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Langdon reaches semifinals at Seattle
Jul 13th
SEATTLE (July 11) – Shawn Langdon and the Lucas Oil/Speedco Top Fuel dragster reached the semifinals of an NHRA Full Throttle Series event for the second time this season on Sunday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.
Ever the competitor, Langdon was left wanting more because in the semifinals against eventual race winner Cory McClenathan his car’s engine developed a problem just after the green light while McClenathan had less than a stellar run (4.153 seconds at 256.80 mph).
“We keep getting closer, but these gremlins keep biting us,” Langdon said. “Something broke. We’re looking at it right now. We banged the burst panels out of it as soon as it hit the throttle.
“It was unfortunate because Cory was there for the taking – he smoked the tires and I had him by .05 on the tree. Who knows what would have happened had we made it down.”
In the previous two rounds, the Lucas Oil rail performed flawlessly and Langdon won both his races.
In the first round, he squared off against Terry McMillen and rocketed to a 3.961 second pass at 305.49 mph. McMillen lurched across the line in a tire-smoking 5.492 seconds at 120.53 mph. In the second round, Langdon sent winner of three of the previous four races, Larry Dixon, home early. Langdon enjoyed a .014 second advantage at the start and crossed in 3.892 seconds at 306.60 mph. Dixon was hot on Langdon’s heels with a 3.897 second run at 312.96 mph.
“It was a good way to start off the Western Swing,” Langdon said. “We didn’t go many rounds in the Swing last year, for us it’s a step in the right direction. It’s a positive note going into The Countdown.”
Langdon added he was shocked and saddened by the death of Top Alcohol Dragster driver Mark Niver. Niver died Sunday following a crash during eliminations.
“Mark was a fantastic guy,” Langdon said. “Several of the guys on my crew were very close to him. Everyone on the team sends out their thoughts and prayers to all of the Niver family.”
In Pro Stock, driver of the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang, Larry Morgan, is getting his brand-new racecar (complete with carbon-fiber wheelie bars) dialed in.
Morgan lost to race runner-up Johnny Gray in the first round on Sunday after Gray ran a 6.628 second pass at 208.91 to Morgan’s 6.660 at 208.68 mph. Despite the loss, Morgan says more laps is all he needs to get this new setup performing to his standards.
“We’re moving forward,” Morgan said. “We’re like ‘The Jeffersons,’ we’re movin’ on up. We didn’t make a real good down-low run but we were solid in the back-half. We figured out we’re within .01 seconds of the fast guys.
“We just need more laps. It’s too bad I couldn’t have got this car five months ago.”
Up next for Lucas Oil teams is the July 16-18 Fram Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif.
Dale Blaney leads green to checker for All Star Win!
Jun 6th
Mike Pegher Jr. and Joe Kelley also victorious
Charlie Holben recovering at UPMC Mercy
Sarver, PA (June 4, 2010) In a night marred by a horrific crash on the front straightaway including three local drivers, three Former Track Champions raced their way to Sheetz Victory Lane. Dale Blaney led all 30 laps of the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions/Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprint feature, while Mike Pegher Jr. (DIRTcar Pro Late Models) and Joe Kelley (Charapp Route 28 DIRTcar Sportsman) were also victorious.
As mentioned above, three local drivers (Charlie Holben, Pete Miller III and Scott Bonnell) were involved in a horrific crash on the front straightaway during lap seven. Bonnell and Miller came to a rest along the inside retaining wall, while Holben’s car landed upside just beyond the flagstand and burst into flames. The indescribable scene to follow ended with Charlie Holben being airlifted to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh where he is recovering and resting in the company of his family and friends in fair condition. Cards and well wishes can be sent to UPMC Mercy at 1400 Locust Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 or online at ecards.upmc.com in care of Charlie Holben. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!!
A special thanks to veteran driver Brent Matus whom heroically unstrapped from his own car to help try to get Charlie Holben out of his car as it was upside down and on fire and to the Lernerville Speedway Safety Crew! Bonnell and Miller walked away from the incident without major injury.
Starting alongside Friday Night’s Valley News Dispatch cover boy Danny Holtgraver on the front row, Dale Blaney jumped out to a quick lead in the Ti22 Performance #2, as Holtgraver gave chase in his family-owned #D4.
While running in third place, Bob Felmlee brushed the front wall, knocking the rearend of the car out of whack, and bringing an early end to the night for the “Franklin Flyer”; officially scored in 22nd.
As the race was just starting to take shape again, the aforementioned accident happened in front of the leaders and brought out an extended red flag period.
When the race resumed, Tim Shaffer quickly slid under Holtgraver to take second place and begin pursuit of Blaney. David Gravel also got by Holtgraver as the leaders quickly reeled in lapped traffic. The lapped traffic didn’t seem to slow Blaney down at all, but it allowed Gravel to pull up to Shaffer’s tail tank and challenge for second.
As the thrilling race progressed, Shaffer distanced himself from Gravel and started to reel Blaney back in. In the meantime, Danny Holtgraver got his elbows up and passed Gravel on the front straightaway on lap 24. Shaffer applied heavy pressure to Blaney in the final few laps as the leaders battled in heavy lapped traffic. The “Steel City Outlaw” pulled even with Blaney at the flagstand on both laps 27 and 28, but could not get enough forward bite to complete the pass for the lead.
