4/27/2024
Lernerville Speedway
Action Track Recap- Flick Tops Peoples Sprints; Norris Goes Back to Back; Rudolph Bests Diehl Modifieds; Dietz Takes Hard Fought Pro Stock Win
Jason Brown Photo
Sarver, PA (April 27, 2024) The sun was out and the pits were teeming with 88 cars on Friday night as round two of Fab4 Racing Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dairy rolled onto The Action Track, and the racing, which played out on a very racy surface, was as good as the weather that greeted fans and drivers alike. Defending track champion AJ Flick bested the 28 car field of Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars for his first feature win of the 2024 season, while the Crusher Kid..aka Michael Norris made it back to back victories with yet another feature win in Precise Racing Products Late Model action. Erick Rudolph made his way down from Ransomville, NY as he sometimes does in the early part of the season, and made the trip worth it once again, hitting pay dirt with a feature victory in the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified main event while in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock main event, Tyler Dietz proved to be the class of the field once again, garnering his first feature win in the division this season.
Flick Powers His Way To Checkers
Having come up less than a second short to an Opening Night win after running down Brandon Spithaler in the closing laps a week ago, AJ Flick was determined as ever to find his way to Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane on Friday night. Flick started fourth on the grid on Friday night while former track champion Carl Bowser and New York invader Matt Farnham started on the front row of the 25 lap Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car main event. And when the green flag waved, Flick wasted no time in challenging Bowser for the lead ahead of Farnham and Brandon Matus in the early going.
Bowser was setting a torrid pace up front on the top side of the speedway as Flick found himself shaving tenths of a second off per lap. Flick then started taking serious looks underneath Bowser, taking the lead on lap eight. Bowser would not go away quietly though as fought back to level with the race leader on occasion until the halfway mark. Behind the action up front, Michael Bauer began making moves towards the leaders from his eighth starting spot, with Bauer battling Matus for the fourth spot with 15 laps down. Meanwhile, Flick was stretching out an impressive lead before encountering heavy lapped traffic after building a three plus second lead. Bauer made his way around Matus for fourth at the flag stand with six laps to go while Flick managed his way through the lappers flawlessly until the caution flag waved with five laps left.
Flick led the field to the single file restart and would not be tested the rest of the way as Bowser took a solid second place finish and Bauer an impressive third, rounding out the podium.
“Honest to god, the biggest change tonight was between the hot laps and the heats,” Flick remarked. “I didn’t expect it to slick off as much as it did. It was odd because it wasn’t really wide but yet the actual racing groove was getting slick and starting to come in already. I missed it in the heat race, but come feature time it seems like we’re starting to dial it in a bit more. You just have to be maneuverable.”
Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car Feature: 1. 2-AJ Flick[4]; 2. 11-Carl Bowser[1]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[8]; 4. 7NY-Matt Farnham[2]; 5. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[9]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[6]; 7. 79W-Will Fleming[3]; 8. 08-Danny Kuriger[14]; 9. 33-Brent Matus[13]; 10. 20B-Cody Bova[7]; 11. 43JR-Blaze Myers[17]; 12. 8S-Brayton Phillips[15]; 13. 3-John Jerich[20]; 14. 16-Jim Morris[19]; 15. 05-Adam Herb[16]; 16. 44-Pete Landram[18]; 17. 35-Jared Zimbardi[12]; 18. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[5]; 19. 55*-Matt Sherlock[11]; 20. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[10]
Norris Makes it Back to Back Wins
Michael Norris and his retooled family owned machine may be one of the most formidable combinations in area Late Model competition this season if the first two weeks against two very stacked fields are any indication. The three time track champion once again put on a clinic while again starting from outside the top five, this Friday a 10th starter thanks to his opening week win and subsequent handicap. Norris once again handled the field on hand, passing some of the best in the area business along the way.
