More SDW Paint; More Tidbits

David Hebert's big block paint scheme for Super Dirt Week is available on his website. The car is very similar to last year's paint scheme that he drove to a 5th place finish in the Rite-Aid 200, with a handful of minor differances. Here's the link to the site, http://www.equipedecourse1.com/accueil.php

Dirt Track Digest is reporting that at the end of the year, John Lazore and Tim Fuller will split up. Lazore currently races his own equipment at Mohawk International Raceway, and won the 2008 points title at the track. He also runs the 358 Tour, and along with owning Fuller's car, owns the car that Jessica Zemken runs on the 358 Tour. Don't be surprised to see Zemken step into the teams big block part-time, should they decide to keep their big block program going. As for Fuller, he's stated in the past he'll always run modifieds, if he decides he wants to run modified again next year, don't be surprised to see him team up with John Wight's Gypsum team. He drivers a late model that is owned by John Wight and John Lazore, and is very good friends with Billy Decker who is John's top driver. It's also been reported that Pat Ward is very unhappy with the team and wants out. Don't be surprised to see Ward out of the car next year, nothing is official though.

Also, Danny Johnson will drive the Joe Beyea owned #121 big block modified at the Scheider Brothers 200 at Fulton Seedway this weekend.

Georgetown Speedway Announces One More Race...

Georgetown Speedway has announced that they will have a $2,500 to win big block modified race on November 15th. Super late models, and crate modifieds and late models will also be on the card.

Rain Wins Again...

Glen Ridge Motorsports Park was also forced to cancel tonight. Scratch what I said last night about Alan Johnson being the hottest driver on the DIRT circuit, Mother Nature has easily been the toughest thing to beat in '08.

Next week the King of the Catskills at Accord Speedway is slated for Friday night and will be a 100 lapper paying at least $5,500 to win, the race is part of the RoC Dirt Tour. Friday will also see the season finale for the T3 All-Star Series at Woodhull Raceway. New Egypt's Rocktoberfest weekend will take place next weekend as well, with 358 modifieds highlighting the card for Saturday (40 laps $4,000 to win), and the Garden State Dual Track Series big block modifieds taking to the track on Sunday (40 laps $5,000 to win). Sunday Glen Ridge Motorsports Park will have a special regular paying show with rules that are opened up to allow invaders to come without having to change anything on the car.

The big one scheduled for next weekend is the Schneiders Brothers 200 (the REAL Victoria 200) which is schedule for Saturday night. The race will have open rules for the second year in a row and will once again be 200 laps, with the winner recieving $25,000.

Hopefully the weather cooperates and everyone can have an enjoyable race weekend October 2-5!

Rain Cancels Diamond Nationals; Guidance Biggest Star at "Little Guy Nationals"

Frank Guidance, the 2008 and 2006 Mercer Raceway Park champion, defended his home turf against the T3 All-Star Series on Saturday night as he won the Little Guy Nationals. Guidance held off a late-charge by NY veteran Ray Bliss to best the 34 car field.

Big Diamond has already cancelled the Sunday portion of the Diamond Nationals, leading the event to be totally cancelled. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park is now the only track racing modifieds of any kind today, as they have a big block show.

AJ Wins $10,000; Bicknell Tastes Victory; Rain the big winner

Alan Johnson won a rainy World Series 200, which actually ended up being the World Series 125 as rains caused an early checkered to be thrown. The win was worth $10,000 to the hottest driver currently on the DIRT circuit, now picking up his 3rd win in 5 races since teaming up with Eric Kingsley and Jake Spraker's Spra-King Motorsports. Along with the win comes a guarenteed 8th place starting spot in the Rite-Aid 200. The team was not planning on attending, hopefully this will change their minds.

Tip of the hat goes to Carey Terrance who led the first 50 laps, and ran inside the top 5 until slipping with less than 5 laps to go on a great run in his first start racing an actual big block. Terrance, the 2008 Cornwall Speedway champion, has run with his 358 modified against the big blocks on a handful of occasions, including this year at Cornwall where he picked up a top 5 finish. Congratulations on an impressive showing, he ended up coming home in 7th place, one position of his teammate, Dale Planck, who finished 8th.

