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2007 Lernerville Rearview Review – Ferrante Motor Cars Modifieds
By Eric J. Westendorf
Sarver, PA (September 6, 2007) Now that the 2007 Fab Four Season at Lernerville Speedway has come to a close, over the next four weeks, I will take you back through the 2007 season, division by division to see how the newly crowned Track Champions came to earn their place among the greats of Lernerville History.
Brian Swartzlander is no stranger to Victory Lane, or to the front table at the Annual Lernerville Speedway Awards Banquet. During the 2007 season, Brian pulled his familiar #83 into Victory Lane six times; bringing his career total to 54 Lernerville Feature wins. Next March, he will sit at the head table and accept his fifth Modified Track Championship trophy. Swartzlander owned the month of May, winning three of the four features. In June he won or finished second in every Ferrante Motor Cars Modified feature. In all, Swartzlander won six races, finished second seven times, and finished in the top 10 in all 17 races of the season.
Del Rougeux Jr. was the model of consistency at Lernerville Speedway in 2007. 2006 was a forgettable season for Rougeux Motorsports due to chassis problems. However, with a brand new Bicknell Chassis, their luck and results improved this season. Rougeux finally pulled his #20D back into Victory Lane on July 6th, his only win of the season. Despite only winning one race, he was in contention to win almost every week. He finished third six times this season, had 12 top five finishes and only finished out of the top ten twice. He also won seven heat races, (tied for the most in the division with Brian Swartzlander).
2004/2005 Track Champion Dave Murdick finished third in the Budweiser Points Standings and was every bit as consistent as Rougeux, matching his 12 top fives and 15 top tens. While he only won 5 heat races, he did find Victory Lane twice, on June 22 and again on August 17. What makes Murdick’s consistency all the more impressive is that for the last half of the season, he had been pulling double duty, driving his #61 Big Block Modified, as well as the Pitkavish #1 Late Model.
There is a rather significant drop off in points scored after these top three drivers to the next tier of drivers below them. But within that next tier of drivers is a lot of different situations that resulted in the clustering of drivers in the second tier.
At one end of the spectrum are Jeremiah Shingledecker and Kevin Bolland. Both Shingledecker and Bolland were very successful most nights they raced at Lernerville. Neither driver, however, drove a full slate of races, resulting in their middle of the road point standings. Shingledecker won four features during the 2007 season, one each month except for June, but did not win a single heat race.
2006 Track Champion Kevin Bolland is without a doubt one of the most polarizing drivers in the pits. Every time he rumbles his familiar #777 onto the speedway, he evokes the emotions of the fans. But love him or hate him, nobody can deny that the man knows his way around the Action Track! It’s been a turbulent two years for Revin’ Kevin, but he persistently runs up front and is a threat to win every race he competes in. This season at Lernerville, Kevin only won one feature event, the June 1 BRP Tour race that featured the region’s top Modified Drivers. While he only visited Victory Lane once, he crossed the line in second place five times, and finished fourth three times. In all, Bolland had 10 top five finishes and was not scored worse than fifth in any race he finished!
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Shingledecker and Bolland are three drivers who raced on a weekly basis, but seldom ran up front. Carl Murdick not only races every week, he’s been racing every week since the track opened 41 years ago! While he is no longer a front runner, he still runs week in and week out. Carl earned eight top ten finishes, including two sixth place finishes. Mike Turner and Phil Evans are the other two drivers that race every week and usually finish in the top ten, but seldom run or finish in the top five. Both drivers were credited with one heat race win. Turner had 12 top ten finishes with a season best fifth place finish on July 27. Evans had 10 top ten finishes including his best finish of fourth place on August 3.
Between the fast & frequent and the weekly & consistent, are three drivers who have endured bad luck and disappointment in varying measures. All three of these drivers are capable of winning on a weekly basis and are always fast. Two-time Track Champion, (1997 & 1999), Jim Weller Jr. capped off the season celebrating his first win of 2007, but overall had a disappointing year. In addition to his one feature win, Jim won two heat races, collected nine top fives and 12 top tens. J.R. McGinley also had an up and down year in his #66 Modified, honoring his grandfather, the late, great Dick Rankin. McGinley did not get to Victory Lane in 2007, but he did win two heat races, and finished with six top fives and 12 top tens. A front runner for the Hard Luck Award has got to be Tom Winkle. Winkle lead quite a few A-Main feature races, only to be consumed by Gremlins. He did win three heat races on his way to six top five and 10 top ten finishes. While these statistics would be impressive accomplishments for most drivers, these three drivers have set a higher bar than what they were able to accomplish in 2007, and will be prime candidates for bounce back seasons in 2008.
Three other drivers who are always fast and contenders to win, but seldom visit the Action Track all share the same last name. Rex King, Russell King, and Rex King Jr. are bad fast, but only show up for BRP Tour events. Rex King won the July 27 Joe Pitkavish Memorial, one heat race, and scored two top five finishes. Russell King won two heat races and finished in eighth and ninth place in two of the three features he ran. Rex King Jr. did not win a heat race, but had better finishes than Russell with sixth and seventh place finishes. Russell was also involved in one of the nastiest flips a Modified has ever taken racing door-to-door with Del Rougeux for third place during the Pitkavish Memorial on July 27.
The only other driver to win a Ferrante Motor Cars Modified Feature event was New York invader Chad Brachmann who won the first race of the season in his only appearance at the speedway. He also captured a heat race win that night.
Below are the final 2007 Budweiser Points Standings for the Ferrante Motor Cars Modifieds.
CAR #
DRIVER
POINTS
83
Brian Swartzlander
521
20D
Del Rougeux Jr.
493
61
Dave Murdick
472
66
JR McGinley
399
28
Tom Winkle
365
777
Kevin Bolland
351
31
Jim Weller Jr.
346
96
Mike Turner
331
37MD
J. Shingledecker
305
6
Carl Murdick
305
38
Phil Evans
276
17m
Skip Moore
248
45
Steve Feder
241
8F
Doug Fleeger
208
34
John Durci
207
72
Mike Miller
158
77H
Andy Priest
112
27R
Dave Reges
100
3K
Shawn Kozar
90
12T
Tim Doran
86
65
Rex King
72
2
Mark Flick
56
165
Rex King Jr.
54
56
Russell King
51
12
Jeff Steuchel
35
R2
Rusty Smith
29
Z
Butch Tittle
29
88
Eddie Brown
25
34K
Ken Moy
24
13JR
Chanda Leibold
24
29
Garrett Krummert
20
12
Jeff Steuchel
19
19
Bob Dorman
16
8J
Dean Pearson
16
55Jr
Dave George
10
71
Randy Chronister
15
73MD
T. Shingledecker
9
1
Mark Williams
8
100
Steve Toth
3
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