2006 Updates
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March
Flat Tires Were the Story For Ed's Trip to Williams Grove - 3/19/06

For the second Sunday in a row, Ed had the team ready for a trip to the Grove. Last week, the car never made it into the trailer because of rain. Sunday, however, despite the cold, windy weather, it was sunny and everything was loaded by 8:15AM and the 3-1/2 hour trip began.

However, about two hours into the trip and before the Breezewood Exit on the Turnpike, a loud bang (like a shot) was heard. It was another mile before there was enough room to pull the rig off the road far enough to see what had occurred. The middle tire on the left side of the trailer had blown out. The crew had a spare and was changing the tire when fans stopped to see if any help was needed. Race fans are great, aren't they?

The pits were open by the time the rig got in line and Ed drew a #27 pill which lined him up 5th in the first of three heats for the 32 cars signed in for 410 action. Hot laps were helpful to Ed who hadn't been to the Grove for an afternoon show for quite a few years. Keith Kauffman and Ken Carberry were in the front row of Ed's heat, while Michael Carber and Mark Freeland made up the second row. Ed and Todd Shaffer made up row three, then it was Bob Beidleman, Rick Lafferty, Doug Eash, Pat Cooper and Donnie Kreitz.

Ed looked good and was fast right from the start and found the quick way around the inside of turns one and two and was up to fourth in a lap. He then moved into third behind Kauffman and Shaffer when the yellow came out for Donnie Kreitz after three laps. On the restart, Ed was able to pull inside Shaffer in turn two but didn't complete the pass with Kauffman just ahead.

One lap later, past the flagstand and just before the turn, Shaffer's left side nerf bar fell off just in front of Ed. He caught a glimpse of something chrome and tried to avoid it, but couldn't and ran over it with his right front tire and his right rear tire. With two flat tires, he was not able to get back out. He would then have to start last in the consey and if he was able to win that, the best he could start in the feature would be 19th. Given the fact that it was an afternoon show with drying track conditions, and little passing, the decision was made to try it again another day. Three flat tires were enough for one day! Shaffer, Greg Hodnett and Freddie Rahmer won the heats and the feature went to Kauffman for his 50th career win at the Grove.


April
First Full Weekend of Racing

Taking advantage of the sunny weekend, Lynch Racing completed its first full weekend of racing (after Lernerville and Sharon) by towing North two hours to the Tri City Speedway Opener. Even though the owners had changed one and two turns by adding more banking, the results were the same for Ed as he searched every inch of the track for a faster groove because Rod George occupied the bottom land the entire 20-lap feature race.

Running five divisions, Sprints were first for heats and their feature. Fourteen were on hand and ran two heats. George started 5th in the first heat and won it, then Ed started on pole of the 2nd heat and won it. (his 41st heat win here). Tri City lets a random fan pick the envelope for the inversion and roving announcer Brian Spaid told the crowd that she had picked a "0" inversion. Thus, Rod George and Ed made up the front row, followed by Todd Bauer and Brent Covell in row two. Rob Eyler and Jason Jacoby were in row three and Andy Priest and Bob Felmlee started in row four. Even though the heats were run at 6:00PM, the feature didn't push off until 8:45PM.

It took three tries to get a lap in the books, then came a stretch of 15 green flag laps before a caution for Jacoby that lost power on the back chute. George had taken off from his pole position and used his patented inside groove the entire race, leading every lap. Meanwhile, knowing George would never leave the bottom, Ed started searching for another groove. There wasn't much traction in the second and third groove and while Ed was spinning his tires out there, Bauer took advantage of Ed's venture into the higher groove and squeeked by and moved into second. It took Ed several more laps to regain 2nd.

The line-up after the lap 15 yellow, showed George leading, then the lapped car of Russ Sansosti, then Ed. When George took off it was hard for him to build the huge lead he had before the yellow and Ed stayed closer. George led by three car-lengths at the checkered and Ed was followed by Bauer and Priest.


Ed Started 12th and Finished 2nd at Sharon - 4-29-06

Because of winning the two previous features at Sharon, Ed had to start 12th Saturday night. With Jarod Larson on the pole, Ed gave it a great effort, but fell short by 0.532 seconds at the end of 25 laps. Near the end of the race, Ed was turning his fastest laps. His lap 21 was the fastest of the entire field at a speed of 94.7l7mph.

The feature was fast-paced from the start when understandably, Larson had his fastest lap and wasted no time sailing to a huge lead on the clear track. The leader then went to work on the lapped cars. By lap 15 when the one and only caution flew for a spin by Jody Keegan who ended up wedged near an infield truck tire in turn one.

Meanwhile, Ed had moved up to 4th behind Larson, Scott Bonnell and Brian Ellenberger by lap three. But, for the next 11 laps, he worked on Ellenberger, finally getting by him with an inside move in turns 3 and 4.

The restart line-up after the lap 15 caution, showed Larson with four lapped cars, then second place Bonnell and Ed, now in third. The final ten laps saw Larson as fast as ever and Ed getting by Bonnell on the outside in turns 1 and 2 by lap 16. The chase was on as Ed continued to close the gap on the leader and the crowd could sense a down-to-the-wire finish....and they were not disappointed. It came down to the last turn of the last lap and the race to the flag stand where Larson crossed ahead of Ed by a narrow margin. The were followed by Bonnell and Kyle Moffitt. Down one lap in fifth it was Mike Kekich. The race started at 9:35 and ended at 9:47PM.

Fifteen Sprints signed in for the night and Ed started fourth in the first heat and won it, while Ellenberger won the second heat.


Accident Plagued Feature at Lernerville Includes Ed Friday Night - 4-28-06

Five caution and three red flags in the 25-lap feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway pretty much told the story. Unfortunately, the second red flag was for Ed who who got his front-end airborne after running over a clod of mud near the front straightaway wall at the flagstand on lap four. He got upside down, but was able to climb from his car after a lengthy delay to free himself from the safety belts, wires from his one-way radio and the tight quarters of his sprint car cockpit. He was OK and helped to right his car back on its wheels. Once back in the pits, the damage was assessed to both wings, front axle and other bolt-on parts. He would make another evaluation in the garage.

The second night of the regular season at Lernerville showed 22 Sprints on hand that would run two heats. Ed's pill draw had him starting ninth in the first heat that went non-stop and front-row starters, Brent Matus and Skip Dougherty finished one-two with fourth place starter Cory Good in third and Ed was fourth. The second heat went to Arnie Kent.

Sprints were the first feature and got the green flag at 8:45PM. Because Ed won the last race here, after he qualified through his heat, he would start in 12th spot. The front row showed Brian Ellenberger and Russ Sansosti with Kent and Carl Bowser in row two. Cory Good and Kevin Schaeffer made up row three followed by Gary Rankin and Brent Matus. Scott Bonnell and Dougherty were in row five and Scott Priester started inside Ed in 11th. With just one lap completed a rash of incidents occurred, causing five more attempts to get lap two in the books. Charlie Holben and Sansosti, each caused a yellow with a red coming out for Shelia Rankin upside down in a three-car melee involving Danny Hollsgraver and Bill Kiley. Two more cautions for Davey Jones and Sansosti flew before the field could produce lap two .

On all those single file starts that didn't get scored, Ed was 10th and he had moved up to 8th on lap four when his race-ending incident occurred. There was another red for a flip by Kent when he slipped off the back-stretch on lap three. The final caution came on lap 12 for Bowser. Ellenberger led the entire distance for his first win at Lernerville and was followed by Schaeffer who battled Rod George back and forth for second spot. Ralph Spithaler was fourth and Mike Shearer ranked fifth.


Ed Makes It Two In A Row at Sharon on Saturday - 4-22-06

After Lernerville lost Friday night to rain that started at 7:00PM, the rain continued through Saturday morning and calls to Sharon Speedway. They were racing! The crew loaded the #2L in the rain and drove more that half-way in the rain. But, in Hartford, Ohio it was not raining, however, the track crew was having a hard time running the track in because of heavy rains through the night, The Sprint heats that were set to start at 6:00PM were run by 7:30 and Ed started third in the second heat behind Mike Shearer and Keith Taylor. Shearer led all but the final lap as Ed moved into second. Coming out of turn four, Shearer appeared to go wide and get bogged down in the deep cushion, then pulled a wheelie. Ed stayed inside and went on for the win. The first heat went to Jarod Larson over Brian Ellenberger.

The computer redraw for the 25-lap feature had Ed starting seventh behind the front row of Leo O'Malley and Shearer. Russ Sansosti and Scott Bonnell made up row two, while Larson and Jody Keegan filled row three. Shearer had no problem leading the first three laps before the caution came out for the stalled car of Kevin Schaeffer hung up on the track exit lane off turn two. The restart order showed Shearer, then Bonnell and Ed in third.

The winning move came on lap eight and Ed set out to carefully put as many cars as he could between himself and Shearer during a long stretch of green flag laps. A red flag flew on lap 18 after Shearer got into Keegan just out of turn four as the two battled for second spot Both cars flipped and were too badly damaged to return. When the green replaced the red flag, Ed had four lapped cars between himself and the second place car of Larson.

It was clear sailing for Ed to the finish and he held a straight away lead over Larson, Bonnell and Brian Ellenberger at the end. The fifth place car of Mike Kekich was a lap down and the feature was finished at 10:00PM. Remember, all the laps are recorded for you to see at www.mylaps.com on Sharon's web site.


“The Most Unique Places to see an Ed Lynch, Jr. T-shirt with You in it”

A new contest is underway titled “The Most Unique Places to see an Ed Lynch, Jr. T-shirt with You in it”. The pictures will have their own page on Ed’s web site www.edlynchjr.com and fans are encouraged to be creative and submit their entries by e-mail to jean@alltel.net by August 1, 2006. Include your name, address and where the picture was taken. Only first names and location of the picture will be used in the caption. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants which include two tickets for one night at a dirt track of their choice. The first entry is from Zachary at the Great Wall of China.


Ed Overcomes a Wing Problem in His Heat to Win Sharon Opener - 4-15-06

While leading his heat race Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, Ed experienced problems with support of his top wing and was forced to go to the pits with just four laps completed. This then determined his 13th place starting spot in the 25-lap feature and for the second night in a row, Ed was able to take the lead on "lucky" lap 13 and go on and win.

With hot laps at 6:00, it wasn't until 8:00PM that the Sprints ran their two heats. The 20 cars drew for starting spots and Ed started seventh in the first heat and was leading at the end of one lap when the caution came out for Brent Matus. The second caution on lap four was for Ed's wing problem and the final caution came on lap seven. Brian Ellenberger led Mike Kekich to the finish with Jarod Larson beating Jody Keegan in heat number two.

