good move for them instead of competing with Lernerville and Bedford for cars, they'd only have to compete with Eriez, and those Eriez regulars rarely come south to race anyways).

Anyways, without much further adieu, lets get to some rankings.

1. Mike Blose, 12 points: Mike vaults to the top of these rankings despite only running once this weekend, out at Dog Hollow. He finished second, yet another top five at a scoring track. In fact, every week of these rankings he's finished in the top 3 wherever he runs. For a guy who threatens retirement every year, he's certainly not showing the kind of results that show he isn't lving racing so much anymore.

2. Clate Copeman, 9 points: Clate didn't finish in the top 5 at the only scoring track he ran this week, but his previous results keep him right near the top of these rankings.

2. Russ King, 9 points: Russ only ran one scoring track this weekend, Lernerville, but came home with the win, backing up his second from two weeks ago. He's started the season very hot, and looks to be in the mix for the late model championship at Lernerville. It makes me think he should have ran there weekly right off the bat in late models instead of venturing out on the road with the WoO, but that's a different story.

3. Alex Ferree, 8 points: Alex came home third this past week at Lernerville to back up his win from two weeks ago to keep him near the rankings too. The season long points battle at Lernerville between Alex and Russ King is going to be fun to watch for sure.

 3. Mike Knight, 8 points: The always competitive Knight picked up the win at Eriez backing up his third from last week to stay within shot of the lead.  I look for the points battle at Eriez bewtween Mike and Robbie Blair to be a lot of fun as the season goes on too.

3. Brandon Delano, 8 points: Brandon stays near the top of these rankings too, despite not scoring a top 5 any scoring track this week.

3. Rob Blair, 8 points: Rob ran third this week up at Eriez to remain tied for third on this poll. As I said last week, up in the "northern tier" Rob has to be the favorite just about every week at both Eriez and McKean. This week was no different than previous weeks as he was right in the mix, but ultimately got third.

8. Darrell Bossard, 8 points: Darrell Backs up his third last week at Eriez with a second at the very same place. Gotta think with great results like that that a win is eminent. That would be cool, as he's afairly low budgeted racer and I always like to see those guys win.

4. Chris Hackett, 7 points: Chris finished outside the scoring positions this week, but previous weeks have kept him near the top of the rankings. I'd bet the returns to the top 5 at both Eriez and McKean soon. He's always fast at those places.

5. Tim Senic, 6 points: Tim brought home another third to double his point total for the year. He's always fast at "The Knob" (and Elkins too, but that doesn't count for these rankings, because it's in West Virginia), so it should be no surprise he was in the mix.

Well that's it for this week. I'll be back to Monday evenings as usual next week.



Monday, May 19, 2014

Pittman Three-Peats, Wins Driver of the Week; Stevie Smith, McCreadie, Ferguson get Honorable Mentions

Pittman powers his Great Clips #9 around Volusia Speedway Park.

The reigning World of Outlaws champion started off a little slow this season, compared to last year's mark, but turned up the heat this past weekend. Daryn Pittman earned our "Driver of the Week" award for his stellar performance in all four WoO events over the past week. Not only did he claim three wins (Lincoln, Williams Grove [2]) and a third place finish in his last four starts, he did against the toughest drivers in the country, A.K.A. the "Pennsylvania Posse". The premier dirt series averaged just under 40 cars per event during the streak, peaking at 48 when the Greatest Show on Dirt visited the Pigeon Hills at Lincoln Speedway. As if the wins and prize monies weren't enough of a reward, Pittman reclaimed the lead in the series points standings from the stiff competition that he'll race against all season long.


Honorable Mentions:
Stevie Smith:
Whether you argue that he's Pennsylvania-born or Oklahoma-bred, there's no questioning that Stevie Smith can still get the job done. After struggles in recent years as part of the CJB Motorsports brigade, Smith, who now hails from Broken Arrow, Okla., teamed up with former CJB Motorsports driver turned car owner Fred Rahmer for the 2014 season. The duo didn't take long to mesh - Stevie Smith piloted one of Rahmer's machines last week to a World of Outlaws win at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA, earning him one of this week's honorable mentions.



Tim McCreadie:
To say that McCreadie struggled last season and early on in 2013 would be an understatement. The Watertown, NY native ended his long drought with the World of Outlaws Late Models Series Friday night when he captured the $10,000 first place prize at 201 Speedway in Sitka, KY. It was his first win since August of last year, which happened to be the $50,000 special at Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. Though it's McCreadie's 26th career win with the series, managing his way off the struggle-bus and into the national spotlight is what earns him an honorable mention for the week.


