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Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com airs on SPEED this Saturday August 23 from 1:00-3:00 PM
Sarver, PA (August 21, 2008) Relive the excitement of the biggest late model race of 2008 this Saturday as SPEED broadcasts the 2nd Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com in a two-hour special from 1:00-3:00 PM. If you can’t be home to watch it live, set your VCR, DVR or TiVo to record the two hour must see event!
The two hour broadcast will feature highlights from qualifying, (from time trials to the blistering heats races, the whole way up through C-Mains to the dual B-Mains), the Saturday afternoon fan/driver activities & autograph session and Mike Knight’s thrilling win in the non-qualifiers Uncle Sam 30. The broadcast will then turn to the driver introduction ceremony and all 100 laps of the 2nd Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com.
Many people called the Firecracker heat races the best they had ever seen. Regional hot shoe Coleby Frye almost sprung an upset by leading the first 14 circuits before brushing the wall on the last lap, allowing World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular Shane Clanton to slip past for the win. Mike Blose then thrilled the crowd by spinning not once, but twice, rocketing off of turn four, bringing out the red flag, only to drive back up onto the track, tail the field, and race into a transfer position. Gregg Satterlee also raced his way into the Firecracker 100 through the heat races after veteran Jimmy Mars and Outlaws regular John Blankenship made contact in turn four. Each heat race featured door-to-door, wheel-to-wheel action as 10 cars raced 15 action-packed laps trying to secure the coveted three transfer positions.
The desperation of 16 and 17 cars racing for just four and three A-Main starting spots, made each B-Main as thrilling as the heat races. With $3000 on the line, the non-qualifiers Uncle Sam 30 was an absolute shootout between big name regional and local drivers like Ron Davies, David Scott, Dave Hess Jr., Robbie Blair, Doug Horton, John Flinner, Gary Lyle, Jared Miley, up-and-comer Russell King and eventual winner Mike Knight of Ripley, NY. The show stopper of the Uncle Sam though was Boom Briggs. Briggs missed the original Friday Night qualifying events due to the effects of a wreck in mid-June. Missing the show meant that he had to tail the C-Main, (which he won), then the B-Main. Despite a valiant effort in the B, Boom did not transfer into the Firecracker 100. Instead he thrilled the crowd again in the Uncle Sam 30 by finishing third.
The 100 lap A-Main was every bit as exciting as all the shorter races that led up to it. With 28 of the best dirt late model drivers in the country on the track and $40,000 on the line for the winner, there was no time to sit around and wait for the field to shuffle out. Early on, it appeared as though Lernerville Track Record holder Darrell Lanigan was the car to beat. He led the first 69 laps, accumulating an additional $2479 in lap money in the process. Lanigan was overtaken on lap 70 by eventual winner Brian Birkhofer who led the rest of the way! In addition to the $40,000 winner’s share of the purse, “Birky” also collected $1269 in additional lap money. Inaugural Firecracker 100 winner Scott Bloomquist earned the “Hard Charger” award by coming from the back of the grid (after qualifying through a B-Main) to finish seventh.
Somehow, the SPEED production crew has found a way to cram all of this action and excitement into a neat two-hour package that will air this Saturday August 23 from 1:00-3:00 PM. To promote this exciting television broadcast, the first 500 fans through Lernerville Speedway’s gates this Friday Night will receive commemorative Firecracker 100 decal provided courtesy of presenting sponsor GottaRace.com. For more details, log on to www.Lernerville.com.
Eric J. Westendorf
Public Relations Director
Lernerville Speedway
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