The green flag for the Sprint feature came at 10:08PM and showed Joe Butera and Larson leading the charge while Ed started his No. 2L in 13th spot. Quickly, the red came out for an incident with C.W. Harshman and Scott Bonnell. The second attempt at a start was called back and finally the race was underway. Moving rapidly through the field, Ed was up to second by lap four, however, Larson had built a straight-away lead by now and Ed continued to close the gap until he took the lead just before the caution came out on lap 13 for a three-car tangle. He won by half a lap over Larson and had lapped up to the fifth place car. Behind Larson it was Ellenberger, Keegan, Kekich and Kevin Schaeffer.

The transponder readings had Ed turning the fastest lap in the feature on lap 15 with a time of 13.943 and a speed of 96.823mph. His time in his heat was the fastest of all Sprints at 13.698 for a speed of 98.555mph. For fans wishing to look at the transponder results, just go to the Sharon Speedway site and click on a banner ad on the right side My Laps.com.


Ed Makes It Six Straight Opening Night Wins at Lernerville - 4-14-06

Ed started seventh in a field of 20 Sprint cars and survived an early yellow flag and a red flag before lap four. But once there was a long stretch of green flag laps, he was able to get his new set up dialed in and was consistently faster each lap to take the lead from pole sitter Cory Good on lap 13 and went the new 25 lap distance in front to win Lernerville Speedway's Opener for the sixth straight year.

There were 20 Sprints on hand and Ed's pill draw put him last in the second heat. He finished third behind Mike Shearer and Carl Bowser. Cory Good, Scott Bonnell and Rod George were the top three in the first heat.

A re-draw for the feature had Good and Bowser in the front row followed by Brent Matus and Gary Rankin. In row three it was Bonnell and Kevin Schaeffer while Ed and Shearer made up row four. The initial start was called back because Good started too soon and the next try was better. However, when young Danny Hollsgraver got in trouble on the front stretch with only two laps completed, Ed was riding in sixth spot Just two laps later, Shearer jumped the cushion coming out of turn four and flipped on the front stretch wall. When the green replaced the red flag the line-up showed Good, Bowser, Schaeffer, Rankin then Ed in fifth.

Finally, Ed got that long green stretch he needed and he started to pass Rankin then Bowser. Several laps later he caught Schaeffer but it took another three laps to catch Good. Just as Ed was closing in on Good in turn two, Good got in trouble in the cushion and almost got his car sideways. Ed had to spike the brakes and cut to the inside to avoid Good who recovered, but not before Ed made his winning pass for the lead. On the frontstretch then, Good looped his car bringing out the yellow.

Ed now led Schaeffer, Bowser, George and Rankin. But, second place Schaeffer had a tire go down and exited to the pits before the restart to begin lap 14. Before the final caution on lap 19 for Shelia Rankin, the announcers said Ed's speed was 106 mph based on the new transponders that each car must now carry at Lernerville and his lead was six seconds over the second place car. With only one lapped car now separating Ed and the new second place driver, Rod George, the last six laps went quickly and Ed won by a comfortable margin over George. Bowser, Ralph Spithaler and Skip Daugherty finished in the top five.


Ed makes the WoO A-Main at Eldora on Saturday night - 4/8/06

The No.2L team loaded up early Saturday morning and made the long trip to Eldora. Originally planning to race the two-day WoO/All Star sanctioned weekend at Eldora, Ed watched all the weather channels and thought Friday was lost to the weather. But, hard to believe, the race had rain delays then it was completed.

The crew arrived just as the gates opened and drew a #44 pill that put them in the third group to qualify in the field of 41 cars on hand. Ed was a very respectable 11th overall in time trials. That slotted him in second of the third heat outside Daryn Pittman. Terry McCarl, Jason Meyers, Brian Paulus, Kraig Kinser, Jeremy Campbell, Nick Smith and Barry Ruble made up the rest of the heat. The top four qualified for the A-Main. Pittman won and Meyers was second and Ed was third ahead of Kraig Kinser. Darren Stewart, Chad Kemenah and Butch Schroeder won the other heats.

The four drivers who were locked in to Saturday's A-Main were Sammy Swindell, Danny Lasoski, Donny Schatz and Tim Kaeding. Ed started 15th in the 30-lap feature but wasn't able to go on the top or the bottom and seemed to have no side bite so he pulled out early and finished 22nd. Swindell won by a comfortable margin over Tim Kaeding.


4/1/2006 - Collapsed nose wing spoils Ed's chance for a win in Mercer Opener

After Lernerville's opener was rained out Friday (March 31), Ed and the crew set their sights on Mercer's opener on Saturday.- April Fool's Day. The day was overcast and ugly, but the crew headed North for two hours and joined 25 other Sprint cars for a 7:00PM show.

A pill draw for heat race lineups put him fourth in the first of three heats. He finished second to Mike Shearer and the other heats went to Scott Bonnell and Brian Ellenberger. A re-draw for the 20-lap feature put Bonnell and Dave Solick in the front row with Bob Felmlee and Skip Dougherty making up row two, while Rod George started inside Ed in row three.

Ed chose the outside lane at the start and passed two cars, then got by Dougherty on the inside in turn four on lap two. On the next round, he went inside Solick on the backstretch and was riding in second behind leader Bonnell when the yellow came out on lap four. Just two laps later there was another spin and the lineup showed Bonnell, Ed, Bob Felmlee, Solick and Dougherty.

Going down the front stretch on lap seven, Ed's nose wing broke at the right front support bracket and the wing collapsed, then lifted, causing both front wheels to come off the ground for a spectacular wheelie at the flagstand nearly sending him into the outside wall. Felmlee was there to capitalize and moved past Ed into second. Ironically, Bonnell's car lost power on the front stretch on lap nine and so the restart showed Felmlee now the new leader.

Amazingly, Ed was able to continue holding second spot for the next 10 laps until he tried to correct for a lapped car in between turns three and four on the white flag lap. The No. 2L went around and sat in that spot bringing out the yellow. Once he was pushed off, he went straight to the pits. The remainder of the cars lined up for one lap to the checkered. Ed was credited with 10th place in the final run-down because of so many lapped cars. Felmlee held off George and Solick for his win.


May
Ed Gets a Top Ten Finish in Lernerville's WoO Show Wednesday - 5-31-06

It was an up-hill battle most of the night, but Ed and the crew stayed dedicated Wednesday night at Lernerville Speedway. After timing well, Ed made the most of a bad situation in his qualifying heat and pulled off a win in the B-Main to advance to the Commonwealth Clash 35-lap A-Main and come away with his second ninth place finish with the World of Outlaws this year.

With 45 cars on hand Ed started his night off in good form by timing in third overall with a time of 13.254 for a speed of 122.227mph. Rob Chaney set fast time in Randy Hannagan's ride with a time of 13.233 and Jac Haudenschild was second quick at 13.253.

The cars were staggered and the fastest six were inverted in four heats and Ed started sixth in the third heat. On the first lap he made an inside move in turn two and was tapped by Dean Jacobs and spun to the infield. The #2L came close to digging in and making a bad situation really ugly, but fortunately stayed on all four wheels. He restarted last and only came back to sixth, which meant that he missed the top five cut-off line and had to make it through the B-Main to get into the feature race. Greg Wilson was the winner, followed by Jason Wolwold, Jacobs, Tim Shaffer, Dion Hindi, then Ed. Joey Saldana won the first heat over Craig Dollansky and Chaney. Dale Blaney was victorious over Donny Schatz and Tyler Walker in the second heat. Greg Hodnett led all laps of the fourth heat followed by Chad Kemenah and Danny Smith.

Missing the top five meant Ed was not in the Dash which locks in the first ten positions in the A-Main. The finish there became the top 10 in the A-Main line-up - Solwold and Dollansky were the front row, followed by Justin Henderson and Jacobs, Danny Lasoski and Jeremy Campbell made up row three, while Scott Bonnell and Chaney were in row four, then came Huadenschild and Kemenah.

The 12-lap B-Main was line up by times so Ed started on the pole and led every lap ahead of Daryn Pittman, Lance DeWease and Brook Tatnell. All four got their times back and qualified for the A-Main, but had to fall in behind the Dash cars. Therefore, Ed started the main event in 11th spot.

There was a caution on the start for Dollansky who slipped off turn two and had to restart last, thus moving the outside row ahead one spot. With just two laps in the books, Arnie Kent and Smith were at fault for the second yellow flag with Ed running 12th behind leader Jacobs. About this time, a clump of dirt knocked a spark wire off and Ed was forced to run the rest of the race on seven cylinders. Rookie Henderson brought out the final yellow on lap nine with Ed now in 15th. By lap 14, Ed was back to 11th and by lap 23 he was 10th. His fastest lap of the race came on lap 16 while most of the cars ahead of him had their fastest laps early.

At the checkered flag it was Jacobs, Solwold and Schatz (up from 18th), Pittman and Lasoski in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 it was Saldana, Haudenschild, DeWease, Ed Lynch, Jr. and Dollansky. Ed was the highest finishing local car.


Ed picks up his third Sharon feature Saturday night - 5/27/06

With word coming just as the race team was ready to load the car at 4:35PM on Friday about Lernerville raining out, the focus switched to preparing for the next event.

After starting third Saturday night in the 25-lap Sprint feature at Sharon Speedway, Ed followed pole-sitter Kevin Schaeffer for the first five laps, then made his winning move off turn four when he slipped to the inside of Schaeffer and drag raced to the flagstand to lead lap six.

The No. 2L seemed to get faster as the laps ticked off before a yellow came out after ten laps. Ed had a lapped car between himself and Schaeffer, then three more lapped cars before third running Jarod Larson. Jody Keegan ranked fourth followed by Shawn Minor and Mike Kekich.

But, on the restart when Larson popped a wheelie in turn two, Keegan spun and collected Kekich and Jeff Busby. Kekich suffered a flat right rear, but changed it and returned.

From that point, the race went all green and Ed won by a wide margin over Schaeffer. Larson finished third and Scott Bonnell came from 11th to fourth with Andy McKisson ranking fifth.

Two heats were run for the 20 cars signed in and Ed finished 2nd in the first heat won by Schaeffer. Larson won the second heat over McKisson. Despite the fact that Sharon came close to their scheduled starting time of 6:00PM, only missing it by 10 minutes, the Sprint feature which was third on the program, never got a green flag until 11:20PM and finished at 11:34PM. The crew made it home at 2:25AM.


Ed has a top ten finish in WoO show at Sharon Speedway - 5-20-06

After timing 17th in a 44-car World of Outlaw field Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, Ed was determined to make the best of his situation and he won his heat and qualified for the 40-lap A-Main. From his 14th place on the starting grid of 24 cars, he methodically worked his way up to a ninth place finish at the end.