Chris Ferguson:
"Fergy's" monster win in the $10,000 to win Ultimate-sanctioned late model race at Virginia Motor Speedway ahead of a star-studded field allows Ferguson to garner one of our Honorable Mention awards. Early in the race Ferguson took the lead from rising star Gregg Satterlee and then managed to hold off a furious charge from the Satterlee racing machine at the end of the race to get the victory. Ferguson said that the win may be the biggest of his career to date.



Races to keep an eye on this weekend:

  • WoO Sprints at New Egypt, The Dirt Track at Charlotte
  • All Star Sprint doubleheader at Fremont
  • WoO Late Models doubleheader at Tyler County
  • Three State Flyers late models at Bedford, Winchester, Potomac
  • Lucas Oil "Show-Me 100" at Lucas Oil Speedway
  • Big Block Super Series at Thunder Mountain
  • USAC Sprints at Terre Haute

Previous TDN 'Driver of the Week' Winners:

Week 10 (5/5-5/11): Christopher Bell
Week 9 (4/28-5/4): Shane Stewart
Week 8 (4/21-4/27): Shannon Babb
Week 7 (4/14-4/20): Bobby Pierce
Week 6 (4/7-4/13): Jonathan Davenport
Week 5 (3/31-4/6): Dale Blaney
Week 4 (3/24-3/30): David Gravel
Week 3 (3/17-3/23): Kyle Strickler
Week 2 (3/10-3/16): Rico Abreu
Week 1 (3/3-3/9): Chris Madden

Lightning on the Mountain; Bachetti Brings Point Lead Into 2nd Leg of Short Track Super Series


 

 

Andy Bachetti will bring a five point lead into tomorrow's "Lightning on the Mountain" Short Track Super Series/NDRL modified clash. And he'll be looking to increase that margin at a facility he's never seen before.



Bachetti and several other notables including Stew Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Ryan Watt, Jerry Higbie, Doug Manmiller and current 2nd place driver Tim Hindley have not one lap turned at the central, NY facility which officially re-opened after a seven year dark period this year. And while those drivers are formidable enough, experience might be the key to winning on the 3/8 mile.

For those who've never had the opportunity to see the place, here's a video of a special event from last year:

Full Length Thunder Mountain Video


This is the 2nd leg of the series that features the added dimensions of sail panels, open tires, and enough contingencies and prize money to draw drivers from over six states and two Canadian provinces for a weeknight special.

But it's hardly just a special! This is a tour race for the first year STSS, and there's more than enough reasons to go if you're a fan and have the time! The scenery is fantastic, the place is incredibly racy and the $20 ticket price is amazing for the quality of competitors you'll be seeing.

We could be looking at 40-60 cars at the very least and possibly more battling for a total of over $30,000 ($5,000 to win- $500 to start).


Of course there's the usual suspects expected to show, but the caveat here is that for a mid week show there'll be a few drivers from almost all areas of the modified geography, Niagara Frontier, Central NY, Southern Tier, Capital District, 358 PA Territory and others. So most fans will have a "dog in the fight" from their home tracks to cheer on.

What to expect? We really have no way of knowing, and that lends a good bit of intrigue to the event. This could be won by a Sheppard, Friesen, Hearn (yes, we hear he'll be there), or just as easily by a Ryan Watt, Brian Weaver, or Mike Mahaney who's been having a good start to 2014.




WHAT: "Lightning on the Mountain" Round 2 of the Inaugural Short Track Super Series/NDRL Modifieds; $1,000 to win "Open" Sportsman vs 602 Sportsman also on the card.

WHERE: Thunder Mountain Speedway. Thunder Mountain Speedway Directions

WHEN: Tuesday May 20th. Gates open at 4 PM, Hot Laps at 6:40 PM, Racing at 7:15 PM

TICKETS: General Admission $20; $18 for seniors; $15 for students; Kids under 9/Free; $35 pits

Follow along on twitter for live updates: @DTDMike (Mike Mallet)

PURSE:

Thunder Mountain Speedway ‘Lightning on the Mountain’ NDRL Short Track Super Series Fueled By VP Modified Payout (50 Laps): 1. $5,100; 2. $3,250; 3. $2,250; 4. $1,800; 5. $1,500; 6. $1,350; 7. $1,200; 8. $1,100; 9. $1,050; 10. $1,000; 11. $700; 12. $650; 13. $600; 14. $550; 15. $525; 16. $515; 17. $510; 18. $505; 19-Last: $500



Helpful Sites:
Lightning on the Mountain Main Page- Brett Deyo Motorsports

Thunder Mountain Speedway Main Site



Bold Predictions:

This one's hard to peg. Might be a struggle for the usual suspects, and there's so many good drivers that can get it done.

1. Matt Sheppard will learn quick, but not quick enough to take the checkered.
2. Anthony Perrego continues his progression with a great performance
3. At the end of the day...Billy Decker snags the win
4. Some guys that made the show at OFCS don't even come close to qualifying here