Year of Bowser
BUFFALO TWP — Plain and simple, it seems to be Carl Bowser's year.
The Sarver driver of the No. 10 Sprint car took the lead on the 23rd lap and held on for his second feature win of the season Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.
Bowser began the night with a 27-point lead in the Sprint standings. He has six top-five finishes at the Sarver oval already this season, including four in the top two.
“We've been fast every time we've unloaded down here,” Bowser admitted. “Hopefully, we can carry this momentum all the way through to the Silver Cup.”
The annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup World of Outlaws Sprint show is July 15.
Bowser started from the sixth position and pulled into second by the 14th lap. Brandon Matus, enduring a hard-luck campaign, started fifth, grabbed the lead on lap 11 and held it all the way to the 23rd lap.
Bowser caught him by coming high off Turn 4. Matus was forced to the bottom by lapped traffic.
“I just always seem to be in the wrong place,” Matus said. “The lapped cars wanted to race with me ... I'm not sure why. I showed them my nose more times than I can count.”
Matus had a sizable lead for much of the race, but slid off the top groove on the back straightaway a number of times.
“Lack of race track,” Matus said. “That's all that was.”
Bowser said the track was slick and “he was just leading and pushing hard.”
All four features combined to produce just four caution flags Friday. Three of the cautions were in the Sprint feature.
The Modified and Late Model features had no stoppages. Jeremiah Shingledecker and Jared Miley led their respective races from wire to wire.
Shingledecker's Modified win was the 16th of his career at Lernerville, but first since June 21 of last season.
“This one feels good,” Shingledecker said. “This is the best my car's been in a long time.
“When you start up front, you want the thing to go green to checkered. I had no idea who was where behind me. I was just running as hard as I could go.”
Brian Swartzlander finished second in the feature and ran second for most of the race.
“When I need the cautions, I don't get 'em,” Swartzlander said. “To be honest, I doubt I would have gotten (Shingledecker) tonight. He was better than us.“The way my season's been going, I'll gladly take second.”Swartzlander is Lernerville's all-time leader in Modified wins, but has just one victory this season. Friday marked only his second top-five finish of the year.“That's the way this sport is,” Swartzlander said. “It's a rollercoaster. It gets frustrating, but you have to ride out the bad times.”Miley easily beat runner-up Chub Frank to the checkered flag in the Late Model feature. The win was his first since July 26 of last season.Miley has 20 career feature wins at Lernerville, ninth on the track's all-time Late Model list.“Most drivers don't like starting in the front row and I'm one of them,” Miley said. “But it worked out tonight.”Corey McPherson claimed the Sportsman Stock feature from the eighth starting spot. He took the lead on Turn 2 of the fourth lap and wasn't challenged from there.The win was McPherson's second of the season and 16th here overall.Notes: There were 82 cars in the pits. Three drivers — Swartzlander in Modifieds, Butlers Garrett Krummert and Sarver's Ken Schaltenbrand in Late Models — picked up their first heat race wins of the season. ... Saxonburg's Alex Ferree failed to win his heat race for the first time all season, finishing third. ... Butler's Carl Murdick celebrated his 77th birthday Friday. He is the only driver to compete in all 47 years of racing at Lernerville.