Fans who came early to Sharon, were treated to a lesson in how to prepare a super-saturated race track. Ten days of rain that finally stopped the morning of the race, had made it impossible for the regular track equipment to turn over the surface with a disc and allow it to dry. The Kirila family (partners in the track) brought in thei heavy equipment necessary in the form of bull dozers, a grader and a helicopter with all the operators necessary to turn the 3/8-mile dirt track into a racing surface.

Many drivers and car owners who had arrived around 1:00PM did not give the track any chance of holding the World of Outlaw show that night, but hour by hour, the Kirila's worked their plan. Most of the people present had never seen a helicopter used to help dry the ground beneath, but as the 'copter worked its way around the track, hovering ever so close to the surface and weaving in between the dozers, grader and other equipment, the thick muck began to turn to a workable consistency. The show started a little later than planned, but after being rained out in eight of their last nine shows, the WoO drivers and fans were happy to be treated to a full show. - In the hot lap session, (soon to be tabbed a group time-trial session), Ed was 11th overall, but in qualifying where fast-timer, Brooke Tatnell came close to the track record with his time of 12.954, Ed's time of 13.236 ranked him 17th for the night. When the field was divided into four heats, Ed started outside Becca Anderson in the front row and led all laps with Tatnell a close second. The win moved Ed to the feature. The other heat winners were Joey Saldana, Donny Schatz and Bill Rose. Scott Bonnell won the C-Main and Chad Kemenah took the B-Main.

New tonight, the Outlaws are having only one Dash and it will be for the fastest 10 cars from time-trials that qualify through their heat for the feature. After drawing a 4-6-or 8 inversion pill the 8-lap Dash will be run and the finish will determine the first 10 cars in the A-Main. Tonight the finish/A-Main line-up was Jac Haudenschild and Tatnell, followed by Daryn Pittman and Dale Blaney. Tonight, fifth place finisher Schatz had the opportunity to start last and if he won, he could collect a $50,000 bonus. Of course, he took the challenge and started last.

Ed started 14th and with Tatnell leading, made his way to 12th when the first yellow flag came out for Schatz, who made it up to 9th by lap 14, but received extensive front-end damage trying to pass a car. The second and last caution came on lap 22 with Ed still in 12th. Following that, Haudenschild took the lead. Ed made it to the top 10 on lap 27 when he passed Blaney and then Dion Hindi. His move to 9th came when he passed Craig Dollansky on the last lap. Thus, finishing behind Haudenschild, tatnell, Randy Hannagan, Jeremy Campbell, Pittman, Terry McCarl and Saldana.


Ed tops a night of pressure with Lernerville win 79th win here. 5-12-06

The Sprint car feature was last on the program Friday night at Lernerville Speedway and the earlier Modified, Late Model and Pure Stock features ironically were all won by the Track Champions from 2005 in those respective divisions. Thus, the pressure was on Ed because he didn't want to be the only Track Champion to not win his feature.

The luck of the re-draw helped by placing Ed outside polesitter Dan Holtgraver for the 25-lap feature for the 20 Sprints on hand. Arnie Kent and Terry Bowser made up the second row followed by Ralphie Spithaler and Scott Priester. Starting second in a way was more pressure for Ed because he always said, "If you start up front....you better finish up front!." As it turned out, he led every lap despite four caution flags and a red flag with just one lap to go.

The fans saw a good race as Kent and Spithaler battled for second, with Kent winning that struggle and then showing he had enough left to mount a serious challenge for the top spot. Kent was trying to make the inside work as Ed rode the highest groove without testing the extremely high berm and treacherous cushion.

The first cushion on lap eight occurred when Mike Shearer spun in turn four after he was bumped by Carl Bowser On the restart, Ed was followed by Kent, Holtgraver and Terry Bowser. Lap 14 saw a caution to bunch the field with Spithaler now in second, then Kent, Kevin Schaeffer, Holtgraver and Rod George. Cory Good brought out the next two yellows on laps 19 and 23.

The white flag lap was complete when Skip Daugherty violently flipped his new sprinter four times on the front stretch attaining some serious altitude (as high as the flag-stand). This set up a 26-lap race ending on green-white-checkered flags. Each time, Kent tried to pull even on the inside of Ed, but wasn't able to make the pass. When asked in victory lane what would he say if this win happens again next week in the WoO Commonwealth Challenge, he replied, "I'll take the $50,000 Challenge." Referring to the agreement between Lernerville and Sharon Speedway for next weekend's WoO races. If Lernerville's winner on Friday agrees to start last the next night at Sharon, and if he wins it, he will collect an additional $50,000.

Two heats were run with Daugherty winning the first over Good, Priester and Schaeffer. Ed started sixth in the second eight lap heat and inherited the lead when Mike Shearer lost the handle in turn one while leading.. With rain in the area, the track officials tried to keep the show at a fast pace.


Ed was fast but did not finish at Sharon - 5-6-06

In an attempt to win his third feature at Sharon Speedway this season, Ed was well on his way when he brushed the inside barrier tire in turn one. The front axle broke, ending his night.and forcing him to the pits on the back of a wrecker.

Earlier in the evening, the 18 sprints on hand ran two heats with Ed recording the fastest lap with a time of 13.350 and a speed of 101.124mph and winning his heat over Jody Keegan. Nick Patterson won the second heat ahead of Mike Shearer. The computer re-draw placed Shawn Minor and Paul Kekich in the front row for the 25-lap A-Main. Brent Matus and Kevin Schaeffer made up row two, followed by Ed and Jarod Larson.

At the drop of the green flag, Ed made a great move, splitting the space between Matus and Larson in turn one and he was third going down the back-stretch. But the red came out before a lap was completed, for a flip in turn one by Shearer. On the complete restart, Ed used an outside move to once again gain third spot mid-way down the back-stretch.and he trailed Kekich and Schaeffer as the field recorded lap one. By lap three, the yellow flew for a stalled Mike Palmer inside turn two.

As the green replaced the yellow, Ed chose the outside lane to get a run on Schaeffer. Exiting turn two, Schaeffer moved up and Ed had to switch to the inside and managed to make the pass in turn three and coming to the flagstand, he was now officially second on lap four. Just two laps later, Ed was inside and just ahead of Kekich, who had led from the start, Ed brushed the inside track tire, ending his night and relegating him to a 16th place finish. Kekich went on to win.


June
Ed gets long-awaited Sprint win number 80 at Lernerville -6/30/06

After reaching a personal milestone of 80 all-time Sprint feature wins Friday night at Lernerville Speedway, Ed was asked by on-track announcer Dow Carnahan how it felt. "It's been a long time coming, every one is special to me.....I remember them all," Ed said in victory lane after winning this 25-lapper in wire-to-wire fashion.

The 21 Sprints on hand were divided into two heats with Ed and Kevin Schaeffer making up the front row of heat #2, but it was Schaeffer who got the jump and when Ed tried to make up ground by running the inside, his #2L didn't like it, so he settled for second. Outside pole-sitter Gary Rankin won the first heat over Carl Bowser.

The rotation of Divisions had the Sprint feature slated for third and a fast-moving show allowed their race to start at 10:08PM. The redraw for starting spots put Ed on the pole for the first time this year. Paul Kish lined up outside with Rod George and Rankin in row two. Scott Priester and Terry Bowser made up row three. However, before a lap could be completed, Kish spun and the complete restart showed George moving up to the front row outside Ed. The next start was called back because Ed and Rod didn't come out of turn four together. The third time was the charm and fans were treated to 15 laps of Ed threading his way around the track through lapped traffic.

When Joe Butera spun bringing out the yellow on lap 15, the line up showed Ed with four lapped cars as a cushion over second place George. Schaeffer held third spot over Carl Bowser. Just one lap got in the scorebook before Butera brought out the caution again. From that point, Ed was trying to hit his marks and be aware of the lapped car situation, one of which he had to follow for two laps in order to get by safely. Behind Ed at the finish, it was George, Schaeffer, Scott Bonnell and Mike Shearer in the top five.


Ed looks good at Muskingum's Speedweek Show Tuesday Night - 6/27/06

Ed was fast Tuesday night at Muskingum County Speedway's Ohio Sprint Speedweek over Stenhouse and Martin over Kelly Kinser . show sanctioned by the All Star Circuit of Champions. He led most of the laps in the 40-lap feature event that was slated to be the third night of the popular summer series, but caught the tail of the field at the end of the race and Dale Blaney, running second, took advantage of the situation and slipped by for the last minute win.

With the top six inverted in the feature from times after qualifying in their heats, the formation for the A-Main showed Brian Paulus and Rob Chaney on the front row. Ed and Brock Mayes were in row two, followed by Paul McMahan and Blaney in row three.

It was clear for the first 37 laps that Ed had his car dialed in as he quickly moved from fourth starting spot past Chaney for the lead on lap three. There were a total of four cautions and several times, Ed had a near straight-away lead erased by the waving yellow. Nick Naber brought out the first caution on lap three where Ed was followed by Chaney, Mayes, Paulus, Blaney and Chad Blonde.

As the green replaced the yellow on lap three, Ed led the field through turns one and two, Chaney driving Dave Blaney's with Blaney actually on hand to wrench it, spun exiting two and collected Blonde. Lap ten saw fifth running McMahan suffer a broken rearend and slip off turn one. That yellow cost Ed a healthy lead and put Mayes, Paulus, Blaney and Kevin Huntley in pursuit. The final yellow came at the half-way mark when Jamie Martin slipped off turn two, taking away Ed's straight-away lead on the field.

Ed had two lapped cars as a cushion at the time, but one went to the pits and the other, Todd Kane, was able to run with the group, despite being a lap down. Mayes ran second at that time with Blaney next, then Paulus and Greg Wilson now past Huntley.

As the laps wound down, and the flagman showed five to go, Ed was right on tail-ender Ron Blair, who was running in Ed's oreferred low groove. By the time Ed spent two laps trying to figure out how to get by Blair, Blaney had closed in and as Ed moved up a little bit on the track to pass Blair, Blaney siezed the opportunity and stuck his nose under Ed. The two battled side by side to the finish with Blaney the winner , followed by Ed, Mayes, Wilson, Paulus, Paul May, Huntley, Kelly Kinser, Bobby Clark and young Ricky Stenhouse rounding out the top ten.

The existing track record set by Joey Saldana on 6/29/99 of 13.242 was shattered by Dale Blaney with a time of 12.899. Actually, the top four of the 38 cars on hand all were under the old record, and included McMahan, Mayes and Ed. The four heats went to Meyers, Blande, May and Martin.


