People of all ages love video games, but those featuring auto racing are scarce. After two years of collecting data, the World Racing Group's new racing video game is tentatively slated to appear on store shelves early in 2010.

It is reported that 12 tracks are highlighted in the game, including Lernerville, Cedar Lake, Knoxville, Williams Grove, I-55, Husset, Dodge City, Silver Dollar, Skagit, Eldora, Volusia, and Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.

The Sprint cars driven by Donny Schatz and Ed Lynch Jr. will be featured in the game.

In other racing news:

• Lynch, who is second in points to Rod George, won't be at Lernerville this week. He is headed to the famous Knoxville Nationals in Iowa. There will be three nights of preliminary racing to determine the drivers who will compete in Saturday's prestigious show, which pays $150,000 to win and $7,000 to start. It will be televised live by SPEED.

• Ryan Blaney, the son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, will make his debut on dirt in a Sprint car Saturday at Sharon Speedway while his father competes in the 410 Sprints. "I always enjoy racing at home, and I promised my son Ryan an opportunity to race on dirt this year," the elder Blaney said. Ryan, 15, who is rated fourth among the top- 25 short-track racing prospects under the age of 18, is currently second in the points race for the Pro All-Star Series South Division. He formerly raced Quarter midgets and Legend cars.

• The American Red Cross will conduct a blood drive at Sharon from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday. It also will be Heroes Night, which offers free admission to EMT, fire, or police personnel with an organizational ID card.

• Cranberry Township native Travis Geisler, who is Sam Hornish's crew chief, participated in NASCAR Night at Black Rock Speedway last Friday. He competed in a celebrity charity race of crew chiefs and crew members to benefit Motor Racing Outreach and Milly's Food Pantry and finished third. At Pocono Speedway recently, Hornish and Geisler had their best finish of the season: fourth place.

• Congratulations to Dan Karalagas and Mike Pegher Jr., who had top-five finishes in the recent FASTRACK Crate Late Model Series race at Eldora Speedway. Josh Holtgraver, Gary Knollinger and David Scott had top-10 runs. Dan Angelicchio, Jo Martin, and Tom Schirnhofer made the feature event, and Butch Lambert captured the non-qualifiers race.

• Perseverance, pride and wanting to be debt free were the guidelines that Clint Hayes of Sarver, a former Pure Stock driver, set for himself when he decided to build a Late Model car four years ago. When he had the money, he bought parts for the car until it was finished. Hayes brought the car to Lernerville Speedway for last week's UFo Late Model show. He didn't make the show, but it shouldn't be long before he asserts himself in the division.

• Mercer Raceway's Smackdown Saturday night features the BRP Modified Tour and $2,000 on the line to the winner and a $1,000 bonus if a Mercer-legal 358 wins. The FASTRAK Late Models will be competing for $800. One week later, the twice-postponed Bill Emig Memorial will be presented Aug. 22. Sharing the top billing is the Sprint cars with $1,500 to win.

Carol Gamble is the racing columnist for the Butler Eagle.