Lynch Best In Sprints At Lernerville; Shingledecker & Schaltenbrand Find Late Race Magic

Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – The Action Track came to life on Friday night with the thunder of the Fab4 Revved up with Marburger Farm Dairy in the air while four hard fought feature victories were earned in each one of feature events.

With a fast but smooth surface greeting drivers making their first meaningful appearance of the 2021 season at Lernerville, the action came hot and heavy as witnessed by some expert passes for the leads and wins as the laps wound down, keeping fans in the stands on the edge of their seats throughout the night.

In the Peoples Natural Gas DIRTcar Sprint Car 25 lap main event, Jack Sodeman Jr. was the man to beat in the early going by setting a blistering pace after he took the lead from his third starting spot, seemingly leaving the field behind him with a good deal of separation. However, coming up through the field from the fifth spot was Sye Lynch who made his way around Sodeman at the lap 13 mark and kept the field behind him, including a hard charging AJ Flick who put himself in a position to challenge for the lead after coming forward from his seventh starting spot. Lynch made timely decisions in lapped traffic and was strong in clean air as well en route to collecting the feature victory, the 999th Sprint Car race in Lernerville Speedway history.

The Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models then gave fans another reason to stay glued to the edge of their seats as they put on a wildly entertaining main event with a slightly unexpected outcome. Six time track champion Alex Ferree made his Lernerville season debut behind the wheel of the legendary Number One Cochran Automotive car and from the drop of the green flag made the most of his front row starting spot by putting good distance between himself and the rest of the field in the early going. Meanwhile, behind him was a thick pack of cars jockeying for the runner up spot as Colton Flinner, Jared MIley and Jon Lee engaged in a hard battle throughout the early laps. Flinner emerged as the leader of the chase pack behind Ferree and set his sights on the leader and overtook Ferree just past the halfway point and once in front, looked to be well on his way to victory. However, behind all the madness up front, two time and defending track champion was making his way through the field in relentless fashion after having to restart at the back of the field following an early race caution. Schaltenbrand used the bottom groove to his advantage and then picked a perfect time to make his way around Flinner with just over two laps to go while passing some hall of fame caliber drivers en route to his first feature victory since 2019.

In Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Big Block Modified action, it was Steve Slater who brought the 25 lap feature to the green flag while bolting out to the early lead afterwards. It was a short lived time at the top for Slater, as defending track champion Garrett Krummert quickly wrested the lead from Slater and stretched out a near full straightaway advantage over the rest of the field. At the nine lap mark, ninth starting John Mollick had found his way to the second spot and seemed poised to challenge Krummert for the lead when he went off the track in the top of turn two. Mollick worked back through the field again but only made it as far as the fourth spot while Jeremiah Shingledecker inherited the second spot and made a challenge for the lead. Using the bottom groove to find whatever momentum could be found, Shingledecker was able to draw close to Krummert but not able to overtake until lap 22 after he’d found speed in other areas of the surface and made his way past Krummert. Once out front, Shingledecker kept the rest of the field behind him for the waning laps and collected the opening night hardware.

Daryl Charlier had been an infrequent guest at The Action Track over the years. However, the Pro Stock pilot knows his way around at the Sarver speed plant and found the bottom groove to his liking in the 20 lap main event for the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Penn/Ohio Pro Stocks. Joey Zambotti shot out to the early lead from the front row. However, behind him were six time track champion Corey McPherson and Charlier who were both moving forward with authority. The ninth starting Charlier took the lead away from Zambotti at the lap six mark using the low side for a great deal of momentum in the corners while behind him, McPherson moved from his seventh starting spot to take the second spot behind Charlier and set to do battle for the win. McPherson put his car at the top of the speedway in order to find a way Charlier and on the final lap, pulled first door to door with the leader and then took the lead for a brief moment heading into the final set of turns when Charlier moved to the middle groove, putting McPherson at the very top edge of the surface. The two battled neck and neck down the front straight and when the dust settled, Charlier was rewarded with his first career Pro Stock victory at The Action Track.

Racing resumes next Friday night at the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars make their one and only appearance at The Action Track where they’ll be joined with the Allegheny Sprint Tour 305 Sprint cars and RUSH Sprint Cars.

Peoples Natural Gas DIRTcar 410 Sprint Feature: (25 Laps)
1. (42) Sye Lynch
2. (2) AJ Flick
3. (23jr) Jack Sodeman Jr.
4. (29) Michael Bauer
5. (12) Darin Gallagher
6. (22) Brandon Spithaler
7. (11) Carl Bowser
8. (7K) Dan Shetler
9. (38) Leyton Wagner
10. (13) Brandon Matus
11. (12C) Corbin Gurley
12. (7NY) Matt Farnham
13. (23) Darren Pifer
14. (C1) Clay Riney
15. (21) Bryan Salisbury
16. (80JR) Kyle Colwell
17. (56x) Steve Cousins
18. (33) Brent Matus
19. (08) Dan Kuriger
20. (76) Davey Jones

Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models Feature: (25 Laps)
1. (29) Ken Schaltenbrand
2. (48) Colton Flinner
3. (10M) Jared Miley
4. (1C) Alex Ferree
5. (5L) John Lee
6. (1Z) Logan Zarin
7. (9T) Will Thomas
8. (33K) Kyle Knapp
9. (9) Levi Yetter
10. (44) Joe Petyak
11. (20) Doug Eck
12. (91) Tommy Beck
13. (81) Mike Miller
14. (2T) Rich Wicker
15. (26) Shawn Schaltenbrand
16. (41) Collin Burke
17. (10) Gary Lyle
18. (77H) Heath Close
19. (77) Tyler Dietz (DNF)
20. (15*) Kelvin Kohan (DNS

Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modified Feature: (25 Laps)
1. (37MD) Jeremiah Shingledecker
2. (29) Garrett Krummert
3. (61) Dave Murdick
4. (4J) John Mollick
5. (32R) Chris Rudolph
6. (18G) Eric Gabany
7. (18) Colton Walters
8. (83T) Tom Glenn
9. (35) Steve Slater
10. (3K) Shawn Kozar
11. (22) Kevin Long
12. (5) Brian Sadler
13. (64) Rodney Beltz
14. (56) Jacob McElravy (DNS)

Millerstown Pic-A-Part Penn/Ohio Pro Stocks Feature: (20 Laps)
1. (114) Daryl Charlier
2. (C33) Corey McPherson
3. (20J) Jason Fosnaught
4. (00) Larry Kugel
5. (948) Joey Zambotti
6. (81) Mike Miller
7. (25) Brett McDonald
8. (4) Brett Hutira
9. (26) Mike Bordt
10. (7) Colton Longwell
11. (27) Jake Dietz
12. (84s) Joshua Seippel
13. (310) Dale Tuche
14. (54) Wayne Carbo
15. (4*) Douglas Eck
16. (81D) Duke Davidson
17. (22B) James Bertges
18. (35b) Jeff Hay
19. (22) Chase Lambert (DNF)
20. (54E) Tony Iarrapino (DNF)
21. (39B) Josh Blum (DNF)

Glassmere Fuel Serivice Heat 1 for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
1. (23jr) Jack Sodeman Jr
2. (2) AJ Flick
3. (12) Darin Gallagher
4. (11) Carl Bowser
5. (08) Dan Kuriger
6. (23) Darren Pifer
7. (14z) Wyatt Zimmerman
8. (97) JR Jameson

Dlubak Powder Coating Heat 2 for Peoples Gas Sprints:
1. (7K) Dan Shetler
2. (42) Sye Lynch
3. (C1) Clay Riney
4. (7NY) Matt Farnham
5. (33) Brent Matus
6. (76) Davey Jones
7. (13B) Stev Bright
8. (4K) Bill Kiley

Steighner Crane Services Heat 3 for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
1. (33) Brandon Matus
2. (22) Brandon Spithaler
3. (29) Michael Bauer
4. (38) Leyton Wagner
5. (12C) Corbin Gurley
6. (80JR) Kyle Colwell
7. (21) Bryan Salisbury
8. (56x) Steve Cousins

Abtrex Industries BMain for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
1. (23) Darren Pifer
2. (80JR) Kyle Colwell
3. (76) Davey Jones
4. (21) Bryan Salisbury
5. (56x) Steve Cousins
6. (4K) Bill Kiley
7. (13B) Steve Bright
8. (97) JR Jameson
9. (14Z) Wyatt Zimmerman (DNS)

Hotel Saxonburg Heat 1 for Precise Late Models:
1. (48) Colton Flinner
2. (29) Ken Schaltenbrand
3. (5) Jon Lee
4. (1C) Alex Ferree
5. (1Z) Logan Zarin
6. (9T) Will Thomas
7. (10) Gary Lyle
8. (77H) Heath Close
9. (26) Shawn Schaltenbrand
10. (15*) Kelvin Kohan (DNS)

Lojack’s Cycle Shop Heat 2 for Precise Late Models:
1. (10) Jared Miley
2. (44) Joe Petyak
3. (33K) Kyle Knapp
4. (2T) Rich Wicker
5. (91) Tommy Beck
6. (81) Mike Miller
7. (41) Collin Burke
8. (77) Tyler Dietz
9. (20) Doug Eck
10. (9) Levi Yetter (DNS)

McCutcheon Enterprises Heat 1 for Diehl Modifieds:
1. (4J) John Mollick
2. (29) Garrett Krummert
3. (37MD) Jeremiah Shingledecker
4. (18) Colton Walters
5. (32R) Chris Rudolph
6. (64) Rodney Beltz
7. (5) Brian Sadler

Thermo Twin Windows Heat 2 for Diehl Modifieds:
1. (61) Dave Murdick
2. (18G) Eric Gabany
3. (83T) Tom Glenn
4. (35) Steve Slater
5. (22) Kevin Long
6. (3K) Shawn Kozar
7. (56M) Jacob McElravy (DNS)

Thoma Meat Market Heat 1 for Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks:
1. (4*) Douglas Eck
2. (948) Joey Zambotti
3. (114) Daryl Charlier
4. (25) Brett McDonald
5. (4) Brett Hutira
6. (54E) Tony Iarrapino
7. (310) Dale Tuche
8. (27) Jake Dietz
9. (39B) Josh Blum
10. (20J) Jason Fosnaught (DNF)

Hovis Auto and Truck Supply Heat 2 for Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks:
1. (81D) Duke Davidson
2. (26) Mike Bordt
3. (81) Mike Miller
4. (22) Chase Lambert
5. (C33) Corey McPherson
6. (00) Larry Kugel
7. (84s) Joshua Seippel
8. (7) Colton Longwell
9. (54) Wayne Carbo
10. (22B) James Bertges
11. (35b) Jeff Hay

Car Count Total: 79
Peoples Natural Gas Sprints: 24
Precise Late Models:20
Diehl Modifieds: 14
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks: 21