After a two-week delay to finish several projects, Jennerstown Speedway will finally start its season Saturday, meaning both of the region's NASCAR-sanctioned tracks are back in action. Motordrome Speedway has fought Mother Nature since the end of March to run its features, with Rick Miller, last year's champion, and Neil Brown tied for the points lead in its top-tier late model class.

Even though both tracks compete in the NASCAR Northeast Region, their racing programs are slightly different. Motors stirred a controversy last year when Motordrome, which races Fridays, allowed the use of a fuel-injected sealed engine in its late model division to help defray costs while Jennerstown experimented with a carbureted version. The engines were not legal at both tracks so drivers who could afford only one type of motor had to choose which track to race.

The advantage to using a sealed engine, or crate motor, is to lower cost. A conventional engine is around $18,000 to $22,000 while a sealed engine can run between $5,000 and $8,000. Motordrome is running a similar rules package to last season but Jennerstown owner Dave Wheeler took a different approach. First, he eliminated his pro truck and modified classes. Then he turned his late model class from last year and into a super late model division, with former champions Mark Cottone and Jeff Dunmyer and about 23 other drivers. After those changes, he created a new late model class for drivers who want to race with a sealed engine. However, he chose to use a carbureted crate motor rather than the fuel-injected version Motordrome allows. The super late models will compete for NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series points in 50-lap features while the crate motor late model class will race in the NASCAR ShorTrack Series with 25-lap features.

"It looks like, by working with our drivers, we've come up with a very doable thing to make it affordable again," said Wheeler, who raced for 10 years. "What that late model class does in a nutshell is they run half the laps, they have a $5,200-motor program and they can only buy one tire a week. There's $450 to win and $100 to tow. It made a class of racing for guys who could not afford super lates to get into a good, solid racing division. It also took all the old obsolete late model chassis that were sitting around and got them back in use.

"I think if we're going to save racing, we have to remember this isn't the Nextel Cup Series, this is a weekend sport where these guys do this stuff out of their pocket and their family entertainment budgets. Quite frankly, for the big teams that have all the dollars to spend there are touring series."

Red Miley, who is in his third year as owner of Motordrome Speedway, disagreed with Wheeler's decision to use a carbureted crate motor rather than the fuel-injected version. Miley believes fuel-injected motors are the future of racing. Wheeler doesn't dispute that, but believes fuel injection is not the way to go right now.

"I was very disappointed in Dave Wheeler's decision to go backward on the carburetor," Miley said. "He has to do what he feels is good for his racetrack, but it certainly wasn't good for asphalt racing in Western Pennsylvania. It probably affects five cars that would actually go back and forth so it's not a lot of cars, but at a time when the fields aren't big, it means a lot. We're the only two Western Pennsylvania asphalt tracks and anywhere you can work together makes a lot of sense. I feel good about our sealed motor program overall. It's inevitable. There won't be a late model class as we know it today if we don't get the sealed motors because if you look around the country you see the fields dwindling because people just don't have the money. Change is always difficult but we do everything for the long term. We'll take a short-term loss for a long-term gain."

Lugnuts

Former Motordrome and Jennerstown standout Ryan Hemphill scored the biggest victory in his young career when he won the ARCA RE/MAX Series race Saturday at Kentucky Speedway. Hemphill, who started second, led 116 of the 137 lap sat the 1.5-mile oval and moved into third in the series standings. ... The IHRA's Mr. Gasket Pro Am Tour rolls into Pittsburgh Raceway Park tomorrow. ... Lernerville Speedway returns to regular racing after the All-Star sprint series race was rained out last week. ... Keith Barbara led all 20 laps of the super late model feature during the Latrobe Speedway opener Sunday.