2005 Updates
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April
Ed Wins Sharon Speedway Opener - 4/16/05

Once again, Ed was not the fastest car early on Saturday night at Sharon Speedway's opener, but hard work by the crew paid off with a win in the 25-lap feature.

"We made many changes through the night. For example, we changed gears three times, then shocks and tires, searching for more speed," said car owner, Ed, Sr.

The A-Main line-up showed Brent Matus and Leo O'Malley in the front row and Ed and Jody Keegan in row two. Mike Kekich and Shawn Minor made up row three, but it was Keegan who charged to the front and set the pace with Ed into second by the completion of one lap. Just one more lap got in the books when Troy Preston lost the handle in turn one and brought out the only caution of the event.

As the green replaced the yellow, Keegan once again dictated the tone by setting a fast pace and staying about three-car lengths ahead Ed - sometimes stretching it to five-car lengths. But as the two diced through lapped traffic, Ed began to narrow that gap and closed right in on Keegan's rear bumper.
By lap 10, Ed showed Keegan his nose on the inside in turns one and two.

Again, on laps 11 and 12, the two were side-by-side with Ed on the inside in the turns, but Keegan could lead on the straightaways.

But, just as Mike Henshaw showed the field the half-way mark from the flagstand, Ed went to the outside to make the winning move in turn two and led going down the backstretch and officially at 13 laps. With all flat-out racing to the finish, Ed set a blistering pace and ended up lapping up to the fourth place car.
Almost one-half a lap behind Ed at the checkered flag it was Jarod Larson, Keegan and Mike Kekich. Down one lap in fifth, it was Brent Matus. The heats earlier for the 14 cars produced Kevin Schaeffer ahead of Ed in heat one and Kekich in front of Larson in heat two.

As a result of running transponders on all cars this year, track officials are able to able to record all laps on all cars. They reported Ed's #2L had the fastest lap of the night for the Sprints, clocking in at 13.481 seconds on lap four of his heat race.


Ed comes from 12th to 3rd at Lernerville - 4/15/05

The good news is that Ed finished third after starting 12th Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

The even better news is that he didn't crash a whole race car when the center of the right rear wheel broke apart from the wheel as he entered turn three on his second lap of hot laps. The wheel and tire bounced off the top of a billboard 20 feet high which stopped it from going into the pits. Ed had his hands full to keep from flipping. He was able to steer the #2L to a stop with only the center and the nut on the rear axle.

Twenty-three Sprints were on hand to run two qualifying heats. Ed started on pole of the second heat and led every lap over Rod George and Jack Sodeman, Jr. Dan Shetler won from the pole in the first heat over Carl Bowser and Kevin Schaeffer.

The redraw for the 20-lap feature showed Scott Bonnell and Brent Covell starting in row one and Charlie Holben was with Brent Matus in row two.

Rod George and Ed made up row six. The green flag waved at 11:13PM with Bonnell leading the way, until he lost the handle high in turn three on lap eight, causing the only yellow flag of the event.

The restart had Holben with a three lap-car margin, then Sodeman, George, Schaeffer, Arnie Kent, Matus and Ed. Not getting his usual grip, Ed worked hard to pass each car. Sometimes he rode the high groove and sometimes low on a track that was much more narrow than usual. The high berm had taken its toll on the other divisions and there was no way a Sprint car could survive it.

For several laps, Ed and Schaeffer battled for position, until Ed's inside pass in turn four put him in charge of fourth. Then Ed got by Sodeman in heavy traffic for third spot with two laps to go and ran out of time.

George took the checkered and Holben finished ahead of Ed who ended up third.

Saturday, Sharon Speedway is our destination.


Ed ranks 2nd in Mercer Opener on Saturday - 5/9/05

Ed started 12th and probably passed the most cars in Mercer Raceway Park's season opener Saturday night, and had his sights set on passing one more - the leader, Mike Shearer - but ran out of laps and had to settle for a close second.

Starting the three Sprint heats right on time at 7:00PM, the draw put Ed on the outside pole of the second heat and he drove away with Shearer finishing second followed by Rod George and Jason Dolick. Jack Sodeman, Jr. won the first heat over Doug Stanley and Scott Bonnell taking the checkered over Tommy Quarterson in the third heat.

The feature re-draw for the top four in each heat put Ed in 12th starting spot for the 20-lap A-Main. Pole sitter Dolick, who started on pole of Ed's heat pulled #1 pill for the feature. Outside starter, Shearer led early and the field of 24 was off to a good start. Loss of power by Stanley on the inside groove near the end of the front chute, brought out the yellow after six lape with Shearer leading Rod George, Dolick, Ed (up to fourth), Sodeman, Jr. and Rob Eyler.

By the next yellow that turned into a red for an alcohol fire on the car of Curt Shuttleworth was on lap 14 and Ed was up to third behind Shearer and George. Several times after the final green flag Ed was beside George and challenging him for second spot. Finally with three laps to go, Ed got inside George in turn one and moved into second and set sail for Shearer.

Coming down the front chute for the white flag, Ed was inside and set to make a possible move to pass Shearer, but a lapped car on the inside spoiled that idea and Ed had to try a different plan. He came close and had the fans on their feet as the two took the checkered flag. George held on for third, followed by Eyler and Sodeman, Jr. in the top five.


Ed Wins Lernerville Opener Friday Night - 5/8/05

Twenty-four Sprints were on hand Friday night as Lernerville Speedway officially started its 38th season. "It's always nice to get that first win of the season," Ed said as on-track announcer Dow Carnahan reminded the large crowd that it was the fifth year in a row that Ed had won Lernerville's opener.

He didn't win his heat or lead the most laps in the feature and probably wasn't the fastest car until he adjusted his set-up toward the end of the 20-lap feature, and he ended up winning by a straight-away.

Sprints were up first with two ten-lap heats and Ed started sixth in the second heat and after several side-by-side laps with Arnie Kent in a battle for second, Ed got the spot and finished just behind winner Ralphie Spithaler. Kevin Schaeffer won the first heat over Mike Shearer and Rob Eyler.

The re-draw for the feature put Shearer and Dan Shetler on the front row and Spithaler and Jack Sodeman, Jr. in row two. Ed started fifth with Schaeffer outside that third row. When Shetler went off the high side of the track in turn four before the first lap was completed and the field crossed over to make it Shearer and Spithaler in the front row, Sodeman and Ed in row rwo for the complete restart.

The next caution came after two laps when Shearer spun to the inside in turn four. Now the lineup showed Sodeman, Jr., Ed, Rod George, Spithaler, Schaeffer and Kent. Just one lap later, Cory Goodhall spun in turn four.

Ed was battling Rod George for second and lost the position to George and lined up third when the green replaced the yellow.

The top three cars were almost three-side at times as the fans saw what seemed to be equally matched cars trying to be scored first. Ed passed George once again for second just before the yellow came out for Davey Jones on lap seven. This restart showed Sodeman, Jr., then Ed followed by the lapped car of Joe Butera and George, Spithaler, Schaeffer, Kent and Mike Kekich in the top seven spots.

During the next eight laps of green flag racing, the front trio stayed close as they entered lapped traffic and Ed was right on Sodeman's tail several times. Finally, after completing 12 laps Sodeman was high in turn two and Ed made the winning pass inside to lead lap 13.

The final yellow on lap 15 turned into a red flag when Mike Dehner experienced an alcohol fire and stopped on the back stretch. Ed had the lapped car of Bob Altmeyer as a cushion over Sodeman, George, Spithaler and Schaeffer to restart the five-lap dash to the finish. The late race set-up on the #2L kicked in and the margin of victory increased every lap.

In victory lane, Ed thanked Kistler engines, J&J chassis, Commercial Truck & Trailer, Indy Recycling, Howard Concrete Pumping, Wirtgen, Red Devil Brakes, FasTrack Systems and Hoosier Tires.

Since Sharon Speedway has already cancelled their races for Saturday, the crew is talking about going to Mercer Raceway Park's season opener.


Lernerville Opens on April Fools Day - 4/1/05

After delaying their "Season Opener" by one week, Lernerville Speedway started its 38th season Friday night. Ed was the featured driver on the front page of the Sports Section of today's Valley News Dispatch.

There were 20 Sprints on hand to run the two preliminary ten-lap heat races. Since rain was predicted by evening, it was not a total surprise when it started to sprinkle during the first heat which was won by Rod George. He led every lap and was followed by Mike Shearer and Scott Bonnell.

Ed started third in the second heat behind the front row of Kevin Schaffer and Terry Bowser. On the start, Arnie Kent and Bob Altmeyer got together on the front stretch at the flagstand. By the time the restart line-up was ready to take the green, it was raining pretty hard. Ed was in the lead coming out of turn one and led the 10-lap distance, with a one-half a lap margin of victory over Schaffer at the end.

Ed and Rod George never go to see what their match-up would bring, because the next event - the first heat for Modifieds never got out of the chute. The rain got heavier and the races were officially cancelled at 8:05PM.


May
Tri-City 5-29-05

After spending the morning in the garage, Ed decided to make the haul to Tri-City today.

Nineteen cars signed in for what turned out to be a long night. The Sprints were scheduled to be second for both the heats and the features. The BRP Modifieds were first up.

Ed's youngest son Sye picked a #44 pill for his Dad's starting position in the first of two heats. With Ed starting 9th, he knew he had his work cut out for him. The #47 of Larson, #4 of George, #49 of Sodoman, #56 of Spithaler (just to name a few) were all scheduled to start in front of Ed. On the start, Larson and George settled in to 1st and 2nd positions and stayed there while Ed battled to get to 3rd.

The 20 lap feature showed the #6F of Bob Felmlee and the #45 of Todd Bauer starting on the front row. Ed was scheduled to start third but a last minute line-up change by the track officials had Ed starting 5th. Other than a caution on lap 2 brought out for debris on the track, the race went non-stop. Ed tried the top and the bottom of the race track as he passed George, Bauer, and the #81 of Covell. On lap 10 as he was attempting to pass the second place car of Andy Mckisson, Ed went too low and hit water coming through turn two. He did a full 360 and managed to keep going without bringing out a caution. Although he lost several positions, he spent the last half of the race regaining those spots. He completed the pass of Mckisson on lap 19 for a second place finish. The #6F of Felmlee went on to win the race.

