Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – The annual Autism Awareness Night has been a staple of The Action Track schedule for years now and in 2023 it is primed to be bigger and better than ever!
First and foremost, the night is dedicated to raising funds for Autism Pittsburgh, the area’s top advocacy and educational organization. And throughout the event’s history, thousands upon thousands of dollars have been raised at Lernerville thanks to a huge amount of racing related apparel and merchandise auctions and raffles plus donations.
The World’s Finest Race Fans will have another opportunity on Friday night, to top their previous year’s efforts thanks to a record turnout of raffle and auction items including brand new archery equipment from Bucks and Bows Archery, driver door panels and die cast cars, a Hudson O’Neal door panel, tickets to the upcoming Commonwealth Clash, an autographed Firecracker 100 banner featuring the drivers that attended this year’s event and much more!
And on the track, the Precise Racing Products will be competing in a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win main event which looks to draw invaders from all over the region! They’ll be joined by the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks who continue their weekly run to Championship Night on Friday, August 18.
The enhanced Late Model purse for Friday was sparked by Thrower Concrete owner Jeff Stull, whose youngest son Cody, was diagnosed with autism as an infant. Stull recruited his friends from local businesses and made some calls to make donations and raised over $17,000 which will be spread throughout the Late Model purse on Friday night. The list of companies making contributions includes, RATH Farms, Myers Well Service, Armstrong Cement, Contemporary Foundations, Fox Trucking, PRS Transit, Bachman Trucking, Sprankles Neighborhood Markets, CRS Contracting, Millerstown Pic-A-Part, Jack’s Napa Auto Parts and other anonymous donations.
Pits will open at 4 PM on Friday with grandstands opening at 5 PM and racing scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM. Qualifying will be utilized for the Precise Lates which will occur directly after hot laps, tentatively scheduled for 6:30 PM. General admission will be $18 while children 10 and under will be admitted free as always. Pit passes will be available for $30.