Chubzilla dominates MACS feature, Stevie Smith wins thrilling Sonia Bullis Memorial All Star Feature, Bob Lipinski wins 3rd Pure Stock feature 8.31
Chubzilla dominates MACS feature, Stevie Smith wins thrilling Sonia Bullis Memorial All Star Feature, Bob Lipinski wins 3rd Pure Stock feature
By Eric J. Westendorf Sarver, PA (August 31, 2007)
It’s no secret that Chub Frank likes the Action Track. But he absolutely loves Victory Lane! For the second time in 15 days, Chub Frank ended the night posing for pictures in Victory Lane. Affectionately known as “Chubzilla” by his fans, Frank won the #1 Cochran Stars of NASCAR Night A-Main feature on Thursday August 16 by leading just the final 6 laps of the feature. Tonight, however, Chubzilla led every lap of the Cleveland Brothers MACS 35 feature and was never even challenged for the lead. Not only did he dominate the feature, he qualified second, won his heat race and the dash. It was pretty clear early on in the evening that the rest of the field was running for second, and that held true as Frank pocketed a cool $5000 winner’s share of the purse.
The win is the 16th MACS Series victory for Frank, leaving him one win short of all-time MACS feature winner Todd Andrews despite never running a full MACS schedule of events. Frank is however, on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and is currently second in points with five series wins on the season
Another World of Outlaws Late Model Series driver who loves racing at Lernerville Speedway is “Kid Rocket” Josh Richards. Despite not winning a feature at Lernerville this season, when he’s in the field, he always runs up front. Tonight was no exception. Richards started the night by qualifying third quick. He then backed up his impressive qualifying lap by winning his heat race. A fifth place finish in a loaded dash landed Richards inside row three to start the feature. He lingered right around the top five until Robbie Blair brought out a caution on lap 16. Richards moved to third on the restart and was in second two laps later, but didn’t have the afterburners to run down Chub Frank.
Lernerville Late Model Track Record Holder Darrell Lanigan only qualified 17th best tonight, and did not win his heat race like Frank and Richards, but he was fast when it mattered the most, feature time. Lanigan started ninth behind some very talented drivers on a track that was not exactly conducive to a lot of passing. However, he quickly moved forward, gaining four spots in five laps, and then meticulously working his way forward. He passed fast-qualifier Steve Shaver for third on lap 19 and would finish in that position. Jason Covert’s night started out downright rotten! He qualified 40th of 42 cars, but managed to qualify to the A-main through his heat race, but started way back in the 20th position. But, like Lanigan, Covert was fast at showtime, and earned the Hard Charger award by improving 16 spots to come home fourth. Covert’s fourth place finish coupled with Robbie Blair’s DNF 24th place finish catapults Covert into the MACS Points lead over Blair, who entered tonight’s event with the lead! Steve Shaver, who paced qualifying with a lap of 17.243 seconds rounded out the top five.
Dave Hess Jr. and Dan Stone won the other heat races along with Frank and Richards. Lernerville regulars did not fare as well as they had hoped, but three local drivers did bring home top ten finishes. Jared Miley led the way for the Friedman’s Freshmarket’s contingent by finishing eight. 2007 Budweiser Track Champion Alex Ferree finished ninth, while rising star Greg Satterlee raced home tenth. Lynn Geisler finished 11th, Dutch Davies was 12th, Matt Lux came home 15th, Gary Lyle used a track provisional to make the A-Main and finished 20th, and Mike Blose was scored in 22nd.
Pushing off second was the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars for the Sonia Bullis Memorial sponsored by Cleveland Brothers CAT and in association with Sirena Pizza. While Chub Frank led wire-to-wire to win the MACS race, Stevie Smith led just the final five circuits of the 35 lap A-Main feature event that honored the late car owner and sponsor Sonia Bullis. Smith started ninth in a stacked 26 car field. Like it was for the late models, the track was hard slick and quite dusty, and many cars had problems getting traction. But there was one spot on the track, exiting turn two, that acted as a launching pad down the back straightaway. Not a lot of cars found it, or perhaps did not have the setup to get low enough exiting turn two to use it, but those who did appeared to be shot out of a cannon. Stevie Smith was one of the cars that found and used the sweet spot. In fact, he kind of found it the hard way after Byron Reed used it to rocket past him midway through the race.
Once Smith found the stripe of moisture, he used it to get back past Reed and run down leader Dale Blaney. After biding his time in heavy lapped traffic, Smith finally used the sweet spot on lap 30 to blast past Blaney on the back straightaway. Blaney, however, regained the lead using the high line in turns three & four. But it was short lived as Smith hit the sweet spot again on lap 31 to pass Blaney for good and cruise into Victory Lane for a $5000 payday. Blaney started seventh in the A-Main feature but moved forward in a hurry, jumping to third by lap six, and then into second on lap 10. On lap 15 Blaney used the top side of turn two to pull ahead of pole sitter and early race leader Rob Chaney. Blaney led the next 15 laps before succumbing to Stevie Smith. Blaney begrudgingly settled for second place. He had earlier won his heat race and the dash. Byron Reed started third, worked his way as high as second, before settling for a third place finish behind Smith and Blaney.
