Lernerville Speedway Modified Main Taken Home By Rex King Jr. Friday Night
Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – Near summerlike conditions greeted fans and drivers alike at the Action Track on Friday night as the third round of the Fab4 Revved up with Marburger Farm Dairy rolled out onto a racy surface as part of JunkCrusher.com Night at the Races, and the storylines ran deep indeed.
Two father/son battles for feature wins opened the evening after qualifying activities and both went to the wire to decide. Meanwhile, the night on the track also saw a familiar face pop in for a surprise visit in Late Model action and a driver kept his perfect 2021 at The Action Track intact in the Pro Stock finale.
Rex King Jr. started on the pole of the 25 lap Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Big Block Modified main event and appeared to be well on his way to a relatively easy victory until 2020 champion Garrett Krummert appeared to nearly overtake him on a second half restart. King would keep the lead, but not for long as easy turned to hard fought when his father Rex King Sr. charged towards the front using the extra grip in the bottom groove as a catalyst. King Sr. was able to take the lead away from his son with four laps left to go. However, King Jr. remained unfazed and stuck to the top side, coming down just a bit to capture enough momentum to slingshot around the elder statesman to collect the feature victory.
In the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car main event, all eyes were on two time track champion Jack Sodeman Jr. as he took the lead from front row mate AJ Flick early on and looked dominant in both clean air and lapped traffic. However, moving forward with authority were Brandon and Brent Matus who both made their way past Michael Bauer and Darrin Gallagher early on and set their sights on Sodeman who looked firmly in control while making the bottom side of the speedway work to his advantage. They both managed to find away Flick, setting the stage for some late race drama as the car of Jeremy Hill made contact with Sodeman’s machine, causing the nose wing to flip backward and perhaps some other damage. The contact bought out the caution with three laps remaining and both Matuses right behind him, looking for a way to capitalize on Sodeman’s misfortune. When the green flag waved, Sodeman made the best he could out of the situation, but the damage sustained rendered his car out of contention as both drivers made their way around setting up a two car shootout for the win and when all was said and done, Brandon Matus found himself standing in Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane for the first time since 2019.
The Action Track played host to the visiting Chub Frank on Friday night as he joined yet another deep field of Precise Racing Products Late Models. Veteran pilot Gary Lyle bolted out to the early lead and showed speed throughout the 25 lap main event and lead the first four laps until Jared Miley made the pass for the win which he never relinquished. Miley was good in lapped traffic and on restarts, including a crucial one with just two laps remaining as he got a good jump and kept a charging Chub Frank behind him en route to his 33rd career victory at The Action Track while Frank and Lyle rounded out the Late Model podium.
Meanwhile, Daryl Charlier completed his second consecutive feature victory at Lernerville, coming from the 10th starting spot in the process. The multi discipline driver wound up edging six time track champion Corey McPherson who moved forward from his 14th starting spot and closed the gap to Charlier to just over a second before the checkered flag waved over him for the second time in as many starts this season.
Upon completion of the racing, The Action Track Podcast crew went straight to work in the recording studio atop the pit house in turn four. Special guests included Sprint Car feature winner Brandon Matus and General Manager Mike Lysakowski. To listen to this week’s episode just click the following link to be taken to our podcast server and episode https://soundcloud.com/user-617493884/action-track-podcast-45-brandon-matus
The Fab4 Revved up with Marburger makes their next appearance at Lernerville Speedway this coming Friday, May 28 as we honor our area’s emergency fire, disaster and medical personnel with our annual First Responder night.
Peoples Natural Gas DIRTcar 410 Sprint Feature: (25 Laps)
(13) Brandon Matus
(33) Brent Matus
(42) Sye Lynch
(2) A.J. Flick
(23J) Jack Sodeman Jr.
(11) Carl Bowser
(29) Michael Bauer
(7NY) Matt Farnham
(12) Darrin Gallagher
(56) Ralph Spithaler
(40) George Hobaugh
(38) Leyton Wagner
(20B) Cody Bova
(21) Bryan Salisbury
(C1) Clay Riney
(11J) David Kalb Jr.
(44) Pete Landrum
(14H) Jeremy Hill
(13B) Steve Bright
(76) Davey Jones
Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models Feature: (25 Laps)
(10M) Jared Miley
(66) Chub Frank
(10) Gary Lyle
(1C) Alex Ferree
(29) Ken Schaltenbrand
(91) Tommy Beck
(9T) Will Thomas
(48) Russ King
(22B) Darrell Bossard
(77) Tyler Dietz
(81) Mike Miller
(36) Tony Musolino
(26) Shawn Schaltenbrand
(9) Levi Yetter
(14R) Clay Ruffo
(41) Collin Burke
(9K) Clayton Kennedy
(01H) Ron Hall
(15*) Kelvin Kohan
(B8) Tom Bateman
Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modified Feature: (25 Laps)
(165) Rex King Jr.
