Sarver, PA (October 10, 2012) Building on the success of the Inaugural DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede in 2009, the second running of the event in 2010 made Action Track history; the pits overflowed with over 220 cars in competition, forcing cars to pit in the infield for the very first time in the 40+ year history of Lernerville Speedway! Highlighted by a door-to-door finish in the BRP Tour/Diehl Mods feature, the Second Annual Steel City Stampede wasn’t just about quantity; the quality of racing was fantastic!
Feature action started with the DIRTcar Challenge Sprint Series Finale for the Ti22 Sprints and Inaugural Stampede feature winner Cole Duncan started on the pole, but soon gave way to then rising star and recently crowned Lernerville Track Champion Danny Holtgraver. Holtgraver set a blistering pace, lapping most of the field, including fellow CSS Championship contenders and future Hall of Famers Bob Felmlee and Rod George. But while Holtgraver clinched the CSS title, he couldn’t hold off the hard charging Dale Blaney on the lap 17 restart and Blaney cruised to his fourth feature win of the season at Lernerville and a $3,000 payday. Blaney and Holtgraver were chased to the checkered flag by Brian Ellenberger; debuting the then brand new GF1 Chassis. Inaugural Stampede feature winner Cole Duncan finished fourth ahead of Carl Bowser.
The Precise Late Models feature followed and it was the Jared Miley Show! Miley finished the 2010 season on a roll and the Stampede was no different. Miley took the lead at the drop of the green flag from the front row and led every lap on the way to his third win in the final four races of 2010. But his $3,000 payday did not come easy, as Gregg Satterlee chased and challenged him the whole way to the checkered flag, but as has been the case for most of this 2012 season, Miley would not be denied! Satterlee actually had to settle for third as then recently crowned Track Champion Dave Hess Jr. made a last lap, last turn pace to take second at the checkered flag. 2010 PPMS Track Champion Brandon Burgoon made his Lernerville debut an impressive one with a fourth place finish ahead of Inaugural Stampede feature winner Matt Lux.
The most exciting finish of the second edition of the Steel City Stampede came in the BRP Tour/Diehl Mods finale. BRP Modified Tour and Sharon Speedway star Rex King Sr. had locked up the 2010 BRP Tour Championship during heat race competition, but you don’t become one of the region’s best drivers by settling for a top five finish with yet another championship in hand!
King joined New York invaders Chad Homan and Brian Weaver on the final lap to make it a three-car battle for the lead. King took second from Weaver in turns one & two and then jumped up on the cushion entering turn three; Homan took the low groove. Homan had the advantage coming off the bottom of turn four, while King came thundering around the top. Homan had to take King to the wall to secure the unpopular win by 0.019 seconds; resulting in heavy contact after the checkered flag. Homan received a chorus of boos and cheers as he exited his car in Sheetz Victory Lane, but his $3,000 check cashed just the same! King took the finish in stride, but probably was not too pleased about having to settle for second. Weaver raced home third ahead of Del Rougeux Jr. (whom came from the tail after having to use a provisional due to failing to transfer through the heat race Friday night or the B-Main earlier Saturday Night) and Jeremiah Shingledecker rounded out the top five.
Rounding out feature action for the Fab Four Racing divisions was Super Joe Kelley who scored his 10th win of 2010! After polesitter Bob Egley jumped out to an early lead, Kelley and SS Chassis guru Chris Schneider swapped the lead multiple times throughout the 20-lap race that required seven, (yes seven), green-white-checkered restarts to complete the race. Kelley and Schneider made contact on the fifth restart, but the caution had already waved for a backmarker, allowing Schneider to retain his position on the sixth restart. Unfortunately, damage from the contact & spin caused Schneider to spin and bring out another caution, followed by the seventh green-white-checkered restart. With Schneider out of the picture, Kelley rolled to his 10th win of the season and a $1,000 payday to cap off a fantastic 2010 campaign. Bob Egley held off PPMS star Pat Weldon, while Jeff Walters and Ryan Moyer scored top five finishes.
With the big young guns of FASTRAK focusing on Grand Nationals, Bryan Force dominated the UMP Pro Late Model feature ahead of Josh Double, Sean Puz, Chris Schneider and Andrew Satterlee.
Building on the momentum of the feature finish of their Big Block brethren, UMP Modifieds put on a scintillating feature starring Late Model Track Champion Dave Hess Jr. and Brent Rhebergen who came from the back of the pack to finish runner up and third to Brian Ruhlman. Ruhlman made the tow from Michigan to run away with the win; though seldom noticed as all eyes were glued to Hess and Rhebergen charging to the front! Russ Coyne and Carl McKinney rounded out the top five.
In other action, Brent Sholtis won a caution-riddled 4-Cylinder feature that was shortened to 15 laps. Mikey Hay became the first driver to score back-to-back Stampede feature wins in the STARS Mod Lites and Kenny Meadows won the Mini Late Models exhibition feature. Former Sportsman/Stock and Sprint car driver Glenn Noland made a victorious return to the Action Track by winning the 100-lap Enduro by an impressive five laps!
Next week we’ll flashback one last time to the Third Annual DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede that was contested last year. The Fourth Annual DIRTcar Round Up Steel City is just over two weeks away; scheduled for Thursday-Friday-Saturday, October 25-26-27. Since its inception, the Stampede has expanded to 10 divisions and the FASTRAK Northeast Late Models and UEMS Modifieds have joined the BRP Modifieds as co-sanctioning bodies for the event! For more details about the Fourth Annual DIRTcar Round Up Steel City Stampede, log on to www.Lernerville.com!
Contact: Lernerville Speedway
Eric J. Westendorf, Public Relations Director
(724) 664-1075 / ewestendorf@dirtcar.com