2008 Updates

June
Ed sets fast time but finishes 12^th at Eldora Speedweek Finale – 6/28/08

Setting quick time over a field of 36 All Star sprint cars Saturday night at Eldora’s $10,000-to-win Speedweek Finale started things off in the right direction for the #2L race team, but tires became an issue early in the 30-lap feature resulting in a disappointing twelfth place finish.

For weeks, the crew had been preparing a new trailer and Saturday morning they loaded it for a maiden voyage to Eldora. They encountered no problems with the rig, but ran through plenty of rain, only to arrive at Eldora at 5:00PM under blue skies and sunshine.

The pill draw had Ed hot-lapping in the second group of nine cars and going out tenth to set a time of 13.656 on his first of two laps, which held up to fast time overall ahead of Greg Wilson, Dale Blaney and Brock Mayes. For his effort the St. Henry Commercial Club presented his with a check for $300. St. Henry is a small town north of the track where Earl and Bernice Baltes, Eldora’s owners for 50 years, first met.

Four heats would be lined up staggered with six inverted. Thus, Ed lined up sixth in the first heat and had to make it into the front five to transfer to the A-Main. The front row showed Jimmy Stinson and Australian Ian Lauden, followed by All Star point leader Lance Dewease and Tim Shaffer in row two. Another Aussie, Troy Little started inside Ed in row three.

Ed was able to pass inside and outside, ending up second to Dewease at the end of eight laps. Other heat winners included Wilson, Kenny Jacobs and Butch Schroeder. The All Star Dash went to Blaney and Brian Ellenberger won the B-Main.

For the top six drivers in times that qualified through their heats, the All Stars now have young fans matched up with drivers on the front stretch. The fans then pick a card designating that driver’s starting position. A young girl picked an “Ace” for Ed, giving him the pole for the 30-lap event. Blaney would start outside Ed. Todd Kane and Brock Mayes would be in row two followed by Wilson and Brian Smith.

It took two attempts to start the race which would end up going non-stop to the finish. Ed led from the pole over Blaney and started to put four car lengths margin on him by lap two. Ed continued to look strong as Mayes took second away from Blaney. After completing six laps, Ed’s tires seemed to seal over and his earlier perfect set-up was going away fast. Mayes caught him on the back stretch and passed him in turn three to take the lead on lap seven.

By lap nine, Ed fell to fourth behind Mayes, Blaney and Wilson. Three laps later, he was fifth. Searching every groove, his tires just lost all traction as cars continued to pass him. On lap lap 27, Blaney pressured and passed Mayes for the lead and then put Ed down a lap. Wilson took possession of third ahead of Dean Jacobs and Randy Hannagan, the overall Speedweek points winner, in fifth. The official finished had Ed in twelfth spot.

Ed Is Fifth on Fireworks Night at Lernerville Speedway – 6/20/08

Despite rain around the area, Lernerville stayed dry and 21 Sprints showed up to put on a 25-lap feature following a spectacular 25-minute fireworks show. Because of his win the previous Friday, Ed started the event from 12^th spot and managed a fifth place finish.

Being third on the rotation, the Sprints ran two heats with Ed starting on pole and leading all eight laps of the first heat. Behind him it was Rod George, Charlie Holben and Rob Eyler. Heat number two had Bob Felmlee duplicating that effort taking his win from the pole over Scott Priester, Scott Bonnell and Brent Matus.

The redraw for the feature lineup put Ralphie Spithaler and Eyler in the front row for the 25-lap event. Jason Pisani and Matus made up row two, while Priester and Holben were in row three. Priester, Holben, Bonnell and Bob Felmlee came next, then Dan Shetler and Kevin Schaeffer were in row five. Starting inside Ed in the sixth row it was Rod George.

With Eyler leading, an early caution on lap three was for Holben inside turns three and four. Ed had not made much progress and was only up to ninth. The only other slow down came on lap five for a spin by Lindsay Enscoe and Ed had advanced one more spot.

From that point, the race went all green and Ed spent the time searching for a lane where he could be fast, by lap eight, he had passed Spithaler and Bonnell to ride in sixth spot. But, it wasn’t until lap 14 that he was able to get by Felmlee for fifth. From that point on, he didn’t get grip and followed Matus the rest of the way. A lead change happened when Schaeffer got by Eyler on lap 20. When the checkered waved, it was Priester in third, Matus in fourth, then Ed. Rounding out the top ten it was Felmlee, Bonnell, Shetler, Gary Rankin and Spithaler.

Lynch Racing has nothing but garage work scheduled for the weekend, and a Championship Baseball game for Sye (Ed’s youngest son) at 9:00AM Saturday morning.

Ed Returns to Winning Form on Friday the 13^th at Lernerville – 6/13/08

Some people would be bothered by superstition on Friday the 13th, but Ed’s luck hasn’t been that great for the last month, so he just stayed focused on dialing the #2L into the changing surface Friday night at Lernerville Speedway and it paid off as he went on to capture his 90^th career Sprint car win here.

Despite scattered showers around the track, it never rained at the Sarver oval and it was business as usual for the Fab Four. The Sprints were first on the adgenda and 19 drivers were on hand to run two heats and a 25 lap feature. Ed lined up sixth in the second heat and made it up to third behind Scott Bonnell and Kevin Schaeffer. All three moved to the high groove as there seemed to be nothing to get a hold of anywhere else and some thought it would turn into a one-groove track by feature time. Ralph Spithaler, Jr. won the other heat over Gary Rankin and Dan Shetler.

By making changes to the torsion bars, gears and shocks, Ed lined up 4^th come feature time and ultimately went on to run in multiple grooves, lapping up to sixth place and having a margin of victory of almost 10 seconds – which amounts to more than half a lap lead over the second place car.

The feature front row consisted of Kevin Schaeffer and Scott Priester with Aaron Shaffer inside Ed in row two. Rod George and Charlie Holben made up row three. But it was K. Schaeffer that led lap one, with amb.i.t. scoring showing Ed leading lap two. On lap four, Priester replaced Schaeffer in second, but just one lap later, the only halt in the action came when Gale Ruth, Jr. got upside down inside turn one.

Once the green came out on lap five, it was non-stop to the checkered flag. Ed was able to handle the slick track and master the lapped traffic effectively. Although he seemed fastest on the inside groove, Ed was forced to the top of the track many times as the lapped cars seemed to hug the bottom.

At the finish, Ed was followed by last week’s feature winner, Bob Felmlee, then Holben, George, Schaeffer and Priester all on the lead lap. Down one lap in seventh, it was Gary Rankin, Brent Matus, Spithaler, Jr and Carl Bowser in the top ten.

Depending on the weather, the #2L will to Sharon Speedway on Saturday and the All Star show at Clearfield on Sunday.

Ed starts 3^rd and finishes 3^rd at Sharon – 6/7/08

Hard work and late hours paid off for the Lynch Racing team. After flipping Friday night at Lernerville, the crew worked late and started early Saturday making repairs to the #2L. They were rewarded with a second place in the heat and a third place in the 25-lap feature. Ed made it through the race incident free and all the replacement parts did their job.

With the temperature near 90 degrees and the humidity very high, a field of 24 Sprints showed up and were the highest car count in all five divisions.

