6/13/2024
Lernerville Speedway
Action Track Recap- Norris Makes it Four of Five; Williamson Returns and Tops Diehl Big Blocks; Flick Stays Hot in Feature Win; Schneider Bests Pro St
Tommy Hein Photo
Sarver, PA (June 8, 2024) The Fab4 weekly racing season saw some twists and turns in the point standings on Friday night and some of the usual suspects in Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane as the #1 Cochran Automotive Fan Appreciation Night with fireworks unfolded on a cool June evening. Another stout and stacked pit area was brimming with 84 cars on hand. And upon the final checkered flag waving, AJ Flick had captured his third victory of the year in Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car action while Michael Norris visited victory lane for the fourth time in five attempts. Four time track champion Mat Williamson returned to his former playground and put on another classic performance in obtaining the win with the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and Chris Schneider pulled into a three car battle in the point standings with his second win of the season with the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks.
Norris Makes it Four out of Five
At this point, the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series drivers may be checking their closets for Michael Norris when the Firecracker 100 presented by Big River Steel rolls into The Action Track June 20-22. The defending track champion has been making it look relatively easy in the early part of the 2024 campaign, winning three of the first four features of the season. On Friday night, the task for Norris had its fair share of challenges though as he started 10th on the grid thanks to his feature win a week prior, and a determined effort from six time track champion Alex Ferree who started on the pole, and for the better part of the 25 lap Precise Racing Products Late Model feature, looked destined to win.
Ferree bolted out to the early lead with one lap in when all action slowed for a spun Chub Frank while championship contender Colton Flinner pulled into the infield with mechanical gremlins, giving Norris the opportunity to stack points between himself the Flinner in the standings. When action resumed, Ferree once again assumed command of the field with John Garvin Jr. hanging close in second place. Meanwhile, Norris had moved forward from his 10th starting spot to put himself in position to start battling Logan Zarin for the third spot on lap eight. Just moments later, the yellow flag emerged for Josh Powell, handing the open air back to Ferree in the lead.
On the ensuing restart, Norris shot forward like a rocket, moving from fourth to second and began immediately taking looks under Ferree for the top spot when Matt Tifft brought out the yellow flag. Norris pulled wheel to wheel on the restart, working the bottom groove with Ferree up top as the race reached the halfway point. Norris then moved to the top side directly behind Ferree with 10 laps to go. Ferree and Norris then slipped over the cushion which third running Garvin took advantage of, slipping into the second spot briefly. Norris made his way back around with seven laps to go and began reeling in Ferree out front when Ferree made hard contact with the back of RJ Dallape's machine on the back stretch as Dallape was attempting to get to the pit area. Norris inherited the lead and never looked back, leading the final five laps to secure his fourth victory in five tries in 2024.
"If he (Ferree) didn't have back luck he wouldn't have any luck at all," Norris said in Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane. "He was really good, I was just biding my time back there. If he would have won and I would have finished second I'd have been just fine with that."
Precise Racing Products Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 72-Michael Norris[10]; 2. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7]; 3. 10-John Garvin Jr[5]; 4. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[16]; 5. 77-Tyler Dietz[11]; 6. 40-Michael Duritsky Jr[15]; 7. 9-Levi Yetter[12]; 8. 10L-Gary Lyle[2]; 9. 57-Matt Tifft[6]; 10. 81-Mike Miller[14]; 11. 24-Tyler Wyant[4]; 12. 11-Joshua Powell[18]; 13. 84-Andrew Wylie[19]; 14. 60H-Brian Hutchko[17]; 15. (DNF) 1C-Alex Ferree[1]; 16. (DNF) 75-RJ Dallape[13]; 17. (DNF) 15-Kodie Checketts[20]; 18. (DNF) 1L-Logan Jaquay[8]; 19. (DNF) 1*-Chub Frank[3]; 20. (DNF) 48-Colton Flinner[9]
Williamson Returns and Tops Diehl Big Blocks
Mat Williamson took a Friday night to re-visit the place where put together three race winning streaks, starting the third feature from dead last on several occasions. And, his performance recalled memories of those years as he patiently worked his way forward until he found the perfect moment to take control of the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified feature.
Points leader Garrett Krummert started on the pole and got to the early lead while behind him, Will Thomas, Canadian invader Dalton Slack, Rick Regalski and Mike Kinney made up a formidable chase pack in positions two through five in the early going. Thomas took over the top spot at the flagstand on lap one and looked to be on his way to his first victory of the season. Austin Eyler brought out the yellow flag with just four laps down and when action resumed, Krummert replaced Thomas as the leader as the two traded the top spot with Thomas up top and Krummert for several laps and seventh starting WIlliamson right behind them. Williamson was able to take the second spot away from Krummert when all action was slowed for Rex King Jr. who stopped on the speedway with eight laps to go.
On the ensuing restart, Williamson held the bottom groove and used it to his advantage, passing Thomas for the lead for good with nine laps down. Krummert made his way around Thomas for good with 13 laps in the books, but had nothing for Williamson out front as he survived two more restarts down the stretch and put some distance between himself and Krummert while Jeremiah Shingledecker came forward from his eighth starting spot to take the final spot on the podium.
