6/28/2025
Lernerville Speedway
Norris, Thomas and Bowser Notch Wins on #1 Cochran Fan Appreciation Night
Jason Brown Photo
Sarver, PA (June 28, 2025) Mother Nature tried her best once again to wipe away yet another night of racing at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night. A twenty minute downpour followed by another twenty minutes of light rain, shortly after the opening of gates put the slate of events in doubt as #1 Cochran Fan Appreciation Night with Fireworks was getting set to take to The Action Track. However, a determined track ownership and staff quickly went to work to salvage as much of the night as they could, yielding a heavy but racy surface that was also as smooth as possible considering how much moisture was in the air and the clay.
Cars took the track at around 8:20 pm on Friday night and fans were treated to three of a possible four completed features plus the fireworks show as the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars, Glassmere Fuel Service Late Models and Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds were able to complete their respective programs for the night. The Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock main event did suffer from another bout of rain showers that popped up later in the night and has been postponed with a makeup date to be determined. It was a small victory in a 2025 season that has been besieged by precipitation for the majority of scheduled race nights thus far.
Norris Tops Glassmere Lates
With a heavier than normal surface to deal with, to earn a feature win with a 9th starting spot seemed a daunting task indeed. Such was the case for Michael Norris who was actually scheduled to start 10 on the grid but caught a break when Alex Ferree scratched for the night prior to staging. Tyler Dietz and Colton Flinner started on the front row of the 25 lap main event and from the drop of the green flag Dietz, Flinner and Levi Yetter immediately broke away from the pack. Dietz originally emerged as the early leader, withstanding a Flinner slide job in turn four in the process on the opening lap. The yellow flag waved with two laps down as John Garvin found himself sideways at the entry of turn four and when action resumed, Flinner made his way around Dietz to take the lead down the backstretch as Norris made his way to the third spot, but was eclipsed by a hard running Levi Yetter less than a lap later.
With the top four cars gaining daylight on the rest of the field, all progress was halted once again with seven laps in the books for a stopped Matt Tifft. On the ensuing restart, Flinner elected to start on the bottom side of the speedway and won the drag race to turn two, sliding up just enough to slow Dietz's progress on the top side of turn two while underneath them both was Norris who managed to win the race to turn three and cement the lead coming out of turn four. Yetter then went to work underneath Dietz for the third spot as the two cars battled for a series of laps as Dietz held the position for the meantime when the yellow flag waved once again for a Gary Lyle spin in turn two with 11 laps down. Norris elected the inside on the restart, won the drag race to turn one and carried the momentum through turn two to keep the lead as behind him, Yetter slid in front of Flinner to take the second spot while Logan Zarin managed to take the fourth spot as Dietz suffered mechanical gremlins causing him to fade back to seventh.
Meanwhile, out front Norris was alone and comfortable at the top of the speedway seemingly gaining more separation from his pursuers with every lap, accumulating a 2.5 second advantage with not much in the way of lapped track to maneuver around. Behind him, Yetter and Flinner were running nose to tail in a tight battle for the second spot when with two laps to go, Flinner attempted a slide job between a lapped car and Yetter in a final attempt to take the spot. The attempted pass revealed a puff of smoke coming from underneath Flinner's machine as he limped to the finish with Yetter and Zarin rounding out the podium behind Norris.
Glassmere Fuel Feature Finish: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 72-Michael Norris[10]; 2. 9-Levi Yetter[4]; 3. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]; 4. 29-Ken Schaltenbrand[7]; 5. 48-Colton Flinner[2]; 6. 57-Matt Tifft[8]; 7. 77-Tyler Dietz[1]; 8. 55-Chris Schneider[5]; 9. 10L-Gary Lyle[12]; 10. 15-Kodie Checketts[11]; 11. (DNF) J4-John Garvin Jr[9]; 12. (DNS) 1C-Alex Ferree
Thomas Collects Diehl Big Block Modified Win
Will Thomas had graced Terry Bowser Excavating Victory Lane before in his Late Model days back in 2020, but had never emerged as a winner in his Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified career, until Friday night. Thomas started on the front row alongside polesitter Kyle Fink at the top of the 19 car field on hand. It was a field that did not include Bristolville, Ohio pilot and three time track champion Rex King Jr. who had a pill drawn at the outset of the night but had failed to show for the night of racing, potentially helping to open the door for a new winner. However, Thomas earned the win with a near flawless performance and a stout field of pursuers ready to take advantage of any slips on the surface.
