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Eric Westendorf
SARVER, Penn. (November 12) - What Alex Ferree did in 2007 was nothing short of amazing. Winning nine feature events in the toughest division of Fab Four Racing was the stuff that legends are made of! Nine wins in one season puts you in a class with local Late Model legends like Bob Wearing Sr., Lynn Geisler and John Flinner. But to come back the following season, win a third of the races and still secure a Track Championship by more than a week's worth of points is every bit as impressive. Nobody expected Alex to win nine races again this season, but nobody was surprised that he repeated as Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Champion either!
The first of Alex's three feature wins came May 2 when he held off a determined Matt Lux. He won again on back-to-back weeks in July (18 & 25) but was shut out of Sheetz Victory Lane in the final month of points. He finished second on four occasions and third four other nights. In all, Alex tallied 13 top five finishes and two more top ten runs, to once again be the most consistent driver in a stacked division. He also claimed six heat race wins during the season. Alex's lofty totals and ongoing success has ranked him among the top late model drivers in the country. In fact, despite competing just one night per week under UMP DIRTcar sanctioning, Alex finished 7th in the East Region Point standings and 74th in National Point standings.
Despite having 107 career Late Model wins at Lernerville Speedway, Lynn Geisler had zero in 2007. So what does a cagey veteran do to shake off a yearlong losing streak? He goes out and wins the first feature of the new season, of course! Geisler made his mark on the 2008 season on Opening Night with a spirited feature win over a hard charging Alex Ferree. And while he did not return to Sheetz Victory Lane in 2008, he did record five heat race wins to go along with seven top fives and fourteen top tens. Lynn also finished 14th in the UMP East Region Point standings and 99th in the National Point standings.
Technically, Lynn Geisler made two trips to Sheetz Victory Lane in 2008, but only one as the driver. Lynn's second visit to Sheetz Victory Lane came as a car owner of up-and-coming local driver Mike Pegher Jr. Pegher won the 2007 Street Stock Championship, then moved into the rapidly growing Crate Late Model division in 2008 under the guidance and with the full support of Lynn Geisler. In fact, Pegher even flew the #1 Cochran colors during the season!
Third place in points went to the duo of Mike Blose and Alan Dellinger. Both drivers provided memorable moments behind the wheel of Blose's familiar #5, a.k.a "The Bat Mobile". Dellinger subbed for Blose early in the season as Mike recovered from shoulder surgery. Dellinger picked up the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model feature win on April 25. Despite not winning a feature himself at Lernerville in 2008, Blose did provide perhaps the most memorable heat race in the 41 year history of Don Martin's Lernerville Speedway during Qualifying Night of the 2nd Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com. Long story short, Blose had to start at the tail of field after crossing the scales light after time trials. He had raced his way to the front, battling Brandon Kinzer for the final transfer spot. Contact with Kinzer sent Blose for a wild ride off of turn three. Despite appearing to have gone upside down, Blose drove back onto the track to tail the field and then thrilled the crowd by racing his way back the transfer spot, thus guaranteeing a starting spot in the $2000-to-start, $40,000-to-win Firecracker 100.
Blose's best Fab Four finish of the season came on the Fourth of July when he finished second to Kenny Schaltenbrand. Blose, fresh off his Firecracker Heat Race antics, wowed the crowd by leading the first 24 laps of the 25 lap feature and holding off the furious advances of eventual winner Schaltenbrand. By season's end, the Dynamic Duo combined for 1 feature win, a division-leading seven heat race wins. Seven top fives and 12 top tens.
Nobody won more Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model features at Lernerville Speedway in 2008 than Jared Miley. His four feature wins came just one day short of being spread out across each of the final four months of the season. His first win came on May 30 over a hungry Gregg Satterlee. Win number two came on June 20 in the final tune up for the Firecracker 100. The third win came on the first day of August, narrowly missing a win in July. Miley then claimed his fourth feature win of the season on August 15. Despite the four feature wins, Miley was never a serious contender to Ferree's title defense, as he missed a handful of races chasing big money events in the region. Speaking of big races, Miley raced his way into the Firecracker 100 A-Main by transferring through his heat race.
