Fightin' mad

I didn’t see Saturday night’s race at Bristol, which is a bad thing. But I sure as heck saw the replays on ESPN over and over and over again, which is a good thing … for NASCAR. For the first time in recent memory, we have a rivalry between two drivers that is worthy of the Sprint Cup Series hype. If you missed it (like I did) Carl Edwards booted Kyle Busch out of the way with about 30 laps to go and went on to win the Sharpie 500. It was classic Bristol and brought back memories of when Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte tangled in 1996 and 99. Sure, we’ve had fights between drivers before. After all, it was a tussle between Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison that launched NASCAR into the mainstream following that infamous 1979 Daytona 500 (shown above). But when has there been such hatred between the two best drivers in the sport?

The bump allowed Edwards to win easily, but the fireworks didn’t stop there. Busch - clearly bitter and clinging to his guns and religion - rammed into the side of Edwards’ car twice after the race and sped off. Edwards paid back the points leader by spinning him out, bringing a roar from the Tennessee crowd. In their post-race interviews, Busch called Edwards “Mr. Ed” in reference to the toothy-grinned, talking horse. Edwards responded by saying if he had to do it over again, he’d bump Busch even harder. Awesome.

And what did these two get for their Saturday night indiscretion? A slap on the wrist. NASCAR responded to the post-race shenanigans by putting both drivers on probation for the next six weeks. The sanctioning body is sending a clear message that it LOVES this kind of entertainment and badly needs it to pull up the sagging ratings. Busch and Edwards have been battling each other all season, and we can only beg for more. The Chase will bunch up the 12 contending drivers, but there are only two drivers I’ll be watching during the final 10 races. Keep it up boys.

Motorsports Monday

Weekend results from Motordrome Speedway, Pittsburgh Raceway Park and Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. PRP had a double feature and all results are listed by their dates.

Motordrome Results - Aug. 22
NASCAR Super Late Models
1. Richard Mitchell
2. Tommy Beck*
3. Mark Poole
4. Garry Wiltrout*
5. Bobby Henry
6. Neil Brown
7. Todd Price
8. Mark Cottone
9. Beau Glemba
10. Greg Kelley

Modifieds
1. Adam Kostelnik*
2. Bobby Shipp
3. Harry Opfer
4. Lonnie Hoffman
5. Gary Scott

Street Stocks
1. Ted Gibala
2. Shawn Phillips*
3. Jonathon Hileman*
4. Joe Nicola
5. Thomas Knight Sr.

Charger
1. Chris Spadacene
2. Denny Keller
3. Tracy Keller
4. Mike Lemley
5. William Oldham

American Flyers
1. Stanley Nodina
2. Ed Dinneen
3. Paul Rosa*
4. Ronald Eiford
5. Edward Shelpman

PRP Results – Aug. 23
Modified: David Dominick of Pittsburgh (10.41 sec/120 mph) DEFEATED Mark Romeo of New Alexandria (11.43 sec/114 mph)

Top Dragster: Anthony Kronek of Reedsville, W.Va. (7.95 sec/165 mph) DEFEATED Ron Boyce of Blairsville (10.02 sec/131 mph)

Street: Richard Penn of Tarentum (12.05 sec/104 mph) DEFEATED Joey Pinskey of Greensburg (12.13 sec/111 mph)

Trophy: Mark Noel of Greensburg (14.76 sec/92 mph) DEFEATED Matthew Vitous of Elizabeth (16.51 sec/82 mph)

Motorcycle: Brandon Gilbert of Hollsopple (10.28 sec/130 mph) DEFEATED Calvin Collins of Pittsburgh (9.53 sec/146 mph)

PPMS Results – Aug. 23

Late Models – 25-lap feature
1. Jared Miley*
2. Brandon Burgoon
3. John Flinner*
4. Lynn Geisler
5. Steve Baker
6. Tommy Beck
7. Ben Miley
8. Keith Rodriguez
9. Jim Lepro
10. Kyle Lukon

