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Few drivers have ever put their stamp on an entire season the way Alex Ferree did in 2007. “Awesome Alex” had, without a doubt, one of the most dominant seasons in the 40 year history of the Lernerville Speedway. He scored nine A-Main feature wins, eight heat race wins and finished all 17 Fab Four Racing events in the top five, the only driver in any division to do so!). To his credit, Alex did give his peers fair warning at the Lernerville Awards Banquet in March when he warned them all, “I’m coming!” Alex started his tear on opening night by taking the lead at the green flag and leading every lap over World of Outlaws Driver Josh Richards. He closed the season the way he began it, by celebrating with his crew and family in Victory Lane. In between he won seven other races, (including four in a row in May), and legions of fans. Alex was so dominant that he wrapped up his first career Lernerville/Budweiser Track Championship with three weeks remaining on the schedule.
Despite not winning a single A-Main feature event and only checkering one heat race, 1998 Track Champion Gary Lyle’s consistency earned him a second place finish in the Budweiser Points Standings. Over the years, Lyle’s calling card has always been consistency. He simply does not tear up equipment, but is almost always near the front by the end of the feature. Long a favorite of turn one, Lyle continued his tradition of consistency by earning eight top fives, including two second place finishes on May 4 and June 15. He also scored 13 top ten finishes, second only to Champion Alex Ferree in the division.
On a nightly basis, one of the fastest cars in the Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Model division was the H1 of Jared Miley. Unfortunately for Miley, there were no Victory Lane celebrations at Lernerville this season. He did, however, finish in the top five nine times, (second only to Ferree), His nine top fives included three second and three third place finishes. He finished in the top ten three other times for a total of twelve, and won two heat races. Jared, of course, is following in the footsteps of his legendary uncle, Ben Miley, who was a top rival of Lynn Geisler
After winning his fifth Track Championship in 2006, Lynn Geisler, a legend in his own right, had a season he would probably like to forget in 2007. Despite 106 career Late Model victories at Lernerville Speedway, Lynn did not win a single feature event. That said, almost every other driver in the division would love to have a “down year” like Lynn had. For most drivers a record of five top fives, 13 top tens and two heat race wins would be a banner season. But Lynn has set the bar so high, for so many years, that his 2007 statistics were far below everyone’s expectations. Lynn may still win an award at the next year’s award banquet, but unfortunately, it may be for “Hard Luck” driver; an award nobody wants to accept! On the bright side, one area in which Lynn will always be a champion is in showing appreciation for his sponsors and fans. Lynn has not had the same primary and associate sponsors for so long by mistake. Yes, his on track resume speaks for itself, but from a Public Relations perspective, Lynn rolls out the red carpet for every sponsor every time they host a pre-race hospitality event or are the nightly sponsor of Fab Four racing. He knows the importance and necessity of consistent sponsorship. Lynn also goes out of his way to meet and sign autographs for his fans. Anyone who wishes to have the sustained success Lynn has enjoyed, should model his relationship with his sponsors and fans, because nobody does it better than Lynn Geisler!
Arguably the most improved driver in any division at Lernerville Speedway this season has been Greg Satterlee. Not only did he improve from last year, he continued to improve as the year progressed. He started the season by recording just two top ten finishes in the months of April and May. He ended the season with eight consecutive top tens, including four top fives, and his first career win on July 6. In all, Greg finished the season with five top five finishes, 12 top tens, and a heat race win. If Greg continues to improve into 2008, he could contend with the drivers listed above for a championship!
Below the top five in the final Budweiser point standings are a list of drivers that either did not complete a full slate of races and/or had roller coaster seasons.
Matt Lux, Sam Stile, and Dutch Davies are three drivers who are always a threat to win when they are on the track, (and each of them did win a feature at Lernerville this year), but did not run the entire 17 race schedule. Each driver ran most of the races, but for various reasons, each also missed a handful of events.
Matt Lux is the only driver besides Ferree to visit Victory Lane more than once in a Late Model during the 2007 season of Fab Four racing. Lux won the Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Models A-Main feature event on June 22 and again on August 3. For the season he finished in the top ten nine times, eight of them being top five finishes, and three heat race victories.
Sam Stile was the only driver other than Alex Ferree to win a feature in the first two months of the season. His win on April 27 was the only thing that prevented Alex, (whom finished second that night ), from winning the first seven races of the season. In all, Stile had seven top ten finishes, including six top fives, and a heat race win.