At Brighton Speedway's annual Applefest Shootout, it was Pete Bicknell that held off veteran Tim O'Brien for the $2,000 win. The race was shortened due to a rain shower coming on lap 32 of the feature.

Big Diamond and Glen Ridge both had to cancel their events for Saturday.

Friday Night A Wash

Rolling Wheels had now cancelled there 358 Super Dirt Series race schedule for tonight. It will not be made up.

Willy Decker out Sheppard In; Stewart Friesen to team with Daley, Accord Rained Out, Other tidbits

Willy Decker is out of the Tom Cullen owned #1x. While no permanent replacement has been named, Matt Sheppard will take over driving duties for the team at Syracuse for the small block race. Willy Decker timed inside the top 5 at Syracuse last year in the small block race. Willy Decker and Tom Cullen have been one of the most underrated owner/driver teams in the dirt modified racing world, collected two RoC Dirt Tour wins, two Utica Rome track championships and, a Brewerton track championship in the last 4 years, they were a threat to win wherever they ran and collected wins this year at Brewerton, Utica Rome, and Glen Ridge. Cullen stated that Sheppard could run some other late season shows this year for the team. Matt Sheppard will also be in the Jeff Brownell owned #9s for the Rite-Aid 200. Willy Decker will pilot the Kyle Lewis owned #09 in some late season specials. Stay tuned for updates.

Area Auto Racing News broke the news that Stewart Friesen will be making his return to Super Dirt Week for the Rite-Aid 200 this year. Friesen will drive for Jeff Daley, who owned the #44z Jessica Zemken ran in the sportsman division last year. Daley has also sponsored Friesen in the past. Friesen finished 2nd in the Salute to the Troops 150, the small block portion of Super Dirt Week, after stepping in and driving the Pizza Logs #3 for injured Chad Brachmann.

Accord Speedway has rained out their biggest show of the year, the King of the Catskills, and has rescheduled the race for October 3rd.

Ray Swinehart will pilot the Wilson Motorsports #16w small block modified this weekend at Big Diamond. John Willman recently left the team.

Todd Milton will be making his return to racing at the Scheider Brothers 200 (the REAL Victoria 200) in a chassis designed by himself. No word on whether or not Milton will run anymore this year or next year.

Reports have that there could be a new driver in the Dick Biever owned #14 at Big Diamond Raceway in 2009. Nothing is official. If this were to happen Biever would continue to travel and run Saturday nights with Rick Laubach, who's been by far the best driver Biever's had in one of his cars. Again, nothing is official.

Big Race Weekend; Jason Barney's SDW Paint Scheme...

Just 2 weeks until the biggest week in modified racing, Super Dirt Week! That mean's we've got another big weekend of racing coming up this weekend. Friday night the 358 Super Dirt Series invades Rolling Wheels Raceway for a 75-lap $3,000 to win show, it's worth noting that DIRT has announced that they WON'T run time trials on Friday for the small blocks, which shows they're at least attempting to listen to the fans. Also on Friday, the King of the Catskills will be at Accord Speedway for the big block modifieds, which will pay $5,600 to win the 100 lap event. Saturday night the World Series 200 will take place at Rolling Wheels Raceway and will pay $10,000 to win along with the 8th place starting spot for the Rite-Aid 200. Big Diamond has the Diamond Nationals weekend, on Saturday the big block modifieds will highlight the night with a 40 lap $5,000 to win feature. Brighton Speedway will have the Applefest Shootout for the 358 modifieds which will have a Dash for Cash that pays $1,500 to win, while the 30 lap feature will pay $2,000 to win. On Sunday the Diamond Nationals will conclude with a 50 lap $5,000 to win show for the small block modifieds. Jason Barney's Super Dirt Week big block paint scheme is available here, http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=950

Heffner Sweeps Lebanon Valley Championship... Again

Sunday night, the 358 modified had their points finale at Lebanon Valley Speedway as they accompanied the World of Outlaws. Steve Hough won the feature event, but it was J.R. Heffner that won his second 358 championship in 2 years. He also was co-champion in the big block division with Mark Flach.

