Lernerville Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup preview

Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Preview: Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup

Sarver, PA-- July 13, 2008--The "Month of Money" continues for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Tuesday, July 15 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania. The event will pay a record $40,000 to-win. Nine drivers have won the event that has been contested 15 timed dating back to 1992, with Mother Nature also being victorious in one of those events. Donny Schatz, the two-time defending series champion has won the race each of the last two seasons. Steve Kinser, the 20-time World of Outlaws champion who has 16 career A-Feature wins at Lernerville, won the event in 1994.

Schatz has three career wins at Lernerville Speedway and finished seventh there earlier this season. He has seven consecutive Top-10 finishes at the four-tenths-mile facility. He leads the World of Outlaws with 10 A-Feature wins this season, as he continues to lead the championship standing in search of his third consecutive title. He is the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in each and every event this season.

Jason Meyers won at Lernerville on May 13, taking the lead from Terry McCarl on the 18th lap of the 35-lap contest. He has two career wins at the track, with the other coming in a World of Outlaws Gumout Series event in 2000. The native of Clovis, California recently won the Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park to pick up his sixth A-Feature of the season.

Craig Dollansky finished second in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup last season. In his last start at Lernerville, he charged from the 20th starting spot to finish fifth. He won at the track in 2000 with the World of Outlaws Gumout Series. He has six consecutive Top-10 finishes at the track. The Minnesota native is just one point out of the second spot in points, on the strength of six A-Feature wins.

Joey Saldana finished sixth in May at Lernerville Speedway and has 17 career Top-10 finishes at the track. He has one career win at the track, with that coming in 2005. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana recently picked up his second win of the season at Eldora Speedway, as he continues his third season driving for Kasey Kahne Racing.

Steve Kinser has 16 career A-Feature wins at Lernerville. He has 52 Top-10 finishes in his career at the track, with 41 of those being in the Top-Five. He has won twice this season and is currently fifth in points on the strength of 18 Top-10 finishes.

Jac Haudenschild has 24 Top-10 finishes in his career at Lernerville Speedway, dating back to 1982. He is just outside the Top-Five in the World of Outlaws championship standings as he closes in first win of the season.

Kerry Madsen, the reigning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award winner finished eighth in the series visit to the track in May. He has 18 Top-10 finishes this season as he closes in on his first win of the season driving for the Vermeer Motorsports team.

Chad Kemenah has three career wins at Lernerville Speedway and finished a season-best third in the World of Outlaws first visit of the season to the four-tenth-mile. In his career, the native of Findlay, Ohio has 10 Top-10 finishes at the track. He has 16 Top-10 finishes this season and is solidly in the eighth spot in points.

Shane Stewart, the 2005 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year, won at Lernerville back in 2002 with the World of Outlaws Gumout Series. The Oklahoma native has 15 Top-10 finishes this season, including a win at the famed Knoxville Raceway.

Terry McCarl finished second at Lernerville back in May. He has six career Top-10 finishes at the track. The six-time Knoxville Raceway and Huset's Speedway track champion has 12 Top-10 finishes on the season, as he closes in on his first win of 2008.

Daryn Pittman has finished third in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup in each of the last two seasons. He has 10 Top-10 finishes in career at the track. The native of Owasso, Oklahoma is just outside of the Top-10 in points on the strength of 13 Top-10 finishes.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. finished ninth earlier this season at Lernerville. The sophomore driver has 11 Top-10 finishes this season as he closes in on the Top-10 in championship points.

Kraig Kinser, the 2004 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year has made six starts in his career at Lernerville. In his first season driving for Tony Stewart Racing, he has five Top-10 finishes.

Jason Sides finished sixth last season in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. He has five Top-10 finishes this season.

Tony Bruce Jr. has competed at Lernerville Speedway three times in his career. The sophomore driver recently moved into the 15th spot in championship points.

Chad Hillier also has made three trips to Lernerville Speedway in career, as he continues his second full-season with the World of Outlaws.

Paul McMahan has made three starts at Lernerville this season, with two Top-Five finishes. He has 11 Top-10 finishes in his career at the track.

Lucas Wolfe, the leading contender for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award leader will miss the event as he continues to recover from a back injury.

2008 Race Recap: Jason Meyers scored his second career win at the always racy four-tenths mile, when the series visited the track on May 13.

The California native lined up third for the 35-lap contest and actually fell back to fifth in the early going, before tracking down Chad Kemenah and then Jac Haudenschild. On the 12th lap, he slipped by early leader Dale Blaney to move into the runner-up spot. He then took the lead from Terry McCarl on the 18th lap exiting the four turn, as McCarl slipped up the banking.

Late in the race, Haudenschild dove low in the first turn to take the lead, but Meyers again used a strong run off the fourth turn as Haudenschild slipped up the track to remain in the lead and was officially scored the leader at the line.

