Randy Chronister is the elder statesman in the Lernerville Modified division. The 73-year-old Slippery Rock, PA driver may be the senior member in all local racing, having started his career in 1966 at the Butler Speedway. He had been running a 358 motor but upgraded to a big block this season. “I would not be doing this without my two sons Dan and Dale. They are the ones that put my racer together. Dan has the expertise with shocks.” Neither of his sons had the desire to be the main driver. Chronister has watched the evolution of Modified racing. Building chassis from parts in the junkyard has progressed to high the hi-tech chassis of today.

Dan said: “Some families golf, fish or hunt; we have always raced together. The difference now is that we pick and choose our races to attend.” Randy’s limited schedule will include a few shows at Lernerville and some BRP Modified Tour events. They all thoroughly enjoy being together and remind one of a comedy team bonded with a lot of humor and just plain fun.

Butler’s Dave Murdick recently won his 32nd Lernerville Modified race in his Troyer Chassis. This was his first at the track since August 2019. He told scribe Dave Oliveri that he has a new motor coming and should make things even better! Murdick, who is in his late fifty’s shared, “I am not going to be like my dad though and race until he was 76!”

Recently ULMS driver Gregg Satterlee, Indiana, PA, checkered win number 5 in as many different tracks, collecting $3,500. After his Lernerville victory he said, “I don’t go too far from home any more…. 4-5 hours maybe. It is a pretty big expense and tough getting away from my day time job. I am looking forward to some of the bigger paying races coming to Lernerville.” He later added that he will be an entrant for the Lernerville Lucas Oil Firecracker 100 paying $50,000 to win June 23-25! The very next evening, another local star Jared Miley won the ULMS event at Wayne County.

The World of Outlaws had their very first Late Model race at Marion Center Speedway and Dennis Erb Jr. collected $10,000 for the big 40 lap win. He held off Shane Clanton on numerous other restarts on the way to the victory—his second World of Outlaws triumph of the season and fifth win of 2022. . There were 42 Super Late Models in the pits, and fast qualifier was Max Blair, 14.282 seconds. Josh Richards finished third. Erb’s win extends his points lead—112 points ahead of WoO rookie PA driver Max Blair. Regional drivers included Jared Miley (11th), Alex Ferree (19th), Colton Flinner (21st), and Satterlee, (23rd).

Local Late Model drivers swept the Pennsylvanian podium at Port Royal Speedway last Saturday! Jared “The Jet” Miley became a first time 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model winner besting a 41-car field to collect $10,000. He started fifth on the grid and used the bottom of the track to pick off cars one by one on his way to victory lane

Miley needed 21 laps to take the lead but wasn’t sure of his car’s strength. He stated that everything came together at the right time. “The car was good, and I didn’t really expect to be that good,” Miley said. “We’ve been gaining on some stuff, and [Saturday], everything just came together. “Once I got [to second] and saw Rick leading, I knew I could get him, and I did and just tried to maintain a smooth line and just keep the car under me.”

Eckert, who led the first 20 laps of the feature stated he knew he had an uphill climb once he caught the tail of the field. “I knew we were in trouble once we got into traffic,” Eckert said. “I couldn’t turn down in the corner to try and pass those lap cars. So, my only option was to go around them on the outside. “Then we had that caution, and I was like, oh, that might help us some. My crew had told me they were coming on the top, so I moved up there, and I wasn’t very good and let Miley by. Then I moved back down and thought I could hold my own, but when I got close to cars, I just couldn’t turn left off the corner.” Gregg Satterlee finished second and Robbie Blair was third. Rick Eckert faded to fourth, and Colton Flinner, who has three track wins, rounded out the top five. Jared Miley’s big win Saturday at Port Royal is a memory he’ll probably cherish forever.

Many people will probably remember original WoO member Bobby Allen from Hanover, PA, who drove 410 Sprint car 1A. His nickname was “Scruffy” mainly because of his gritty appearance.” I usually worked by myself and when I changed gears I was always dirty. Sometimes when I changed oil, I rolled in it.” Remarkably, Allen, who started racing in 1968, had a Hall of Fame career on a “shoestring” budget. He had 39 WoO victories and won 46 All Star events. His lifetime victories at all tracks total close to 300. Lenny Sammons did a special about his life in Area Auto Racing. At 78 years- of-age, Allen obviously is no longer behind the wheel of a Sprint, but 44 years-later, he’s still on the road mentoring his grandson, Logan Schuchart and son Jacob Allen who are card carrying members of the WoO Sprints. The two teams continue to stretch a dollar further than their competition. “We still buy used tires and cut every corner, Bobby Allen said. We build our own motors. The big guys lose money, we slowly make a little money.” Jacob’s team carries his father’s famous 1A number and Logan’s is 1S. In 2021, Logan won seven WoO shows. Bobby said, “Nowadays it costs close to $4,500-$5,000 to drop a door to race…motors, tires, fuel help etc.”

Racing on the road is different today. When Bobby first started there were no cell phones, Facebook to keep track of family, internet for weather or google maps for directions. “When we stopped for gas, we had to use pay phones to call tracks to see if they were running.” Bobby would sleep in his truck, unlike the RV’s of today. Sometimes he would spend the night in a motel parking lot. They’d get up early to see if another driver left early and go to that room until checkout time. Maybe they would catch a few “winks” in a nice bed or just take a hot shower! Lernerville’s Don and Helen Martin always got Eastern PA and Ohio drivers’ rooms at the Butler Days Inn when they traveled to their track. Bobby must have felt like a king during those times. Today he has slowed down a bit but he has no plans to retire. “I want to keep going up and down the road with these boys, have some fun, and continue to teach them.”

Congratulations to Ryan Blaney who drove to his first victory in the 125-lap NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday night at Texas Motor Speedway claiming a million dollar pay day. Blaney is the grandson of the late Modified icon Lou Blaney and son of Sprint driver and former NASCAR pilot Dave Blaney. Although Blaney led 84 of the 140 laps in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, the triumph came when Blaney had to outlast the field in an overtime session, forced by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s crash when Blaney was just a short distance from the checkered flag. The caution lights flashed to force the extra laps, but Blaney — thinking he had won — had lowered his window net on what he thought was the cool-down lap. After struggling to get it fastened, he held on in the final two-lap dash to the end defeating Denny Hamlin.