Ferree claims starting spot in Firecracker 100 after winning Modified feature at Lernerville
BUFFALO TWP — Alex Ferree has finished near the front in recent weeks.
Friday night, he picked the right time to finish first.
The Saxonburg driver of the No. 10 Late Model started on the pole and led wire to wire to win the Mid-Season Championship feature at Lernerville Speedway.
Ferree's victory marked his first feature win at Lernerville since June 8 of last season. It also gave him a guaranteed starting spot in next Saturday's prestigious Firecracker 100.
“That's awesome ... Hopefully, I can do something with it,” Ferree said.
The win was the 20th Late Model triumph of Ferree's career at Lernerville. He led comfortably for most of the race before Jared Miley threatened to overtake him around turns 3 and 4 of the final lap.
Miley settled for second.
“I doubt I could have ever passed him, as slick as that track was,” Miley said. “It was hard to pass tonight. Four days of sun will do that to a track.
“The first turn was critical tonight. You had to separate yourself from people there because once everyone settled into position, it was tough to go anywhere.”
Ferree said he has been fast all year.
“Other guys have just been better,” he said. “There's a lot of good cars and drivers here. Tonight was my night, I guess.”
In other Mid-Season Championship features Friday, Jack Sodeman Jr, led from wire to wire in the Sprints, Jeremiah Shingledecker won the Modified race and Corey McPherson claimed his fourth checkered flag of the season in Sportsman Stocks.
Sodeman had the pole for the Sprint feature and built a near-straightaway lead for most of the race. Like the Late Models, the Sprint feature went off without any stoppages.
Sarver's Carl Bowser passed Evans City's Brandon Spithaler late in the race to finish a distant second.
“We'll take that,” Bowser said. “Tonight was the night to start up front. Lap times were four or five seconds off the track record. That shows how slow it was out there.”
Sodeman won his eighth career Lernerville feature and second this season. The win handed him a starting spot in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup race July 16.
“I'll still try to earn my way in, but the guaranteed spot comes in handy if you have an ignition problem or something else happens during qualifying,” Sodeman said.
Sodeman and his crew put in a new motor and chassis prior to Friday's race, staying up until 5 a.m. to finish the job.
“It's nice we have something to show for that,” Sodeman said.Shingledecker ended a personal Lernerville drought by winning the Modified feature. He started eighth and denied Canadian Mat Williamson a fourth feature win here in 2013 by passing him on Turn 4 following an 11th lap restart.Shingledecker had not won at the Sarver oval since May 4 of last season.“We hadn't won anywhere all season until tonight,” Shingledecker said. “Once I saw how slick the track was during hot laps, we decided to switch cars.“Kudos to my crew for all of that work in the pits, changing motors and everything. We went with less horsepower and it paid off.”Williamson started up front and settled for his third runner-up finish here this season. He has finished no lower than fourth in a Lernerville feature.“This was definitely a small block night, but we come here to run a big block and that's what we're going to do,” Williamson said. “Jeremiah was the faster car. Congratulations to him. Once he passed me, he pulled away from me.”Williamson started in the front row of the Sportsman Stock feature and held off a hard-charging AJ Flick — who started 10th — for the victory. He is the only driver with four feature wins at Lernerville this season.“Last week, this place had a cushion all over the place and was really tacky,” Williamson said. “This week, it was like an ice-skating rink.”Notes: Shingledecker and McPherson earned guaranteed starting spots in the Steel City Stampede Oct. 26 at Lernerville. ... There were 88 cars in the pits. ... Flick went from last to first to claim his fifth heat win of the season, most of any driver in any division here. ... Francis Sesco slammed his Sprint car into the infield barrier just before Turn 1 in his heat race. The car toppled on its side upon impact, but he was unhurt. ... The Firecracker 100 will have Late Model features paying $6,000 to win Thursday and Friday nights, followed by the 100-lap main event paying $30,000 to win Saturday night.