While running a limited Fab Four schedule, Jared collected three heat race wins, eight top fives and 10 top tens to go along with his four feature wins. The sum total of Jared' accomplishments resulted in a 19th place finish in the UMP East Region Point standings. Clearly, Jared has already established himself as one of the top local drivers and recently clinched his second consecutive PPMS Late Model Track Championship! Expect more big things from Jared in 2009, including a run at the Budweiser Track Championship if he decides to stay closer to home!
Despite finishing fifth in Budweiser Points, 2008 was not exactly a banner year for Gary Lyle. In 2007, Lyle finished second in points behind "Awesome Alex" Ferree and recorded eight top fives. In 2008, he finished fifth in points and recorded just four top five finishes, none of which were higher than third. He also recorded one heat race win and a total of 11 top ten finishes.
Gary's 2008 campaign actually hit its high point long after Lernerville had gone dark for the season. Already looking forward to 2009, Lyle's off season started off with a huge stroke of luck, as he was announced as the winner of the 2008 Racers for Tots Rocket Chassis Raffle. Gary will race the Rocket Chassis with its "Racers for Tots" paint and decal scheme during the 2009 season, in part because it is already emblazoned with Gary's #10. He also felt a call to do his part to payback the folks from Racers for Tots and every driver and fan who purchases the raffle tickets each year. Gary's car will make its debut at the Annual Lernerville Speedway Car Shows at the Clearview Mall and Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills.
Gregg Satterlee has quickly become one of the brightest rising stars in the local Late Model field! But like Jared Miley, Satterlee skipped a few Fab Four races to chase big money events and special shows around the region. Without running a full slate of races, he managed to finish sixth in points, a testament to how strong he ran on the nights he was in the field!
Satterlee had two banner nights at Lernerville Speedway in 2008. The first came on Friday June 13 when Gregg led all 25 laps and fought off a hard-charging Matt Lux to claim the checkered flag. The second came on Qualifying Night of the 2nd Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com when he raced his way into the 100 lapper by transferring through his heat race. In addition to his feature win, Gregg also won two heat races, recorded six top fives and a total of nine top tens during the season. Again to draw a comparison to Jared Miley, all Gregg needs to do to contend for a Track Championship is to run every week!
Like a few of the drivers listed above, Sam Stile missed a handful of races during the season. Unfortunately for Sam, it was more for mechanical issues than for travelling to high dollar shows in the area. But when Sam was at the Action Track, he was fast and near the front. In limited action, Stile recorded five top five finishes and won three heat races on his way to a seventh place finish in Budweiser Points, with his best run of the season coming on July 11 when he captured the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Feature.
As the field rolled to the green on July 11, Stile was alongside defending Track Champion Alex Ferree. Ferree and Stile rolled to the green side-by-side multiple times that night as the cars behind them mistook the 25 lap feature for a demolition derby. Ferree gave Stile all he could handle on the multiple restarts, but time and again Stile handled the pressure and outlasted Ferree and the destruction behind them to roll the Laraway Motorsports #2S into Sheetz Victory Lane.
Veteran driver Chuck Kennedy finished eighth in Bud Points, but did so with consistency and taking care of his equipment, provided again courtesy of Osmer Racing. The Osmer Racing Team and Chuck Kennedy may not have the best of everything on the #6A, but they make it last and he makes it work! When the final checkered flag flew on the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model season, Kennedy had recorded six top tens, including a season best fifth place finish on July 18.
Jammin' John Mollick gave us some of the most memorable moments of the 40th Anniversary Season including his first career Lernerville Feature win on May 23. Mollick had been fast all season up to that point, but had not yet been able to close the deal. With a stout field of veteran and up-and-coming drivers (namely Alex Ferree, John Flinner, Gregg Satterlee,Sam Stile and Doug Horton), battling behind him, Mollick fulfilled the flashes of brilliance he'd shown in the past and cruised into Sheetz Victory Lane for the first time.
He did not have to wait long to return to the winner's circle, as he dominated the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model Feature two weeks later on June 6, leading all 25 laps on his way to win number two on the season. He went on to record three more top five finishes as the season wore on, along with a total of 10 top ten finishes. He also checkered two heat races to go along with his two feature wins. A handful on DNFs and mechanical issues kept him from finishing higher in the points, but 2008 proved one thing to Jammin' John and his fans, he can and will win races in the most competitive division at the Lernerville Speedway!