Ed plans to go to Sharon's World of Outlaw show on Friday June 3rd. Lernerville will not be racing Sprints that evening.


Sharon Speedway 5-28-05

We set out for Sharon never expecting to actually race tonight. The weather was stormy most of our way there. Shortly after arriving, the sun came out and heat races were under way at 6:40pm.

The Sprints were the second set to qualify for their heats. Ed started third in the first heat with the front row showing the #33m of Butera and the #49 of Sodoman,Jr. Butera didn't take off when the green flew causing the caution to come out. On the second try, Sodoman took and early lead with Ed following close behind. Although Ed worked the lapped traffic well, he wasn't able to pass Sodoman and had to settle for second. The second heat race win went to the #47 of Jarod Larson.

The Sprints were the first feature scheduled for the evening. As a result of Sharon's new rule, Ed had to start 12th because he won the last two weeks he raced there. At 9:35pm the green flag flew and Ed charged forward passing 7 cars before the caution came out for the #0 of Andy Mckisson on lap 4. The running order on the restart showed the #33 of Matus leading followed by the #1P of Rod Jones, #60 Keegan, #2J Seger then Ed. When racing resumed, Ed wasted no time going forward. By lap 7 he was set for turns 1 and 2 to pass the new leader #1P Rod Jones on the inside when Jones, for whatever reason, made an abrupt left turn, hitting Ed and spinning him out. The damage to the header was substantial and although the crew was able to change it, the field went green before Ed could re-join them.

A very disappointed Lynch team loaded up and headed home. Ed later commented that he felt the car was fast and was confident that he would've found victory lane for the 3rd straight time at Sharon.

Ed will asses the damage to tonight's race car then make a decision on racing Tri-City tomorrow.


Lernerville Rains Out at 9:00PM Friday -5/27/05

With 21 Sprints in the pits, only the first heat got in the books before the rains came and washed out the rest of the show.

Ed had drawn a pill that lined the #2L up on the outside of the front row beside Brett Covell, with Bill Kiley and Arnie Kent in row two. Ed won the ten-lap qualifying heat by a large margin over Covell, Kent, Jody Keegan and Kevin Schaeffer.

The second Sprint heat never got in the record books as well as any Pure Stock heats. Heat races were completed for the Modifieds and Late Models.

By 9:00PM the officials announced the program was rained out.

The crew will watch the weather on Saturday before heading to the New Sharon Speedway.


Ed has top 10 WoO finish in Commonwealth Clash - 5/21/05

For the second night in a row, Ed had a good solid time trial result against the World of Outlaws, but Saturday night he made it pay off with a top 10 finish in the 35-lap Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway.

The first four cars from Friday's Preliminary feature locked in to tonight's program, 33 other drivers were eligible for time trials and Ed was once again in the 12 second bracket, ranking fourth overall behind Kraig Kinser, Brandon Wimmer and Jason Meyers.

When K.Kinser failed to transfer from his heat and Wimmer crashed in his heat, that opened the door for Meyers and Ed to make the WoO Dash. Meyers finished fourth and transferred through the third heat and Ed finished third in the fourth heat. Thus, they both made the six-car Dash that would determine the first six spots in the A-Main. Heat winners were Donny Schatz, Danny Lasoski, Shane Stewart and Paul McMahan.

Joey Saldana won the Dash over Steve Kinser, Brook Tatnell and Ed, then came Meyers and Daryn Pittman who had problems that forced him to the pits.

Jason Solwold, Wimmer, Rob Eyler and Bob Felmlee advanced to the A-Main through the B-Main.

The feature got off to a rough start when Jack Sodeman, Jr. flipped on the front stretch bringing out the red flag. On the next attempt to start, Tim Shaffer stopped on the front stretch when he suffered front-end damage, bringing out a yellow flag. On this restart line-up Ed saw a move he had made into third taken away when it was explained that all cars had not completed a lap.

On the third try, there was success and four laps were completed before another red came out for Rob Eyler who flipped in turn one.

From that point on, it was all green flag racing. It was apparent that Ed had plenty of straight-away speed, but had problems in the turns. Meyers got by on lap three, then on lap five Tatnell was ahead of Ed, but Ed battled back to regain fourth for laps six and seven. By lap 10, Ed was going back and forth with Sammy Swindell for position five. Those two juggled the spot for the next 10 laps.

It was on lap 21 that Daryn Pittman slipped past for position six. Donny Schatz ran side-by-side with Ed and finally took over seventh with just a handfull on laps left and that's where Ed finished in eighth spot.

Meanwhile, at the front, Joey had led the first eight laps before Steve Kinser drove by into the lead.

Meyers finished second followed by Swindell, Saldana, Pittman, Schatz, Lynch, McMahan and Lasoski in the top ten.

Ed and Heather played host this weekend to his chassis builder, Jack Elam and his wife Bonnie of J&J Auto Racing out of McKenzie, Tennessee. The crew at Lynch Racing wants to thank them for taking time out of their busy schedule to visit us in Western Pennsylvania.


Ed times second, but drops out of WoO feature - 5/20/05

Ed set second fast time of the 39 cars signed in, but then had problems Friday on the Preliminary night of Lernerville's two-day World of Outlaw show that he had not experienced for about two years. One problem was steering and the other was flat tires (not one, but two).

It had rained through the night and all morning, but then remained cloudy and cool until the sun broke through about 5:30PM. Understandably, the track was narrow and heavy and Jason Meyers pulled number one pill and Ed pulled number two for time trials.

Meyers clocked in at 12.913 and Ed was 12.932. Steve Kinser, who timed 5th ranked next with 12.964 and Tim Kaeding followed with a 12.992. Brian Paulus timed late with a 12.998 and Sammy Swindell was the last one in the 12-second bracket with a 12.999.

This started Ed 6th in the second heat and steering was a problem right away, then a tire developed a hole and was leaking air pressure. Brook Tatnell won that heat and Ed missed the 5th place cut off point and finished sixth. The other heats went to Tim Shaffer, Jason Sowold and Danny Lasoski.

Tatnell won the first Dash and Joey Saldana won the second Dash before the 19-car B-Main took to the track with Meyers and Ed in the front row. Only four cars would make the transfer to the A-Main and the finish was Meyers, Lynch, Paulus and Kevin Swindell. Meyers would start 13th and Ed would by 14th in the "A".

With Tatnell and Saldana in the front row, Daryl Pittman and Paul McMahon in row two, then Steve Kinser and Terry McCarl brought up row three at the start of the 25-lap A-Main. But, before a lap could be completed, there was trouble coming out of turn two when the fourth row of Craig Dollansky and Stevie Smith got together and Dollansky went over Smith's wheel and flipped violently off the back stretch and Kaeding got caught up in the skirmish and rolled on the track. All drivers OK.

With the accident cars to the back, Ed now lined up 10th. Steering problems and another tire going flat would make it impossible for Ed to gain any ground. On a restart for Brandon Wimmer after nine laps, Ed pulled an extreme wheelie at the flag stand and made two more laps and decided to go to the pits.

Two laps later Donny Schatz flipped, went to the work area and returned to racing, then caused a caution three laps later when he stopped on the track. Paul McMahan got into the front stretch wall for the final yellow on lap 20.

Saldana won and Steve Kinser was second ahead of Tatnell, Pittman and Sammy Swindell. Ed was credited with 22nd.

WoO racing continues Saturday at Lernerville.


Sharon Rains Out - But broadcasts Ed's last win 5/14/05

Despite heavy over-night rains and bad weather still around, many phone calls were made and Sharon was still racing. The crew loaded up and headed North for two hours.

Sitting in the pits, the rain started again. The car was not unloaded yet, when the announcement came from Shirley Aikens at 5:45PM that the races were cancelled for the night.

Ed's interview after last week's win is now for all to listen and watch for FREE. Just go to their website - www.sharonspeedway.com and click on the interview.


Ed Wins Lernerville's Spring Sprint Spectacular - 5/13/05

Ed put all superstitions aside when, for the first time this season, he led every lap of his heat and feature to chalk up career win number 76 at Lernerville Speedway on Friday the 13th in a race dubbed the "Spring Sprint Spectacular."

The field of 25 Sprints were first in the Fab Four rotation and the redraw saw Davey Jones and Cory Good in the front row for the 20-lap feature. Ed started third with Dan Shetler starting outside him and Arnie Kent and Mike Shearer in row three.

At the drop of the green, Ed stayed in the inside lane and passed pole-sitter Jones in turn one and led going into turn two. The #2L had a ten car-length lead when the red came out after just two laps for a flip by Mel Straley tight inside turn two.

The restart line-up showed Ed leading Jones, Shearer, Rod George, Good and Ralphie Spithaler. Just one more lap was scored before Mike Kaminiski and John Stickley were off turn one and bringing out the yellow.

Another caution was necessary on lap eight, but that was followed by the longest run under green where Ed was able to show his skills in lapped traffic. Meanwhile, his lead increased to nearly a straight-away while George got by Jones for second.

When the final yellow came out on lap 17 for Good off number four turn, Ed had the lapped cars of Scott Bonnell and Carl Bowser as a cushion over George. But, when the green waved, George made quick work of the those lapped cars and had an unobstructed shot at Ed, but the story was the same as earlier and Ed's margin of victory was just less than a straight-away.

It was Ed's second win here and fourth of the year. He was followed by George, Spithaler, Dan Shetler and Jones.

Earlier, George and Ed started in the front row of the first heat, which Ed won. Good led every lap of of the second heat over Shearer.

The feature was over at 9:44PM and by the time the team arrived at the garage to unload, a heavy thunderstorm got everyone wet pushing the car from the trailer into the garage.

Ed plans to race Sharon on Saturday.


Ed is second in Tri City Opener on Mother's Day - 5/08/05

It was the first night of Tri City's 2005 season Sunday and the Sprints were first on the card at 6:00PM sharp with two heats for the 12 cars signed in.

