Heinl eases into racing
BUFFALO TWP— For a fleeting moment, Joe Heinl was in front of the pack.
The rookie driver of the No. 02 Pure Stock drew the pole for his heat race last Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.
His car faded to the back and Heinl wound up finishing next to last — a moral victory for a race team that has yet to finish a feature, let alone place in one.
While the top 20 Pure Stock drivers have accumulated more than 100 points at Lernerville this season, Heinl has 16.
It's all part of the step-by-step process of getting behind the wheel of a race car for the first time.
"I've only been out here a handful of times,"said Heinl, 39. "No, we haven't finished one yet. We had a fire one night, were in a bad wreck another night, had some mechanical problems some other times.
"It's typical of someone just starting out," the Prospect resident added. "This car is pieced together by so many different parts, you can't get worried every time it breaks."
Heinl has been a race fan all his life and has wanted to race for years. Employed as a mechanic, he never had the money to get into the sport until now.
"My wife, Connie, owns the car, actually,"Heinl said. "I just drive it."
The white paint scheme with blue numbering is patterned after that of a Late Model Heinl's uncle, John Hefner, raced in 1975. Hefner, now 82, still races an E-Mod occasionally at Sharon Speedway and Mercer Raceway.
Hefner is the lone previous race driver in the family's history. Heinl's pit crew consists of his father, Joe Heinl Sr., brother John Heinl, and friends Jason and Steve Schrecengost.
The elder Heinl helped his brother-in-law, Herman Myers, by working on his car nearly 40 years ago at Butler Speedway.
John Heinl worked with Davey Johnson's car at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway for four years, before the latter moved on to Busch car racing.
"Joe has always wanted to do this," his brother said. "He's had some things happen with the car, but he's never been afraid of the car.
"As Joe gets seat time and gets to know the car, next year we'll put a higher set of gears in it with more RPMand speed around the corners. He'll get a little faster. ... It's a step-by-step thing," John Heinl added.
This will not be a one-year deal for Heinl, who races exclusively at Lernerville. He plans to stick with a Pure Stock for the next few years.
"Oh yeah, we're staying with this for a while,"he said. "We'll tinker with it. We'll get better at it, one step at a time."
Lernerville Speedway Points StandingsTop 15 through Aug. 10SprintsKevin Schaeffer 433, Rod George 420, Ed Lynch Jr. 407, Carl Bowser 352, Dan Shetler 322, Scott Priester 311, Charlie Holben 295, Mike Lutz 293, Brent Matus 280, Ralph Spithaler 231, Dan Kuriger 221, Dan Holtgraver 219, Scott Bonnell 210, Gary Rankin 207, Terry Bowser 178
Late ModelsAlex Ferree 510, Gary Lyle 361, Lynn Geisler 341, Jared Miley 334, Matt Lux 324, Greg Satterlee 318, Mike Blose 307, Ken Schaltenbrand 278, Nick Jones 258, Dutch Davies 249, Chuck Sarver 242, Sam Stile 239, John Mollick 238, Dave Murdick 219, John Garvin 218
ModifiedsBrian Swartzlander 447, Del Rougeux Jr. 431, Dave Murdick 400, JRMcGinley 341, Tom Winkle 314, Mike Turner 292, Kevin Bolland 286, Jim Weller Jr. 282, Jeremiah Shingledecker 279, Carl Murdick 272, Phil Evans 230, Steve Feder 208, Skip Moore 205, Doug Fleeger 173, John Durci 170
Pure StocksMike Pegher Jr. 442, Bob Egley 423, Butch Lambert 415, Jason Fosnaught 400, Bob Lipinski 396, Greg Beach 393, Joe Kelley 351, Paul Schrecongost 338, Wayne Carbo 332, Terry Young 331, Jim Fosnaught 286, Jake Ayers 238, Chuck Gebauer 232, Shawn Thorn 213, Pat Hanley 212
