The hottest weekend of the year brought scorching temperatures and plenty of racing action at local Speedways.
(Greg Oakes had a great weekend winning at Thunder Mountain on Friday and McKean County on Saturday. Photo by Penny Kay.)
At Lernerville Speedway the pits were full of sprint cars for a sprint car tripleheader. The BOSS sprint series made their annual visit to the Sarver oval with thirty-two entries signed in. Defending track champion AJ Flick looked to be on his way to his second consecutive BOSS win until a broken shock ended his great run. New York invader Coleman Gulick would then hold off all challengers to record his first ever BOSS victory.
Local racers Will Fleming and Kyle Colwell battle for the lead at Lernerville Speedway Friday. Photo by Rick Rarer.
There were no dull moments during the 305 racesavers feature along with a little drama at the end. In a field made up of many central Pennsylvania racers, two local racers were at the front battling for the lead. Will Fleming of Brookville and Kyle Colwell of Knox went wheel to wheel with Colwell taking command of the race. Colwell looked to have the race in hand but a broken torsion arm ended his great run relinquishing the lead back to Fleming, who would lead the final laps. As fans waited for Fleming to park in victory lane they would learn he was light at the scales and disqualified handing the win to Greg Dobrosky Kittanning.
In the RUSH wingless sprints, the series’ top winner Chad Ruhlman continued his winning ways. In his first visit to Lernerville Speedway this season he would start up front and dominate the fifteen lap feature for his fourth win of 2018. Saturday night he would make it five wins as he took home the honors at Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York during their open-wheel mania show. Fab 4 racing returns to Lernerville Speedway this Friday with the first race taking the green at 7:30 sharp.
After a week off Thunder Mountain Speedway returned to action this past Friday with their big one thousand dollar to win four-cylinder special. Chris Anderson would take the lead early and go on to score the big payday over Andy Proper and Kolton Wagner. Other winners included Greg Oakes who scored his first late model win of the season. Josh Fields was the stock car winner, Joe Martin won the semi-late feature, and Alan Dillinger would win the street stock feature. This Friday will be Race for a Cure night at Thunder Mountain featuring the UEMS late model series headlining the card.
It was another five division show at Hummingbird Speedway on Saturday where familiar faces visited victory lane. Clearfield racers Chris Farrell, Rich Howell, and Eric Luzier all returned to victory lane while with Doug Surra and Josh Fields also added to their win totals. This Saturday at Hummingbird it will be mid-season championship night. Drivers will receive double points and trophies for all divisions from the Salada family in memory of Jack Salada.
The 410 sprint cars returned to Sharon Speedway on Saturday with nearly thirty cars on hand featuring most all the local sprint car chauffeurs. The feature saw Sye Lynch back up his recent win at Tri-City with his second win of the season at the track he scored his first career win at last year. Both of Lynch’s Sharon wins have been worth three thousand dollars. Other winners Saturday included Jason Fosnaught in the stock car special, Garret Krummert in the RUSH modifieds, and Jacob Eucker in the Econo mod feature.
This Saturday Sharon Speedway will present one of their biggest events of the season as the track honors the late Lou Blaney. The legendary Ohio racer is regarded by many as the best-modified racer to ever take the track in northwest Pennsylvania and Ohio. The All-Star Circuit of Champions will be in action Saturday and be joined by the Big Block Modifieds. Blaney spent many years winning in both the sprint cars and modified but is best known for dominating the local modified ranks for decades.
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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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