Honor thy father; 2nd generation drivers Ferree, Bowser and Murdick victorious
Sanders runs down, passes and holds off Sportsman elite
Sarver, PA (June 15, 2014) The rich 45+ year history of the Lernerville Speedway is full of second and now third generations drivers, but especially on Father’s Day weekend, it’s always special to see drivers roll into Sheetz Victory Lane to “honor thy father”. Alex Ferree, Carl Bowser and Dave Murdick have all surpassed their fathers’ Lernerville win totals, but each grew up at the race track looking up to their respective fathers both on and off the track. Terry Bowser hasn’t driven for quite a few years now, Ed Ferree still races occasionally, but impressively Carl Murdick continues to race on a weekly basis as he has since the track opened in 1968! Happy Father Day to all! Mark Sanders’ father isn’t a name from Lernerville’s past, but Mark himself is a new father and there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself an early Father’s Day present!
With Jack Crowell and a bevy of #1 Cochran Automotive employees watching on from the press box, (Rob Cochran had a schedule conflict with a youth soccer tournament), the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models rolled onto the speedway first with just two races between Budweiser Points leader Alex Ferree and the 8th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com. Both Track Provisionals for the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100 A-Main on Saturday, June 28 will be determined next Friday, June 20 as the feature winner and Bud Points leader will both be locked in a week in advance.
Recently married Garrett Krummert and Chuck Sarver, (whose wife Bonnie sang the national anthem earlier in the evening), brought the field to green with Sarver taking the early lead. Sarver was coming off his first heat race win of the season and was hooked up on a fast and tacky Action Track thanks to early afternoon and mid-week storms plus an impressive effort by Chad Alchier, Dan Bauman and the rest of the track crew. Two-time feature winner so far in 2014 Russ King appeared to take the lead on lap two, but a caution postponed his ascension to the front. King took the lead officially on the restart, but Ferree was already making his way to the front, as was John Garvin Jr. in search of his first win of 2014. Garvin, Ferree and Mike Pegher Jr. dispatched Sarver on consecutive laps after the lap six restart to make it a dicey four-car battle for the lead.
Another restart on lap 11 gave Ferree the preferred low line coming off of turn four and into turn one, which allowed him to get underneath Garvin for second. During the middle stages of the 25-lap race, Ferree tried different lines high and low at both ends of the track readying for an assault on King’s lead. By lap 21, the leaders were dealing with lapped traffic and Ferree was waiting to pounce on the slightest mistake by King. One final caution, however, set the table as Brandon Wearing and Bo Lockwood tangled right in front of the leaders. Both got by clean, but the restart was all Ferree needed to make his move. King and Ferree drag raced down the back straightaway and into turns three & four and were still in a dead heat at the flagstand, but Ferree rocketed around the top of turns one & two and took the lead down the straightaway. At that point, it was “game over” and Ferree cruised to Sheetz Victory Lane for the third time already this season and the 28th time in his Lernerville career.
To his credit, King was probably felled most by a tire going down that eventually shredded and sent him to the pits and a disappointing 10th place finish after leading most of the race. Garvin and Pegher followed Ferree to the checkers to finish on the podium ahead of Bedford second-generation driver Mike Altobelli Jr. in what we can only hope was a test run for the upcoming Firecracker 100 on Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 26-27-28. “Double Duty” Dave Murdick drove the Pitkavish #1 Late Model to its best finish of the season in fifth, but Murdick had more to come later in the evening! Early leader Chuck Sarver finished sixth ahead of Ken Schaltenbrand, Brian Swartzlander, Todd Bachman and the aforementioned Russ King. Dan Swartzlander and Chuck Sarver won Precise Late Model heats, while Dan’s cousin Brian Swartzlander won the Precise B-Main.
Polesitter Jack Sodeman Jr. and Brandon Matus who started right behind him in third had to be pleased as punch that last week’s Peoples TWP DIRTcar Sprint Car feature winner Carl Bowser was starting 10th. Sodeman sprinted out to the early lead, while Matus dove below Defending Track Champion Brandon Spithaler who bobbled in turn four. By lap four, Sodeman already enjoyed almost a full straightaway lead over Matus, but by lap eight, Matus was reeling him back in as they worked heavy lapped traffic. On lap 15, Sodeman cleared lapped traffic, but on that same lap, Bowser passed Billy Dietrich and Brandon Spithaler in turns three & four for third.
