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Sunday, September 30, 2001

By Chris Dolack, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Dave Blaney has been busy this summer. He seems to have spent as much time adjusting to his new Bill Davis Racing Dodge Intrepid in the NASCAR Winston Cup series as he has spent denying the rumor that he is already the owner of Sharon Speedway near the Blaney family's hometown of Hartford, Ohio.

Earlier this summer, Blaney family patriarch, Lou, who continues to win modified features around Western Pennsylvania, indicated he would be interested in running the track. But on his Web site -- http://www.daveblaney.com/ -- Dave insists he has only spoken with track officials about purchasing the speedway.

After Danny Wood won his first career World of Outlaws feature at Lernerville Speedway Tuesday night, Dale Blaney, who finished 10th in a car owned by brother Dave, indicated a deal was imminent.

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"There's really nothing official yet," he said. "Hopefully, everything will get worked out in the next week or so.

"Dave's involved and dad's involved. As far as me, I'm not sure what I'm going to do racing. I don't know if I'm going to get involved in the racetrack or race a little bit more. I'd like to get involved, racing's not going to last me forever, and that's something we can all kind of build together."

Dale, who was the Outlaws rookie of the year in 1998, isn't certain he will remain with the series after this season. He has struggled to only one feature victory and is 15th in points.

"It depends on some sponsorship help," he said. "Mopar is going to come back. Hopefully, MBNA will come back to help us some, but even if we get those two back we're still going to need a little more help to do it and do it right."

Despite his 10th-place finish Tuesday and a ninth-place finish in the Silver Cup event in July at Lernerville , Blaney still looks forward to the Outlaws races at the Sarver oval.

"It's always fun to race here," he said. "It's one of the nicest places we come to every year. I enjoy coming back and seeing all the people. I just wish one of these times I could run real good in an Outlaws race here. I think the best finish I ever had here was sixth in an Outlaws race. I'd like to run for the lead one time in one of these things. Maybe if I do that I'd retire."

More Outlaws

Apparently Danny Wood of Norman, Okla., enjoyed his first career Outlaws victory Tuesday night, because when Outlaws raced Thursday night at Port Royal Speedway in Juniata County, Wood again was the winner.

"I think some people may have underestimated this team, and maybe I underestimated this crew, but when it goes this good there's no feeling like it," he said after his second victory.

Alquippa's Tim Shaffer has had one of his better seasons on the Outlaws circuit. He finished sixth Tuesday at Lernerville and eighth Thursday at Port Royal before winning the preliminary feature of the Williams Grove National Open Friday night in Mechanicsburg. He has two A-main wins the year, but the victory Friday night was Shaffer's first in a preliminary feature this season. It pushed him into sixth place in the standings going into the feature event last night.

Surf's up

The top dirt late model drivers in the country will compete for three consecutive nights in The Big Kahuna beginning Thursday at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway in Cumberland, Md.

The Mid-Atlantic Championship Series will start the action Thursday with a $7,500-to-win race. Two-time MACS champion Lynn Geisler of Cranberry leads Jim Yoder by 17 points and Mike Blose by 24 points in this year's championship race.

The Renegade STARS series highlights the racing Friday night with a $10,000 to win event. Points leader Chub Frank, who won the Pittsburgher 100 at PPMS earlier this month, is coming off a victory at K-C Raceway near Chillicothe, Ohio.

The United Dirt Track Racing Association takes centerstage Saturday for a $15,000-to-win race. Rick Eckert, who finished third in the Pittsburgher, has a 23-point lead over Steve Francis and a 121-point lead over Scott Bloomquist, who has 10 victories and finished second in the Pittsburgher.

Chris Dolack can be reached at cdolack@post-gazette.com.