The Tenth Annual Firecracker 100 Preview

So here we are exactly one week away from Christmas in June for super late model fans in Pennsylvania. It's the tenth annual Firecracker 100 for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. So  we here at TDN are give give you the skinny, in typical big race preview fashion. We'll answer the same six questions we always do for our big race previews, and top it off with some predictions.

Who?

Somewhere around 65 or so of the best late model racers in the nation. Expect to see all the World of Outlaws drivers, a handful of Lucas regulars, some of the nations independent touring drivers, all of Pennsylvania's best late model racers, and there's always a surprise or two that shows up. 

What?
Three nights of full racing programs, concerts after the races Thursday and Friday, and various activities around the track during the day. Thursday's and Friday's programs will consist of qualifying, heats, b-mains, and 30 lap features paying 6k to win. Saturday's program will consist of heats set up from the driver's best finishes in the previous night's action, b-mains, the Uncle Sam 30 for non qualifiers paying 3k to win, and the 30k to win 100 lap Firecracker 100. 

Where? 
Lernerville Speedway, located in Sarver, Pennsylvania on PA Rt. 356. Directions can be had here. 

When? 
Thursday, June 23rd, through Saturday June 25th. A full schedule of the weekend's activities can be found here.  

Why? 
 Why not? I mean, we all love super late model racing, right? 

How? 
You buy a ticket to the races, or bring your late model to sling a little mud. It's pretty easy, actually. Tickets can be bought here, or at the gate the day of the race.

Now that we got all that out of the way, let's get to some predictions. 


Who will win:

 

Josh Richards. He's very good at Lernerville, and has turned thouands of laps there over the years. With the incredible season he's having (he's entered something like 40 races, and finished on the podium in something like 32 or 33 of them), coming into what is more or less his home track, he really  has to be the favorite.


Who won't win:

 It's been a rough few years for Chub. He hasn't competed for a win in a really long time. I know, I know, he's got even more laps at Lernerville over the years than Richards, but he used to pop in once in a while for weekly shows and was basically guaranteed to be walking out with the big check. He doesn't even do that anymore. And this year, he'll be in a different brand chassis for the third time in 4 years. That's not a recipe for success. 


Who could shock the world:

 Alex Ferree is the defending Lernerville champ yet again. He's Lernerville's resident badass. He had a rather workmanlike start to the season, but has come alive recently and won on consecutive weeks. I admit he's got a bit of a problem keeping tires under him sometimes, and that could be a hinderance in a 100 lap race, but I have seen him keep tires under a car that long before, albeit at PPMS. He's matured a bunch as a driver in the last few years and I believe if he can manage to qualify well, he could absolutely be in the mix come Saturday night. 

And that's it for our preview. Hope to see you all of you at the races next week.