Crate Late Models – 20-lap feature
1. Daniel Angelicchio*
2. Daryl Charlier
3. Justin Lamb
4. Tommy Schirnhofer
5. Josh Holtgraver

E-Modifieds – 12-lap feature
1. Daryl Charlier
2. Wayne Tessean
3. J.E. Stalder*
4. Chuck Kennedy*
5. Kevin Miller

Pure Stocks – 20-lap feature
1. Jake Simmons*
2. Pat Weldon*
3. Bill Robertson
4. Nick Kocuba
5. Bob Schwartzmiller

Amateur Stocks – 10-lap feature
1. Jeff Broniszewski
2. Craig Koteles
3. Eric Goldberg
4. J.J. O'Patchen
5. Jason Herniak

PRP Results – Aug. 24
Modified: Allison Benish of Irwin (12.66 sec) DEFEATED Don McGuire of Export (9.61 sec)

Top Dragster: Dave Trapletti of Greensburg (7.49 sec/172 mph) DEFEATED Keith Bronson Sr. of Latrobe (8.66 sec/159 mph)

Street: Jeff Stewart of Fairmont, W.Va. (12.00 sec/104 mph) DEFEATED Joseph Devola of Greensburg (13.11 sec/99 mph)

Trophy: Joan Engelhardt of Latrobe (14.64 sec/91 mph) DEFEATED Robert Meyers, of Greensburg (17.76 sec/76 mph)

Motorcycle: Ron Lutz of Trafford (9.23 sec/134 mph) DEFEATED Andre Roche of Pittsburgh (9.90 sec/136 mph)

Travis Geisler promoted

Just received news that Travis Geisler, the 27-year-old Cranberry, Pa. native working on Penske Racing's No. 12 team, has been promoted to crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr.'s No. 77 car. Geisler replaces Chris Carrier as crew chief and will start his new job atop the pit box this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Geisler, featured last week on 'Jonesin' for Speed', won the Daytona 500 earlier this year as team engineer for driver Ryan Newman. Click on the link for the full story in the Observer-Reporter.

Chase changes

Wasn't it just a couple weeks ago we were suggesting a new Chase schedule? Well, apparently NASCAR regularly reads 'Jonesin' for Speed' and responded to the request. According to The Associated Press, Atlanta is out and California is in. Also, Talladega will now be the seventh race in the 2009 Chase and California takes 'Dega's old spot in fourth. So what does this mean? Basically, they added a boring race with California and gave more importance to Talladega with the "big one" crash. And it surely will have drivers pulling their hair out. But at least it adds a little variety and spice.

2009 Chase Schedule
New Hampshire
Dover
Kansas
California
Charlotte
Martinsville
Talladega
Texas
Phoenix
Miami

Motorsports Monday

Sorry for the lack of blog posts, but I just got back to the office after a vacation in Myrtle Beach. S.C. Here's the weekend results from Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, Motordrome Speedway and Pittsburgh Raceway Park. And as always, the (*) denotes the heat winners.

PRP Results – Aug. 16
Modified
Mark Romeo of New Alexandria (11.41 sec/113 mph) DEFEATED Kirk Eger of Cecil (9.40 sec/144 mph)

Top Dragster
Jacob Meinert of Jeanette (8.33 sec/156 mph) DEFEATED Tim Vislosky of Indiana, Pa. (8.79 sec/151 mph)

Street
Joel Pinskey of Greensburg (12.04 sec/112 mph) DEFEATED A.J. Casper of Greensburg (11.98 sec/109.78 mph)

Trophy
Shawn Booher of Freeport DEFEATED Mark Schreiber of Stow, Ohio (Fouled)

Motorcycle
Rick Sheppick of Van Voorhis (9.79 sec/137 mph) DEFEATED Jesse Boone of Jeanette (9.69 sec/138 mph)

PPMS Results - Aug. 16
Late Models – 25-lap feature
1. Steve Baker of Fairmont, W.Va.
2. John Flinner
3. Jared Miley
4. Lynn Geisler*
5. Brandon Burgoon*
6. Kyle Lukon
7. Kari Gasser
8. Davey Johnson
9. Al Atallah
10. Ed Ferree