RJ's Weekend Sweep is too Sweet; Riggs Surprise Russ King Memorial Winner; Swartzlander BRP Champ; Tremont Takes 100 on Asphalt

Ronnie Johnson, after picking up $5,000 for his 50 lap win on Saturday night, won the McDonald's 100 at Fonda Speedway earning him $9,500 after holding off Brett Hearn in a classic battle. Johnson also earned $500 for being a Fonda regular, giving him $15,000 over the past 2 days. Brett Hearn was able to win the innagural Fonda NMX Mini-Series championship with his 2nd place finish.

At Sharon Speedway, Lonny Riggs stunned the BRP big block modified field by winning the Russ King Memorial. Brian Swartzlander could only muster up a 8th place finish, but with Rex King Jr's struggles, that's all he needed to be crowned the 2008 BRP Tour champion.

Kenny Tremont held on to win the 100 lap big block feature at Airborne Speedway.

Saracino Racing/John Willman Update...

I recieved an e-mail John Willman sent me clearing up the air about news I posted about he and Saracino Racing parting ways. Willman WILL be in the car for the Diamond Nationals this coming weekend at Big Diamond and will also be driving the car at the Delaware State Championships in November, a race which he won 2 years ago and finished second in last year. Thanks for the e-mail John! I apologize to everyone for the misleading information.

AJ Wins on Dirt Tour, RJ $5,000 Richer, Van Pelt Unstoppable on T3 TourTidbits and other winners

Alan Johnson kept us his strong end of the year by winning his second Super Dirt Series race of the year since teaming up with Jake Spraker and Eric Kingsley. Johnson won the LaBatt's 100 at Canandaigua Speedway for $6,000. Mike Fusco signed on to drive the Masagarus Motorsports #93 the rest of the year (the fourth driver they've had this year after Jimmy Davis, Danny Varin, and Bob Henry have all ran it) and finished 2nd in an exciting race in the BBL 50 at Fonda Speedway worth $5,000 to win. Ronnie Johnson passed Fusco with just 3 laps to go to grab the win. Billy Van Pelt contiued his quest for winning his 3rd T3 All-Star Series championship in their 3rd year of existance with another win at Little Valley.

Duane Howard swept twin 30s at Bridgeport Speedway giving him 3 wins in 2 days, but it was Mike Iles that won his first career championship in the big block division at Bridgeport. Chris Esposito stunned the Grandview field by winning his first ever race in the small block modified division, it was Grandview's points night and Wago driver Jeff Strunk was officially declared champion after clinching a few weeks ago. Keith Hoffman won the feature event at New Egypt, but Billy Pauch's 3rd place finish was enough to win him yet another track championship. Jamie Mills won the Delaware International Speedway championship

Bobby Varin has signed on to run the remaining races at Grandview Speedway in the DiNatale Motorsports #11D. Also, Big Diamond feature winner this year John Willman has quit the Wilson Motorsports #16w. Willman also quit the Saracino Racing #91 earlier this year, he'll now pilot his own #74w the rest of the year with the exception of the Diamond Nationals, where he'll run the Eastern Rigging Racing #11 small block.

Howard the King of the Can, Bachetti wins Accord championship, Phelps wins 358 SDS at LoL

Duane Howard continued his strong season with a win in his first ever appearance at Penn Can Speedway for their biggest race of the year, the RoC Dirt Tour's King of the Can which paid $5,000 to win. At Accord Speedway's points finale, Andy Bachetti came into the night 2 points behind Rich Ricci in the championship, but Bachetti won the race at his first career Accord championship. Congratulations to Wago driver Bachetti on his 2nd championship of the year. Canandaigua's LaBatt's weekend started off with the 358 Super Dirt Series for a 75 lap $4,000 to win feature which was won by Jimmy Phelps.

Gular to Team with Fastnacht in '09

Mike Gular, the 2007 Penn Can Speedway champion, will drive for Terry Fastnacht in 2009 at Grandview Speedway. Gular lost his ride with the Steve Kratz race team mid-way through the 2008 season in favor of veterain Jon Keller Sr. Fastnacht owned the #44 driven by Danny Erb over the past few seasons and had some good seasons with the team. No work on what Danny will do in 2009.

Mike Gular will also run his self-owned #53 in specials in both the big and small block divisions.

