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Lernerville Locals of today and yesterday
prepare for Silver Cup Glory! Two Features, One Night, Kids Free!! Tuesday, July 20! Sarver, PA (July 15, 2010) The day every local 410 Sprint Car fan looks forward to at the Action Track is less than one week away. And if the fans are fired up, you can imagine how anxious the local drivers are to stake their claim as Silver Cup Champion. Local drivers of today, as well as a few that have moved on to greener pastures, are taking aim at a potential $30,000 payday at next Tuesday, July 20’s Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XIX Twin 30s. From 2002 Silver Cup Champion Ed Lynch Jr. and 2005 Silver Cup Champion Tim Shaffer, to current Budweiser Points Leader Danny Holtgraver and Defending Track Champion Rod George and from brothers Dave and Dale Blaney to Mike Lutz and World of Outlaws regular Brian Ellenberger, drivers with Western PA/Eastern OH roots are geared up for the 19th installment of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup! And, as was the case in 2009, the Silver Cup is the only event all year, anywhere in the country, to see two World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Features in the same night; to see “The Best Go Four Abreast” twice in the same night; and to hear the iconic Johnny Gibson proclaim, “Lernerville Speedway you wanted the best, you got them four abreast! Often imitated, never duplicated, the Greatest Show on Dirt, the WORLD OF OUTLAWS!” Leading up to the Silver Cup, the World of Outlaws, (and quite possibly a few of our own local products), will take action in neighboring Ohio starting on Wednesday, July 14 with the Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park. Then, teams will make the short 50 mile haul south to the famed Eldora Speedway for two nights of racing; starting with Friday night’s running of the “Knight Before the King’s Royal” and then Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win 27th Annual Kings Royal. After all the dust has settled at Limaland and Eldora, teams will pack up their cars and haul 323 miles east to Don Martin’s Lernerville Speedway to take their shot at one of the two $15,000-to-win, 30-lap feature events of the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XIX Twin 30s. Having “Slayed the Beast” once, “The Apollo Rocket” Ed Lynch Jr. longs to taste the sweet victory of a Crown Jewel win at his home track; where he has won over 100 features during his illustrious career! Last year, Lynch started the night by laying down the fourth quick time of the night with a lap of 12.890, finished second in his heat and fifth in the dash. After starting fourth, he raced hard and pocketed a solid eight place finish in the first feature, followed by a 16th place finish in the second feature capping off another solid Silver Cup performance. But Lynch Racing is not looking for solid performances; they’re looking for checkered flags and big checks! And if recent trips around the Action Track are any indication, Lynch is primed to add a second Silver Cup to his treasured trophy collection! Lynch drives his way into the 2010 edition of the Silver Cup peaking his famed #2L at the right time. In the last month, Lynch has picked up a pair of victories in the Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprints at Lernerville; including the Mid-Season Championship on Friday, June 18 and the Silver Cup provisional that goes along with it! He has also scored wins at Mercer Raceway Park, and most notably during PA Speedweek at Bedford Speedway against the always challenging Pennsylvania Posse! For Danny Holtgraver, last year’s Silver Cup was bittersweet! On one hand, it was a monumental break through for the young driver from the North Hills of Pittsburgh. On the other, Holtgraver just missed out on the lead lap inversion of the second feature, and as such, starting on the front row of the famed four-wide salute to the fans! Holtgraver shocked the clock during time trials with a lap of 13.035 seconds, placing him 13th overall and earning him the pole in his heat. He finished fifth in his heat and transferred directly into the A-Main for the first time in his young career against the World of Outlaws. And, as mentioned above, while he just missed out on the lead lap inversion, Holtgraver gained valuable big race experience while finishing 22nd and 23rd in the Twin 30s. That experience against the Outlaw Elite was a springboard to his breakout 2010 season! So far during his breakout campaign of 2010, Holtgraver has chalked up wins at Mercer Raceway Park and most recently at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS) this past Saturday