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Redemption For Sheppard On Night Two of Lernerville Firecracker Weekend

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Jason Shank

SARVER, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – One night after contact ended his attempt at victory, Brandon Sheppard captured the checkered flag in the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model feature at Lernerville Speedway on night two of Firecracker weekend.

Sheppard survived a late race charge by Sarver’s on Mike Norris to claim his 60th career World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models Series feature win.

“This track was definitely a lot different then what I’m used to, but we were still really good,” said Sheppard.  “I could run the middle-to-high real well, didn’t try the bottom too much, but I felt comfortable down there when I did.”

Sheppard started on the pole position and led all 25-laps en route to the victory.  The battle for the rest of the podium came down to a national legend and a two-time Lernerville track Champion.

Boom Briggs started in the second spot with Scott Bloomquist and Norris making up the second row.  Bloomquist quickly got around Briggs to move into second place.  Norris got around Briggs and set his sights on Bloomquist.

Norris passed Bloomquist on lap 15, much to the delight of the hometown crowd, and set his sights on the leader.  Meanwhile up front Sheppard was navigating lap traffic and “The Crusher Kid” kept hitting his marks, cutting Sheppard’s lead from 2.9-seconds to 1.2-seconds as the laps were winding down.

Sheppard managed to get through the lap traffic just quick enough to hold off the charge from Norris, who finished 10th on Thursday night after starting second.

“This is definitely a little redemption for us,” Norris. “It’s crazy to think that when we started we just wanted to make these features and now we’re disappointed with tenth-place finishes. Tonight felt really great though. We’re in pretty good company up here on this podium.”

Bloomquist brought it home in third position at a place where he’s the only 3-time winner of the Firecracker 100.

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“I love it,” Bloomquist said on Lernerville. “We’ve been coming here for a long time, we’ve had some good runs and won some races. We’ve been making some mistakes with tires that we need to fix tomorrow. Last night we put a hard tire on and that was wrong, tonight we put a soft tire and needed a hard one. At least we know what we’re getting into tomorrow. Hopefully the weather holds off and we can get up front.”

Norris also thinks he’ll have something for Saturday night’s $30,000-to-win feature.

“I think we’ll have something for them tomorrow,” said Norris.  “We’ll see what the weather brings and go from there.”

Sheppard will also be in contention as his car has been strong with a win and a near-win that some would argue was taken away Thursday night.

“I think tonight says a lot for tomorrow, because the big race will probably be a little bit more slicker and I don’t know if it will be this slick or not,” said Sheppard.  “I have a feeling we’ll be between last night and tomorrow on the track. Either way, it’s gonna be a great race.”

The 14th rendition of the Firecracker will conclude Saturday night at Lernerville. Tickets are still available for purchase at the gate.  If you can’t make it, the 50-lap main event will air LIVE on CBS Sports Network at 9:00pm ET.  If you can’t watch it live, set your DVR as Thursday and Friday night’s action was intense.

Morton Buildings Feature:

  1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1] $6,000
  2. 72n-Mike Norris [4] $3,000
  3. 0-Scott Bloomquist [3] $2,000
  4. 97-Cade Dillard [5] $1,750
  5. 99b-Boom Briggs [2] $1,500
  6. 25z-Mason Zeigler [6] $1,400
  7. 22-Gregg Satterlee [13] $1,300
  8. 29v-Darrell Lanigan [15] $1,200
  9. 18-Chase Junghans [7] $1,100
  10. 0m-Chris Madden [9] $1,000
  11. 18b-Shannon Babb [8] $900
  12. 56-Russ King [10] $850
  13. 72-Jason Covert [11] $800
  14. 28-Dennis Erb [12] $775
  15. 10-Jared Miley [17] $750
  16. 12-Ashton Winger [23] $700
  17. 1x-Chub Frank [16] $660
  18. 20rt-Ricky Thornton [18] $640
  19. 111-Max Blair [20] $620
  20. 7-Ricky Weiss [22] $600
  21. 12d-Doug Drown [14] $600
  22. 2s-Dan Stone [21] $600
  23. B1-Brent Larson [24] $600
  24. 0s-Ryan Scott [19] $600

Lap Leader(s): Sheppard 1-25.

Hard Charger Award: 29v-Darrell Lanigan[+7]

Dirt Racing

Mother Nature winning the weekend as local tracks cancel events

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PITTSBURGH, PA (May 3, 2024) Rain is forcing local tracks to cancel their events this weekend.

Lernerville Speedway was the first to pull the plug on Friday’s program after late afternoon showers and an ominous forecast forced the tracks hand. Racing returns to ‘The Action Track’ on Friday, May 10 as the Jay’s Automotive ULMS Late Models take center stage, complemented with the remaining Fab4 racing divisions.

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Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway was next to throw in the towel.  PPMS and BRP Modified Tour officials made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the BRP Big Block Modifieds + Cinco De Mayo Fiesta event.  The event will not be rescheduled. All tickets purchased online will be fully refunded.  PPMS and BRP look forward to scheduling a 2025 date!  PPMS hopes to be able to get in Nostalgia Night and Action Event next Saturday.

