Fan Notes from a Lost Saturday Night at PPMS

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (Tom Myers) 7/30/2016 McDonald, Pa.  -  The weatherman said a 50% chance of rain Saturday afternoon with a decreasing chance as the evening drew on so.......we decided to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway to see Tony Stewarts' All Star Sprints. I haven't been to a race since the Lou Blaney Memorial back on July 9th. Couldn't make it to the Kings Royal and couldn't venture out to Kokomo last weekend....so the Saturday race at PPMS looked to be the one this weekend.

The track is very large and it's wide and smooth. PPMS is a big, semi-banked 5/8 mile oval. The size of the track made the cars look small and slow as they took hot laps. But slow they are not because lap times here average out to almost 150 MPH! The track has been improved since I visited last. I noticed new paint and manicured grounds and new bleachers. The concession stand was efficient like before, and had good food. The bathrooms were modern and clean, just as I remembered them. What more could you ask for? Well, as it turns out, you could have asked for dry weather!  The rains came after the heat races wrapped up. So, I will relay some things I saw and heard and hopefully next time, I will have a full race to talk about!

Kraig Kinser While wandering around the pits before the engines were fired, I noticed that Kraig Kinser had everything bolted onto a new Eagle Chassis. And I thought, Aha! Eureka!  And what do you know, Kraig won the All Star event the following evening at Tri-City Speedway.  Looks like they are getting things figured out. Chad Kemenah also had a new paint scheme, and it looks really sharp. Maybe his Knoxville colors this year.  I also got to talk with a fellow who had been coming to the races at PPMS since this track first opened!  Evidently, he lives close by and loves the place. I completely understand! So cool. 

TJ Michael Little Haud was fastest in time trials with Kraig Kinser timing second quick. The times were in the 15.8 to 16.5 range, so that tells you how big the track is. Dale Blaney won the first heat and was racey with Cap Henry, who finished second. Kinser, Sodeman and Holtgraver followed. Heat 2 got us Sye Lynch in first, followed by Kemenah,  Bowser, TJ Michaels and Cory Crabtree. The fast place on the track during the heats was in the down low groove, being tackier and also the shortest way around.  In heat 3, Tim Shaffer pinned his ears back and drove away from the field. He had it really locked down as his car drove through the turns, the rear of the car not kicking out at all. Tim used a higher line than the other heat winners. He was followed across the line by Brent Marks, Little Haud, Lee Jacobs and Brandon Spithaler. After that, the rains came. And boy did it rain. 

Hopefully we can get a rain date. Matt Miley, the owner at PPMS and the All Stars are currently working on setting a rain date if possible. If you have never been to this track, you really need to go see a race here. Just go to see the size of it. 

And you won't be disappointed with the racing here either. It is much better than you would expect to see on such a big track.

Dale Blaney As it was raining.....and we were driving back home, I remembered that they were racing sprints at Wayne County this same night....and that track is 15 minutes from my house. Surely they were getting rained out too, right? Well, I found out later that they got it in and had a nice field for the Ohio Sprint Car Series race. Jac Haudenschild, Cole Duncan, Danny Smith, Carson Macedo, Dominic Scelzi, Dean Jacobs....and a few others were there....Congrats to Cole Duncan on the win. 

A few other things to mention.....Danny Smith stated on social media that this is his last year racing at the Knoxville Nationals. He indicated that he will concentrate on smaller tracks next year. On the Hoseheads message board I saw that Tim Shaffer is building a new car and has two new motors for the Nationals. Tom Liedig is looking for extra sponsorship for Jac Haudenschild to race his yellow 59 car at the Nationals and some other races later this year. The Ohio Dirt Classic, originally scheduled for this Wednesday, August 3rd at Attica, has been moved to Saturday, September 3rd with the All Stars sanctioning. That race is $10,000 to win. The following evening, September 4th, the All Stars race at Wayne County Speedway for another $10,000 to win, that race being the Pete Jacobs Memorial. 

I am looking forward to the remainder of the All Star season as the points battle is getting interesting. Chad Kemenah is leading with Dale Blaney a close second followed by Sheldon Haudenschild, who is rapidly closing the gap after two second place finishes this weekend. 

Thanks for reading! See you at the next race.