Rick’s Racing Roundup: Racing Action was Fast and Furious with Plenty of Champions Crowned


The final weekend of area racing before Labor Day found plenty of action and several champions crowned.

(Photo: Andrew Gordon picked up another big win at Hummingbird Speedway Saturday. Photo by Penny Kay)

At Lernerville Speedway, four of the 2018 track champions were parked in victory lane at the end of the night.

AJ Flick held off Dale Blaney, who was fast once again, for his fifth win of the season and second consecutive sprint car championship. Michael Norris continued his banner season at the Sarver oval with his eighth super late model win and second championship in a row.

Brian Swartzlander’s second win of the season was hard fought, as he battled defending track champion Mat Williamson for the lead before going on to win his second feature of the season and wrap up another track championship to add to his Hall of Fame career.

Ryan Moyer closed out the final Fab 4 racing program of the season with a thrilling win after battling with Tyler Dietz. For Moyer the win was his first of the season. Corey McPherson finished fourth securing another stock car track championship.

This Friday Lernerville will present the first-ever Sprint Car Spectacular which will feature four divisions of sprint cars along with the RUSH modifieds. Headlining the card will be the 410 sprint cars along with the RUSH wingless sprint cars, 305 RaceSaver sprints, and the 270 micro sprints.

After a pair of rainouts, racing returned to Hummingbird Speedway this past Saturday with a pair of specials on the card. The twice rained out semi late special went to Nick Erskine while Andrew Gordon was the big winner of the Ina Memorial Street Stock Shootout. Other winners Saturday included Paul Kot in the late models, Mike Anderson in the pure stocks, and John Campisano scored another win in the 4-cylinder class.

During Saturday’s program, which honored the late Ina Caltagarone, a fundraiser was held which saw fans, drivers, and local business combine to raise nearly$2,000 for the Walk for Speech Apraxia.

This Saturday Hummingbird will present the track’s season championship. It will be the final night of points and will decide the track champions.

This Friday the Modified Tour will invade Thunder Mountain Speedway bringing the area’s top modifieds to the Brookville oval for their only appearance of the season. The Kings will lead the way with point leader Rex King Jr. and Rex King Sr., who currently sits second in series points going into the final race of the season. Dave Murdick sits a close third in the points and will also be looking for the Modified Tour championship going into Friday. Jeremiah Shingledecker was the most reason Mod Tour winner where here took home $2,000 this past Saturday at Sharon Speedway.

The Mod Tour invades Thunder Mountain Speedway this Friday to decide their series champion. Photo by Rick Rarer

The Mod Tour invades Thunder Mountain Speedway this Friday to decide their series champion. Photo by Rick Rarer

It was an interesting week for former Lernerville track champion Carl Bowser.

The Sarver driver has spent 2018 following the All-Star Circuit of Champions driving the Chaippelli 98 sprint car. After nearly two seasons in the 98 sprint car, Bowser vacated the seat leaving his plans for the rest of the season up in the air. Bowser didn’t keep his fans in the dark long as he bought a motor Thursday, borrowed a trailer on Friday, and then headed to Pittsburgh Motor Speedway Saturday where he proceeded to win the feature in his all-black No. 11 sprinter.

One of the biggest late model races of the season was completed over the weekend at Mansfield Speedway in Ohio. The track known for its high profile races presented the first ever “Dirt Million” which brought out nearly 80 cars. The big winner was Earl Pearson Jr. who took home over $200,000 with the win! Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa. was third place in the main event while local racer Max Blair managed a respectable 10th-place finish.

Rick’s Racing Roundup is brought to you by:

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Allegheny Grille
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Dagny Design Group
Redbank Chevrolet
Zacherl Motors

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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