8/17/2025
Lernerville Speedway
Four Winners-Four Champions; Track Titlists All Take Feature Wins on Championship Night
Sarver, PA (August 16, 2025) Fab4 Racing Revved UP with Marburger Farm Dairy closed out the regular season with the annual Championship Night on Friday with sunny skies as the division titles were sorted out. And, in a unique way, they were sorted out with exclamation points in all four divisions as all four champions also claimed feature wins in a rare double sweep final night. There was no safe and cautious points racing to be found as AJ Flick, Michael Norris, Garrett Krummert and Cody Koteles all rose to the occasion to complete their seasons with resounding feature wins and titles.
Flick Earns Hard Fought win and Ninth Title in Peoples Sprints
According to nine time champion AJ Flick’s post race comments, Lernerville had not been his best track in 2025. Beleaguered by a temperamental engine that hadn’t been 100 percent all year had made wins a bit more challenging to come by. However, his goal was to produce more wins, a solid note to end the year on, and on Friday night his goal was achieved along with yet another track title. One that places him in rarefied air is so to speak, on the all time track champions list.
Flick started fifth on the starting grid with veteran pilot Dan Shetler starting on the pole and Flick’s closest standings pursuer, Carl Bowser starting alongside on the front row and when the green flag emerged, third starting John Jerich emerged as the early leader ahead of Shetler and Bowser as last Friday’s winner, Ryan Newton and Flick battled for the fifth spot when Jacob Begenwald brought out the caution with one lap in the books. Jerich maintained the lead with a good restart while Bowser took over the second spot and Flick made his way around Shetler for third in the early going.
Bowser made his way around Jerich in turn four for the lead and Flick made his way around for second just a lap later while Newton eclipsed Shetler and then fourth running Dan Kuriger to make his presence felt in the front of the field with five laps down. Flick then took the lead from Bowser coming out of turn four with nine laps while Newton made his way past a determined Jerich for third at virtually the same time, setting his sights on the leaders who were starting to hit lapped traffic. Newton pushed the pace and looked to be in a position to take yet another feature win as he made his way past Bowser, then went to the high side of the speedway to make up ground on Flick out front. Newton then moved to the bottom at the halfway mark and squeezed himself ahead of the leader coming out of turn two on lap 14, Newton kept on the high side to move around lappers with Flick keeping him within his sights. Flick then moved low on the backstretch with seven laps to go and Newton up high trying to get around Begenwald. Flick cut to the bottom of turn three while Newton moved lower as the two cars almost made contact. Newton kept the lead for one more lap when Flick then switched up to the top side coming out of turn four and put himself in the lead with four laps to go. Flick then cruised to the win, threading lapped traffic in the process, while Newton and Bowser closed out the podium, and Begenwald finished a determined effort coming from the back of the field following his caution, to finish fourth.
Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car Feature: (Finish-Name-Start) 1. 2-AJ Flick[5]; 2. 66-Ryan Newton[8]; 3. 08-Danny Kuriger[4]; 4. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[13]; 5. 11-Carl Bowser[2]; 6. 3-John Jerich[3]; 7. 79W-Will Fleming[9]; 8. 16-Jim Morris[7]; 9. 4J-John Mollick[10]; 10. 7K-Dan Shetler[1]; 11. 56N-Nash Gierke[6]; 12. 44-Pete Landram[11]; 13. 76-Davey Jones[15]; 14. M4-Louie Mattes[12]; 15. 4K-Bill Kiley[14]; 16. (DNS) 65-Fred Reisker
Norris Claims Fifth Title in Solid Feature Win
With two wins and five podium finishes in five races, Michael Norris’s path to a fifth career track title appeared to be fairly easy. Yet, he still held a slim, six point lead over 2021 champion Colton Flinner heading in to Friday night’s racing, meaning Norris would have to not simply cruise around the speedway and avoid disaster to claim the title, he would have to come up with a huge effort in both his heat and main event. Norris completed his heat with a win and as the field made its way to the track, he carried an eight point lead over both Flinner and also former two time champion Ken Schaltenbrand after preliminary action.
