Although rain washed out all area racing on Friday evening, there was plenty of action to go around on Saturday.
(Photo: Rookie Sye Lynch. Photo by Rick Rarer.)
Regular racing resumed at Mercer Raceway Park where last season’s most winning sprint car driver and defending track champion Jack Sodeman, Jr. scored his first win of the season. In the companion 305 sprint class, it was Mike Bauer, of Clarion, getting win number two of the season after an dominating run from his 11th starting spot. Behind Bauer, it was rookie Sye Lynch who turned heads by finishing a career best second place in just the third start of his young career. It looks like Lynch could be the real deal and follow in the footsteps of his father, Ed Lynch, Jr., who has recorded countless wins over the years in western Pennsylvania. Be sure to keep your eyes on the Lockhart 58 sprint wheeled by this young chauffeur.
Other good news was Mike Marano who suffered burns to his hand two weeks ago during the season opener returned to action and finished third behind Bauer and Lynch. Eric Gabany, of Mercer, scored his first win of the season in the 358 modified class. Other winners included Curt Bish stock cars, Rod Jones mod lites, and Tyler Fulton in the mini stock class. Another regular show will be on tap this Saturday at Mercer, and in two weeks, the All-Star Circuit of Champions will invade the Mercer oval.
Eric Gabany Gets First Win of the Season. Photo by Rick Rarer.
For the second consecutive week, a King was in victory lane at Sharon Speedway. After his dad, Rex King, won the big block modified feature last week, Rex King, Jr. took the honors this week with a win over Jeremiah Shingledecker, of Polk. At Pittsburgh Motor Speedway, it was John Mollick who visited victory lane with the super late models. Both Sharon and Pittsburgh will present regular shows again this Saturday.
This Sunday Sportsman’s Speedway will open their gates for the first time this season as an open practice will be held. Practice is open to all classes and will get underway at 1pm and run until 4pm. Sportsman’s Speedway is located on Huckleberry Ridge Road just off of Route 208 in Elk City between Knox and Shippenville. Opening night for the 1/3 mile is slated for the following Sunday on May 11th.
On the national scene, two local drivers continued their hot streaks as Dale Blaney and Danny Holtgraver both recorded top five finishes Saturday at Port Royal Speedway with the All-Star Circuit of Champions. Blaney came home 2nd in the 10,000 to win feature, while Holtgraver fresh off two wins last weekend came from 10th to finish 5th against a strong field of All-Stars and central Pennsylvania sprints.
Shannon Babb pocketed over 20,000 dollars for his World of Outlaw late model win at Farmer City Illinois. Joey Saldana and the ageless Sammy Swindell scored World of Outlaw sprint car wins over the weekend in Oklahoma and Missouri. This Friday and Saturday the World of Outlaws sprint cars will visit Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Lots of racing on tap this weekend so be sure to get out, catch a show and support your local track!
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About Rick
Rick Rarer, a Franklin resident, is the owner of Racestud.com and SprintCarNews.com. He has been covering racing for 17 years, taking racing photos for 12 years, and has covered races at over 100 tracks in 15 states. Most recently, Rick won the Bill Steinbach Media Award at the Lernerville Speedway Annual Awards Banquet.
