It’s been a long cold winter, but with warmer temps forecasted for this weekend, Tri-City Raceway will try to get the Western Pennsylvania racing season started Saturday.
(Photo by Rick Rarer)
The season was supposed to get underway this past Saturday but snow and cold forced the track to cancel early in the week. With a better forecast on the horizon, the track looks to open the season with “The Mudslinger” featuring the ULMS super late model series.
Joining the ULMS late models in their season opener will be the RUSH late models, e-mods, and stock cars. Racing is slated to get underway at 6:00 p.m. as the late models make their only appearance of the season. If the weather does not cooperate the event does carry a Sunday (April 15) rain date.
“The Mudslinger” is the first of five events scheduled at the Venango County oval this season, one event set for each month.
Top ULMS drivers last year included the likes of Max Blair, Greg Oakes, Jared Miley and defending champion Dave Hess Jr.
Racing will return to Tri-City in May when the big block modifieds headline the card for “Modified Mania on Mother’s Day”.
The final three shows of the season will be highlighted by the popular 410 sprint cars, and all shows will carry a rain date.
Fab 4 racing will be back for another season on Fridays at Lernerville Speedway. The Sarver oval is set to open their 2018 season on Friday, April 20, with racing scheduled for 7:30 p.m. sharp. Lernerville is still the only track in the country to feature the top three classes each week, Sprint Cars, Big Block Modifieds, and Late Models. Rounding out the card are the ultra-competitive pro stocks.
In preparation for opening night, Lernerville will have open practices this Wednesday, April 11, and Tuesday, April, 17.
New this year at Lernerville is the “Wednesday Night Can’t Wait for the Weekend Mayhem Series” presented by RK Virgile. The new series will debut on Wednesday, May 19, and be every third Wednesday of the month.
Highlighting the mid-week programs will be the new RUSH wingless sprint car series in their inaugural season. A separate $3,000 point fund will also be awarded to the sprints. Also on the card will be the four-cylinder stock cars and the Stiller Motorsports UTV/side by sides. The series will run through September 19, and general admission tickets will be sold for just $10.
The new RUSH wingless sprint car series will start its inaugural season April 20 at Lernerville Speedway. The series will compete in 27 events at 10 area tracks over the season. There are already nearly 20 confirmed drivers ready to do battle for the impressive season-long point fund worth over $20,000 presented by Scott Bonnell of Bonnell’s Collision. A few of the drivers confirmed for the series so far include Arnie Kent, Mike Lutz, Joe McEwen and Gale Ruth Jr.; all former winners in 410 sprint car competition.
After their season opener this Saturday at Tri-City Raceway the ULMS late models will head west to Thunder Mountain Speedway on Friday, April 27, for their second show of the season and open the season at the Brookville oval in a $3,000 to win show. Before the season lid-lifter at Thunder Mountain, they will host an open practice on Saturday, April 21.
Sharon Speedway will host an open practice this Saturday, April 14, and get their season underway the following Saturday with Steel Valley 50 featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Series in their only appearance of the season. Some of the best late model drivers in the country will be on hand for the $12,000 to win event.
Hummingbird Speedway has a pair of test and tune practices scheduled for April 21 and April 28 before opening their season on Saturday, May 5.
As of right now, there are no races scheduled at Mercer Raceway Park this season. The track is currently for sale. The annual truck and tractor pulls are scheduled for events in May and September, but as of now no racing events are on the card. This could change later in the season.
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About Rick
Rick Rarer, a Franklin resident, is the owner of Racestud.com and SprintCarNews.com. He has been covering racing for 18 years, taking racing photos for 13 years, and has covered races at over 100 tracks in 15 states. Most recently, Rick won the Bill Steinbach Media Award at the Lernerville Speedway Annual Awards Banquet.
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