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“STEEL VALLEY THUNDER� NEXT UP ON SATURDAY FEATURING MODS, FASTRAK LM, E-MODS, STOCKS & MINIS; KIDS GOLD RUSH PLANNED

By Mike Leone

July 13, 2011

(Hartford, OH)…After being off over the Fourth of July holiday, Sharon Speedway has roared back to life with three great events in the past week with the most recent being Tuesday’s Lou Blaney Memorial. Tremendous racing and lots of passing has been the norm and hopefully that trend will continue on Saturday night.

It’ll be another installment of “Steel Valley Thunder� at 7 p.m. featuring the Governor Insurance Agency Big-Block Modifieds, Barris Supply FASTRAK Late Models, Ainsley 500 Heating & Cooling E-Mods, Gibson Insurance Agency Stock Cars, and the Presidential Lawn Care Mini Stocks on Independent Insurance Agents of Trumbull County Night.

Saturday’s promotion is Kids Gold Rush Night, which will allow kids to pocket money that will be spread out in a tarp during intermission. Also, the new boy’s and girl’s bike giveaway program presented by King Bros. Feed Supply & Redi Mix will continue. Kids 4-14 can sign up until intermission. If either Rex King, Sr. or Jr. wins the feature, a new bike will be presented to a lucky boy and girl the following Saturday.

The Governor Insurance Agency Big-Block Modifieds have really stepped it up the last two races with some excellent events going right down to the wire. Last Saturday night, Kevin Bolland notched his first win of the season, while on Tuesday night, Rob Kristyak held off New Yorkers Jerry Higbie, Jr. and Chad Brachmann for the biggest win of his career.

Three-time winner Rex King holds down a 30-point advantage over two-time winner Jim Rasey. Bolland sits just two points behind Rasey.

The FASTRAK Late Models have produced competitive racing all season long with nine different winners in 11 races with a total of 76 different drivers competing! Josh Double extended his point lead to 10 over John Volpe after his career first Sharon win, which gave the Bristolville racer the first ever FASTRAK win for an Ohio driver in the 19th race run at Sharon.

As hard as it’s to believe, defending and current National Weekly Series point leader, Max Blair, only has one win this season at Sharon. Blair sits fourth in points just four behind Rocky Kugel, who is having a great season.

Like FASTRAK, the E-Mod car counts have been strong with full fields of cars almost every night as 73 different drivers have been in competition! For the first time this season, Mike Kinney has taken over the point lead in the E-Mods. The Conneaut, Ohio driver only has one victory, but has been so consistent with eight top four finishes in 11 starts. Kinney has just a three-point advantage on three-time winner Alan Dellinger and only 10 on another consistent driver in Carl McKinney.

Steve D’Apolito continues to lead the way in the Stock Cars. The Boardman, Ohio racer is in search of his fourth Sharon title and also won last year’s crown at Mercer. D’Apolito has yet to finish worse than sixth in any heat or feature this season to go along with two wins as he leads Mike Clark. It took Mike Clark 15 years to win a feature, but only three races to win his second! Despite D’Apolito’s consistency, Clark has been just about as consistent as he chewed five points into D’Apolito’s lead last week and now trails him by just 12.

It’s been all Bill Fuchs in the Presidential Mini Stocks this season. The Greenville, Pa. driver leads all racers at the speedway with eight wins. Fuchs has only been beat on five occasions and has yet to finish worse than third in any feature this season! Fuchs has a commanding 105-point lead on Randy Sprouse as he inches closer to his first championship. Meanwhile, Randy’s son Lucas sits just three points back of Randy in third.

“Last weekend the racing was fantastic and we had another great Lou Blaney Memorial on Tuesday,� stated second year GM Dave Willoughby. “Hopefully that’ll continue on Saturday as we’ve been very happy with our Saturday program this season. If you haven’t made it out for our Steel Valley Thunder program, we invite you to do so and bring the kids for the gold rush! The weather is looking good!�

On Saturday, pits open at 4 p.m. with the grandstands at 5 and racing at 7. Adult admission is $13. Students 9-13 are $5. Kids eight and under are free. The family pass is $32 for mom, dad, and four kids 13 and under. Pit passes are $25. There are no registration fees for the remainder of the season. There is a rain date of Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

Sharon Speedway is owned by the Blaney, Weller, and Kirila Families and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Become a fan of Sharon Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sharonspdwy.

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