Ed makes the WoO A-Main at Eldor

Despite rainy weather at the garage, Ed and the crew loaded up the #2L at the last minute Saturday morning and towed to the sunshine six hours West at Eldora Speedway. They were rewarded with making the World of Outlaw A-Main feature for the fourth time this year at four different tracks - Lernerville, The Dirt Track at Lowes, Virginia Motor Speedway and now Eldora.

Ed drew the #18 pill for time trials and that put him out in the first session of hot laps for the 37 cars on hand. He didn't learn much because the track was pretty wet and his time in hot laps was only 30th fastest. The crew set to work, making a bunch of changes including shocks, stagger and a different gear, before going out for his official time trial laps. Ed improved to rank 15th overall, which meant he made the inversion for the four heats, lining up on the pole for the third heat.

Trying to finish in the top two in order to advance to the Dash, he was only able to hold on to second for two laps and ended up third behind Kerry Madsen and Shane Stewart. So Ed's finish locked him into the A-Main in 15th starting spot. The other heats went to Daryn Pittman, Dean Jacobs and Paul McMahan.

Despite heavy Friday night rain, the 1/2 mile surface was OK except getting into turn three where it was a little rough. The 30-lap feature showed a front row with Jason Meyers and Stewart. Following them it was Terry McCarl and Joey Saldana, then Donny Schatz and Paul McMahan.

It was McCarl who jumped to the point immediately, but only for one lap, then Meyers took over. The early going for Ed looked promising as he passed Lucas Wolfe and Chad Hillier on lap two, moving him up to 13th. But on lap eight, something on the car changed and he lost a couple of spots and by lap 13, he was lapped by the leader Meyers. (A check in the pits following the race showed low air pressure in the right rear tire.)

Meanwhile the race continued at a fast pace, with Schatz making his winning move over Meyers on lap 26, and just one lap later the only caution of the race came out for Meyers with a blown right rear tire. Schatz won by .966 seconds over Saldana, Stewart, Jac Haudenschild and Daryn Pittman in the top five. Rounding out the top ten it was McCarl, Madsen, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Craig Dollansky and Chad Kemenah. There were 10 lapped cars and Ed was credited with 19th place in the 25-car field at the end of the race.

After being the fastest car in hot laps, Ed was forced to drop out of his heat race Friday night at Lernerville Speedway when a fuel nozzle line came loose. He was scored in 11th spot in the first heat won by Charlie Holben. The second heat of ten cars was won by Bob Felmlee. Therefore, Ed's starting spot in the 25-lap Sprint feature would be 21st but, he managed to get up to eighth at the checkered flag.

Although Sprints were second in the four-class rotation, the track was already dry for the 30-lap BRP Modified 26-car feature (the top six turned their fastest laps within the first six laps of the race). So, when the Sprints had their turn, the story was about the same with the seven cars finishing ahead of Ed all turning their fastest feature laps by lap four. There was not a lot of passing in the race - the first four finishers started in the first five spots.

Scott Priester and Holben brought the field to the green flag at 10:00PM. Brent Matus and Mike Lutz were in row two ahead of Kevin Schaeffer and Dan Shettler in row three. With Holben leading, Sheila Rankin brought our a yellow after four laps and Ed had only advanced to 14th. When the green flew again, Holben continued as the front runner until he was taken out by the spinning lapped car of Lindsay Enscoe in turn two on lap 11. At this point, Lutz inherited the lead with Ed up to eighth.

The final caution for Rankin again was on lap 12. The first four cars of Lutz, Priester, Matus and Schaeffer held their spots to the finish, while Rod George was able to pass Brian Ellenberger to have a top-five finish. Behind Ellenberger in seventh it was Jack Sodeman, Jr., then Ed Lynch, Jr., Bob Felmlee and Scott Bonnell in the top ten.

The crew will look at the weather Saturday and decide if they should make the trip to the WoO show at Eldora

Ed's last minute decision to head to Paul Sawyer's newly built $8M Virginia Motor Speedway proved to be a great experience for all of the #2L crew. After having problems replacing a faulty power steering unit between the dash and the feature the night before at The Dirt Track at Lowes Motor Speedway at Charlotte causing Ed to drop out of that feature after only one lap, the crew was happy to time well and finish their heat, Dash and feature at the Saluda VA track.

Twenty-three cars were on hand for the first-ever World of Outlaw Sprint Car show on this 1/2 mile first-class facility. The surface was a little wet and slippery for Ed in the first hot lap session where his best time was 16.037 for a speed of 112.240mph. As the remaining groups took to the track, conditions improved and Jac Haudenschild in the last group turned a time of 15.167.