Logan Zarin started on the pole of the 25 lap main event alongside Levi Yetter while Norris stated fifth and Flinner took off from the eighth starting spot and when action got underway, Zarin bolted to the lead in the first set of turns, only to be passed by Schaltenbrand working the bottom coming onto the backstretch. Behind him, Zarin tucked in and held the second spot with Norris moving up to third followed by Alex Ferree and Yetter. Norris wasted no time taking the second spot from Zarin, using the top side of the speedway with three laps in the books while Schaltenbrand began stacking car lengths between him and the chase pack.
All progress came to a halt when Ethan Thompson slowed to bring out the caution with four laps down as Schaltend elected to restart on the inside and when action resumed, Norris rode the top side with precision and purpose, turning his car into a slingshot of momentum as he made his way around Schaltenbrand to the lead with five laps down. Meanwhile, Flinner was trying to make forward progress, passing Yetter for fourth and then making his way around Flinner for third with eight laps in the books.
Out front, it was all Norris as he started pulling away from Schaltenbrand, accumulating a near straightaway advantage as he began moving around his first batch of lapped traffic at the halfway mark. Flinner then became engaged in a battle with Zarin for the third spot, scrubbing away any chance of catching the leaders while Zarin took the spot away on lap 13. Making his way through the field from his ninth starting spot was Tyler Wyant who came to life in the second half of the race passing Flinner for fourth and then Zarin for third with seven laps remaining.
Meanwhile, Norris was truly unbeatable in the lead as he turned in a true champions performance, leaving no doubt as to who the most dominant driver in the Glassmere Fuel Service Late Models was, taking his third win out of six races and his fifth track title. Schaltenbrand completed a strong season with a second place finish in both the race and the standings while Wyant rounded out the podium with a strong finish.
Glassmere Fuel Service Late Model Feature Finish: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 72-Michael Norris[5]; 2. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[3]; 3. 24-Tyler Wyant[9]; 4. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 5. 77-Tyler Dietz[6]; 6. 1C-Alex Ferree[4]; 7. 48-Colton Flinner[8]; 8. 5L-Jon Lee[11]; 9. J4-John Garvin Jr[7]; 10. 9-Levi Yetter[2]; 11. 55-Chris Schneider[12]; 12. 10L-Gary Lyle[13]; 13. W3-John Weaver[10]; 14. 22-Ethan Thompson[16]; 15. (DNF) 15-Kodie Checketts[14]; 16. (DNF) 00J-Jacob Dietz[15]; 17. (DNS) 6-Matt Martin; 18. (DNS) 10C-Ryan Christoff; 19. (DNS) 85-Will Britsky
Krummert Takes Second Feature Win and Third Title
Achieving back to back titles in the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds is a difficult task and has been only accomplished on four previous occasions since 1994. On Friday night, Garrett Krummert added his name to the small circle of drivers that includes Brian Swartzlander, Jeremiah Shingledecker and Mat Williamson by continuing the trend of taking both the feature win and track title.
In ironic fashion, Krummert started fifth on the grid as Flick and Norris had previously done, and had his work cut out for him with his closest pursuer Dave Murdick starting on the pole alongside Swartzlander, while Super DIRTcar Series invader Erick Rudolph also made the decision to stop by and started seventh, making for a very tough field at the front of the 25 lap main event. Murdick led the opening lap by less than a tenth of a second over Swartzlander as action unfolded and then Swartzlander took the lead right back less than a lap later while Rudolph made his way around Murdick in turns one and two for the second spot. Behind them, Murdick, Will Thomas and Krummert were sorting themselves out in the early going while Rudolph began taking looks under Swartzlander for the lead with four laps down.
Swartzlander began negotiating lapped traffic with 10 laps in the books as Rudolph followed through and stayed close to the leader’s bumper. Meanwhile, Krummert had taken fourth from Thomas and moved under Murdick for the third spot at the halfway mark as just a moment later, Rudolph moved through the lappers cleanly while Swartzlander lost some momentum on the top of turn four, allowing Rudolph just enough daylight to make the pass for the lead with 12 laps remaining. Krummert then moved to the top and found it to his liking, making his way around two lapped cars and trapping Swartzlander on the bottom as he found his way to second place and set his sights on Rudolph out front with nine laps to go. Rudolph held a near straightaway lead over Krummert and was clearly the fastest car on the track, however the yellow flag emerged as Jim Kurpakas found himself stopped on the bottom of the turn two exit with 17 laps down. Rudolph elected to restart on the bottom and when action resumed, Rudolph maintained his head, and drifted towards the top of the backstretch when Krummert moved down low heading into turn three. Rudolph took the car to the bottom to protect as Krummert then made contact driving into the side of and spinning Rudolph in turn four to bring out the caution. Race officials determined the contact incidental and placed Rudolph at the tail end of the lead lap, erasing his chance for a win with just seven laps left.