Blaney, carrying the Ti22 colors, captured his second Lernerville Speedway feature in three weeks, this time to the tune of $5,000! Tim Shaffer finished second.
Smack dab in the middle of his breakout season, Danny Holtgraver proved once and for all that he’s not just a future star in the Western PA sprint scene but is a force to be reckoned with in the present! He had posted four straight top five finishes in Fab Four Racing entering tonight’s All Star Race, and added another top five to the streak during All Star Competition. He also turned in the third quickest lap of time trials.
David Gravel finished fourth after taking third place away from Holtgraver on a restart, only to see Holtgraver take the spot back in lapped traffic later in the race. All Star veteran Danny Smith raced to a fifth place finish. The All Star Top Ten rounded out with Cap Henry, Lee Jacobs, Greg Wilson, Cole Duncan and Jared Ridge.
David Gravel set quick time during Time Trials with a lap of 12.801seconds, followed by Cap Henry (12.982), Danny Holtgraver (13.016), Tim Shaffer (13.045) and Dale Blaney (13.055). Greg Wilson, Dave Ely and Kevin Schaeffer won National Guard Heat Races. Jared Ridge won the B-Main.
Last week’s feature winner Carl Bowser time trialed 17th quick, then finished second in his heat. He finished the thrilling 30-lap feature in 11th place.
The Local Elite, while void from the All Star feature results, had a mixed bag Friday Night. Defending Track Champion Rod George busted the rearend during hot laps, did not make times trials, started shotgun on his heat race and rolled into the pits after taking the green flag. He started shotgun again on the B-Main lineup but missed the transfer by one spot. Bob Felmlee turned in the sixth best lap in time trials and qualified through his heat race, but as mentioned above, brushed the front stretch wall during the third lap of the feature while running third. Ed Lynch Jr. was racing with the World of Outlaws at Knoxville Speedway for the Hall of Fame Classic, preparing for his annual pilgrimage to the Knoxville Nationals in August.
Former Sportsman Stock Track Champion Mike Pegher Jr. wheeled the #1 Cochran Late Model, (made famous in Super Late Models by the legendary Lynn Geisler), to another win in the DIRTcar Pro Late Model race over veteran driver David Scott. Scott took the lead at the drop of the green flag and led the first eight circuits. But Pegher, also a winner in DIRTcar Pro Late Model action during the All Star Late Model Series Showdown in Sarvertown feature on Friday April 30, took the lead on lap nine and never looked back to score his second win of the season at Lernerville Speedway.
David Scott finished second ahead of Former Five-Time Sportsman Stock Track Champion Butch Lambert. Chris Schneider, another former Sportsman Stock driver and current purveyor of SS Chassis, finished fourth ahead of third generation young gun Bill Stile III in fifth. National Guard Heats were checkered by Pegher and Scott.
Joe Kelley has the rest of the Charapp Route 28 DIRTcar Sportsman scratching their heads this season! For the fourth time in five weeks, Kelley came from the tail of the field to pick up the feature win. His fifth win of the 2010 season is the 37th of his career at Lernerville Speedway.
Polesitter Ryan Moyer looked like he had the feature wrapped up for the second straight week, but like he did last week, Moyer saw it slip away. And while most drivers would be thrilled to finish second in consecutive weeks, the accomplishment was bittersweet for Moyer who’s still trying to get back to Sheetz Victory Lane for his second career win.
Behind Kelley and Moyer, Paul Schreckengost scored his second straight third place finish. Jim Fosnaught raced home fourth, while Wayne Carbo finished fifth for the third straight week after a painfully unlucky streak to start the 2010 season. The Charapp 28 Top Ten shook out with last week’s feature winner Bob Egley, Brett McDonald, Mark Sanders, Scott Bowman and Scott Byers. National Guard Heat Races were claimed by Joe Kelley and Jim Fosnaught.
Fan favorite Jason Fosnaught learned just how hard the “Double Duty” deal is at Lernerville Speedway! Frequently accomplished by Dave Murdick (in his own #61 Modified and the Pitkavish #1 Late Model) and Brian Swartzlander (in his own #83 Modified and the Detman #111 Late Model), and recently by Ed Lynch Jr. (in his famed #2L sprinter and subbing for Kevin Bolland in the #777 Modified), Fosnaught, (piloting both his own #J19 Pro Late Model and the Seitz Racing #J19 Sportsman), had a rough night! He finished last in both heat races, completed just two laps in the DIRTcar Pro Late Model feature and dropped out of the Charapp 28 Sportsman feature in the closing laps!
Jason Fosnaught and the rest of the Charapp Route 28 DIRTcar Sportsman will be back in action next Friday Night, June 11, along with the Ti22 Performance DIRTcar Sprints, DIRTcar Late Models and Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Modifieds for another Fast Friday of Fab Four Racing. The Holiday Races will also feature another dazzling fireworks display by Premier Pyrotechnics on #1 Cochran Fan Appreciation Night. The following Friday June 18 is Mid-Season Championship Night.