Western PA Speedweek’s Jean Lynch Classic Takes Center Stage At Lernerville Friday; $4K-To-Win
Story By: GARY HEEMAN / LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY – SARVER, PA – On Friday night, the annual Western Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek makes it’s way to The Action Track, bringing with it a stout field in terms of both talent from around the area and an ever increasing number of invaders.
Friday will mark the fourth Lernerville appearance from the fast growing mini-series and in the 2024 incarnation, both the purse and the profile have seen an uptick as the annual Jean Lynch Classic will now call the Sarver speedplant home, jumping it’s top prize to $4,000-to-win in the process.
The complete racing program will feature time trials following hot laps for the Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars plus four to five fully loaded heats and a 30-lap main event. In terms of car counts, the speedweek has drawn 30-35 cars in each of its first three editions at The Action Track and this year looks to draw even more as the list of confirmed drivers has grown to near record if not record numbers. Central PA hot shoe Ryan Smith took the honors of the inaugural speedweek in 2021 with defending track champion AJ Flick stepping up for the home team in 2022 and 2023 with feature victories.
Flick once again looks to be one of the favorites heading into Friday night, however Brandon Spithaler has gone two for two in action at Lernerville thus far in 2024 and has been a tough out seemingly everywhere else. Expected invaders include Central Pennsylvania’s Billy Dietrich, Dylan Norris, Jordan Givler, Ryan Smith with Denny Peebles representing New York, and Zane Devault, Mitch Harble and Ricky Peterson who will be making the haul from Ohio and Indiana. Former track champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member Tim Shaffer is also expected to be in attendance.
The remainder of the Fab4 racing card will also be on hand as the Precise Racing Products Late Models, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and the Millerstown Pic-a-Part Pro Stocks round out what promises to be one of the most action packed Friday nights on the 2024 schedule. They’ll be undergoing round four of their weekly campaigns in what to this point has been a very competitive opening three weeks, highlighted by some fantastic races that have gone down to the wire so far.
The Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Cars will receive show up points on Friday night for participating in the Jean Lynch Classic while the Precise Racing Products Late Models, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds and the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks will receive regular points Friday night as they take part in round four of their regular season series.
