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8-25-09 Last Friday night the 410 Sprint Cars made their third and final appearance at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Knoxdale Pennsylvania. This past Friday night served a make-up date for the originally scheduled show back on July 31st, which was cancelled due to rain. Questionable weather once again threatened the make-up date but fortunately the weather cleared and a packed house watched Dan Shetler take his second win of the season at Thunder Mountain.
 
With questionable weather in the forecast, the car count suffered with just ten teams making the tow to Thunder Mountain. Despite the low car count the racing was very good for the twenty-lap feature event. Gary Rankin and Dan Shetler brought the field to the feature green flag. Rankin got the early jump just before the caution flag flew without any laps being completed. The second restart did not fare as well for Rankin as he spun in front of the field to bring out the second caution flag causing a complete restart.
 
With Rankin spinning and restarting at the tail of the field, Ohio invader Troy Vaccaro moved up to the pole starting position for the third restart. Vaccaro quickly beat Shelter to turn one and grabbed the early lead. Vaccaro looked strong out front as he briefly put some distance over runner-up Shetler. Vaccaro held down the lead for the first five circuits before Shetler moved in to challenge for the lead. It took Shetler until lap six to snare the lead away from Vaccaro with a strong move on the low side of turns three and four. Shetler quickly pulled away from Vaccaro as he began to catch the tail end of the field.
 
Vaccaro saw his chance to reclaim the lead as Shetler tried to navigate his way past the slower cars of Sheila Rankin and Gale Ruth Sr. Vaccaro made one last ditch effort to get by Shetler but got caught behind Shelia Rankin which cost him a shot at the victory. Shetler was able to take advantage of lapped traffic to cruise to his second win of the season at Thunder Mountain, which was worth $1,000 for the native of Johnstown Pennsylvania.
 
Vaccaro settled for the second spot over Gale Ruth Jr, Chris Best, and Gary Rankin. Rounding out the top ten were Chuck Brion, Eric Williams, Gale Ruth Sr, Shelia Rankin, and Nate Stein. Best and Vaccaro split the two heat race victories. In other competition Scott Stein was the victor in the Super Stocks, Matt Gaston in the Steel Block Late Models, Ray Hickok in the Pure Stocks, and Jason Joiner in the Enduros. For more information on Thunder Mountain Speedway be sure to visit their website http://www.thundermountainspeedway.net
 
That does it for this week. Until next time the mailbox is open for your convenience at DSeeger@webtv.net
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8-19-09 Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the Midwest for the 49th running of the Knoxville Nationals presented by Super Clean. Every August the sleepy little town of Knoxville Iowa becomes a Mecca for Sprint Car fans from all over world to gather and watch the greatest spectacle in the sport at Marion County fairgrounds. As usual the Knoxville Raceway track crew had the spacious 1/2-mile in fantastic condition for the four night event which turned into five thanks to mother nature. When it was all said and done Donny Schatz recorded his fourth Knoxville Nationals title in a row proving why he is the best winged Sprint Car driver in the country.
 
Wednesday night preliminary action started off with a lengthy rain delay which saw hot laps getting under way at almost 11:30p.m. Needless to say for those who waited out the rain delay were treated to an awesome 25-lap feature event. ASCS 360 Sprint Car ace Jason Johnson quickly jumped out to an early lead when Doug Clark’s green flag flew over the Wednesday night feature. Johnson looked strong out front while current O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions point leader Tim Shaffer was working his way to the front. Shaffer grabbed the runner-up position and quickly closed on leader Johnson while working heavy lapped traffic.
 
Shaffer was able to work his way past Johnson to grab the lead as Craig Dollansky quickly turned the two car battle into a three car dance for the lead. Dollansky appeared to have the fastest car but while the Direct TV. sponsored No. 19 was going for the lead his luck soon went south as he clipped a lapped car and flipped ending his chance for victory. Shaffer took advantage of a clean race track to pull away from Johnson and record the $12,000 victory. Sam Hafertepe, Chad Kemenah, Lucas Wolfe, Danny Smith, Donny Schatz, Greg Wilson, Jack Dover, and Calvin Landis rounded out the top ten.
 
Thursday night the second half of the field took to Knoxville Raceway to try their luck at Nationals glory. Feature time found Knoxville regular Dusty Zomer taking the early lead. Zomer held healthy lead over the field as he began to catch the tail end of the field on lap ten. With traffic looming, San Jose California native Tim Kaeding was on the move. Kaeding went three wide with leader Zomer and a lapped car to steal the top spot as the trio came out of turn four to complete lap eleven. Kaeding worked traffic to perfection while Kraig Kinser took over the second spot but could not gain much ground on Kaeding’s Dennis Roth owned Beef Packers machine. The win was worth $12,000 for the jubilant Kaeding.
 
