Despite the unseasonably cold weather the Western Pennsylvania racing season finally got underway this past weekend.
(Photo of Tim Shaffer. Photo courtesy of Rick Rarer)
Cold temps and even passing showers didn’t stop Lernerville Speedway from getting their season opener in the books Friday.
Familiar faces visited victory lane for the first Fab 4 racing program of the season.
Defending track champion AJ Flick won the first feature of 2018 taking the win in the sprint car main. Modified champ Mat Williamson did the same as did late model champion Mike Norris. In the nightcap, Tyler Dietz put on a show for the fans winning the stock car feature from his 18th starting spot.
This weekend Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions will invade the area as they visit Lernerville Speedway on Friday then head to Sharon Speedway on Saturday.
Leading the All-Star charge will be current point leader and defending champion Chad Kemenah of Findlay, Ohio. Coming into Friday’s event All-Star newcomer Aaron Reutzel of Texas is just six points behind Kemenah. Just four points behind him is Ohio legend Jac Haudenschild who is running full time with the All-Stars this season for the first time in decades.
Chad Kemenah. Photo courtesy of Rick Rarer
Parker Price Miller of Indiana and local favorite and former World of Outlaws champion Dave Blaney round out the top five in the current All-Star points. With nearly 20 full-time teams following the tour, the All-Stars will be tough to beat.
But the driver that has to be the favorite coming into this weekend’s action is Tim Shaffer of Aliquippa. Two weeks ago Shaffer defeated the All-Stars at Wayne County Speedway in Ohio. This past weekend he took home $100,000 for winning the Sprint Car World Championship at Mansfield Speedway in Ohio.
Shaffer also won the preliminary feature on Friday worth another $5,000 and already has four wins on the young season. Shaffer is also a former Lernerville track champion and has scored wins at Sharon Speedway, so you can bet the red-hot driver will definitely be looking for a weekend sweep.
Joining the All-Stars at Lernerville will be the 305 sprint cars and the new RUSH wingless sprint car series will attempt to make their debut once again. This Friday will be the only visit of the season for the All-Stars to Lernerville so sprint car fans will not want to miss this one.
For the second consecutive weekend, Sharon Speedway fell victim to the cold and wet weather as they were forced to postpone their season opener again. Hopefully, the third time’s a charm for Sharon and the All-Star sprint cars as they competed in the “Buckeye Cup” this Saturday.
Joining the All-Stars in their first of three visits this season will be the Econo mods. Racing is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday and will be the first of two consecutive weeks of sprint car racing at the Hartford oval.
The ULMS Late Model Series had two of their three-weekend events wiped out by weather as cold weather forced their shows at Thunder Mountain Speedway and Tri-City Raceway both to be cancelled.
The Thunder Mountain event has been rescheduled for Friday, May 18 while Tri-City has not announced a makeup date yet.
Port Royal Speedway was the only track to complete their leg of the “Keystone State Shootout Weekend” which saw Jason Covert best a strong field of over 40 late models for his first career ULMS win.
Thunder Mountain Speedway will try to get their season underway again this Friday with the Scott Winslow Memorial featuring the Penn-Ohio Stock Car Series. The stocks will be competing for $1,500 to win and should bring out all the best stock cars in northwest Pennsylvania. The late models, semi lates, and fwds will also be on the card with racing at 7 p.m.
Saturday is opening night at Hummingbird Speedway as they look to kick off their 2018 season. Late models, Semi lates, Street Stocks, Pure stocks, and 4 cylinders will be on the card with racing slated for 7 p.m.
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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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