Ed picks up win number five at Sharon Speedway Saturday Night - 6/24/06

Starting fifth in the 25-lap feature Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, Ed took the lead from newcomer and pole-sitter, Troy Little, on lap six and never looked back. Little, an Australian who runs the Knoxville IA area, recorded the fastest lap of the feature early in lap two with a time of 14.595 for 92.497 mph. But, Ed was patient with traffic and was up to third by lap four. But, just two laps later, Little spun in turn four while leading and collected second running Scott Bonnell. Ed narrowly missed the two cars and thus led from that point to collect his 42nd overall Sharon win and his fifth of the year here.

The 24 Sprints were divided into two qualifying heats for the night. Ed started 8th in the first heat and finished second to Gary Edwards. Jarod Larson started 2nd in the second heat and won over pole-sitter Bonnell. Sharon officials came close to starting the races on time tonight and the Sprints were first on the track at 6:08PM.

For the first time this year, there was no scheduled intermission and the Sprint feature, although third tonight, came trackside at 9:05PM with Little and Larson bringing the field to the green flag. Jody Keegan and Paul Kish made up row two with Ed and Bonnell in row three. The restart after the tangle on lap five, showed Ed leading Larson, Mike Kekich, Keegan and Kevin Schaeffer.

The only other caution came on lap 18 for Larson with mechanical woes and when the green replaced the yellow flag, Ed had a cushion of seven lapped cars between himself and second place Schaeffer, who got much faster near the end of the race. Keegan nailed down third ahead of Edwards and Andy McKisson.


Ed donates half his winnings to Victory Junction Gang at Sharon Speedway - 6/17/06

For the second year in a row, Ed told Sharon Speedway that he would donate one-half of his winnings to the Victory Junction Gang on the track's big NASCAR Night. After starting 12th because of his two previous consecutive wins here, he managed to get all the way up to third - only missing second spot by 3/l00th of a second at the checkered flag.

There were 25 Sprints signed in that ran three heats and Ed started eighth and finished second to outside front-row starter, Jarod Larson. Other heat winners were Jody Keegan over Tim Hunter in the second heat and Kevin Schaeffer beating Scott Bonnell in the third heat. Being first on the docket, the Sprints took to the track at 6:l0PM and were finished with their preliminary races by 6:20PM.

After a lengthy intermissiion to feature the NASCAR drivers holding a question and answer session in the infield surrounded by Sharon's fans, the 25-lap Sprint feature rolled on the track at 9:15PM with the front row made up of Hunter and Ralphie Spithaler. Row two was made up of Larson and Nick Patterson followed by Schaeffer and Keegan.

With Hunter leading the way over Spithaler, it wasn't until lap 11 that the field had to slowed for a caution involving Patterson. The restart showed Hunter had three lapped cars as a cushion over second place Spithaler, Larson and Ed (up to fourth). Bryan Grove was guilty of bringing out the second and final yellow flag on the following lap as the top three now included Hunter, four lapped cars, then Larson and Ed.

Hunter rode the high groove and was cranking out the laps on a clear track and finished six seconds (nearly 1/2 a track) ahead of the battle between Larson and Ed that was almost too close to call. But the transponder reading had Larson ahead by 3/100th of a second. Keegan and Andy McKisson made up the top five followed by Bonnell, Schaeffer, Aaron Shaffer, Gary Edwards and Keith Taylor in the top ten.


Ed had a night of trials and tribulations, but still managed a 4th place at Lernerville - 6/16/06

Ed was glad to see the checkered flag at the end of the 25-lap feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway and to roll his car into the trailer in one piece. He had several close calls (three, to be exact) and could have trashed his car on any one of those occasions, so, it was a relief to see the checkered wave.

The first close call came in his heat race. The 21 Sprints were divided into two heats and Ed was to start seventh in the second heat. As he was passing cars on the second lap, the front row starter Cory Good suddenly lost power just past the flagstand and Ed got into him, spinning the No. 2L into the infield grass. Good retired to the pits and Ed restarted last. But, the accident had bent the left front radius rod and the best he could finish was eighth behind winner Andy McKisson and Carl Bowser. Gary Rankin finished ahead of Charlie Holben in the first heat.

The Sprint feature ran first and took a green flag at 9:07PM. Arnie Kent and Scott Bonnell headed the group with McKisson and Bowser in row two. Ed started 16th and went high around turns one and two, but when he tried the same move in three and four, he slipped over the edge for his second close call, and ended up inches away from the guardrail bordering the pits. Ed joined the field in last place as Bonnell led Bowser after one lap. The second caution flag was on lap five for Ralphie Spithaler with Ed up to tenth.

On lap ten, Gary Rankin lost power and parked high off turn two and with Bonnell, Bowser and Kent in the top three spots and Ed up to seventh. The caution on lap 17 was for Brian Ellenberger and Ed was now in fourth. He was up to third when the red flag came out for Good and J.W. Tush. "I really didn't need that red. Maybe my tires lost air pressure or something happened to change my stagger on the back," said Ed explaining his third and final "close call." I had the steering wheel cut away from the front straightaway wall, but the car kept going that way. I missed that wall by inches."

Bonnell stayed ahead of Bowser for the final two laps, for his first Lernerville win of the year, and Rod George got by Ed to nail third place. Rounding out the top nine it was Kevin Schaeffer, McKisson, Kent, Dan Shetler and Mike Shearer.


Ed has perfect night at Sharon - winning his heat and the feature Saturday 6-10-06

After finishing second Friday night at Lernerville, Ed and the crew made many changes to the No. 2L Sprint car and had great results Saturday night at Sharon Speedway, winning his heat and the feature.

There were 19 cars on hand and the first heat was won by Andy Mckisson followed by Rallph Spithaler in Troy Preston's car, Jarod Larson and Jamie Marting. Ed won the second heat after starting seventh. Behind him were Scott Bonnell, Russ Sansosti and Jody Keegan.

The Sprint feature came out first at 8:18PM (a new track record) and was finished shortly after while it was still daylight. Spithaler and Bonnell made up the front row. Jody Keegan and Martin were the power in row two, followed by Shawn Minor and Ed. A caution on the start for Martin prevented the lap from being scored, thus, the field went for a complete restart. Martin went to the pits and the outside row moved ahead one spot,

A complete restart was in order with Ed now moved up to 4th. This time, the field was clean and green as Ed planned his strategy for two laps, then made his move - splitting two cars in turn three, and leading down the back stretch, and at the completion of lap four. Keith Taylor's No. 6T brought out the next yellow at that point of the race as Ed led Bonnell, Spithaler, Keegan and Larson.

On the lap four restart, Spithaler lost the handle in turn two, scattering Sansosti and Taylor again. Sansosti suffered a broken wheel and went to the pits along with Spithaler. This time the green stayed out for a long 18-lap run as Ed showed his talent of weaving through lapped traffic. Just as he came up on a group of four cars (two clean and two lapped), someone in the group bumped wheels and sent Bonnell (one of the clean cars) up against the outside guardrail in turn one. That was the final caution and set up a three lap dash to the checkered flag.

The top three cars were nose-to-tail to start those last three laps with Ed in front of Keegan and Larson. As the green flag waived and Ed passed the cone on the front stretch, Keegan pulled a wheelie and Larson took advantage of the situation by diving under Keegan in turn one for the second spot. That gave Larson a chance to try the same inside move on Ed. Coming to the checkered flags, Ed held his line and Larson had the fans on their feet as he made a last ditch effort to dive under Ed in turn four. But, Ed's car was perfect off the turn and crossed 0.787 seconds ahead of Larson and Keegan. Andy McKisson finished fourth, then came Mike Kekich and Bonnell the last of the clean cars.

The win was Ed's 41st career win at Sharon and his sixth win of the season overall.


Fireworks Night at Lernerville and Ed Finishes a Close Second

Although the Sprints were the second feature, it was 10:45PM before the green flag flew for a field of 19 cars with Ed starting 11th. Twenty-seven Late Models had just completed their hour-long, caution filled 25-lap feature utilizing all grooves on Lernerville's semi-banked oval, so there wasn't much to get a hold of by the time the Sprints rolled out.

Despite track officials trying to get two features in before the big Zambelli fireworks display and a parade of new cars from Cochran Pontiac, the Sprint feature had to wait until after the fireworks.

Cory Good and Carl Bowser were in the front row, with Brent Matus and Gary Rankin in row two. Scott Bonnell and Shelia Rankin made up row three followed by Arnie Kent and Kevin Schaeffer. Ralph Spithaler and Rod George were in row five, then it was Ed in 11th and Brian Ellenberger outside him. For the most part, Ed was best on the top of the track, but the speeds were slow on the dry, slick surface. There was a close call on the front stretch on lap nine when, just ahead of Ed, Good and Bonnell bumped wheels twice with Good spinning and bringing out a yellow flag.

When the green replaced the yellow, Schaeffer led Bowser, Matus and Bonnell with Ed up to fifth. The only other caution came on lap 14 for George who suffered a flat left rear and spun in between turns one and two. Ed was up to second at that point, but Schaeffer drove a flawless race, utilizing the fastest lane. As the laps wound down, Ed gave it a good try, running a groove higher than Schaeffer most of the time. Once, when Ed tried the bottom, Schaeffer's momentum on the top prevailed and he was ahead at the flagstand.

Schaeffer celebrated his win by calling his wife and two-day old son in the hospital with the good news. Ed was a solid second, then came Bowser, Bonnell and Matus in the top five. The first heat went to Bowser over Ellenberger. In the second heat George won from his pole position with outside starter Schaeffer finishing second. Third starting Good finished third. Ed started eighth and finished fourth.


Ed was supposed to start 10th in the WoO Feature at Eldora - 6-3-06

After the Friday night rainout at Lernerville, the crew headed six hours West to the World of Outlaw show at Eldora Speedway on Saturday. Ed did a good job in his time trial effort, his heat and the Dash to make the A-Main starting line-up in the 10th spot. However, there's a first time for everything and that's what happened when he was pushed off to start the feature. The engine would not fire!!! He came back into the pits, knowing that would make him start last - because of the one push-off rule, and the crew checked the wires and tried to find the problem. The push truck got behind the #2L again, but it still wouldn't fire and an alternate was sent in to make up the 24-car field.

There were 39 cars signed in and Ed pulled a late pill (53) and did a decent job timing, clocking in at 13.644 and ranking 15th overall. That started him 3rd in the second heat and he finished second behind Joey Saldana, which qualified him for the A-Main. Other heat winners were Jason Meyers, Tim Kaeding and Donny Schatz.

Ed was eligiible for the 10 car Dash after five cars that timed better than he did, failed to advance through their heats. Ed started 10th and finished there which locked him into 10th starting spot in the A-Main. The 30-lap feature was won by Craig Dollansky. Later it was discovered, a mal-functioning MSD box (the brains of a sprint car's electrical system) was to blame for the engine not firing.


