Flick, Miley, Williamson, T. Dietz All Winners at Lernerville Speedway on Opening Night
8 min readSarver, PA (April 22, 2022) The stars and cars of the Fab4 Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dairy featuring the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars, Precise Racing Products Late Models, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks have started their season long trek towards their respective championships as Lernerville Speedway’s 2022 season is officially underway as Mother Nature graced ‘The Action Track’ with warmer temperatures and dry weather on Friday, April 22.
Opening Night was kicked off by honoring the 2021 Lernerville Speedway Track Champions for each of the Fab4 divisions including the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars Champion A.J. Flick, Precise Racing Products Late Models Champion Colton Flinner, and the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds Champion Jeremiah Shingledecker. The 2021 Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks Champion, Corey McPherson, who retired after the 2021 season was not in attendance.
The first feature event of the 2022 season was the Peoples Sprints as Michael Bauer and Darin Gallagher led the field to the green flag with Bauer gaining the early advantage with third starting Jack Sodeman, Jr. slipping by Gallagher for second. Bauer was able to create some distance between himself and the rest of the field and by lap seven found himself in lapped traffic while Gallagher began to pressure Sodeman, Jr. for second. By lap 10, Gallagher made the move to get by Sodeman, Jr. for second as ninth starting A.J. Flick cracked the top five. By lap 14, Flick made his way around Sodeman, Jr. for third and quickly began to reel in Gallagher for second. Flick powered his way past Gallagher for second on lap 18 and set his sights on the race leader. Flick wasted no time to catch Bauer as the leader was running a smooth line on the bottom of the speedway while Flick hammered the top side. By lap 20, Flick had cut the lead from a straightaway to under a second and by lap 23 made his bid for the lead as Bauer switched to the top side in turns one and two leaving the bottom open for the 2021 Champion. Flick got the run on the bottom of turn two and blaster past the race long leader. After a quick lap 24 caution, all Flick had to do was hit marks the final two circuits to claim his first Lernerville win of the 2022 season and an additional $500 in bonus money in memory of Dave Hartman, courtesy of ‘Fast Andy’ from the Corrado race team. Gallagher came home second with Carl Bowser finishing third followed by Sodeman, Jr. in fourth and Brandon Spithaler rounding out the top five.
‘I can start feeling tears coming out of (turn) four,’ A.J. said in an emotional Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane. ‘Dave (Hartman) is one of my best friends and I’m going to miss him more than anything and for ‘Fast Andy’ to put this extra money up for Dave, his brother Dan, Cody, Ryan and the grandchildren and Deb…I love you guys to pieces.’ Flick continued, ‘Five-Hundred is Five-Hundred, but the meaning meant more than anything.’
Next to hit the track was the Precise Late Models for their feature event as John Garvin. and Alex Ferree bringing the field to the start with Ferree gaining the advantage out of turn four on lap one. Ferree comfortably paced the field for the first eight laps until the events first caution flew for Joshua Powell who spun in turn four. On the ensuing restart, the action picked up as Ferree, Garvin, and Michael Norris battled three-wide for the lead with Ferree edging ahead. On lap 10, another three-wide battle for the lead brewed as Ferree, Garvin, and seventh starting Jared Miley fought for the top spot. Ferree again held off the challenges while Miley fell into the second spot ahead of Garvin. The next circuit found Miley, Garvin, and Norris now three-wide for the second spot with Miley gaining the advantage with Norris and Garvin in tow. Norris then got by Miley for second on lap 12 then positioned himself for a run at the leader as he and Ferree went side-by-side for the lead through lap 14 when Ferree was able to clear Norris before the caution was shown again for a spun car in turn four. Ferree chose the bottom line on the restart which opened the door for Norris to overtake the race long leader on lap 18. The caution slowed the pace again on lap 21 but not before Miley made the pass on Ferree for the second spot setting up a four-lap dash to the finish. As the race resumed, Norris and Miley dashed into turn one with Norris going under Miley for a clean slide-job in which Miley was able to cross back under Norris down the backstretch and take the lead and hold on for his first win of the new season. Norris finished second with Garvin in third, Ferree in fourth, and Matt Lux in fifth.
‘It definitely felt like a good race sitting in the car,’ Miley said in victory lane after his 36th career Lernerville Speedway win. ‘The restarts helped make it exciting. Mike (Norris) probably had it if it wasn’t for that last caution, but I’ll never give up and I gave it everything it had and it worked out for us there. It was a good clean race with us and hopefully it was exciting for the fans.’
