ALLSTAR: Lernerville/Sharon pit notes

All Star Sprint Lernerville/Sharon Pit Notes By Scott Hall 9/3/00

HARTFORD, OH - Phil Gressman has come into his own as a 410 sprint car driver. Teamed this season with veteran mechanic Dwight Reidling, Gressman was dominant Sunday, winning the Sharon Nationals. Gressman became the 15th different Sharon Nationals champion in 20 runnings. *** After Sharon promoter Ed Skillman opened up his track Friday night and soaked it with water, Saturday afternoon rains made turn one soft and rutty. There was an eight inch lip on several of the ruts, which made it a rough ride, and caused Rob ChaneyRs flat tire and loss of a possible feature win. The track was much wetter Sunday, and it was much smoother in turn one. Ed Lynch Jr. lost a front tire on the least lap of the feature Saturday, cutting his brake line and sending him backwards into the wall, robbing him of a top 10 finish. *** Brad Ellenberger scratched from SaturdayRs action when his crew was changing the fuel pill and drained the fuel line right on his driverRs seat. Ellenberger sat in the wet seat and received chemical burns on his skin, so Ellenberger called it a night. *** James Chesson raced with a Chevrolet engine Saturday night, while his brother P.J. used Mopar power. Ace mechanic Scott Benic was assisting the Chesson crew at Sharon. James had the wrong mufflers on Sunday at Sharon and was disqualified from his heat race finish. He was offered a chance to put on the correct mufflers and start tail of the B Main, but he declined. PJ suffered magneto problems Sunday, and did not take a time trial lap or enter any race. *** SaturdayRs Sharon live audio internet broadcast over RSBN.net drew 388,620 listeners. *** Jimmy Hawley, after a hard flip Friday night, was in the hospital Saturday for a CAT scan due to dizziness and a loss of equilibrium. He was diagnosed with a concussion and released Sunday and feeling sore, but much better. *** Frankie Kerr was on hand over the weekend, helping Byron Reed in the pits. Kerr indicated heRll be moving to the Charlotte NC area soon to pursue a career as a mechanic for a Busch Grand Nationals team. *** Andy McKisson replaced the injured Jarod Larson in the Bill Clemson No. 47 at Sharon. Larson was on hand, wearing a back brace, offering pitside assistance. *** Jack Lewis, father of the late sprint car driver Spanky Lewis, handed out several cash awards Friday. He paid Brian Ellenberger $500 for leading lap 18, his sonRs car number, and paid Kemenah $200 for winning since Chad was one of SpankyRs racing buddies. He also added $100 each to the dash and B main winnerRs shares. *** Travis Rilat made the tow up from Texas to run with the All Stars this weekend. He hopes to make enough money to stay up here in the Midwest and run with the All Stars for several more weeks. Unfortunately Rilat broke a shock Friday in the beginning of the feature, and didnRt have time to change and get back out for the rest of the race. Ed Lynch Jr. almost dropped out of FridayRs Lernerville main when his throttle petal bent. He started to pull into the infield, but when no one passed him, he pulled back on the track and kept going, soldering on to a fifth place finish. Also, Phil Gressman was running third on Friday when his fuel pump broke, ending his night. *** Brian Gobrecht was presented a banner by the management of Lernerville Speedway in memory of his brother Kevin. Gobrecht stated he had just built a new house, and on of the rooms is a trophy room dedicated to Kevin, featuring all the memorabilia the family has received over the past year. *** When Chad Kemenah won FridayRs Lernerville main, he stated from the elevated victory lane, "This podium is kind of nice, it reminds me of EldoraRs. IRd like to stand on that one someday, too." *** The All Stars have added a show to their schedule, Sunday afternoon Sept. 17 at Cannonball Motor Speedway in St. Clairsville, OH. The make-up date at K-C Raceway scheduled for Sept. 30 has been cancelled. Next SaturdayRs Fremont `"Frankie Kerr Night" race will feature an increased purse, plus over $9,000 in product awards to the 24 cars in the A Main and top 11 finishers in the B Main. There will also be a TW Metals dash for the four slowest qualifiers, paying $100, $75, $60, $50.