July
Ed finishes 2nd at Sharon Speedway 7-29-06

20 Sprints were on hand at Sharon tonight. Ed was scheduled to start 9th in the first of two heat races. He quickly made his way to second place but by the end of the 8 lap event, it was the pole-sitter Roger Campbell in the #ZL1 who saw the checkered flag first. The second heat race win went to the #47 of Jarod Larson who also started on the pole.

The Sprints were up first tonight for their feature event. The 25 lap race got underway at 8:50pm. Ed started in the 7th spot with Jarod Larson lining up beside him. At the drop of the green flag, Ed took the bottom line and Larson the top. Together they made their way up to 2nd (Larson) and 3rd (Ed) when the caution came out for the #12 car on lap 6. Again, on the restart, Ed chose the bottom with Larson going high in 1 and 2. Within the next two laps, Larson took the lead away from the #5K of Mike Kekich and 1/2 lap later Ed passed Kekich for second. A red flag on lap 9 for the #3M showed Larson an open track on the restart. For the next 10 laps, Ed stayed on Larson's bumper as they weaved in and out of lapped traffic. When Ed was able to pull a smooth slide job in turn 4 to make a pass for the lead, Ed got loose and Larson passed him back on the bottom coming out of turn 4. The finish showed Larson first, Ed second and the #0 of Andy McKisson a distant third.

Plans for next weekend are undecided as the team prepares for the Knoxville Nationals.


Ed comes from 11th to win at Lernerville 7-28-06

18 Sprints signed in at Lernerville tonight. The Sprints were scheduled to go out second for their heats and feature. Ed decided to hot lap his car that he runs for special shows because of an oil leak he found the last time he raced it. Unfortunately, the problem was not fixed as he soon realized there was oil on his feet when he pulled in the pits after his warm-up session. Back to the garage for this car!

For the heat race and feature, he ran his regular Friday night Lernerville car. Ed started 9th in the first of two heat races. He did a great job coming up through the pack but had to settle for a second place finish behind the front row starter of Scott Bonnell. The second heat race win went to Kevin Schaeffer, who also started on the front row.

The feature line-up showed Ed starting 11th. On the start, debris on the back stretch quickly brought out the first caution of the 25 lap feature event. When racing resumed, Ed wasted no time moving forward and by lap 7 was in 2nd place. Ed was able to get by the leader of Arnie Kent on the back stretch on lap 10 and quickly pulled away. When the red came out on lap 15, Ed had a comfortable lead over Kent. One last caution came out on lap 20, but Ed already had a half-a-track lead over second place. He went on to win with Gary Rankin finishing second and Scott Priester coming in third. Ed captured his 81st career win at Lernerville Speedway.

Lynch Racing will be heading to Sharon Speedway tomorrow.


Ed starts 10th and finishes 4th at Lernerville Friday night - 7/21/06

It was a long night at Lernerville Speedway because the Sprint cars ran last. When they did finally get to the 25-lap feature, it wasn't much fun for Ed, who started 10th and was slow to make his way forward inspite of four cautions and a red flag. Fourth was where he ended up behind Kevin Schaeffer, Rod George and Carl Bowser.

The evening started off with a good pill draw for his heat race which had him starting outside Dan Holtgraver in the front row of the first heat. He won over Holtgraver, Gary Rankin, Cory Good and Scott Bonnell. The second heat went to Jody Keegan followed by Schaeffer, Terry Bowser and Rod George. The redraw for the feature lineup for the 22 cars signed in showed Arnie Kent and Carl Bowser on the front row.

Just two laps were recorded when Holtgraver lost the handle coming out of turn two. Carl Bowser was leading and Ed was ninth at that point. There was trouble on that restart when Good spun in turn three. A long stretch of green flag laps followed and Ed spent nearly five of those getting past Bonnell. One lap later, he made a move past Gary Rankin for another spot. Next, he put Terry Bowser behind him. It wasn't until lap l5 that he lined up Keegan and gained on him.

The yellow came out for Charlie Holben on lap 21 and Ed was up to fourth. Holtgraver caused another caution with just two laps to go. Unfortunately, Mike Shearer flipped out over turn two on the ensuing restart and the red came out. For Ed, not much changed and Schaeffer was able to hold on for the win.


Ed is 2nd in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XV at Lernerville - 7/16/06

Ed gave the local fans something to cheer about Tuesday night at his "home" track - Lernerville Speedway - when he led the most laps and ended up second against the best of the World of Outlaws and the leading Pennsylvania Possee drivers. The event was the track's richest race, the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XV which drew 39 of the best Sprint car drivers searching for a big payday.

Leading the first 33 laps of the 40-lap A-Main, Ed came close to repeating his 2002 winning effort, but current World of Outlaw point leader Donny Schatz out of Minot, North Dakota had other ideas and passed Ed in lapped traffic and drove away to collect the checkered flag and a check for $30,000. From his podium second place finish, Ed, who registered the fastest lap in the race, of 14.280 or 113.445mph, told the fans that he hesitated in lapped traffic and lost some speed. Schatz, on the other hand, admitted that he had an advantage running second for so long behind Ed. Once Schatz got by Ed, he pulled away to a six second lead.

In time trials, it was Schatz who turned the quickest lap 13.049 and pulled a six-inversion from a sealed envelope. Following Schatz, in qualifying ranking came Daryn Pittman, Randy Hannigan, Craig Dollansky, Terry McCarl and Ed. Four heats were run with Ed scheduled to start 5th in the third heat. He made a good move and came up to second behind Bob Felmlee..The first heat went to Lance Dewease over Jac Haudenschild. In the second heat Dione Hindi beat Chad Kemenah. Dale Blaney came on late to win the final heat.Tim Hunter.

The Dash showed the top ten in times that qualified through their heats and their finish would be the feature line-up. Thus, Saldana and Ed would make up the first row followed by Terry McCarl and Daryn Pittman. Randy Hannigan and Schatz started in row three.

The initial green showed Saldana leading at the flagstand, but a spin by Kevin Swindell in turn one caused another complete restart. The second restart showed Ed going into the lead and keeping it his way, using the high groove around the semi-banked oval. A caution on lap 18 bunched the field and showed Ed leading Schatz (who moved into second on lap nine), Pittman, Saldana and McCarl. Just four laps later, Chad Kemenah, the leading contender for Rookie of the Year in the World of Outlaws,flipped his car in turn one. He was able to walk away from the accident. The final caution came on lap 26 with Ed still leading.

Ed continued to run the top of the track and Schatz ran the bottom, but each had to select the best way to get through lapped traffic at this point. Looking to complete lap 34, Schatz saw that Ed was slowing down in heavy traffic and took an alternate route to come across the line leading for the first time. Schatz then proceeded to pull away and he won by a 6.489 second margin. Following Ed it was Pittman then Craig Dollansky and Lance Dewease in the top five. Rounding out the top ten it was, Saldana, McCarl, Brooke Tatnell, Jac Haudenschild and Greg Wilson.


Ed is 8th in his first NST race at Tri City Speedway despite obstacles - 7/16/07

On the long trip from Eldora to Tri City, the crew was thrown a curve when they arrived at their motel in Mansfield OH, only to find out the motel clerk at the Knight's Inn had re-sold their guaranteed late-arrival rooms despite confermation numbers on each of their rooms, and had no rooms for them. The weary travelers piled back in the rig and drove to the Flyin' J south of Sharon Speedway. They showered, had breakfast and drove to the car wash in Franklin PA where they washed and worked on the car.

There were 29 Sprints on hand to run the biggest show ever at Tri City Speedway. A large, late-arriving crowd turned out to cheer on the locals against the stars of the National Sprint Tour.. Ed's pill draw of 34 put him in the middle of the qualifying order. The crew got their second shocker of the day, when Ed pushed off for time trials and was about to start his first lap. Exiting turn four, the electrical box quit and the engine stuttered. Ed jumped on the brakes and spun deliberately just before he would have tripped the clock. He returned to the pits to replace the box and was only allowed one lap at the end of time trials to record his official time. With the track slowing down by the minute under 90 degree weather, Ed made his lap a good one, timing 10th overall with 17.475.

Danny Lasoski and Ed started on the front row of the first heat race and that's the way they finished. Steve Kinser won over Paul McMahan in the second heat, while Jason Meyer finished ahead of Lucas Wolfe in the third heat. The top 12 from times that transferred from their heats would make up the two Dashes. When Jody Keegan failed to transfer from his heat, that put Ed into the Dash where he started 4ath and finished 5th. Thus, the 30-lap feature line-up was as follows: Shane Stewart, McMahan, Tim Kaeding and Rod George in the first two rows. Steve Kinser and Jason Sides made up row three followed by Andy McKisson and Brian Paulus. Ed started 9th with Lucas Wolfe in 10th.

There were caution flags on the start for Dean Jacobs (replacing the injured Tim Shaffer) , lap 8 and lap 19 and.all along Ed just couldn't go forward. The final caution on lap 23 showed him 10th. With two laps to go, the front runners were being pressured by Steve Kinser. Ironically, it was Steve's other car driven by Tim Kaeding, that added drama to the last laps. Especially, thrilling was to watch Steve and his team car racing side by side. On the final lap, Kaeding did a 360 but kept going, Kinser pulled off the winning move and Lasoski and Meyers advanced to second and third. Kaeding appeared to finish 4th, but failed to make the 1375 lb. weight at the scales.

McMahan finished 4th ahead of Solwold, Jason Sides, Paulus, then Ed Lynch in 8th ahead of Jacobs and Arnie Kent in the top ten.


Ed has a good King's Royal at Eldora Speedway - 7/15/06

Ed had a great start to his evening at Eldora Speedway on Saturday night of the 23rd Annual King's Royal by Crown Royal sanctioned by the World of Outlaws.

His crew pulled a number 15 pill and he went out to time tenth. During hot laps Ed never had a clean lap without cars around him and his transponder time showed him about 35th in the ranking of 57 cars. But when it counted, his first lap on the clock 13.514 for a speed of 133.195mph was good for fast time of the night. For accomplishing that, Tony Stewart presented him with a brand new Artic Cat Tony Stewart Signature edition 4-wheeler on center stage and later Stewart stopped by Ed's pits to tell him how smooth he looked in qualifying. They also talked about track conditions. Tony told Ed he wanted a better surface and planned to bring out the heavy equipment and cut down the track, water it, pack it and then it would be ready to race.

Being fast timer, Ed also opened the envelope revealing a "4" inversion for the heats. Although he moved up to second behind pole-sitter Jason Solwold initially in the first heat, Ed got loose as the race went on and Danny Smith and Tyler Walker got by. However, confusion and different finishes were given because the race had inadvertantly run 11 laps instead of ten and Walker's pass came on lap 11. The critical point was that only the top three drivers would advance to the King's Royal.

