HIGH GROOVE HEROICS: McCreadie Charges from 11th to $30,000 Firecracker 100 Victory at Lernerville

As much as Tim McCreadie likes Lernerville Speedway, he had come up empty in the track’s premier World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Firecracker 100. Finally, a four-lap charge to the checkers in front of packed grandstands on Saturday night changed all that.

McCreadie, the 2006 Series Champion from Watertown, N.Y., started 11th and methodically worked his way forward, pacing himself perfectly over 100 laps to steal the lead in the high groove with four laps remaining to pick up the $30,000 victory over Darrell Lanigan and Brandon Sheppard.

“I had been making moves up top the whole night, so I thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’” an elated McCreadie exclaimed. “There’s no reason to do all this work and then just settle for second.”

There certainly weren’t any signs of settling aboard the K&L Rumley-owned Bilstein #6M on Saturday night, as “T-Mac” displayed his signature determination in the closing circuits, picking up four spots in the final 13 laps. But for the first 87 laps of the race, there was a different story unfolding with the leaders.

Sheppard has been having a dream season, quite literally. He’s leading the World of Outlaws standings, won eight Series races and was coming off a huge victory in Eldora’s Dream. So it was no surprise when the green flag dropped, it was Sheppard’s race to lose as he grabbed the lead from the pole on the first lap and was in command through the first 61 laps. But a slip-up getting around a thick patch of lapped traffic made room for leading Outlaw Rookie sensation Ricky Weiss to sneak by on the inside.

Weiss, in hot pursuit of his first career World of Outlaws win, opened up a sizable advantage over Sheppard and Lanigan over the next 20 laps as the race continued caution-free. Lanigan got by Sheppard with 17 circuits remaining and began his chase on Weiss, closing the gap rapidly and nearly reaching the Sweet-Bloomquist #7 by lap 94.

As the leaders crossed the stripe to complete lap 95, Weiss got a bit too high and kissed the wall at the flag stand. As the sparks flew, Lanigan shot to the bottom of the track and dove underneath Weiss to take the lead away in turn one. Weiss limped his car around the track for another lap-and-a-half, but his cut-down right-rear tire hindered his ability to drive too much to continue under green.

He took his car into the work area under the ensuing yellow flag for a tire change, but the damage to his track position had already been done. Weiss wound up 16th.

“Our car was really good. [The top groove] wasn’t really where we wanted to run on the track at the end, but it was the fastest way around,” said a disappointed Weiss. “We were just kind of maintaining and, with five laps to go, we just ran something over.”

Despite the sour end to his night, Weiss still sits fourth in overall points standings, topping all other Rookies by a considerable amount.

“Consistency is the key in this deal,” said Weiss, who is already looking ahead to the Series’ upcoming events in the Midwest and tracks familiar to the former WISSOTA star. “We’re just filling our notebook, and everywhere we go, it seems to get better and better. We’ve got a pretty good baseline that seems to work on these tracks and we’ll just keep digging.”

After 95 straight laps without a caution, Lanigan assumed the lead under the yellow and found McCreadie right on his bumper. The “Bluegrass Bandit” was only able to hold off McCreadie for two corners before McCreadie found grip on the cushion and beat Lanigan into turn three with the lead. And that was all it took for McCreadie to score his second win for K&L Rumley Racing, their first since another 100-lap victory in the Atomic 100 at Atomic Speedway back in April.

Lanigan came home second to score the fifth Firecracker 100 runner-up of his career. He ran inside the top three for all 100 laps, battling with Sheppard and Josh Richards in the early going. Picking up his ninth top-five finish of the season and maintaining control of second in Series points, Lanigan was also a bit disappointed in yet another Firecracker runner-up after a second caution flag flew one lap after he inherited the lead.

“I really didn’t want to see that caution there at the end, but that’s part of racing I guess,” he said.

The Outlaws next head to the Terre Haute Action Track for a duel with the stars of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals tour on Friday, June 28, as Sheppard, Lanigan and Weiss take on The Hell Tour’s best of Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce, Shannon Babb, Frank Heckenast Jr. and all of the Summer Nationals stars!

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (click here for full results)

Morton Buildings Feature (100 Laps) – 1. 6m-Tim McCreadie [11][$30,000]; 2. 29-Darrell Lanigan [3][$15,000]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard [1][$7,000]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport [6][$6,000]; 5. 14-Josh Richards [2][$5,000]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton [12][$4,000]; 7. O2-Mike Norris [5][$3,000]; 8. 22-Chris Ferguson [14][$2,500]; 9. 2-Brandon Overton [4][$2,250]; 10. 22s-Gregg Satterlee [19][$2,000]; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell [8][$1,900]; 12. 18-Chase Junghans [23][$1,800]; 13. 8-Jacob Hawkins [10][$1,700]; 14. 9-Devin Moran [17][$1,600]; 15. 25z-Mason Zeigler [15][$1,500]; 16. 7-Ricky Weiss [7][$1,400]; 17. 28-Dennis Erb [9][$1,300]; 18. 10-Jared Miley [26][$1,200]; 19. 1x-Chub Frank [20][$1,100]; 20. 2s-Dan Stone [18][$1,000]; 21. B1-Brent Larson [21][$1,000]; 22. 97-Cade Dillard [27][$110]; 23. 99B-Boom Briggs [24][$1,000]; 24. 157-Mike Marlar [16][$1,000]; 25. 1C-Mike Pegher [13][$1,000]; 26. 6-Blake Spencer [28][$110]; 27. 29s-Ken Schaltenbrand [25][$1,000]; 28. 4s-David Scott [22][$1,000]; Hard Charger: 18-Chase Junghans[+11]

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Firecracker 100
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Lernerville Speedway
313 N Pike Rd
Sarver, Pennsylvania 16055 

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Late Model Series

Support Divisions
RUSH Late Models

To Win Amount
$30,000.00

Event Schedule
See and download latest schedule.