Eric Gabany and Mat Williamson led the Diehl Big Block Modifieds to the green flag for their first A-Main of the season with four-time Champion Williamson dominating the 25-lap feature for his 31st career win at Lernerville. Three-time and defending Champion, Jeremiah Shingledecker used a late race restart to propel himself in the runner-up position when the checkers fell with Brad Rapp, Rex King, Jr., and Garrett Krummert completing the top-five finishers.
‘I love coming down here, the people are great, the fans are great, the competitors are great, I miss this place,’ Williamson stated in victory lane. ‘I wish it was two hours closer to home (St. Catherines, Ontario), it’s a long drive down here but it’s worth it to come down here and see these awesome fans.’
Tyler Dietz took command on lap 2 of the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock feature and led the rest of the way to open the 2022 season with a win, his 17th career win at ‘The Action Track’ Todd Weldon followed in second with Michael Bordt in third with Chris Schneider in fourth and Larry Kugel rounding out the top-five.
‘I was coming here hoping to be competitive and win but this is a completely new car that we took all winter to build,’ Dietz said while in victory lane. ‘If it wasn’t for all these guys here (crew), it would have never gotten done. I got sick with Covid, and it put me down for about a month and a half and those guys jumped in or this would have never got done. In hot laps I knew we had something that was close and in the heat race I thought we had a chance, then I seen we drew the pole and with this kind of racetrack, the car didn’t even need to be that good, those guys were going to have to wreck me to get by me for the lead.’
Peoples Natural Gas DIRTcar 410 Sprint Results:
Ferguson Heating and Air Conditioning Heat 1: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 2-AJ Flick[1]; 2. 12-Darin Gallagher[3]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler[6]; 4. 08-Danny Kuriger[4]; 5. 42-Sye Lynch[7]; 6. 11J-David Kalb[8]; 7. 11M-Nathen McDowell[9]; 8. 76-Davey Jones[5]; 9. 55*-Matt Sherlock[2]
Glassmere Fuel Service Heat 2: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 13-Brandon Matus[2]; 2. 11-Carl Bowser[1]; 3. 46-Michael Bauer[5]; 4. 20B-Cody Bova[6]; 5. 29-Logan McCandless[4]; 6. 35W-Jeremy Weaver[3]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[8]; 8. 7NY-Matt Farnham[7]
Steighner Crane Services Heat 3: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[2]; 2. 33-Brent Matus[1]; 3. 6-Bob Felmlee[4]; 4. 44-Pete Landrum[3]; 5. 38-Leyton Wagner[7]; 6. 22R-Ryan Fredericks[5]; 7. 13B-Steve Bright[6]; 8. 4K-William Kiley[8]
Tomson Scrap Metal B-Main: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 11J-David Kalb[1]; 2. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[5]; 3. 35W-Jeremy Weaver[2]; 4. 22R-Ryan Fredericks[3]; 5. 13B-Steve Bright[6]; 6. 7NY-Matt Farnham[8]; 7. 11M-Nathen McDowell[4]; 8. 55*-Matt Sherlock[10]; 9. 76-Davey Jones[7]; 10. 4K-William Kiley[9]
Peoples Natural Gas Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 2-AJ Flick[9]; 2. 12-Darin Gallagher[2]; 3. 11-Carl Bowser[4]; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[3]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler[7]; 6. 08-Danny Kuriger[10]; 7. 46-Michael Bauer[1]; 8. 42-Sye Lynch[13]; 9. 33-Brent Matus[5]; 10. 13-Brandon Matus[6]; 11. 20B-Cody Bova[11]; 12. 11J-David Kalb[16]; 13. 29-Logan McCandless[14]; 14. 6-Bob Felmlee[8]; 15. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[17]; 16. 35W-Jeremy Weaver[18]; 17. 38-Leyton Wagner[15]; 18. 44-Pete Landrum[12]; 19. 13B-Steve Bright[20]; 20. 22R-Ryan Fredericks[19]
Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models Results:
1Cochran Heat 1: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 2. 1C-Alex Ferree[3]; 3. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[6]; 4. 10L-Gary Lyle[2]; 5. 9-Levi Yetter[5]; 6. W3-John Weaver[8]; 7. 11-Joshua Powell[4]; 8. 81-Mike Miller[7]
