Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – The weekly racing season for the Fab4 Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dairy is winding towards its conclusion with just three nights left in 2023 which makes Friday night’s program of racing a crucial one indeed for drivers intent on taking one of the coveted track championships.
Fans can expect some hotly contested battles on the track and a double feature night for the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks who will be making up their held over feature event from July 28 on Friday night as well as some beautiful machines to look over behind the turn four grandstands as part of our Big Rig Night presented by Mike’s Truck Service & Sales.
AJ Flick has nearly a two race night bounty of points ahead of the field in the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars coming into Friday night as he leads second running Dan Kuriger by 70 points. Kuriger himself will be challenged over the final three nights of the season by Darin Gallagher and Brandon Matus who are both within 10 points of the second spot. The three drivers are seemingly locked into a battle for the runner up spot at the moment which may go down to the final checkered flag of the season which will be entertaining to watch indeed. Flick currently owns the lion’s share of the feature wins this season with five victories and one win apiece for Kuriger, Matus and Brandon Spithaler.
There are two battles for the championships that look to be going to the wire residing in the Precise Racing Products Late Model and Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified standings over the remaining season schedule. In the Precise Lates, former track champion Michael Norris finds himself tied with Tyler Dietz atop the table with 235 points each while 2022 champion John Garvin Jr. positioned third but just 16 markers off the lead and former champion Ken Schaltenbrand and Levi Yetter both within range of the top spot just 21 and 25 points away respectively. Norris has four wins heading into Friday night while Dietz, Colton Flinner, and Garvin all have garnered one win on the season. In the Diehl Big Blocks, Friday’s lone completed feature turned the top of the standings over to Rex King Jr. who managed to come home several positions ahead of Garrett Krummert to take over the lead temporarily. King owns a seven point advantage ahead of Krummert as we approach race night with 2022 champion Jeremiah Shingledecker and Brian Swartzlander both more than a points night behind the leaders. Krummert leads the division with three feature victories while King has crossed first under the checkers twice thus far in 2023 while Shingledecker, Swartzlander, Chas Wolbert, and invaders Mat Williamson and Erick Rudolph have scored one feature win each.
In the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks, Tyler Dietz enjoys a 59 point lead coming into Friday night over second running Cody Koteles and with four features remaining, including two of those on Friday night, it looks to be an insurmountable margin short of Dietz suffering a mechanical disaster at least once if not twice over the final remaining events. Behind the leaders, the tandem of Jason Fosnaught/Brett McDonald find themselves 11 points behind Koteles for third and Jacob Dietz within striking distance of the podium, just 12 markers out of the third spot. Tyler Dietz has managed five wins thus far in 2023 with brother Jacob, Christian Schneider and Brian Daugherty all managing one visit to Terry Bowser Victory Lane apiece thus far.
Pits will open at 4 PM on Friday with grandstands opening at 5 PM. Hot Laps will be taking place a bit earlier than normal to allow our held over makeup feature for the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks to start at 7 PM, followed by opening ceremonies and then our regularly scheduled Fab4 Friday night racing program. General admission is $18 while children 10 and under will be admitted free as always. Pit passes will be available for $30.
We look forward to seeing you Friday night!