Dutch Davies qualifies for both not running a full slate of races and having a roller coaster season. Davies won his first career feature on August 10 by holding off a hard charging Alex Ferree and enduring a lengthy challenge from Sam Stile. Despite having a strong, fast car most nights, Dutch only recorded one other top five. He did however, record seven top tens and five heat race wins, second only to Alex Ferree in the division; proving further his roller coaster of a season!
Mike Blose is another driver who is always fast and had an up and down season, but was not included in the trio above because he was not able to find Victory Lane. Mike nearly won the second feature of the season, as he and Dutch Davies battled for the lead for the majority of the race. He did prevail over Davies that night, but Ferree passed them both with 19 laps in the books, relegating Blose to what would remain his best finish of the season. Blose accomplished a quite intriguing statistical anomaly during 2007. He scored 8 top tens, finishing in every position, (except first and third), exactly once during the season. He also won three heat races.
Another driver who had a disappointing season and missed a handful of races is Ken Schaltenbrand. His best finish came way back on May 25 when he finished second to who else, but Alex Ferree. He did finish in the top ten nine times, including 3 top five finishes.
While he has not yet, (stressing yet!), ascended to the level of being a contender to win, Chuck Sarver is a model of consistency in the Late Model Division in the mold of Gary Lyle. Chuck raced in every event of the 2007 season, and amassed six top ten finishes, but finished no higher than eighth. While he did not have many top tens, or any top fives, Chuck finished almost every race. He seldom ends the night with a DNF or tears up his race car. His consistent, clean style, has earned him the respect of his peers, and a top ten finish in the points standings.
Another contender for most improved driver finished just outside the top ten in Bud points, and his name is John Mollick. Nicknamed “Jammin’ John”, he, like Greg Satterlee, got faster as the season went on. In fact, he nearly won his first feature event on the final night of points. He clearly had the car to beat on a track that was tough to pass on. Unfortunately, the car was overheating, ending Mollick’s night and bid for a win, a few laps too early! Like Chuck Sarver though, Mollick failed to record a top five finish, but he did earn nine top tens and won three heat races. With a little bit more control, some better luck, and more consistency, John Mollick should be a top ten driver in 2008!
Three other drivers made infrequent visits to the Action Track, but were very successful when they did, and each won a Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Model feature.
Dave Hess Jr., who also won 2 UMP Modified events at Lernerville in 2007, put an end to Alex Ferree’s win streak of four races by capturing the June 1 feature. In limited appearances, Hess scored 4 top tens, including three top fives. He also won three heat races during the season.
Every time he rolls his familiar #3 onto the speedway, David Scott disproves his nickname of “Slow Ride”. While he did race every special event, including the Inaugural Firecracker 100 at the end of June, David made very few appearances during Fab Four events. When he was in the field, though, he was always at the front of it. Scott finished in the top four of all Fab Four races he completed. On June 15, Scott started in 15th place, but finished the race first, winning his only race at Lernerville this season. He almost ran down Alex Ferree on the final night of points, but settled for a second place finish.
MACS Late Model Series racer Robbie Blair ran only one Fab Four race in the 2007 season, and he won it! Robbie Blair can thank two men for the win, Tony Stewart and Chub Frank. Tony Stewart, the main drawing card of Lernerville’s first ever, Stars of NASCAR Night, (which was sponsored by #1 Cochran and heavily publicized by Y-108), brought the area’s best drivers to the Action Track on Thursday August 16 to compete both against Stewart and fellow-NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader and for a chance at a $3000 payday. Robbie Blair appeared to be on his way to cashing the $3000 check on Thursday Night, but could not hold off World of Outlaws driver Chub Frank, who won the event. Being that he was already at the track, the MACS tour had the night off, the Lernerville MACS shows was just two weeks away, and maybe most importantly because of the bittersweet taste of almost winning stayed in his mouth, Robbie stuck around for Fab Four Racing on Friday August 17 and celebrated in Victory Lane, albeit a day later than he would have liked!
Listed below are the final 2007 Lernerville/Budweiser Point Standings for the Friedman’s Freshmarkets Late Models.
CAR# DRIVER POINTS
4 Alex Ferree 593
10 Gary Lyle 428
H1 Jared Miley 415
1C Lynn Geisler 413
22 Greg Satterlee 390
5 Mike Blose 351
21 Matt Lux 346
29 Ken Schaltenbrand 344
2S Sam Stile 310
88 Chuck Sarver 298 |
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