With transponders on the Sprints for the first time, Jarod Larson recorded the fastest time of the night in the first heat, however, he dropped out with two laps remaining and Bob Felmlee made his return to driving after a six-year absence by winning that heat. Ed started fourth in the second heat, where the times were already one full second off Larson's lap, and he finished behind Andy McKisson.

The 20-lap feature showed Rod George on pole and Larson outside while Sheila Rankin and "Doc" Altmeyer made up row two. Ed lined up ninth and at the drop of the green flag he went forward. After just one lap, Brent Coville's loss of power brought out the first yellow. The restart lineup showed George, Larson, Altmeyer, Todd Bauer and Ed.

By the lap three yellow for Rob Eyler, Ed was up to third behind George and Larson. Once again it was Coville bringing out a caution on lap nine with the top three still the same.

From that point on, it was all green and Ed set to work on Larson for second. Larson had tried the outside to pressure George on the restarts, but was unsuccessful. Over the final two circuits, Ed passed Larson for second twice before he secured the spot, but could not catch the low running George.

The official finish was George, Lynch, Larson, Bauer and McKisson.


Ed leads last five laps at Sharon - 5/07/05

The only laps Ed led all night at The New Sharon Speedway Saturday night were the last five laps of the feature. The story of the 25-lap A-Main event was the side-by-side battle, lap after lap Ed had with Kevin Schaeffer for the win.

The Sprint car count improved to 20 for tonight's feature where Ed could line up no better than 6th because of his win here in the season opener.

Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Schaeffer brought the field around for the original green. The second row was made up of Keith Taylor and Danny Mumaw followed by new-comer, Jimmy Seger and Ed. But, it was Seger who got the bite on the inside lane and pulled away from Ed while Schaeffer led the entire pack.

According to Track Announcer, Jim Polack, on lap three, Seger went over a wheel on Sodeman's car near the flagstand....flipping the 18-year old
driver way down into turn one. He walked away. The restart lineup showed
Schaeffer, Sodeman, Ed, Jody Keegan and Andy McKisson. The pack only completed one more lap before second place runner, Jack Sodeman, Jr.
flipped violently in turn one. Driver was OK. Now, Schaeffer was followed by Ed, Jody Keegan, Good and Jarod Larson.

Caution flags on lap six for spin by Bryan Grove, lap seven for Keegan who appeared to have a flat tire and on lap nine for Joe Butera and finally on lap 12 for C.W. Harshman.

At last, the laps were all green to the end and Schaeffer led Ed then Larson, McKisson as the laps clicked down. But, the close battle for the lead took on new light when Schaeffer locked down on the high groove and Ed stuck with the inside and the two ran lap after lap just like that through lap 19.

Ed was slightly ahead with an inside move in turn two, but Schaeffer was up to the challenge and edged ahead down the back chute, only to have Ed drive first into turn three and lead his first lap at the flagstand on lap 20.

From that point, Ed was in charge and with each lap he increased his lead to nearly a straightaway. The fans got a little anxious when Ed came up on three lapped cars in a bunch on the white flag lap, but when the checkered flag waved, Ed led Schaeffer, Larson, McKisson and Mike Kekich.

McKisson won the first heat trailed by Lynch, Keith Taylor and Sodeman.

First-timer, Jimmy Seges clicked off every lap of the second heat race.

Keegan was runner up while Brent Matus, and Mumau followed .

The transponders showed Ed with the fastest lap in his heat and Schaeffer with the fastest lap on the feature.

Tri City Speedway is a possibility for Sunday.


Ed Salvages 5th at Lernerville - 5/06/05

With 25 Sprints on hand, and scheduled to be the third feature in rotation at Lernerville, Friday night, the 20-lap A-Main pulled on to the track at 10:33PM.

The redraw for the starting lineup showed Kevin Schaeffer and Gary Rankin in the front row, Cory Good and Scott Bonnell in row two with Mike Shearer and Brent Matus in row three. There was a complete restart before a lap because of a spin in two by Mel Straley.

Originally scheduled to start seventh, Ed was up to fourth when third place runner Shearer spun high in between turns three and four after just one lap. Shearer looped it and had his nose facing the #2L in head-on fashion. In order to avoid Shearer, Ed ran off the track and tried to come back on, but got bogged down in the big mud clogs out there.

Meanwhile, the cars of Davey Jones, Dan Shetler and Mike Kaminski went off turn three - one of them flipped causing a red.

The restart lineup had Ed starting last and he worked his way back to 11th by the sixth lap when the caution came out of John Stickley off the back stretch. The final yellow on lap 11 was for Charlie Holben stopped under the flagstand and Ed was sixth.

For the next three laps Ed ran inside Arnie Kent as the two battled for fifth spot. Once he moved by Kent going into turn three, he set out to catch Bonnell for fourth, but was one car length short at the end.

Pole sitter Schaeffer led every lap and Rod George came from 12th starting spot to finish second ahead of Rankin, Bonnell and Ed.

The first sprint heat went to Shearer and George was followed by Ed in the second heat.

Plans are to go to Sharon on Saturday.


June
Ed is at All Star races at Raceway 7 and Sharon -6/28-29/05

Plans to run two All Star Speedweek races with "the Blaney Boys" (David and Dale) on Tuesday and Wednesday did not go well for the #2L race team.

They unloaded in the pits at Raceway 7 on Tuesday, but never even got hot laps in before the skies darkened and then it poured rain which washed out the show.

Wednesday the crew had a full day's work in before the gates opened at Sharon Speedway, changing an engine at Blaney's and setting up the car for that night's race.

There were 39 cars on hand and Ed had pulled an early pill and went out sixth and ended up sixth overall which lined him up fifth in the second heat. The top five in each of four heats qualified for the A-Main and Ed finished fifth behind Jeremy Campbell, Kelly Kinser, Chad Kemenah and Byron Reed. The other heats went to Dean Jacobs, Jac Haudenschild and Kerry Madsen who were all front row starters. Kenny Jacobs won the Haulmark Dash and John Ivy won the University of NW Ohio B-Mail.

Byron Reed and Danny Smith made up the front row of the 40-lap A-Main with Dale Blaney and Ed in row two while Bob Felmlee and Brock Mays were in row three. Felmlee caused a caution on the start, then Campbell and Madsen brought out the yellow flag on laps four and five respectively.

The first 35 laps were led by Danny Smith despite two more cautions. By lap 19, Ed had been waging a great battle with Ivy and K. Jacobs for fifth and had the position when his engine made a "fuzzy" noise and Ed stopped on the track on lap 19 and was finished for the night. He was credited with 24th place finish.

A final caution on lap 31 for Madsen set up a very close finish where Kemenah and Kinser both challenged Smith and succeeded in a first and second at the checkered flag over Smith. Dale Blaney and Randy Hannagan rounded out the top five. David Blaney finished sixth in the B-Main that only advanced four cars.


Ed has bad luck at Sharon twice on Saturday - 6/25/05

Looking forward to a full night of racing at Sharon Speedway Saturday night, the #2L team was prepared to run the make-up Sprint feature from two weeks ago when rain came after all the heats and six laps of the Modified feature were in the books.

The Pure Stocks ran their feature first, then came the 25-lap Sprint feature for 20 cars with Mike Kekich and Jack Sodeman, Jr. in the front row and Ed slated to start eighth. On the move from the drop of the green flag, Ed was up to fourth on lap five when he spun completely around in water inside turn four.

Ed dropped back several spots on the spin, but the race continued under green and he worked his way back to fourth. He was following Kekich, Jarod Larson and Kevin Schaeffer when the yellow came out for Jack Sodeman, Jr. on lap 18.

On lap 21 Ed's chance of winning vanished when he pulled to the infield with engine problems and he was credited with 14th in the race won by Larson followed by Kekich and Schaeffer.

The crew hustled to change engines, but couldn't get the job done in time to go out in the first Sprint heat and track rules will not allow a car to switch heats. Therefore, the only thing left for Ed to do was to "tag" the feature.

He actually started 21st and was up to 7th when the caution came out for Jimmy Segar who lost power. On the next circuit, Ed moved up to fifth and showed signs to pick up more positions. Running in 5th, Ed was making progress when he went into turn three and was collected by a spinning Rod Jones. Ed suffered frontend damage and nose-wing damage, but took a chance and pushed off to continue the race from the rear.

By lap 12, Ed developed steering problems and pulled to the infield with no hope of returning. The races would continue until lap 25 when it would be Jack Sodeman, Jr., followed by Larson, Mike Kekich, Brent Matus and Kevin Schaeffer. Ed was credited with a 14th place finish.

Since the feature was over at 11:30PM and by the time the crew got to the race shop to survey the damages, it was almost 3:00AM. Looks like we will be burning the midnight oil.


Ed is 9th with the All Stars at Lernerville - 6/24/05

After starting fourth, Ed was as high as second early in the 35-lap non-stop All Star feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway, but with his tire selection, he was committed to the outside groove and that was not as fast as the inside and he ended up finishing ninth to Canadian winner Ryan Coniam.

There were 38 Sprint cars on hand and 49 Late Models for this All Star and MACS double header. Ed went out 14th to qualify and timed in 4th overall, being one of six cars in the 13.000 second bracket with a time of 13.930 (fastest of the local cars). Jeremy Campbell was quickest with a 13.862.

With the fastest six staggered and inverted in four heats, Ed started sixth in the 4th heat and won it over Mikey Lutz, Dean Jacobs, Greg Wilson and Dan Shetler. The other heats were won by Chad Kemenah over Ryan Coniam, Rod George over Kevin Schaeffer and Randy Hannagan over Arnie Kent.

The first five in each heat qualified for the feature and reverted back to times with the fastest six qualified cars inverted for the feature. Ed started fourth behind the front row of Brent Covell and Danny Smith, then Coniam inside Ed in row two.

Smith led lap one with Ed up to second and Coniam third. By lap five, Coniam challenged Ed and ducked under him for second on lap seven. As cars started to pass him on the inside, Ed fell to fifth by lap 11 and continued drop back. By the end of the non-stop event, Coniam led Campbell, George, Smith and Kenny Jacobs. Three-time All Star Champion, Chad Kemenah finished sixth, followed by Dean Jacobs, Randy Hannagan, Ed and Brock Mayes in the top ten. Ed finished third in the Haulmark Dash which was won by Smith. The University of Northwestern Ohio B-Main advanced Cody Geldart, Charlie Holben, Mays and Felmlee.

