Points Battles Taking Shape At Lernerville; Armed Forces Night On Tap

Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – The Fab4 Fueled by Turner’s Premium Iced Tea makes it’s second consecutive appearance on Friday night and the points battles are starting to take shape across all divisions. Seven points remains the largest gap in any of the Fab4 racing divisions through two nights of racing and some story lines to watch all season long are starting to develop.

Those stories will have another chapter added to them on Friday night as we honor our military servicemen and women with our annual Armed Forces Night. All active military personnel will be admitted free with their military ID cards.

KING JR MAKES MOST OF OPPORTUNITY
With multi-time champion Mat Williamson making spot appearances at The Action Track in 2018, the door was wide open for a title run in the Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. And so far, Rex King Jr. looks to be making the most of it. The 2014 Champion has finished no worse than second after taking the feature win last Friday night. Behind him, Dave Murdick has seemingly regained the form that had made him a contender to win on every night for years on end. Murdick has been close with two consecutive third place finishes while Garrett Krummert resides in third place through two weeks.

HOBAUGH LEADS SPRINTS INTO BATTLE
Through two weeks, George Hobaugh has been consistent in both his heat race and main event finishes in the Peoples Gas DIRTcar Sprints as he brings a two point lead over second running AJ Flick into Friday night’s festivities. The Chicora, PA driver has managed two top five finishes over the course of the first two race nights and looks primed to battle for this years points championship. However, Flick has the edge in terms on wins early on and looks every bit as strong as he did in taking his second track championship in 2018. Behind them, All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car driver John Garvin Jr lurks in the third spot overall while 2016 champion Jack Sodeman Jr will be looking to rebound coming off of and early race retirement last Friday night.

NORRIS AND PEGHER PACE LATE MODELS
2017 champion Michael Norris has picked up where he left off through two weeks with a win on opening night and a strong second place finish last week that helped him get off to a seven point lead over Mike Pegher Jr in the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Model standings. The driver of the #1 Cochran Automotive entry has put both main event finishes in the top five and looks to be sturdy competition for Norris in 2018 thus far while Gary Lyle and Ken Schaltenbrand find themselves in a two point battle for the third spot as both have a top five finish to their credit.

CLOSE BATTLES ON THE TRACK AND IN THE STANDINGS
The trio of Noah Brunell, Corey McPherson and Tyler Dietz are separated by a mere three points and have given the fans in the stands reason leave their seats on the final lap for two straight weeks in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar/RUSH Pro Stocks. Brunell and McPherson are currently tied for the season lead while Dietz finds himself just two points behind. However, Dietz has found Terry Bowser Ecavating Victory Lane twice including a opening night performance that saw him come from dead last on the grid, and last Friday’s thrilling victory over Brunell that was very nearly a photo finish as Dietz crossed the line first while making contact with the front stretch wall.

Behind them, a resurgent Bob Egley has been near the front on both race nights thus far while Joey Zambotti rounds out the top five.

Pit gates will open at 4 PM Friday night with grandstands opening at 5 PM and racing starting up at 7:30 PM sharp! Adult general admission is $15, Seniors are $12, Students aged 11-17 are $10 and children 10 and under are free. Pit passes are available for $25 for DIRTcar Members and $30 for non members. We look forward to seeing you there!