World of Outlaw officials explained to Ed that the finish would stand, thus Ed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. who blew an engine in his heat would start 19th and 20th because they were the fastest two timers that did not make the race through heats. In addition to Solwold other heat winners were Donny Schatz, Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Jac Haudenschild and Joey Saldana. All six ran a Dash to determine the starting line-up for the 40-lap main event.

Haudenschild and Lasoski made up the front row of the A-Main followed by Saldana and McCarl, but it was Lasoski, who led the early laps until Saldana blew by on the outside in turn one to lead lap 20. A red flag came out on lap 23 for a four car tangle. A contributing factor might have been when Steve Kinse blew a tire. >From the start, Ed was moving forward past Jeremy Campbell, Dion Hindi, Stenhouse, Brian Paulus, Shane Stewart, Danny Smith, Brooke Tatnell and Paul McMahan advancing the No.2L up to 11th at the red.

When Haudenschild flipped on lap 31 a second red was displayed and Ed was 7th. With nine laps to go the running order showed Saldana, Lasoski, Schatz, Chad Kemenah, McCarl, Stevie Smith and Ed. Behind him were Kevin Swindell, Craig Collansky, McMahan and Stenhouse.

There were two false staarts when Lasoski wouldn't let the lapped car of Solwold between himself and the leader Saldana. Ed was OK on both those starts. But, on the third attempt, the car lost it's grip and he couldn't even touch the gas without spinning the tires. In those remaining nine laps, he lost four positions and had to settle for 11th behind "King Joey" Saldana.

At 3:15AM the crew got on the road to the NST race at Tri City Speedway on Sunday.


Ed comes from 12th to 4th at Lernerville Speedway - 7/14/06

Knowing that he would have to start in the 12th spot if he qualified for the feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway, Ed tried to get as many positions as he could and even win it if he could (although that would mean he would have to start last in the next race here). The good thing for Ed and his crew Friday night was that the Sprint Division ran first which meant the feature checkered flag waved at 9:25PM. The early night meant the crew could get home and start preparing for the King's Royal at Eldora Speedway the next night and then stay on the road and hit the NST race at Tri City on Sunday.

The 23 Sprints on hand ran two heats and Ed lined up 5th in the first one behind Denny Holtsgraver and Charlie Holben. Rod George and Kevin Schaeffer made up row two and it was Schaeffer who won over Holben, George and Ed. In heat two, Skip Dougherty crossed ahead of Scott Bonnell and Ralphie Spithaler.

The 25 lap feature had Holben and Mike Shearer in the front row followed by Spithaler and Dougherty. Dan Shetler started inside row three with Holtsgraver outside. The fourth row was where Bonnell and Scott Priester started, then it was George and Brent Matus. Schaeffer started inside Ed in row six.

The field was led by Shearer for the first four laps when the caution came out for Cory Good's machine on the back stretch. The restart line up showed Ed only up to 10th at that time. Shearer continued to lead to the second caution on lap 13, which showed Shetler in second and Ed in third. When the green replaced the yellow flag, Ed moved into second and held that spot until lap 19, when Shetler blew by both Ed and Shearer to take the lead on lapp 19.

The final yellow came out for Good again and that seemed to be the one that hurt Ed's chances to most. It looked like Ed had his momentum going, just before that yellow. Shearer had committed to the top and Ed was trying to take the low groove and make it work. But there was no bite down there and the top was the faster groove. Before Ed gave up on the bottom and moved up higher, Bonnell passed him and Priester would have been next.

The finish showed first time winner Shetler, followed by Shearer, Bonnell, Ed and Priester.


Ed is listed in the Mid-Season 2006 North American 410 Sprint Car Poll - 7/13/06

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum has released the names of 32 drivers, named by a voting panel of media members, promoters, manufacturers and sanctioning officers, to be ranked in the "Salute to the King's Royal" Mid-Season 2006 North American 410 Sprint Car Poll. Ed is included in that list which is headed by Donny Schatz, Tim Kaeding, Danny Lasoski, Steve Kinser and Freddie Rahmer.


Ed wins at Tri City on Sunday night - 7/9/06

Ed made his second appearance of the year at Tri City Speedway an impressive one, picking up his 24th career win here, but only his first win in two years. It was June 6, 2004 when he last visited victory lane at this half-mile located just north of Franklin PA. He had a second place finish earlier this year on April 30 and also a second on May 8, 2005. The win is Ed's 10th of the year.

On the trip home from Lernerville Friday night, the crew experienced a running light problem with the trailer and Sunday morning and early afternoon were spent thrashing with inside panels off and chasing shorts in the wiring. The job was finished in time for the rig to pull out of the driveway nearly one hour later than usual. The Sprints were lining up for hot laps when the #2L pulled in to the pits and had to park with the E-Mods.

With 21 Sprints on hand, two heats were run with Ed slotted for fifth starting spot in the second heat. A skirmish in turn four of the first lap involving four cars resulted in a damaged support post on the right side of the nose wing, but Ed managed to salvage a second place finish behind Rod George. In the first heat, it was Brent Covell wining over Bob Felmlee. A fan was allowed to pick the number of cars to be inverted for the 20-lap feature.

That inversion showed Todd Bauer and John Schuyler and the front row for the A-Main. Danny Holtsgraver and Ed made up the second row followed by Felmlee and George. Track announcer, Walt Wimer had the fans ready for a battle of the big three Western PA winners - Lynch, Felmlee and George. That battle never materialized as Ed had made all the chassis changes necessary to move to the front after one lap with an outside move around Skuyler in turn one, with no one able to mount a challenge to "The Apollo Rocket", despite three cautions and one red flag.

The first yellow was for Brent Matus on lap five and Ed led Schuyler, Bauer, Felmlee and George on that restart. On the ensuing restart, a three car tangle sent Covell off on a flat bed. The final caution came with 12 laps in the books for Gale Ruth and Ed had two lapped cars as a cushion on the restart over Bauer. Ed pulled away and had a nice rhythm going with two laps to go when New Yorker, Chuck Hebing, the ASCS Patriot Sprint current point leader, went high in between turns one and two and dumped his sprinter into the water barrels (safety barriers) against the outside guardrail.

This set up a two-lap dash to the checkered flag, with Ed now having only the lapped car of Gary Rankin between himself and Bauer. But, that was enough and the finish showed Ed, Bauer, Felmlee, George and Andy McKisson in the top five.


Lernerville 7-07-06

Twenty-one Sprints signed in at Lernerville tonight. The Sprints were scheduled to run second in the heats and features for the evening. Ed started 4th in the second heat. The #10 of Carl Bowser started outside pole and led every lap with Ed following close behind for a second place finish.

Ed took his newly built "Knoxville" car tonight to see how it would run. He thought that since he was starting 12th, due to last weeks feature win, he could get a good idea of how the car would perform. He made his way from 12th to 4th in just 8 laps when a red flag came out for the leader, Scott Priester and the #15 of Andy Priest, who was running second. The restart showed Kevin Schaeffer first and Ed second. Ed passed Kevin on lap 11 and when the caution came out on lap 18, Ed had a half-a-track lead on Schaeffer. He went on to win the 25 lap feature by a straight-a-way bringing his total wins at Lernerville to 81. Ed said after the race that he was comfortable in his new J&J chassis and was happy with its first performance. He will consider taking this car to the Kings Royal next weekend.

Sharon is not racing Sprints this Saturday, so we will be heading to Tri-City on Sunday.


Ed travels to Eldora for Ohio Sprint Speedweek finale and gets third - 7/1/06

Ed was faced with a tough decision for the weekend. Should he go to Sharon Speedway and protect his point lead or go for the big money at Eldora on Saturday night. He decided to try for the $10,000 prize at Eldora. Although he didn't win, he had a great showing, finishing third and feeling that he had a car that was fast enough to win the race. "I made the wrong selection of tires. It took too long for them to kick in....for the first half of the race, I just sat there. They never kicked in until late," explained the driver of the #2L.

The temperature was in the high 80"s and 29 Sprints were on hand for the Finale to Ohio's All Star Sprint Speedweek. Ed timed well, turning in third quick behind Australian Troy Little and Dale Blaney. With the fastest six inverted in three heats, Ed started sixth in the third heat and moved to the front in one lap. He finished with a straightaway lead over Greg Wilson. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. won the first heat over Kevin Huntley and in the second heat it was Darren Long ahead of Blaney.

The line up for the 30-lap feature showed Wilson and Danny Smith on the front row followed by Butch Schroeder and Ed. Row three brought Blaney and Little into the mix. It was Wilson who grabbed the early lead, but Schroeder led when the first yellow came out for Huntley on lap four. Now, Blaney passed Ed for third and didn't stop there, taking second spot from Wilson as the field came close to the half-way mark.

An incident at this point was a very close call for Ed. The lapped car of Mike Miller lost a wheel and spun, while his wheel kept going around the track ahead of Ed. Dean Jacobs was up to fifth and hit Ed's back bumper, not knowing what had just happened in front of Ed. The Miller car spun and Ed made it by, but Jacobs was collected by the spinning car and done for the night.

As the green replaced the red flag, Blaney made his winning move past Schroeder with Wilson and Ed following. With two laps to go, Blaney led and Wilson and Ed made it past Schroeder just before a yellow for Stenhouse who suffered a flat tire. Blaney went on for the win and Wilson crossed just ahead of Ed for second while Schroeder, Little, Tim Hunter, Bobby Clark and Brock Mays all finishing on the lead lap.


August
Sharon Speedway 8-26-06

When Lynch Racing has a bent race car, the method in which they use to straighten the frame is an unusual one to say the least. For years, this method has worked successfully though. Ed used chain falls, come-alongs and two trees in the yard to straighten the frame today. This method has been passed on from generation to generation starting with his Uncle Howard and Ed Sr. back in the 1970's. Once their work was completed, they headed to Sharon Speedway.

18 cars signed in at Sharon tonight. Ed was scheduled to start 5th in the first of two heat races. He was able to make his way to second but at the end of the 8 lap event, it was the # 1PS of Kevin Schaeffer who took the win coming from outside pole.

The Sprints were the third feature tonight and by 9:15pm the green flag was ready to drop. Ed started 10th in the 25 lap event. He made his way to 5th and was passing the 4th place car of Andy McKisson when the first caution came out for the # t8. Cautions on laps 7 and 12 also caused by the # t8 gave Ed the time he needed to find his way to the front. Ed's amazing move in turns 3 and 4 on lap 8, when he split the second and third place cars, put the fans on their feet. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 10, Ed took the lead from Gary Edwards and led the remaining laps. This would be his 6th win at Sharon Speedway this season. Second place went to Jody Keegan and third to Andy McKisson.

Ed will be attending the Sonia Bullis Memorial race at Lernerville on Friday then the Sharon Nationals on Saturday.


Lernerville 8-25-06

The team had another tough night at Lernerville. The Sprints were the second group out on the track for the heats and feature tonight. Ed started 5th in the first of two heats. After a caution on the start for Scott Priester, racing was underway. With only one groove on the track, passing was difficult as Ed tried several attempts to pass the #16 of Gary Rankin. On lap 5 coming through turns 3 and 4, part of the suspension on Ed's car broke sending him into a broadside spin. When it looked like he had the car under control, the tires caught a rut on the track and sent the car into a barrel roll over-turning twice. He would be scored for 8th in the event.

The crew fixed what they could on the car but realized with a bent frame, Ed would have his hands full in the feature. Ed started at the tail of the 17 car field and wasted no time moving forward when racing got underway. When the first caution came out on lap 8, Ed was up to 7th place. However, when racing resumed Ed was only able to gain two more positions with no help coming from another caution and a lap 19 red flag both caused by Scott Priester. With another broken and bent car, Ed settled for a 5th place finish. The # 3B of Scott Bonnell picked up the feature win.

We will be making the trip to Sharon Speedway tomorrow.


Sharon rains out tonight 8-19-06

Lynch Racing made the 2 hour tow to Sharon Speedway, even though the weather didn't look good for the evening. When we arrived at the track, everything was wet from a front that had just passed through. Keeping the car in the trailer seemed to be a good decision because within an hour of our arrival, the races were canceled.

Plans for next weekend include Lernerville on Friday and Sharon on Saturday.


Lernerville 8-18-06

Ed's night started off bad and got worse as the night went on. The 20 Sprints that signed in tonight were scheduled to be the last set of heats and the last feature of the evening. Ed started outside pole of the second heat and by turn two had a nice lead over the second place runner, Carl Bowser. With only 2 laps in, Ed's car started smoking and got worse every lap. Ed held on to win the event, but had alot of work to do when he got back to the pits. The problem turned out to be an oil leak and rather than take any chances, the team rallied to change engines before the feature.

At 11:30pm the Sprint feature took the green flag only to be slowed for a caution on the start. Ed started 12th beside the # 9 of Kevin Schaeffer and on the start of the race coming out of turn 4, Schaeffer came up into Ed putting Ed into the wall. The # 59 of Terry Bowser, who started behind Ed, ran up over top of Ed damaging our car even more. Schaeffer went to the pits and changed one of his rear tires and when he returned to the track, racing resumed. Another caution on lap 2 gave Ed the oppurtunity to go the pits to change his flat right rear that was a result from Schaeffer's hit. Ed had his hands full with his ill-handling racecar the enire 25 lap event. The wing was broken, the radius rods were bent, the bird cage was broken, and half-way through the race the car started smoking again. By the end of the feature, Ed's right rear was flat again. Finishing 5th was an accomplishment in itself while the # 10 of Carl Bowser picked up his first feature win.

Lynch Racing will be heading to Sharon Speedway, weather permitting.


Ed dodges wrecks and debris to finish 16th in 46th Knoxville Nationals on 8/12/06

Fast laps for the 20 cars qualified to run the 46th Annual Super Clean Knoxville Nationals A-Main were slotted between the C-Main and B-Main and Ed's evening was off to a good start as he turned in the 4th fastest time in the session. The crew changed front tires and added fuel while Ed joined the drivers on stage for introductions by Ralph Shaheen in front of the packed house and live SPEED Channel TV cameras.

Ed was on the inside lane, starting 16th. and he got a good start with 30 laps the distance. He was past Billy Alley and beside Brian Paulus and was 12th going down the back stretch. However, a tangle between Jason Solwold and Kaley Gharst scattered debris on the track and Ed tried to miss most of it. This caused a complete restart, and the next start was called back for a spin by Tim Kaeding. With most of the cars involved coming from the outside lane, Ed never moved forward, while Sammy Swindell who started 20th (outside lane), ended up beside Ed for the third attempt to start the feature.

The third start was not as good for Ed and the only thing he could guess was that it was because of some debris he ran over from Solwold's accident. Up front, Joey Saldana jumped to the lead and held it until Donny Schatz went by on him on lap four and Saldana returned the move one lap later. In lapped traffic on lap 12, Schatz regained the lead.and shortly would put Freddie Rahmer and Ed down a lap.

When Terry McCarl spun in turn four causing a yellow on lap 19 that was in front of Ed and he described that one as a narrow miss. The Knoxville rule puts all lapped cars to the rear, and Saldana restarted right behind Schatz. Next, the red came out when a melee broke out on the front stretch just as Ed approached that part of the track. Paulus broke a rear end and Ed squeezed between the spinning Paulus and the wall near Doug Clark's flagstand, but was hit on the right side of his top wing by flying debris.

On that red flag period, the crew added fuel, checked the air pressure and the condition of the side-board on the top wing. Ed finished the race and was credited with 16th spot behind first-time winner Schatz, Saldana and Jason Johnson. Ed summed up his race as follows, "We were set up to run outside, but that wasn't working."


Ed starts 15th in the 46th Annual Knoxville Nationals this Saturday on the SPEED Channel - 8/12/06

Both Wednesday and Thursday Qualifying Nights are in the books and the combined points which determine the line-up for the A, B and C-Mains are set. Ed ended up 15th overall and that will be his starting position for the Knoxville Nationals A-Main on Saturday night. The race will be broadcast live on the SPEED Channel.

The first 10 in points will run an A-Scramble Friday night to determine their starting position. They are Donny Schatz, Craig Dollansky, Joey Saldana, Jason Meyers, Freddie Rahmer,Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson, Kaley Gharts, Jason Solwold and Don Droud, Jr. Following those finishers will be Daryn Pittman, Tim Kaeding, Billy Alley, Brian Paulus, Ed Lynch, Jr., Dusty Zomer, Paul McMahan, Tony Bruce, Jr,, Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell.

Ed does not run again until Saturday night. Friday at Knoxville is for drivers that are 51st and back to run heats and features to fill the last ten spots in the C-Main, the D-Main, the E-Main, etc. This Nationals drew a field of 124 cars. Only the top 100 in points will run on Saturday.


Ed has a good Qualifying Night at Knoxville -8/9/06

For the Knoxville Nationals the Sprints are divided into two Qualifying nights. Ed picked the first night, Wednesday, and 62 cars were on hand to earn points toward Saturday night's 46th Annual Super Clean Knoxville Nationals. The pill draw was not great, 64 out of 75, and Ed would be timing 52nd. During hot laps, each group showed faster times on the black 1/2 mile surface and the transponders recorded every car's lap. Ed was the fastest of 62 cars in hot laps with a time of 15.572.

But, when the actual time trials started, it didn't take long to see how quickly the track was changing as the third car to time already turned a lap faster than Ed's hot lap time. The fastest time of the night went to Billy Alley at 15.151 for a speed of 118.804mph who went out 39th. Ed's best time was his first lap at 15.449 which slotted him 15th overall.

Knoxville's point system includes passing points for all events and the top 50 cars in times are staggered and completely inverted for five heat races. Ed lined up 8th in the 5th heat and finished 4th behind Australian and front row starter Trevor Green, Travis Rilat and Donny Schatz. The other heats were won by Steve King, Chad Layton, P.J. Chesson and Jeremy Campbell all front row starters. The Last Chance Heat went to Natalie Sather and the C-Main advanced Becca Anderson and Kenny Jacobs to the back of the B-Main. Fast timer, Alley won the B-Main which also advanced Sammy Swindell, Jason Solwold and Jonathan Allard. Danny Lasoski (Knoxville's leading feature winner with 88) missed a transfer spot by one position finishing fifth.

For the 25-lap A-Main the top eight in times that qualified through their heats by finishing in the first four, were inverted. Thus, the line-up put Gary Wright and Lance Dewease in the front row followed by Steve Kinser and Daryn Pittman. Ed started in row three with Freddie Rahmer outside. Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky were next with Chad Kemenah and Travis Rilat in row five.

At the drop of the green, Dewease took command and held the point until he apparently broke something on the rear-end and crashed hard into the outside wall in number one turn on lap 18. The car went off on a wrecker and Dewease was OK and talking to the Knoxville First Aid crew. The restart after the red flag showed Rahmer inheriting the lead followed by Pittman, Kinser, Dollansky, Schatz, Brandon Wimer, Wright and Ed in 8th. With just one lap left, the field was red flagged again for Steve King who may have jumped the cushion in turn three and hit the outside fence. King was transported to the hospital. The field prepared for a green-white-checkered as follows: Rahmer, Pittman, then Schatz, Kinser, Dollansky, Rilat, Wimmer, Layton, Wright and Ed in tenth. On the first open red, Ed's crew adjusted the bars and the top wing. The set up was worse, so on the second open red, they changed to position on the top wing again, and he was able to pick up a position at the checkered flag, finishing ninth. Rahmer went on for the win with Schatz passing Pittman to claim second. Rilat move up to fourth ahead of Dollansky, Wimmer, Kinser, Layton and Ed then it was Kemenah in tenth.

The top ten in points after Wednesday night's show are: 1-Donny Schatz (Fargo ND) - 484: 2-Craig Dollansky (Zimmerman MN) - 482: 3-Freddie Rahmer (Salfordville PA)- 472: 4-Jason Solwold (Mt. Vernone WA) - 460: 5-Daryn Pittman (Owasso OK) - 457: 6-Billy Alley (Lincoln NE)- 456: 7-Ed Lynch, Jr.(Apollo PA) - 447: 8-Steve Kinser(Bloomington IN) - 443: 9-Sammy Swindell (Bartlett TN) - 442: 10-Jonathan Allard (Chico CA) - 437.


September
Ed's fast time of 110.045mph is the highlight of his Williams Grove National
Open held on Friday/Saturday - 9/29-30/06

On the final day (Saturday) of the Williams Grove National Open sanctioned by the World of Outlaws, Ed pulled a 31 pill and actually went out 23rd and turned a one-lap-only time of 16.357 or a speed of 110.045mph - the fastest time of the week-end. There were 63 cars entered for the Open, making it the largest field in 15 years.

On the opening night, Ed drew a nigh pill and timed deep in the field at 39th with Kenny Jacobs setting fast time that night at 109.376. Only the top 48 made the heats with the top 24 making the inversion, so Ed started 10th in the 3rd heat and finished 8th which put him 5th in the C-Main. He moved forward at the beginning, challenging for third spot, but fell back and finished to sixth at the finish. Stevie Smith won the C-Main, Tony Bruce, Jr. won the B-Main and Jason Solwold won the 25-lap A-Main.

The #2L crew changed the whole front-end set-up on the car Saturday morning and used different wheels and tires to prepare for that night's races. The changes paid off in spades with his quick time. After the inversion, Ed lined up third in the fourth heat behind the front row of Tony Bruce, Jr. and Chad Layton. However, at the drop of the green, Bruce got out of shape and Ed had to get off the throttle and lost valuable spots and momentum. Layton won with Bruce, Lance Dewease, Daryn Pittman and Mark Smith following. Ed finished sixth sending him to the B-Main. All other heats were won by front row starters also, including Donny Schatz, Brian Leppo and Kenny Jacobs. Pole sitter Dion Hindi won the C-Main while Pittman won the Dash from the pole.

Ed started the 12-lap B-Main from the pole with Becca Anderson along side. Chad Kemenah and Mike Erdly were in row two ahead of Danny Lasoski and Brian Carlson. Leading from the start and through a yellow on lap two, Ed had 1/2 a straightaway lead by lap nine. The only close call he had was when he was lapping Carlson, who drifted up into the high groove just as Ed was going by. According to Williams Grove and DIRT Vision announcers, Bruce Ellis and Johnny Gibson, "Lynch has checked out on the field."

Officials rushed the 40-lap feature on the track and eliminated the traditional four-wide parade lap because of a fast-approaching weather system. Daryn Pittman and Doug Esh led the field to the green flag with Ed starting 11th. With Esh leading and just two laps in Bruce brought out the first yellow, then on lap six, Jeff Sheppard (subbing for Brooke Tatnell) lost a rear-end. for another yellow. By lap 10 Esh had a 1/2 lap lead over Pittman. Ed's choice of tire size and compound was not working for him and he was struggling and was about 15th. By lap 16, Esh lapped Ed then banged off Greg Hodnett as he was lapping him. Taking evasive action from that incident just in front of him, Ed was on the bottom. Perhaps Pittman came upon the Esh/Hodnett incident too fast, but for what ever reason, he came from the top of the track down to the bottom, hitting Ed and giving himself a flat tire.

Thus, the restart line-up after lap 16 was Esh followed by Craig Dollansky, then Ed (down a lap), Donny Schatz, Lucas Wolfe and Layton. There were rain drops falling lightly by lap 20 and when the yellow came out on lap 26 for a spectator who hopped the guardrail and was on the track, the red flag flew because it was not clear how many laps it would take to get him off the track. The rain got heavier as one crew-man per car was allowed to service his cars with fuel and air only. At this point, Ed went to the pits, but soon all cars headed for the pits to wait out the rain. Approximately, 20 minutes later, the grader and push trucks were called to work on the track. But more rain came and the track surface was beyond bringing back to a safe racing condition.

Because more than half the race had been completed, it was declared that Esh was the winner followed by Dollansky, Schatz, Wolfe and Layton were the top five and Ed ranked 21st of the 28-car field.


Sharon Speedway 9-23-06

25 Sprints signed in at Sharon Speedway tonight. The Sprints were the 3rd group to run their heats and feature. As the Modifieds finished their heat races and the Pure Stocks were ready to take the green, the rain moved in and delayed racing for over an hour. At 7:35pm the first of three Sprint heats took the green flag. Ed was scheduled to start 3rd in the third heat. The front row showed the #61 of Tommy Quarterson and the #23s of Russ Sansosti. For 6 laps, Ed remained third until the #49 of Gary Edwards made his move in turn 2 leaving Ed with a disappointing 4th place finish in the event. The heat win went to Tommy Quarterson. Todd Bauer and Jarod Larson were the winners of the first two heats.

Ed was slated to start 12th in the 25 lap feature event due to his two consecutive feature wins in past weeks. The front row showed Jarod Larson and Mike Kekich with Bob Felmlee in the third spot. At the drop of the green flag, Ed wasted no time moving forward. When the first caution came out on lap two, Ed was setting Tommy Quarterson up for a 5th place pass. On the restart, Ed went high in turn one, attempting to pass the 4th place car of Jody Keegan when Keegan began to spin, almost stopping in the middle of the turn. Having no where to go, Ed ran over Keegan's left rear sending the # 2L into an end-over-end flip. The damage on the car was too extensive to repair before racing resumed. Bob Felmlee went on to win the feature event while a disappointed Lynch Racing headed home.

Plans for next weekend include the 2 day show at Williams Grove Speedway.


Ed wins as Sharon Speedway only has one more point race remaining - 9/16/06

With rain-outs and special events dominating Sharon Speedway's events lately, Saturday night finally was a continuation of the season-long point races for all their regular divisions and they had one of the largest turnouts of Sprint cars for the year. There were 31 cars that ran three heats, a B-Main and a 25-lap feature. Ed started sixth in the first heat and the track was pretty wet, so he was lucky to get up to fourth behind front-row starter Cory Good who pulled off the win. Todd Bauer and Kevin Schaeffer claimed the other heats. Jarod Larson led all laps in the B-Main.

The Sprint feature pulled on the track at 9:00PM, which pleased the competitors and race fans. Andy McKisson and Schaeffer made up the front row with John Schuyler and Dan Shetler in row two. Good and Ed were in row three. There was an early caution after one lap for Scott Rogers and Ed was up to third behind Schaeffer and McKisson. From that point on, the action never stopped as Ed moved past McKisson and chased Schaeffer relentlessly. Lapped traffic played a roll as the front of the pack had to constantly weave high and low to maintain speed. Several times the lead would change during a lap and Kevin and Ed diced through. On lap eight, the transponders had Ed in front at the start-finish line, but after getting boxed in by slower cars, Kevin regained the front spot on lap nine.

Using every groove that was available to him, Ed mustered enough speed and once again made a pass for the lead on lap 13 and he showed the way for the rest of the race, building a 4.906 second lead at the checkered flag over Schaeffer, Bob Felmlee, Shetler and McKisson. Rounding out the top ten it was Scott Bonnell, Jody Keegan, Brian Ellenberger, Larson and Good. It was Ed's seventh win this year at Sharon and his 44th overall here.


18th Annual Western PA Sprint Championship turns into a two-day affair at Mercer - 9/9 and 9/10/06

With the Sprint heats completed and the B-Main on the track Saturday night, Mercer track officials could not lift the blanket of fog that suddenly rolled in and made it impossible to see the cars on the track. The program had already been rain-delayed. The event was to be the 18th Annual "Western PA Sprint Championship" for the biggest payday of the year, $3,000 to win. The race was brought back in 2004 but was rained out. Last year's show was completed with Ed Lynch, Jr. victorious in the first one held since 1982. Accordingto Mike Leone's press release, over the course of 1966-1982 there were 16 races with eight different winners.

Leading the list is Mercer's all-time winner, Ralphie Quarterson, with five scores. Bobby Allen is second with four and Johnny Beaber has two. Single winners were Kenny Weld, Jan Opperman, Buddy Cochran, Lynn Paxton and Lou Blaney.

Ed had started fifth and finished third in his qualifying heat behind Arnie Kent and Gary Edwards. Scott Bonnell and Skip Daugherty won the other heats. Mercer had no choice but to postpone the event to Sunday and true to their word, Mercer had the 30-lap feature was on the track at 7:15PM the following day. Arnie Kent out-dragged pole-sitter Jamie Martin into turn one for the lead. While Brain Ellenberger and Scott Bonnell passed Gary Edwards for third and fourth on the opening lap.

Starting ninth, Ed was up to seventh on lap four when the red flag came out for Carl Bowser.but he couldn't settle in to a fast groove for the set-up he had on this car. By lap 11, Ellenberger was second and cutting into Kent's lead by lap 17. A caution on lap 26 when Martin spun, showed Ed now in 5th. Two laps later Rob Eyler caused the final yellow to come out and it was Ellenberger, Kent, Bonnell, Edwards and Ed. For the green-white-checkered, Ed passed Edwards to finish fourth.


October
Ed wraps up his season at the 19th Annual Octoberfest at Hagerstown 10/28-29/06

Despite the 3-1/2 hour tow in rain, high winds and fog Friday night, Ed joined 183 drivers to sign in Saturday morning for the two-day 19th Annual Hagerstown Octoberfest. For many years, Ed schedules this event as his final race of the season. Because Hagerstown usually has an inside groove only, how you do on your qualifying day determines how your race day will go and Ed didn't have a very good Saturday, so he had his work cut out for the 50-lapper on Sunday.

The start of activities was delayed about two hours because of the three inches of rain the track had received overnight, but owner Frank Plessinger pumped out the infield and had the track smooth and ready to go for the 4-1/2 hours of qualifying races that followed for the Sprints, Big Block Modified, Small Block Modifieds and the Late Models.

The 26 Sprints drew for starting positions in three heats. Ed started third in the third heat behind Michael Carber and Brian Ellenberger. He came off turn two in second spot, looking good. However, that start was called back and the second time around was not as good for Ed. Being on the inside row, he was forced through water that had drained next to the inside guardrail in turn one and that may have sealed the tires, because the car pushed up across the track and two cars got by him. Each time he would try to take the turn tight, the car pushed to the outside. He ended up sixth and that meant he would start 18th on Sunday. The heats went to Greg Hodnett, Alan Cole and Lance Dewease.

On Sunday afternoon, the Sprint feature ran last and pole sitter Hodnett took the lead over Cole and Dewease and was up to the rear of the field by lap four. Ed was in the outside lane and was able to pass two cars before the first yellow flag on lap six. The single-file restart went OK for six laps until Freddy Rahmer and Brook Weibly made contact coming out of turn four and each spun on the front stretch, one to the inside and one to the outside, with the field miraculously missing them. Ed continued to try the outside and picked up a couple more spots.before the fuel stop at halfway where three crew members were allowed to check tire pressure and add fuel only.

With a clear path after the stop, Hodnett took off in clear command, while Dewease and Lucas Wolfe followed, then came a bunch of lapped cars. Ed was pretty much boxed in behind those cars and not able to make much progress before the next yellow on lsp 32. A long string of green flag laps put him on the 9th place car of Cody Darrah by lap 40 and Ed tested the track just one groove away from the inside lane. Finally, on lap 46 Ed was able to pull equal on the outside and got his front end ahead of Darrah in turn one. Darrah never turned left and instead, drove over the #2L and just about into the cockpit.with his front wheel resting on the hood and injection stacks while still on the gas! this pushed both cars up to the outside wall. There was a closed red while the track crew lifted Darrah's car off the #2L.

Ed was able to restart lasy with damage to the wings and finished the four laps to the checkered ranking 13th. Hodnett, Dewease, Wolfe, Justin Collett and Carber rounded out the top five.


 

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