Following Tim across the line were K. Kinser, Joey Saldana, Stevie Smith, Tyler Walker, Terry McCarl, Zomer, Jason Solwold, Dale Blaney, and Brian Brown.
 
Friday night is the non-qualifiers program for all drivers who sit 61st through 100th in the Nationals point standing following the two qualifying night programs. Daryn Pittman was quick to use his front row starting position to take the early in the 20-lap feature event. Pittman led early while Brad Sweet closely followed in tow. Sweet who splits his time running select winged and non-winged events for Kasey Kahne racing was able to work his way past Pittman to grab the lead in lapped traffic. Although Pittman and Sweet battled for the lead, all eyes were on Sprint Car legend Sammy Swindell.
 
Swindell struggled badly on his qualifying night which forced him to the non-qualifiers portion of the Nationals. Swindell found himself starting 9th in the Friday night feature but the fans were treated to one of the most exciting charges to the front in quite some time for a Friday night non-qualifier feature. Swindell used a masterful drive to the front using slide job after slide job as he rim rode the famed 1/2-mile to perfection to take lead away from Sweet. Once in front Swindell pulled away for the $5,000 victory which netted him a standing ovation from the crowd. Sweet, Randy Hannagan, Pittman, Don Droud Jr, Lance Dewease, Cody Darrah, Lynton Jeffrey, Jason Sides, and Tony Bruce Jr completed the top ten.
 
In other Friday night action, the c-main scramble fell to Ryan Anderson, the b-main scramble went to Skip Jackson, and the a-main scramble fell to Donny Schatz. When all the final point tallies were in following Friday night action, Stevie Smith and Joey Saldana made up the front row for the Saturday night 40-lap $150,000 to Knoxville Nationals.
 
The Saturday night finale was upon us and unfortunately questionable weather was also in forecast for the Nationals finale. Despite a light rain the e-main kicked off Saturday night with Bill Rose taking the victory. Up next was the d-main which was interrupted by rain but eventually fell to Kaley Gharst. The c-main was up next which saw Wayne Johnson out duel Billy Alley for the victory. Just as the A-main cars were making their way to the track for a short hot-lap session heavy rain, lightning, and wind arrived. This rain was not ending anytime soon and forced the remaining two races (b-main and a-main) to be held off to Sunday night.
 
Unfortunately like many in attendance on Saturday night I was not able to stay for the finish on Sunday night. Jac Haudenschild led Jason Meyers, Danny Lasoski, and Jason Johnson as the top four finishers in the b-main. The 40-lap feature event was dominated early by Joey Saldana but after the mandated fuel stop sixth starting Donny Schatz worked his magic once again to steal the lead away from Saldana late in the race to grab his fourth consecutive Knoxville Nationals title. Only one other driver has won more than four Nationals in a row and that is Steve Kinser who has five in a row. If Schatz can win the 50th running of the Nationals in 2010 he will be tied with Kinser with five in a row. I think it is pretty safe to say that Donny has a strong chance of doing so. Saldana, Stevie Smith, Tim Kaeding, Shane Stewart, Kraig Kinser, Tim Shaffer, Dale Blaney, Craig Dollansky, and Haudenschild rounded out the top ten.
 
Well that does for another Nationals recap. Until next time the mailbox is always open at DSeeger@webtv.net

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8-3-09 Saturday night Port Royal Speedway hosted their third annual Dream Race Extreme. This year the Dream Race was a one day event with $15,000 going to the feature winner. Port Royal management have worked very hard getting the Dream Race to be a marquis event in Central Pennsylvania with many prizes going out to the local teams throughout the night. Every driver who qualified for the feature event received $1,000. The start money for the Dream is more then a World of Outlaws event pays to start. Great weather, a packed house, and a full pit area made the Dream Race another hit.
 
The 50-lap feature event lined up with Don Kreitz Jr and Adam Wilt on the front row. Kreitz quickly shot out to an early lead while Wilt settled into the second spot. Before Wilt could mount a challenge the red flag was displayed when a four car crash took out Trevor Lewis, Mike Erdley, Steve Buckwalter, and Doug Esh. Despite heavy damage to the cars of Lewis and Erdley all drivers walked away without injury. Kreitz again held the top spot when racing resumed as Wilt stayed glued to the tail tank of the 69K machine.
 
