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“Batman” Bob Egley claims first career Lernerville Track Championship
Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks Season Review
Eric J. Westendorf, Public Relations Director
Sarver, PA (December 31, 2008) 2008 was a season of change in the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks division. The change started before the season even began as it was announced that 2007 Track Champion Mike Pegher Jr. had been anointed by Lynn Geisler to pilot the #1 Cochran Crate Late Model, and as such, not defend the division title. It was also announced that the division would be sanctioned under UMP DIRTcar and reclassified as “Street Stocks” replacing the former “Pure Stock” nomenclature. And change will follow again as the “Street Stocks” have once again been reclassified and will heretofore be known as the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Sportsman and another prominent driver is moving up into the Crate Late Model ranks.
Eventual Track Champion Bob Egley put his stamp on the 40th Anniversary Season at the drop of the green flag by leading the first lap of the season on Opening Night. And while he did not go on to win that night, (he finished second to Joe Kelley); it was a foreshadowing of things to come. Just one week later, Egley claimed his first of four 2008 feature wins on a ight where he flat out dominated the usually challenging field of competitors. Egley started the night with a heat race win and capped the night in Sheetz Victory Lane after leading all 15 laps of the feature.
The wins continued to pile up as the season went on as Egley returned to Sheetz Victory Lane on May 30, July 4 and he sealed his Championship season by winning the final Fab Four feature of the 40th Anniversary Season on August 22. Egley’s title run was by no means set in stone as the green flag dropped on the final night of Bud Points on August 22, as both Wayne Carbo and Jason Fosnaught were still within striking distance. Egley left nothing to chance that night as he once again won both his heat race and the 20-lap feature. In doing so, Egley added his name to the Lernerville History Books as the 2008 Track Champion in the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stock division.
In addition to his four feature wins, Egley raced home second an additional four times and checkered two heat races. In all, Egley tallied 11 top five finishes (tied with Wayne Carbo for the division lead) and finished in the top ten 14 times.
Wayne Carbo had a breakout season in 2008 and is a frontrunner for the “Most Improved Driver” Award at the Lernerville Banquet in late February. As mentioned above, Carbo was in contention for the Track Championship right up until the final night of Bud Points. He did so with consistently strong runs, including a division-leading 11 top five finishes(tied with Egley) and six heat race wins (tied with Joe Kelley and Paul Scheckengost). He also claimed the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks feature win on July 25.
On that night, July 25, Carbo took the lead from polesitter Bryan Shaffer on lap three, but did not pull away from the field. He had to survive a handful of restarts and fought off the advances of both Bob Egley and Bob Lipinski to pull his familiar #54 into Sheetz Victory Lane. He nearly picked up a feature win two weeks earlier on July 11. That night, Carbo momentarily took the lead on lap 19 in turns one & two, only to see “Super” Joe Kelley retake the lead on the back straightaway. Wayne also finished third and fourth four times each and added two other top ten finishes to his 11 top fives. Look for Carbo to take another run at the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks Championship in 2009!
After finishing the 2007 season second in points, Jason Fosnaught was a favorite to take the points title in 2008 and he was in contention all season even up until the final night of Bud Points. In pursuit of the title, Jason took two checkered flags during the 40th Anniversary Season, officially. During the season, Jason rolled the familiar #J19 into Sheetz Victory Lane three times, but the first of his three trips was nullified by failure of a post-race inspection on June 6.
He would come back with a vengeance the following Friday Night with a strong third place run; then officially picked up his first feature win of the season on June 20 by outdueling Reigning Track Champion Mike Pegher Jr. and points leader Joe Kelley. A month later, he held off a hard-charging Bob Lipinski to take his second feature win of the season on July 18. In addition to his two feature wins, Jason checkered five heat races, recorded top ten finishes in 13 of 15 features he competed in, 10 of which were top five finishes.
Following in the footsteps of Butch Lambert and Mike Pegher Jr., Jason has moved on to the fast-growing Crate Late Model division and will not contend for the 2009 Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Sportsman Championship.
Wayne Carbo’s only serious contender for the “Most Improved Award” in the division is Pat Hanley. No driver scored more top ten finishes in any division than Pat Hanley did in the ultra-competitive Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks in 2008. His 15 top ten finishes ties him with Lernerville Royalty Kevin Schaeffer, Alex Ferree, Brian Swartzlander and Kevin Bolland; a most impressive crowd to be a part of. Of his 15 top tens, Pat’s best finish came on Friday June 13 when he scored his first career feature win.
As storm clouds rolled in, Pat blazed a trail to the checkered flag and was never seriously challenged. The only bittersweet moment came literally seconds after he crossed the stripe as the skies opened up, relocating his career first win celebration to Budweiser Alternate Victory Lane behind the grand stands. In addition to his win, Pat recorded five other top five finishes and one heat race win. The scary thought for Pat’s brethren in the newly renamed Sportsman division, is that Pat accomplished these feats in his “old car”. Yes, he has a brand new SS Chassis, powered by a brand new Ingram Engine, that has not yet seen the red clay of the 4/10-mile Action Track at Don Martin’s Lernerville Speedway. With a fresh ride and the experience he gained in 2008, Pat should be considered a serious contender for the 2009 Track Championship!
Sitting in fifth place in the final Bud Point standings was the mercurial Bob Lipinski. Bob’s season started slow, but there was nobody hotter when the dust settled on the 40th Anniversary Season, winning three of the final four races. Bob scored back-to-back third place finishes on the second and third nights of the season, but despite recording 10 top fives over the course of 2008, he did not win his first race until August 8.
Bob backed up that win the following Friday Night August 15 by winning from mid-pack, beating title contenders Bob Egley, Wayne Carbo and Jason Fosnaught in the process. He also picked up a feature win on August 29, an All Star Sprint/MACS Late Model special, after the points had already been decided. In addition to his three feature wins, Bob claimed five heat race victories on his way to a solid fifth place finish in the 2008 Final Bud Point Standings. Behind the wheel of his “Mean, Green Machine”, Lipinski will look to carry that momentum into the 2009 season and contend for the Track Championship.
Atop the list of best drivers to have never yet won a Lernerville feature event sits Jim Fosnaught. Following in brother Jason’s footsteps and racing alongside him on a weekly basis have combined to bring Jim to the cusp of winning his first Lernerville feature. While Jim himself did not win a race in 2008, his car did! Battling a nasty eye infection, Fosnaught left the #20J in the very capable hands of Chris Schneider on both July 25 and again on August 1. On the 25th, Schneider had to start at the tail as Fosnaught qualified the car during heat competition. By the time the checker flew, Schneider trailed only feature winner Wayne Carbo. A week later the checkers flew for Schneider as he dominated the 20-lap feature, giving Jimmy some much needed confidence in the car, knowing that it was capable of winning in the ultra-competitive Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stock division.
While he did not match Schneider’s feats, Jimmy went on to record his best finish of the season the following week with a solid fifth place run. All told, he recorded 10 top ten finishes, won three heat races and finished the season sixth in Bud Points. Jim enters the 2009 season as a definite contender to pick up his first feature win and a dark horse in the points battle.
At the mid-point of the 40th Anniversary Season, “Super Joe” Kelley was poised to become the first driver in the 41 year history of the Lernerville Speedway to win seven Track Championships in the same division. But an unfortunate post-race incident resulted in a suspension for Kelley, unceremoniously ending his title hopes in mid-July. To that point in the season, Kelley had recorded three feature wins, (tying him with Bruce Milbert for second all time in the Stock division with 27 wins) and finished in the top ten of every race in which he competed.
His first win came on Opening Night April 28; his third win came on July 11, just one week before his final race of the season. In between, Kelley picked up another feature win on June 6 and six heat race wins. Despite running a shortened season, Kelley recorded eight top five finishes, (including three second place runs), a total of 11 top tens and finished the season seventh in Bud Points. Kelley returned to the track for the $2000-to-win Advance Auto Parts Street Stock Pandemonium Event, finishing fourth in a loaded field of regional stock car superstars.
Eighth place in Bud Points for the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks went to Greg Beach a young, but veteran driver who scored a feature win early in the 40th Anniversary Season. He started on the front row alongside Bob Lipinski on May 9, leading the first three laps before giving way to Lipinski. As the laps ticked off, Beach kept sight of Lipinski and inherited the lead when he plowed into a slower, lapped car. Beach held off a hard-charging Joe Kelley to secure the win and roll his #33X into Sheetz Victory.
Greg was a model of consistency for the first half of 2008, finishing in each position inside the top ten during the season except third and seventh, including six top five runs. He also checkered two heat race wins. But his season never truly got back on track after a post-race incident in mid-July.