Krummert then proceeded to hit his marks the rest of the way en route to the win with Swartzlander and Rex King Jr. following in the second and third spots respectively.
Diehl Automotive Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 29-Garrett Krummert[5]; 2. 6S-Brian Swartzlander[2]; 3. 165-Rex King Jr[9]; 4. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[10]; 5. 61-Dave Murdick[1]; 6. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[8]; 7. 25-Erick Rudolph[3]; 8. 9M-Cameron Miller[6]; 9. 10-Darin Gallagher[13]; 10. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[11]; 11. B4-Brayden Beatty[7]; 12. 7-Noah Wirginis[19]; 13. 5A-Austin Eyler[18]; 14. 6-Kevin Long[15]; 15. 8M-Macey Adamik[17]; 16. 26-Karley Miller[22]; 17. (DNF) 9-Will Thomas[4]; 18. (DNF) 72-Jim Kurpakus[12]; 19. (DNS) 35-Steve Slater; 20. (DNS) 73MD-Travis Shingledecker; 21. (DNS) 14S-Justin Shea; 22. (DNS) 56M-Jacob McElravy
Koteles Wins Thrilling Pro Stock Main en route to First Career Lernerville Title
Cody Koteles has been consistently the best car week in and week out in Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock action thus far in 2025 and found himself with a solid double digit points lead heading into the final feature of the season, but to keep the feature winner/season champion streak alive on Championship Night, he had to work very hard indeed to find his way to Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane.
Koteles started on the pole alongside Jason Fosnaught, driving the #25 normally driven by Brett McDonald. Following two botched attempts at a successful start to the race, action finally got underway for good as Koteles got out to the early lead with Brett Hutira, Fosnaught and Chase Lambert all battling for the runner up spot. Hutira then found his way to the front of the battle for second, setting his sights on Koteles out front. Behind the leaders, Fosnaught and Lambert then set out on an impressive door to door battle until Lambert bobbled in turn tour with four laps down as Jacob Dietz, Corey McPherson and both Tyler and Chris Schneider closed in.
Meanwhile, out front, Koteles had gained some separation from Hutria as the halfway mark approached with lapped traffic ahead. Koteles made his way through the lappers but Hutira closed the gap quickly and took looks underneath the leader and even pulled off a slide job that resulted in a near dead heat and the flag stand with five laps to go. Hutira pulled ahead slightly just one lap later, running the top side of the speedway as the two drivers swapped the lead in an entertaining battle until Koteles found enough momentum to get back out in front with three laps to go. Hutira kept pressing Koteles up front but ran out of laps as Koteles crossed first under the checkers to complete the sweep for title winning feature winners intact.
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 1K-Cody Koteles[1]; 2. 4-Brett Hutira[4]; 3. C33-Corey McPherson[7]; 4. 55S-Chris Schneider[10]; 5. 25-Jason Fosnaught[2]; 6. 27-Jacob Dietz[9]; 7. 155-Tyler Schneider[5]; 8. 64-Logan Koteles[21]; 9. 20J-Chase Lambert[3]; 10. 0-Larry Kugel[8]; 11. 81-Mike Miller[12]; 12. 26-Mike Bordt[19]; 13. 57-John Hartman[11]; 14. 28-Dalton Gabriel[13]; 15. 17G-Nate Gebauer[16]; 16. (DNF) 948-Joey Zambotti III[6]; 17. (DNF) 8C-Brandon Doland[20]; 18. (DNF) 152-Bill Swaney[14]; 19. (DNF) 7A-Tom Robertson[18]; 20. (DNS) 2K-Jonathan Koteles; 21. (DNS) 19T-Troy Norman
Submitted By: Gary Heeman