Wilt made several attempts to get past Kreitz but the veteran from Sinking Springs Pa. was able to keep the young gasser at bay. While Kreitz and Wilt dueled for top spot, a fierce battle for the third spot was being contested between Todd Shaffer and Cody Darrah. Both Shaffer and Darrah swapped the third spot on several occasions as they thrilled the crowd with numerous slide jobs around the ultra fast Juniata County 1/2-mile. Darrah eventually secured the position as he set his sights on the lead duo.
 
Darrah caught and passed Wilt on lap seventeen to grab the second spot just before Shaffer and ninth starting Greg Hodnett dropped Wilt to fifth one lap later. Traffic loomed ahead of leader Kreitz allowing Darrah to quickly close the gap. The battle for the lead came to a head as Darrah applied heavy pressure to Kreitz. It took the native of Red Lion Pa. until lap twenty-four to make his bid for the lead stick as he drove around Kreitz entering turn one. Darrah quickly pulled away as Shaffer dropped Kreitz to third on lap twenty-five.
 
The yellow flag waved on lap thirty-one erasing a near straightaway lead for Darrah when fifth running Stevie Smith lost a right rear tire ending his night. Darrah again pulled away on the start as Hodnett motored his way past Shaffer to take over the runner-up position. Shaffer found his solid run come to an end on lap thirty-six when he suffered a blown right rear retiring the Gary and Patty Bema owned No. 88 to the pits.
 
Darrah again showed his strength when racing resumed as he pulled away from defending Dream Race Extreme winner Hodnett. Darrah was on cruise control and headed for the victory before the features second red flag of the night appeared on lap thirty-eight for Jim Siegel. When racing resumed for the final time, Darrah was able to pull away from Hodnett once again as he sailed away to his second career feature win at the Port collecting his biggest pay day of his very young Sprint Car career. Hodnett settled for the second spot over Kreitz, Keith Kauffman, and Chad Layton.
 
Daryn Pittman, Mark Smith, Lance Dewease, Brian Montieth, and Wilt rounded out the top ten. Stevie Smith paced the 40-car field in qualifications with a lap of 16.367. Smith collected a cool $1,000 for the setting fastest lap of the night. Heat race victories went to Layton, Kreitz, Montieth, and Shaffer. The b-main victory fell to Cliff Brian.
 
Australian driver Brooke Tatnell was making his first start aboard the Pete Postupack owned No. 25 on Saturday night. Unfortunately Tatnell suffered a broken driveshaft during his qualifying lap which sent him to the hospital with multiple fractures to his leg. Tatnell was eventually transported to the Hershey Medical Center where he would undergo surgery on his leg. Tatnell made it through his operation just fine and is scheduled to fly home this week.
 
Hats off to the Port Royal track crew for preparing a great racing surface for the Dream Race. After many complaints from drivers and fans throughout the season over poor track conditions, the Port track crew worked diligently applying some new clay to the speedway and the fans were treated to tremendous action all night. Drivers such as Greg Hodnett, Keith Kauffman, and Fred Rahmer had no problem working through the pack throughout the forty lapper. Unfortunately for Rahmer his run from 17th starting spot ended on the last lap as he clipped the inside guard rail in turn one while trying to pass Don Kreitz Jr for the third spot.
 
Before I end this week I would like to thank all the teams, contributing sponsors, Sue Pontius and everyone at Port Royal Speedway for putting this event on. It is great to see a non-sanctioned event which gives back to all the local teams who race in Central Pennsylvania week in and week out. I am sure next season the Dream Race will once again be a must see event. Until next time the mailbox remains open at DSeeger@webtv.net

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7-27-09 This past week the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series invaded Pennsylvania with a stop at Lernerville Speedway for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup before heading off to Williams Grove Speedway to take on the Pennsylvania Posse on their home turf. With a new format this year of twin 30-lap features each paying the winner a cool $15,000 the Don Martin Memorial was by far the best race of the season to date that I have seen. Unfortunately my trip to Williams Grove Speedway on Saturday night for the Summer Nationals finale did not turn out as good as Lernerville due mother nature Some great action to report on so lets get started.
 
The Don Martin Memorial was put on hold for one night this year. The original Tuesday night date was rained out leaving Wednesday night as the make-up day for this prestigious event. The weather on Wednesday did not look very promising. A massive wall of rain that appeared to headed toward Lernerville all day made any chance of racing looked pretty bleak. Lernerville management and World of Outlaws officials held their ground all day as the rain got closer it seemed to come to a halt allowing the fans to fill the stands for this remarkable night of racing.
 