Saturday holds double features for Sprints at Sharon Speedway and Ed plans to be there.


Ed works hard to get 3rd at Sharon - 6/18/05

"With both Conseys going non-stop and our Sprint Feature up next, I thought our feature might do the same, so I chose a tire that would go 25-laps non-stop. As it turned out, we had three cautions and what I needed was longer green flag runs," said Ed after starting sixth and finishing 3rd Saturday night at Sharon Speedway.

The night was a long one as the rig left the driveway at 2:30PM and returned at 2:00AM. The crew got to the track at 5:10PM and Ed's heat was on the track at 8:36PM. The track was extremely heavy and Sharon's crew needed more time to run it in. Then it was finally ready for the continuation of the make-up Modified Feature (starting with lap 7) where the young King boy won his first feature. Next, it was the E-Mods and their rained out feature.

Finally, the regular night's program began and the two Sprint heats for the 21 cars signed in were to run third. Ed started 5th in the first heat and finished third behind Kevin Schaeffer and Jody Keegan. Jarod Larson won the other heat over Rod Jones and C.W. Harshman.

The Sprint feature was first and got the green flag at 10:48PM and was over at 11:08PM. The front row showed Shawn Minor and Jack Sodeman, Jr. followed by Keegan and Jones. Row three had young Caleb Griffith and Ed.

Sodeman pulled into the lead immediately with the green flag flying and set sail unchallenged for the first six laps. When the yellow flag came out on lap six for the slowing car of Jones, Sodeman led Keegan, Griffith and Ed.

Griffith passed Keegan when the race resumed and Ed was hot on the trail of Keegan and had passed him out of two and down the backstretch. But, the pass was nullified when Joe Butera and Andy McKisson spun separately in turn four. When the green replaced the yellow, Larson took to the outside and got by Ed coming out of turn two.

The final yellow came on lap 12 for Nick Patterson. When racing resumed, Ed spent the last half of the race running down Keegan and finally catching him with two laps to go.

Sodeman held on for the win followed by Larson, Ed, Keegan,then Mike Kekich and Schaeffer.


Ed comes from 12th to 2nd at Lernerville - 6/17/05

After starting 12th, Ed was closing on front row starter and race-long leader, Rod George, but the #2L came up one spot short at the end of the 20-lap Sprint car feature, Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

The rotation of divisions had the Sprints running third on the card and that coupled with the big fireworks display resulted in the Sprint feature starting at 11:20PM. There wasn't a lot of race track surface left when the green flag dropped on the 23-car starting field.

Scott Bonnell and George made up the front row with Kevin Schaeffer and Carl Bowser in row two at the start, but just two laps were recorded before the first yellow came out for the two cars of Bowser and Glenn Nolan in turn three.

Ed had passed Gary Rankin on the outside on the front-stretch at the start, then switching to the inside, he went by Charlie Holben and Dan Shetler on the inside before completing the first lap. Next, he got by Cory Good by using an inside move, and worked his way into fifth before that first yellow.
The single-file restart showed George leading Bonnell, Schaeffer, Ralphie Spithaler, Ed, Good, Shetler, Jody Keegan, Holben and Jack Sodeman, Jr.

Just one more lap was scored and the caution flew again for Bowser and Scott Priester separately. From that point on, the race went green and Ed was able to use an inside move to get by the Martha Dionese owned #15 with Spithaler subbing for Arnie Kent. Three laps later, he moved into third when he got by Schaeffer.

Several laps later, Ed caught up with the second place runner, Bonnell and the two ran side by side for a handful of laps until Ed was able to nose ahead coming off turn two when the flagman showed two laps to go.

Once Ed cleared three lapped cars that had been running in several lanes, he set out to close in on George, but time ran out and George claimed the win with Ed in second followed by Bonnell, Schaeffer and Keegan.

Sharon Speedway is slated for Saturday.

NOTE: Race friends have Knoxville tickets for sale. Three seats for all four nights in Row 38 under cover near elevators and stairs and they are located on the front stretch behind the flagstand. The entire package is for sale at face value of $507. Call Gary at 724-312-6363 and tell him you read it here.


Sharon features rained out Saturday - 6/11/05

Although Sharon Speedway tried to move the show along rapidly Saturday night, rain hit the track before 9:00PM during the sixth lap of the Modified feature. After 45 minutes the races were officially called off and a schedule of the make-up features will be announced soon.

The 21 Sprints were divided into two heats and Ed started tenth in the first heat and finished just behind Jack Sodeman, Jr. The second heat showed the front row of Mike Kekich and Rod Jones finish in that order.

The 410 Sprint heats went on the track at 7:40 because they were fifth on the slate although the feature was scheduled to run after the Big Block Modifieds and the E-Mods.


Ed Lynch III hits his first grand slam Tuesday -6/7/05

Switching the news from racing to baseball, Ed would like to share some really big news about his oldest son. Ed Lynch III hit a grand slam home run with two outs in the top of the 6th inning of an American Legion baseball game where his Kiski Valley team played Irwin at the Norwin High School field on Tuesday night (June 7).

Lynch, who was just 16 on May 5th, is one of the youngest on the team and plays in the catcher position. However, his team lost with the final score of Irwin 9 and Kiski Valley 5.


Ed wins Western PA Sprint Championship at Mercer - 6/4/05

One of Mercer Raceway Park's annual favorites for 410 Sprint cars is the Western PA Sprint Championship. Paying $2,000 to win, the event drew 29 Sprints, that ran three qualifying heats. The heat winners were Bob Felmlee, Jack Sodeman and Doug Stanley.

After Ed finished second in his heat, he was eligible for the pill draw for the top 12 qualified cars. He drew a number 7.

The feature showed Scott Bonnell and Charlie Holbein in the front row for the start of this 25-lapper. Little did the fans realize at the time, that they were in for such a tremendous display of constant side-by-side racing.

The feature showed everyone that 23 green flag racing laps non-stop means racing for position all over the track. Ed started to drive a little conservative at the beginning, then paced himself in the middle portion before stepping it up a notch in the closing laps.

Fourth starting Rod George had built a straight-away lead in the mid-portion of the race, but once Ed got through heavy traffic, he set sail for George......and made up the distance in no time. Ironically, Ed had caught and just passed George when, a yellow came out.
The restart lineup turned out to be a two-lap dash when the race resummed it was a greem-wh. When the dust finally settled Ed WAS winning by a car-lenGth.


Ed gets last transfer spot for WoO A-Main at Sharon -6/3/05

With 46 cars on hand for a special Friday night WoO show at Sharon Speedway, Ed used the same car-engine combination that had been so strong here last Saturday. But, the car and engine certainly never acted like he expected - which resulted in a long and frustrating night.

Using the transponder information from hot laps, he knew he was only 22nd quickest. Making changes, he improved to 16th overall in actual time trials.

Still not satisfied, he changed spark plugs and the MSD box in search of more speed. The line-up shows Ed starting third in the first of four qualifying heats. The front row of his heat had Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz with Ed starting third and fast-timer Bob Felmlee.

From the drop of the green flag, Ed's engine still acted like it was down on power. He tried to stay in the top five, but couldn't and ended up sixth behind Kinser, Kenny Jacobs, Donny Schatz, and then Bob Felmlee. The remaining heats were won by Paul McMahan, Chad Kemenah and Ryan Coniam.

Craig Dollansky won the "C" Main.

After Ed failed to transfer from his heat (top five transfer) he had to get ready to start sixth in the B-Main. Brain Paulus and Brook Tatnell were front-row starters, while Kraig Kinser and Randy Hannagan were in row two. It took Ed all 12 laps to get by Randy Hannaghan to gain the final transfer spot to the A-Main behind Tatnell, K. Kinser and Paulus.

Ed now was set to start 16th in the A-Main. The field had finished their four-wide "salute to the fans", resumed the traditional two-wide starting formation with Jason Sides and Danny Lasoski leading the way for the start of 40-laps.

No sooner had the green flag waved and before a lap was completed, Ed went through turns one and two and down the back stretch to a spot in turn three where, he either broke a right front shock or cut a tire. The car hit the outside guardrail and flipped about four times. Ed was OK, but the damage on the #2L was too severe to repair and he was unable to return to the race. Jason Meyers started fifth and won the event.

The race team is thinking about going to Mercer on Saturday night for a special sprint car show.


July
Ed is a very close second at Sharon - 7/30/05

Despite turning the fastest lap (98.011mph) of all the Sprint cars during the night on Saturday at Sharon Speedway, Ed put forth lots of effort in the 25-lap feature, but fell short of a win by .062 seconds. "My car was a little tight and I had trouble keeping the front wheels on the track," Ed explained after the race. "We had the fans on their feet for those last laps."

For the second time this year, Sharon's surface was near perfect for the heat races and they were finished in record time. However, it was a surprise to everyone, especially the Sprint car drivers who were buckled in their cars, ready to push off for their feature, when the water truck started making passes around the track. They got out of their cars and sat on the guardrail watching in disbelief. Push trucks then had to make many laps to run the track in and finally the Sprints themselves had to help run the track in, also making many laps before lining up for the green flag.

Once again, Mike Kekich was on the pole with Skip Dougherty outside, while Brent Matus and Jack Sodeman, Jr. were in row two. Scott Bonnell was originally slated to start fourth, but discovered a throttle-linkage problem while running the track in and went to the pits, then returned to the push-off area in time, but he was left sitting at the gate and the race was started without him. Thus, moving Sodeman up one row.

Ed started fifth with Jody Keegan outside him in row three at the start, but it was Kekich who jumped out to an early lead. As was the case in the heats, the outside groove seemed fastest and Sodeman wasted no time in taking off in that lane, passing Kekich quickly to take the lead.

Meanwhile, Ed was inside Kekich going for second when the red came out on lap seven for a flip by Larry Lamey in turn one.