Yet Another big Weekend of Racing!

We've got another big weekend of racing in store this weekend in the modified racing world where we'll see 5 new champions crowned. On Friday night, Accord Speedway will have it's points finale for the modifieds, currently Rich Ricci leads by just 2 points over Andy Bachetti. Also scheduled for Friday is the first night of a weekend event at Canandaigua Speedway which will see the 358 Super Dirt Series invade for a $4,000 to win 75 lap feature. Penn Can Speedway will host the RoC Dirt Tour for their biggest race of the year, the King of the Can 100 which will pay the winner $5,000.

On Saturday, New Egypt Speedway will have their points finale as Billy Pauch looks to hold off Keith Hoffman for yet another track championship. Bridgeport Speedway will also crown their big block champion on Saturday with twin 30s for the modifieds, Mike Iles currently holds the points lead with Wade Hendrickson and Steve Bottcher just behind him. Also scheduled for Saturday, Fonda Speedway starts off their biggest weekend of the year with the BBL 50 for the big block modifieds which will pay $5,000 to the winner. Sharon Speedway will also start off their big race weekend with qualifying for the BRP Tour finale/Russ King Memorial. Canandaigua Speedway will complete their LaBatts Blue Weekend with the LaBatts 100 for the Super Dirt Series which will pay $6,000 to win.

Finally, Fonda Speedway and Sharon Speedway will conclude their weekends on Sunday. Fonda Speedway will crown the NMX Series Champion with a 100 lap $9,500 to win race. Matt DeLorenzo currently leads points, but the top 5 are incredibly close. Dave Camara trails by just 2 points, Brett Hearn and Bobby Varin trail by just 8 points, and Ronnie Johnson trails by just 14 points. The BRP Tour will conclude their season with the Russ King Memorial on Sunday, qualifying for the race will be on Saturday night. Brian Swartzlander currently holds the BRP Tour points lead over Rex King Jr. by just 15 points. Airborne also has a big 100 lapper for the 358 modifieds on Sunday.

Ward takes STAR Series at FMP; Fantasy League Updates

Pat Ward picked up his 11th win of the year by winning the STAR Series race at Five Mile Point Speedway on Sunday night. This race was rescheduled after it was rained out last week. This completes a big racing weekend as Woodhull Raceway rained out, there's talk of a rain date for the T3 Lyle Sherwood Memorial race, but nothing is for sure. Club Wago Fantasy League standings are updated following a big 3 race weekend, we're not past the half way point. We now currenty have stickers from Race Pro Weekly and big block modified driver Brett Graham, a shirt of sportsman race Jeremy Holt, and the main prize, season passes to a track of your choice as prizes. Stay tuned for more prizes to come! http://jw4.proboards85.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=241

CVD, Danny O'Brien, Varin collect big Small Block Pay Days

Craig Von Dohren came from 22nd to win the Freedom 76er, Doug Hoffman making his first start of the year got up along side of him on the last lap, but it wasn't enough, and CVD collected the $20,000 win for the 2nd time in his career. He also won the Forrest Rogers Memorial earlier this year at Grandview which paid $10,000 to win.

The innagural Jiffy 150 at Autodrome Drummond was a great success. A strong field and a good strong came out to support the $15,000 to win show. The race came down to a family rivalry. Danny O'Brien was leading on a late race restart when brother Pat O'Brien slipped by, but Danny O'Brien made the last lap pass to win arguable the biggest race of his career.

The 19th running of the New Yorker 200 had a rain delay, high attrition, and saw only 3 cars finish on the lead lap. In the end, it was Bobby Varin collecting the huge win, which paid $10,000. All 3 shows had over 45 cars, so all races saw great turnouts. Congratulations to all 3 winners.

In other racing news, Billy Pauch swept twin 35 lap features at New Egypt to give himself a cushion over Keith Hoffman going into the final points night next Saturday. The king of Run Whatcha Brung Stephane LaFrance picked up another RWYB show at Brockvile. Chad James continued his breakout season with his 3rd win of the year at Bridgeport. Matt DeLorenzo won the open competition show at Fonda Speedway as well, Bobby Varin went to Fonda after winning the New Yorker and finished 6th after starting last.