The first 30-lap feature event went green with World of Outlaw regulars Jason Sides and Danny Lasoski on the front row. Sides, who has been having an outstanding season with numerous top five and ten finishes jumped out to an early lead. Sides easily distanced himself from Lasoski throughout the early stages as he utilized the low line around the Sarver Pennsylvania oval to perfection. Lasoski who is known to many for his perfection of running the low line was quick to try his hand at running the high side while trying to chase down leader Sides.
 
It took Lasoski until lap twenty to reel in Sides and battle for the lead. Lasoski used the high side through turn one and two on lap twenty-one to rocket past Sides and claim the lead. Sides was not going down without a fight as he continued his pursuit of his first feature win of the season. Sides pulled along side Lasoski numerous times over the final nine laps but came up just short as Lasoski recorded his first career Lernerville Speedway feature win. The victory was worth $15,000 for Lasoski and the Casey General Stores teams.
 
Following Lasoski and Sides across the line were Steve Kinser, Tim Kaeding, and Tim Shaffer. Rounding out the top ten were Jason Meyers, Lance Dewease, Ed Lynch Jr, Sammy Swindell, and Donny Schatz. After the first feature event, the lead lap cars were being totally inverted to start the second 30-lap feature event. The total invert placed feature winner Lasoski in the 19th starting spot as nineteen cars remained on the lead lap after the first feature event was completed.
 
As if the racing could not of gotten any better after the first feature, the fans were treated to a thrilling battle throughout the second feature. The green flag for the second 30-lap feature fell over Kraig Kinser and Danny Smith. Smith quickly got the jump on Kinser to grab the early lead. Smith looked strong out front as seventh starting Stevie Smith was making his move toward the front of the pack. Smith world run seventh for thirteen laps before working his way past Terry McCarl. From there Smith set his sights on the top five who were running under a blanket through heavy lapped traffic.
 
Smith, who was working the low line of the speedway, chased down Craig Dollansky and Joey Saldana before Kraig Kinser spun to a stop by himself while running in the second spot. Smith was able to work past Dollansky and then Saldana to take third on lap twenty-one. Next up was second running Jac Haudenschild. Smith was able to clear Haudenschild with just five laps remaining and set his sights on leader Danny Smith who is no relation to Stevie.
 
It took Stevie just one lap to catch and pass Danny and grab the lead on the 26th circuit. The remaining four laps were indescribable as Haudenschild cleared Danny Smith to grab the second spot and close on the tail of leader Smith. The duo weaved through heavy traffic as they worked every inch of the four-tenths-mile Lernerville surface with Smith just squeaking out the victory at finish. The win was worth $15,000 for Stevie and the Zemco Speedway Equipment team. Haudenschild, Danny Smith, Dollansky, and Saldana rounded out the top five.
 
Terry McCarl, Danny Lasoski, Lance Dewease, Jason Meyers, and Donny Schatz filled out the top ten. With a victory in the first 30-lap feature combined with a charge from 19th to 7th in the second feature Danny Lasoski was crowned as the Don Martin Memorial champion. Heat race victories went to Tim Shaffer, Dewease, Kaeding, and Steve Kinser. The Crane Cams dash event went to Jason Sides. Terry McCarl won the b-main event while Sam Hafertepe took the c-main victory. Sides paced the 43-car field in qualifications with a lap of 12.812.
 
Hats off to both Lernerville Speedway and the World of Outlaws for running off a very quick and efficient show with threatening weather all around the area. It sure would be nice to see every show run off this quickly even when weather is not a factor. The World of Outlaws will return to Lernerville on Saturday night September 26th for the Common Wealth Clash. For more information on Lernerville Speedway be sure to visit the track website at http://www.lernerville.com
 
On Saturday night it was off to Williams Grove Speedway for the $20,000 to win Summer Nationals. After Greg Hodnett took night one of the Summer Nationals the faithful Pennsylvania Posse fans were geared up for night number two. After a lengthy rain delay the Williams Grove track crew worked wonders to get the speedway in great shape for qualifications. Just as time trials ended rain hit again forcing another rain delay.
 
The track crew again work diligently getting the track ran back in as the first of four heat races hit the track. In just 37-minutes, four heat races and the b-main were completed. Just as the Cranes Cams dash event was lining up rain struck yet again. This time it was not leaving. As the rain fell harder and harder track officials were forced to throw in the towel after a gallant effort to complete the show. The dash and 30-lap feature event will be made up on the first night of the National Open on Friday October 2nd.
 
Well that does it for this week. Coming up this weekend will be the Dream Race Extreme 3 at Port Royal Speedway this Saturday night. Until next time the mailbox is open for convenience at DSeeger@webtv.net