Hello again race fans. I've been absent lately, but I'm back today. We have several items to discuss, so let's get going.
First, the California kid is on his way back to Central Pennsylvania. I'm speaking of Tyler Walker from Los Angeles. Walker is scheduled to drive the Charlie and Dawn Sorokach No. 35 sprint car during PA Sprint Car Speedweek. Walker will be here on a limited basis during the remainder of the 2012 season but is expected to run full time in 2013 here in the Keystone State. Bryan Goodyear and Rod Jones, who worked with Walker on the Keen Motorsports team, will be helping Walker during speedweek.
Another big time traveler will be coming to our area. Danny "The Dude" Lasoski will take over the driving chores in the John and Pee Wee Zemaitis No. 1 car for the remainder of the year. Lasoski will join the team July 1 at Big Diamond Speedway.
Ohio Sprint Car Speedweek is right around the corner and will last for nine nights. Action starts this evening. Lance Dewease will run a portion of the program and be back home by midweek. Waynesfield Speedway kicks off the action tonight and pays the winner $10,000 to win.
If you are a Richard Petty fan you may want to visit the Carlisle Fairgrounds July 8. Petty will sign autographs from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Get in line early. Petty normally signs longer than normal but don't bank on it. His appearance is part of the Carlisle Mopar Nationals.
Danny Johnson won last Wednesday night's Lincoln Speedway Modified feature worth $5,000. The race was part of the Race of Champions Series.
Daryn Pittman won the 25-lap 358/360 race at Lincoln Speedway. The victory was Pittman's second of the the year in Pa. Pittman also won a race at Selinsgrove Speedway in the 410 class.
Coleby Frye won last Saturday night's Port Royal Speedway late model feature. Port Royal has been drawing the top late model field in the area. Tim Wilson is on top of the points standings.
Susquehanna Speedway raced 410 sprint cars last Sunday night and Donnie Kreitz won the event. Jacob Allen won the 358 sprint car feature.
Here is the weekend racing schedule: Port Royal Speedway has a 410 and 305 sprint car show along with late models. Action starts at 7 tonight.
Selinsgrove and Lincoln speedways have a regular show tonight. The All Star Sprint cars are at Wayne County (Ohio) Speedway for speedweek. They move on to Cannonball Speedway tomorrow and are back to Wayne County Monday. Tuesday's action is at Sharon Speedway and Wednesday they will race at Freemont. It will be a bust week.
Chad Layton is the current 410 sprint car points leader at Port Royal Speedway. Danny Dietrich is the leader at Lincoln Speedway. The Central PA sprint car points standing leader is Greg Hodnett. Dale Blaney is on top of the All Star sprint car chase. Donny Schatz leads the World of Outlaws sprint car battle. We are entering midseason and have a long way to go - it will be an interesting points chase everywhere.
Lincoln Speedway has changed its rules for the 358 sprint car class to permit a wicker bill on the wing and a side "kicker" that might allow the cars to pass more. Let's hope it works and maybe it will follow in 410 sprint car action.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. got the monkey off his back and broke his winless streak last week at Michigan after 143 races. Junior has won 19 career cup races. The victory is his second during his 159-race stint at Hendricks Motorsports. Matt Kenseth is the current Sprint Cup points leader.
That's going to do it for this week. Drive safely and we will talk again next week.
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Craig Rutherford writes about motorsports for The Sentinel.