(65) Rex King Sr.
(29) Garrett Krummert
(18X) Eric Gabany
(4J) John Mollick
(37MD) Jeremiah Shingledecker
(83) Brian Swartzlander
(61) Dave Murdick
(13) Rick Regalski
(18) Colton Walters
(32R) Chris Rudolph
(45) Steve Feder
(18M) J.R. McGinley
(22) Kevin Long
(5) Brian Sadler
(96) Mike Turner (DNS)
(56M) Jacob McElravy (DNS)
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Penn/Ohio Pro Stocks Feature: (20 Laps)
(114) Daryl Charlier
(c33) Corey McPherson
(55) Chris Schneider
(948) Joey Zambotti
(29) Curtis J. Bish
(20J) Rob Shook
(26) Mike Bordt
(22) Chase Lambert
(81) Mike Miller
(25) Brett McDonald
(08) Jeff Broniszewski
(54E) Tony Iarrapino
(81D) Duke Davidson
(22B) James Bertges
(19) Jason Fosnaught
(35B) Jeff Hay
(19M) Ryan Maglione
(4) Brett Hutira
(77H) Heath Close
(99T) Theo Baumgartner
(27) Jake Dietz
Amick Associates Heat 1 for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
(42) Sye Lynch
(13) Brandon Matus
(56) Ralph Spithaler
(44) Pete Landrum
(21) Bryan Salisbury
(76) Davey Jones
(97) JR Jameson
(55*) Matt Sherlock (DNS)
Action Track Podcast Heat 2 for Peoples Gas Sprints:
(20B) Cody Bova
(29) Michael Bauer
(23) Jack Sodeman Jr.
(33) Brent Matus
(40) George Hobaugh
(38) Leyton Wagner
(14H) Jeremy Hill
Ferguson Heating and Air Conditioning Heat 3 for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
(2) A.J. Flick
(12) Darrin Gallagher
(7NY) Matt Farnham
(C1) Clay Riney
(11) Carl Bowser
(11J) Daid Kalb Jr.
(13B) Steve Bright
Tomson Scrap Metal BMain for Peoples Natural Gas Sprints:
(38) Leyton Wagner
(11J) David Kalb Jr.
(76) Davey Jones
(14H) Jeremy Hill
(13B) Steve Bright
(97) JR Jameson
(55*) Matt Sherlock (DNS)
#1Cochran Heat 1 for Precise Late Models:
(48) Russ King
(66) Chub Frank
(10M) Jared Miley
(91) Tommy Beck
(29) Ken Schaltenbrand
(26) Shawn Schaltenbrand
(14R) Clay Ruffo
(01H) Ron Hall
(41) Collin Burke
(81) Mike Miller
GetPhil.com Heat 2 for Precise Late Models:
) Alex Ferree
(22B) Darrell Bossard
(15*) Kelvin Kohan
(77) Tyler Dietz
(10) Gary Lyle
(36) Tony Musolino
(9K) Clayton Kennedy
(9T) Will Thomas
(9) Levi Yetter
(B8) Tom Bateman
McCutcheon Enterprises Heat 1 for Diehl Modifieds:
(37MD) Jeremiah Shingledecker
(65) Rex King Sr.
(13) Rick Regalski
(96) Mike Turner
(45) Steve Feder
(22) Kevin Long
(5) Brian Sadler
(18) Colton Walers
(56M) Jacob McElravy
Thermo Twin Windows Heat 2 for Diehl Modifieds:
(83) Brian Swartzlander
(165) Rex King Jr.
(29) Garrett Krummert
(32R) Chris Rudolph
(61) Dave Murdick
(4J) John Mollick
(18X) Eric Gabany
(18M) J.R. McGinley
Thoma Meat Market Heat 1 for Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks:
(114) Darrell Charlier
(22) Chase Lambert
(81) Mike Miller
(J19) Jason Fosnaught
(4) Brett Hutira
(81D) Duke Davidson
(08) Jeff Broniszewski
(22B) James Bertges
(99T) Theo Baumgartner
(20J) Rob Shook
(54E) Tony Iarrapino
Hovis Auto and Truck Supply Heat 2 for Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks:
(55) Chris Schneider
(948) Joey Zambotti
(26) Mike Bordt
(25) Brett McDonald
(27) Jake Dietz
(77H) Heath Close
(c33) Corey McPherson
(29) Curtis J. Bish
(35B) Jeff Hay
(19M) Ryan Maglione
Car Count Total: 80
Peoples Natural Gas Sprints: 22
Precise Late Models:20
Diehl Modifieds: 17
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks: 21