Because of the numerous laps run prior to the initial green, the officials had to call for a fuel stop at this point. When the green replaced the red, Ed went after Kekich on the inside and the two ran side-by-side, treating the fans to a real Sprint car duel. It wasn't until after a yellow for debris on the track on lap 17 that Ed was able to put Kekich behind him and set his sights on Sodeman. The trouble was that Sodeman was lightning fast once the track was clear in front of him.

Sodeman stayed high for a while, but Ed was gaining on him on the inside lap after lap, giving the fans their money's worth of great Sprint car racing right down to the wire.

Behind Sodeman and Ed, it was Jarod Larson, Kevin Schaeffer, Keegan and Kekich, who faded to seventh. Then Mike Lutz and Andy McKisson and Matus ranked in the top 10 of the l8 cars on hand.

Ed won the first heat after starting third, then came Larson, Sodeman and Matus. From the pole in the second heat, Kekich took the other heat over Lutz, Keegan and Schaeffer.

Anyone wanting to see the transponder times may go to MyLaps on Sharon's website and bring the information up by date or driver name.


Lernerville Speedway 7-29-05

31 Sprints signed in for tonights event at Lernerville. The Sprints were scheduled to be first for both the heats and the features. Ed had drawn a pill that lined him up on the outside of the front row beside the #76 of Davey Jones, with Brent Matus and Ralph Spithaler in row two. Ed won the 10 lap qualifying heat by a large margin over Spithaler, Jones, Matus and Kevin Schaeffer. The second heat was won by the #3B of Scott Bonnell and the third heat win went to the #47 of Jarod Larson. The 12 lap B Main was won by Charlie Holben over Rod George.

The 20 lap feature showed the #1P, driven tonight by Gary Kriess, and the #2L starting on the front row. Mike Lutz and Jody Keegan started in row two. Ed had a great start and took the lead immediately only to be slowed by a caution for Gary Kriess who spun in turn 4. A complete restart showed Ed starting on pole with Mike Lutz outside pole. Again, Ed took the lead and was pulling away from Lutz when Mike Shearer spun on lap 8 in turn 2. With one last caution on lap 14 for Charlie Holben, Ed went on to win his 3rd feature at Lernerville this season. Almost a straight-a-way behind Ed, Mike Lutz held on to second with Jody Keegan close behind in third.

Ed plans to race at Sharon Speedway tomorrow.



Sharon Speedway 7-23-05

Twenty-one Sprints signed in at Sharon tonight. The Sprints were scheduled to be first out for their heats. The first heat was won by the #49 of Jack Sodoman Jr. who started outside pole. Ed was in the second heat and supposed to start 3rd, but the pole-sitter #51 pulled into the in- field just before going green. That allowed Ed to move into pole position for the start of the race. Starting outside of Ed was the #47 of Jarod Larson. Ed and Jarod pulled away from the field almost immediately with Jarod leading the way. On lap 5, Ed made his move to pass the #47 in turn 4 on the bottom and went on to win the 8 lap heat race by a large margin.

The 25 lap feature showed Ed starting 10th. Only 4 laps were completed when the first caution came out for the #33P. Ed had made his way up to 6th. The #5K of Mike Kekich, who started on the pole, led those first 4 laps but was forced to pull off the track during that caution due to a flat tire. The new leader was the #53 of Harshman, who started outside pole. Racing resumed for 4 more laps when the leader flipped hard on the backstretch after hitting the wall. Harshman was uninjured and racing resumed once again with the #15m of Jamie Martin as the new leader. The #49 of Sodoman was second and Ed was a solid third. Although another red flag stopped the race on lap 18 for the #60 of Keegan, Ed was unable to pass Sodoman when racing was underway and had to settle for a 3rd place finish. In the post-race inspection it was discovered that the #15m of Jamie Martin didn't have mufflers but was awarded the win anyway.


Despite Wheelies - Ed is 3rd at Lernerville - and Ed III places 5th in Home Run Derby - 7/22/05

Having both hands on the steering wheel doesn't help much if the front wheels are not touching the ground, as Ed found out in Friday night's 20-lap Sprint feature at Lernerville Speedway.

The lack of "down-force" on the front end happened as a result of a huge clod of clay from the track being thrown back on Ed's nose wing from leader Rod George's car. Hard to believe, but the force flattened the front wing against the hood and took away the down-force necessary to keep the front end down on the track.

After starting third behind front row starters John Stickley and Brent Matus, Ed found himself fourth on the first caution for a spin by Davey Jones after just one lap, because Mike Shearer who started outside Ed, stayed in that high groove and was fast up there.

With Matus leading and Shearer second, Ed was third ahead of Stickley when Carl Bowser and Dan Kuriger flipped bringing out the red after two laps.

An inside turn four spin by Ralph Spithaler caused the yellow on lap five with Ed now second behind Matus.

Third running Shearer slipped off the second turn and the yellow came out again with Rod George now chasing Matus after using an inside move on Ed.

During the next nine laps the action was hot and heavy as George led Ed through heavy lapped traffic. Sometime during this green flag run, the clod flattened the front wing and Ed had his hands full guiding the #2L the best he could.

On the final caution for Rick Dougherty on lap 16, Kevin Schaeffer pulled alongside Ed as the cars were being positioned, to let him know about his wing problem. On the race to the checkered, Schaeffer was able to get by and Ed had to settle for third ahead of Matus, Arnie Kent and Gary Rankin.

The 27 cars on hand had run three heats. Ed started third in the first heat and won it, while pole-sitters Spithaler and John Stickley won the next two heats.

NOTE: The Freeport International Home Run Derby was held at 6:00PM Friday.

Ed III was one of 26 boys entered where the rules of the Derby were the same as Major League Ball's Home Run Derby held the night before this year's All Star game in Detroit.

At Freeport, the group included representatives from many states plus Canada and Holland. 'Lil Ed was in the top three for quite a while, then ended up fifth overall.


Ed is 6th in Lernerville's 14th Silver Cup - 7/19/05

The Don Martin Silver Cup event at Lernerville Speedway, was held Tuesday night and Ed had a good sixth place finish when the checkered flag waved after 35 laps.

There were fourty-four cars on hand for time trials where Chad Kemenah went out fourth and had quick time of 13.263. Ed's pill draw sent him out to qualify 36th and he did a great job turning in a 13.285 which ranked second.

The next hurdle would be to finish in the top five of his heat race, so that he goes into a Dash. Easier said than done, however. When Ed lined up sixth in the second heat, he was off to a good start and was set up to make a move past Tim Shaffer and Brian Paulus. Suddenly, Paulus lost it and half-spun, collecting Ed's car which ended up with the right rear perched on the Paulus machine. A wrecker lifted Ed's car off Paulus and then Ed tagged the field on the restart.

Now, the pressure was on and he knew he needed to end up in the top five and finally did do that behind winner Bob Felmlee, Paul McManon, Jason Meyers, and Shaffer. Brooke Tatnell took the first heat over Greg Hodnett, Steve Kinser, Chad Kemenah and Lucus Wolf. In the third heat it was Jac Haudenschild over Jason Wolwold, Kraig Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Randy Hannagan.

The final heat went to Craig Dollanski, Jason Sides, Danny Lasosky, Donny Schatz and Terry McCarl. Davey Jones and Scott Bonnell advanced from the C-Main and Joey Saldana took the honors in the B-Main.

The two Dashes lined up with an inversion of four, placing S. Kinser and Hannagan in the front row of the first one. To the surprise of many, Hannagan pulled off the win. Ed started 4th in the second Dash behind Swindell and Shaffer. McCarl started inside row two, with Ed outside him.

The finish there showed Swindell, Shaffer and Lynch.

There was a driver introduction on the front stretch and the traditional four-wide parade lap. Then the green flag fell on Hannagan, Swindell, Kinser and Shaffer. Chad Kemenah and Ed started in row three. It seemed like the event would go non-stop, however, the first yellow came out on lap 17 for Shane Stewart.

Paulus caused the next yellow on lap 29 and two laps later Darren Pittman and Lance Dewease, caused the final caution. It was Shaffer who dominated the last half of the race. He was followed by Swindell, Kinser, Terry McCarl, Randy Hannagan and Ed at home. Thanks, Jean Lynch16th Annual


Ed finishes second at Lernerville - 7/15/05

There wasn't much grip to the race track by the time the Sprint feature rolled on the track at 11:30PM Friday night at Lernerville Speedway. When the official finish was posted at two minutes to twelve, pole-sitter Jody Keegan had won the 20-lap A-Main and Ed was a close second.

The BRP Modified special brought 33 big-blocks and they ran three heats and a 30-lap feature. The Late Models had two heats and a 20-lap feature that took 45 minutes to run. The Pure Stocks had two heats and a 15-lap feature. Then it was finally time for the 20-lap Sprint feature.

For the Sprints, every pole-sitter won their event. Davey Jones won the first heat from the pole over Gary Rankin, Skip Dougherty and Arnie Kent.

Ed started seventh in the second heat which was won by pole-sitter Mike Shearer. They were followed by Jody Keegan, Cory Good and Kevin Schaeffer.

The line-up for the feature showed Keegan and Carl Bowser in the front row. Ed and John Stickley made up row two ahead of Rankin and Jones.

Keegan went to the high side and into the lead immediately and Bowser was second ahead of Ed. But the yellow flag came out after two laps when fourth place Rankin spun in turn four and collected Rod George. George, who went into tonight trailing Ed by just three points, was done for the night with front end damage.

With Keegan sailing around the high groove on the restart, Ed worked on Bowser and was able to get by him for second just before Bowser caused another caution on lap four. This moved Jones into third, followed by Schaeffer and Charlie Holben.

A long period of green flag racing followed and fans watched as the front two, Keegan and Ed were forced to stay high to work the lapped traffic.

Lap 17 saw a yellow for Jeremy Cook. The restart line-up showed Keegan, then one lapped car, then Ed, then three lapped cars and third place runner Jones. Schaeffer was running fourth at the time, but, his right rear went flat while the line-up was being corrected for the restart. He rejoined the field in time for the green.

The final yellow came on lap 18 for a stalled car, but when the green replaced the yellow, Keegan continued to drive a flawless race on the top groove while Ed searched the middle and even the inside groove in turns one and two, but that part of the track was noticibly slower than that preferred high lane.

