Lernerville leader Colton Flinner eyes big Firecracker 100 weekend

Colton Flinner has had a consistent year at Lernerville Speedway with a pair of second- and third-place finishes and is leading the super late model championship point standings.

Those are all good things for Flinner, but he wants nothing more than to break through for his first super late model win at the Buffalo Township track. He will try to do that when the World of Outlaws come to town Thursday through Saturday for the Firecracker 100 weekend.

The weekend has preliminary features Thursday and Friday, which are $6,000 to win a 100-lap event and $30,000 to win the main event Saturday night.

“I think we’re in a really good spot,” Flinner said. “We got good guys helping us. My dad (Mark) is helping us, and we’re all jelling. Hopefully, we can keep it going. We have a few second-place finishes. Hopefully one of these weeks we can get a win. We’re getting closer and closer to winning.”

The RUSH crate late models also are on the weekend card, with the 50-lap Bill Emig Memorial feature paying $10,000 to win Saturday night. The Uncle Sam 30 returns to the program for nonqualifiers in super late models. The Uncle Sam 30 winner will have the option to either take a $2,000 check or tag the back of the Firecracker 100 and go for the big prize.

Flinner, an Allison Park resident and Hampton grad, leads Jared Miley by 10 points in the regular-season championship. Two-time defending champion Ken Schaltenbrand is 24 points back in third, Gary Lyle is fourth and 35 points back and Alex Ferree is fifth, 44 points off the pace. Two-time Lernerville champ Michael Norris has done some traveling but is 3 for 3 in wins at the track this year. Norris won prelim events at the Firecracker weekend in 2018 and ’19.

The locals will try to defend their home track against the Outlaws and some other heavy-hitting regional racers.

Brandon Sheppard, a three-time World of Outlaws champion, leads the points standings again but has only one victory on the season. He has yet to win the Firecracker 100. Chris Madden, the 2018 Firecracker champion, is 52 points behind Sheppard in second and has four wins on tour. Defending Firecracker champ Cade Dillard is fifth in the standings and has one victory.

Flinner got to know some of the Outlaws drivers quite well when he won rookie of the year with the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series in 2016. One driver who has become a mentor for him is Dennis Erb Jr., who is seventh in the Outlaws standings.

“We talk to him all the time, and he’s always telling me what I’m doing wrong or what I’m doing right,” Flinner said. “He’s a really cool guy, and I can’t wait for him to be here.”

Part-time Outlaws in attendance include 2017 Firecracker champ Brandon Overton.

Overton recently swept Eldora (Ohio), winning the June 17 make-up for the 2020 Dream that was canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic. Two days later, he won the 2021 Dream pocketing $273,000 for his efforts. Three-time Firecracker 100 champ Scott Bloomquist is expected to be in attendance as well as Darrell Lanigan, the 2014 winner, and National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Dale McDowell.

Regional aces like 2015 Firecracker winner Rick Eckert, Eldora prelim-night winner Gregg Satterlee, Mason Zeigler, Gary Stuhler and Dan Stone are expected to be on the entry list. Southern-based standouts Ahnna Parkhurst, who’s won 21 times in her career, GR Smith, a former Uncle Sam 30 winner, and Cla Knight will make the trek for the weekend.

All of those entries add up to a difficult field, which makes qualifying the utmost importance each night. That increases this year because of a new “every lap matters” format that awards points for qualifying, heat race and prelim finishes each night.

Flinner qualified well three years ago for a prelim race, putting him on the front row for a heat, but he made a mistake that cost him a shot at transferring into the main event.

It’s a lesson he takes with him this weekend.

“I was just so hyped up that I qualified so well against the Outlaws that I messed myself up,” Flinner said. “I can’t wait for this year, because we’ve gotten extremely good at qualifying here in the last two years. I feel like I turned a whole new page with qualifying, and I’m excited to show that.”

Flinner would love to grab a checkered flag this weekend but knows it will be a challenge. Getting everything to go right against the caliber of field he’ll be up against is something he’s looking forward to.

“I know I have the points lead and that gives me a provisional, but I don’t want to use that. I want to race my way in,” Flinner said. “I’d love to win one of the prelim nights like Norris has done a couple of times, but making all three shows and getting a top 10 in the 100-lapper is my ultimate goal.”