Rick’s Racing Roundup: Hackett Secures First Victory at Thunder Mountain

| August 20, 2019


At Thunder Mountain Speedway it was fan appreciation night this past Friday and along with autographs fans were treated to a first-time winner in the late model feature.

(Photo: Chris Hackett scored his first career Thunder Mountain late model win Friday during fan appreciation night. Photo by Rick Rarer.)

Chris Hackett of Jamestown, N.Y. scored his first career Thunder Mountain win in convincing fashion. Dave Blazavich and Kyle Knapp rounded out the podium in the action-packed feature.

This Friday at Thunder Mountain it is Racing for a Cure Night with another five-division show highlighted by the super late models. Action is set to get underway at 7:30 p.m.

Friday night at Lernerville Speedway defending track champ AJ Flick was the class of the field where he left the rest of the sprint car field far behind to score his third win of the season at the Sarver oval.

AJ Flick was the class of the field Friday at Lernerville Speedway. Photo by Rick Rarer.

AJ Flick was the class of the field Friday at Lernerville Speedway. Photo by Rick Rarer.

Two-time track champion Jared Miley was back in action and dominated the late model feature for his second Lernerville win of 2019. With his runner-up finish, Ken Schaltenbrand clinched the late model track championship for the first time in his career.

In the big block modified feature Dave Murdick had lady luck on his side when race leader Rex King Jr. shredded a tire ending his winning run. Murdick led the rest of the way for his first win since 2014.

It was Joey Zambotti using a late-race pass to take the honors in the stock car nightcap.

This Friday will be the final points night of the season and the track champions will be decided in the other three divisions. Fans will also be treated to fireworks this Friday presented by Butler County Tourism.

Despite rain showers just before race time, Sharon Speedway was able to wait out the rains and get their entire program in the books Saturday as the worst of the weather stayed south. The FAST Sprint Car Series made their second and final visit of the season bringing 30 of the area’s top sprint cars pit side for action.

Fresh off his impressive performances at Eldora Speedway and the Knoxville Nationals, Sye Lynch dominated the night.

The Apollo driver set a quick time, won his heat, and dominated all 30 laps of the feature for his first career FAST Series win.

Other winners Saturday included Garrett Krummert, who notched yet another crate modified win to his credit. Dan Davies and Andy Buckley scored e-mod wins while Chad Ruhlman continued his domination of the RUSH sprint car series with yet another win.

This Saturday will be the final regular race program of the season at Sharon Speedway and will once again be highlighted by the e-mods in one of their biggest races of the year. The fourth leg of the “Bickerstaff Cup” will find the winner taking home a whopping $3,000 for their efforts.  Joining them will be the RUSH wingless sprint cars, RUSH modifieds, and the stock cars with racing slated for 7:00 p.m.

Hummingbird Speedway was not as lucky Saturday as heavy rains hit the speedway washing out action for the evening. With Saturday’s cancellation, the Ina’s Street Stock Invitational will now take center stage this Saturday with $1,000 up for grabs to the winner. Along with lap money for the street stocks, the pure stocks and four cylinders will also have increased purses. There will also be a powder puff race and the junior sprints will be on the card making for a full night of action at the bird.

Mercer Raceway also fell victim to rain as storms washed out the action at the third mile on Saturday. With the cancellation, the season point championships will now be decided this Saturday for all five divisions.

Rick’s Racing Roundup is brought to you by:

Redbank Chevrolet
Bauer Truck Repair
Red Bandana Winery
Zacherl Motors
Allegheny Grille
Kerle Tire Company

About Rick

Rick Rarer, a Franklin resident, is the owner of Racestud.com and SprintCarNews.com. He has been covering racing for 19 years, taking racing photos for 14 years, and has covered races at over 100 tracks in 15 states. Most recently, Rick won the Bill Steinbach Media Award at the Lernerville Speedway Annual Awards Banquet.


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