Competition started at 6:00PM and three heats were listed for Sprints with Ed set to go from the fourth spot. He finished second to pole-sitter Jack Sodeman, Jr. Matt Reed, visiting Sharon for the first time from Victoria, Australia, led all laps in the second heat while Rob Eyler came from sixth to win heat number three.

Fans now pick the inversion number for the feature and a “rare” straight up start was selected. Thus, Sodeman, Jr., and Reed were in the front row and Ed and Russ Sansosti were row two. Jeff Taylor and Rob Eyler (last week’s feature winner made up row three.

Reed led the first two laps before a caution came out for James Nicely high in turn two. The front four on the restart were Reed, Sodeman, Ed and Eyler. A long green flag followed before Shawn Minor brought out the second yellow after 14 laps. There was still no change in the front four, but Jimmy Hawley, who was running seventh, coasted to a stop just past the flagstand and was pushed to the pits. At the same time, Bob Felmlee went to the pits with a flat tire.

On the ensuing restart, Eyler passed Ed for third, but Ed was able to regain the spot one lap later. Keith Taylor caused the final yellow on lap 16. The action halted on lap 17 for a flip by Broc Martin and Karl Baker.

When the green replaced the red flag, Reed led Sodeman, Ed, Eyler and a young Vienna, West Virginia driver, Cale Connelly in just his first six (counting tonight) races. The top five ran unchanged to the checkered – Matt Reed, Jack Sodeman, Jr., Ed Lynch, Jr. Rob Eyler and Cale Connelly

Ed was eliminated before he completed a lap at Lernerville on Friday – 6/6/08

Ed was hit and he flipped in turn one at the start of the 25-lap Sprint feature at Lernerville Speedway Friday night.

What was already a long night for Ed with races starting at 7:30PM, it was three hours later at 10:35 when the Sprint drivers (because of being third in the track’s rotation of four divisions) pulled onto the track for their feature event. As it turns out, the night was not just long, but disappointing, also.

Not satisfied with his performance of second place in the first heat, won by Rod George, Ed had made adjustments to his car in preparation for the feature. But he never had a chance to see if his changes made the #2L faster. Scott Priester and Mike Lutz won the other heats.

All 26 sprints were scheduled to start the feature with the lineup showing Brian Ellenberger and Aaron Shaffer in the front row, then Brent Matus and Ed in row two. On the original start, a red flag incident involving Scott Priester, Jack Sodeman, Jr., Lindsay Enscoe and Paul Kish halted the action.

On the complete restart, the front rows remained the same. At the drop of the green flag, Ed stayed in the outside lane and was on the move around Ellenberger in turn one. Ellenberger did not hold his line and came up the track and hit Ed’s left rear wheel with his right front wheel. Ed flipped, landing upside down on the top berm of turn one. With his top wing bent down over the cockpit, he was trapped momentarily, hanging upside down by his seatbelts. As he waited for help from the track’s rescue team, the only thing he was able to do was shut off the fuel valve. Which was a very good thing. Both cars went to the pits, but Ed’s damage was too extensive to rejoin the field.

Bob Felmlee went on to win the feature over Kevin Schaeffer, Mike Lutz and Rob Eyler. Ed was scored as 24^th with zero laps completed.

A quick survey of damages at home in the garage had both top and front wings destroyed, bumper, torsion bars, steering arms and suspension parts bent. The crew will tackle the repair job on Saturday morning and see if they can be ready to race Saturday night.

July
Ed Gets Fourth Win Plus Erasers Bonus Bucks at Lernerville – 7/25/08

Ed had a lot on his plate Friday night at Lernerville Speedway. He was trying his new Kistler prepared Knoxville engine, he was picked by two young fans to ride in the pace truck with them prior to the Joe Pitkavish Memorial 30-lap race for Modifieds and to top that off, a fan picked number six in the Sprint Division to be eligible for the Erasers Bonus Bucks. Since Ed is sixth in Sprint points, he was eligible for $1,000 bonus if he won the feature.

Luck of the draw put him on the outside of the front row of the 25-lap Sprint feature and he fine tuned his chassis to match the engine and the dry, slick track conditions to come home a winner for the fourth time this season at Lernerville.

Ed was fastest of the 23 Sprints in hot laps with a top speed of 107.744 mph, however, he was no match for Rod George in the second heat. The first heat went to Scott Bonnell over Jack Sodeman, Jr. The rotation for the night had the Sprint feature running second on the card. They got the green flag at 9:51PM.

Gary Rankin and Ed led Todd Bauer and Bonnell to the line and it was Rankin who claimed the first lap. Running the very top of the track for most of the race, Ed did use an inside move in turn two in the second lap to take the lead from Rankin. Seventh starting Bob Felmlee wasted no time getting to second by lap three.

It was Ed leading Felmlee, Brian Ellenberger and Bonnell on lap 16 when the first yellow flag came out for Brent Ellenberger. The restart had two lapped cars as a margin for Ed over Felmlee. Just one more lap was completed before Todd Bauer caused another yellow. When the green replaced the yellow, the front runners were

Ed, then Felmlee, Brian Ellenberger, Kevin Schaeffer and Bonnell.

But it’s not over until it’s over, right? Ed got the white flag, but Lindsay Enscoe did a spin and the drama built as the track reverted to a green,white, checkered finish. One more attempt to get the checkered flag came with Ed still leading, this time over Brian Ellenberger, then Kevin Schaeffer, Bob Felmlee, and Scott Bonnell.

Ed Lynch III turns laps at Lernerville after Dad (Ed Lynch, Jr.) finishes 3^rd in Sprint Main Event - 7/18/08

It was a full moon, so anything could happen……right? Well, it did.

Ed Lynch III made a dozen laps around Lernerville Speedway Friday night in his Sprint Car debut following the regular Fab Four show. A surprising number of fans stayed in the grandstand at the end of the program, when it was announced that ‘Lil Ed was going to take his first laps in his Dad’s Sprint car.

It was something to see the activity in the staging lane, with Ed Lynch, Jr. in the mule pushing his son into the chute just off turn four. When the push truck lined up behind Ed III, Ed Jr. was there to remind his son about being in gear and when to fire the engine. Ed Jr. then rode into the infield and positioned himself in a visible spot on the backstretch to give hand signals. The laps began slowly and picked up speed as Ed III gained confidence.

When the checkered flag waved, everyone headed to the pits to see the big smile on Ed III’s face when he climbed out of the cockpit. That smile lasted until the car was finally loaded in the hauler.

The evening started with 26 Sprints in the pits that ran three heats with the top four in each eligible for the redraw. Ed started seventh in the second heat and ended up third behind Bob Felmlee and Mikie Lutz. There was a red flag in his heat on lap four for Jason Pisani who flipped at the flagstand. Driver was OK. The other heat winners were Todd Bauer and Troy Little, the Australian driver.

Because of winning two weeks ago, Ed was slated to start 12^th in the 25-lap feature. Felmlee and Carl Bowser headed the group, followed by Lutz and Doug Dodson, then came Schaeffer and Bauer. The fourth row showed Scott Bonnell and Troy Little, then came Charlie Holben and Rod George and Ed Lynch in the 26 car field.

