Sharon 5-26-07

Lynch Racing had a busy night at Sharon Speedway. A make-up feature from last week's rain-out and a regular scheduled feature for tonight kept things moving right along. To add to the already full schedule of events, they found themselves changing engines between features due to a cracked exhaust valve that broke on lap 22 of the first feature as Ed was leading the race.....

Even though the sky was dark and stormy, the Sprints ran their make-up feature from last week shortly after 6:00pm. Dodging raindrops, Ed started 10th in the 25 lap event. He quickly made his way forward and when the first caution on lap 13 came out for the #49 of Keegan, Ed was right behind the leader of Kevin Schaeffer who started on the pole. On the restart, Ed passed Schaeffer on the bottom of turn 4 and pulled away from the field. On lap 22 with a half a track lead, Ed's motor started making a terrible noise and the car started losing power. He stayed smooth through the last three laps hoping the motor would hold up until the end of the race. It did. Ed won over Dan Shetler by a straight-away claiming his second win of the season at Sharon Speedway.

The sky stayed overcast and dreary but the rain stopped. Sharon proceeded with their regular scheduled heat races. Ed was posted as starting outside pole of the first heat but because the crew had to change engines after the make-up feature, he wasn't able to make it out in time. This would leave him to start last in the feature event.

The Sprints were first in the rotation of features for the night. The front row showed the #23jr of Jack Sodoman, Jr. and the #6F of Bob Felmlee. When the green flag flew, racing went non-stop until lap 22 when the caution came out for a car that spun. Ed had maneuvered through the entire field of cars and found himself in the second position with three laps remaining. The restart showed Felmlee, three lapped cars then Ed. Ed made cautious moves on the lapped cars but fell short of a victory and settled for a second place finish.

With the Sprint cars first on the agenda Friday night at Lernerville, things moved along well and the 23 cars lined up for their 25-lap feature event at 9:00PM. But, as track PR man Eric Westendorf stated, "It got off to a sluggish start with a few cautions early in the race."

The redraw after three qualifying heats showed Brent Matus and Jody Keegan in row one of the feature and Dan Kuriger and Davey Jones in row two. Terry Bowser, Scott Priester, Ralphie Spithaler and Jack Sodeman, Jr. were in the next two rows. Starting ninth it was Kevin Schaeffer, then Carl Bowser, while Ed and Rod George sat in row six. Before the green came out, Spithaler had stopped on the front stretch and then the caution waved for a spin by Priester on the back stretch before a lap could be completed. Ed re-lined up eighth because Terry Bowser left the track on that caution.

Matus led the first seven laps as Ed passed Schaeffer on the high side in turns three and four to move into second spot by lap three. A caution was necessary after six laps for Sodemen and the restart line-up showed Matus, Ed, Schaeffer, Kuriger and Jones in the top five. Ed was credited with taking the lead on lap eight after a low pass of Matus in turn two. One lap later Lindsay Enscoe (whose fastest time of the race was 20mph slower than the front runners) caused a caution.

Now with Ed leading Matus and Schaeffer, Followed by Kuriger, George, Carl Bowser, Keegan and Jones, just three more laps were recorded before a yellow for Jones. From that point on it was all green and Ed managed to have a l.435 second lead at the finish, taking the checkered as Schaeffer came out of turn four. Finishing third, it was George advancing past Keegan and Carl Bowser ranked fifth.

Ed tripped the clocks with the fastest time of the night in the heat races, but he finished second behind Priester in the second heat, with Jones taking the first heat and Schaeffer winning the last heat.

With the Sprints scheduled to run third on the docket at Sharon Speedway Saturday night, only the heats for all divisions and the Modified feature got in the books before rain fell at 8:15PM halting the action. At 8:35PM the races were cancelled and the Sprints are scheduled for double features next Saturday (May 26).

A total of 16 Sprints ran two heats with Ed and Bob Felmlee on the front row of the first heat. They ran side-by-side for the first four laps, but Felmlee chopped down on Ed in turn three and ended up with the win as Ed was second ahead of Kevin Schaeffer, Dan Shetler and Jarod Larson. However, Felmlee failed to report to the scales and will line up 13th in the make-up feature. The second heat showed Russ Sansosti ahead of Tait Hilbert and Mike Kekich.

The complete line-up for next week's first Sprint feature will be Hilbert and Schaeffer in row one followed by Kekich and Sansosti. Shawn Minor and Shetler will make up row three ahead of Daniel Kuriger and Keith Taylor. In row five it will be Mike Palmer and Ed Lynch, then Jarod Larson and Kyle Moffit, Felmlee, Bob Lime, Jody Keegan and Leo O'Malley.