Of course, with the 410 Sprint Car debut at the track, each fast time was a New Track Record. When Ed went out sixth, his fastest lap, 14.654 for a speed of 122.833mph. was the fourth driver to set a new track record. But, Joey Saldana who timed 16th ended up with fast time for the night of 14.537 and a speed of 123.822, the NTR.

Three heats were run with Ed starting third in the third heat and finishing fourth behind Lucas Wolfe, Sam Hafertepe, Jr.and Donny Schatz. Chad Kemenah and Jason Meyers won the other heats. The eight-lap Crane Cam Dash lined up with Saldana on the pole and Daryn Pittman outside. Row two showed Meyers and Hafertepe, Jr. followed by Kemenah and Wolfe, Schatz, Haudenschild, Kerry Madsen and Ed.

The finish of the Dash determined the front 10 of the night's Armed Forces Appreciation 30-lap A-Main and those results produced a front row of Pittman and Meyers. Hafertepe, Jr. and Saldana were in row two followed by Haudenschild, Wolfe, Schatz, Madsen and Ed and Kemenah in the fifth row. Meyers led the first seven laps when a red flag came out for a roll-over by Tony Bruce, Jr.

Using the inside groove at the beginning, Ed held his own for three laps before being passed by Craig Dollansky. Ed then had a six-lap battle with Steve Kinser, staying ahead of Kinser until the green replaced the red after the accident, then Kinser and Chad Blonde shot to the outside and passed Ed. Meyers continued to lead except lap 17 when Pittman took his turn. Meyers chalked up his fifth win of the season finishing ahead of Pittman, Hafertepe, Jr, Haudenschild and Saldana in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 it wasMadsen, Schatz, Wolfe, Kemenah and Dollansky. Then it was Steve Kinser, Blonde, Terry McCarl and Ed in 14th.

The Dirt Track at Lowes Motor Speedway, with a seating capacity of 15,000, sold out one hour before the World of Outlaw race, but fans continued to buy the "Standing Room Only" tickets Friday night.

Ed and his crew left just before midnight Thursday and arrived along with 26 other drivers who signed in when the pits opened at 1:00PM. He surveyed the 4/10ths of a mile track covered with North Carolina Red Clay prepared by Randy Grove, and liked what he saw. The crew tried to take a nap, before activities got hectic.

At the pill draw, Ed drew a high one and was 7th overall in hot laps and made many changes to tires, spacers and gears before Time Trials started. He went out 26th (next to last) and turned a time of 12.597 for a speed of 114.313mph, just 5/100ths off Shane Stewart's fast time of the night 12.547. The foremat called for three heats, a Dash, B-Main and a 30-lap feature..

Cars would be staggered in the heats and four would be inverted, thus Ed started fourth in the second heat behind Jason Sides, Joey Saldana and Donny Schatz. The original start was great for Ed, but he had started behind Joey whose car didn't take off and the field was called back for a restart. This time Ed's #2L acted like it was underpowered and he struggled to finish sixth (the last qualifying spot for the transfer to the A-Main), behind Sides, Saldana, Schatz, Craig Dollansky and Jason Johnson. The other heat winners were Lucas Wolfe and Jac Haudenschild.

Next came the Crane Cam Dash where Ed started seventh and finished 8th behind winner Saldana. The power steering had been suspect in Ed's heat and now it was making the car unpredictable and had to be replaced. Time was working against the crew as only a nine car B-Main won by Rob Chaney remained and two quick Crate Late Model B's.

The crew ran out of time and Ed was late reporting to the staging area for the 30 lap A-Main was moved back a row and would start 10th. Saldana and Lance Dewease started in the front row, followed by Haudenschild and Wolfe. In row three it was Shane Stewart and Sides, then came Schatz and Daryn Pittman and in row five it was Terry McCarl and Ed. The penalty didn't hurt Ed much, because power steering fluid was leaking all over him and following the parade lap, he moved to the extreme outside on the start, made one lap and pulled to the infield area when the field cleared him. Dewease led all laps and finished ahead of Meyers, Stewart, Haudenschild and Dollansky. Ed was credited with 24th position.

It was Ed's first time here and he was impressed with everything that went along with the big Rite Aid Outlaws Showdown scheduled by Roger Slack, Vice President of Events and "Humpy" Wheeler, President and General Manager of the Charlotte facility. There was a lot of hype on Friday to entertain all the NASCAR and the dirt track fans in town for two weekends of racing - Pit Stop Contests, the All Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

The race was broadcast live on SPEED-TV and on the internet at www.dirtvision.com and for the first time-ever the GoodYear blimp circled the sky above the track to provide spectacular overhead shots. A Jumbo-Tron was set up in the pits for viewing by the fans and pit crews. The #2L crew headed to Virginia for Saturday.

