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[b]Danny Holtgraver thrills hometown crowd in Silver Cup A-Main #1
Silver Cup Twins 30s from the Local Perspective
ULMS Lates & UEMS Mods join Sportsman this Friday, July 20
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Sarver, PA (July 19, 2012) 2010 Lernerville Speedway/Budweiser Track Champion Danny Holtgraver continues to skyrocket into super stardom in the 410 sprint world with a thrilling run from 19th to second in the first of the Silver Cup Twin 30s. Despite a plethora of cautions, Holtgraver did not ascend to the front by attrition! In fact, in one straightaway, between the bottom of turn two and the entrance to turn three, Holtgraver passed 24 seasons worth of World of Outlaws Champions and over 700 wins in Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz and Jason Sides. Then on the last lap, using the same move from the same groove, Holtgraver rocketed past his mentor & friend Tim Shaffer (The Defending Silver Cup Champion) to finish second to A-Main #1 and eventual overall Silver Cup Champion Craig Dollansky.
“It was just an awesome night!” exclaimed the 22 year old hotshoe. “I’ve never even run in the top ten against the Outlaws, so to come from 19th to third and then to get by Shaffer on the last lap for second, it was exciting! Plus with the guys from SPEED being there and Bobby Gerould coming to the car, they know we’re there.”
Holtgraver backed his breakout performance by scoring a second top ten finish in the second A-Main, (won by Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart); once again from 19th on the starting grid on a deep and stacked field of the best sprint car drivers on the planet.
“I got held up a little bit in the second one and couldn’t really get going like I did in the first one. The car came on with about ten to go, it was just too late by then, but it’s still another top ten with those guys, so I’ll take it!”
As usual, Danny was quick to credit the crew for his success, “The guys all worked well together, we had fun all night and passed a lot of cars; having Brian Kemenah on board helping out is a pretty cool deal.”
Holtgraver won’t have much time to savor his success, “We’re heading out to Williams Grove this weekend; driving for Tom and Fran in the Chiappelli #98. We learned a lot Tuesday Night and turned a few heads, but the Grove is a different beast all together! We’re ready to get right back at it and keep the momentum rolling.”
Defending Silver Cup Champion Tim Shaffer had an up and down night chasing Dollansky most of the race and scoring a third place finish which put him in contention for another run at the overall Silver Cup Championship, but an early run in with the front stretch wall brought an early end to his night. However, the Steel City Outlaw wasn’t down for long, as he picked up the win at Brewerton (NY) Speedway Wednesday Night with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
Dale Blaney, winner of the other segment of the Silver Cup Twin 30s last year, was forced to miss this year’s edition due to his hauler breaking down near Columbus, OH Tuesday morning/early afternoon.
Prior to Holtgraver’s A-Main heroics, 2002 Silver Cup Champion Ed Lynch Jr. brought the hometown crowd to its feet and to a fever pitch by passing “The Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild and “The Dude” Danny Lasoski with a nasty powerslide through turns three & four coming to the checkered flag of the Last Chance Showdown to sneak into the Silver Cup A-Mains. Lynch didn’t fare so well in the A-Mains, breaking and scoring a DNF in the first, but the 2L crew went to work and got “The Apollo Rocket” back in shape for the second A-Main where he charged from the tail of the field to 13th.
2012 Mid-Season Champion feature winner Brian Ellenberger had to cash in his track provisional to tail the first Silver Cup A-Main, but survived the attrition in front of and around him to finish on the lead lap in 16th. But despite starting on the third row on the inverted second A-Main starting grid, Ellenberger could only muster an 18th place finish.
Brandon Matus was next in line for a track provisional based on current Bud points, but couldn’t answer the bell for the A-Main due to rearend problems.
Other locals in competition for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Twin 30s were Brandon’s dad Brent Matus, Brandon Spithaler and Bill Kiley. Most of the Ti22 Sprints were in attendance, but enjoying a night of being a race fan, while saving their equipment for the stretch run of the Budweiser Track Championship. Believe it or not, there are just five weeks of Fab Four Racing left on the 2012 docket!
The top three divisions of Fab Four Racing will take a summer vacation as the Friday night, as the Kennedy Motorsports ULMS Late Models will roll into Sarver, PA for their first ever visit to Don Martin’s Lernerville Speedway. The A&MP UEMS Emods Series will also be competing with their big brother series as it is a ULMS Racing Series night at Sarvertown!
The Kennedy Motorsports ULMS Late Models will compete in a another 30 lap event with the winner going home with $2500 and the UEMS Emods competing for $1000. The Kennedy Motorsports ULMS Late Model Series event at Lernerville will be UMP tire only event and it will be a show point event only. The A&MP UEMS Emods will be following UEMS rules with their open tire rule of any legal 8? tire and it will be a “full” point event. The Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman will also be on the card with full Lernerville/Budweiser points on the line.
Don’t forget to tune in or set your DVR for SPEED this Sunday, July 22 at 12:00 noon with a super-sized two-hour broadcast of the 6th Annual Firecracker 100 presented by GottaRace.com.
Contact: Lernerville Speedway
Eric J. Westendorf, Public Relations Director
(724) 664-1075 / [email protected]
Photos Courtesy of Cory Stivason/Stivason Photos
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