The final two laps showed no change in the top five. For Keegan it was his first win here and Ed finished on his tail followed by Jones, Dougherty and Kent.

Plans are to run Sharon on Saturday.


Ed wins from 12th at Sharon Speedway - 7/9/05

After four weeks of being fast, but not finishing a race at Sharon Speedway, Ed had a perfect night Saturday. He had a perfect night, recording the fastest AMB times of all cars in the heats and feature, winning his heat from sixth and the feature from twelfth.

Sprints were the third division on the card and starting at 7:07PM the 19 Sprints ran two heat races with Ed winning over Rod Jones, harod Larson and Jody Keegan in the first. Mike Kekich rook honors in the second heat over Kevin Schaeffer, Jack Sodeman, Andy McKisson and Scott Bonnell.

Jones and Keegan brought the field to the initial green of the 25-lapper, followed by Larson and Joe Butera. In row three it was Tim Hunter and last week's winner McKisson.

During intermission for Spectator Drags, Ed made all the right decisions in tires and set-up to the #2L in preparation for his march to the front from 12th spot.

Utilizing every groove, he was quickly up to fourth behind Jones, Larson and Sodeman when Keegan brought out the first yellow. Then one lap later Larry Lamey and Brent Matus tangled causing another caution just as Ed had passed to the inside of Sodeman, Jr. for third and the pass had to be repeated.

Larson used an outside move to take the lead from Jones on lap nine, while Ed moved by Jones in pursuit of Larson by lap 10.

The half-way flags showed Ed hounding Larson. The crowd witnessed the two dicing through lapped traffic with Ed clearing Larson on lap 16. Then Ed drove away and by lap 20, he had a cushion of four lapped cars between himself and second place Larson.

At this point, Jones came to a halt on the front stretch just before the flagstand with an apparent oil fire and the final caution flag was displayed.

In the final five laps, Ed drove away from the rest of the field and he won by a wide margin over Larson, Sodeman, Jr., Schaeffer, McKisson, Kekich, Bonnell and Tim Hunter (all on the lead lap).


Ed is second in Bullis Memorial at Lernerville - 7/8/05

There was extra money to win the Inaugural Bullis Memorial Friday night at Lernerville Speedway thanks to friends and family of Sonja Bullis, a devoted sprint car fan who lost her battle with cancer prior to this racing season.

Luck of the draw for the 27 cars on hand set the front row for the 20-lap event. Carl Bowser and Scott Bonnell brought the field to the green flag, while Ed and Rod George made up row two. (Going into tonight Ed and Rod were tied for the Sprint point lead.)

The race was accident plagued right from the start with two red flags and three yellows in the course of the event. With Bowser leading, the inside row starting with seventh place Mike Shearer, Dan Shetler and Skip Daugherty escaped injury in a crash at the end of the front stretch, but their cars were done for the night before a lap could be recorded.

Just two laps later with Bowser leading Bonnell, Ed and George, a spin by Dan Kuriger slowed the action. On lap six, the leader Bowser ran over the wheel of the lapped car of Sheila Rankin and both cars flipped halting the action.

Bonnell inherited the lead when the green replaced the red and was followed by Ed, George, Kevin Schaeffer (up from 13th). A stretch of six uninterupted laps followed and lapped traffic was going to be a factor for Bonnell with Ed about three car lengths back. However, John Stickley lost power high in turn two bringing out the yellow on lap 12.

Just one lap later, Schaeffer saw his great effort to get to fourth spot vanish as he sat high in the cushion in turn four.

The final seven laps were all green and with a clear track in front of him, Bonnell rode in the preferred high groove with Ed following following in the same line. With two laps to go, Ed closed to within a car length as the two lead cars caught two lapped cars running almost side by side.

Bonnell never changed lanes, so Ed tried an inside move in turn four, but there was clearly no grip there and George was eagerly trying to pass Ed on that outside lane. Ed quickly gave up on the inside and went back to the top groove trying to stay with Bonnell.

Bonnell held on for his first-ever Lernerville win in 12 years of trying.

Ed finished right on his tail, then George, Arnie Kent, Jody Keegan and Scott Priester.

There were just two heats and Jack Sodeman, Jr., pole sitter in the first heat, won over Ed who started sixth. The front row in the second heat Bowser and Keegan finished one and two.

Sharon Speedway is on the Lynch Racing schedule for Saturday.


Radiator Hose problems for Ed at Sharon - 7/2/05

Ed was well on his way to a good finish after starting ninth and in the 25-lap feature Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, when the unexpected happened.

He had just moved into fourth and had the next two cars in sight with nine laps to go, when suddenly coming off turn two, a lower radiator hose blew a large hole and the resulting cloud of steam in the cockpit made it impossible to see anything or for Ed to get his breath. Luckily, everyone missed hitting him as he spun the car in an attempt to get the steam going away from the cockpit.

With Dan Shetler and Andy McKisson in the front row ahead of Kevin Schaeffer and Bob Lime while C.W. Harshman and Caleb Griffith made up row three. After just one lap the caution flew for a broken rear axle on Jarod Larson's mount. Two laps later Roger Campbell spun in turn two.

Ed raced hard and was eyeing the top three spots when his radiator problem ended his night and he finished 17th behind Andy McKisson, who won his first feature here over Jack Sodeman, III, Schaeffer, Jody Keegan and Mike Kekich.

A red was needed next for Dan Shetler when he hooked a rut and flipped in turn two. With five to go, Griffith shredded a tire, setting up a tight bid for the top spots. The longer the race went, the faster Andy went for
his big win over Sodeman, Schaeffer, Keegan and Paul Kekich. Heats went to Schaeffer and Sodeman.


Ed races in two divisions at Lernerville - 7/1/05

Ed had twice the fun racing at Lernerville Speedway Friday night. Not only was he behind the wheel of the Lynch #2L Sprint car, but he was asked to fill in for the injured Kevin Bolland in his family's #777 Big Block Modified.

Sprints were divided into two 12-car heats and Ed won the first heat from the pole over Jody Keegan and Cory Good, while Rod George won the second heat. The re-draw had Ed starting seventh behind Good and Carl Bowser while Brent Matus and Kevin Schaeffer made up row two. Ahead of Ed in row three, it was Scott Priester and Arnie Kent.

At the drop of the green in the 20-lap feature, Schaeffer wasted no time getting to the point, leading the field until the lap three caution for Glenn Nolan. The single-file restart showed Good in second ahead of Kent, Carl Bowser and Ed up to fifth.

By lap eight Ed was up to second. Two laps later the red came out for a rollover by Terry Bowser off turn two. From that point on, is was all green flag racing, but Schaeffer rode the preferred high line and Ed could come close in the turns, but was never able to find enough grip in another groove to get by Schaeffer who made no mistakes. Good was a strong third followed by Kent, C. Bowser, Priester, Matus and George.

Switching to Modified action, Ed was looking for his second career Modified win at Lernerville, but it wouldn't happen tonight. He was not able to get any fast laps because he couldn't get it in first gear. He was able to correct that problem and was given two laps to get the feel of the car, then immediately lined up in the outside front row of his heat. He was able to pull off a win in that heat over Brian Swartzlander who had started 11th.

He started ninth in the 24-car, 20-lap Modified feature where the front row consisted of Ralphie Spithaler and Dave Murdick. With Murdick leading Jim Weller, Jr. the caution came out after two laps for George Hobaugh and Ed was running eighth. Just two laps later with Weller leading Murdick there was another caution and Ed was up to fifth.

On the next restart after six laps played a key roll in the finish.

Because it was not halfway in the event, the cars were still in double file formation for the restart and Murdick, the leader, chose the inside. Ed was up to second at this point and therefore lined up outside.

When the green flag waved with the field coming off turn four, Murdick hit Ed sending the #777 slamming into the outside front stretch wall. By the time Ed recovered, he was eighth. From that point on, Ed had his hands full because of some bent parts. He finished eighth and Murdick went on to win.


August
Lernerville 8-26-05

With the threat of rain all around the speedway, 104 cars signed in tonight at Lernerville. Sprints were first up for their heats as well as the features. Ed was scheduled to start 7th in the first of three heats races. With little passing going on, Ed was only able to make it up to 4th. The win went to the #10 of Carl Bowser who started on the pole. The second heat race win went to the #9 of Kevin Schaeffer who also started on the pole. The third heat race win went to the #56 of Ralph Spithaler who started outside pole.

At 9:20pm the Sprint feature was lined up and ready to take the green flag. Ed started 6th and was on the move immediately when the first caution came out. The front row starters #08 Dan Kuriger and the #34 of Glenn Noland hit coming out of turn two. The #60 of Jody Keegan spun out to avoid hitting Noland while the #08 went through the infield and kept going. A complet re-start showed Ed in the 5th spot. Ed made his way to third behind Spithaler and Schaeffer by lap five when Arnie Kent brought out the second caution due to a blown motor. Ed remained in the third spot throughout the next two cautions on lap 5 and again on lap 6. The last caution of the race came on lap 15 for the #34 of Noland. When racing resumed, Schaeffer, Spithaler and Ed drove away from the field and battled for positions until the final turn of the last lap. A very close finish showed Kevin Schaeffer the winner and Ed second over Ralph Spithaler.

The team plans on racing at Mercer Saturday night, but will watch the weather and make their final decision in the morning.


Lernerville 8-19-05

27 cars signed in at Lernerville tonight. Ed was scheduled to start 8th in the 3rd heat race but when the #76 scratched from the event, Ed re-lined in the 7th spot. The X of Cory Good started outside pole and led every lap. By the end of the 8 lap event, Ed was just a few car lengths behind the X car and finished second. Third went to the #10 of Carl Bowser. Other heat race winners were #3 Bob Bennett and #15 Arnie Kent both winning from the front row of their heats.