Crate Late Models – 20-lap feature
1. Mike Pegher Jr. of Wexford
2. Tommy Schirnhofer
3. Daryl Charlier
4. Russ Kolesar*
5. Jason Rider
6. Mark Moats
7. Rocky Kugel
8. Justin Lamb
9. Ken Chernik*
10. Laura Lukon

E-Modifieds – 12-lap feature
1. Kevin Miller of Toronto, Ohio
2. Tom Martineck
3. Wayne Tessean*
4. Bruce Dreistadt
5. Kyle Lukon
6. Chuck Kennedy
7. Daryl Charlier
8. Joel Johns
9. Clayton Kennedy
10. Frank Magill

Pure Stocks – 15-lap feature
1. Jake Simmons of McKees Rocks
2. Bill Robertson
3. Pat Weldon
4. Bob Schwartzmiller
5. Bobby Heim
6. Charlie DiLoreto
7. Russell Volponi
8. Dave McManus
9. Mitch Wattlelet
10. Don Bauerle Jr.

Amateur Stocks – 10-lap feature
1. Eric Goldberg of Pittsburgh
2. Gary Koteles*
3. Rich Mason
4. J.J. O'Patchen
5. Jason Herniak
6. Tom McQuillan
7. Dan Duseheid
8. Brian Huchko
9. Tony White

Young Guns – 8-lap feature
1. Daniel White of Carnegie
2. Todd Janus
3. Sean Graham
4. Brian Beyerbach
5. Justin Pons
6. Hannah Ramsey
7. Alec Broniszewski
8. Courtney Atkinson
9. Tyler Carson

Motordrome Results – Aug. 15
NASCAR Super Late Models
1. Greg Kelley
2. Bobby Henry*
3. Garry Wiltrout
4. Mark Poole
5. Neil Brown*
6. Tommy Beck
7. Todd Price
8. Mark Cottone
9. Steve Black
10. Richard Mitchell

Modifieds
1. Adam Kostelnik*
2. Lonnie Hoffman
3. Harry Opfer
4. Tom Frank
5. Chris Brink
6. Bobby Shipp*
7. Jim Nicola
8. Mike Opalinski
9. George Nicola
10. Bill Hribar

Street Stocks
1. Jonathan Hileman*
2. Shawn Phillips
3. Joe Nicola
4. Chris Bailey*
5. Ted Gibala
6. Jason Holder
7. Tom Knight Sr.
8. Tony Manganella
9. Aaron Minjock
10. Jimmy Stokes

Charger
1. Tracey Keller
2. William Oldham
3. Ed Neidhardt
4. Mike Lemley*
5. Matthew Gardner
6. Roger Bryan
7. A.J. Poljak*
8. Wayne Nashe
9. Robert Garchak Jr.
10. Denny Keller

American Flyers
1. Ed Dineen
2. Ronald Eiford
3. Paul Rosa*
4. Garrett O’Patchen
5. Edward Shelpman
6. William Schwartz
7. Kevin Ludwick
8. Mary Catherine Shimko

NASCAR Crewman - Part 3

Travis Geisler, center, talks to NASCAR driver Ryan Newman and crew chief Roy McCauley before the Brickyard 400 at Indy last month.

CHALLENGING CAREER
By Mike Jones
Staff writer
mjones@observer-reporter.com

As Travis Geisler grapples with the changes at Penske, he gladly doles out advice to newcomers who want to pursue a career in NASCAR: “Pound the pavement and work your butt off.”

Tweaking setups on cars at the local tracks is a good way to get a start in the sport, but crew members must understand the differences between a weekend hobby and the responsibilities involved with the demanding full-time job. He suggested packing up and going down to North Carolina to hook up with a low-level Nationwide or Truck team. The experience with a smaller team is invaluable. And don’t underestimate the value of hard work from a sport that most fans enjoy with more than a few beers

“He’s working his ass off. If that’s living the dream, I guess he is,” said his father Lynn Geisler. “It’s far different than what people think it is. It’s definitely work, and if you’re going to be serious about it, it’s going to be even more work.”