When the green flag dropped, Thomas emerged with a slight lead over Fink and Dave Murdick as all eyes went to the emerging battle between two time and defending champion Garrett Krummert and eight time champion Brian Swartzlander for the sixth spot. Meanwhile, behind Murdick running third, another battle was brewing between Jeremiah Shingledecker and promising young pilot Ayden Cipriano running third and fourth respectively. Shingledecker made his way around Murdick for the third spot in the early going while Cipriano began taking looks under Murdick for the fourth spot and was able to claim the position before the halfway point as Shingledecker began to close in on Fink. Meanwhile, out front Thomas had stacked a two second advantage between himself and the field as lapped traffic began to become a factor. Swartzlander then began to stalk and battle Murdick for the fifth spot which he collected on lap 12. Thomas put four lapped cars between himself and Fink at the halfway point and hit his marks with consistency, putting the car in all three grooves when needed. With 13 laps in the books, the caution waved for a stopped Karley Miller, giving the front runners one final chance to try to make their bid for the lead. Thomas elected to restart on the outside and when action resumed, Fink looked to have the advantage heading into turn one while coming out of turn two, a three car dead heat emerged with Thomas on the outside, Fink in the middle and Shingledecker on the bottom. Shingledecker appeared to have the lead coming out of turn three into turn four however a caution involving Travis Shingledecker and Garrett Krummert in turn two negated Shingledecker's pass.
Thomas then switched up and used the inside line on the restart and gauged it perfectly, launching into an undisputed lead coming out of turn two while Shingledecker made his way under Fink for the second spot. Fink, who had hung tough all race long appeared to suffer a flat front tire and faded a bit in the second half while out front, Thomas was forced to play defense as a hard charging Shingledecker was taking looks for the lead. However, Thomas was the man on a mission and was able to hold off the charge as Swartzlander gave up the third spot, retiring off the back stretch while keeping the action green on the track. Thomas stayed smooth and fast the rest of the way in collecting the victory with Shingledecker and Cipriano taking up positions two and three.
Diehl Automotive Feature: (Finish-Name-[Start]) 1. 9-Will Thomas[2]; 2. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[7]; 3. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[5]; 4. 17M-Kyle Fink[1]; 5. 29-Garrett Krummert[8]; 6. 61-Dave Murdick[3]; 7. 5A-Austin Eyler[10]; 8. B4-Brayden Beatty[11]; 9. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[4]; 10. 35-Steve Slater[15]; 11. 73MD-Travis Shingledecker[9]; 12. 8M-Macey Adamik[16]; 13. 64-Rodney Beltz[12]; 14. 7-Noah Wirginis[14]; 15. (DNF) 6S-Brian Swartzlander[6]; 16. (DNF) 56M-Jacob McElravy[17]; 17. (DNF) 26-Karley Miller[20]; 18. (DNS) 005-Braden Eyler; 19. (DNS) 10-Darin Gallagher; 20. (DNS) 165-Rex King Jr; 21. (DNS) 72-Jim Kurpakus
Bowser Wins Rain Shortened Peoples Sprint Car Feature
Carl Bowser lined up alongside front row mate Jeremy Weaver at the start of the 25 lap main event and were very soon halted as behind them, Dan Kuriger went up and over off the top of turn two following a spin by Rayce Jacobs that left fourth starting Derek Hauck nowhere to go, bringing out the red flag with no laps in the books. When action resumed, Weaver took the advantage coming out of turn one with the lead and kept it through to the line to take early command of the field. Bowser kept close behind as the laps clicked off while defending track champion AJ Flick began to make his presence felt, passing Carmen Perigo Jr. for the third spot in the early going. Bowser then pulled off a slide job for the lead coming through turn two with five laps down while Weaver crossed under in turns three and four taking the lead back at the stripe. However, Bowser wound up momentum at the top of turns one and two, making his way around for good on the next lap and ever relinquished it again,
Flick made his way under Weaver coming through turn four with eight laps down to take the second spot and set his sights on the leader. Bowser was able to eclipse the lapped car of Carmen Perigo Jr. and was in completely clean air with a sizable lead when Hauck spun in turn two, bringing out the caution. With sprinkles appearing during the caution period that developed into a slight rain as the safety crew was assisting Hauck, track officials made the decision to throw the checkered flag as Bowser was credited with the win while Flick and Weaver rounding out the podium.
Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car Feature: (Finish-Name-Start) 1. 11-Carl Bowser[1]; 2. 2-AJ Flick[10]; 3. 5-Jeremy Weaver[2]; 4. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[9]; 5. 33-Derek Hauck[4]; 6. 21-Carmen Perigo Jr[5]; 7. M4-Louie Mattes[7]; 8. (DNF) 4K-Bill Kiley[8]; 9. (DNF) 08-Danny Kuriger[6]; 10. (DNF) 81-Rayce Jacobs[3]
Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock Feature Succumbs to Rain
The rain showers that shortened the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car main event persisted and with more showers on the radar approaching, track officials made the decision to postpone the Millerstown Pic-A-Part main event to another race night which will be announced soon. Stay tuned to our social media pages on Facebook and X (formerly twitter) and our website at Lernerville.com for more information.
Submitted By: Gary Heeman