Jason Brown Photo
Sarver, PA (August 10, 2024) Tropical Storm Debby spared the Friday night racing program at The Action Track featuring Fab4 Racing Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dairy and an appearance from the Jay’s Automotive ULMS Late Models for the fourth annual Willie & Conda McConnell Memorial. And though Debby’s rains stayed away long enough to race, storms earlier in the week threw a curve into the surface which kept drivers guessing on how to navigate the tricky and tacky surface that contained a good bit of character. The threat of rain may have kept some drivers away; however, the 68 cars in the pits provided some great racing and thrilling action that kept fans on the edge of their seat throughout the night.
Michael Norris’s brilliant season continued on Friday night as he bested the 22 car field en route to a $4,500 payday in Precise Racing Product/ULMS Late Model action while Cody Bova took a very hard fought and well deserved victory in the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car main event. Rex King Jr. clinched the top spot in the total win column with the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds, coming up with his fifth win of the season and in Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock action, Chris Schneider made the points battle just a little bit tighter heading into Championship Night next Friday with his fifth win of 2024.
Norris Outlasts ULMS Late Models
Michael Norris...aka The Crusher Kid has not had a more dominant season in weekly competition at Lernerville in his career to this point and had to be considered one of the favorites coming into Friday’s 30-lap, $4,500-to-win program. However, with invaders such as defending two time McConnell Memorial champion Gregg Satterlee, ULMS series points leader Michael Lake and others in the mix, Norris certainly had his work cut out for him, as he also contended with a surface that had just gone through a 20 plus minute refreshing, making adjustments from heat racing action a difficult proposition.
Norris started the main event on the outside of the front row alongside pole sitter Logan Zarin and it took just two turns for him to jet past Zarin into the lead as third starting Colton Flinner slid Zarin for the second spot in turns three and four. Flinner’s slide job came with just a bit of contact as Zarin made some contact with the front stretch wall and immediately came to a stop in between turns one and two. Zarin went off on the hook and when action resumed, Norris started stretching out a lead over Flinner, Alex Ferree and Satterlee who made his way around Ferree for the third spot with three laps down. Ferree would get the third spot back just two laps later but out front, Norris was beginning to look unbeatable as he carved through lapped traffic with ease and started putting a healthy gap between himself and second running Flinner.
At the 10 lap mark, Ferree made his way past Flinner for second and set his sights on Norris out front. Just two laps later all progress was halted by a Tyler Wyant caution. With a somewhat rough track in play, cars started to make their way off the surface with Andrew Wylie, Darrell Bossard and Greg Oakes all calling it a day just before the halfway mark. When the green flag waved, Satterlee made his way around Flinner for third and Ken Schaltenbrand joined the top five as the top three cars stayed close together for the meantime. Satterlee then began taking looks under Ferree for the second spot at the halfway mark where he beat him to the flagstand to take the spot as Lake spun to bring out the caution with 15 laps left. Norris kept the lead on the restart and was able to add a few car lengths to his advantage which was erased by a caution for Tyler Dietz who suffered a flat tire with 17 laps down.
When action resumed, Satterlee took looks under Norris for the lead but was unable to come up with the pass as Flinner and Schaltenbrand began to battle hard for the fourth spot. Norris was working with speed up top in turns three and four and used a diamond approach in turns one and two leaving his lap times in the 15.5 second range, just two tenths off Alex Ferree’s quick time in qualifying earlier in the evening as he accumulated a 2.2 second lead over Satterlee with five laps to go as Ferree exited the speedway, Flinner would be next to exit as he slowed down the backstretch, bringing out the caution with four laps to go leaving Norris in the lead ahead of Satterlee, Schaltendbrand, Levi Yetter and Mike Miller. When action resumed Norris once again put distance between himself and Satterlee when all action halted for Wyant who rolled in turns three and four. Wyant was uninjured in the single car incident, leaving a green-white-checkered restart for the win which Norris simply pegged perfectly and drove away for his eighth win on the season with Satterlee and Yetter rounding out the podium.