With no cautions, the Sprint cars managed to bring the most action-packed show in rare non-stop style. All other divisions were plagued with yellow flags. Ed’s starting hole made for a slow start, while he waited for the cars to spread out, the front-runners were pulling away with Felmlee leading from the start. Lutz began to pressure Felmlee with 10 laps in the books and finally got the job done on lap 13.

Ed was up to ninth on lap five, then up to fifth on lap 10. When Lutz took charage on lap 13, Ed was up to fourth. With five to go, Ed was third and that’s where he ended. Schaeffer made a move in turn four on Lutz that gave him the win. Ed crossed the line in third, with Felmlee and George in the top five.

The team may try Williams Grove on Saturday.

Ed makes tough field for Silver Cup race at Lernerville – 7/15/08

The $40,000-to-win Don Martin Silver Cup race drew a big 47-car field on Tuesday night and Ed’s racing efforts were rewarded with a starting spot in this World of Outlaw sanctioned 40-lap event where he was the last car to complete all 40 laps finishing 16^th over the 28-car starting field.

There was a drastic change in track conditions during time trials as evidenced by the fastest three times for the night coming from the first four cars to go out and take time. Ed drew a pill that slotted him 17^th to go out and ironically he timed 17^th overall…..just missing the 16 car inversion for the four heats.

The #2L would start fifth in the first heat behind Paul McMahan and Steve Kinser. Jac Haudenschild and fast-timer of the night, Chad Kemenah were in row two. Ed finished fourth behind McMahan, Kinser and Haudenschild . The other heat winners included Jason Meyers, Terry McCarl and Craig Dollansky. The C-Main advanced Cory Good and Gary Rankin while the B-Main sent Rob Eyler, Kraig Kinser, Stevie Smith and Freddie Rahmer to the A-Main.

Steve Kinser won the Crane Cams Dash giving him the pole for the big event and Terry McCarl would line up outside. Meyers and Dollansky were in row two followed by Donny Schatz and Shane Stewart. Farther back, Ed would line up 17^th behind Daryn Pittman and Joey Saldana.

The first of three cautions and one red flag would slow the field on lap 17 with Kinser leading Meyers and Dollansky. Ed was in 16^th trying to get past a car and they touched and Ed spun to the outside causing the caution. Debris on the track (an orange cone) had the yellow out again on lap 21, while Paul McMahan lost power mid-way down the back stretch on lap 26 for yet another caution.

Just two laps later on lap 28 Ed had to spin to keep from hitting Pittman and Sam Hafertepe and other cars on the inside of turn four. Ed restarted 18^th. The final yellow came on lap 32 for the powerless car of Dollansky an once racing resumed, it was Kinser, Meyers, Schatz, Saldana and Kemenah in the top five. Ed was credited with 16^th.

Plans are uncertain for the weekend races…..many choices.

Ed makes the Knight Before the Kings Royal, but can not stay for Sunday raindate at Eldora -7/11-7/12/08

For the first year in a long time Ed decided not to run for points, so plans were to go for the two days of the 25^th Anniversary Kings Royal weekend at Eldora on Friday and Saturday. He made the Friday Knight Before the Kings Royal feature event, but was collected by a spinning Brian Paulus and eliminated on lap two, while Saturday’s rain which postponed the Kings Royal to Sunday evening sent the team home because of work obligations.

Friday Ed joined a field of 40 cars that showed up for the World of Outlaw event that was run with all the SPEED-TV cameras in place for a tape-delayed Knight Before the Kings Royal show. He timed well and raced well enough to make the A-Main through his heat.

But only two laps into the 30-lap event his race was over when the spinning Paulus collected him in turn four pinning Ed’s car up against the outside retaining wall, destroying the top wing and other damage caused when cars with no where to go made contact resulting in him coming off on the wrecker’s hook.

It was a sweltering, hot, sunny day and Ed drew a high pill (number 60) which put him 33^rd in time trial order. Ed was in the fourth group and at the end of hot laps, he was ninth overall. The official time trial results showed Kenny Jacobs, Joey Saldana, Terry McCarl, Jason Meyers, Paul McMahan, Jac Haudenschild, Ed Lnch, Jr., Craig Dollansky, Donny Schatz and Steve Kinser in the top ten.

Four heats were run with four inveted in each and Ed started third in the third heat, where the top five would advance to the A-Main. There wasn’t much passing in the heats and in Ed’s heat Dale Blaey and Stevie Smith finished as they started with fourth starting McCarl finishing ahead of Ed, then it was Kraig Kinser in fifth. Schatz, Saldana and Rob Chaney won the other heats. Chad Blonde won the “C” and Haudenschild won the “B” Min with the Dash going to Chaney.

The feature line-up showed Chaney and Blaney in the front row followed by Saldana, Meyers, Steve Kinser and Schatz. Row four had Shane Stewart and Smith, then McCarl and Jacobs. Row six had McMahan and Haudenschild then Ed in 13^th starting spot with Dollansky outside him.

The green waved and the action began early when Meyers put a move on Chaney causing him to spin in turn four, while farther back in the field, Paulus did a 360 and collected Ed, Randy Hannagan and others.

A six-car accident with a double flip brought out the red on lap five, leaving only 17 cars running at the end with the top five being Saldana, Meyers, Blaney, Schatz and Dollansky. Ed was scored 25^th.

Saturday night there were 39 cars and Ed drew a pill that put him midway in the third group to hot lap. The crew had arrived at the track at noon and made all repairs to the car by 3:00PM when the gates opened. They never got a chance to try the car at speed. All cars were pushed off to get heat in their engines at 5:45PM. The first group for hot laps was on the track, but only got one green lap before rain caused the yellow to come out. Nothing else was able to happen because of multiple heavy rains that hit the track repeatedly.

Finally, around 9:00PM officials announced the postponement of the race to Sunday night. Because of work commitments, the #2L team headed home.

The next race for Ed will be the Don Martin Silver Cup race on Tuesday at Lernerville.

Ed Finishes Second Over 32 Sprint Cars At Sharon – 7/06/08

It was a night of surprises at The New Sharon Speedway Saturday night, but Ed made the best of an ever-changing situation and came from tenth to finish second in their 25 lap Bill Kirila Memorial feature event.

The first surprise was the turn out of 32 Sprint cars. Some of them appearing for the first time and with no drivers’ meeting and no hot laps, it was apparent the newcomers had trouble finding their way on and off the track.

The pit blackboard posted four heats for Sprints and indicated the top four in each would advance to the A-Main. But, “surprise” again when later the number of cars advancing was changed to five.

Ed was in the second heat where he started seventh behind the front row of Broc Martin and Bob Felmlee.. He finished third behind Felmlee and Martin. The other heat winners included current point leader Dan Shetler, Roger Campbell and Kevin Schaeffer.

Immediately after the heats, a fan was asked to spin the wheel in front of the Main Grandstand for the Inversion, and when it stopped on “10”, Jim Pollock announced the Sprint inversion to be “10” which would have put Ed Lynch, Jr. on the pole.

But, another surprise awaited the #2L crew when the lineup was posted on the pit blackboard with an “8” inversion. The explanation was that they couldn’t do a 10-inversion, so they spun again and got an eight.

