The gates at Lernerville Speedway are opened for the 50th season.

Under the direction of Father Tim Tomson, pastor of St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church in McKees Rocks and the Tomson family, a balanced schedule has been presented between weekly shows and special events. It features the World of Outlaws, Late Models and Sprints, Tony Stewart’s All Star Sprints, a Monster Truck Show, and the USA East Truck and Tractor Pull.

Lernerville’s grand opening in 1967 went through a lot of trials and tribulations. It was being constructed to open in 1968; however, Buffalo Township Supervisors passed a zoning ordinance to make a speedway illegal on the Lernerville Park property.

The ordinance was to take effect in January 1968. Lernerville had to race in 1967 in order to be grandfathered in as an existing facility. Therefore, the crew had to feverishly rush to complete the speedway in an acceptable state for racing that fall.

Fence was placed around the entire track, lighting and bleachers had to be constructed, concession stands finished and outhouses erected. It was a quarter-mile track with the pits behind the back straightaway, and the parking area was only behind the main concession stand.

Two races in 1967 made it possible for Lernerville to exist today and celebrate its 50th season as one of the top tracks in the country as opposed to being a cornfield.

The Kittanning Comet, Rod George, returned to Sprint racing after a brief retirement or sabbatical. He and Corey Good are driving for Wildwood Collision’s Scott Dunbar. Good is the pilot of 40X and George will drive the 4X.

Singer Alan Free bought a Sprint car from Gary Rankin and will soon make his racing debut. For over 10 years, Free has been on the Lernerville flagman’s stand singing the National Anthem before the races and now he will step off the flag stand and get behind the wheel of a race car.

Frank Guidace’s 358 Modified has been extremely competitive at Mercer Raceway. Six-cylinder Icon, Lou Gentile has been seen in his pit area.

Ken Hardy appeared in a Rush Sportsman Modified last week at Lernerville. He stopped racing six- cylinders in 2001 and now 16 years later he has unretired looking as sharp as ever with a top-10 finish in his first outing.

After five years, Danny Holtgraver is leaving the All-Star Sprints because he is tired of the grueling travel schedule. He and his dad are fielding their own car and will run approximately 25 races, mainly the ones that pay higher dollars. His cousin Late Model driver, Josh Holtgraver, is getting married in May and Danny will even give up a regional All-star Sprint race to attend the event.

Brandon Spithaler, Brent and Brandon Matus, and John Garvin have decided to follow Tony Stewart’s All-Star Sprint Circuit of Champions in 2017. Spithaler finished ninth in a recent show.

Lernerville Speedway’s announcer Eric Westendorf has been promoted to Assistant Director at Central Westmorland Career Technical Center. He has four boys, with the oldest being 12, who are active in sports. His time has to be divided between family, school, and racing.

With increased responsibilities, he has decided not to be Lernerville’s publicity director. The new man in charge is Gary Heeman. He has an Internet blog called DIRT Network and is a writer for Three Wide Medium.

Logan Wagner bested a field of 32 Sprints at Lernerville Friday, but will have to miss the upcoming All-Star Sprint Show. Logan is a private pilot and has already been commissioned to fly his clients to the Kentucky Derby.

Ryan Blaney, grandson of Hall of Fame Modified driver Lou Blaney, and son of Sprint driver Dave Blaney, finished second in the most recent NASCAR Xfinity race. His engineer, Andrea Mueller, is the only NASCAR female engineer. She formerly worked at NASA.

Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle.