Posse Look To Remain Unbeaten

By Brad Vores June 12, 2008

Will the steak continue?

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions invade Central Pennsylvania this weekend for events Friday at Williams Grove Speedway and Saturday at Lincoln Speedway. The series then travels to Clearfield on Sunday night for their first ever appearance at the track.

No All Star regular has ever beaten the Pennsylvania Posse at Williams Grove.

Last year, it was Mike Erdley pulling off the win in the All Star sanctioned show and Erdley will have plenty of help from the rest of the Posse to try and keep the winless streak alive tomorrow night.

But this time, things could be a little different.

While he hasn’t been very competitive in local racing this season, Lance Dewease is an All Star member this season and leads the series into town as their points leader. Should Dewease get his 68th career Grove win, it will end the reign of the Posse against the travelers. Well kind of I guess.

Other All Star regulars making an attempt to get to victory lane include Greg Wilson, Dale Blaney and Randy Hannagan.

Brian Leppo has been good in extra paying events this season at the Grove and his brand new Floyd Swope owned JEI might having the winning combination once again this weekend. Leppo, who sits third in Grove points, owns wins in the Tommy Classic and the Keystone Cup event and is the only repeat winner this year at the Grove.

The All Stars have had some success at Lincoln Speedway over the years but it was Fred Rahmer taking last year’s win.

Some of the top Central PA teams including Rahmer and Greg Hodnett plan to make the Sunday night trek to Central PA Speedway.

WOLFE INJURED
Mechanicsburg sprint car driver Lucas Wolfe returned to his home on Tuesday after suffering a fractured T4 vertebrae in a Sunday night World of Outlaws sprint car race at Tri City Speedway in Illinois.

Something on Wolfe’s No. 5W sprinter broke as the cars were lining up for the heat race, sending him into a series of flips. He later returned to race but then complained of back pain during the night.

“I went to a hospital in St. Louis and right now I have a fractured T4,” he said. “ I came home today and we are working on getting in at Hershey to get a better idea of what is wrong. Right now, we aren’t very clear on it yet but hopefully we’ll have some answers in the next day or two.”

Wolfe ranked 14th in WoO points in his rookie season on the road.

“I knew we wouldn’t be racing this weekend so I figured it would be easier to come home and deal with doctors around here to see what we need to do,” he added. “It wasn’t a terribly hard crash or anything but I guess at some point, the car squared off and that’s what caused the back injury.”

Until he knows the severity of his injury, Wolfe is unclear on when he can return to the track.

WHATS HAPPENING
Aside from the All Star Sprints invading the area this weekend, other big events will be on tap at other area speedway’s.

The 358 Sprint cars are scheduled for action Friday at Trail-way Speedway, Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway and in a special $1,200 to win Sunday night program at Susquehanna Speedway Park.

Super late models will have a big program Saturday night at Hagerstown Speedway in the first annual Red Nininger Memorial Shootout II in memory of the late car owner.
Port Royal, Selinsgrove and Bedford all have late models on their racing cards.

Port Royal Speedway features the Challenge at the Port paying $5,000 to the sprint car winner on Saturday night. The top five spots have been increased for the event.

Williams Grove Speedway returns for another Saturday Night Series program featuring five divisions headlined by the Super Sportsman. Last week, 110 cars jammed the pit area for the low admission price of $10.00.

PIT STOPS
It appears Tommy Beavers will miss the remainder of the 2008 racing season as he recovers from a hand injury suffered while at work. Beavers had to undergo another surgery last week on his middles finger that was not healing. Doctors took bone from his wrist and grafted it into his finger. He is optimistic about coming back in 2009 stronger than ever and cited how great Cody Darrah is doing this season after missing most of 2007. Best Wishes go out to the Beav…

It was great to see Steve Wilbur back at the track last Saturday. Wilbur stopped by Williams Grove to visit with the fans before heading to Lincoln Speedway, where he was able to take cover in the air conditioned office for the night’s racing action. Steve continues to be in amazing spirits and we only his recovery is shortened by his great attitude. Jerry Parrish, owner of Premier Auto Works sponsored the night and instead of giving extra money for a Hard Charger award, Parrish gave $500 to Wilbur to help with his recovery. A class act of kindness by one of the nicest guys in the pits…

Tomorrow night, a fan can win $5000 at Williams Grove Speedway should he or she hold the lucky entry form. Fans will receive an entry form which must be completed and placed in a container at various locations around the track. The fan whose name is selected will draw a number from 1-24 prior to the start of the Sprint car feature. Whoever is starting in the spot the fan picks is the driver who can win the fan $5,000. If that driver wins the feature, that fan will also take the cash home. Good stuff by the night’s sponsor Radio 93.5, the Home of Rock and Roll and the folks at Williams Grove!…

Donny Schatz is back on track on the World of Outlaw tour with two wins last weekend. He won Saturday at Knoxville and then Sunday at Tri City Speedway. Shane Stewart won his first of the year Friday at Knoxville. Schatz has opened up a 37-point lead over Jason Meyers as Craig Dollansky and Joey Saldana have slipped to nearly 100 points behind…
Scott Bloomquist won a record fifth DREAM late model event Saturday at Eldora Speedway. He beat Brian Birkhofer, Shane Clanton, Jimmy Owens and Tim McCreadie for the $100,000 win…