The feature line-up now showed Shawn Minor and Rob Eyler in the front row, followed by Martin and Jack Sodeman, Jr. Then it was Schaeffer and Roger Campbell in row three. Felmlee and Shetler made up row four, then Eric Williams inside Ed in row five.

Outside polesitter Rob Eyler was unable to fire his engine on the track so the outside row moved ahead a row, placing Sodeman in the front row and moving Ed up to the fourth row.

Ed stayed in the outside lane passing Felmlee, then moving to the inside to pass Shetler in turn one on lap three. Shawn Minor was next on Ed’s drive to the front and by the time the first yellow came out on lap six for Nate Stein, Ed was fifth behind Sodeman, Jr., Campbell, Martin and Schaeffer. A long stretch of green flag laps, produced a terrific battle for the lead between Sodeman and Campbell in heavy lapped traffic, with Campbell scored ahead on lap 12, but not for long, as Sodeman battled hard to regain the lead.

Ed had just moved into third passing Schaeffer before the second yellow came out for multi-car spins on lap 18. Two laps later Ed cleared Campbell and set his sights on Sodeman. Still dealing with lapped cars, the two were hard at it, when Mike Kekich caused the final yellow on lap 24.

The final surprise came when there was no green-white-checkered finish as most tracks and organizations do and the flagman started the field with a green and the next time around, it was a checkered flag. Sodeman, Jr. scored his first Sharon win of the year and Ed finished a close second followed by Schaeffer, Felmlee and Martin in the top five.

The track conditions were dusty and at times, Ed had trouble seeing. The crew made only minor changes during the evening, just tires and gears.

Ed plans to travel to Eldora next weekend for the Kings Royal race.

Ed comes from 8^th to get third win at Lernerville -7/4/08

With fireworks from five neighboring towns lighting up the distant skies on the Fourth of July at Lernerville Speedway, the Sprint car 25-lap feature had a night plagued with five yellow flags and one red flag. Fortunately, Ed was able to avoid the accidents and stay focused on his goal of winning after starting eighth.

The crew had anxious moments near the end of the race when the final caution flag came out after getting the white flag. Concerns about running low on fuel became paramount when the race went beyond the 25-lap distance after already running extra laps while the four previous causes of yellow flags were cleaned up.

With 26 Sprints on hand (the most of all divisions) three heats were run, locking in the top four in each for the re-draw for feature positions. Ed started eighth in the second heat and finished fourth behind Bob Felmlee, Broc Martin and Ralphie Spithaler. Scott Priester and Rod George won the other heats. For the feature line-up, however, it was Priester and Spithaler in the front row followed by George and Scott Bonnell. Felmlee and Dan Shetler were in row three, while Carl Bowser and Ed made up row four.

The start of the feature was a “do over” when Brian Steinman spun bringing out the first of his three cautions. Ed was able to get by Bowser and Shetler by lap two and cleared the cars of Felmlee and Bonnell before the red flag came out for a flip by Brent Ellenberger in between turns one and two.

The restart on lap four showed Priester continuing to lead over Spithaler, George and Ed. Four laps later, Ed cleared Spithaler then worked on George to earn second spot by lap 10 when Steinman caused his second yellow.

Ed passed Priester on lap 13 and started to pull away, but action was slowed again by the stalled car of Steinman with 16 laps in the books. Just two laps later, Gary Rankin lost power in turn two with Ed heading Priester, George, Charlie Holben and Mikie Lutz. The final caution came out on lap 24 when second place Priester broke a drive line, smacked the front stretch wall and coasted to a halt in turn one.

The finish would go green, white, checkered to complete 26 laps. For those two laps, Ed had to hold off Lutz, George, Holben and Felmlee. The amb i.t. transponders showed Ed with the fastest lap of the feature on lap 25.

If weather permits, the crew will travel to Sharon Speedway Saturday night.

August
Ed times 6^th and has another top 10 finish with the All Stars - this time at Attica – 8/30/08

The #2L crew made the 4-1/2 hour trip to Attica Raceway Park for the “Attica Ambush” (a race with long history revived after a five-year hiatus). The All Star sanctioned event has a list of previous winners that reads like the “Who’s Who” in sprint car racing including Steve Kinser and Dave Blaney, to name a few.

For the second night in a row, Ed was up against plenty of competition with 47 cars signed in for competition. His son Sye drew a low pill and the team had no time to waste as Ed was the fourth car to take time. With the car count over 40, once again, each driver had only one lap on the clock. Ed’s time of 12.122 was good enough to hold up for sixth overall, despite the fact that three of the last nine cars to go out, timed in the top three spots – as the track seemed to come in late.

With four heats required, Ed started fifth in the second heat behind front row starters Ryan Myers and Greg Wilson. Tyler Walker and Brandon Martin made up row two and Ed started inside Lee Jacobs in row three. It is important to finish in the top five of an All Star heat to qualify for the A-Main. Ed was fourth when the yellow came out on lap six. He passed Martin and Wilson in the four laps remaining to finish second to Walker. The other heats were won by Danny Smith, Mike Dussell and Jody Keegan. The C-Main winner was Ed Neumeister and Lance Dewease won the B-Main.

The line-up for the 40-lap “Attica Ambush” showed Brandon Martin and Rob Chaney in the front row and Dale Blaney and Brian Ellenberger in row two. Lee Jacobs started inside Ed in row three. It was Chaney who led the field for the first half of the non-stop race using a higher line. Ed held his own and was still able to maintain seventh and later eighth for this first half. However, the longer the race went, the less his tires worked properly.

Blaney went by Chaney on the low side and near the end, Jacobs challenged for the lead to wind up second and Tim Shaffer came from 11^th to third. Chaney and Lance Dewease wrapped up the top five spots. Then came pole sitter Martin, Byron Reed (Attica’s four time Track Champion), David Harrison, Greg Wilson and Ed in tenth.

Plans are uncertain for the coming weekend.

Ed is top qualifier and finishes 6^th in Lernerville’s All Star show – 8/29/08

Despite drawing a high pill and going out 36^thEd set fast time Friday night over a 45-car O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star sprint car field that was part of Lernerville Speedway’s Labor Day doubleheader with the MACS Late Models, then went on to finish sixth in the 30-lap feature.

Because there were over 40 cars, each driver only got one lap on the clock and Ed made good use of his lap, turning it in 12.881 seconds with the Kistler Engines Fast Time. Ed received the Cleveland Brothers Caterpiller Fast Time Trophy with and mounted tiny replica CAT machine. The only other cars in the 12 second bracket were Scott Bonnell, Dale Blaney and Lee Jacobs. It turned out to be a late night with time trials not over until 9:00PM.

The All Star format called for four heats to be staggered with six inverted, thus, Ed started sixth in the first heat behind All Star point leader Lance Dewease and Brandon Martin in the front row. Then came Ryan Myers and Brock Mays in row two. Bob Felmlee started inside Ed in row three.

Ed made a nice move on the inside early and ended up third behind winner Dewease, qualifying him for the A-Main. The other heats won by Kevin Schaeffer, Steven Lines and Rob Eyler. Three of the four heats were won from the pole.

The feature lineup showed Brock Mayes and Tyler Walker bringing the field to the green flag at 12:00 midnight. Ed and Mark Smith were in row two, while Lee Jacobs and Dale Blaney were next in row three. Tim Shaffer started seventh and Brian Ellenberger was eighth. Ryan Myers and Danny Smith made up row five.

