Laboon Memorial Up Next at PPMS in Busy Month of July
Imperial, PA (July 7, 2016) Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway returns to action on Saturday, July 9, with the thrilling conclusion of the Fifth Annual Ed Laboon Memorial race for the Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman. The event, sanctioned by the Homak Penn Ohio Pro Stock Series and presented by Brougher’s Machine Shop, was delayed by rain on June 4. On that night, 52 cars were in competition when six qualifying heat races were completed before the rains came. The time trials and heat races that were completed back in June are official, but new entries will be allowed to compete in the B-Main events as drivers will have a chance to join the starting grid for the area’s richest stock car race. The Diehl Automotive Late Models, Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models, Miley BP Car Wash Hobby Stocks, and Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns will be on the card, and an added attraction will be the first of four visits to PPMS by the RUSH Modifieds.
Coming up on Saturday, July 16, it will be the running of “Modasaures X” featuring the return of the Bicknell Racing Products Modified Tour. The Big Block Modifieds will be making their return to PPMS for the first time since May 26, 2012, when New York driver Randy Chrysler was the winner of a BRP Tour event. There have been 41 Modified races run at the track, the majority of them from 1987 through 1990 when the division was a part of the weekly program. Bob Wearing is the all time leading winner with 13 victories. Among active drivers that are regulars in the division, Dave Murdick is the leader with three feature wins, ahead of Kevin Bolland with two. The RUSH Modifieds will be back, as the Pro Late Models, Sportsman, Hobby Stocks, and Young Guns will be on the July 16 card. On Saturday, July 23, the weekly five division program of racing will be joined by the Alternative Power Sources LHSS Race Saver winged Sprints, and the Pro Late Models will be competing in a Summer Sizzler event. Finally, completing the month of July will be the Third Annual Falconi’s Moon Township Automotive “Sprint Monster,” featuring Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions winged 410 sprint cars on Saturday, July 30. The Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models will join that night’s card in a Summer Sizzler event.
Alex Ferree raced to his second victory of the season last Saturday night in the Diehl Automotive Super Late Models. Ferree inherited the top spot on lap 13 of the 25-lap event when Tony Musolino experienced problems. For three time defending point champion Ferree, it was his 21st feature win in the Late Model division, as 778 Late Model features have been contested since the speedway opened in 1979. John Flinner holds the point lead by just three points over Brandon Burgoon, with Christian Schneider, Butch Neubert, and John Mollick trailing.
John Mollick captured his second feature win of the season in the Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models. A tight point race got even tighter after last Saturday’s race, as just nine points separate the top five drivers. Daryl Charlier moved into the point lead, thanks to his second place finish. His lead is a single point over last week’s leader Ben Policz, with Kyle Lukon just two points behind. Justin Lamb is eight points out of the lead, with Mollick one point behind Lamb.
Todd Weldon earned the Saturday’s Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman feature win, after coming from the tail of the 17 car event. Dave McManus leads the standings by 14 points over Nick Kocuba. Ricky Stigerwald, Mark Lee, and Mike Harris are next in the point chase.
In the Miley BP Car Wash Hobby Stock division, Dale Tuche has a six point lead over Casey Grumling, as Dave Sheriff was the winner of the Saturday event. In the entry level Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns, Vincent Zymlov raced for the first time ever and won the feature race, as Michael Jackson leads Ben Anton by 8 points in the standings.
The traditional sprint cars joined last week’s racing program, as Dustin Smith from Russiaville, IN earned the victory in the Rick’s Trucks & Equipment Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series non-winged event. Zack Morrow led early before a spectacular crash on lap 4, handing the lead to Shawn Westerfield. Smith and Westerfield exchanged the lead on lap 8, but Smith took the lead on lap 9 on his way to becoming the 47th different winner in the sprint division at the track, in the 98th all-time sprint car race. PPMS would like to send out special thanks to the sprint teams for their outstanding support of the event, as 26 cars were on hand.
For Saturday’s conclusion of the Ed Laboon Memorial, while the heat races have been run, there will still be plenty of racing in the division. There will be a dash for the six heat race winners, the three B-Main events to complete the qualifying, and a non-qualifiers race, in addition to the richest stock car race in the area which will start 28 cars and pay $3,017 to the winner. The gates will open at 5:00, with warm-ups at 6:00 and racing at 7:00. The Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Hobby Stocks, and Young Guns will all be in competition, along with the RUSH Modifieds. The track is located just south of the Noblestown exit of U.S. Route 22, or 170 Kelso Road in Imperial, PA, for GPS purposes. The track phone is 724-695-3363 on race days, or call 412-279-RACE. For complete information please visit the track website at www.ppms.com .
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, July 9 – The Fifth Annual Ed Laboon Memorial race for the Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman, sanctioned by the Homak Penn Ohio Pro Stock Series, presented by Brougher’s Machine Shop. RUSH Modifieds, plus Diehl Automotive Super Late Models, Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models, Miley BP Car Wash Hobby Stocks, and Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns. Twin State Auto Racing Club Night.
Saturday, July 16 – “Modasaures X” featuring the BRP Modified Tour for Big Block Modifieds. RUSH Modifieds, plus the Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models, Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman, Miley BP Car Wash Hobby Stocks, Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns.
Saturday, July 23 – The Alternative Power Sources LHSS Race Saver winged Sprints, with a Summer Sizzler for the Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models. Plus Diehl Automotive Super Late Models, Sunoco Race Fuels Sportsman, Miley BP Car Wash Hobby Stocks, and Imperial Heights Garage Young Guns.
Saturday, July 30 – Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions winged 410 sprint cars in the Third Annual Falconi’s Moon Township Automotive “Sprint Monster,” plus the Precise Racing Products RUSH Pro Late Models Sizzler event.
Sources: Miley Motorsports, Inc.