Ed will race Friday night at The Dirt Track at Lowes with the World of Outlaws. See the show live on SPEED-TV or listen on the Internet at www.DIRTvision.com.

Ed should have played the lottery this weekend, because he correctly guess all the rainouts - Lernerville, Sharon, Mercer, Williams Grove, Port Royal and Lincoln.

The crew put the garage time to good use preparing for their first trip to The Dirt Track at Lowes Motorspeedway coming up this Friday, May 23. The show will be broadcast live on SPEED from 8:00-11:00PM (also on the internet at www.dirtvision.com) and is sanctioned by the World of Outlaws.

All the pieces of the puzzle have to come together to be successful when the World of Outlaws come to town. With a lot of determination, Ed had three of the pieces in place Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway, but couldn't complete the puzzle in the feature because of a fuel pill problem.

With 44 cars on hand, Ed pulled a high pill and was the last car in the third group of four to go out for hot laps. Steve Kinser who went out in the second group had the fastest time for the Hot Lap session with a 12.825 and Ed was second quick with a 12.881. But in the official Time Trials, which only allowed one lap on the clock because the field was over 40, it was Joey Saldana who went out 21st and stopped the clocks at 12.813 or 126.434mph who had fast time. Ed went out 34th and had a great lap of 12.828 or 126.286mph good for second quick of the night (the first piece of the puzzle).

The four heats were lined up staggered and four were inverted, thus Ed started fourth in the second heat and finished third behind Terry McCarl and Dale Blaney for the 2nd piece of the puzzle. Other heats were won by Chad Kemenah, Lance Dewease and Kerry Madsen.

The six-lap Dash for the first two cars in each heat plus the fastest two from times that did not make it into first or second in their heat, made up the 10-car Dash. Fast timer Saldana finished fourth in the first heat and Ed who was second fast finished third in the second heat, so they started ninth and tenth in the Dash. (The third piece of the puzzel.) How the cars finished the Dash determined the first ten cars in the A-Main line-up. Jac Haudenschild won the Dash and Dale Blaney was second. Jason Meyers and McCarl would start in the second row with Kemenah and Madsen in row three. Row four Daryn Pittman and Saldana with Ed and Dewease in row five.

The 28-car field did their four-abreast parade lap and then got the green flag at 10:15PM for the 35-lap Commonwealth Clash. Because of the fuel pill problem, Ed's car never took off and he stayed in the lowest groove for a lap and then pulled into the infield when he could not get up to speed as the second lap was being recorded. Blaney led laps 1-8 then McCarl led 9-17 before Meyers made his winning move on lap 18. Behind Meyers at the finish it was McCarl, Kemenah, Blaney and Dollansky in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 it was Saldana, Donny Schatz, Madsen, Hafertepe, Jr., and Pittman.

The C-Main sent Randy Hannagan and Chad Hillier to the back of the B-Main, while Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Craig Dollansky, Mike Lutz and Jason Johnson advanced from the "B" to the A-Main.

Lots of hard work Friday night and all day Saturday by the crew enabled Ed to leave home and arrive at Sharon Speedway in time for the drivers' meeting. A flip in Lernerville's feature the night before caused the guys to put extra effort into trying to get the car race-ready for Saturday night, which would serve as the last tune-up before the World of Outlaw's show Tuesday at Lernerville.

The 17 cars on hand ran two heats with Mike Kekich winning the first heat and starting third and finishing second to Bob Felmlee in the second heat. The new policy at Sharon is to have a fan draw for the inversion for the 25-lap feature and that number was eight, thus setting the front row with Jared Zimbardi and Leo O'Malley. Row two would have Dan Shetler and Bill Jones, Jr. in it followed by Ed and Russ Sansosti in row three. The heat winners Felmlee and Kekich made up row four.

With just one lap in the books, the first of two red flags came out for O'Malley who had a rollover in turn four. Ed was fourth behind Zimbardi, Jones and Shetler at the time and on the restart Ed was trying to go around Shetler down the backstretch and into turn three. Ed appeared to go too high and once in the "marbles" , he did a 180, just brushing the outside guardrail and causing the yellow flag to come out.

The restart order with two laps in, showed Zimbardi still in charge with Ed now 15th. By lap five, Ed was up to ninth. Again, in turn four there was another flip - this time the red was for Bill Jones, Jr. on lap seven. The restart order now had Zimbardi being followed by Felmlee, followed by Shetler and Kekich, with Ed now in sixth on lap seven.

Felmlee took the lead on lap eight while one lap later, Ed had passed Kekich on lap nine, but that had to be re-done when the yellow came out again for keith Taylor. When the green replaced the yellow it was Felmlee, Zimbardi, Shetler, Kekich and Lynch. By lap 11, Ed was able to get by Kekich once again, taking over fifth spot in the line-up. Ed held fourth spot through lap 21.