Still searching and fine tuning the #2L after replacing the steering that seemed to give them the most problems at Tuesday's WoO show at Lernerville, the crew made the normal changes with gears and tires, and came home with a sixth place finish after starting 12th because of winning two features in a row here.

The 22 cars signed in ran two heats with Ed lined up eighth in the second heat and was up to third when the only yellow came out for Dan Shetler on lap five. He was able to get one more spot and finished second behind pole sitter Mike Shearer. The first heat went to Rod George over Davey Jones.

With the Sprints second in feature rotation behind the Modifieds, the field rolled on to the track for 25 laps at 9:56PM with Shearer and Brent Matus on the front row. Next came Gary Rankin and Scott Priester followed by Ralphie Spithaler and Jones. In row four, it was Arnie Kent and Carl Bowser, then Rod George and Kevin Schaeffer. Starting inside Ed in row six it was Dan Kuriger.

Pole sitter Shearer, jumped into the immediate lead and Matus for the first 17 non-stop laps. Ed was up to ninth by lap eight, but George was up to fourth by then. At the one-half way mark, Ed was eighth, but George had moved to third behind Shearer and Matus. A caution on lap 17 for Joe Butera tightened the field with Ed still eighth. On the restart, George took the lead dropping Matus to second. With five laps to go, Ed was seventh and after the final yellow came out for Kuriger, Ed gained one more position on the final two laps. He settled for sixth behind George, Carl Bowser, Matus, Schaeffer and Priester.

It was a night that everyone had looked forward to this WoO First Commonwealth Bank Clash, but unfortunately too many problems plagued the #2L team after hot laps, making the rest of the night a struggle. Although they took the same car that won here Friday, by the time the night was over, they had changed wing mountings, front axles, tire pressures and a host of other set-up and suspension parts but to no avail. At times through the night he was fast and passing cars but, "I never knew where the car was going to go, it drove me...I didn't drive it" explained Ed at the end of his frustrating evening. " There were opportunities and holes to go forward but thinking about my night I'm guessing it was a steering problem all along."

Ed drew a high pill for time trials and went out 38th in the 45 car field. On his first lap he went off the back stretch and jumped the cushion in turns three and four. On the second lap he went low, but then glanced off the wall in turn four. His best time of 13.442 at 120.518mph slotted him 33rd behind fast timer Jason Meyers' time of 12.959. With the top 16 in times inverted for four heat races the rest of the lineup followed by times, making Ed start ninth in the first heat. Passing Shane Stewart and Tony Bruce, Jr. he finished seventh in a heat won by Justin Henderson.. Only the top five advanced to the A-Main, relegating Ed to 13th starting spot in the B-Main. The other heat winners were Jason Solwold, Tim Shaffer and Steve Kinser.

Kinser won the Dash, and Chad Kemenah and Carl Bowser advanced from the C to tail the B-Main. The "B" showed Dion Hindi and Lucas Wolfe in the front row followed by Danny Smith and Zach Chappell. In Row three it was Chad Hillier and Jason Martin, then Stewart, Kevin Schaeffer, Greg Wilson, Bruce, Jr., Donny Schatz, Terry McCarl, finally Ed in 13th starting spot inside Kerry Madsen.

Ed's team had changed front ends prior to the 12-lap B-Main and it seemed to help. Smith didn't take long to move into the lead and by lap four, Ed was up to ninth. With six laps down, WoO announcer, Johnny Gibson, had Ed on the move up to fifth. With two laps to go and Smith leading Wolfe and Hindi following, Chappell was being pressured by Ed for fourth (the last qualifying spot.) and at the checkered flag behind the top three, Gilson said "they are three-wide". Only the transponder readings could separate them. It turned out to be Chappell, Hillier and Lynch.

The 35-lap feature normally starts 24 cars, but the WoO added two Provisionals - Donny Schatz and Terry McCarl, while Lernerville added two Provisionals - Ed Lynch and Craig Rankin. The green flag flew at 10:08PM for the front row of Kinser and Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and the field made five laps before Paul McMahan brought out the first yellow. The restart showed Kinser leading followed by Tim Shaffer and Joey Saldana with Ed on the move up from 26th to 19th. When the green replaced the yellow, ED went off the track in turn two and lost several spots.