The final caution waved on lap 19 as fourth place running Billy Dietrich spun to a stop on the back straightaway. Bowser, despite a lapped car between he and Matus on the restart, made a big run around the top of turns one & two and then again in turns three & four as Matus tried to slide under Sodeman for the lead. Sodeman managed two beat them both back to the stripe, but Bowser carried all the momentum and took the lead around the top of turns one & two. Sodeman faded in the closing laps as he appeared to be either down on power or used up his tires in the first 20 laps, but Matus had one last shot as Bowser caught lapped traffic on lap 24. And while Matus sought a reversal of fortune with lapped traffic from last week, Bowser was true to the test and scored back-to-back feature wins. Bowser’s second and third wins of the season bumps his career win total to 12; passing an impressive foursome of Tim Shaffer, Jack Sodeman Jr., Brian Ellenberger and Buddy Cochran who each have 10.
Brandon Matus had to settle for second for a second consecutive week, as did Sodeman in third for the second consecutive week. Brandon Spithaler turned in a solid fourth place finish, which will hopefully set the tone for a successful second half of the season as he has been struggling with a variety of issues in the early stages of his title defense. Scott Priester turned in his first top five of 2014 and AJ Flick improved his best Peoples TWP Sprint finish by one spot in sixth after winning his first heat race in the winged warrior earlier in the night. Dan Shetler, Cory Good, Mike Lutz and Brent Matus rounded out the top ten. In addition to the aforementioned AJ Flick, Brandon Matus also won his respective heat race.
After another top notch pyrotechnic display and the #1 Cochran Automotive Parade of Cars, the Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modifieds rumbled onto the Action Track with Budweiser Points leader Rex King Jr. lined up right behind polesitter Dave Murdick; fresh of his best Late Model finish of the season. Murdick jumped out to the early lead and King led laps four through nine until a caution reracked the field. Murdick retook the lead on the restart, but gave way to King on lap 11, only to take the lead a third and final time. King reeled him in again on lap 19, but had his own hands full with Mat Williamson, which allowed Murdick to pull away to his first feature win of the season. Murdick’s 29th career feature win moved him ahead of Hall of Famer Dick Rankin for sole possession of eighth all time in the division.
Despite missing out on joining Bowser and Ferree as three-time feature winners, Budweiser Points leader Rex King Jr. extended his lead over his father Rex King Sr. who finished fifth. Between them were Defending Track Champion Mat Williamson and last week’s feature winner Jeremiah Shingledecker. Brian Swartzlander finished sixth ahead of Tom Winkle, Rodney Beltz, Steve Feder and Chris Haines making his 2014 Lernerville debut. Rex King Jr. and Dave Murdick were victorious in heat race action.
While Ferree, Bowser and Murdick were climbing the All Time Wins Lists, Mark Sanders was happy just to add his name to that list. What makes Sanders’ win all the more impressive is who he passed and then held off to score his first win. All Time Division wins leader Joe Kelly and former Track Champion Mike Miller led the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman field to green with Miller taking the early lead. In fact, Miller led relatively unchallenged until last week’s feature winner Corey McPherson spun to a stop in turn two on lap 14. The restart put Sanders alongside Miller on the restart as he had just passed Kelley for second a lap before, but it wasn’t until lap 18 when Sanders could finally make his way around Miller for the lead. He then had to fend off a hard-charging Jim Fosnaught to secure his first career feature win. Fosnaught would then come to Sheetz Victory Lane to congratulate Sanders on a hard fought win; a gesture that almost exclusively only occurs in the aptly named Sportsman division.
Fosnaught raced home second, while front row mates Miller and Kelley came across the line in third and fourth respectively. Rob Shook scored another top five ahead of Aaron Easler, Jason Fosnaught, (who was subbing for a honeymooning Joey Zambotti), Brian Stivenson, Pat Hanley and Eric Piotrowski. Stivenson’s eighth place finish was a career best and he spent most of the race hanging in the top five. Meanwhile, Eric Piotrowski turned in his first top ten of the season. After his late spin, McPherson would recover to finish 12th. Kelley, Fosnaught and McPherson won their respective heat races.
The Mid-Season Championships presented by McCutcheon Enterprises, Inc. and the JDRF Benefit follow on Friday, June 20. As recent tradition dictates, all Fab Four Racing divisions will be racing for track provisionals for their respective marquee events on the 2014 schedule. As mentioned above, the Precise Late Models will be racing for a guaranteed spot in the Firecracker 100, the Peoples TWP Sprints will be vying for a spot in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Twin 30s, the Diehl Mods will be competing for a Steel City Stampede provisional and the Pic-A-Part Sportsman/Stocks will be gunning for a Sportsman/Stock Spectacular starting spot.
June will then conclude with the biggest racing weekend of the season in Western Pennsylvania with the 8th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com on Thursday-Friday-Saturday, June 26-27-28. Advance Reserve tickets are on sale 24/7 at Lernerville.com by clicking the “Buy Tickets” icon. All advance ticket purchases include a FREE fan pit pass upgrade for Thursday and Friday Nights plus priority access to the driver autograph session on Saturday afternoon.