Todd Weiner, 39, won his second career feature at Dog Hollow Speedway in North Cambria, Pa., in a car that is a little different than most street stocks he competes against.

Weiner's car is fitted with a motorcycle hand control on his steering wheel and a hand-assisted lever to depress the brake pedal. He uses a similar setup in his street vehicle.

Weiner, of Greensburg, has been racing for 11 years with a short brake because of a traffic accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

He is a paraplegic, but that does not stop him from doing what he wanted to do, even through family and friends were not supportive at first.

In January 1996, Weiner's spinal cord injury was thought to have ended his racing. But a few months removed from the hospital, he told his wife he wanted to race again..

"My wife wasn't real thrilled about it at first," Weiner said. "After convincing, Wendi to let me try again, my friends came over, and we fabricated controls and the roll cage."

To exit the car, the top roll bar hinges up, and he slides out of the car quickly. This satisfies a speedway's safety requirements.

When talking about his first win since June 2000, Weiner said "It's been a long dry spell, but we'll keep trying for the next one."

McKinney sweeps Tri-City

Carl McKinney of Cranberry completed a weekend sweep recently as he won the E Series All Star 30 for the E Mods at Tri-City Speedway in Franklin.

McKinney's winnings totaled more than $2,200 for the two races won in dominating fashion. McKinney also captured the championship at Tri-City for car owner Mike Hendrickson.

"This car was awesome right off the trailer," said McKinney, after his fifth win of the season and sixth career win at Tri-City.

Lugnuts

Lernerville Speedway's season will come to a close this weekend with Autumn-Motive Fest. A two-day event for the Pure Stocks includes a $2,000-to-win feature and $1,000 to-win event for the UMP Modifieds (e-mods) tomorrow. Tonight, the track will feature an old favorite as the Enduro class returns with a 100-lap race. More than 85 cars are entered for the $1,000-to-win race. The pure stocks and UMP Mods will run qualifying races tonight. A 6 p.m. start time is set for both nights. ... Sharon Speedway will play host to the BRP Modified Tour tomorrow night along with Twin-25s for sprint cars. The BRP Mods will pick up on lap one after the race was postponed by rain Saturday. Racing will begin at 6 p.m. for all divisions. ...Mercer Raceway Park will switch from oval-track racing tomorrow night for the inaugural USA-EAST Regional "Finals" pulling event. Mercer has a practice night scheduled for Wednesday in preparation for the Little Guy Nationals Sept. 28-29. ... Champions will be crowned tonight at Motordrome Speedway in Smithton as the season closes. Racing will start at 7:30. ... The regular season also will conclude tomorrow night at Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway with double points for all divisions. Makeup features will take place for the crate late models and E-mods. The World of Outlaws Dirt Late Models will return to PPMS Sept. 22 for a 50-lap event as part of the Pittsburgher weekend.