Bob Felmlee brought out a lap six caution and on lap 10, Ed hit the wall between the flagstand and turn one. He took the #2L to the pits, but rejoined the field as Kinser continued to lead Saldana and Shaffer. On lap 14, Ed went off turn one backwards and restarted last again. On lap 17 Ed took his car to the pits. One more caution on lap 20 was for McCarl and the final halt to the action came on lap 26 to a roll-over by Jeremy Campbell.

It was Kinser leading all 35 laps at the checkered followed by Saldana, Jason Meyers, Tim Shaffer and Danny Lasoski in the top five. Craig Dollansky, Stevie Smith, Jason Solwold, Donny Schatz and Tim Kaeding ranked in the top 10. Ed was credited with 26th place.

After running third for the majority of the race, Ed inherited the win from Jarod Larson when the #47 tangled with a lapped car on lap 20. While he was flipping, Larson also collected the second place runner of Bob Felmlee, which allowed Ed to lead the pack to the green on the final restart. Ed went on to capture his first win of the season at Sharon Speedway.

The 17 Sprint cars signed in for the night were the first in the rotation of events and ran two heat races. Ed started 6th in the second heat race and quickly settled into third position by the time he got to turn two. Seven laps into the eight lap event, the leader Jody Keegan pulled into the infield with a blown motor, handing the win to Jarod Larson. Larson won over Lynch by about three car lengths.

Jarod Larson and Kevin Schaeffer made up the front row of the 25 lap feature. Ed was scheduled to start in the 10th position behind the #91 of Bob Lime. On the drop of the green, Ed committed to go high in turn one not anticipating that the #91 of Lime was sliding from the middle of the track up to the top, leaving Ed no room to get by him. Having no where to go, Ed hit the back end of Lime damaging Ed's front wing extensively. Ed continued racing hoping that the front wing would hold up for the remaining 24 laps. By the time the caution came out on lap 4, Ed had made his way to the 3rd spot following the #9 of Schaeffer and the leader Jarod Larson. In the next 16 laps, Larson held the lead over Bob Felmlee and Ed.

On lap 20 Larson tried to make a move on the lapped car of Scott Bonnell but hit him instead causing Jarod to flip in turn two also collecting Bob Felmlee as he tried to get by. Larson, Bonnell, and Felmlee all went to the pit area but only Bonnell and Felmlee were able to make it back out in time to tag the tail of the field. Ed came from sitting in the 3rd spot to restarting on the pole with only 5 laps to go. When the green flag flew, Ed was able to quickly pull a straight-a-way lead over the second place finisher of Kevin Schaeffer. This would be Ed's first trip to victory lane this season at Sharon Speedway.

Ed Comes From 12th To Win His 85th Sprint
Feature at Lernerville Friday - 5/11/07

Because he won the feature last week, Ed knew he would have to start 12th Friday night at Lernerville. What he wasn't counting on, was having to pass the race-long leader Scott Bonnell twice! But he was able to get past Bonnell twice, to pick up Sprint Car Career win #85.

The 23 Sprint cars signed in for the night were third in the rotation of events and ran three heat races. Ed started the third heat outside the front row and led every lap, turning the fastest time of the night with a time of 13.442 and a speed of 107.127mph. The other heats went to Gary Rankin and Ralph Spithaler.

Dan Shetler and Bonnell made up the front row for the 25-lap feature. Mike Shearer and Scott Priester were in row two followed by Kevin Schaeffer and Brent Matus. Rows four, five and six had Dan Kuriger, Gary Rankin, Rod George, Spithaler, Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Ed.

From the drop of the green, Bonnell was in command and Priester zipped past Shetler to take over second. Ed was trying to pick his way through traffic, but was only up to seventh in five laps. The top groove was the fastest way around early and Bonnell never left that zone. After following Shearer for several laps, Ed was able to make an inside move in turns three and four and pass both Shearer and Shetler on lap 13. On the next lap, he moved by George high off turn four, advancing to third.

It was on lap 16 that Schaeffer went low and Ed went high in turns one and two to take over second spot and set his sights on the leader Bonnell. However, with no break in the action, lapped cars were a factor and Ed was able to dive to the bottom in turn two for the lead on lap 17. But, problems for Mike Shearer brought out the yellow and the officials did not count the lap. The restart line-up for lap 17 showed Bonnell back in front and Ed on his tail, followed by a lapped car, then Schaeffer, George and Priester.

