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Over the past eight seasons 29-year old Brent Boyer of Bloomsburg had been racing Sportsman Modifieds at several tracks throughout Pennsylvania and New York. During that time he produced a fair amount of winning as well as a track championship which came three years ago at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle, New York.
A Sportsman car is much like a regular Modified. The difference is with the motor and tire restrictions implied in order to hold down the costs. That in turn allows new as well as budgeted drivers the chance to race a modified by way of considerable savings.
Midway through last season Boyer had raced a handful of times with the Modifieds. This year saw him move out of the Sportsman division altogether as he went full bore with the higher class and the results were very impressive.
Traveling every Friday night to Redline Raceway located near Granville Summit, Boyer took the Modified division by storm, winning the championship and a class-leading three features.
“This was our first Modified championship. Our first one was with a Sportsman car but it’s just as sweet,” said Boyer.
“We started to run there (Redline) about halfway through the season last year and we won a feature. So we decided that we’d go back and we had three wins right off the bat and things just kind of went our way all season long. It’s a real smooth track and a pretty nice place to race at.”
Redline Raceway is a flat ¼-mile dirt oval situated in Bradford County. It draws a diversified mix of racers from all parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
“Generally everyone is pretty close and there’s really good competition throughout the field. Most of the guys are all pretty clean drivers,” said Boyer.
“We had three early wins but by the end of the year we were starting between 10th and 12th weekly and it was just hard to be able to come up through the pack. Everyone was just that even. If one good car got out front it was hard for anyone to catch them.”
When Boyer first moved into Modified type cars, he did so at Big Diamond Raceway with a best season point finish of fifth. He then traveled to Thunder Mountain which was a 125-mile one way trek from home.
That long distance journey paid off though, as he was a steady winner and eventual track champion. It was that same track that he first raced with the Modified.
“We ran most of last year at Thunder Mountain in the Modified class until we hurt our good engine and we then ended up using our Sportsman motor just about the entire year and from that we learned a lot.
“It’s a big step moving from the Sportsman and into a Modified. We were going against some guys that have been running for 10-15 years. It took us a little bit of time but everything worked out,” said Boyer.
“The biggest thing that I noticed was just how good everyone was. Running a Sportsman car, which we did for nearly eight years, you can pretty much read the different cars and what they were going to do like maybe not handle so well going into a corner.
“When you’re running with the Modified, especially at places like Thunder Mountain or Big Diamond, those guys that race there just don’t screw up. You have to constantly be on your game, be steady and be smooth.”
Redline it is a track that suited his style and budget.
“(Big) Diamond was always flat-out racing. Thunder Mountain was a bit bigger and you would have to keep up your momentum and didn’t have to lift as much going through the corners,” explained Boyer.
“At Redline it’s a lot more of a drivers type track. You have to slow down through the corners and work against more traffic.”
Now that the title has been won, Boyer would like to venture out to a number of other area and regional tracks for some of the season ending big events although that is dependent upon his team’s financial status.
“I got a call to run a Sportsman car the next two weekends and pretty much that might be all we do for the rest of this year. We’d like to hit Hagerstown, maybe go up to Utica Rome or Fulton in New York for the big races up there just for the added experience.
“The thing is it’s just my dad (Wayne Boyer) and John Stola who makes up the crew and it becomes hard to afford to go to all those different races. Most of the funds come out of the family business right now.”
Boyer Oil Service, Commercial Stainless, Crossley Automotive, Don’s Cleaning Service and Miller Racing are the sponsors.
Although it is still earlier to make a decision on his plans for 2008, Boyer noted it all hinges on the money.
“As of right now we’re probably going to head to Redline on Friday nights. I’d like to find a track to race on Saturday nights or even Sundays.”
Boyer wasn’t the only Bloomsburg area driver to do well at Redline either. Veteran racer Butch Cerullo of Beach Haven, notched fourth in the Modified standings and was a feature winner on two occasions.
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