Ritchey Scores Allegheny Sprint Tour Win At Lernerville
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALLEGHENY SPRINT TOUR – SENECA, PA – IMCA/Racesaver Allegheny Sprint Tour competitors opened the month of June with competition at Don Martin’s Lernerville Speedway, joining the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions for an open wheel doubleheader on Friday night, June 2. It was the Series’ first visit to the Sarver oval in 2017, with the originally scheduled season opener at Lernerville Speedway washed away by Mother Nature.
After 20 laps of green flag competition, it was Everett, Pennsylvania’s Drew Ritchey who came out on top, bettering the entire 14-car field for his first Allegheny Sprint Tour victory of the season. For Ritchey, who was making a first-ever start at the famed Lernerville Speedway, the victory did not come easy; charging forward from the outside of row four, ultimately surviving charges from Jonathan Jones and Greg Dobrosky.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been here and this is probably the most fun track I’ve ever been to,” Ritchie said in victory lane. “We struggled there in the heat race and we didn’t know if it was going to get really dry or have some grip to it so we took a lot of our stagger out and set it up to be dry. On that first restart I had a good start on the bottom and just moved up the track.”
Ritchey became the fourth different winner during IMCA/Racesaver Allegheny Sprint Tour competition joining Ralph Engel, Jake Gomola and Kyle Colwell.
The month of June will continue for the IMCA/Racesaver Allegheny Sprint Tour with visits to Thunder Mountain Speedway and Eriez Speedway on Friday and Sunday, June 9 &11, respectively. Thunder Mountain Speedway in Brookville has already hosted AST action on two separate occasions this season, but Eriez Speedway in Erie is new to the schedule and will welcome Western Pennsylvania’s finest 305 cubic inch sprint car drivers twice in 2017.
As an added bonus, teams entered for action at Eriez Speedway will also be entered in a random draw for a free case of Schaeffer’s Racing Oil. A $50 Hard Charger Award bonus will also be given away during the evening’s main event.