Todd Bachman came into the 2008 season loaded for bear! A brand new Rocket Chassis powered by a Vic Hill Engine is powerful, top shelf stuff. With the seat time racking up and top notch equipment under him, Bachman made a huge leap forward during the 40th Anniversary Season. Todd is not quite yet to the point of being competitive with the top guns in the division, but he keeps getting better could very easily turn that corner in 2009!
Throughout the course of the 2008 season, Bachman recorded three top ten finishes, including a season high sixth place run on the final night of points, August 22. The highlight of the season though, came oddly enough while Todd and his family were on vacation! Five-Time Track Champion John Flinner jumped behind the wheel of the #66 in Todd's absence and thrilled the crowd with what many fans have called the best Late Model feature they had ever seen at Lernerville Speedway. Flinner battled wheel-to-wheel with rising star John Mollick for many laps before clipping him at the stripe by less than a tenth of a second. Not surprisingly, Bachman's best runs came after Flinner's win, as knowing what a car is capable of, makes you push it that much harder!
Three drivers outside the top ten in points captured feature wins in the ultra-competitive Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model division including the aforementioned John Flinner, who also won a feature in his familiar John Johnson #48 on May 9. Longtime hometown favorite Kenny Schaltenbrand picked up a feature win on the Fourth of July in a thrilling race over Mike Blose. Blose, fresh of his crowd pleasing Firecracker heat race, led the first 24 laps pounding the cushion on the high side as Schaltenbrand repeatedly tried to slide under him. Kenny finally made the move stick on the last lap and cruised to his only feature win of the season.
Keith Barbara was the only other driver to win a Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model feature during the 40th Anniversary Season by dominating the 25 lap feature on the final night of Budweiser Points. On his way to Victory Lane, Barbara passed both Lynn Geisler and Alex Ferree. The win was Barbara's first Lernerville win in over five years.
Matt Lux came close twice, finishing second both on May 2 to Gregg Satterlee and June 13 to eventual champion Alex Ferree, but was not able to find Sheetz Victory Lane in 2008. Like Miley and Satterlee, Lux travels to a lot of high paying regional shows, but definitely has the tools to run for a track championship if he ever chooses to do so.
As mentioned multiple time before, the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model division is arguably the toughest and deepest division of Fab Four Racing with as many as 10-12 drivers being capable of winning the feature on any given night. In additions to those listed above, the division is full of up-and-coming drivers and well-established veterans that fill the field on a weekly basis. The up-and-comers (listed by order of points) include; Clate Copeman (who is only new to weekly competition at Lernerville), Dane Laraway, Michael Norris, Johnny Garvin and Big Block Modified convert Russell King. Veterans who compete on a weekly, or at least regular basis include Dave Murdick (in the Pitkavish #1), Chuck Sarver, Brian Swartzlander (in the Detman #111), Tony Burke, Nick Reges, Dan Swartzlander, Bob Wearing Jr., Dutch Davies, Herman Bertolini and Ray Kroll Sr.
In addition to those listed above, the following drivers competed in the Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model division during the 40th Anniversary Season: Mark Booth, Jim Kurpakus, Jeff Jones, Mike Johnson, Doug Horton, Denton Boyer, John Britsky, Tom Kitchen, Jeff Henry, Dave Hess Jr., Davey Johnson, John Over, Mike Knight, Rick "Boom" Briggs, Billy Henry, Ron Delano Jr., Dave Satterlee, Jacob Hawkins, Brent Rhebergen, Doug Peterman, Terry Rayko, Chuck Clise, Terry Porter, Jason DuPont, Rex King Jr., Ben Satterlee, Coleby Frye, David Scott, Chad McClellan, Corey Ruffo, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Jimmy Morey, Tony Musolino, Mason Zeigler, Steve Banal, Tom Duratz, Nick Duratz and Freddy Zeigler.
2009 promises to be another exciting year of wheel-to-wheel Super Late Model action at Lernerville Speedway with dozens of drivers gunning for Alex Ferree's crown and trying to prevent him from claiming his third straight Friedman's Freshmarkets UMP DIRTcar Track Championship.
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