Rain late Friday evening and through the early morning hours on Saturday brought over a half-inch (0.51) of rain to Latrobe Speedway, forcing the cancellation of Saturday’s (May 4) FAST-Five racing program.  The rain gauge at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, just 2 miles away, continues to record the rain. The airport forecast calls for an 80 % chance of showers, mainly before 1 pm, and a 100% chance of showers continuing again tonight.

Next Saturday, May 11, Latrobe plans to hold the Dave Kittey Memorial ULMS Super Late Models. The 30-lap $4,000-to-win feature also offers bonuses for ULMS racers.  The FASTrak Pro Late Models, the Joe’s Body Shop & Towing Pure Stocks, the Special T Metals LLC Modified 4 Cylinders, and the Marilungo Disposal LLC Strictly Stock 4 Cylinders will also be on the card.

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Dirt Racing

Flick, Norris, Rudolph and Dietz Victorious at Lernerville

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Photo: Paul Arch

SARVER, PA (April 26, 2024) AJ Flick picked up his first Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car win of 2024 at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night and Michael Norris made it back-to-back wins in the Late Model Division.

Flick started fourth on the grid and passed leader and pole-sitter Carl Bowser using the bottom side on lap 8 while Bowser worked the high side.  Bowser wouldn’t go away easily, pulling side-by-side with Flick at the halfway mark.  Flick eventually was able to hold Bowser at bay, building a three-second lead as he encountered lap traffic.

A caution flag with five-laps-to-go bunched up the field but Flick got an impressive restart and kept the field at bay to pick up the victory.  Bowser finished second and Michael Bauer finished third after starting eighth.

“I didn’t expect it to slick off as much as it did,” Flick said about the track conditions. “It was odd because it wasn’t really wide but yet the actual racing groove was getting slick and starting to come in already. I missed it in the heat race, but come feature time it seems like we’re starting to dial it in a bit more.”

Norris started 10th and put on a clinic coming through the field to make it two straight at ‘The action Track.’

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“Luck was on our side tonight,” Norris said. “I always seem to have late race cautions. Thanks to John Garvin for leaving me a lane, he got me pretty good on that last restart but I knew as long as I could be even with him going into turn one, the top was so good and it was.”

Erick Rudolph made the trip to Sarver from Ransomville, New York and it paid off.  Rudolph took home the feature victory in the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified main event.

“There’s something about Lernerville Speedway,” said Rudolph. “It’s one of my favorite tracks in the country and anytime we get a chance to come down here it’s always something we look forward to.”

Tyler Dietz proved to be the class of the field once again, garnering his first feature win in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock main event.  Dietz survived a late race restart and held off front row starter Tim Bish and a hard charging Chris Schneider to grab the checkered flag.

“I kind of thought that he (Bish) was going to take the bottom,” Dietz stated, remarking about the crucial restart. “I was hoping he would go high because I think I was better up high but I just never got the chance to go up there.”­­­­­­

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Local Racing

Historic Stock Cars to run at Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

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PVGP

PITTSBURGH, PA (April 24, 2025) The Historic Stock Car Racing Association (HSCRA) is joining the lineup of racing groups at this year’s Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (PVGP) Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.  This is the first time the HSCRA will race in the PVGP Historics 3-day weekend, July 26 to 28, 2024.

“We are thrilled to welcome the HSCRA to our 2024 event,” said Dan DelBianco, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. “Their participation not only broadens the appeal of the PVGP Historics but also aligns with our mission to celebrate all automotive history. This is a fantastic opportunity for race fans of all types to witness the power and beauty of historic stock cars in action.”

The HSCRA, renowned for its commitment to preserving and celebrating the history of stock car racing, will bring a new dimension to the PVGP Historics. The group is open to all stock cars that ran in one of the major NASCAR series.

“The HSCRA is anxious to bring NASCAR to Pittsburgh,” said Carlus Gann of HSCRA. “We look forward to making this a regular stop on our tour. Western Pennsylvania has deep roots in racing, and building a world-class track at Pitt Race in Beaver County makes it a perfect fit.”

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The most popular class is Generation 4 Cup cars built for the 1992-2007 seasons. During this era, teams built a few cars for the two road courses on the schedule.

“We are hoping for a full field of meticulously restored stock cars,” added Chris Evans of the HSCRA. “Former NASCAR winners like Joe Nemechek and a competitive lineup of today’s top historic stock car drivers will be on hand.”

Gary Moore, a seasoned participant in over a dozen PVGP races, knows the intricacies and challenges of the Pitt Race track. Moore will be showcasing his 1969 Mercury Cyclone (right), victoriously driven by Cale Yarborough, exclaiming, “It’s quite the adventure behind the wheel!”

The HSCRA will have a practice session in the morning and a qualifying race in the afternoon on Friday, July 26. A morning and afternoon practice session on Saturday, July 27. Sunday, July 28 will see the HSCRA have a short morning warm-up prior to being one of the featured Sunday afternoon races.

The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Motorsport Festival features two weekends of racing action. The first weekend is the PVGP Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The second weekend is racing through a 2.33-mile road course set on the streets of Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. In addition to the race weekends, the PVGP stages car shows, parties, road rallies, and a black-tie formal. The PVGP’s mission is to provide residential care, treatment and support for people with autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities – donating $6.7 million to charity since 1983.

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