A year ago, Greg Hodnett was in the thick of the battle for the Cindy Rowe Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek title when a hard crash at Port Royal Speedway sent him to the hospital and to the sidelines for the next eight weeks.

 It was a blow that put a major dent in his season driving for Al Hamilton, which ended up being his final season after being let go with three races left in the 2006 season.

 While Hodnett was suffering, his current car owners were enjoying the success for their first ever Pennsylvania Speedweek title run with their driver Fred Rahmer. It was Rahmer’s tenth career Speedweek title.

 It’s a new year but the same team is the hottest in the area now with Hodnett at the wheel. And they would like nothing more than to break out of the box in Saturday night’s Speedweek opener at Lincoln Speedway and make the rest of the competition chase them.

 It’s the kind of week that Hodnett thrives on. Big paying races, qualifying, points each time he hits the track and normally a hot summer heat wave. According to the Thomasville racer, life doesn’t get any better than that when it comes to racing.

 “I really enjoy Speedweek because it gives us an opportunity to qualify,” said Hodnett, who is the  leading sprint car driver in the area with seven feature wins. “I like being the fastest car at the track and we strive to do that when we qualify. It also puts you in a position race wise, with the handicap system the way it normally is, you have to start back pretty far. With this format if you time well, it usually puts you further up so you can stay out of trouble. I just like the format and the payoffs are always good. I also like the challenge of being rewarded to be the best you can be each time you hit the track. You get rewarded with points for time trials, heats and feature. It’s an exciting challenge, it’s something a little different and I think the fans enjoy it.”

 Hodnett also knows the importance of being consistent and finishing races to put yourself into position to win the championship. He won the Speedweek title in 2002 and has 14 career wins in the series.

 “In 2001, we lost by like seven points and I can think of one instance where we fell out of our heat because a hub came off the wheel and we lost those points in the heat and that made the difference at the end of the week,” he added. “Then in 2003, we won something like five out of seven races or something stupid like that, but we dropped out of two and we ended up not winning the championship.”

 But with Moon Byers and Dave Yingst turning the wrenches on the J & S Fabrication sprinter, Hodnett is looking forward to Speedweek knowing he’s with a team that is more than capable to bring home the big money and the title.

 Hodnett will have plenty of company when the 17th annual Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Speedweek series kicks off Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway with the $10,000 to win Kevin Gobrecht Memorial.

 Bedford Speedway will host night number two of Speedweek on Sunday with a Monday night raindate.

 The series moves to the Thunder on the Hill series at Grandview Speedway on Tuesday night followed by a July 4th date at Hagerstown Speedway. Port Royal Speedway has two dates in 2007 with a Thursday night show and then on Saturday night, which pays $7,000 to win.
 Sandwiched in between Port’s dates will be the Mitch Smith Memorial paying $10,000 at Williams Grove Speedway which also serves as Diakon Adoption Night at the Speedway.

 Selinsgrove Speedway will bring a close to the 2007 Speedweek series with a Sunday night, July 8 program.

 Rahmer won one feature during last year’s series but never finished outside the top 10 in the seven nights of racing. He ended the week with 1,036 points compared to runner-up Lance Dewease’s 990 points. Rahmer won at Port Royal, while Dewease scored wins at Hagerstown and opening night at Lincoln.

 Doug Esh was third last year with wins at the Lincoln finale and at Selinsgrove while Lucas Wolfe finished fourth in points and Mark Smith fifth.

 Stevie Smith, who plans to compete in the entire Speedweek series this year finished sixth in points last year and was the winner at Susquehanna Speedway.

 Jeff Shepard was the other winner last year after topping the Mitch Smith Memorial at the Grove.

 Sixty-seven different drivers participated in 2006 Speedweek with an average of 32 cars per race.


WHATS HAPPENING
 Williams Grove is back in action Friday with the 410 Sprints and 358 Sprints while it will be a big night at Path Valley on Friday with seven features on tap including two for the Legend cars. Of course, micro sprint racing is the headline.

 Trail-Way Speedway will feature 358 Sprints on Friday and  600 and 270 Micros on Saturday night.

 Port Royal Speedway hosts the Lawrence Chevrolet Super Sportsman Tour along with late models on Saturday while Selinsgrove goes with a regular Saturday show of 358 sprints and late models.

 Hagerstown has a big Saturday night of late model racing with the 42nd annual Johnny Roberts Memorial.

 Susquehanna Speedway is back Saturday with stock car racing along with School Bus Racing while the track returns to action July 3 as part of the 600 Micro Sprint Speedweek.


PITSTOPS
 Jason Meyers and Daryn Pittman were World of Outlaw Sprint car winners last weekend at Dodge City Speedway in Kansas. Meyers won Friday night over Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky while Joey Saldana and Terry McCarl finished behind Pittman on Saturday. The Outlaws were in action Monday night at Black Hills Speedway in South Dakota where Schatz took his eighth win of the season ahead of Kerry Madsen and Meyers…

 Ohio Sprint Speedweek kicked off Sunday night at Attica Raceway Park where 54 cars signed in for competition. Dale Blaney took the opening night win over Rob Chaney, Brandon Martin, Byron Reed and Kenny Jacobs. Three of the top five finishers were aboard JEI Chassis…

 Look for a big announcement on the World of Outlaw tour for the 2008 season and look for Ricky Warner to be back with Donny Schatz as crew chief…

 Williams Grove Speedway had 105 races cars in the pit area last Saturday night topped by 38 Super Sportsman…

 York’s Rick Eckert has three straight runner-up finishes on the World of Outlaws late model tour. It’s been a tough season for Eckert, who has yet to win a feature on the tour but still ranks a close fourth in WoO points…

 DJ Myers earned $5,000 for a Sunday night late model win at Hesston Speedway. He inherited the lead when leader Jason Covert hit a tire on the inside of the track… 

 Jim Brookens captured the Hill Valley 600 Micro Sprint win last weekend over AJ Bast, Keith Woodson, Mechanicsburg’s Chad Hough and Brock Zearfoss. Carlisle’s Greg Kone was 12th while 410 driver Chris Meleason was 14th. Hill Valley is gearing up for a big race weekend. The top six finishers in Saturday night’s feature will be automatic starters in Sunday’s $5,000 to win Rumble in the Hills which kicks off the 600 Micro Sprint Speedweek. Beecher’s has put up $500 for a Dash for Cash for those six drivers and the finish will determine the starting order for Sunday’s Rumble…

 Don’t forget the National Sprint Car Bean Bag Association tournament in the infield at Lincoln Speedway this Saturday beginning at 2:30 p.m. Sixty four contestants are expected to be a part of the event with proceeds going to the Kevin Gobrecht Memorial Fund. Yours truly will be participating in my first ever bean bag throwing contest…