The race began with Dale Blaney charging past Jac Haudenschild to take the lead into the first and second turns. Terry McCarl quickly moved into third on the opening circuit. The leaders were setting a blistering pace and encountered lapped traffic on the just the fifth go-around. Blaney continued to lead with Haudenschild closing in a couple of times, including on the sixth lap when he looked high for the lead exiting the fourth turn.

McCarl moved into the runner-up position on the eighth circuit, using the high side of turns one and two. On the next lap, McCarl dove to the lead as Blaney drifted high off the fourth turn. McCarl would begin to pull away as he sliced through traffic.

He wound up leading nine laps on and earned his best finish of the season as he came home second.

Meyers used a strong restart after the first caution of the night on the 13th lap to shadow McCarl. The 18th lap would be the decisive one, as McCarl hit a rut exiting the fourth turn and Meyers was there to sweep past him for the lead. A couple of more cautions bunched the field and gave McCarl two more chances to make a move on Meyers. Down the stretch, Meyers opened a comfortable lead en route to the $10,000 triumph.

Chad Kemenah earned his best finish of the season as he wound up third. The Ohio native battled Meyers early in the race and charged around Blaney with just four laps remaining. Blaney wound up fourth with Craig Dollansky coming all the way from the 20th starting spot to finish fifth.

What to look for in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup

* Steve Kinser had 16 career A-Feature wins with the World of Outlaws at Lernerville Speedway and 41 Top-Five finishes dating back to 1979. He won the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup in 1994.

* Donny Schatz, the two-time defending series champion has won the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup the last two seasons at the track and has three wins overall in his career at the 0.4-mile. He leads the World of Outlaws with 10 wins this season as he chases his third consecutive title.

* Jason Meyers has five Top-10 finishes in his career at Lernerville Speedway, including a win in May at the track, as well as with the World of Outlaws Gumout Series in 2000. He recently moved back into the second spot in the championship standings.

* Craig Dollansky has 12 Top-10 finishes at Lernerville Speedway in his career, including a win with the World of Outlaws Gumout Series in 2000. He was second last season in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. He has won six times this season.

* Joey Saldana won at Lernerville Speedway in 2005, and has 16 career Top-10's at the track. He also holds the track record in time trials, which he established in 2002.

* Chad Kemenah has three career wins at Lernerville and finishes a season-best third in the series first visit of the season to the track.

* Jac Haudenschild has 24 Top-10 finishes in his career at Lernerville Speedway. He is just outside of the Top-Five in points as he continues his first season driving for the Carnahan Motorsports team.

* Shane Stewart won a World of Outlaws Gumout Series event at the track in 2002.

* Daryn Pittman finished third in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup the last two seasons and has nine career Top-10 finishes at the track.

By the Numbers- Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup

0.4- Miles around Lernerville Speedway

3- Track records that have been set in time trials at World of Outlaws events this season; Drivers that led laps in May at the track

7- Laps led by Donny Schatz last season to win the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup

8- Drivers that have won A-Feature events with the World of Outlaws this season

12.334- Track record established by Joey Saldana on May 15, 2002

13- Drivers that have been quickest in time trials this season

16- Drivers that have led laps in A-Feature competition this season

17- Consecutive years that the Don Martin Silver Cup has been held, including this season; A-Feature wins for Steve Kinser at Lernerville Speedway, one of those events was rained out

18- Laps led by Jason Meyers en route to winning at Lernerville back in May

19- Drivers that have won World of Outlaws A-Feature events at the track dating back to 1979

29- Consecutive seasons that the World of Outlaws have competed at Lernerville Speedway

46- Cars that competed in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup last season

63- A-Feature events contested by the World of Outlaws at Lernerville Speedway dating back to 1979

75- Feet in width of the turns at Lernerville Speedway

85- Feet in width of the straightaways at Lernerville Speedway

229- Laps led by Craig Dollansky this season to lead the series through July 11

327- Miles from Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio where the World of Outlaws compete on July 12 to Lernerville Speedway

1967- Years that racing began at Lernerville Speedway

1968- First full season of racing at the track

1979- First season that the World of Outlaws competed at Lernerville Speedway 40,000- Dollars the winner will receive on July 15

Tickets: On Tuesday, July 15 at Lernerville Speedway, Adult General Admission tickets for those 18-over will be $29, with General Admission tickets for Seniors $26 and tickets for those ages 11-17 $24, with kids10-under admitted free of charge. Reserved tickets for those 18-over will be $32, with reserved tickets for Seniors $29 and reserved tickets for ages 11-17 $27. For ticket information visit www.lernerville.com.

Next Up: The Williams Grove Summer Nationals, which will be a two-day event this season and pay the winner $20,000.

-credit: woo