For the next four laps, Ed tried to find a way around Bonnell, who stayed on the high groove. On lap 22, as the two approached turns three and four, Ed dove the the bottom of the track and exited turn four with the lead. As the #2L went back up to the top groove headed down the front stretch, there was a close call as the car jumped the cushion. From the grandstands, the crowd might have thought he glanced off the outside wall, but that didn't happen and Ed began to stretch his lead over the final two laps, winning by nearly a straight-away. Bonnell held off Schaeffer and George and Shetler rounded out the top five.

The second show of the season at Sharon Speedway ended in a disappointing way for Ed. He had come from seventh starting spot in the feature to go for the lead on a lap six single-file restart, only to clip an infield tire marker in turn two with his left front tire, ending his night.

Strange track conditions greeted the 16 Sprints that signed in. Parts of the 3/8 mile clay oval were dry and other parts were not. The first heat needed four yellows for spins by Keith Taylor, Mike Kekich and Scott Bonnell. Jarod Larson pulled off the win with Ed next, followed by Jason Dolick and Bonnell. The second heat had a spin by Bob Lime turn into a red flag situation when his car tipped over on its side in turn four on lap two.

With the Sprint 25-lap feature set to be third in the rotation, additional work on the track surface, meant the green flag to start the race didn't wave until 9:55PM. The front row of the feature had Jason Dolick and Tait Hilbert followed by Russ Sansosti and Mike Palmer. The third row consisted of Kyle Moffit and Bob Lime. Ed started seventh inside Larson.

Ed made an inside move at the start and improved three spots before turn one. Things were going well as Ed worked his way to second by the time the first yellow came out for Hilbert on lap six. When the green replaced the yellow , Ed was inside Jason Dolick going into turn one and just ahead of Dolick when Ed clipped the infield tire. Both front tires were off the ground, and he spun and sat sideways as the field somehow managed to miss Ed and his #2L. He went off on a wrecker.

Still stuck on lap 6, Ellenberger spun in turn one., Seven laps later Hilbert spun, again. Lap 22 saw Lime spin. The race ended with Felmlee going strong and winning by 1/4 of a straight-away (2.6 seconds) over Jody Keegan, Larson and Russ Sansoski and Kevin Schaeffer. Ed was credited with last place (16th)

Imagine changing just about everything on your sprint car after a third place finish in your heat race. That's what was going on in the #2L pit area Friday night at Lernerville Speedway. The results paid off in spades as the crew joined Ed in victory lane after he just won his 84th career sprint feature here.

Using an engine just back from being refreshed at the Kistler Engine Shop and the newly mandated Hoosier spec tire on the right rear, Ed struggled a bit in his heat with the unknown. With 21 cars signed in, Ed started eighth in the first heat and finished third behind Kevin Schaeffer and Arnie Kent. On Ed's 6th lap in his heat, although he didn't win, he turned the fastest Sprint Car lap of the night at 13.465 for a speed of 106.944mph. The second heat went to Gary Rankin over Scott Bonnell and Terry Bowser. The re-draw for the 25-lap feature put Danny Holtgraver and Scott Priester in the front row ahead of Mike Shearer and Dan Shetler. Ed started 5th with Kent outside him in row three.

For the second week in a row, officials had things moving really fast and the Sprints were first to put their feature on the track at 8:42PM. However, only one lap was completed before Sheilia Rankin lost power on the front stretch causing a yellow flag to fly. With Priester leading Holtgraver to the single-file restaart, Ed was up to third followed by Shetler and Shearer.

By lap eight with Priester still showing the way and Ed now in second, Holtgraver stopped just off the track in turn four. Members of the fire crew gave a quick shot with an extinguisher as the field circled the track for several laps. Finally, Holtgraver went pit-side and the field got the green once again. Ed set his sights on Priester (who was piloting a car he recently purchased from Ed) and began to reel him in. After completing 11 laps, Ed was on Priester's tail and took the inside lane in turns one and two to come out ahead as they headed down the back stretch with Ed now leading officially on lap 12.

The drama wasn't over yet, as Ed had to withstand three more yellows in the second half of the race. Rod George and Ralph Spithaler tangled coming out of turn four on lap 13 and by lap 16 Sheilia Rankin lost power again. Both restarts, showed Ed followed by Shetler and Priester, Shearer and Gary Rankin. Unfortunately, Shearer was the cause of the final yellow on lap 18.

With the final six laps run under green, Ed's margin of victory was just over 4.2 seconds. Shetler drove home a strong second followed by Priester, G. Rankin and Carl Bowser. This made Ed number 84 in Sprint car wins and with one Modified win in 1986, his total wins at Lernerville now stands at 85 and he moves into fifth ahead of Blackie Watt on the all-time career win list.