Tomorrow will be another fairly big day in racing, and it'll complete a huge week in racing. The STAR Series will invade the Five Mile Point Speedway, and the T3 All-Star Series will run at Woodhull Raceway (race was rained out from tonight.)

Rain Sucks!

Everything was rained out tonight. Accord has rescheduled their points finale for next Friday. Brockville has cancelled both their 358 Series event and the Lucas Oil Series 100 lapper that was to be made up from July. This means David Hebert is officially the 2008 Lucas Oil North Series champions. Pete Bicknell won the Lucas Oil West title. Hope the weather cooperates for tomorrow at Grandview, Utica Rome, and Drummondville!

God Bless the USA! 76er Ride Swapping...

Never forget 9/11 my friends, God bless the United States of America! For the Freedom 76er there will be some guys in different cars, here's a short list. Doug Hoffman will make his first start of the year driving a Chad Sinon owned #60over, Kenny Gilmore (last year's 3rd place finisher) will be behing the wheel of the 2nd Rod Breitenstein #14, Jimmy Horton will drive the 2nd Norm Hansell #357 entry, Mike Gular will drive the 2nd Glenn Hyneman #126 entry, sportsman stand-out Brad Grim will drive the 2nd Ryan Grim #17, David Van Horn will be driving the Josh Biever #46, and Brad Brightbill will be driving the MAD Motorsports #11D. Stay tuned for more updates.

Gary Tomkins News; Big Race Weekend!

For the 2nd year in a row Gary Tomkins will be heading to Australia along with American driver Jimmy Phelps. For more, read the press release here, http://thedirttrackchannel.com/Australia.html

What a weekend of racing we have this weekend. Friday night, Accord Speedway will crown their track champion, Rich Ricci leads Andy Bachetti by 2 points going into the final night of points. Also, at Lernerville, the Super Dirt Series will have a 100 lap $6,000 to win show, 358 modifieds will also be on the card for an open show. The Series race at Lernerville will also count for the BRP Tour championship. Also on Friday, Brockville has a huge night of racing planned, they'll run the final 96 laps of the points finale for the Lucas Oil Big Block Series which was rained out in July, and then they'll have a 75 lap 358 Super Dirt Series race which will pay $4,000 to win. Saturday night, Woodhull Raceway has the Lyle Sherwood Memorial which will be highlighted by the small block mdifieds of the T3 All-Star Series. Also on Saturday, 3 of the biggest races of the year, the New Yorker 200 at Utica Rome Speedway will pay $10,000 to win for the 200 lap feature for small blocks and will pay an impressive $1,000 to qualify. Also, the 358 Super Dirt Series will run Saturday night at Drummondville with a $15,000 to win 150 lap feature, which will be the biggest race at the tracks history. Finally, on Saturday we'll also see the Freedom 76er for the small blocks which will pay $20,000 to win the 76 lap feature.

Wago Fantasy League Updated!

Original Wagoneer Troy Berger takes the lead! It's tight though! Here are the updated standings...
http://jw4.proboards85.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=240

Manmiller/Wink Part Ways

Doug Manmiller, who finished 3rd in Big Diamond points driving for Troy Wink this year, has parted ways with Wink. Troy will focus on running just 1 car in 2009, for himself to run at both Big Diamond and probably Grandview (althought the Saturday night track could change.) Stay tuned for updates on Manmiller for the 2009 season.

Meier to start 7th in Eastern States 200

Also forgot to take note Yesterday that former big block and small block Orange County track champion Tommy Meier finished 6th Yesterday in the Lebanon Valley 200 after leading a handful of laps. By finishing 6th, he was the highest finishing Orange County regular, which now means he'll start no worse than 7th in the Eastern States 200 on October 19th.

