Expanded marquee events on tap as Lernerville Speedway opens 2024 season

The gates at Lernerville Speedway are set to open Friday night for the 57th year of racing in Buffalo Township and kick off a season with some major events.

Two of the marquee staples on the schedule, the Firecracker 100 and the Commonwealth Clash, have been expanded.

The Firecracker 100, which is sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series, will still feature three days of racing June 20-22 but is now part of a five-day event called Firecracker Fest.

Firecracker Fest kicks off June 18 with a concert featuring country music artist Drew Baldridge. The next day, SEBRA Extreme Bull Riding takes center stage with bull riding events and barrel races.

“For our big events like the Firecracker, one of our biggest things we wanted to do is expand on the camping experience,” Lernerville general manager Greg Geibel said.

“Where else can you camp for a hundred bucks for five days? We do that here, which is great. We’ll have over 700 campers on site for our Firecracker Fest, which is presented by Big River Steel.”

The Commonwealth Clash is Sept. 13-14 and once again will be sanctioned by the High Limit Sprint Car Series, which is owned by NASCAR champion Kyle Larson and his brother-in-law, five-time World of Outlaws champ Brad Sweet.

The event has been a one-day show in the past but has been expanded to two days this year with the first night paying $10,000 to win and the second night having a $50,000 winner’s share.

“We figured we’d make it a two-day show and allow campers to come here and celebrate a full weekend of High Limit racing,” Geibel said.

Another staple of the Lernerville schedule is the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup, which is July 23. It will be sanctioned by High Limit for the first time.

A new major race on the schedule is the Castrol FloRacing Night in America Super Late Model series event Aug. 21, which pays $20,000 to the winner. It’ll be the first time the series has held a race in Pennsylvania.

There will be an Overdrive Monster Truck show, which will feature 11 monster trucks, May 25.

The pro stocks will have a special race paying $7,500-to-win June 28. It’s the highest winner’s purse for a stock car race in track history.

The season will conclude with the annual Steel City Stampede from Oct 10-13.

Friday is the first of 16 Fab 4 weekly events. Lernerville is still the only track in the country to feature super late models, 410 sprint cars and big block modifieds in the weekly program. Pro stocks are also part of the weekly card.

“We have the privilege of providing four top-notch divisions every week,” Geibel said. “Our sponsors are great, and without them I don’t know if we could do that.”

There were a couple of changes to the grounds. A new 44¹⁄₂-foot wide and 19-foot tall billboard will be placed outside of Turn 3. The billboard will stand 20 feet in the air.

A mezzanine was added in the pit area that goes overtop the chute where cars stage before entering the track. Geibel said both are in the process of being completed.

“We’re going to make three different boxes on (the mezzanine),” Geibel said. “Fans can rent a box in the grandstands for a night, but race teams haven’t had that opportunity in the pits. We wanted to give them the opportunity to have a birthday party, a retirement party or a sponsor night in a nice area.”