The track testing is extreme. Travis Geisler digests a tremendous amount of data during those tests at the track or in the wind tunnel. But by the time they get to race weekend, it’s more about listening to the driver than the computers.

Geisler spent 182 days on road last year. By early July, he already had been away from his family for 105 days. Being on the road is somewhat difficult because it’s less time he can spend with his wife, Carrie, and their newborn son, Noah.

“It’s hard to explain what working in this environment is like,” he said. “It’s not like a normal job. Things don’t operate under a normal pretense. It’s a crazy job and that’s what makes it fun and alluring as a career.”

It’s not a regular job at the office, but more rewarding for Geisler. He compares it to typical engineering work that may take months or years to produce results. In NASCAR, a hard week at the shop can mean the difference between packing for home early or spending the afternoon in Victory Lane.

“I can’t think of another job where I would get this type of satisfaction out of my work, especially for a competitive race team,” he said. “But the glory of this deal goes away after about the sixth or seventh week.”

In a “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately” sport such as NASCAR, Geisler already has accomplished a lot.

-30-

NASCAR Crewman - Part 2

Travis Geisler stands with the Daytona 500 trophy after the No. 12 car won the Great American Race in February.

GREAT AMERICAN VICTORY
By Mike Jones
Staff writer
mjones@observer-reporter.com

Travis Geisler spent years at local short tracks and in the Busch Series before becoming a full-time crewman in 2006. He reached a dream job, but had never won with Yates or Penske. So the undisputed high point of his NASCAR career came in Feb. 15 when Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 with a last-lap push from teammate Kurt Busch. Geisler watched countless 500s from the grandstands. Now he was standing in Victory Lane with his father, Lynn, on NASCAR’s grandest stage

“To be able to unload, go through two weeks at Daytona and watch the car to come across the start-finish first, it’s very difficult to explain,” said the 27-year-old. “Everybody there puts so much into that.”

Since the Cup series doesn’t race close to Pittsburgh, many of his family members traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the race. But he especially enjoys the fact he helped to deliver the first Daytona 500 victory to team owner Roger Penske, a man who has succeeded in just about everything in racing.

“We got our rings (in early July),” he said. “You put it on just to let you know what a special accomplishment and something you’ll have for the rest of your life.”

But the season has been difficult ever since that 500 triumph. Newman and Busch have struggled this season and both are outside the top-12 in the points standings for NASCAR’s playoffs. And now there are questions surrounding Penske ever since Newman and the team announced they are parting ways after seven seasons together. Newman is expected to drive the No. 4 car for Tony Stewart’s upstart team in 2009. In addition, the No. 12 car may be losing the Alltel sponsorship next year because the communications giant is merging with Verizon. New cellular telephone companies are forbidden from joining the sport due to Sprint’s exclusive agreement with NASCAR.

“The one thing about working in this sport is you become very comfortable with change,” Geisler said. “Very few teams stay the same. When it comes down to it, all our jobs are the same. I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little bit concerned, but I’m more interested and curious than concerned. I’m excited about a new challenge and working with someone new.”

He is disappointed that Newman is leaving because of the close relationship they’ve built over the past two years. But Geisler is confident Penske’s outstanding ability to hire some of the sport’s best drivers will continue. Now his focus in on improving the car’s performance to secure a new sponsor while sending Newman off with another victory.

“We have 17 races with Ryan and that’s 17 great opportunities to win,” Geisler said last month. “He started his career here and doesn’t want to finish it running in the back. Our effort level won’t change.”

(Click here for Part 3)

NASCAR Crewman - Part 1

Cranberry, Pa. native Travis Geisler, second from left, speaks to other Penske crewmen while at the NASCAR race in Phoenix earlier this year.

