Can The Outlaws Get Revenge On The Posse?

Rewind back two months to the first visit of the season by the World of Outlaws to Williams Grove Speedway.

It was a night that all Pennsylvania Posse fans remember quite well and a night when members of the Outlaws forgot as soon as they left the speedway grounds.

It was on that night when the Posse, led by Greg Hodnett gave an old fashioned Pennsylvania whipping to the road warriors, taking nine out of the top 10 finishing spots in the 30-lap feature and 20 out of the 28 feature starting spots that night. And to be even more technical, two of the eight Outlaw spots were on provisionals, which of course gave two more spots to the local contingent.

Hodnett’s win against the Outlaws ended his long winless streak at Williams Grove, dating back to July 2007.

Aboard the Jim and Sandy Kline owned No. 22, Hodnett tracked down Stevie Smith and Cody Darrah during the late stages of that event to take the $10,000 top prize.

Following Hodnett under the checkered flag were Darrah, Smith, Dave Ely, Donny Schatz, Daryn Pittman, Todd Shaffer, Brian Montieth, Fred Rahmer and Keith Kauffman. Schatz was the lone Outlaw in the top 10 that night.

The Outlaws will be looking for revenge in a big way this weekend as they return to the for the Cleveland Brothers Summer Nationals Friday and Saturday night.

And will the results be different? It’s a good bet to say yes they will be, at least somewhat.

Maybe a Posse will win. Maybe the Posse will sweep the top five but then maybe the Posse will be shut out? Time will tell and that’s what keeps this rivalry exciting and fresh every year.

Saturday night’s Summer National finale will pay a cool $20,000 to the winner and it’s hard to go against Donny Schatz when that kind of cash is on the line.

After all, Schatz is coming off the $50,000 win at last week’s Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.

While Schatz is not leading the Outlaw tour in wins this season, he does bring the points lead into Pennsylvania, but it’s a close one. One of the closest in the last few seasons as heading into Lernerville Speedway’s show Wednesday night, Schatz was just 44 points ahead of Joey Saldana, who leads the way with 12 wins this season.

Other Outlaws coming to town and looking for some good Pennsylvania fortune include Jason Meyers, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Craig Dollansky, Jason Sides, Kraig Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and former Grove regular Lucas Wolfe, of Mechanicsburg.

Time trials set the stage for both Friday and Saturday night’s events and Fireworks will also be on the program.

358 SPRINTS GET SOME ATTENTION
It seems the Central PA area is all about the 410 Sprint car division but Bill McIntyre is trying to get the 358 sprint cars some attention as well.

Using a similar format as the Speed Dawg points for the 410 sprints, McIntyre is doing his own Central PA Point Series for the 358 sprints which ranks the drivers according to weekend finishes. Each driver finishing in the top 10 at any given local 358 sprint car race receives points.

Going into this weekend, Selinsgrove regular Blane Heimbach holds a one point lead over Trail-Way and Lincoln regular Bill Dietrich. Fellow TW and Lincoln regulars Jeff Rohrbaugh, Dale Hammaker and Brad McClelland are the current top five in points. Nate Snyder, Pat Cannon, Tim Wagaman, Phil Walter and Kyle Moody are the top 10.

McIntyre along with Jason Loss of Delco Signs are keeping track of the points, which offers some incentives as the end of the season. As of now, the winner will receive a $250 gift certificate to Delco Signs, $100 gift certificate to Panchos Racing Products, $100 gift certificate from Trail-Way Speedway, a $50 gift certificate from WRT Speedwerx and trophies donated by Bill Burkholder. They welcome more sponsors and if anyone is interested in making this point deal alittle better, email McIntyre at
boogermac420@inbox.com.

PITTMAN TAKES ALL STAR WIN
Aboard the Jesse Keen Motorsports No. 17 sprinter, Daryn Pittman raced to the win in Sunday night’s All Star Sprint car event at Tri City Speedway.

Pittman’s win was his second since joining the Keen owned team and fourth overall on the season.

He won over Greg Wilson, Dale Blaney, Danny Smith and Cole Duncan.

Pittman and his wife Mandy recently purchased the Reeve Kruck Titan Racing USA Sprint car team and has all of the equipment for sale. For more information on the team, email Pittman at darynpittman@yahoo.com.

PIT STOPS
The 358 Sprint cars will be in action this weekend at Trail-way, Lincoln and Selinsgrove Speedway’s while the late models see action at Port Royal and Selinsgrove. The PA Sprint Series 305 Sprints will once again be back at Port Royal as will the Super Sportsman tour. The 358 late models have races scheduled at Path Valley, Lincoln and Susquehanna Speedway’s…

The Knoxville Nationals are quickly approaching as the pre-entries continue to roll into the track. Some of the Pennsylvania drivers entered include Stevie Smith, Greg Hodnett, Lance Dewease, Doug Esh, Trevor Lewis and Cody Darrah. If you plan to attend the Nationals, make sure you stop at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum and check out the newly renovated second floor as well as the movie theater. Check out the HoF website for Nationals events…