"When I saw we had a Friday off at Ransomville, this was my first choice to come down and race," Williamson said. "I love coming here. The fans are great, the people in the pits are great, the competitors are great, the racetrack is awesome. Early in the night it was kind of hammer down but it came back around to the Lernerville we all know."
Diehl Automotive Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 2. 29-Garrett Krummert[1]; 3. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[8]; 4. 61-Dave Murdick[6]; 5. 3RS-Dalton Slack[3]; 6. 9-Will Thomas[2]; 7. 45-Steve Feder[19]; 8. 11R-Brad Rapp[12]; 9. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[5]; 10. C3-Chas Wolbert[16]; 11. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[18]; 12. 35-Steve Slater[20]; 13. 63-Jessica Kriegisch[14]; 14. 10-Chelsie Gallagher[17]; 15. 3K-Shawn Kozar[11]; 16. 5A-Austin Eyler[10]; 17. 18-Colton Walters[15]; 18. (DNF) 60-Tom Holden[13]; 19. (DNF) 20P-Mike Kinney[4]; 20. (DNF) 165-Rex King Jr[9]
Flick Continues Hot Streak in Yet Another Feature Win
USAC Sprint and Midget star CJ Leary stopped in for a visit on Friday night, driving the number 55 Alex Bowman Racing machine, having already made a few Winged 410 Sprint Car starts on dirt in 2024, but he proved to be no match for a red hot AJ Flick who was coming off his biggest win of the year in the Jean Lynch Classic just one week prior.
Dan Kuriger brought the field to the green flag and quickly put the field behind him showing significant speed in the process as Carl Bowser, Brandon Matus and AJ Flick all battled for the runner up spot in the early going until John Jerich brought out the yellow flag with three laps down. Kuriger then found himself battling wheel to wheel with Flick with five laps in the books. Tommy Jasen then brought out the yellow to reset the field.
When action resumed, Flick found some traction down the back stretch into turns three and four which he used to make his way past Kuriger for the lead with eight laps down. With 10 laps down, Flick found himself in considerable lapped traffic, but did not yield any distance between himself and Kuriger as the race approached the halfway point. All forward progress was stymied with an Adam Herb spin, bringing out the yellow flag with 17 laps down. But, Flick was not in the mood to be caught on Friday night as he simply drove away in the final laps to collect the feature win.
Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 2-AJ Flick[4]; 2. 08-Danny Kuriger[1]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[6]; 4. 11-Carl Bowser[2]; 5. 55-CJ Leary[5]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[3]; 7. 00-Chris Frank[10]; 8. 5-Jeremy Weaver[9]; 9. 3-John Jerich[14]; 10. 33-Brent Matus[11]; 11. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[12]; 12. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[8]; 13. 44-Pete Landram[17]; 14. 12G-Tommy Jasen[13]; 15. 154-Shamus O'Donnell[20]; 16. 4K-Kip Edwards[18]; 17. 55*-Matt Sherlock[7]; 18. (DNF) 05-Adam Herb[15]; 19. (DNF) M4-Louie Mattes[21]; 20. (DNF) 76-Davey Jones[19]; 21. (DNF) 316-Brandon McWilliams[16]
Schneider Bests Pro Stocks for Second Time in 2024
The Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock championship may be one of the most hotly contested one in years as three drivers stand at the top of the standings who all have wins and are quite possibly the three best Pro Stock drivers in the tri-state area, each with resumes that include a combined 100 feature victories between them within the area. The third driver to throw the hat into the ring was Chris Schneider courtesy of a hard fought feature win on Friday night, his second of the 2024 campaign.
Schneider and Cody Koteles brought the field to the green flag where Schneider quickly bolted out to the early lead. Contact between Trevor McCann, Joey Zambotti and Tommy Dembowski brought out an early caution and when racing resumed, Schneider was still the class of the field as Christian Schneider made his way around Koteles for second before the halfway mark. Out front, Schneider accumulated over a 1.5 second lead over Christian which started to shrink in the final five laps. However, Chris was able to stay cool and calm in the lead as his brother Christian and Koteles rounded out the podium.
"I put my setup back to what it was two weeks ago and it felt good just taking it on a Sunday cruise when it was slick," Schneider remarked.
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 55S-Chris Schneider[2]; 2. 56-Christian Schneider[8]; 3. 1K-Cody Koteles[5]; 4. 00-Tyler Dietz[9]; 5. 155-Tyler Schneider[7]; 6. C33-Corey McPherson[4]; 7. 25-Jason Fosnaught[10]; 8. 72B-Jim Kurpakus[6]; 9. 00L-Cole Miller[11]; 10. 26-Mike Bordt[12]; 11. 79-Tommy Dembowski[14]; 12. 68-John Peterman Jr[13]; 13. 7A-Tom Robertson[17]; 14. 948-Joey Zambotti III[3]; 15. 12M-Trevor McCann[15]; 16. 22-Chase Lambert[1]; 17. (DNS) 57-Jeff Hay
Submitted By: Gary Heeman