Bachetti wins $10,000 with LVS 200 Victory, Pat Ward Utica Champ, Todd Stone Devils Bowl Champ; other Sunday notes; Guidance and Boyer Other Champions

Brett Hearn ran out of gas with just 6 laps to go handing the $10,000 win to Andy Bachetti. Bachetti is now guarenteed to start no worse than 7th place in the Rite-Aid 200 during Super Dirt Week in a month. The Lebanon Valley boys held down their home turf by collecting the top 4 positions (in order, Heffner-Marshall-M. Flach.) Tip of the hat to Rich Ricci who was driving the #64 usually driven by Donnie Ackner (Donnie was attempting to win the points championship at Devils Bowl.) Ricci put the car in the field solidly and came home with a 5th place finish. What makes it so impressive was it was his first time in the car. Small blocks were also part of the card with twin-features, Kory Standstedt and Art Collins shocked the 358 fields by splitting the features.

In the rest of the racing world, Ted Lamb finally picked up his first win of the year by winning the last points race of the year at Utica Rome. Pat Ward's dominating season has earned him the 2008 Utica Rome track championship. Congratulations to Pat Ward on another impressive season. At Devils Bowl, Tim LaDuc did everything in his power to win the track championship by winning the feature event, but he would end up finishing 2nd in the final points standings to Todd Stone. Stone ran asphalt and came back to dirt within the past 5 years. Great job Todd, congratulations!

With the rainout, Redline's season came to a close and Brent Boyer was crowned champion for the second straight year. Congratulations to Brent and the #19 team. Frank Guidance picked up his second career modified championship at Mercer Raceway Park on Friday, Lonny Riggs picked up the feature win. Delaware, Bridgeport (Saturday), New Egypt, Accord, and Lebanon Valley (358) still have to crown champions.

Mike Perrotte has confirmed his plans to run in the big block portion of SDW.

Everything Cancelled; Billy Van Pelt Wins Another Woodhull Title

Well, Five Mile Point and Woodhull have cancelled too. With that, Billy Van Pelt has been crowned Woodhull Raceway champion yet again. He, along with brother Curt, dominated the 2008 Woodhull season. Billy also currently leads T3 All-Star Series points as well. Next week Woodhull will feature the T3 All-Star Series for the Lyle Sherwood Memorial.

Hurricaine Dominates Saturday Races, Brownell Crowned Glen Ridge Champ

Well, rain takes everything so far on Saturday night. As of now, the only tracks running modifieds tonight that hasn't canceled is Woodhull and Five Mile Point, hopefully we can at least get that show in. With the rain outs, most tracks that had points finale tonight either haven't made an announcement, or have announced that they'll be rescheduling the last points race, except for Glen Ridge. Glen Ridge has crowned Jeff Brownell their 2008 modified champion. Brownell returned to racing after taking a year off in 2007 because of personal reasons, and came back with a bang. He's had some solid runs on the Dirt Tour and at Canandaigua, but won a slew of races at Glen Ridge which ultimately won him his first career modified title. Congratulations to Jeff and the #29 modified team! Stay tuned for updates on Woodhull and Five Mile Point, hopefully I'll be posting the winner later tonight.

Also worth noting that the Lebanon Valley 200 will now be run tomorrow, Sunday, September 7th. The winner will collect $10,000 and will be guarenteed to start no worse than 7th in the Rite-Aid 200 during Super Dirt Week in Syracuse New York on October 12th.

Mother Nature Wins Big; Hearn Breaks Record, Tremont wins title, Ricci Takes Accord Points Lead; Vauters Sweep the Can

Well, I fit everything that happened on Friday into that headline. With many Friday night tracks done racing weekly for the year, and mother nature taking out a handful of other tracks, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the racing world. Tonight was supposed to be the finale for the Lucas Oil 358 Series at Merrittville, but that fell to rain. No word yet on whether the race will be made up or not. Pete Bicknell leads the points standings and the only person that can steal the title is Chad Brachmann, however, Bicknell needs to finish 15 positions behind Brachmann to have that happen.

However, there were three modified tracks that did get racing in, Albany and Accord. Albany Saratoga saw Brett Hearn go on to win his 90th career modified victory in the first modified feature, which means that Brett Hearn surpassed Jack Johnson and is now that all-time Albany modified win leader. Hearn then went out and won modified race #2 a few minutes later. While Hearn swept the features, Kenny Tremont did everything he needed to claim yet another Albany track championship. Congratulations to Kenny Tremont and the #115 crew on another great accomplishment. Penn Can saw Al Rudalavage run away with the modified feature and brother Jeff Rudalavage finished 4th, which was good enough for him to win the Penn Can championship. Hard to believe that two years ago Jeff was retired from racing, way to go Jeff. At Accord, Rich Ricci picked up the win from deep in the field. Andy Bachetti finished 4th in the feature which means that Rich Ricci has taken the points lead by just 2 markers going into the final points race next Friday. Should be good!