Just one lap was completed when Chad Blonde brought out a caution. Walker was leading with Mayes second and Ed third ahead of Mark Smith, Shaffer, Jacobs and Blaney when the green replaced the yellow flag. There was a long stretch of green to follow when Ed was too tight to run the cushion and had to stick to the bottom.

Shaffer was on the move and Ed was only able to hold him off for three laps. Blaney tried Ed inside and outside and finally got by, dropping Ed to fifth by lap 18 when Bonnell brought out the second yellow. Byron Reed was on Ed’s tail on the restart and Ed’s early setup that been close to right, seemed to be going away. He held off Reed for a few laps, but soon Ed lost fifth spot to Reed. Brandon Martin chopped Ed in turn two, hitting Ed’s front end, dropping Ed to seventh. From that point on, something was apparently bent from the Martin chop, and Ed felt like he was going to spin out in every turn.

Meanwhile, race-long battle between Walker and Shaffer showed wheel-to-wheel action and back and forth turns at leading finally ended when on lap 20, Shaffer drove by. So, when Reed lost power in between turns three and four with only three laps to go on lap 27, the restart lineup showed Shaffer, Walker, Mayes, Blaney, Martin and Ed in sixth.

The only change at the checkered flag, showed Martin passing Blaney dropping him to fifth ahead of Ed with Hannagan, Mark Smith, Dewease and Ellenberger in the top ten. Shaffer also won the Dash, while Rod George won the B-Main and Rodd Bauer won the C-Main.

Ed plans to run another All Star show on Saturday at Attica Raceway Park.

Ed comes from 9^th to finishe 4^th on Lernerville’s last point night – 8/22/08

Going into the final point night at Lernerville Speedway on Friday, Ed was fourth in the Sprint Car standings, so after starting ninth in the last point race feature and finishing fourth, he probably holds that spot for the 2008 season here. The final points are not available as of this writing and should be official by this weekend.

Twenty-eight sprinters signed in for tonight’s show and were divided into three heats. Ed started sixth in the third heat and finished third behind Scott Bonnell and Brian Ellenberger. The other heats were won by Bob Felmlee and Rod George. With all sprints running, a B-Main was necessary and Dan Shetler won that event.

The 25-lap feature, showed two drivers, Felmlee and George, that were two points apart in the year-end standings as they made up the front row. Ellenberger and Ralphie Spithaler were in the next row ahead of Charlie Holben and Todd Bauer. In row four it was Bonnell and Brent Matus. Ed started ninth, inside Cory Good, then came Scott Priester and Andy McKisson.

With pole-sitter Felmlee leading, Ed had a great start with a move that put him ahead of Matus and Spithaler with two laps completed. Bauer was next on Ed’s list and he was passed on the back stretch, moving Ed into fifth with three laps in the books. By lap five, Ed had a bead on Holben and passed him to advance to fourth on lap six.

Ed followed George for two laps and just got by him, when the first yellow came out on lap eight for a single car spin by Holben. The restart lineup showed Ellenberger, then two lapped car and Felmlee, another lapped car and Ed. The next six laps were green, but when Brian Steinman stopped on the backstretch on lap 14, the yellow flag flew again. This time, Bill Kiley was the lapped car between Ellenberger and Felmlee, then Ed in third.

Just three laps later, Cory Good caused the final yellow and the top fout cars – Ellenberger, Felmlee, Ed and McKisson were nose to tail. Ed pulled slightly ahead of Felmlee, but that was short lived when Felmlee got back by Ed on the front chute and took the inside line away going into turn one.

From that point, the race went non-stop and McKisson found some grip and challenged Ed on the inside and the outside, taking third place with just two laps to go. The finish showed Ellenberger with his first win of the year here, Felmlee, McKisson and Ed in fourth. Rounding out the rest of the top ten it was Bonnell, Kevin Schaeffer (who clinched the track championship with his sixth place finish), George, Bauer, Carl Bowser and Matus.

Plans are uncertain for Saturday.

Ed starts 12^th and finishes 4^th in Sonia Bullis Memorial race at Lernerville – 8/15/08

Even though he knew that he would be starting 12^th in the Sprint feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway because of his win the last time here, Ed still had his sights set on the beautiful trophy and extra money posted for the winner of the 25-lap 4^th Annual Sonia Bullis Memorial race.

A field of 29 Sprints were on hand, including two first-timers, for the three qualifying heats. Ed was scheduled to go in the sixth spot in the third heat and he ended up second to second to outside front row starter, Jack Sodeman, Jr. The other heats were won by Ralph Spithaler over Charlie Holben and Rod George was a runaway from Dan Shetler in heat number two. A rare B-Main was won by Dan Kuriger.

Kevin Schaeffer and Charlie Holben brought the field to the green, but newcomer Australian Steven Lines had problems inside the first turn and came to a halt, ending his night with a tow to the pits. This called for a complete restart and Schaeffer had a great start on the next attempt, leaving no doubt as to his intentions of winning from the pole.

Still with his commanding lead, Schaeffer had a freak thing happen coming out of turn four on lap four. He lost his entire drive-line on the race track, then slowed and pulled to the infield. His drive-line, however, remained on the track surface causing the yellow to fly again for debris. Holben inherited the lead over Scott Bonnell, Sodeman, Jr., Jimmy Hawley and Spithaler, Todd Bauer, Andy McKisson and Ed.

As the next 10 laps were pure green, Ed was up to eighth on lap five, then he ran down Spithaler to move into seventh on lap seven. When Ed passed Bauer on lap nine, he was up to sixth. At the half-way mark the scoreboard showed Holben leading Jimmy Hawley, Scott Bonnell, Sodeman, McKisson and Ed in sixth. But two laps later Bonnell tangled with Brian Steinman in between turns one and two and had to restart last. That incident moved Ed to fifth.

Searching for a better groove, Ed tried inside, middle and high, but couldn’t advance a spot, even when the single file restart was called for once again when Bauer experienced problems on lap 22. Now, with three laps to the checkered, Ed concentrated on Sodeman, Jr. and finally moved past him coming off turn two on the final lap on the high side to land a fourth place finish

Hawley’s win was his first since coming back after a six-year hiatus. He was followed by Holben, McKisson, Ed and Sodeman, Jr. in the top five. The rest of the top ten included Scott Priester, Carl Bowser, Gary Rankin, Rod George and Dan Shetler.

The #2L team does not plan to race on Saturday or Sunday.

Ed is 5^th in Duel in the Dirt II at Sharon Speedway – 8/12/08

Tuesday night, Ed passed the most cars going from 10^th to 5^th in the 30-lap Duel in the Dirt II NASCAR Night at Sharon Speedway.

Thirty-six Sprint cars showed up for the two division show that featured NASCAR drivers Dave Blaney, Kenny Schrader and Kevin Harvick racing in the E-Mod division.

Four heats were run for the Sprints lined up by pill draw. Ed started eighth in the second heat and finished third behind Brian Ellenberger and Scott Bonnell. The other heats went to Tim Shaffer, Danny Smith and Kevin Schaeffer. All heats were won from the front row.