Veteran pilots Mike Miller and Alex Ferree started on the front row where Ferree got out to an early lead over Colton Flinner, Miller, Ken Schaltenbrand and John Garvin Jr. Meanwhile, Norris had already made his way from 10th to sixth in a matter of two laps as he surged past Tyler Dietz and Schaltenbtrand, looking to make a run at the fourth spot until Jon Lee brought out the caution with four laps down. When action resumed, Ferree once again took off like a rocket with Flinner and Norris in tow, nearly a half a straightaway behind while Norris began taking looks under Flinner for the second spot.
Norris made the pass for second diving to the bottom of turns three and four to eclipse Flinner with 10 laps down and set his sights on Ferree, pushing Flinner to third with Garvin taking looks underneath for the third spot. Ferree was looking at a good deal of lapped traffic ahead just after the halfway mark as Norris began pulling to his bumper. Ferree pushed past the first set of lappers while maintaining the lead, working the top side of the speedway until he became mired with two lapped cars, one in either groove, ahead of him, providing the perfect moment for Norris to slip by for the lead with 16 laps down.
Meanwhile, Garvin made his way past Flinner for third and set his sights on the leaders with Norris into heavy lapped traffic. Garvin then made his way to second past Ferree right as Norris cleared Levi Yetter en route to clean air as the laps wound down. Joshua Powell spun on the top of turn two on the final lap, setting up a green-white-checkered finish which Norris handled with precision and purpose on his way to consecutive appearances in Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane as Garvin and Flinner rounded out the podium.
“Luck was on our side tonight,” Norris said. “I always seem to have late race cautions. Thanks to John Garvin for leaving me a lane, he got me pretty good on that last restart but I knew as long as I could be even with him going into turn one, the top was so good and it was.”
Precise Racing Products Late Model Feature: 1. 72-Michael Norris[10]; 2. 10-John Garvin Jr[8]; 3. 48-Colton Flinner[4]; 4. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[3]; 5. 77-Tyler Dietz[5]; 6. 75M-Jared Miley[13]; 7. 27-Michael Lake[7]; 8. 22B-Darrell Bossard[12]; 9. 1C-Alex Ferree[2]; 10. 24-Tyler Wyant[17]; 11. 9-Levi Yetter[11]; 12. 57L-Bo Lockwood[15]; 13. 10L-Gary Lyle[9]; 14. 75-RJ Dallape[16]; 15. 81-Mike Miller[1]; 16. 27T-Tony White[18]; 17. 5L-Jon Lee[6]; 18. 11-Joshua Powell[19]; 19. 15-Kodie Checketts[20]; 20. (DNF) 40-Michael Duritsky Jr[14]
Rudolph Makes the Haul Worth it Once Again
Erick Rudolph typically makes around three weekly appearances at The Action Track a season, and has developed a penchant for making nearly every single one of them count. The Ransomville, NY native once again found himself calling Lernerville Speedway home on Friday night and following a heat win, pulling a 4th position start in the redraw. Brad Rapp and defending track champion Rex King Jr. brought the field to the green flag and upon its drop, an immediate three way battle for the lead emerged between the front row starters and Rudolph who made his way past third running Dave Murdick in the first set of turns. King took the lead at the flag stand by a nose ahead of Rudolph as the two drivers waged the battle for the lead with Rudolph taking the top spot one lap later just a second before the yellow flag waved with two laps down with Justin Shea and Colton Walters both spun out on the top of turns three and four.
When action resumed, Rudolph bolted ahead on the bottom side, then crossed over one lap later as week one winner Garrett Krummert started making his way forward from his ninth starting position to the top five in the early going. Out front, Rudolph began stacking car lengths between himself and King while behind them, Will Thomas and Krummert were engaged in a tight battle for the third spot. Krummert emerged as the third place car on lap 10 as lapped traffic came into focus for Rudolph out front. Rudolph was flawless in managing the lappers as the halfway point came and went as a spun out Shawn Kozar almost collected both Rudolph and King on lap 13. When the green flag re-emerged, Rudolph retained the lead while Krummert set his sights on King. Behind the leaders, Jeremiah Shingledecker, who had seemed bottled up mid pack in the first half of the race began making moves towards the front of the field, climbing to fifth before the caution flag came out for a spun Austin Eyler, narrowly missing Rudolph once again with five laps left.
