Hello again race fans. Port Royal Speedway hosts the super sportsman cars this evening. In addition to a regular show, the sportsman cars also have a rescheduled feature from earlier this season. The late models, pro stocks and enduro cars are also in action. Racing starts at 7:30 p.m.

Last week was tough at the Juniata County oval. The late model and 305 sprint car features were lost to rain. The late models make their event up July 31. The 305 sprint feature will be made up August 21.

Don't forget the Dream Race Extreme in memory of Jim Nace is coming up August 7 at Port Royal Speedway. In addition to racing there will be big wheel racing for the kids at the horse ring starting at 5 p.m.. Fireworks are also part of the show.

At Selinsgrove Speedway, the late models run their summer championship. The 358 sprint cars, pro stocks and roadrunners are also part of the show which starts at 7:30.

Lincoln Speedway is dark this evening and will race tomorrow night. Sprint cars, thundercars and SpeedSTR's compete the program starting at 7.

Williams Grove Speedway is in action this evening as the World of Outlaws invade for the Summer Nationals. The Grove was also scheduled to run last night.

It will be interesting to see how the locals do against the Outlaws this time. It has been two years since the Outlaws have won a race at Williams Grove. Donny Schatz won that event.

Lance Dewease beat the travelers Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway after starting fourth. Dewease passed Dale Blaney on lap 24 and held off Donny Schatz for the $15,000 victory.

Bedford Speedway was dark last night in preparation for the Bedford Fair that opens tomorrow. The speedway will run their annual fair race next Friday night. It is a great value for fans because the fair offers a rate of nine dollars and that includes the race. You won't find any better value on a late model show anywhere.

Colby Frye hopped in the family late model and won at Bedford last Friday night. Jeremy Miller was also on hand. I was surprised to see those two traveling stars show up at Bedford for a regular show. The super sportsman cars had a good race there as well.

Fred Rahmer went to New York to race with the All Star Circuit of Champions last week and returned home the winner. Rahmer's victory came at Utica-Rome Speedway and was worth $5,000. Tony Stewart also ran that night and finished seventh after being involved in an early race skirmish that put him to the rear. Mark Smith and Mark Coldren were other local drivers who went north to race with the All Stars.

Tony Stewart won a pair of NRA 360 sprint car victories last week end at Eldora Speedway. Steve Kinser was the winner of the King's Royal $50,000 dollar to win race at the same track.

Fred Rahmer has two sons that will be racing in the SpeedSTR class at Lincoln Speedway Sunday night. Freddie and Brandon, both 14, will race. You may remember Rahmer and wife Debbie had triplets. I can't believe they have grown up this fast.

Doug Esh finally broke through and won in the Pancho Lawler's No. 93 last Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway. I'm sure that took a big load off his shoulders and helped his confidence. Now if Kevin Frey and Keith Kauffman can just get the Trone Racing No. 39 car going too, life will be good.

Why have the locals improved while racing against the World of Outlaws? The clock has turned back 30 years and Central Pa. is again the hot bed of sprint car racing nationwide. The locals have run more races this year than the outlaws - 51 to 38 entering this week nd. There have also been more time trial shows locally, which has helped the locals become better qualifiers. The deck is no longer stacked against the locals when the Outlaws come to town. Outside drivers are again locating in Central PA because they can race several times a week without all the travel. That is how this area got Steve Smith, Bobby Allen, Van and Dub May, Jimmy Edwards, Jimmy Boyd, Jan Opperman, Kenny Weld and others to Pennsylvania which made for great racing. Today, Daryn Pittman, Tyler Walker, Justin Henderson, Greg Hodnett, and Stevie Smith - who I call a Pa. driver anyway - are racing here and doing well. The future looks bright for sprint car talent.

One change to come out of this week's sprint car meeting in Pittsburgh is that 33 gallon fuel cells will be mandatory for Outlaw racing next season. The All Stars previously passed a similar rule, but allowed drivers to run the smaller tank if they made the minimum weight.

The NASCAR Cup Series race is at Indy this week. The Brickyard 400 starts at 1 p.m. tomorrow with ESPN having TV coverage starting at noon. Jimmie Johnson is the defending race champion. Kevin Harvick is still on top of Cup points. Jeff Gordon has won four times at Indy and is the leading Cup winner there to date.

The Cup cars return to Pocono August 1.

Pat Cannon survived a scary crash last Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway when his car erupted in flames. Thank goodness fire crews were on the scene quickly as the fire was in the cockpit. I can't say it enough - drivers should invest in a good firesuit, not some inexpensive outfit. After seeing pictures from Cannon's crash, I feel sure he would have been seriously burned had he not been wearing a good firesuit. I'm sure Todd Shaffer, Kyle Ganoe and others can speak of how bad it feels to be burned in a racecar accident. It's not worth the risk to wear junk. If a driver doesn't have good safety equipment, they should sit until they can afford to purchase it in my opinion.

Have a good racing weekend. I'll be back next week with more news and opinions. Until then, please drive safely!