Spinning the wheel resulted in a “0” inversion, thus T. Shaffer and Ellenberger were in the front row of the feature. Row two showed Smith and K. Schaeffer followed by Arnie Kent and Bonnell. Rob Eyler and Jody Keegan made up row four. Then came Todd Bauer and Ed in row five.

Tim Shaffer led from the start and was followed by Ellenberger, K. Schaeffer and Smith with Ed in ninth. When Cale Conley hit and jumped the outside wall in turn three nearly taking down the wheel fence, his car was entangled and suspended from the fence.

Major fence repairs were needed and the delay of 45 minutes resulted in an open red. The crew made no changes on Ed’s car because only fuel and air were allowed to be added.

When the green replaced the red, the track remained narrow with the inside slimy. A long stretch of non-stop racing showed Smith getting by Ellenberger for take over second. K. Schaeffer, Bonnell and Keegan were still ahead of Ed.

When Eyler stopped on the front stretch and Williams stopped in turn two, Ed had just nine laps left to improve his seventh position. He picked up one position, getting by Keegan before the final yellow for Dan Shetler on lap 24. In the next two laps, Ed was beside Bonnell, finally getting by into fifth before the checkered flag.

Shaffer led all the way, taking his first feature since 1996, with Smith a very close second and K. Schaeffer finishing third ahead of Ellenberger and Ed in fifth. Completing the rundown for the top ten it was, Bonnell, Keegan, Caleb Griffith, Greg Wilson and Kent.

Dave Blaney made it to victory lane at his own track by capturing the 25-lap E-Mod feature and was joined in victory lane by his Son Ryan and Father Lou.

Ed will be at Lernerville Friday.

Ed is 13^th in Knoxville B-Main – second highest of the PA drivers Saturday – 8/9/08

Ed had the second highest finish of the nine Pennsylvania drivers to compete in the 48^th Annual Knoxville Nationals. In his 13^th place in the B-Main Saturday night after starting 15^th, he looked good and ran strong and was about to reel in Stevie Smith and Jonathan Allard, but ran out of laps. The 22-lap event went non-stop and set a new Knoxville record of 6:12.5 minutes. The old record was set in 1990 by Doug Wolfgang.

The front row B-Main starters Daryn Pittman and Chad Kemenah finished as they started. The only PA driver to finish ahead of Ed was third place starter Greg Hodnett who ended up fifth after being passed by Terry McCarl and Gary Wright. Cars finishing sixth and back were Tim Kaeding, Randy Hannagan, Jack Dover, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Kraig Kinser, Allard and Smith, then Ed in 13^th. Behind Ed were Jason Johnson, Jesse Hockett Davey Heskin, , Lynton Jeffrey, Mike Moore, Sean Michael, Travis Whitney, Travis Rilat and Roger Crockett.

Crockett destroyed his car flipping and hitting the turn one outside wall and rolling several times on flagman Doug Clark’s original green flag. Ed was on the move at the drop of that green and picked up about six spots by the time he came out of turn two. But, of course, on the next attempt to start the race, those holes were not there the second times around. The only damage to the #2L this week came on that complete restart when the car starting behind Ed, number 1XX Whitney, hit Ed’s right rear wheel bending it slightly, but thankfully it held up to the end.

On Friday the crew did major work on the car, replacing the entire drive line, power steering and front axle. The only track time since Wednesday that Ed had to test these changes was hot laps just prior to his B-Main on Saturday. He was happy with the changes and the improved feel of the car at the speeds (usually in excess of 114mph) on this half-mile track.

In the A-Main, the first five finishers started in the first five spots and Donny Schatz went on to win his third straight Knoxville Nationals. Second place went to Jason Meyers who went to the top groove and took the lead early and ran away from the field. Myers switched to the bottom after 20 laps , still in command. Three laps later, Tyler Walker’s engine went up in smoke half-way down the back stretch. He coasted to a stop on the track, ironically, just past where he could have pulled into the pits. A move that was very unpopular with the fans.

On the restart, Schatz took the lead and was able to hold on despite one more yellow. Meyers and Craig Dollansky had podium finishes. Rounding out the top ten it was pole-sitter Danny Lasoski, Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana, Jac Haudenschild, McCarl, Dusty Zomer and Justin Henderson. The C-Main winner was Jesse Hockett, while Rob Chaney won the D-Main and J.J. Hickle took the E-Main.

Ed plans to run Sharon on Tuesday.

Record crowd turns out to see Ed and Pennsylvania drivers at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame - 8/8/08

Ed and the crew worked on the car Friday morning at Charlie and Nancy's house, then Nancy had lunch and birthday cake and ice cream for Sye (Ed's youngest son) who was born 11 years ago today.

Throughout the 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame schedules programs of interest to fans that travel from many states, Canada, Australia and New Zeland to be part of this week at the Sprint Car Capital of the World. Ed was invited to be part of a panel of four drivers from Pennsylvania that drew a record crowd on Friday afternoon.

Famed writer, broadcaster and track announcer at Williams Grove Speedway, Bruce Ellis moderated the show which was on stage on the museum's first floor starting at 3:00PM. In addition to having the drivers talk about how they got into racing and what thoughts they have about Knoxville, they also answered questions from the audience. The session lasted well over an hour and following that, Ed stayed to sign autographs.

Ed was not scheduled for any races today. The non-qualifiers ran five heats which were won by Brian Brown, Blake Feese, Seth Brahmer, Mark Dobmeier and Rob Chaney. They also ran a 12-lap B Main won by Tim Shaffer and a 20-lap A Main won by Brown. Later, Doug Esh won the C Scramble while Chad Kemenah captured the B Scramble and Steve Kinser took the A Scramble. The World Challenge capped off the night and Kerry Madsen took the honors there.

Ed is set to start 15th in Saturday's B-Main which will be shown live on SPEED-TV starting at 10:00PM.

Ed will start 15th in the B-Main at Knoxville on Saturday 8/9/08

The second of two qualifying nights at Knoxville Raceway is in the books and the resulting points have been combined with Wednesday's points to establish the Scrambles for Friday night and the Features for Saturday's 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals to be broadcast live on SPEED-TV starting at 10:00PM.

Thursday, Ed signed autographs from 1:00 until 2:00PM and Friday he is scheduled to be part of a program hosted by Bruce Ellis to be held in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame featuring outstanding Pennsylvania drivers.

Ed had a chance to watch all of Thursday's action from high in the grandstand. There were five heats for the 56 cars that were completely staggered and inverted from time trials where Jason Meyers from Clovis CA had fast time of 14.990. Heat winners were Australian Brooke Tatnell, Brian Brown from Grain Valley MO, Josh Schneiderman of West Burlington IA, Lynton Jeffrey out of Prairie City IA and Rob Chaney from Millersburg OH.

The C Feature went to Jeremy Campbell from Monroe MI driving the Rick Ferkel familiar number 0. Sammy Swindell from Bartlett TN made a rare appearance for this year's race driving Guy Forbrook's number 5 that already has the Knoxville 410 Championship wrapped up being driven here this season by Danny Lasoski. Swindell won the B-Main. The A-Main Thursday night was won by Joey Saldana from Brownsburg IN.