“I know it was a battle of attrition,” Norris said in Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane. “Dan Bauman and the boys did the best they could and it was better here than it was in the heats. I think with as much rain as they got earlier in the week there wasn’t much they could do. Coming into this race I’ve had a really bad run of luck at this race and I really wanted to put a whole night together. We missed it a little bit in qualifying but we made up for it at the end of the night. “
ULMS Late Model Feature Finish- Willie & Conda McConnell Memorial $4,500-to-win: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 72-Michael Norris[2]; 2. 22G-Gregg Satterlee[5]; 3. 9-Levi Yetter[17]; 4. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[10]; 5. 81-Mike Miller[15]; 6. 44-Dylan Lewis[9]; 7. 00J-Jacob Dietz[21]; 8. 10S-Dave Stamm[16]; 9. 24-Tyler Wyant[19]; 10. 48-Colton Flinner[3]; 11. 1-Alex Ferree[6]; 12. 77-Tyler Dietz[12]; 13. 27-Michael Lake[8]; 14. 12B-Andy Boozel[7]; 15. 10L-Gary Lyle[11]; 16. 22-Greg Oakes[4]; 17. 22B-Darrell Bossard[18]; 18. 84-Andrew Wylie[13]; 19. J4-John Garvin Jr[20]; 20. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 21. 55-Chris Schneider[14]
Bova Breaks Though with Late Race Magic
First time wins have been tough to come by at The Action Track this season, especially in the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car division. With the dominant AJ Flick and resurgent Brandon Spithaler taking multiple wins plus seasoned veterans like Dale Blaney, Mark Smith and Carl Bowser all in the mix for a win each, it was going to take a very determined effort to break though, and on Friday night, a determined Cody Bova proved he was ready to make a breakthrough happen.
Jacob Begenwald and Brandon Matus brought the field to the initial green flag and by the end of the first lap, fourth starting Michael Bauer had made his way to the lead rocketing around Matus coming out of turn four. Bauer gained a good amount of separation in the early going as Brandon Spithaler began taking looks under Matus for the second spot. Spithaler took the spot with four laps down while Bova moved forward from his sixth spot to fourth and began to set his sights on Matus for third. Out front, Bauer began lapping cars with Spithaler sizing up his plan of attack when the caution flag waved for a stopped Louie Mattes. When action resumed, Spithaler stuck to Bauer’s tail tank and Bova overtook Matus for third. Spithaler then made his way to the lead coming out of turn two with seven laps down.
Points leader AJ Flick then moved forward to join the top five, passing Matus for fourth with nine laps down as out front, Spithaler handled lapped traffic ease on the type of surface that has suited his liking over the years. With 15 laps down, Bauer slid off the back stretch allowing Bova to take the second spot. Bauer got back around briefly, but Bova took the spot for good with eight laps to go. The caution flag waved for Jacob Begenwald with six laps remaining, setting up a single file restart for Spithaler with clean air ahead of him. Spithaler got a good jump, but Bova made up ground quickly and the two drivers battled wheel to wheel for the win until Bova took the lead for good and never looked back, surviving a green white checkered restart at the end of 24 laps, en route to his first career win at Lernerville.
“I’ve been trying for so long to be here,” a jubilant Bova said. “I was starting sixth and I kept saying in my head if we win it’s going to be pretty big. We’ve been trying so hard, it’s been such a trying year, but it feels good.”
Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car Feature: (Finish-Name-Start) 1. 20B-Cody Bova[6]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler[3]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[4]; 4. 2-AJ Flick[8]; 5. 14-Sean Rayhall[7]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[2]; 7. 35W-Jeremy Weaver[5]; 8. 08-Danny Kuriger[11]; 9. 11J-David Kalb[9]; 10. 79W-Will Fleming[13]; 11. 33-Brent Matus[17]; 12. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[1]; 13. 44-Pete Landram[16]; 14. (DNF) 3-John Jerich[12]; 15. (DNF) 4K-Kip Edwards[15]; 16. (DNF) W20-Greg Wilson[14]; 17. (DNF) 11-Carl Bowser[10]; 18. (DNF) 55*-Matt Sherlock III[18]; 19. (DNF) M4-Louie Mattes[19]
King Jr. Tops Diehl Big Blocks for Fifth Victory
It’s quite possible that Rex King Jr. may be, in a quiet fashion, in the middle of his finest season ever at Lernerville. The Bristolville, OH native has been the fastest car in the weekly field in 2024 and has broken the invading hold of Erick Rudolph recently in BRP Modified Tour action at The Action Track. His one off night earlier in the season may have cost him a chance at another consecutive track title, but all things considered, his season has resembled a Mat Williamson type of year that deserves both respect and admiration. His speed was on display on Friday night as he bested the field on hand for his fifth win of the year.