By lap 22, Ed got by Shetler in turns one and two.to take sole possession of third spot. The checkered flag waved three laps later for Felmlee followed by Zimbardi, Ed, Shetler, and Kekich in the top five. Chris Shuttleworth, C.W. Harshman, Jeff Taylor, Bob Lime and Roger Campbell made the balance of the top ten.

The next show for Ed will be the World of Outlaw Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville on Tuesday.

What should have been a fun race with lots of challenges from visiting drivers Friday night at Lernerville, turned out to be no fun when Ed flipped and was eliminated while running third at the half-way mark of the 25 lap feature.

With a lone caution flag for Sheila Rankin before a lap was in the books, the field was racing non-stop with 12 laps completed and 10 lapped cars scattered throughout the mix. That's when the trouble started in turn three. Danny Holtgraver had been leading with Ed second as they came upon lapped cars and Mark Smith went by into the lead on the outside.

Holtgraver and one of the lapped cars, Joe Butera, both flipped. Next in line, Charlie Holben, down a lap, seemed to have nowhere to go and planted his mount sideways right in front of Ed giving him nowhere to go resulting in the #2L flipping up and over Holben who then continued on.

The #2L was out for the night with extensive damage, ranking 22nd in the finishing order. The race continued with Smith leading to the finish for his first Lernerville win. Bob Felmlee took second coming to the checkered from Greg Wilson. Ralph Spithaler and Rod George rounded out the top five.

Because Williams Grove rained out their All Star show early, Dale Blaney, Wilson, Lee Stark and Mark Smith were part of the 28 car field here tonight. Three heat races were run with Ed finishing second to Smith in the first heat. These two drivers were the fastest of all drivers clocked in on the AMB timing system with Smith showing a time of 12.956 a speed of 111.145mph and Ed with a time of 13.042 and a speed of 110.413 mph. . Holtgraver and Scott Priester won the other heats.

Depending on the weather, the team might race at Sharon's Opener or Port Royal's All Star show on Saturday

Ed makes it from 12th to 4th despite engine problems in Lernerville's feature on Friday - 5/02/08

The AMB timing system that records all laps turned by all cars on race night, had Ed as turning the fastest lap of the night with a 13.331 for a speed of 108.019 mph but yet he didn't win the race and in fact, he finished fourth in the 25-lap Sprint car feature. But later in the pits, the crew found the cause of his diminished horsepower in the second half of the race.

Despite looking like rain all day, Friday night's show at Lernerville Speedway got in the books with only occasional light sprinkles. Some Sprint crews loaded and unloaded several times in anticipation of a pending storm while awaiting their turn, the third feature to run on the 4/10 mile track.

The 24 Sprints ran three heats and Ed was slated to start fourth in the second heat. Cory Good flipped in turn two to bring out an immediate red flag when Ralphie Spithaler was leading. The field settled down on the restart and Ed went about the business of winning his heat, setting the fast lap of the night on his white flag lap. Brent Matus finished second ahead of Spithaler. Other heat winners were Scott Priester over Carl Bowser in the first heat and Brian Ellenberger ahead of Kevin Schaeffer in heat number three.

Because he won last week, Ed started 12th in the A-Main line-up with the front row showing Dan Kuriger and Bob Felmlee. In row two it was Dan Shetler and Danny Holtgraver ahead of Rod George and Schaeffer in row three. Ed was careful and with traffic running three and four wide, Ed was only up one position when Terry Bowser flipped in turn two causing a red flag on lap two. Young driver, Brian Steinman caused the first of his three yellows on lap four, with Ed up one more position. Steinman's next yellow had Ed up one more and finally on lap 7, the yellow that sent Steinman to the pits, Ed was eighth.

Ed's engine definitely had a different sound when the field restarted after a spin by Charlie Holben high in turn one on la-p 14. With Felmlee still leading, followed by George, Priester, Schaeffer and Holtgraver, Ed was riding in sixth. The second red flag came on lap 15 when Holben flipped in a tangle with Lindsay Enscoe, Scott Bonnell and Kuriger and Ed remained in sixth.

The longest green flag run came next and Ed was able to pass Holtgraver and Schaeffer during that run. But, when Brett Ellenberger skipped over the inside berm in turn two, the lapped cars were put to the back, with a green-white-checkered style finish to come. Ed was fourth behind George, Felmlee and Priester, but had nothing for them. Behind Ed in fifth it was Brian Ellenberger, Shetler, Schaeffer, Brent Matus, Scott Bonnell and Holtgraver.

In the pits, Ed removed the valve pan cover on the right side and saw the problem immediately - two push rods had malfunctioned. So.... finishing fourth running on six cylinders was not bad.