Rudolph then set out to make space between himself and the pack while King, Krummert and Thomas all battled for the runner up spot which went to King at the end of 25 laps while Rudolph took yet another victory at The Action Track.
“There’s something about Lernerville Speedway,” Rudolph said. “It’s one of my favorite tracks in the country and anytime we get a chance to come down here it’s always something we look forward to.”
- 25-Erick Rudolph[4]; 2. 165-Rex King Jr[2]; 3. 29-Garrett Krummert[9]; 4. 9-Will Thomas[5]; 5. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[8]; 6. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[10]; 7. 11R-Brad Rapp[1]; 8. 61-Dave Murdick[3]; 9. 20P-Mike Kinney[7]; 10. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[6]; 11. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[16]; 12. 35-Steve Slater[15]; 13. 75-Jeff Miller[14]; 14. 03-Mark Frankhouser[18]; 15. 3K-Shawn Kozar[20]; 16. 5A-Austin Eyler[12]; 17. 7P-Caden Petry[19]; 18. (DNF) 25S-Jolene Smith[17]; 19. (DNF) 18-Colton Walters[13]; 20. (DNF) 14S-Justin Shea[11]
Dietz Earns Hard Fought Pro Stock Win
Cody Koteles and Tim Bish brought the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks to the green flag in their 20 lap main event with Bish taking the early lead immediately followed by Koteles and defending track champion Tyler Dietz. Dietz went to work in the early going taking looks under Koteles with three laps down, making the pass for the second spot at the four lap mark with Jim Kurpakas and Chris Schneider rounding out the top five. The yellow flag came out for a Tom Robertson spin with five laps down and on the ensuing restart Bish selected the outside lane, putting Dietz in a preferred groove.
Bish held the spot initially as Dietz wound up momentum on the bottom as Kurpakas drew to a battle for the third spot. Bish held the lead at the halfway point as Dietz was still looking for a way to make a move with Bish still holding a .4 second advantage until lap 14 when after a slight bit of contact on the back stretch, Dietz washed up in front of Bish from the bottom groove to take the lead. Once out front, Dietz was able to gain some separation while week one winner Christian Schneider was a man on a mission, moving from the 10th starting spot to fourth as the caution flag waved with five laps remaining.
Dietz elected to start on the bottom of the surface when action resumed, Dietz maintained with lead with Schneider making his way past Koteles for the third spot while out front, Dietz cruised the rest of the way, save for one final restart, for his first feature win of the season.
“I kind of thought that he (Bish) was going to take the bottom,” Dietz stated, remarking about the crucial restart. “I was hoping he would go high because I think I was better up high but I just never got the chance to go up there.”
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock Feature: 1. 00-Tyler Dietz[5]; 2. 56-Christian Schneider[10]; 3. 11B-Tim Bish[2]; 4. 1K-Cody Koteles[1]; 5. 25-Brett McDonald[12]; 6. 72B-Jim Kurpakus[3]; 7. 155-Tyler Schneider[8]; 8. 55S-Chris Schneider[6]; 9. 4-Brett Hutira[15]; 10. 310-Dale Tuche[14]; 11. 948-Joey Zambotti III[11]; 12. 26-Mike Bordt[13]; 13. 00L-Cole Miller[17]; 14. 7A-Tom Robertson[16]; 15. (DNF) 81-Mike Miller[7]; 16. (DNF) 68-John Peterman Jr[4]; 17. (DNF) 27-Jacob Dietz[9]; 18. (DNF) 66-Mike Strouse[19]; 19. (DNS) 29-Curt Bish Jr
Submitted By: Gary Heeman