Chad Blonde ran an impressive race to finish fourth from his 11th place starting position after transferring into the A by winning the B-main. Pole sitter and early race leader Rob Chaney rounded out the top five. Dale Blaney, Craig Mintz, Danny Smith and Rod George each won a heat race. Mike Lutz, driver of the Martha Dionise #15, carried the torch for the local contingent of Commercial Truck & Trailer Sprint Cars for most of the evening’s action. Lutz surprised everyone by setting quick time with a lap of 15.319 seconds. He was also credited by many for finding the sweet spot exiting turn two during the dash. When the dust settled after the 35 lap Sonia Bullis Memorial, Lutz was scored in eighth, the best finish by any local driver! A big congratulation goes out to Martha Dionise and the entire 15 team for another excellent night of racing. Earlier this month, Lutz piloted the famed Dionise #15 to Victory Lane for the first time in almost 20 years! This is one team that is very sorry to see the 2007 season come to a close at the Action Track!
Area driver and frequent visitor to the Sarver 4/10 mile oval, Bob Felmlee raced home to an impressive 10th place finish. Back-to-Back Track Champion “Cool” Kevin Schaeffer raced home 12th, followed by Scott Priester in 13th, Andy McKisson in 14th, Carl Bowser in 16th, Brent Matus in 19th, Charlie Holben in 20th, 2005 Sonia Bullis Memorial winner Scott Bonnell in 22nd, Dan Shetler, (who used a track provisional), in 24th, and Arnie Kent in 26th. To reinforce how challenging it was to find forward bite and to pass, Championship runners-up Rod George and Ed Lynch Jr. were scored in 17th and 21st place respectively! The Pure Stocks capped off the evening with a 15 lap feature that served as a final test and tune for the Advance Auto Parts Autumn-Motive Fest Pure Stock Pandemonium, scheduled for Friday & Saturday September 14th & 15th. Bob Lipinski scored his third win of the 2007 season with a rather dominant performance. Bob Egley outlasted Jason Fosnaught for second place. Behind Fosnaught were Shawn Thorn in fourth and last week’s feature winner Wayne Carbo in fifth. 2007 Advance Auto Parts Pure Stock Champion Mike Pegher Jr. was not in attendance. Heat races went to Joe Kelley and Jason Fosnaught.
As event sponsor, Cleveland Brothers CAT made trophies for all three feature winners, but these bad boys are not your father’s trophies. These trophies are essentially three-dimensional plaques that feature a die-cast Caterpillar work vehicle, sure to be the centerpiece of any trophy case! Lernerville Speedway would like to thank Cleveland Brothers CAT for their participation and unique trophies!
Race Results
313 N. Pike Road Sarver, PA 16055
Phone (724) 353-1511 Fax (724) 353-2650
www.lernerville.com
8/31/2007
All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars
Time Trial Results
1. (15) Mike Lutz 15.319
2. (2L) Ed Lynch Jr. 15.353
3. (20E) Brian Ellenberger 15.416
4. (6F) Bob Felmlee 15.505
5. (45) Todd Bauer 15.584
6. (5) Byron Reed 15.586
7. (5B) Chad Blonde 15.588
8. (11) Scott Priester 15.692
9. (24H) Rob Chaney 15.871
10. (28) Brian Paulus 15.880
11. (2) Dale Blaney 15.926
12. (9) Kevin Schaeffer 15.942
13. (19) Stevie Smith 15.972
14. (42) Charlie Holben 15.973
15. (W20) Greg Wilson 16.003
16. (4G) Rod George 16.021
17. (O9) Craig Mintz 16.036
18. (4) Danny Smith 16.092
19. (10) Carl Bowser 16.181
20. (12) Caleb Griffith 16.196
21. (0) Andy McKisson 16.231
22. (33) Brent Matus 16.249
23. (3B) Scott Bonnell 16.361
24. (56R) Ryan Myers 16.417
25. (51) Jason Pisani 16.560
26. (11M) Brandon Martin 16.573
27. (11B) Brock Mayes 16.705
28. (98) Dan Shetler 16.806
29. (18) Arnie Kent 16.891
30. (71M) Paul May 16.965
31. (D4) Danny Holtgraver 17.135
32. (3J) Joe Butera 18.254
33. (4K) Bill Kiley 22.807
ASCOC Sonia Bullis Memorial Feature by Cleveland Brothers CAT (35 Laps)
1. (19) Stevie Smith
2. (2) Dale Blaney
3. (5) Byron Reed
4. (5B) Chad Blonde
5. (24H) Rob Chaney
6. (W20)Greg Wilson
7. (4) Danny Smith
8. (15) Mike Lutz
9. (09) Craig MIntz
10. (6F) Bob Felmlee
11. (28) Brian Paulus
12. (9) Kevin Scaheffer
13. (11) Scott Priester
14. (0) Andy McKisson
15. (11B) Brock Mayes
16. (10) Carl Bowser
17. (4G) Rod George
18. (11M) Brandon Martin
19. (33) Brent Matus
20. (42G) Charlie Holben
21. (2L) Ed Lynch Jr.