Despite the fact that he did not pick up a feature win in 2008, Shawn Thorn showed a lot of improvement. The high point of his season came on the Fourth of July as his sponsors “The Hot Dog Guys” watched on from the Press Box as Shawn motored to an impressive second place finish to feature winner and eventual Track Champion Bob Egley.
Throughout the course of the 40th Anniversary Season, Shawn recorded two other top fives, a pair of fourth place runs on back-to-back Friday Nights on July 25 and August 1. He also added six other top ten finishes for a total on nine.
Rounding out the top ten in Budweiser Points for the UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks division is one of the division’s youngest and brightest stars in Bryan Shaffer. In just his second full season behind the wheel of a street stock, Shaffer started 2008 with an impressive fourth place finish on Opening Night. He continued to impress throughout the season and came close to victory on a handful of occasions before finally breaking the ice and rolling into Sheetz Victory Lane after the Bud Points had come to a close in a Non-Winner’s race during the Advance Auto Parts Autumn-Motive Fest.
Despite not claiming a Fab Four feature, Shaffer’s stat line is pretty impressive, especially when you factor in his relative lack of seat time in the ultra-competitive Street Stock division. His best Fab Four run of the season came on June 6 when he followed Joe Kelley across the stripe for a solid second place run. He also had a third place finish and three fourth place finishes. He also finished seventh and eighth three times each for a grand total of 11 top tens, to go along with four heat race wins. Look for Bryan to make another big leap forward in 2009, unless of course he takes the Crate Late path like Pegher, Lambert and Jason Fosnaught!
Only three drivers outside of the Budweiser Top Ten found Victory Lane in the Advance Auto Parts UMP DIRTcar Street Stocks; the aforementioned Mike Pegher Jr. and Chris Schneider (subbing Jim Fosnaught) and Paul Schreckengost.
As mentioned above, Pegher stepped up into the Crate Late Model ranks this season in the Lynn Geisler-owned #1 Cochran ride. He only ran a handful of races at Lernerville in 2008, but made the most of it when he did, claiming the Crate Late Model feature during the First Commonwealth Bank Clash on May 13 and then the Street Stocks feature on May 23. He scored two other top fives and three heat race wins in limited Street Stock action!
As mentioned above, Chris Schneider subbed for Jim Fosnaught on back-to-back weeks securing a second on July 25, then winning the feature on August 8. He also ran the post-season races on August 29 and September 19. He basically shook the car down during heat race competition on August 29, and then ran a very strong second to Rusty Martz in the $2000-to-win Street Stock Pandemonium portion of Advance Auto Parts Autumn-Motive Fest. Schneider, of course, is the owner-operator of SS Chassis, the gold standard in the division!
Paul Schreckengost was good early, but not so good late. That statement holds true both for the season as a whole and on a weekly basis. Schreckengost’s only win of the season came on May 2 as he held off challengers Jason Fosnaught, Greg Beach and Bob Lipinski to take the checkers and celebrate in Sheetz Victory Lane. Most of the rest of his six top tens came in the early portion of the 40th Anniversary Season. Despite his bad luck and misfortunes during feature competition, Schreckengost tied for the division lead with six heat race checkers!
Drivers on the cusp of breaking into the Top Ten of Bud Points and possibly winning races in 2009 include veterans Dave “Brew” Baker, Terry Young, Eric Piotrowski and Randy Hanovick, as well as up-and-comers Ryan Moyer, Matthew Keith, Kevin Haas and Bob Lipinski prodigy Troy Jeuther.
In addition to those listed above, the following drivers, (listed in order of final points), competed in the Advance Auto Parts DIRTcar Street Stock division during the 40th Anniversary Season: Stan Riggle, Brett McDonald, John Watson, Mike Gilliland, Joseph Heinl, Don McClure, Paul Petrovich, Mark Sanders, Scott Byers, Mike Miller, Chuck Gebauer, Matt Wagner, Nick Reges, Roger Stivason, Bryan Wagner, Carl Keller, Jake Ayers, William Shipeck, Jake Huppenthal, Pat Weldon, Mark Marshall, Fred Bratchie, Jody Schnur, Ed Emerick, Doug Johnston, Derek Freedline, John McCann, Chip Walsh and Jason Gilliland.
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