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One week after Lernerville Speedway’s weekly Fab Four Racing and Budweiser Points Championship will have come to a close, the MACS Late Models and All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints will share top billing for an exciting night of racing honoring former car owner and sponsor Sonia Bullis. 2007 will mark the first time the Sonia Bullis Memorial will be sanctioned by a touring body. In addition to being sanctioned by the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars, the event will also feature lap money, donated by sponsors for each circuit of the 35 lap A-Main Feature.
The event is sponsored by Cleveland Brothers CAT, which also sponsored the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XVI earlier this season. Formerly known as Beckwith Machinery, Cleveland Brothers CAT has been associated with the Lernerville Speedway for many years, but have stepped up in a big way this year, sponsoring two of the biggest sprint car races on the2007 Lernerville Speedway Schedule. The Sonia Bullis Memorial is also coordinated in association with Sirena Pizza and Notary Express.
Sonia Bullis was the owner/operator of Notary Express along with her husband Ray. She was the car owner of Chad Hill’s #44 sprint car and Notary Express was the primary sponsor. Chad Hill, now semi-retired from racing, is the owner of Sirena Pizza in Kittanning. Sirena Pizza supplies pizza and pepperoni rolls in the smaller concession stand towards turn one. Chad has also had a “Sandwich Cart” at both the Firecracker 100 and Silver Cup shows. Ray Bullis continues to sponsor sprint car teams, carrying on a tradition Sonia started. Rod George, Kevin Schaeffer, and Bud Watt/Joe Butera all have Notary Express decals on their sprint cars.
Both the MACS Late Models and All Star Sprints will run time trials, heat races, any necessary consolation races, and an A-Main feature event. Due to both divisions running time trials, each car will only run one lap of qualifying, will which determine the starting position of the heat races.
Located in Western Pennsylvania, Lernerville Speedway has the privilege of being within the regions of both the MACS Late Model Series and All Star Sprint Series.
MACS Stands for Mid-Atlantic Championship Series and is a regional Late Model touring series that races at tracks throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio.
Current MACS points leader Robbie Blair nearly won the Stars of NASCAR Night 35-lap A-Main feature event at Lernerville on Thursday Night August 16. He stuck around to race again Friday Night August 17 and won the 25-lap Friedman’s Freshmarket Late Models feature. So needless to say, Blair has got the 4/10 mile Sarver oval figured out, and should be a favorite to win the 35- lap MACS Feature on August 31.
This past weekend, Jason Covert, won the biggest race of his career by capturing the USA 100 at Virginia Motor Speedway. Covert is the only driver in the series to have won two races this season. He also picked up the feature win at Eriez Speedway on July 3rd and is currently second in MACS points behind Blair.
Lernerville Regular Matt Lux is sixth in both the Lernerville Budweiser Point Standings and in the MACS series point standings, but has had a roller coaster season. He’s won two Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Model Features at Lernerville, but has yet to visit Victory Lane for a MACS series race. He’s had some engine problems as of late, but if he can get some horses back under his hood, he’ll be a favorite to simultaneously win his third feature at Lernerville and his first MACS win of the 2007 season.
Another driver who definitely has got the track figured out is 2007 Track Champion Alex Ferree. Ferree wrapped up the Budweiser Points Championship with three races remaining on the schedule. His eight feature wins are the most of any driver in any division. He is the only driver in any division to have run every race on the schedule and not finished outside the top five all season. In fact, last Friday’s fifth place finish was his worst of the season in a Fab Four Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Model feature event. If Ferree has a chink in his armor this season it has been the big ticket races. He finished 19th in the #1 Cochran Stars of NASCAR Night feature, 20th in the Firecracker 100 and 6th in the first B-main at the Showdown in Sarvertown
The All Star Circuit of Champions is a regional touring series that primarily runs at tracks in the Midwest, the heart of Sprint car racing, in states like Ohio, Indiana and Western Pennsylvania. Currently Danny Smith leads the All Star Sprints driver points with a 40 point lead over Greg Wilson. Brian Paulus is third almost 100 points behind Wilson. Brandon Martin and Paul May round out the top five in points, but neither is in serious contention to win the championship.
Danny Smith won the June 5 All Star show at Lernerville Speedway in an exciting race with Rod George. George, a Budweiser Points Championship contender, sits just eight points behind leader and reigning track champion Kevin Schaeffer. Both George and Schaeffer will be running to win on the 31st, regardless of how their points battle shakes out on the 24th.
Anytime the All Stars roll into Sarver, Ed Lynch Jr. is a factor. He finished third behind Smith and George in the June race, and also set fast time of the night with a lap of 13.071 seconds. Now piloting the car he took to Knoxville to race in the Nationals, Lynch is a favorite to win the Sonia Bullis Memorial, which would be fitting as he is the brother-in-law of the Memorial’s organizer Chad Hill.
Another favorite when the All Stars race at the Action Track is former track champion and All Star regular Dale Blaney. Blaney won the Lernerville Sprint Track Championship in 1991 before hitting the road and touring with both the All Stars and World of Outlaws. Blaney qualified second quick and finished fourth in the A-Main in June.
The Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks will also be in action for a non-points, cash and carry race. Up and coming driver Mike Pegher Jr. needs only one point this coming Friday to secure the 2007 Advance Auto Parts/Budweiser Points Championship. With points not on the table, the Pure Stocks will be racing to win and get paid. It should be a formula for an exciting race. Greg Beach’s #33X Pure Stock is for sale, and in all likelihood will not be racing in 2008, so you can bet the farm that he will on the gas trying to go out on top!
For more information log in to www.lernerville.com or call the speedway office at (724)353-1511 to reserve your tickets today. To sponsor a lap of the Sonia Bullis Memorial, contact Chad Hill at SIrena Pizza in Kittanning, (724)543-6226 |
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