RACING TRADITION
By Mike Jones
Staff writer
mjones@observer-reporter.com

You could say Travis Geisler’s life began at the race track. While in the womb, his father raced at local short tracks with his mother watching from the pits. As an accomplished driver from Butler County, it was only natural for his father, Lynn, to pass his interest onto sons Travis and Ben. They worked on the cars and made friends in the pits at tracks such as Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa. Weekend racing builds a strong bond that is hard for outsiders to understand.

“It’s competitive and it becomes pretty satisfying,” said Lynn Geisler, who has won twice at PPMS this season. “Then it becomes your circle of friends. It becomes a part of your life.”

Going to those races each weekend triggered something in Travis Geisler, who grew up in Cranberry, Pa. and now lives in North Carolina. It became a lifestyle for him that one day would turn into a career. While attending high school at Sewickley Academy in Pittsburgh, he dabbled in go-carts and later ran a limited schedule at area dirt tracks. He graduated high school and went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., to study mechanical engineering. If he was going to make a career in racing, Geisler wanted to know what made the car go.

“I had always been really involved in the setup stuff and wanted to have a better understanding of what I was doing,” Geisler said. “I really wanted to have knowledge about the physics of the sport.”

Even while in college, Geisler returned home some weekends to race in a NASCAR weekly series at Motordrome and Jennerstown speedways. He graduated from college in 2003, but more importantly, moved on to compete in tougher racing circuits by running in NASCAR All-Pro, ARCA and ASA – the minor leagues of racing. But he got experience by racing at major speedways at Nashville, Kentucky, Pikes Peak and Gateway. Geisler got a break in 2004 when he ran 13 Busch Series races, but with mixed results. By then he decided to move from the driver’s seat to working on the car.

The following year he worked as an engineering consultant for a Busch team. It was that job that catapulted him to a major team in 2006 when Yates Racing hired him to work on the No. 88 Sprint Cup car driven at the time by Dale Jarrett. With a full year in NASCAR’s top series, Geisler transferred to Penske Racing South in 2007. It was a perfect fit with a team that is on the cutting edge of racing technology. It also didn’t hurt that Geisler’s new driver, Ryan Newman, graduated from college with an engineering degree.

“People became aware of him from his driving efforts,” Lynn Geisler said of his son. “He was also active on the car. Having an engineering degree, work ethic and experience around motorsports, it became a no-brainer.”

And racing has been a “no-brainer” for both Geisler boys. The other son, Ben, went to University of Pennsylvania and earned an engineering degree. He’s now third in command of Dirt Motorsports, which runs the World of Outlaws sprint car series.

“It’s a real accomplishment for both of my kids,” Lynn Geisler said. “It’s kind of a deal where you watch them growing up and motorsports was so consuming that you wonder how they would turn out.”

(Click here for Part 2)

Life of a NASCAR crewman

Many NASCAR gearheads have aspirations of working on a Sprint Cup car during the week and making adjustments at the track while on top of the pit box. Those dreams are a reality for Cranberry, Pa. native Travis Geisler. The 27-year-old now living in North Carolina is the team engineer for the No. 12 Penske car driven by Ryan Newman. Geisler became interested in motorsports by helping his father, Lynn, in the pits at local dirt tracks such as PPMS in Imperial, Pa.

A few years later after graduating college with an engineering degree, he drove a part-time schedule in the Busch Series before becoming a crewman in the Sprint Cup series. It’s been a difficult and satisfying road that has taken him from dirt tracks in Western Pennsylvania to Victory Lane at Daytona. A three-part story featuring Geisler will begin Monday on “Jonesin’ for Speed”… Photos taken by Steven Rose with permission to publish from Penske Racing South.

Road course to the Cup

When is Watkins Glen or Sonoma going to be included in the Chase? These orphaned races are plopped in the middle of the dog days of summer and little is thought of them. Sure, they’re not the most exciting races of the year, but they are an important part in NASCAR history and should be given greater importance in deciding the champion. The playoffs are already too bland right now with three 1.5-mile cookie cutter tracks. Here’s the current Chase tracks.

