Sunday, August 03, 2003

By Chris Dolack, Special to the Post-Gazette

With each passing race, Travis Geisler is closer to fulfilling his dream of racing in the top levels of NASCAR.

Geisler, 22, of Cranberry, graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Vanderbilt in May and immediately jumped behind the wheel of his car to race in several NASCAR touring events this summer. He posted top-10 finishes in June at Nashville and Kentucky speedways before being caught in a wreck July 18 at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis. A week later, and after repairing the car in a Denver shop, Geisler raced to a 13th-place finish at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Geisler, whose father is dirt late model legend Lynn Geisler, honed his skills at Motordrome and Jennerstown speedways while he was in college and is working toward a full-time ride on a national level for next season. At this point in his career, though, racing seems to be the easy part. With an all-volunteer crew, Geisler does more car preparation than many of today's young racers. In addition, he has caught the attention of media outlets that are seeking to find the next young star in NASCAR.

"I would say it used to be a dream of mine, but now it has become a goal," said Geisler about reaching the top rung of NASCAR. "It's a lot more in reach than it used to be."

Geisler's races from Gateway and Pikes Peak can be seen on Fox Sports Net at 2 p.m. tomorrow and Aug. 11, respectively. Also on Aug. 11, he will be a co-host of "Rappin' on Racin' " at 6 p.m. on WEDO (810 AM). Geisler's next race will be the American Speed Association's Pennsylvania 300 Aug. 16 at Jennerstown Speedway.

Kinser doubles up

Steve Kinser won two World of Outlaws series sprint car features at Sharon Speedway Wednesday night to close the gap on points leader Danny Lasoski to 57. In the resumption of a feature rain-delayed from May, Kinser restarted in second place and pulled away to win by a straightaway over Joey Saldana. In the regularly scheduled race Wednesday, Kinser worked his way into the lead with three laps to go and cruised to a six-car length victory over Greg Hodnett.

"I can't believe this thing finished the race," Kinser said. "I got the lead from Joey, and then the motor laid down, and I thought, 'Well a couple more laps, and I'm going to be done.' But it just never did quit, and with the motor running like that I got to working in the middle where I couldn't hardly spin a tire, and I thought, 'Well, I might just have a shot to win this thing.' "

The races Wednesday concluded the Outlaws events in the region for this year. With each passing season, the rumors about a sale of the Texas-based World of Outlaws series seem to become louder. There are several suitors who have expressed an interest in the series, but one person keeping his checkbook closed is Sharon Speedway co-owner Dave Blaney, a former Outlaws champion who also races in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

"If I wasn't involved in Sharon Speedway, I would have more interest than I do, but I don't have any at the moment," he said. "We're doing all we can do to keep up with Sharon Speedway and still run NASCAR."

Looking ahead

At Lernerville Speedway, there are only three more Friday nights to decide track championships. This week, late model standout John Flinner aims to expand his narrow lead over Nick Jones and Ken Schaltenbrand as he closes in on his third consecutive track title. Friday night at Motordrome Speedway, where points-racing ends Sept. 19, Rick Miller, Neil Brown and Garry Wiltrout continue their battle for the late model title.

A regular show highlights the action Saturday at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, where Al Atallah leads Jim Zarin in the race for the late model title. Saturday, Jennerstown, Mercer and Latrobe have regular shows and Pittsburgh Raceway Park will be closed.

Chris Dolack is the senior writer of Auto Racing Digest magazine. He can be contacted at cdolack@chrisdolack.com.

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