2013 Lernerville Speedway schedule released!
Firecracker, Silver Cup & Stampede highlight another action packed slate
All Stars in May, BOSS Wingless, ULMS & RUSH Mods added for 2013
2013 Hall of Fame Class includes Rankin, Rankin, Hawley & Schempp
Sarver, PA (January 26, 2013) The 2013 Lernerville Speedway scheduled was post at Lernerville.com, our social media sites and local message board last night. Chock full of action packed racing, the 2013 docket is highlighted by our marquee events the Firecracker 100, Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup, Commonwealth Clash and Steel City Stampede and is anchored by Fast Fridays of Fab Four Racing! New additions to the schedule this season include the BOSS Wingless Sprints, the ULMS Late Models, UEMS Modifieds and the newly created RUSH Dirt Late Model Series. Sprint car fans should be excited that the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints will be coming early this year than in previous seasons.
For a complete look at the 2013 schedule – Click Here!
The World of Outlaw Late Model Series will be sanctioning the 7th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com on Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 27-28-29 and the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series will be making their annual double dip at the Action Track on Tuesday, July 16 for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXII Twin 30s and again on Saturday, September 21 for the Commonwealth Clash. Tickets for all three events are available 24/7 on our website www.Lernerville.com by clicking the “Buy Tickets” banner or by calling the speedway office during normal business hours at (724) 353-1511.
The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints, led by a triumvirate of former Lernerville Track Champions, will slide into the Action Track in May instead of September this year. Tim Shaffer, Dale Blaney and Danny Holtgraver will return to their home track carrying the All Star flag on Friday, May 10. The newly created RUSH Dirt Late Model Series will be making their Lernerville Speedway debut that night along with our Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman.
The RUSH Dirt Late Models will also be on the card as the BOSS Wingless Sprints make their Lernerville Speedway debut on Friday, July 5; the weekend after the Firecracker 100. The Pic-A-Part Sportsman will be on the card that night as well.
The ULMS Late Model Series will venture south to the Action Track in an event that was washed out in 2012. The $2,500-to-win ULMS race will be contested on July 19; the Friday after the Silver Cup. The UEMS Modifieds will be in action that night as well with $1,000 going to the winner and our Pic-A-Part Sportsman will also be on the card.
The season will both begin and end with the DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede as we complete the rained out 4th Annual Steel City Stampede with B-Mains and Features on Sunday, April 14 and then end the 2013 campaign with the 5th Annual Steel City Stampede on Thursday-Friday-Saturday, October 24-25-26. More details about the rescheduled finale of the Steel City Stampede on Sunday, April 14 will be released in the near future. We will also have a Test & Tune practice session the day before on Saturday, April 13 for drivers of any divisions, regardless of participation in the Stampede.
As always, the 2013 scheduled is anchored by Fast Fridays of Fab Four Racing. Fab Four Racing will once again consist of 410 Sprints, Super Late Models, Big Block Modifieds and Sportsman/Stock cars and Lernerville Speedway remains the only track on the planet to feature all “Big Three” divisions on the same weekly card! As previously announced, the Sprints are back on Hoosier tires for 2013 and Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic is the new division sponsor. Precise Racing Products, Diehl Auto Group and Millerstown Pic-A-Part are back as division sponsors for the Late Models, Modifieds and Sportsman respectively and all four divisions remain under DIRTcar sanctioning.
Family friendly and fan favorite events are back for 2013 as our Holiday Races with Fireworks are scheduled for Friday, June 14 on #1 Cochran Automotive Fan Appreciation Night and a pair of School Bus & Kids Bike races are scheduled for July and September. The “Summer Vacation” School Bus & Kid’s Bike Races on Tuesday, July 30 will also include Powder Puff Bus races, a $1,000-to-win, 100-lap Enduro and Trailer Races, while the “Back to School” Bus & Kid’s Bike Races on Saturday, September 14 will include Powder Puff Bus races, Senior Series Stocks, Figure 8s and a Demolition Derby.
The Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman divisison will take center stage again at Autumn-Motive Fest 2013 for the Sportsman/Stock Spectacular. This popular event draws stock cars in from around the region to do battle with our weekend warriors. Autumn-Motive Fest will also include another $1,000-to-win, 100-lap Enduro.
The 2013 schedule will also include our standard promotional nights of free and discounted admission nights, visits from our friends at the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club, Twin-State Auto Racing Club and ARCH Fan Club as well as the always popular Nostalgia Night. Promotional events will be announced at a later date and time as the season draws nearer.
But before the action moves to the track, our pre-season will kick off with the Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, March 16 at the Willow Tree/Comfort Inn & Suites in RIDC Park along Route 28 just south of Harmar. Banquet tickets can be purchased by calling the speedway office during normal business hours at (724) 353-1511. After the banquet, some of the most popular drivers of Fab Four Racing will shows off their new cars and looks for 2013 at our annual car shows; first at Clearview Mall on Thursday-Saturday, March 21-23 and then at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills on Thursday-Saturday, March 28-30. Drivers can register to show their car by calling the speedway office.
The Lernerville Speedway Hall of Fame committee, by way of Hall of Fame Chairman Don Gamble, recently announced that father & son Dick & Craig Rankin will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Class of 2013 along with Jimmy Hawley and Smokey Schempp.
Dick Rankin, whose untimely, tragic death shocked the racing family in 2003, was the 1995 Track Champion in the Big Block Modifieds and is eight all time in the Modified division with 28 career wins at the Action Track, most notably and recently in his self-owned #66.
Craig Rankin sits sixth on the all time Sprints list with 31 career feature wins, most notably in the North Street Auto Supply #24. He also claimed track titles in 1988 and 1992, during one of the most competitive eras in the speedway’s legendary sprint car history.
Jimmy Hawley is one win and one spot below Rankin on the all time sprint wins list with 30 career victories. Jimmy was flat out the man to beat at the turn of the millennium with Budweiser Track Championships to his credit in 1998, 1999 and 2001 as pilot of Doc Crawford’s #CIII that Kelsey George brought back to life in 2012 with her dad and future Hall of Famer Rod George behind the wheel. Hawley’s most recent win came in August of 2008 behind the wheel of the Rudzik #49 car.
Everyone that races, owns or works on a car at Lernerville Speedway knows Smokey Schempp. For years, he has been the Pit Boss; in every sense of the word. Bridging the gap between the different generations of Lernerville Speedway ownership and management, Smokey has been the mainstay at the pit board; overseeing lineups, tech inspection and race procedures. But before his time as a track official, Smokey was a excellent racecar driver in his own right.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2013 will be inducted during the Annual Awards Banquet of Saturday, March 16.
Episode Three of the FullyInjected.com “In the Shop” podcast presented by ZeroWraps.com will be recorded next Friday night, February 1 starring RUSH/FASTRAK Late Model star Joe Martin and his brother “Chunk” of Zero Wraps. Martin won the FASTRAK King of the Hill competition in October over rivals Mike Pegher Jr. and Max Blair, among others. Episode One starring Danny & Josh Holtgraver and Episode Two starring “The Truth” Gregg Satterlee can be downloaded or streamed at www.FullyInjected.com.