Lernerville Speedway
Mid-event rain postpones Outlaws at Lernerville
Fast qualifier Darrell Lanigan will start on the pole June 25. (sitvasonphotos.com)
Mother Nature defeated the Showdown in Sarvertown on Tuesday night, dumping rain on Lernerville Speedway that forced track and World of Outlaws Late Model Series officials to postpone the second consolation race and 50-lap headline event until June 25. | Video | Slideshow
Some good will come from the disappointing weather, however. The remainder of Tuesday night's program will now serve as a Thursday night lead-in to the third annual Firecracker 100 on June 26-27 at Lernerville, adding more excitement to an action-packed weekend that culminates with the $30,000-to-win 100-lapper.
A field of 40 cars was signed in for Tuesday's show. Morning forecasts calling for dry evening weather seemed to indicate that the event would be unaffected by precipitation, but a slight chance of evening showers was added to the outlook later in the day and ultimately arrived to doom the program.
Drizzle began falling during heat-race competition and intensified as the second consolation field came to the green flag. After rain fell steadily for more than an hour and an expanding batch of drizzle across western Pennsylvania made the possibility of a rapid track surface reconditioning impossible, officials decided to reschedule the remainder of the program to June 25.
Before the postponement announcement, a blazing-fast 4/10-mile provided plenty of heat-race action. Winners of the 10-lap preliminaries included Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., who outgunned fast-timer Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., for the lead; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who built up the night's largest victory margin; 17-year-old Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., who outdueled Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.; and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va.
Lanigan, who earned a $50 bonus for registering his second WoO fast time award of 2009 after turning a lap of 15.272 seconds in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, picked the pole position for the 50-lap Showdown in Sarvertown in a draw that included the top-two finishers of each heat. Frank will start from the outside pole on June 25.
Lernerville regular Alex Ferree of Saxonburg, Pa., won the first 12-lap consolation; the second consy was red-flagged before a full lap was completed.
All rainchecks and pit bands from Tuesday's event will be accepted for entry on June 25.
The series will be off this weekend before returning to action to contest a doubleheader in the Midwest on May 16 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and May 17 at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.
Time trials
1. Darrell Lanigan, Union, Ky., 15.272
2. Steve Francis (19), Ashland, Ky, 15.273
3. Austin Hubbard (11), Seaford, Del, 15.333
4. Doug Horton (46), Bruceton Mills, W.Va., 15.345
5. Shane Clanton (25), Locust Grove, Ga., 15.421
6. Steve Shaver (30), Vienna, W.Va., 15.425
7. Chub Frank (1*), Bear Lake, Pa., 15.467
8. Josh Richards (1), Shinnston, W.Va., 15.496
9. Jason Covert (43a), York Haven, Pa., 15.524
10. Rick Eckert (24), York, Pa., 15.525
11. Gregg Satterlee (22), Rochester Mills, Pa., 15.534
12. Tim Fuller (19), Watertown, Pa., 15.567
13. Matt Lux (21), Franklin, Pa., 15.570
14. Clint Smith (44), Senoia, Pa., 15.575
15. Davey Johnson (17j), Latrobe, Pa., 15.579
16. Russ King (56), Bristolville, Ohio, 15.592
17. Rick Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 15.603
18. Brent Robinson (3R), Smithfield, Va., 15.606
19. Brady Smith (2), Solon Springs, Wis., 15.639
20. Vic Coffey (32c), Caledonia, N.Y., 15.658
21. Tyler Reddick (11), Corning, Calif., 15.694
22. Alex Ferree (4), Saxonburg, Pa., 15.722
23. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 15.752
24. Dave Hess Jr. (44), Waterford, Pa., 15.768
25. Dustin Hapka (18), Grand Forks, N.D., 15.804
26. Bump Hedman (B22), Sugar Grove, Pa., 15.831
27. Jared Miley (H2), South Park, Pa., 15.849
28. Lynn Geisler (1c), Cranberry Township, Pa., 15.886
29. Jordan Bland (12), Campbellsville, Ky., 15.979
30. John Garvin Jr. (J4), Sarver, Pa., 16.017
31. Mike Johnson (2J), Imperial, Pa., 16.057
32. Gary Lyle (10), Hyde Park, Pa., 16.108
33. Coleby Frye (0), Dover, Pa., 16.135
34. Mike Blose (5), New Bethlehem, Pa., 16.138
35. Jeremy Miller (24m), Gettysburg, Pa., 16.161
36. Ken Schaltenbrand (67), Sarver, Pa., 16.198
37. Michael Norris (72), Sarver, Pa., 16.392
38. Todd Bachman (66), Natrona Heights, Pa., 16.540
39. James Neiman (111), Wiconisco, Pa., 19.312
Disqualified: Doug Drown (12D), Wooster, Ohio (light at scales)
Preliminaries
First heat (10 laps; top four transfer): Covert, Lanigan, Clanton, Briggs, Lux, Hapka, Bland, Frye, Reddick, Norris.
Second heat: Francis, Shaver, Eckert, C. Smith, Ferree, Robinson, Hedman, Blose, Garvin, Bachman.
Third heat: Hubbard, Frank, B. Smith, Satterlee, Babb, D. Johnson, Miley, M. Johnson, Neiman, J. Miller.
Fourth heat: Richards, Horton, Fuller, King, Hess, Geisler, Lyle, Dodd, Coffey, Schaltenbrand.
First consolation: Ferree, Lux, Robinson, Hedman, Frye, Hapka, Reddick, Bland, Norris, Garvin Jr., Bachman. Scratched: Blose.
