Rick’s Racing Roundup: Blose, Surra, Frantz, Waltman Win at Thunder Mountain


Another rainy Friday meant frustration for Lernerville Speedway along with their racers and fans.

(Photo: Stock car veteran Rusty Moore returned to victory lane at Sharon Speedway over the weekend. Photo by Rick Rarer)

For the third consecutive week, racing would be canceled due to rain at the Sarver oval. Up the road in Brookville, Thunder Mountain Speedway had Mother Nature on its side as it was able to dodge the rain and complete racing action Friday.

Late model veteran Mike Blose returned to victory lane Friday besting a strong field of 21 late models for the win. “The Luthersburg Laser” scored his first Thunder Mountain Speedway win in street stock competition. Other winners included; Doug Surra (semi-late), Josh Frantz (FWD), and Rich Waltman Jr (pure stocks). Another regular five division racing program is on tap this Friday at Thunder Mountain.

A big crowd turned out Saturday night at Sharon Speedway as the sprint cars returned for the Simon Yoder Memorial.

For the second consecutive Saturday, Danny Holtgraver visited victory lane in his familiar D4. After scoring his first win of the season last Saturday at Mercer, Holtgraver continued his hot streak by dominating the 30-lap affair at Sharon and besting former NASCAR racer Dave Blaney who followed Holtgraver across the line.

Rusty Moore returned to victory lane for the first time in almost two years and it was a good night to do so. The New Castle driver bested a field of thirty stock cars and took home $700 for the win. Regular racing resumes this Saturday at Sharon Speedway along with Twin-State Auto Racing Club Night with free general admission for club members.

With the sprint cars featured at Sharon, the big block modifieds headed to Mercer Raceway Park to take on the track’s 358 modified regulars in the “Smackdown”.

To say Erick Rudolph has been impressive would be an understatement. The New York driver has dominated the BRP Modified Tour this season. Coming into Saturday’s race he had won five consecutive series events.
Saturday night Rudolph would make it six in a row by besting a strong field of 36 modifieds. Two of the area’s hottest modified drivers rounded out the podium as Rex King Jr and Jeremiah Shingledecker followed Rudolph across the line at the finish.

This Saturday at Mercer Raceway the sprint cars will return to headline the show once again.

For the first time ever the FAST Series from Ohio will invade the Mercer oval. The FAST series competes primarily at Attica Raceway Park and Fremont Speedway and will bring their tough local regulars to do battle with the Mercer regulars. The FAST Series 305s will also be on hand making for a FAST double header.

The biggest dirt track event of the year unfolded over the weekend in Knoxville, Iowa, where the 57th annual Knoxville Nationals took center stage.

NASCAR star Kyle Larson gave fans something to cheer about as he narrowly defeated World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz with a final lap pass in his first ever Knoxville Nationals.

Schatz would not be denied though as he held on for his tenth Knoxville Nationals title.

It wasn’t a bad week for Larson though.

After winning Wednesday’s preliminary feature at Knoxville and his runner up performance Saturday, he headed for Michigan International Speedway Sunday where he scored his third NASCAR victory of 2017 during the Pure Michigan 400.

For the current World of Outlaws point leader Donny Schatz, Saturday continued his hot streak during the month of money.

His victories include a $50,000 win during the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway. He then backed that up with a $25,000 score at Lernerville Speedway during the Don Martin Memorial/Silver Cup. Saturday he capped it off with the $150,000 Knoxville Nationals check!

There is plenty of racing on the schedule this coming Sunday as action returns to Tri-City Raceway for the Summer Showdown featuring the 410 sprint cars. Joining the sprint cars in their final appearance of the year will be the RUSH late models for their manufactures night. The UEMS e-mods and pro stocks will round out the card with racing scheduled for 6:00. It will also be Twin State Auto Club Night and the show does carry a Sept. 3 rain date if needed.

Sprint Cars return to Tri-City Raceway this Sunday for their final appearance of 2017. Photo by Rick Rarer

Sprint Cars return to Tri-City Raceway this Sunday for their final appearance of 2017. Photo by Rick Rarer

The World of Outlaws late model series will spend the weekend in Pennsylvania and will invade Eriez Speedway on Sunday evening. Saturday they will be at Port Royal Speedway in Central Pennsylvania and will make their final starts in the Keystone State next weekend with stops at Selinsgrove Speedway and Lernerville Speedway.

Get well wishes go out to local racer Jack Sodeman Jr. Jack was transported to the hospital for further observation on possible back fractures after being involved in a wreck during the sprint car feature at Sharon Speedway Saturday night.

Rick’s Racing Roundup is brought to you by:

Bauer Truck Repair
Dagny Design Group
Redbank Chevrolet
Red Bandana Winery
Prime Choice Wireless
Allegheny Grille

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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