New Hampshire
Dover
Kansas
Talladega
Charlotte
Martinsville
Atlanta
Texas
Phoenix
Miami

It’s time to throw some spice in there and really get the full spectrum of tracks. Isn’t that what the Chase is all about anyway? The first task would be to toss out either Charlotte, Texas or Atlanta because they’re basically the same track. True, each has its own quirks, but they all require the same driving style. Axe one of those and insert the old school version of Sonoma: You know, the one with the hairpin corner before Bruton Smith reconfigured it to make it easier for the non-road racers.

And while we’re at it, why not toss in Michigan or Darlington? Could you imagine the diversity if NASCAR shook things up a bit? If I had my way – and we’ve known for a while I don’t – here’s what my Chase for the Cup would look like. Each would be challenging in its own way. And, more importantly, each would be different.

Darlington
Sonoma
New Hampshire
Talladega
Kansas
Martinsville
Michigan
Charlotte
Phoenix
Miami

500 mile fantasy

I have some questions about the logic an ESPN.com column about shortening NASCAR races. It’s fitting that columnist Ryan McGee wrote it before the Pocono race, which every fan knows is way too long. And I agree NASCAR should chop off 100 miles off that marathon just like it did at Dover a few years ago. But what about the rest of the schedule?

Under McGee’s plan, the races at Atlanta, Bristol, California, Martinsville, Pocono, Talladega and Texas all would be drastically reduced. Sure, some of these events are a little long, but that’s what makes NASCAR so challenging. It tests the endurance of both the car and the driver. It gives plenty of opportunities for the complexion of the race to change each lap.

The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte runs for more than five hours, but it’s so unique. And would fans want to see 100 fewer laps at Bristol? If I had my way, I’d add another 100 laps to Thunder Valley. I’m still disgruntled they only run 400 miles at Darlington nowadays.

McGee makes the point that our fascination with “500” has led us down this path that is based more in tradition than logic. But we as Americans have always been attached to traditions. To put his suggestion into context, imagine Major League Baseball shortening the games to seven innings. It’s true there have been complaints in recent years that the games need to move faster, but the only ones who would lose are the fans. Not to mention, when would they sing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”? Shorten Pocono, please, but leave the rest of the NASCAR races alone.

Motorsports Monday

Weekend results from Motordrome Speedway in Smithton, Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial and Pittsburgh Raceway Park in New Alexandria. PRP had a dual weekend of races at the drag strip. Full results and points standing can be found at each track's respective Web site. The (*) indicates the heat winners.

Motordrome Speedway – Aug. 1
NASCAR Super Late Models 40-lap feature
1. Mark Poole*
2. Bobby Henry*
3. Garry Wiltrout
4. Richard Mitchell
5. Mark Cottone*
6. Tommy Beck
7. Beau Glemba
8. Todd Price
9. Steve Black
10. Sean Pilla

Subway Street Stocks – 30-lap feature
1. Tony Manganello*
2. Shawn Phillips
3. Ted Gibala
4. Jason Holder
5. Joe Nicola
6. Bill Henry
7. Jonathan Hileman
8. Andrew Kostelnik
9. Scott Bowman
10. Jeff Zillweger

Modifieds – 20-lap feature
1. Adam Kostelnik*
2. Harry Opfer
3. Bobby Shipp*
4. Lonnie Hoffman
5. Tom Frank
6. George Nicola
7. Marion Reno
8. Chris Brink
9. Matt Panaia
10. Bryan Shipp

Charger – 15-lap feature
1. Mike Lemley
2. Denny Keller
3. Tracy Keller*
4. William Oldham
5. Robert Garchak Jr.
6. Roger Bryan
7. Dave McManns
8. Jimmy Stokes
9. Ed Neidhardt
10. Matthew Gardner

American Flyers - 8-lap feature
1. Paul Rosa*
2. Ed Dineen
3. Jeff Halfhill
4. Garrett Opathuen
5. Ronald Eiford
6. William Schwartz
7. Edward Shelpman
8. Kevin Ludwick