Ed makes the preliminary night A-Main at Knoxville on Wednesday 8-6-08

Ed joined 54 other drivers Wednesday night for opening night of qualifying for the 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa. He usually times well here, but steering problems made him settle for 31st quick time.

With points counting for every move a driver makes every time he hits the track at Knoxville Raceway, you have to do well in everything - time trials, heats and features. Time trials carry the same amount of points as the A-Main feature event, so not being able to stand on it for time trials will probably hurt him in total points.

There were five heats for the top 50 in time trials and they were completely inverted. In the first heat Ed started fourth behind Australian Skip Jackson, local John VanDenBerg, and John Lambertz out of Sioux Falls SD. Only the top four would transfer to the A-Main and Ed finished third behind Daryn Pittman and Jackson. Finishing behind Ed it was Jac Haudenschild, Brian Paulus, fast timer Donny Schatz, Shane Stewart, VanDenBerg, Don Droud, Jr. and Lambertz.

The other heat winners were local Wayne Johnson, Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, Jason Solwold from Mt. Vernon WA, and Kaley Gharst of Decatur IL. The fourth heat had a disasterous first lap, when a car got sideways near the front of the field and sent seven cars flipping and crashing into the outside first turn wall. All drivers were OK.

The eight lap C-Main transferred four drivers to the back of the B-Main. They were Brandon Wimmer, Droud, Jr.,Cody Darrah and New South Whales driver Bruce White. While the 12-lap B-Main sent Schatz, Stewart, Bronson Maeschen and Chad Kemenah to the back of the A-Main.

The #2L crew changed steering and and prepared the car to start 12th in the 20-lap A-Main where Wayne Johnson and Jason Solwold lined up in the front row. Steve Kinser and Jac Haudenschild made up row two followed by Tony Bruce, Jr. and Justin Henderson. Row four included Paul McMahon and Knoxville's leading feature winner, Danny Lasoski. Behind them it was Greg Hodnett and Jonathan Allard out of Chico CA. In row six on the inside it was Daryn Pittman and Ed on the outside.

Prior to the drop of the green, Rager Phillips who was scheduled to start behind Ed, started passing and split Pittman and Ed and made the 6th row three-wide before the field was in turn four. There was no re-do and the race continued with Ed dropped back two more spots before the field settled down to hard racing. With 11 laps completed, Ed brought out the first yellow flag when he tried the middle of the track going into turn one and half spun, stalling the car. Fortunately, everyone missed him and he rejoined the back of the field.

Just two laps later Phillips lost power and Rilat had a flat, bringing out another yellow flag. The last seven laps was a tight battle between Johnson and Lasoski on the preferred inside line. Kinser tried to make it a threesome, but just fell short, while Haudenschild and Pittman rounded out the top five at the checkered flag. Henderson, Stewart, Schatz, McMahan and Solwold completed the top 10 while Ed was credited with 18th in the final run-down.

Unofficially, someone posted the tentative points after Wednesday night showing Lasoski leading with Ed in 17th spot. On Thursday the other half of the entries will run their qualifying night and the points will be totaled.

Ed and Heather survive a rough first day at Knoxville on Monday the day they arrive at Knoxville - 8/05/08

Ed and his family were happy to arrive in knoxville, Iowa on Monday afternoon after trying a new route in their motorhome. There were a few surprises enroute due to roads being washed out from this summer's floods, but they pulled into the drivers' compound at the racetrack and set up camp and tackled one of the main problems first. The air conditioner quit working on the way out and it was 102 degrees with high humidity so of course, that was top priority. Also, Ed noticed a slight handling problem when he was almost here and checked his tires, only to find evidence of cracks in the sidewalls.

Ed's host family while in Knoxville, Charlie and Nancy Van Houlingen, helped with finding a contact to come to the fairgrounds with the tires needed and someone who had helpful advice with the air conditioning problems. Friends of the Kenny Jacobs family were camped close by and volunteered to help Ed while he was up on the roof working on the air conditioning unit. The good news is they got it working, but the bad news is Ed sliced his middle finger pretty deep on a piece of metal while getting it back in place.

One of the Knoxville EMT's came to his rescue as it was bleeding profusely. Ed's wife Heather couldn't help because she was suffering from dehydration and ready to pass out. The medical personnel wanted both of them to go to the hospital, but the EMT got Ed's bleeding under control and between butterfly tape and superglue had him patched up, then turned attention to Heather with packs of ice and Gatorade fluids, and she returned to a normal color.

Tuesday was a normal day with garage work in Charlie's shop and lots of tire grooving going on. The annual steak dinner where everyone cooks their own at Udders Restaurant came at 5:00PM. The girls went to the 34th Annual Queen's Contest in the evening while the guys did more garage work.

Wednesday will be Ed's qualifying day and at the present time 58 cars are listed to go on that day. Close to 120 cars are entered for this year's 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals. The balance of the field will qualify on Thursday. For a list of the drivers entered, go to www.knoxvilleraceway.com and check for more information.

Ed Wins Number Five at Lernerville Before Heading To The Knoxville Nationals – 8/1/08

Surviving six cautions and one red flag by the half-way mark, Ed managed to steer clear of all problems as he passed and repassed cars as the yellows negated many of his passes early in the 25 lap Sprint car feature event. He stayed hooked up the entire race and made his winning move on lap 15 and went on to win by a straightaway over Bob Felmlee.

Starting in the 12^th spot because of his win a week ago, Ed had his #2L dialed in perfectly and at the drop of the initial green flag he went to the inside and was up to sixth when exiting turn two, but it was for naught when the front row of Mikie Lutz and Felmlee were called for jumping the start.

With the second row of Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Rod George now promoted to the front the field was given the green once more. But when they couldn’t get it right either, the original front row was given a second change to get it right.

Ed made good moves on the outside on that start and shot up to fifth when top five running Rod George lost his rearend and the yellow put the four cars that Ed had just passed back in front of him again. Then back to ninth, he was on the move again passing those same cars when Charlie Holben brought out a yellow two laps later.

After six laps there was a caution for debris on the track and the lineup now showed Felmlee leading Lutz and Sodeman, then came Andy McKisson, Kevin Schaeffer and Ed. Caution lap 10 was for Scott Bonnell and Ed was up to third behind Felmlee and Lutz.

When a flip by Brent Ellenberger in turn one brought out the only red flag, Ed was on Felmlee’s tail. On the restart Ed chose the outside and was a nose ahead of Felmlee in between turns one and two, but Felmlee pulled ahead down the backstretch. The next lap, Ed tried the inside and made his pass work, pulling ahead down to lead for the first time on lap 15.

From that point on, it was all green-flag racing and Ed started to dice through lapped traffic masterfully while stretching his lead over Felmlee. Lutz dropped from third when he escaped quickly to the infield which problems. Kevin Schaeffer advanced to third with Sodeman, Jr.and McKisson rounding out the top five. Dan Shetler, Carl Bowser, Ralph Spithaler, Todd Bauer and Gary Rankin finished in the top ten.

The 27 cars on hand ran three heat races and Ed started eighth in the second heat and was setting the fastest laps of the night according to the track announcers. However, the amb.i.t. times were not posted as of this writing and we will wait until Saturday to read his winning heat race time. The other heats went to Sodeman, Jr. and Spithaler, Jr.

