It was another dismal rain-filled weekend in Western Pennsylvania; one has to wonder if the rain will ever stop?
(Photo: Rusty Martz was back in victory lane opening night at Thunder Mountain Speedway. Photo by Penny Kay)
Despite the wet weekend a couple of tracks were able to get their shows in.
Lernerville Speedway completed their first Fab 4 racing program of the season just minutes before rain and storms hit the track. Thunder Mountain Speedway was also able to get their show in the books before storms moved across the area.
At Lernerville Speedway a new face visited victory lane as All-Star invader Cale Conley put on a dominating performance for his first career win at the Sarver oval. Conley’s only challenge was former track champion Carl Bowser who got beside Conley at one point in the race but could not get past the West Virginia driver. It was a one-two finish for the All-Stars where both Conley and Bowser are contending full time with the All-Stars battling for rookie of the year honors.
All-Star regular Cale Conley made a surprise visit to Lernerville Speedway and took home the checkers. Photo by Rick Rarer
Other winners at Lernerville included Jared Miley who returned to win the inaugural Frank Choura Memorial for the late models taking home the $2,525 winner’s check. Rex King Jr. returned to victory lane with the big block modifieds besting a strong field of 22 cars. Tyler Dietz won an exciting stock car finish with a last lap pass for the win just minutes before the rain started to fall on the speedway. Lernerville will present another Fab 4 racing program this Friday.
Some familiar faces visited victory lane opening night at Thunder Mountain Speedway. Charles Powell Jr bested the late model field while Rusty Martz returned to victory lane in the street stock feature. Zach Myers won the semi-late feature and Josh Frantz capped off the evening by winning the four-cylinder feature. This Friday the ULMS Late Model Series will invade Thunder Mountain featuring a $3,000 to win main event. They will be joined by the street stocks and four-cylinders with racing at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, a rain front washed out the first ever F.A.S.T. show scheduled at Sharon Speedway despite a great field of cars already checked in for action. The track and series are working on a possible makeup date for the race.
Pittsburgh Motor Speedway also fell victim to rain Saturday as cars were pulling into the pit area.
Hummingbird Speedway was just another victim Saturday as they were also forced to cancel due to rain showers. All three tracks will try again this Saturday hoping for better weather.
Steady rain washed out the action at Tri-City Raceway Sunday along with scheduled season opener at Eriez Speedway. At Eriez, the RUSH wingless crate sprint cars were making their third attempt at completing their first race. Tri-City will try to get their “Modified Madness” show in this Sunday, May 20 featuring five divisions of modified racing highlighted by the big block modifieds. Racing is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The RUSH sprint cars will try a fourth time to get their inaugural race in this Wednesday, May 16 at Lernerville Speedway. They are also scheduled to race this Sunday, May 20 at Old Bradford Speedway in Bradford, Pa. This little quarter mile should make for some exciting action with the sprints. Racing is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The World of Outlaw sprint cars will make their first visit to Pennsylvania this week with a visit Lincoln Speedway this Wednesday. They then head to the famed Williams Grove Speedway Friday and Saturday for the Spring Nationals/Morgan Cup. Once again defending champion Donny Schatz will lead the Outlaw charge as he is leading the points and just swept action at Eldora Speedway this past weekend scoring two more victories.
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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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