For the first time in recent memory, the western Pennsylvania racing season got underway at the Monster Half Mile known as Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
(Pictured above: A happy Tim Shaffer after scoring his first win of 2024 at Pittsburgh Motor Speedway. Photo by Rick Rarer.)
The past season and a half has found many improvements at the track now under new ownership and the latest was the first ever Pot of Gold 75 event this past Saturday.
The show featured the FAST Series sprint cars, ULMS super late models and the SCDRA four cylinders all on the card. Racing this early can be a big gamble, but it paid off with a huge crowd and over one hundred cars in the pits. With no cloud cover and high winds, track conditions were a struggle early on. The track crew worked hard along with the racers and officials, and by feature time, the track was in good shape, presenting three good features for the fans.
A pair of local favorites scored popular wins, with Mike Norris edging Max Blair in the late model feature while the Steel City Outlaw Tim Shaffer dominated the sprint car main. Both took home four thousand dollar checks for their efforts.
Andrew Hoffner closed out the evening by winning the nonstop four cylinder feature worth $2,500.
Pittsburgh Motor Speedway will get their regular season underway this Saturday weather permitting. The track’s regular classes highlighted by the RUSH late models will be in action, with gates opening at 2:00 p.m. and racing to get underway just after 4:00 p.m.
Michael’s Mercer Raceway is planning to open their season on Saturday, April 6, with their annual Chiller Thriller. For the first time in the event’s history, 410 sprint cars will headline the card. The super late models and mini stocks will round out the three division show with racing slated for 6:00 p.m.
Lernerville Speedway will finish up last season on Saturday, April 6, by running the remainder of the Steel City Stampede after it fell victim to rain last year which will include five features and an enduro. The regular season is scheduled to get underway on Friday, April 19, with the traditional Fab 4 racing program of 410 sprint cars, super late models, big block modifieds and pro stocks.
Tri-City Raceway Park is set to open again this season but under new ownership.
As of now, the track is planning to run the same classes as last year on Sunday nights with a similar schedule. The track will open its gates for the first time on April 13 for a demo derby and enduro. The first racing event is slated for Sunday, May 5, which will feature the FAST Series sprint cars.
It was recently announced that Western Pennsylvania Speedweek will return in 2024 featuring five nights of racing at five tracks with more than $100,000 in cash and contingencies on the line. This year’s Speedweek will kick off at Mercer Raceway on Wednesday, May 29.
From there it will move to Pittsburgh Motor Speedway, Lernerville Speedway, Sharon Speedway, and finish on Sunday night at Tri-City Raceway.
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