Saturday the crew will load up the truck and trailer and make the long trip to Knoxville, Iowa where Ed is scheduled to qualify on Wednesday. Thursday is another qualifying day and Friday is a full day of races including the famous A, B and C Main Scrambles. Saturday will be an alphabet of feature events. We will keep the stories coming each day.

September
Ed was there for the Williams Grove National Open - Rain Out - 9/26,27,28 - '08

The #2L arrived at 3:00PM and was seventh in line at the pit gate Friday at Williams Grove Speedway. The sign in the pit window said "Open at 4:00PM". As the crew stood in line to buy pit passes, light rain started to fall. The sign then changed to "Open at 5:00PM". The ground was muddy from several rains earlier in the day. But soon World of Outlaw Official, Carlton Remers, came by to say that Friday night's show was cancelled and would not be rescheduled. Also, he said that Saturday's race would be the live SPEED TV, big paying race and it had a rain date of Sunday.

Saturday, it rained off and on all day. The crew was about 10th in line and conditions looked muddier than the day before. As light rain fell, and more on the way, after an hour or so, the teams were told to come back Sunday when the gates would open at 3:00PM.

Sunday, the crew stayed in the "ready" position, in the motel parking lot, along with other racers and their rigs (about 20 minutes from the track). There were several showers up until 2:00PM when the word came that the race had been cancelled and would not be rescheduled.

The next race for Lynch Racing is scheduled to be Hagerstown's 21st Annual Octoberfest - October 25,26.

Ed is disappointed in his 7th place finish in the Jim Ford Classic at Fremont - 9/20/08

After running Eldora on Friday night, the #2L crew drove to Fremont arriving at 2:30AM. The next morning they were hard at work in the motel parking lot, switching cars and preparing for their first and only appearance of the year at Fremont Speedway's 35-lap, $20,000 to win, (former promoter) Jim Ford Classic.

The 44 cars each got one lap on the clock for time trials. Ed pulled a high pill and went out 38th and timed 12th overall. With six inverted in each of four heats, he was scheduled to start fourth in the last heat where only the top four would advance to the A-Main.

However, the outside pole-sitter Brandon Martin was a last minute scratch and the officials moved Ed to the front row outside Chad Blonde. Ed led all laps as the race went non-stop, building up a straightaway lead over Blonde in the 10-lap distance. The other heat winners were Craig Mintz, Brandon Wimmer and Randy Hannagan.

To determine the first eight spots in the feature, a 10-lap Scramble was run for the fastest eight cars that qualified through their heats. They were inverted with passing points awarded. Ed started second and finished third. The system put Dale Blaney and Greg Wilson on the front row with Byron Reed and Tim Shaffer in row two. Brock Mays and Ed made up row three followed by Stevie Smith and Butch Schroeder.

Ed wasted no time getting up to third as Wilson led the way over Blaney. When the yellow came out for David Harrison wrecked in turn three, Ed noticed a problem with his power steering. After another five laps, Ed was fighting the wheel even more and Shaffer got by to take third. The steering problem worsened and soon Reed and Smith went by.

A caution for debris on lap 26, showed Blaney now leading Smith, Wilson, Shaffer and Ed. But, now Ed's wrists were hurting and the steering would come and go. Both Mays and Craig Keel got by Ed at the finish and he was 7th.

Next week-end is the Williams Grove National Open. We hope to see everyone there.

Ed makes WoO A-Main at Eldora Speedway on Friday - 9/19/08

Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart scheduled a two-day World of Outlaw/USAC American Revolution Weekend and Ed participated in the Friday World of Outlaw portion.

After Ed turned the fastest lap of the 38 cars on hand in hot laps, the surface changed quickly, and when Ed went out 19th, he was able to time eighth overall in official time trials. Actually, Ed turned a 13.399 second lap. Three cars later, Terry McCarl turned in an identical 13.399, but was slotted seventh (ahead of Ed). The World of Outlaws doesn't give the position to the car that turned it first, but instead, they go by the fastest other lap.

Four heats were run and Ed started third in the fourth heat. Kerry Madsen and Craig Dollansky made up the front row with Ed starting inside Donny Schatz in row two. The finish showed Dollansky winning over Schatz, Madsen, Ed and Dale Blaney. The other heat winners were Joey Saldana, Daryn Pittman and Kraig Kinser.

The Dash went to Saldanqa and the non-stop B-Main sent pole sitter Rob Chaney, Butch Schroeder, Tim Shaffer and Paul McMahan to the A-Main.

Ed started 11th in the 30-lap feature that showed Saldana and Lucas Wolfe leading the field to the green flag. Ed was in trouble immediately when the engine didn't respond because of the ignition box (mag) not firing properly. He went backwards, pretty fast.

By lap 10, he was passed by the leader Saldana. An open red was called for with 23 laps down for a three car accident involving Jason Meyers, Dollansky and Shaffer. Ed's crew took that opportunity to make major changes including Ignition box, shocks, fuel pill, etc.

Saldana led every lap, with Steve Kinser coming from sixth to second, and Chad Kemenah was third. Ed was ranked 17th.

The crew then headed up the road to Fremont for Saturday's Jim Ford Classic.

Ed flips in his heat in Mercer's Open Wheel Shootout, but comes from 22nd to 7th in the feature - 9/5/08

Ed and the crew decided to make the trip to Mercer Raceway Park for an unusual Friday night show which started off less than great when Ed flipped in his heat. However, repairs were made and he was able to start 22nd in the A-Main and showing a lot of determination, he advanced to 7th at the finish.

The event, dubbed the Open Wheel Shootout, originally scheduled for July 26th, drew 30 Sprint cars tonight. Lineups were by luck of the draw and Ed started last in his heat and never got to complete a lap. As the field took the green, Ed was on the move, but it didn't last long as a car in front of him came from the left and bicycled across the track to the cushion. Ed got on the brakes to avoid that car and was punted from behind by a car he had passed, flipping him.

Ed was OK, but the car had major damage. The top wing, front wing, front axle, jacobs ladder, left rear wheel and left front wheel all had to be replaced. The crew did a lot of thrashing and got the car back together in time for Ed to start at the back of the consey. He made it up to fourth - good enough for a transfer spot.

The 25-lap feature showed Carl Bowser and Eric Williams in the front row followed by Jeremy Cook, Dan Kuriger, Mike Lutz and Andy McKisson. Row four had Ralph Spithaler and Danny Holtgraver ahead of Charlie Holben and Rod George in the top ten. But it was Bowser and Williams who commanded things through the first ten laps. During this period, Ed stayed down on the bottom passing when he could.

By lap 15, McKisson moved into second behind Bowser. Ed was still running the bottom groove in 14th position. Shortly after that, Ed moved to the outside and began passing the cars of Bob Felmlee and Jack Sodeman, Jr. Another lap later, Ed got by Kuriger and Jimmy Hawley to make it into tenth with five to go.

Because of the non-stop action, cars were spread all around this tight oval and Ed continued in the high lane passing at every opportunity. Next in line to be passed, it was Arnie Kent, Paul Kish, and Williams. Ed ended up 7th behind Bowser who led wire-to -wire, with McKisson pressuring at the finish. Finishing third, it was Lutz then Holben, Rod George and Holtgraver in front of Ed.