GetPhil.com Heat 2: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 72-Michael Norris[6]; 2. J4-John Garvin[7]; 3. 10-Jared Miley[8]; 4. 21-Matt Lux[5]; 5. 48-Colten Flinner[4]; 6. 91-Tommy Beck[2]; 7. 14R-Clay Ruffo[3]; 8. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[1]
Precise Racing Products Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 10-Jared Miley[7]; 2. 72-Michael Norris[10]; 3. J4-John Garvin[1]; 4. 1C-Alex Ferree[2]; 5. 21-Matt Lux[6]; 6. 48-Colten Flinner[9]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[8]; 8. 10L-Gary Lyle[4]; 9. 9-Levi Yetter[3]; 10. 14R-Clay Ruffo[14]; 11. 91-Tommy Beck[12]; 12. 3RK-Daryl Charlier[5]; 13. 11-Joshua Powell[13]; 14. 81-Mike Miller[15]; 15. W3-John Weaver[11]; 16. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[16]
Diehl Automotive DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds Results:
McCutcheon Enterprises Heat 1: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 11R-Brad Rapp[2]; 2. 61-Dave Murdick[5]; 3. 18-Colton Walters[6]; 4. 4-Greg Martin[4]; 5. 20P-Mike Kinney[3]; 6. 35-Steve Slater[1]; 7. 03-Mark Frankhouser[7]
Thermo Twin Windows Heat 2: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 165-Rex King Jr[1]; 2. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 3. C3-Chas Wolbert[4]; 4. 83-Brian Swartzlander[5]; 5. 29-Garrett Krummert[6]; 6. 64-Rodney Beltz[2]; 7. 22-Kevin Long[3]
Thrower Concrete Heat 3: 1. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[3]; 2. 18E-Eric Gabany[2]; 3. 18M-JR McGinley[4]; 4. 4J-John Mollick[6]; 5. 96-Rick Regalski[5]; 6. 88-Shawn Fleeger[1]; 7. 51-Clyde Gumpp[7]
Diehl Automotive Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 6-Mat Williamson[2]; 2. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[5]; 3. 11R-Brad Rapp[7]; 4. 165-Rex King Jr[8]; 5. 29-Garrett Krummert[14]; 6. 83-Brian Swartzlander[11]; 7. 18-Colton Walters[4]; 8. 20P-Mike Kinney[13]; 9. 18E-Eric Gabany[1]; 10. 61-Dave Murdick[6]; 11. 18M-JR McGinley[3]; 12. C3-Chas Wolbert[9]; 13. 96-Rick Regalski[15]; 14. 35-Steve Slater[16]; 15. 88-Shawn Fleeger[18]; 16. 22-Kevin Long[20]; 17. 03-Mark Frankhouser[19]; 18. 64-Rodney Beltz[17]; 19. 51-Clyde Gumpp[21]; 20. 4J-John Mollick[12]; 21. 4-Greg Martin[10]
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Penn/Ohio Pro Stocks Results:
Hovis Auto and Truck Supply Heat 1: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 0-Larry Kugel[1]; 2. 00-Tyler Dietz[3]; 3. 73-Brian Daugherty[4]; 4. 55S-Chris Schneider[5]; 5. 22-Chase Lambert[7]; 6. 25-Brett McDonald[6]; 7. 26-Mike Bordt[8]; 8. 55-Brandon Connor[9]; 9. 4-Brett Hutira[10]; 10. 87-Jacob Weyer[11]; 11. J19-Jason Fosnaught[2]
McCann & Chester Heat 2: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 45-Todd Weldon[6]; 2. 948-Joey Zambotti III[3]; 3. 77H-Heath Close[2]; 4. 10-Nick Kocuba[1]; 5. 1K-Cody Koteles[7]; 6. 81-Mike Miller[4]; 7. 310-Dale Tuche[9]; 8. 99T-Theo Baumgartner[10]; 9. 39B-Josh Blum[8]; 10. (DNS) 27-Jacob Dietz
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 00-Tyler Dietz[1]; 2. 45-Todd Weldon[5]; 3. 26-Mike Bordt[13]; 4. 55S-Chris Schneider[9]; 5. 0-Larry Kugel[8]; 6. 25-Brett McDonald[11]; 7. J19-Jason Fosnaught[20]; 8. 948-Joey Zambotti III[7]; 9. 77H-Heath Close[10]; 10. 4-Brett Hutira[17]; 11. 81-Mike Miller[12]; 12. 310-Dale Tuche[14]; 13. 1K-Cody Koteles[3]; 14. 22-Chase Lambert[6]; 15. 39B-Josh Blum[18]; 16. 73-Brian Daugherty[2]; 17. 10-Nick Kocuba[4]; 18. 55-Brandon Connor[15]; 19. 87-Jacob Weyer[19]; 20. (DNS) 27-Jacob Dietz; 21. (DNS) 99T-Theo Baumgartner
Up next at ‘The Action Track’ will be the Tezos All Start Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars presented by Mobil 1 on Friday, April 29. Joining the All Stars will be the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks as well as the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds.
For more information on Lernerville Speedway. please visit www.Lernerville.com. For more information on the Tezos All Start Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars presented by Mobil 1, please visit www.allstarsprint.com. For more information on the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, please visit www.rushsportsmanmods.com.