Tuesday , June 18th 2019
12 Noon Camping Opens

Wednesday, June 19th 2019
3pm – 5pm Vender Parking
4pm – 8pm Pit Parking

Thursday, June 20th 2019
RAINOUT

Friday, June 21st 2019
11:00am Pit Parking Begins
1:00pm Fan Stage Opens with the Weenie Roast & Fan Horseshoe/Cornhole Tournament
3:00pm Judging of the best tailgating & camp site party
3:30pm Ticket Box Office Opens
4:00pm Pit Gate Opens
5:00pm Main Gates Open
5:15pm Drivers Meeting
5:35pm RUSH Late Model Hot Laps (GWC)
World of Outlaws Late Model Hot Laps (GWC)
RUSH Late Model Time Trials (4 cars at a time)
World of Outlaws Late Model Time Trials (3 cars at a time)
7:30pm Opening Ceremonies
World of Outlaws Late Model Heat Races (8 Laps)
RUSH Late Model Heat Races (10 Laps)
World of Outlaws Late Models Last Chance Showdowns (10 Laps)
RUSH Late Model Dash (6 Laps)
World of Outlaws Late Model Feature (30 Laps) $6000 to win
Victory Lane
Fireworks
Pits Open to all Fans
Concert @ The Fan Stage

Saturday, June 22nd 2019
Noon LUNGevity Foundation Kicking-it-to-Cancer Kickball Game
3:00pm Pit Gate Opens
3:30pm Advanced Ticket Gate opens for Autograph Session line-up
4:00pm Main Gates Open/ Autograph Session Starts
5:45pm Drivers Meeting
6:15pm RUSH Late Model Non-Qualified Cars Hot lap (GWC)
6:35pm World of Outlaws Late Model Hot laps (W/ Heat Race Group)
6:55pm Opening Ceremonies
7:05pm World of Outlaws Late Model Heat Races (12 Laps)
RUSH Late Model Last Chance Showdowns (12 Laps)
World of Outlaws Late Model Last Chance Showdowns (12 Laps)
RUSH Late Model Qualified Cars Hot laps (GWC)
Uncle Sam 30
Track Prep (if needed)
Driver Intro/Fireworks
Firecracker 100 (30,000 to win)
Victory Lane
RUSH Late Models Bill Emig Memorial (50 Laps) $10,000 to win
RUSH Late Model Non-Qualifier Race (15 Laps)
Pits Open to all Fans

**Sunday, June 23th 2019 – Firecracker 100 Rain Date**

*All times Eastern

Four Features • Three Days • Two Champions • One Huge Event!
Options And Prices
Free Fan Pit Upgrade for Thursday and Friday with purchase of 3-day Reserved Package
3-Day Reserved Adult Package: $69
3-Day Reserved Students (17 and under): $45
3-Day General Admission Adult: $69
3-Day General Admission Student (11-17): $45
3-Day General Admission Kids (10 and under): Free
Thursday Reserved: $34
Thursday General Admission Adult: $34
Thursday Reserved Student (11-17): $30
Thursday General Admission Student (11-17): $30
Thursday Reserved Kids (10 and under): $30
Thursday General Admission Kids (10 and under): Free
Friday Reserved: $34
Friday General Admission Adult: $34
Friday Reserved Student (11-17): $30
Friday General Admission Student (11-17): $30
Friday Reserved Kids (10 and under): $30
Friday General Admission Kids (10 and under): Free
Saturday Reserved: $40
Saturday General Admission Adult: $40
Saturday Reserved Student (11-17): $25
Saturday General Admission Student (11-17): $25
Saturday Reserved Kids (10 and under): $25
Saturday General Admission Kids (10 and under): Free

See and download latest schedule.

Grandstand Type
Bleachers

Family Section Location
Sec AA

Handicapped Seating Location
In front of main concession stand

Pit Pass Price
3-day Pit Pass is $90.00 for members, $95.00 for non-members • Thursday or Friday Pit Pass: $35.00 non-members, $30.00 for members • Saturday Pit Pass: $45.00 non-members, $40.00 for members

Pit Age Requirement
No age Requirement

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Parking Cost
$0.00

Handicapped Parking Location
In front of main gate

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite, waste services

Camping Cost
$75 (ALL Weekend)

Support Divisions
RUSH Late Models

To Win Amount
$30,000.00

Type of Grandstand
Bleachers

Stadium Seating
Small stadium seats are allowed

Handicapped Seating
In front of main concession stand

Handicapped Parking
In front of main gate

Pit Age Limit
No age Requirement

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Personal Coolers
Small (14") coolers are permitted, no glass or alcohol

ATMs
1

Alcohol Sales
Alcohol is available at the track

Smoking Policy
No smoking in the grandstands

Family Section
Sec AA

Parking Cost
$0.00

Camping Availability
non-electric, onsite, waste services

Camping Cost
$75 (ALL Weekend)

Lernerville Speedway
313 N Pike Rd
Sarver, Pennsylvania 16055 

Track Phone
(724) 353-1511

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Type
0.400;

Sprint Car Track Record
12.334 seconds by Joey Saldana on 5/15/02

Late Model Track Record
14.812 seconds by Mike Marlar on 6/22/18

Closest Airport
Pittsburgh International

Other Airport
Latrobe

Pit Gate Location
North side of the track

Track Map

Competitor Downloads
 https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php