The Sprints were the second feature tonight and at 9:45pm they were lined up and ready to take the green. The front row showed the #10 of Carl Bowser starting on the pole and the X of Cory Good starting outside pole. Ed was starting 7th. By the time the first caution came out for the #47j of Jeff Busby on lap 12, Ed was already up to 3rd and passing Rod George for 2nd. The single file re-start showed Carl Bowser, Rod George then Ed. When racing resumed, Rod and Ed quickly got by Bowser and pulled ahead of the rest of the pack. On lap 15 just as they were entering lapped traffic, the #42G of Charlie Holben hit the wall hard in turn four bringing out the red flag. While waiting for the track to be cleared, Ed realized he had a flat tire and went to the pit area. When racing got under way, Ed was at the tail of a 21 car field with only five laps to go. He made his way up to 9th and was out of time. Rod George went on to win the feature but will have to settle for 2nd in the points championship as Ed clinched the title tonight leading by 42 points.

Tomorrow's plans include racing at Sharon Speedway.


Ed's Knoxville 2005 results - 8/15/05

The Knoxville Nationals had its highs and lows for the #2L Racing Team, as Ed and the crew were challenged daily by 118 competitors from all over the United States, Canada and Australia.

Ed's original Qualifying day was Thursday, the second day of Qualifying with 63 cars on hand. After a 2-1/2 hour delay for rain, Ed went out 45th and timed ninth overall with a first lap of 15.111. With the top 50 lined up staggered and inverted in five heats, he went out ninth in the fourth heat. He was not able to advance and finished there, thus transferring into the C-Main.

However, rain fell during the fifth heat and after a lengthy delay, the program was cancelled. No one in the top 20 in times had advanced from their heats to the A-Main as passing was nearly impossible with most front row starters (slower cars) taking the first four spots. The live internet broadcast described the track as 1-1/2 lanes wide.

At first, word was that time trials would stand and starting with the heats the show would be run on Friday.

But, later the guys learned that the entire show including time trials would be run on Friday.

On Friday, Ed drew a higher pill and went out near the end and timed 20th overall. This lined him up 8th in the 5th heat and he missed a transfer spot by one, finishing fifth. That put him in the B-Main and he finished 11th.

With everything for the Knoxville Nationals determined by points, Ed was able to rank 48th and was locked into the top 50 for Saturday night. His C-Scramble was set for noon on Saturday and the crew was ready. But once again the weather created big problems and that show had to be post-poned until Sunday!

The crew had a 6:00AM wake-up call on Sunday, to get organized and unloaded in the pits and mount tires in order to be ready for the C-Scramble starting at 12:00noon. The early hours and hard work paid off and Ed won the C-Scramble worth $3,000. He was one of the few cars to do any passing in the A, B or C-Scrambles.

Winning the 12-lap Scramble helped his starting position for the 15-lap C-Main Sunday evening and he started fourth and finished second behind Clint Garner from Sioux Falls SD. Only two cars advanced to the back of the B-Main. He was interviewed live on the internet American Dirt Network program that was giving moment-by-moment coverage of the races. He told broadcaster Dion Hindi, "We blistered two tires and we will have to change quickly to get ready for the B-Main."

Ed lined up 22nd in the B-Main and only the top four would advance. His move toward the front was slowed by repeated yellow flags (four in the first six laps). He was up to 16th after three laps when the first caution came out. Ed was in 13th by lap 14 and was up to 12th when according to the broadcasters, "there was an explosion, white smoke and fire in the engine area of the #2L".

Ed's evening ended at that point as his car came to a stop on the track in turn four. It turned out to be a problem with the oil filter that caused hot oil to spray the side of the car and Ed. He was OK and by the time the races were over and the rig was loaded to start home it was 2:00AM. They started home with another Knoxville experience and enough memories and stories to last until next year's Nationals.


Ed to qualify Thursday for Knoxville Nationals - 8/11/05

Ed's night to qualify for the 45th Annual Knoxville Nationals is Thursday.

To listen to the radio broadcast over the internet go to www.americadirtnetwork.com or go to www.knoxvilleraceway.com and then click on either of two broadcast sources: ADN or dirtvision.com.

Good luck to the whole #2L crew!


Ed drives from 10th to 3rd at Sharon - 8/6/05

In a 25-lap feature filled with two red flags and three yellows, the random computer draw placed him tenth in the line-up. Despite starting deep in the field of 19 cars, Ed managed to pull off a podium finish behind Jody Keegan and Caleb Griffith.

The entire racing program started 1-1/2 hours late because the track was too wet, so instead of starting at 6:00PM, the four Pure Stock heats started at 7:30. The good news is that the Sprint heats were next with Mike Kekich starting on the pole and leading all but the last lap when nineth starter Jack Sodeman, Jr. blew by at the finish line. Ed started third in the second heat behind Bob Lime and Jarod Larson, but it was Larson who claimed the win over Ed.

Later, at 9:30PM the Sprints were the first feature and the front row there showed Keegan and Andy McKisson forming it. Lime and Kekich were in the second row, while row three showed Griffith and Larson.

A red flag halted action before a lap was completed when Sodeman flipped and collected Ricky Ferkel. Drivers were OK, but cars were heavily damaged. Somehow, with two laps in, Joe Buttera got upside down in the middle of the back stretch and brought out the red. Driver was OK.

The restart line-up showed Keegan, then Kekich, McKisson, Griffith and the #2L of Ed. By the first caution on lap 10, Ed was only up to fourth. It was for third running McKisson.

Just one lap later, Kevin Schaeffer pulled off near the pit exit and by lap 17, Kekich was the cause of yet another yellow flag. From this point, the race went all green, but the positions didn't change much.

Keegan drove a flawless race for his victory over Calen Griffith and Ed. While Larson and Schaeffer completed the top five.

Time to get ready for Knoxville, IA.


Ed comes from 12th to 2nd at Lernerville - 8/5/05

Because of winning last week, Ed was slated to start 12th at Lernerville in Friday night's 20-lap feature. However, the rotation of the features, with Sprints last, played into the final results. To put it simply, there wasn't much track surface left by the time the Sprints rolled on to the track at two minutes before 11:00PM.

The 25-car field was led to the green flag by Scott Bonnell and Jack Sodeman, Jr. in row one, while Gary Kriess and Ralph Spithaler made up row two. Jody Keegan and Kevin Schaeffer were in row three. It was Sodeman who jumped to an immediate lead and held that spot until the first caution for Brett Covell on lap six. Ed seemed off to a cautious start and the restart at this point showed him in seventh following Sodeman, Schaeffer, Keegan, Rod George, Kriess and Bonnell.

When Ricky Ferkel stopped on the track to bring out the yellow flag after nine laps, Ed was up to fifth. From this point on, it was all green flag racing for the final 11 laps.

Much of the next half-dozen laps, Ed spent trying to get past George.

Every time Ed would muster a challenge on the outside of George, he would run out of race track. When Ed would try to get by on the inside, lapped cars would prevent the pass.

In the meantime, Ed had passed Keegan and then made a daring pass on George in the outside lane of turn four. Sodeman was threatened by Schaeffer, who did come on to put on a race for the win with just two laps to go. Schaeffer won that battle as Ed finally cleared George and moved into second.

Schaeffer had his third win here, while Ed settled for second ahead of Sodeman, George, Keegan and Bonnell. The three heats went to Ed, George and Keegan.

Following the three heats, Ed was given the go-ahead sign to start his new J&J car that the crew has been building all week. Although the car had never been on a race track, Ed was pleased with its performance, but was anxious to try it again. That try might have to wait until Knoxville.

Saturday, the crew plans to be at Sharon.


September
Ed is third in All Star/Earl & Dave Bauman Memorial - 9/24/05

The 17th Annual Earl & Dave Bauman Memorial Race at Lernerville Speedway Saturday night served as the final race of the 2005 season for the All Star Circuit of Champions. The event had a good car count of 48 Sprints and Ed timed fourth overall and proved he could run with the best of the All Stars in the 35-lap feature, ending up with a third place finish.

Ed had pulled an early pill for time trials that had him in the first of four hot lap sessions. The track was pretty wet for that practice so only those cars got another session before they lined up to time. He went out 9th and ended up 4th overall which started him sixth in the fourth heat where he qualified for the feature by finishing fourth behind Mike Shearer, John Ivy and Danny Smith. Other heat winners included Mark Smith, Mike Linder and Caleb Griffith. All heat winners came from the front row.

By timing 4th and qualifying through his heat, once again Ed was eligible for the All Star Dash where he started third and finished third.

The A-Main for the 27-car starting field showed Brock Mays and Blaine Heimbach in the front row followed by Scott Bonnell and Ed in row two.

Chad Kemenah and fast-timer Randy Hannagan made up row three.

The race got off to a hairy start with the first try seeing Heimbach spinning but continuing, then Coniam spun and seemed to collect Hannagan who had wing damage and a flat tire. The second attempt saw Lee Jacobs, David Harrison and Mike Shearer all spinning and blocking the track in between turns three and four resulting in a red flag.

On the third start, Mayes jumped into the lead and Kemenah zipped into second on the next round, followed by Ed and Bonnell. Kemenah was on the move and ran down Mayes by lap 12. The winning move came on the next round when he used an inside move to slip under Mayes for the lead. Ed followed Kemenah through and was a solid second on lap 18.

For the next 13 laps, Ed was hounded by Dale Blaney and the two treated the fans to some great side-by-side, open-wheel competition. Blaney seemed to be getting a better bite on the slippery surface and took over second with four laps to go. Following Ed at the finish were Mayes, Danny Smith, Byron Reed, Mark Smith, Hannagan, Greg Wilson and Tim Hunter in the top ten.

The race team is not sure where they might go next, but has already entered what is usually their final race of the year...the Octoberfest at Hagerstown on October 29th and 30th.


Ed wins last 2005 show at Sharon Speedway - 9/23/05

Ed picked up his 8th feature win of the season and this time it really was the 2005 finale at the New Sharon Speedway

The entire night was a make-up race for last Saturday which rained out after just three heats of the regular program that followed three make-up features from a rain-out while the team was at the Knoxville Nationals. No one was allowed to redraw and the officials went by the line-ups from the previous week's draw.

There were wr Sprints on hand that raced in three heats and Ed started ninth in the first heat and finished 4th behind Cory Good, Tim Hunter and Brent Matus. Caleb Griffith and Dave Stanley won the other heats. All heat winners had front row starting spots.

The computer "random" redraw for the 25 lap feature had Griffith and Jason Dolick leading the field to the green. Bryan Grove and Stanley started in the second row while Ed and C.W. Harshman made up row three.

