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Sunday, July 20, 2003

By Chris Dolack, Special to the Post-Gazette

The drivers of the World of Outlaws sprint car series are back in town this week, and they have Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo in their sights.

Beginning their second swing through Western Pennsylvania, the Outlaws will race for $35,000 Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway in the 12th annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup feature. The gates will open at 3 p.m. with time trials set to begin at 7:15 p.m. and racing at 8 p.m.

Lynch Jr., who has the most sprint car victories in the Sarver track's history, is the defending race winner after he got the best of the Outlaws a year ago for the first time in his career. It was the first time one of the speedway's regular local drivers defeated the Outlaws in the Silver Cup event, which is one of the more prestigious races in the series' 71-event schedule.

"We race all over the country, the best of the best, and Ed Lynch put it on us," said Danny Lasoski, who leads the Outlaws standings by 58 points over Steve Kinser coming into this weekend. "We're going to come back and try to beat him this time. He's a great racer. He's stepped up racing at home because he's got a job, but I'm sure if he came on the road he'd be right there with us all the time."

Lasoski, the 2001 Outlaws champion, drives a car owned by NASCAR Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart, and Lernerville is one of the few tracks along the Outlaws tour where he has never won. He finished fourth in the May event, which was won by Donny Schatz.

"It seems like we've run second two or three times in that race and never been able to win that," Lasoski said. "We're excited to come back. We have a new Mopar powerplant, and we were pretty strong the first time we were there so we're going to go back and see if we can win that thing."

Kinser, nicknamed the "King of the Outlaws," has 13 victories at Lernerville, including one in the 1994 Silver Cup. He knows defeating Lynch won't be easy.

"He runs good there," said Kinser, who has seven top-six finishes in Silver Cup features. "That's his home racetrack and if he's going to beat us, that's where he's going to beat us at. There are a lot of good local race drivers all across the United States now. Everybody's got the same equipment now so those guys are going to give you some races, especially on their home tracks. They're pretty good at those things."

While the action on the track still is outstanding, following the Outlaws off the track this season also has been intriguing. Rumors of a sale were fueled in late May when Wheeler Television Productions sued the series and had some of its vehicles impounded after an event in Concord, N.C. Earlier this month, the Outlaws reached an agreement with Wheeler and recovered their impounded vehicles, which included a souvenir truck.

So, with the stage set for the top sprint racers in the country to compete, here are some facts to consider about the Silver Cup event:

Jac Haudenschild, Mark Kinser and Steve Kinser are the only three drivers to have competed in all 11 previous races.

Mark Kinser has the most victories (5).

The drivers with the most top-10 finishes are Steve Kinser (9) and Sammy Swindell (9).

Swindell has the most top-five finishes (7).

Lynch has the most feature starts of any local racer (8).

In the first Silver Cup, Craig Rankin was the only local driver to qualify for the feature.

Five sets of brothers have competed in the Silver Cup: Bobby and Joey Allen, Dean and Kenny Jacobs, Dale and Dave Blaney, Jeff and Sammy Swindell, and James and P.J. Chesson.

Steve and Stevie Smith, who won in '95, are the only father-son combination to have qualified for the feature.

The largest starting field was in 1998 when 27 cars took the green flag.

Looking ahead

This week, Lernerville, Motordrome and Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway have regular shows plus demolition derbies. Jennerstown has a 150-lap feature for late models Saturday, while Mercer Raceway Park and Latrobe have regular shows. Pittsburgh Raceway Park will have the Mid-America Funny Car Show along with regular racing Saturday.