Night during the “Flight of the Phoenix” Sprint Car special event. Easily the biggest win of his blossoming career, the big win at PPMS pocketed Holtgraver $2,500 and some much needed confidence heading into the biggest race of the year. But the most impressive part of his 2010 breakout campaign is that he currently sits atop the current Budweiser Point Standings at Lernerville Speedway. Holtgraver also leads the division in National Guard Heat Race wins, top ten finishes, top five finishes and top three finishes. He just hasn’t quite found his way to Sheetz Victory Lane yet! Other than Ed Lynch Jr, the only local driver to cash in on a bigger payday in 2010 than Danny Holtgraver is Mike Lutz. Lutz took home $3,600 last Wednesday night after dominating the Lou Blaney Memorial Classic at Sharon Speedway. He did so by beating Lynch, Shaffer, Holtgraver and both Blaneys, not to mention Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and several World of Outlaws and All Stars regulars. Lutz was flat out dominant and is looking forward to equal success at the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup! 2005 Silver Cup Champion Tim Shaffer is always a threat to win at the Action Track! The 1993 Track Champion has been a regular on the World of Outlaws and All Star Circuit of Champions tours for most of the past two decades, but has never forgotten the quick way around the Action Track. In fact, the “Steel City Outlaw” has feature wins with the All Stars in each of the past two seasons at Lernerville Speedway. The most recent All Star feature winner at Lernerville Speedway is the “Low Rider” Dale Blaney who took the checkered flag on Friday, June 4, after winning a Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprint feature win during Fab Four Racing two weeks earlier. Blaney, Lernerville’s 1991 Track Champion, has also won multiple All Star Championships and several World of Outlaws feature events; including Wednesday, July 14’s Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park! But despite the successes of Ed Lynch Jr., Tim Shaffer and Dale Blaney and the recent big wins of Danny Holtgraver and Mike Lutz, the star of Tuesday Night’s Silver Cup will undoubtedly be Dale’s brother and NASCAR star Dave Blaney. Blaney has recently returned to his racing roots by strapping into a 410 sprint car for the first time in over a decade. Blaney has been a NASCAR regular for almost 15 years, but has been driving the Gene Jenkins and Scott Mertz owned #55 sprint car at higher paying local . Dave won a feature his first night in the car on a Western PA speedway on the Fourth of July at Tri-City Speedway. He drove again last week at his own track in the race that honored the memory of his late, great father; the Lou Blaney Classic. Winner of the 1995 World of Outlaws Championship, as well as 70 World of Outlaws A-Main features, Blaney has not raced competitively with the series since 1997 and has not won a race at Lernerville Speedway since October 11, 1989! But all eyes will be on the “Buckeye Bullet” as he makes his return to one of the tracks that helped launch his extremely successful racing career. Defending Track Champion Rod George has had a recent run of bad luck, having flipped at Lernerville two weeks ago and then having a tire rip off the rim during his heat race at Sharon last Wednesday that put him behind the eight ball all night long. But he does have two feature wins this season and 42 for his career, so he’s always a factor! The Silver Cup is an annual homecoming for 2009 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award winner Brian Ellenberger. Visits to the Lernerville Speedway are now extra special with his primary sponsor, Ti22 Performance, also being the title sponsor of the DIRTcar Sprints during the weekly Fab Four Racing program. Ellenberger spent a couple off weekends at the Action Track earlier in the season with the dual purpose of supporting his sponsor and at the same time get dialed in for the twin $15,000-to-win, 30-lap Silver Cup features. In doing so, Ellenberger picked up a feature win on Opening Night and a second place finish on April 23. Regardless of which local driver or driver with local roots you cheer for, you have to see the only event with two features in one night! The Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XIX Twin 30s are a must see and tickets are on sale now! Buy your advance tickets before Monday, July 19 and receive a FREE pit pass upgrade! And in case you didn’t know, kids 10 & under are always admitted FREE into general admission at Lernerville Speedway, even for the World of Outlaws!! Log on to www.Lernerville.com or call (724) 353-1511 to buy your tickets today!! |
