Well let’s face it; Mother Nature claimed another big win this weekend in Sarver, Pa where the World of Outlaws was to host their second annual Fire-Cracker 100. Last years race saw perfect weather and racing conditions making for not only a great show but for a great atmosphere. Last year the weather was beautiful, the track was great, and there were some of the best teams in the world in attendance. Lernerville provides great racing – hands down. They also make this event fun for the fans away from the track. They provide fans with a rare opportunity to get closer to their favorite drivers. They provide autograph sessions where fans can interact and ask questions to their favorite drivers. They also try to show the fans the other side of the drivers, the fun, laid back side. They arranged a horseshoe toss competition that most of the outlaw regulars attended and some played against fans. They kept it fun while not losing focus of what we were all really there for – 24 eight hundred plus horsepower engines going 100 laps around one of the best tracks the north-east has to offer. Oh well, what can we do, the weathers not always going to cooperate.

The whole weekend wasn’t a dud though, they got qualifying and heats in Friday night that was worth the price of admission. Six heat races that looked more like features kept the mud flying all night long. Heat one saw Shane Clanton Charge past Dover, Pa’s Devon Frye for the win. Bowyer Dirt Motorsports Shannon Babb took the last transfer spot even though he was billowing smoke from what was later determined an oil overflow. The second heat kept the local fans on the edge of their seats and eventually the whole grandstand cheering for the local #5 of Mike Blose who though spinning earlier due to contact with Kinzer, came back to claim the last transfer spot. Kinzer rolled across the finish right before him, and defending Outlaw champ, Steve Francis drove to the win. Flats plagued heat two. Eddie Carrier Jr. and the “O” Show both lost right rear tires during the heat. This was last of the heats where the track was really heavy. It stayed on the heavy side but the racing got better as the heats went on. In the third heat the standout was Greg Saterllee who nabbed the final transfer spot from a 5th starting spot. The third place finish gave Satterllee the honor of being one of the few locals to make the Fire-Cracker 100. Pearson took the win and the Re-draw spot while Billy Moyer took second and a ninth starting position for the show. This race saw some tempers fly as on track incidents led to some bent sheet metal and a black flag. The black was flying for Jimmy Mars who gave Blankenship a little ride in turn three. The incident started a lap earlier when Blankenship didn’t really leave enough room between Mars and the wall which nearly sent Mars into the stands. What I’d call one of the more exciting heats of the night was heat 4. Kid Rocket owned the heat and finally took it over on lap 12 of 15. The kid threw it up high on the cushion above two legends and came out on top. He made the move that had the crowd standing above Donnie Moran and Scott Bloomquest and turned it into a win for the Rocket house car. Moran stayed with him and finished second while another team 0 driver, Chris Madden picked up third as “bosssman” got shuffled to fifth in the last three laps. The outlaws point leader Darrell Lanigan took the win in heat five followed by last year’s WoO ROY, Tim Fuller. The final transfer spot went to Jeremy Miller, who got his first outlaw win earlier this year. The sixth and final heat was greatly stacked with talent and could have easily read as a feature line-up. Taking the heavy-hitting heat was “Birky,” Brian Birkhofer who was chased buy “Chubzilla” who settled for second. The last transfer spot of the night went to “T-Mac” Tim McCreadie.

Shannon Babb set fast time for the Qualifying sessions behind the wheel of his Bower Dirt Motorsports Rocket #18. Sixty-Two late models took the call for time trials. The only two cars that have provisional for the race are the top two cars in points at Lernerville who don’t transfer through their heat, or B-main. As of the last points races Alex Ferree is leading Lynn Geisler.

As far as the weather, Saturday’s events were totally rained out and the event was to begin at 4 pm Sunday. . As Sunday morning approached there was evidence of rain and some nasty clouds. Sunday morning winds also tore through the camping and pit area. Fans made the best of it, taking pictures of funneling clouds that grew and blew through the pits and camping area. There was a point where it barely cleared and management announced that they were going to compete. For this short period teams unloaded with pessimistic attitudes it got bad again and most teams loaded up. Teams waited a few hours most with trailers closed and cars loaded until just before six when teams began to leave.

This had to be a hard call for the World Racing Group, WoO, and Lernerville. They had the speed network there for an estimated 30k a day and had to spring for Sunday too as Saturday rained out. The Firecracker took on new sponsors especially GottaRace who signed on as the main sponsor for the 2008 event. The event also boasts a 150,000k purse and wraps up the Great Northern Tour for the World Of Outlaw Late Model Series. I know that Lernerville and WoO employees have been working on this event since July of last year, top drivers and fans alike have predicted the Firecracker 100 to get bigger and bigger and I hop this year isn’t an overall set-back. To all the teams and fans that came out and weathered the storm thanks for coming to my neck of the woods and please come back for years to come.

As no one ever wants to see big show rained out, it especially stinks that the Fire Cracker 100 at Lernerville had to be beaten by storms and dreary outlooks all weekend. Lernerville provides some of the best racing I’ve witnessed and it provides such quality on a consistent basis. The L’ville staff work hard on this and all of their national events so my regrets go out to the Lernerville staff and all of the drivers that filled their huge diesel tanks coming with hopes to make some of that cash back. As of 5:45 pm Sunday it looks like teams have up given as many haulers are beginning to leave as of this time. On another positive note this shouldn’t keep Lernerville or the World Racing Group from have many more Firecracker 100’s. As of now the future rain date for this year hasn’t been set. Good Luck L’ville, hope to see many great show there in the future, and know I will.