Billy Van Pelt Eyeing Seventh Straight Win In Annual Lyle Sherwood Memorial At Woodhull
Story By: STEVEN OVENS / WOODHULL RACEWAY – WOODHULL, NY – Griffith Energy joins Woodhull Raceway in remembering a Woodhull legend, with the Lyle Sherwood Memorial.
The event is held in memory of the driver of the famous No. 17, who tragically lost his life in 2005 while competing in Modified competition at the Steuben County speedplant.
Fresh off winning his 22nd Woodhull Modified track championship last weekend, Westfield, PA’s Billy Van Pelt hopes to continue a winning streak that means just as much to him as the track titles. Saturday night “The Deuce” will go after his seventh straight victory in the 16th Annual Lyle Sherwood Memorial.
“This is one of the races that we really really love to win,” said Van Pelt in 2016 after winning the Sherwood Memorial for his 200th career Small Block Modified win while driving for Grant Hilfiger. “We still miss Lyle, ‘Mr. Outside’.”
The very first Sherwood Memorial was held later on in the very same season that Sherwood passed away, making 2020 the 16th edition of the annual event. Big Block and Small Block Modifieds will compete for 40 laps, paying $1,717 to the victor- paying tribute to Lyle’s car number. But just as importantly as the prize money, this race awards the race winner with a Guaranteed Starting spot in the October 17th Short Track Super Series Speed Showcase 200 at Port Royal Speedway paying $53,000-to-win.
The event format for all classes will be a draw, redraw for the top twelve qualifiers. Also on the racing card will be Crate Sportsman, Crate Late Models, Open Street Stocks, Open Mini Stocks, Open Front Wheel Drives and Woodhull Youth Warriors. Championship Night make up features will also be held for the Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Warriors.
Griffith Energy is a well-known name in the Northeast for your energy needs from fuel to heating to air conditioning and much more, you can find it all at Griffith. They serve three different states in the Mid-Atlantic from any of their twelve different locations. Visit Griffith Energy online at www.griffithenergyservices.com
The Pits will open at 4:00PM with Hot Laps firing off at 5:30PM and the first green flag from Tony Van Pelt flying at 6:00PM. Pit passes are set at $40 with Pit Passes for ages under 12 being a reduced price of $20. All divisions will be draw/redraw, transponders will be used.
In lieu of fans being able to attend the race program in the grandstands, there will be a live video feed provided on the Woodhull Raceway Twitch & YouTube pages.
