Kid’s Uniform Night and Fireworks at Raceway 7 this Friday!

By Jay Pees

Conneaut, OH, (June 4, 2013): With Mother Nature halting last week’s racing before it started the first-ever appearance by the Patriot Sprint Tour at Raceway 7 has been cancelled for 2013. This coming Friday night will be a regular five-star racing program at Northeast Ohio’s premier speedplant. Kids in uniform, scouts or any organized sporting team, will be admitted free. The evening will be capped of by a giant fireworks display.

The Evergreen Lake Park Campground FASTRAK Late Models had their first repeat winner last race in the person of young Chad Wright, who came from eighth on the starting grid to the lead by the halfway point. Wright won his heat each of the past two race nights as well and holds a 27-point edge in the standings as a result. The opening night winner, Dennis Lunger, the 2009 season champion, holds down second in the standings with 31-point edge over Jamie Brown, looking for his first-ever feature win but showing signs of improvement every week.

Jamestown, NY’s Greg Johnson made his first visit of the season to Raceway 7 last race and made it a profitable one by getting his first-ever feature win at the track. Meadville, PA’s Mike Potosky, with no wins yet this season, leads the standings with 2009 track champion Percy McDonald currently riding second in the standings, only two points back. Lurking a mere fifteen points behind McDonald is 2013 champion Joel Watson.

With consistent top ten feature finishes and a pair of heat race wins, former Stock car competitor Russ Kapalin leads the McDonald’s Meats Economods points chase by 12 points over Jace Ferringer. Both drivers are looking for their first-ever Raceway 7 feature wins. Another 18-markers behind Ferringer is 14-year old Casey Bowers, who won his first of the year at Raceway 7 last week. Bowers, a Cranesville, PA native, was the 2012 Cavalcade of Racing Rookie of the year and collected one feature win last summer, the youngest driver to do so in the history of Raceway 7, at 13 years of age. Bowers, now fourteen and still the youngest driver in the class, holds a 2-point edge over Chuck Steinle Sr, the oldest driver in the class.

The Western Reserve Animal Clinic Street Stocks had a paucity of cars last race, likely due to the bitter cold, but a more complete field is expected this week as the weather appears to be much better at this time with high temperatures forecasted to be more conducive to fans, as of this writing. Former class champion Ed Bolyard is the points leader, gaining his first win of the season three weeks ago. Bolyard has a 27-point lead over Chris Withers, last week’s feature winner. Third is former champion Rusty Wheeler. 36 points behind Withers. Wheeler’s best run of the season thus far was two weeks ago, a second.

2012 Specialty Products Mini Stock champion Bud Sergeff won opening night but has not had a great season since then, falling out of the last two week’s racing (slamming the wall two weeks ago!) and falling to fifth in the standings. The leader at this point is Brad Cole, who won his first of the season last race, also winning his heat race. Cole leads Dylan Goodman (no wins…yet) by nine points while Goodman has the thinnest of margins, one point, over second week winner Jason Easler. Rookie contender Dale Fraschetti currently is fourth, nine points behind Easler.

Weather permitting, gates open every Friday at 5:30 PM with pill draw cut off at 7 PM and racing at 7:30 PM. VIP suites are available for rental for $250 a night which includes eight general admissions passes. Admission is set for $10 for adults for regular events, kids 7-14 are $5. Children 6 and under are free. Pit passes are $25. For more information please visit www.raceway7.com or call the track on race day after 12 noon at 440-594-2222. The remaining 2013 schedule is below.