It was Dolick that jumped to an immediate lead with Griffith falling into second. Ed ran the inside and made it to third and that trio put on a great racing display as they caught the back markers and started to work traffic as early as lap four.

With Dolick still leading, Ed ran down Griffith on lap seven and used an inside move down the back stretch to streak into second spot. Then coming off turn four, he used another inside move to take the lead away from Dolick.

There was a very close call on lap 12 when Hunter got in the heavy cushion in turn two and flipped bringing out the red just as the front of the field approached. Ed got off the gas and Griffith nearly climbed the rear on the #2L, puting a hole in the tail tank. Griffith then half-spun and was tapped by another car. Fortunately, all were able to continue when the green replaced the red flag.

Two more yellows came out on laps 18 and 21, but no lapped cars separated Ed and Griffith and what should have been a duel to the finish, turned out to be a non-issue, because Griffith's car got loose with the changing track conditions and Ed won by 1.197 seconds. Andrew Palker. Jarod Larson (the new 2005 Track Champion) and Jody Keegan rounded out the top five.

The crew will head for the All Star show at Lernerville on Saturday.


Sharon's final night is not final! - 9/17/05

What was supposed to be the final night of the 2005 season at Sharon Speedway, turned out to be a long and fruitless night of lengthy rain-delays with only a hot lap session to show for the 12 hours away from home. The double point features never happened and have been rescheduled for this Friday night, September 23.

First on the schedule were three (E-Mod, Sprint and Pure Stock) make-up features from the week Ed was at Knoxville and he was not allowed to race in the Sprint event. Fifteen cars started the 25-lap race and Kevin Schaeffer led the first 13 laps, before Jarod Larson took control and went on to win over Andy KcKisson, Jason Dolick, Mike Kekich and Scott Bonnell.

There was a rain shower at 7:25PM and the track was not ready to race again until 8:35PM. No sooner had racing started again, when rain came again as a downpour and kept soaking the track until it let up at 10:10PM.
Despite being told in the pits that the show would go on, at 10:20PM the announcement was made to throw in the towel and reschedule tonight's show for next Friday night with gates opening at 5:00PM.


Mercer 9-5-05 Labor Day

Ed made the 2 hour tow to Mercer Raceway Park to attend the "Sprint Slug-Out" which consisted of three 15 lap features each paying $1000 to win. 25 cars signed in and Ed was scheduled to start 9th in the first of three heats. He finished 4th in the 8 lap race. The top 4 finishers from each heat were in the pill draw to determine positions for the first feature. Ed was scheduled to start 8th. With only one caution, Ed was able to make his way to the front and finish a very close 2nd to the winner Rod George who started on the pole.

The second feature line-up inverted 16 cars from the first feature finish. That showed Ed starting 15th and Rod George 16th. With two red flags and many cautions, Ed battled his way to a third place finish. The win went to Mark Murphy.

The third feature inverted the top 12 cars that had accumulated the most points from the first two features. Although Ed was 2nd in points, he lined up in the 10th starting spot. He was only able to make his way to 5th by the end of the 15 lap event. At 12:30am the team loaded the car and headed home. Plans for next weekend are undecided.


25th Annual Sharon Nationals - 9/2-3/05

What could have been two sixth place finishes over the weekend for Ed and the #2L crew, turned out to be two finishes out of the top ten in the All Star sanctioned 25th Annual Sharon Nationals.

On Friday, the opening night, a good finish went up in smoke on the last lap of the 30-lap feature. After taking the white flag behind Chad Kemenah, Mark Smith, Greg Wilson, Stevie Smith and Brock Mayes, Ed's engine had a catastrophic failure throwing a rod and piston down through the oil pan.

He went into turn one and there was smoke and a small fire which put itself out and the car coasted to a stop coming out of turn two on the high side as the race ended with a checkered flag. Ed was credited with 14th place.

Thirty-four cars timed on Friday and Ed went out mid-way in the group to turn the fastest time 13.074, but one car later Mark Smith was faster at 13.053.

The four heats were won by Bob Bennett, Scott Bonnell, Barry Ruble and Kenny Jacobs. Ed started sixth in the second heat and made it to fifth, qualifying for the Dash and the A-Main. He started fifth in the Dash and finished there.

After starting fifth in the "A" he held that spot through the first yellow on lap eight for Dale Blaney. Four laps later the caution came out for Rob Chaney and Ed was in seventh, but moved ahead one when the leader, Randy Hannagan was black flagged when his muffler fell off.

After a caution on lap 16 for the cars of Scott Bonnell and Andy McKisson, the race went non-stop to the end.

Rather than change engines that night, the crew elected to go home and get the other car for the next night.
Saturday in the 40-lapper, Ed drove hard, but the end results were equally disappointing when he spun at the half-way mark and was making a great comeback running tenth when the yellow flag came out for Rob Chaney with just two laps to go.

After the green waved Ed was on a mission and was up to seventh working on sixth when ran out of fuel after taking the white flag and coasted to the checkered flag in 12th spot behind winner Mark Smith, Randy Hannagan and Chad Kemenah.

With 32 cars timing on Saturday, Ed went out early and timed seventh overall which lined him up fifth in the third heat where he advanced to third and qualified for the Dash and the feature. The heat winners were Dean Jacobs, Scott Bonnell, Rob Chaney and Greg Wilson.

He started 5th in the Dash and finished 6th, not able to get this car and engine dialed in to his satisfaction.
A fan pit party came next and there was a big crowd for Ed's autograph and lots of picture taking with fans, young and old, as they flocked to the #2L's pit area.

The feature came next with Ed starting seventh behind Stevie Smith, Hannagan, Kenny Jacobs, Ryan Coniam, Chad Kemenah and Mark Smith. A caution on lap 11 for Jeremy Campbell and a flat of Paul May had Ed now running eighth. He was 7th holding off Rod George and Brock Mayes when he spun between turns three and four and had to go last with 20 laps in the books.

Two more cautions showed Ed 17th, then 15th by lap 23. Then he finally landed in 10th spot when the final yellow with 38 laps recorded slowed the field for the final time. Ed was running the best he had all night and was passing cars for position when he ran out of fuel and coasted across the finish line in 12th spot.


October
Ed comes from last to 6th at Hagerstown 10-29/30-05

The two-day l8th Annual Octoberfest at Hasgerstown Speedway, which serves as the last race of the season for Ed and the crew, was a challenge from start to finish. The first challenge came at the pill draw line and the second challenge came in the first turn of the first lap of the feature.

There were 183 cars on hand for the four-division race finale and 33 were Sprint cars. Saturday was qualifying day with heats lined up by pill draw. Fifty pills were in the can and Ed drew #50. So, with three 10-lap heats set for Sprints and only the top six finishers going to the A-Main, the first challenge was apparent when Ed had to start 11th in the first heat.

He made little headway on the ultra-smooth track in the early laps, passing just two cars before sliding in a slow drift out of the inside groove, up and across the track in turn one on lap eight. He was able to get a little more traction and gain a few spots after restarts. Finally, shear determination took over and he made it up to 5th, which meant he would start 13th in the 50-lapper on Sunday.

There were no hot laps on Sunday - just 300 laps of feature racing before the Sprints turned a wheel on the track. The 100 lap Small Block Modified race was won by Brett Hearn. The 100 lap Late Model race went to Ronnie DeHaven and the 100 lap Big Block Modified victory went to J.R. Heffner.

Around 5:00PM the Sprints pushed off with Greg Hodnett and Mark Smith on the front row, followed by Stevie Smith and Brooke Weibley in row two.

Scott Lutz and Freddie Rahmer made up row three. The fourth row consisted of Lance Dewease and Cory Good then came Tony Beaber, Bob Beidleman, Scott Bonnell and Miki Young.

Row seven had Ed on the inside and Donnie Kreitz outside. The green flag waved and Ed went into turn one on the inside and was hit and spun by Kreitz. The bump put Ed into the inside fence and spinning in front of the rest of the field where he was clipped by one of the cars trying to miss him. He was pushed off, but came down the front-stretch pit lane and stopped to have his crew survey the damage...a missing front bumper, a bent front sway bar, bent front end and broken front wing support, which allowed the front wing to be skewed in a way that took away the down force of the front end. Despite all this, they decided to not be denied this last race of the year and signaled a truck to push him off.

He joined the field in 26th spot and went about the business of passing cars. Four more yellow flags flew before the red flag fuel stop on lap 24.

Ed was up to 11th at this time.

Five laps later, he was 10th. Two more yellow flags put the race with 37 laps in the books and Ed up to 8th. Three more caution periods were necessary to get to lap 47. At this point, officials decided to call for another fuel stop, because they would be over the designated 55 laps for fuel consumption for the group.

Ed certainly got the most he could out of his damaged race car and crossed the finish line in 6th behind Hodnett, Smith, Weibley, Wolfe, and Alan Cole.

News on new T-Shirts will be posted shortly.


Williams Grove National Open - 10/1/05

It had been a few years since Lynch Racing made a trip to the Grove, but Ed and the crew were able to compete on the final day (Saturday) of the Williams Grove National Open.

There were 55 cars on hand and Ed drew a high pill, went out late and timed 33rd overall. Terry McCarl had fast time that night, but Ed still managed to time faster than WoO Jason Solwold, All Star Champion Champion Chad Kemenah, Dale Blaney Jeff Sheppard, Kerry Madson, Donnie Kreitz and others.

He lined up 9th in the first heat and only managed to finish 8th which put him in the C-Main. Every heat winner came from the front row.

Ed started on pole of the C-Main and led every lap despite restarts and that put him in the B-Main. Track announcer Bruce Ellis reminded the fans that Ed had a top five finish (5th) in the 1999 National Open. The Out Door Channel interviewed him after the race and that was shown on Wednesday, October 12 at8:00PM.

He lined up 17th but the tire selection they picked for the B-Main was not right and he finished 14th. McCarl went on to win the "B" and Donny Schatz won the "A" Main.

There is a possibility the team will travel to Williams Grove for one more race and Ed is already pre-entered at Hagerstown for the Octoberfest, October 29-30.
 

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