47th Annual Awards Banquet Ushers in 2015 Season
Cassella, Felmlee, Gamble and Petrishen inducted into Hall of Fame
Sarver, PA (March 15, 2015) Just short of 300 members of the Lernerville Speedway racing family convened at the Willow Tree in RIDC Park along Route 28 South on Saturday Night to start the 2015 season by honoring the accomplishments of the 2014 season. Budweiser Track Champions Carl Bowser, Alex Ferree, Rex King Jr. and Jim Fosnaught, along with their significant others, joined General Manager Gary Risch Jr. and emcee Dow Carnahan at the head table for the gala event.
The night started with the announcement of the following special awards:
Brian Stivenson (Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman #9S) won the Most Improved Driver Award
Jack Sodeman Jr. (Peoples TWP DIRTcar Sprints #23Jr.) won the Hard Luck Award
Frank and Rosie Spithaler (#008 Cow Patty School Bus) won the Sportsmanship Award
Aaron Easler (Pic-A-Part Sportsman #11) won the Lernerville and Western PA Rookie of the Year
Butch Hartman (Butch’s Towing and Infield Coordinator) won the Keith Burke Appreciation Award
Sheetz Convenience Stores (Victory Lane Sponsor) won the Bob Cochran Sponsorship Award
Tom Zuck (Valley News Dispatch/Trib Total Media) won his second Bill Steinbach Media Award
Candy Binkert (Pit Sign in Window) won the Grover Clasper Award
The Bauman Family, led by Office Manager Helen and Track Guru Dan, won the Milestone in Racing Award
Greg and Mae Flagg (longtime ticket takers and pit gateman) won the Golden Award
First time feature winners Lee Jacobs, Logan Wagner, Jared Zimbardi (Peoples TWP Sprints), as well as Joey Zambotti and Mark Sanders (Pic-A-Part Sportsman) were recognized as first time feature winners. Zambotti and Sanders (the other three were not present) were awarded with a VP Racing Fuels checkered flags.
After the first round of awards was announced, MRO Chaplain Bill Beck gave the invocation followed by a bountiful buffet dinner.
After dinner, our marketing partners and media members in attendance were recognized, followed by the Hall of Fame Inductions of Mark Cassella, Bob Felmlee, Don Gamble and the late Nick Petrishen. Cassella and Felmlee are legendary names in Lernerville lore for their thrilling accomplishments in the Sprint car division. Gamble is a local racing media icon and former driver and car owner. Nick Petrishen Jr. accepted the induction on behalf of his deceased father, the founder of Nick Chevrolet, and gave a lengthy, but very entertaining speech about his father’s love for live and local racing.
Following the Hall of Fame inductions, Budweiser Track Champions and the top ten in Fuhrer Eagle Sales/Budweiser Point Standings were recognized. Along with 2014 Track Champion Carl Bowser, Brandon Matus (2nd), Dan Shetler (4th), A.J. Flick (6th) and Brandon Spithaler (10th) all represented the Peoples TWP DIRTcar Sprint division, along with car owner Bob McMillin who introduced his 2015 driver Sye Lynch and graciously thanked veteran driver Mike Lutz for piloting his McMillin #5M to a third place finish in 2014 points.
Five-Time Track Champion Alex Ferree was joined by Russ King (3rd), Jared Miley (7th) and Michael Norris (8th) representing the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models along with car owner Lynn Geisler on behalf of 4th place finisher Mike Pegher Jr. and Brandon Matus on behalf of his soon-to-be-brother-in-law John Garvin Jr. (2nd).
Rex King Jr. celebrated his birthday and first Lernerville Track Championship along with Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds competitors Jeremiah Shingledecker (6th), Rodney Beltz (8th) and Bob Warren (9th), as well as his father Rex King (4th).
Jim Fosnaught also celebrated his first Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman title accompanied by a large throng of family, friends and crew. Also representing the division was runner-up Rob Shook, Rookie of the Year Aaron Easler (5th), Mark Sanders (6th) and Joey Zambotti (10th).
Walt Wimer returned to the stage to present Jared Miley (Super Late Models), Carl Bowser (410 Sprints) and Ralph Engle Jr. (305 Sprints) with #1 Cochran Cavalcade Awards. Sylvan Easler of Alternative Power Sources accepted the award on behalf of Engle and Rex King Jr. received his Cavalcade Award for Big Block Late Models at the Sharon Speedway banquet.
General Manager Gary Risch Jr. ended the formal portion of the evening with a short and sweet speech before evoking the late, great founder of Lernerville Speedway Don Martin by “opening the bar”, though it technically remained open throughout the evening; tradition still matters!
With the banquet in the books, the pre-season rolls on next weekend with the Clearview Mall Car Show. Cars will enter the mall Wednesday night at the end of business (approximately 9:00PM) and be on display from Thursday through Saturday, March 19-21. The following weekend, the traveling road show returns to the Route 28 corridor for the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills Car Show where cars will be on display from Thursday through Saturday March 26-28.
The pre-season transitions into the regular season on Saturday, April 11 with the Test & Tune Practice Session and then we’ll officially throw the green flag on Friday, April 17 with Fab Four Racing Fueled by Turner’s Premium Iced Teas Opening Night 2015!
To view the entire and fast approaching 2015 Lernerville Speedway schedule log on to www.Lernerville.com and follow us on Twitter, if you don’t already, @Lernerville.