Tomorrow there will be more champions crowned, but all eyes will be on Lebanon Valley for the Lebanon Valley 200 Super Dirt Series race which will pay $10,000 to the winner.

David Van Horn News; Bunch of Tidbits

David Van Horn will officially be teaming up with Randy Sherlock for the Lebanon Valley 200 Saturday night hoping to win the $10,000 for winning the big block feature. The team will decide from there on other plans. Van Horn will also be at the Freedom 76er using a motor borrowed from Dick Biever's team usually driven by Rick Laubach.

In other news, Keith Hoffman will be running Big Diamond weekly in 2008, I'm not allowed to say who the team is, but if you've been reading the blog you should be able to figure out who the team is. Looks like the Toby Tobias H&H Motorsports deal may have fallen through, Billy Colton and Bob Lineman are still working on finding Tobias a ride for Syracuse though. Last year's Super Dirt Week sportsman winner John Ferrier, all-time great Jack Johnson, and Lebanon Valley regular Roy Bridge are going to Syracuse with small blocks, Johnson will also be going with a brand new Teo for the big block race as well. Danny Johnson and Mike Petruska will also be teaming up for SDW. Stay tuned for some other big name big block/late model drivers finalizing Dirt Week big block plans.

Jeff Heotzler's return with the Mike Sparta Racing team was short lived. Heotzler crashed hard in the points finale last Saturday, which left him wondering about his Eastern States plans, since the Mike Petruska #66 team will be running with Danny Johnson and Jared Petruska. However, Yesterday's on Heotzler's website there is a little blog stating to stay tuned for news on Eastern States. Don't be surprised to see it be the Smith Brother #74 car. Heotzler was very close to driving for them when he originally lost the Petruska ride to Johnson in early July, and with it being a Super Dirt Series race Brett Hearn will be driving the Madsen Motorsports #20. Stay tuned!

Ross/Horton Team Up, Van Horn News, SDW Tidbits

After seeing Jake Spraker retire and return this year, it's now Randy Ross's turn, the news was broken in this week's Area Auto Racing News. Ross retired after the Florida Dirt Tour and sold all his equipment except for his Syracuse car from last year. Now, two time Super Dirt Week big block champion Jimmy Horton will be strapping into that car for the Rite-Aid 200 in less than 5 weeks. As reported on here a few weeks ago, the motor will come from an employee at Budd Olsen Speed Supply who put the entire deal together.

In other news, look for David Van Horn to possibly jump into the Randy Sherlock owned big block that Alan Johnson drove at the beginning of the year at the Lebanon Valley 200 and the Rite-Aid 200. It's not official yet, but looks like it may be happening.

Last year's Super Dirt Week Sportsman winner John Ferrier had a brand new Bicknell ready for the 358 race on the moody mile. Danny Johnson is also finally confirmed for running the Mike Petruska owned #66 at Syracuse. Also, up and comer Tommy Scheetz confirmed on SJDR that he'll be running his big block on the mile again this year.

Doug Hoffman to Return for Freedom 76er

Former Freedom 76er winner Doug Hoffman will return to a modified for the first time in 2008 aboard a BPG Chad Sinon owned #4H car. Doug's brother Keith drove the same car to a second place finish at the Coalcracker last weekend as teammate Duane Howard won. Hoffman ran Bridgeport Speedway weekly in 2007 and won 4 features falling just short of the championships, but was let go from the Sal DeBruno #0 in favor of Richie Pratt. For more information, read Ernie Saxton's press release located here, http://www.grandviewspeedway.com/GV_Display_Page.asp?ID=276

Western PA Fans Rejoice! Brian Swartzlander Headed to SDW

One of the top Western PA drivers will be heading to Syracuse for the first time in his career for the Rite-Aid 200 with a guarenteed starting spot. Brian Swartzlander, who currently leads BRP Tour points and is the 2008 Lernerville track champion will be headed to Syracuse with his #83 big block modified. Swartzlander also won the Western Region Dirt points title which gave him the starting spot.