Veterans Will Thomas and Dave Murdick started on the front row and from the drop of the green flag, Murdick set off like a man on a mission as the track began to chop up a bit in the turns and started to take on more character, causing plenty of nerf bar knocking along the way. Murdick claimed the lead on the opening lap ahead of Thomas and King who had climbed three spots from his sixth starting spot to third with Steve Feder running fourth. With three laps down, King began taking looks under Thomas for the second spot while out front; Murdick was stacking some car lengths between himself and the field. Thomas and King remained door to door with Thomas up top and King on the bottom groove of the track in the early going while points leader Garrett Krummert made his way to fourth. King then settled back in third and moved up to the top of the track in turns three and four while maintaining low in turns one and two. With eight laps down, Krummert began taking looks under King for the third spot, however King was able to drive away just enough to protect the spot while looking for a way around second running Thomas.
Thomas then just slipped off the back stretch just enough to let King slip by for the second spot with 10 laps down. Meanwhile, out front Murdick was into heavy lapped traffic when Jeff Miller slowed and Steve Feder found himself facing the wrong way in turn two with 11 laps down. Murdick elected to restart on the top side of the speedway, but King stayed door to door and engaged in a hotly contested battle for the lead when Krummert snuck by underneath for second. Krummert then began drawing even with Murdick for the lead at the halfway point, but gave it right back just one lap later. King then began a relentless pursuit of Murdick out front. Murdick refused to go gently though as he battled in different grooves to hold King off as best he could until King made the pass for the lead on lap 19 with Krummert following directly behind to take up the second spot. Murdick would then slow on the backstretch, bringing out the caution flag with four laps left. When the final green flag waved, King simply drove away en route to Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane for the fifth time in 2024.
“All we did was beat the death out of these race cars,” King said post race. “Hopefully you guys liked it, I did not, it was hell for me, I was holding on for dear life. At least we’re racing here. It was sunny out so you can’t cancel but we had a lot of rain and I hope we’re done with that.”
Diehl Automotive Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 165-Rex King Jr[5]; 2. 29-Garrett Krummert[6]; 3. 9-Will Thomas[1]; 4. 35-Steve Slater[8]; 5. 45-Steve Feder[3]; 6. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[10]; 7. 3K-Shawn Kozar[12]; 8. 75-Jeff Miller[4]; 9. 23-Darin Gallagher[13]; 10. B4-Brayden Beatty[14]; 11. 8M-Macey Adamik[11]; 12. (DNF) 61-Dave Murdick[2]; 13. (DNF) 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[7]; 14. (DNF) JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[9]
Schneider’s Fifth Win Tightens Pro Stock Points Battle
The battle of the Schneider’s has been one to watch all season long, and thanks to a Chris Schneider win on Friday night, the eyes of the fans will be on every lap of every heat and the feature on Championship Night as the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock battle looks to go to the final set of turns.
Trevor McCann and Chris Schneider started on the front row and it did not take long for Schneider to make his way to the lead as a chase pack with Brett Hutira, McCann, Brett McDonald and John Peterman emerged behind him. Coming forward with authority though were more Schneider’s as in eighth starting Tyler and 13th starting Christian who both found themselves running in the top six when Mike Bordt brought out the caution flag with seven laps down. When action resumed, Schneider broke off to a good distance between himself and the field, followed by Hutira, McDonald, Tyler Schneider and Christian Schneider.
Debris halted the action with 11 laps down and when the green flag waved, Hutira attempted to slide under Chris Schneider up front but came up short of the lead while behind them, both Tyler and Christian were working McDonald over for the third spot in a hard fought battle for the spot until four laps to go when both cars made their way around, then Hutira dropped into the infield with one flap to go while Chris Schneider made his way to Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane and Christian and Tyler rounding out the podium.
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 55S-Chris Schneider[2]; 2. 56-Christian Schneider[13]; 3. 155-Tyler Schneider[8]; 4. 25-Brett McDonald[3]; 5. 68-John Peterman Jr[6]; 6. 26-Mike Bordt[9]; 7. 8-Jonathan Davis[11]; 8. 72B-Jim Kurpakus[12]; 9. 77H-Heath Close[10]; 10. 9-Mike DiFrancesca[5]; 11. 7A-Tom Robertson[7]; 12. (DNF) 4-Brett Hutira[4]; 13. (DNF) 12M-Trevor McCann[1]
- Gary Heeman on Aug 10, 2024
- Article Date: 8/10/2024