Pennsylvania Motor Speedway – Aug. 2
Late Models – 25-lap feature
1. Steve Baker* of Fairmont, W.Va.
2. John Flinner
3. Jared Miley*
4. Al Atallah
5. Brandon Burgoon*
6. Lynn Geisler
7. Tommy Beck
8. Mike Johnson
9. Ben Miley
10. Jim Stephans

Crate Late Models – 20-lap feature
1. Josh Holtgraver of Pittsburgh
2. Tommy Schirnhofer
3. Mike Pegher Jr.
4. Daniel Angelicchio*
5. Daryl Charlier
6. Justin Lamb
7. Mark Moats Jr.
8. Rocky Kugel
9. Bryant Hank*
10. Beau Glemba

E-Modifieds – 12-lap feature
1. Kevin Miller of Toronto, Ohio
2. Daryl Charlier
3. Chuck Kennedy*
4. Tom Martineck
5. Wayne Tessean
6. Bruce Dreistadt
7. J.J. Bametzrieder*
8. Shawn Scheerbaum
9. Clayton Kennedy
10. Kyle Lukon

Pure Stocks – 15-lap feature
1. Bob Schwartzmiller* of Upper St. Clair
2. Wayne Carbo*
3. Jake Simmons
4. Bill Robertson
5. Nick Kocuba
6. Craig Kamicker
7. Vincent Kamicker
8. A. J. Poljak
9. Davey Lee
10. Mike Mohn

Amateur Stocks – 10-lap feature
1. Ron O'Patchen of Pittsburgh
2. Brian Huchko*
3. J.J. O'Patchen
4. Jason Herniak
5. Rich Mason
6. Tom McQuillan
7. Tony White
8. Dan Duseheid

Young Guns – 8-lap feature
1. Justin Pons of Pittsburgh
2. Todd Janus
3. Tyler Fox
4. Sean Graham
5. Alec Broniszewski
6. Brian Beyerbach
7. Daniel White
8. Tyler Atkinson
9. Hannah Ramsey
10. Tyler Carson

Pittsburgh Raceway Park – Aug. 2
Modified
Russ Benish of North Huntingdon (11.158 sec./ 120.64 mph) DEFEATED Ronald Boyce of Blairsville (10.007 sec./ 133.06 mph)

Top Dragster
Steve Butler of North Huntingdon (9.053 sec./ 146.29 mph) DEFEATED Russ Benish of North Huntingdon (11.133 sec./ 119.33mph)

Street
Richard Penn of Tarentum (12.187 sec./ 113.12 mph DEFEATED Arthur Armstrong of Pittsburgh (14.556 sec./ 94.72 mph)

Trophy
Jason Barbiaux of Pittsburgh (15.702 sec./ 79.45 mph) DEFEATED Joan Engelhardt of Latrobe (14.563 sec./ 95.68 mph)

Motorcycle
Ron Lutz of Trafford (9.19 sec./ 127.59 mph) DEFEATED Kevin Patterson of Natrona Heights (11.422 sec./ 117.92 mph)

Pittsburgh Raceway Park – Aug. 3
Modified
Michael Balaska of Belle Vernon (11.38 sec./ 109.65 mph) DEFEATED Ron Hamill of Ruffsdale (10.09 sec./130.21 mph)

Top Dragster
Josh Rietscha of Nicktown (7.69 sec./ 172.48 mph) DEFEATED Scotty Campbell of Avonmore (8.17 sec/ 159.63 mph)

Street
Don McGuire of Saltsburg (12.00 sec./ 107.07 mph.) DEFEATED Amy Romeo of New Alexandria (12.54 sec./ 106.1 3mph)

Trophy
Shawn Booher of Freeport (12.05 sec./ 105.68 mph) DEFEATED Joan Engelhardt of Latrobe (14.57 sec./ 95.14 mph)

Motorcycle
Jesse Bone of Jeanette (9.77 sec./ 141.33 mph) DEFEATED Marty Dougherty of Westmoreland City (8.01 sec./ 162.28 mph)