Goodbye Mark Hitchcock!

Canadian small block modified star Mark Hitchcock has announced his retirement from modified racing. Mark was a fan favorite anywhere he went in his yellow #95 modifieds, and was always very competitive. He has a Cornwall Speedway track championship, and has collected wins in the modified division at Cornwall, Brockville, Edelweiss, Can-Am, Utica Rome, Mohawk, and Granby. Mark also had a couple of strong runs in the 358 race at the Syracuse mile. Congratulations on a great career, and best of luck in the future Mark!

Decker Wins Rolling Wheels; Gular in with Hyneman; SDW Tidbits

Billy Decker won the 110 lap feature at Rolling Wheels Raceway Monday night, it was his 10th win of the Super Dirt Series tour so far this year. Willy Decker, Steve Paine, and Tim Fuller all ran out of gas late in the race while running in the top 10, which made the finish to the race much more exciting than the first 100 laps.

Mike Gular, who was recently released from the Steve Kratz Racing #8 small block modified which left him without a ride for the end of the year races on the PA small block scene, signed a one race deal with big-time car owned Glen Hyneman for the Freedom 76er at Grandview Speedway on September 13th. This means Gular will team up yet again with good friend Jeff Strunk, who was also his teammate when both drove for Chad Sinon. Strunk won both the Grandview and Big Diamond in 2007 and 2008, and Gular was the 2007 Penn Can champion.

Lance Willix and Brett Graham have scrapped their 358 Super Dirt Week plans, and will no longer be running at the mile this year. In Rite-Aid 200 news, Ryan Godown, Shawn Reimert, Billy Pauch Jr, and Brian McDonald have all confirmed plans to attempt to qualify their big blocks. Godown will be driving his self-owned #26, Reimert will be driving the Gagliardo Racing #41, Pauch Jr will be driving the Nick Noll #6n, and Brian McDonald will be driving the LaSalle Motorsports #m96 and will use an engine from the Tim Kerr stable. Also, don't be surprised to see Toby Tobias behind the wheel of an H&H Motorsports big block at SDW. Check back for updates.

Howard Wins $10,000 Coalcracker, Terrance and AJ Crowned Champions, Sunday Winners

Duane Howard picked up $10,000 in a dominating performance at Big Diamond for their annual Coalcracker 100 on Sunday night. Howard started 12th on the field and took the lead early and led until the checkered flag flew. Jason Hamilton gave him everything he had, and made the finish very exciting, but it was Howard who collected the $10,000 at the end of the night.

It was a big night of racing, 2 track champions were crowned and both the big block Super Dirt Series and the 358 Super Dirt Series was in action. In 358 Super Dirt Series action at Cornwall Speedway Danny O'Brien won the $4,000 feature which completed a huge weekend for the O'Brien family, Danny won the track championship at Brockville last night, won the 358 Series race tonight, and Pat O'Brien won the big block feature at Can-Am last night as well. Carey Terrance was crowned Cornwall Speedway track champion, it was his first career track championship, congratulations to him and the entire 66x crew! In Super Dirt Series action Cayuga County had twice features paying $3,000 to win each. Alan Johnson debuted with his new Jake Spraker team in imressive fashion by winning race #1, but in race #2 it was Billy Decker winning yet again. Alan Johnson did what he had to do to pick up the Cayuga County Fair Speedway track championship. Congratulations to one of the all-time best. Outside of any tour events, Richie Pratt picked up the win at Georgetown Speedway after rookie Chad Clark wrecked while leading late in the race, the win was worth $2,500. Pat Ward continued his dominant season at Utica Rome with another win. Finally, Kenny Tremont picked up the win the CJC 101 at Devil's Bowl Speedway.

I forgot to mention on Saturday night that Patrick Dupree won the Airborne Speedway championship for the 2nd time in 2 years. Congratulations to him and the #24 team, same goes for Brian Weaver who collected the championship at Five Mile Point, and John Lazore who picked up his first career modified championship at Mohawk.