A blown fuse in a transformer knocked out power to part of Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway last night and forced the cancellation of the opening feature of the 16th annual Pittsburgher.

The scheduled 60-lap conclusion to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned event will be run as scheduled with time trials beginning today at 5:30 p.m.

Ticket-holders from the event last night can attend the race today by paying only $10.

PPMS was able to run time trials before it became too dark to begin heats and features. Bart Hartman, who is fifth in Outlaws points and drives the house car for Rocket Chassis, cruised around the half-mile oval in 19.153 seconds to lead all 57 drivers who were attempting to qualify for the scheduled 40-lap feature that was eventually canceled after a lengthy delay.

"Qualifying here is always about making a good line, be consistent and the cars usually work well," said Hartman, of Zanesville, Ohio.

"Our car was good in hot laps. We changed a little bit before qualifying. Right before qualifying, I had a push in each end, but we got around it.

"Pittsburgh's always been a real nice place to come. It's always been real racy at night."

The Pittsburgher has undergone two major changes this year with the sanctioning of the World of Outlaws. No longer is it a 100-lap event and no longer is it scheduled to run in daylight. It's a break from tradition that is becoming more common across the country.

"We've been doing that a lot this year," Hartman said. "Sometimes, tradition is meant to be broken. For what everything is costing these days, 60 laps are more competitive. It changes your setup and the way you race your car because you don't have to go 100 laps. A lot of times when you go to some of these racetracks and you race a local for a 35- or 40-lapper they have a better chance because that's what they usually run. So it levels the playing field quite a bit."

Chub Frank, who held off Scott Bloomquist to win the 2001 Pittsburgher, knows what the local racers of Western Pennsylvania are going through this weekend. Although he has toured with several dirt late model series over the years, the native of Sugar Grove, Pa., who won twice this season at Lernerville Speedway, understands the importance of this weekend to those drivers who compete at PPMS each week.

"They're a little bit nervous," Frank said. "They're just trying to make the race.

"They know they're racing against a bunch of good guys. They've raced here all year, but the track's probably a little different tonight. They're just trying to make the race. That's the pressure for them.

"Once they get in the race, that's the easy part."PITTSBURGHER 500