Its time to go racing again, and Lincoln Speedway got the northeast 2004
season underway this past Saturday with the "Ice Breaker 30". It was a wild
day to say the least. Twenty Sprint Cars showed up on a very cold day that
saw snow flurries and wind gusts of up to forty mph. Twenty cars were
scheduled to start the feature but after three red flags before one lap was
completed only ten cars actually took the green. After going winless in 2003
Fred Rahmer was about the only car in the field that had any luck all day.
With the red flags Rahmer moved from his fifth starting spot into the pole
posistion and led every lap to easily win the thirty lapper worth three
thousand dollars. Cris Eash rode home a distant second followed by Doug Esh,
Don Kreitz, and Mark Smith in fifth as only nine cars finished the feature.
Keith Kauffman and Brook Weibley both got upside down in the feature. Lance
DeWease lost his drive-line before completing a lap. Doug Esh got upside
down in his heat race. Both Darren Eash and Brian Leppo backed their cars
into the turn one wall at speed. Bobby Weaver made contact with the wall in
hot laps ending his day early. Brian Montieth, Adrian Shaffer, and Jim
Siegel all went off on the hook during the feature, while Josh Wells went
off on the hook in hot laps and the feature. Sam Schlusberg made his first
start in a Sprint Car and finished ninth. Fred Rahmer and Niki Young both
arrived with new haulers. Brian Montieth will be driving Jerry Parrish's 21
Sprinter every week at Lincoln this season. It wasn't the best race I've
seen thats for sure, but it was great to see a race again after the long
cold winter. After Saturday's opener I can safely say, No track tries harder
to get their show in than Lincoln Speedway, just another reason the stands
are always packed. I did venture to the muddy and icy infield to get some
pictures, you can check them out over at www.fscpictorial.com Lincoln
Speedway will be back in action this Saturday with another two o'clock
start.
Sunday's race at Williams Grove Speedway wasn't meant to be. I was watching
the news at my hotel Saturday night when they reported the opener was
cancelled due to frost on the track. Frost on the track??? A call to the
Speedway Sunday morning found that the race was now cancelled because of wet
grounds. Who knows?? Either way I didn't get to see any racing and the Grove
is planning on racing again this Sunday with a Sprints only program.
The coolest shirts on sale Saturday at Lincoln were definitely Keith
Kauffman's new shirts. They look super cool and also have the Sprint Car
Hall of Fame logo as Kauffman will be inducted into the National Sprint Car
Hall of fame this summer. You can check out Keith's new gear at
www.keithkauffman.com
The Winged Sprints on Asphalt, LLC (WSoA) and Dave Wheeler of Jennerstown
Speedway announced the signing of two dates for the Sprinters, June 26, 2004
and July 31, 2004. These two shows will feature the largest purse ever
offered for 305 asphalt sprint cars. They will be $1100.00 to win with
$400.00 to start back to 30th. Total purse of $15,000.00. The June 26th date
will also feature the ISMA Supermodifieds which will make for a must see
double header, I can't wait to see this must see show, as we don't get to
see these two groups in Pennsylvania every day. Check out the WSoA web site
www.wsoa.us for all the details.
The Haulmark All Star Circuit of Champions have moved the date of their
season opener scheduled at the half-mile Oglethorpe Speedway Park in
Savannah Georgia. The event was scheduled for March 5th and 6th but has been
moved to September 24th and 25th. The date was changed because the Savannah
Tourism Board has come aboard to sponsor the event and needs more time to
properly promote and advertise the show. Opening night for the All-Stars is
now Friday, April 2nd at Kentucky's Paducah International Raceway.
410 Sprint Cars will return to Bedford Speedway in 2004 as the Pa Posse
Sprint Car Invitational is slated for Tuesday June 8th. Wednesday the 9th
will be the raindate.
Tri-City Speedway will host their annual Mall Show this week February
26th-29th at the Cranberry Mall. Sprint Cars scheduled to be on display are
Andy Mckisson and Shelia Rankin. Tri-City also released their 2004 schedule,
its posted on their website www.tricityspeedway.com Opening day is slated
for April 25th.
Clinton County Speedway will open their 2004 season on Friday, April the
30th as the 410 Sprints will once again headline the show. Clinton County's
website also has a new look, check it out at www.clintoncountyspeedway.com
The 305 Sprint Cars at Fremont Speedway will be racing a little harder in
their heat races this season, as Ross Paulson and his business, The Computer
Man of Fremont will sponsor the 305 Computer Man Dash this season. The
winners of each heat will race in a dash at each regular show, and maybe
some of the special shows. The dash winner will take home forty dollars
with second winning thirty, while third and fourth will each get twenty.
Port Royal Speedway will not have any afternoon racing this Spring. Their
season opener will be March 27th and will get underway at 6pm. I'm going to
miss those Port/Lincoln doubles racing with everyone from the Port down 15
south to get to Lincoln on time.
MASS (Mid American Sprint Series) will hold it's rules and series meeting
Sunday, Feb 29th at 2 o'clock at Benic Enterprises, Fairmount Indiana. Scott
Benic & Joe Darmofal will be on hand to discuss all aspects of the new MASS
series. Memberships will be available for $200.00 per driver. Refreshments
will be served and everyone is welcome. For more information all Scott Benic
765-948-5758
The recently converted from asphalt to dirt Central Pennsylvania Speedway
released their schedule and have two Sprint Car shows on the schedule. The
first is May 21st when the Pa305 Sprints visit, then on August 20th the KARS
358 Sprint Car series will be on the card.
The Outdoor Channel will televise all seven World of Outlaw shows from
Williams Grove Speedway this season along with along with a handful of
Outlaw races from other tracks as well. The races will be aired every
Wednesday night for thirty-five weeks. It will be nice knowing when the
shows will be on, unlike before when you had to search the TV Guide hoping
to find out what time the race would be on. There is also a rumor there may
be some All-Star shows airing on the channel too, I sure hope so. I don't
have the Outdoor Channel yet but I'll have it ordered before they air their
first race of the season, that's for sure.
As of right now it looks like 410 Sprint Cars will return to Susquehanna
Speedway on a regular basis once again in 2004. The difference this time is
it will be on Thursday nights, not Sundays like before. Todd Fisher is the
promoter behind the shows which will be dubbed "Thursday Night Thunder" The
season will get underway Thursday April 15th, the purse will be similar to
Lincoln Speedways. There are lots of pros and cons to Thursday night racing,
but if Fisher can get everyone out of there at a early hour and keep
everyone happy, (not an easy job) hopefully he can make it work.
Sprint Car fans will want to mark May 15th on their calendar as Mercer
Raceway has announced the return of the "Western Pennsylvania Sprint Car
Championship" The show will be headlined by the 410 Sprints as they go
twenty-five laps for 2,500 dollars to win. Also on the card will be the
"Tri-State Clash" for the ESS and NRA 360 Sprint Cars. They will also be
racing twenty-five laps and the winner will get 1,500 dollars. Rounding out
the Sprint card will be the first ever visit of the PA305 Sprint series out
of central Pa. The Stock Cars will also be on the nights card.
Two racers competing for the 2004 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year honors
with the World of Outlaws had rough starts to their season this past
weekend. Both Brian Brown and Erin Crocker got upside down at the World of
Outlaw US opener held at Manzanita Speedway.
A big tip of the hat goes out to Sprint racer Kasey Kahne who nearly won his
first Nascar race this past Sunday at Richmond. Like I said before, Kasey
can drive anything! That's all this time around, Until we meet again, thanks
for reading and feel free to contact me anytime at www.sprintcarnews.com