22. (3B) Scott Bonnell
23. (71M) Paul May
24. (98) Dan Shetler
25. (12) Caleb Griffith
26. (18) Arnie Kent
Heat Race Winners: Craig Mintz, Danny Smith, Dale Blaney, Rod George
Dash: Dale Blaney
B-Main: Chad Blonde
MACS Late Model Time Trials
1. (30) Steve Shaver 17.243
2. (1*) Chub Frank. 17.421
3. (1R) Josh Richard 17.482
4. (W11) Robbie Blair 17.489
5. (21D) Dan Stone 17.534
6. (5B) Mike Blose 17.575
7. (79J) Dave Johnson 17.592
8. (12D) Doug Drown 17.675
9. (21M) Jason Montgomery 17.703
10. (79) Dave Satterlee 17.718
11. (99B) Boom Briggs 17.748
12. (44) Dave Hess Jr. 17.761
13. (1C) Lynn Geisler 17.786
14. (00H) Chuck Harper 17.789
15. (T8) Mark Banal 17.821
16. (H1) Jared Miley 17.851
17. (29L) Darrell Lanigan 17.890
18. (4F) Alex Ferree 17.906
19. (55S) Chris Schneider 17.956
20. (2S) Sam Stile 17.964
21. (E1) Mike Balzano 17.976
22. (21) Mike Lux 18.078
23. (B22) Bump Hedman 18.171
24. (3) David Scott 18.192
25. (9K) Mike Knight 18.235
26. (3A) Dan Swartzlander 18.308
27. (J4) John Garvin 18.354
28. (40) Dutch Davies 18.364
29. (71R) Rod Conley 18.370
30. (5) Chuck Clise 18.452
31. (NO7) Jason Dupont 18.465
32. (88) Chuck Sarver 18.480
33. (2J) Mike Johnson 18.487
34. (10G) Gary Lyle 18.545
35. (22) Greg Satterlee 18.589
36. (119) Jim Bernheisel 18.607
37. (0D) Ron Delano 18.644
38. (66B) Todd Bachman 18.695
39. (97) Ben Satterlee 18.778
40. (43A) Jason Covert 18.784
41. (38R) Nick Reges 19.003
42. (4J) John Mollick 23.115
43. (6L) Jim Lepro NT
“Cleveland Brothers MACS 35” Feature(35 Laps)
1. (*1) Chub Frank
2. (1R) Josh Richards
3. (29L) Darrell Lanigan
4. (43A) Jason Covert
5. (30) Steve Shaver
6. (44) Dave Hess Jr.
7. (79J) Davey Johnson
8. (H1) Jared Miley
9. (4F) Alex Ferree
10. (22) Greg Satterlee
11. (1C) Lynn Geisler
12. (40) Dutch Davies
13. (12D) Doug Drown
14. (21D) Dan Stone
15. (21) Matt Lux
16. (71R) Rod Conley
17. (119) Jim Bernheisel
18. (E1) Mike Balzano
19. (99B) Boom Briggs
20. (10G) Gary Lyle
21. (22B) Bump Hedman
22. (5B) Mike Blose
23. (00H) Chuck Harper
24. (W11) Robbie Blair
25. (21M) Jason Montgomery
Heat Race Winners: Dan Stone, Chub Frank, Josh Richards, Dave Hess Jr.
Dash Winner: Chub Frank
Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks Feature (15 Laps)
- (55L) Bob Lipinski
- (30) Bob Egley
- (J19) Jason Fosnaught
- (12) Shawn Thorn
- (54) Wayne Carbo
- (66) Joe Kelley
- (77S) Bryan Shaffer
- (33X) Greg Beach
- (3S) Paul Schreckengost
- (9R) Roger Stivenson
- (20J) Jim Fosnaught
- (28Y) Terry Young
- (8C) Fred Casagni
- (29) Mike Gilliland
- (7) Eric Piotrowski
- (56) Bryan Wagner
- (5) Don McCLure
- (84R) Todd Puz
- (1) Randy Hanovick
- (42) Doug Johnston
- (25) Brett McDonald
Car Counts:
Total:98
Sprints: 33
Late Models: 43
Pure Stocks: 22