Lernerville switches to Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series for Firecracker 100 weekend

There will be a major change to one of Lernerville Speedway’s marquee events next year.

Officials at the Buffalo Township track announced Monday they will be switching from the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series as the sanctioning body for the 2022 Firecracker 100 weekend.

It also was announced that the winner’s share of Saturday’s 100-lap finale will be $50,000 compared to the $30,000 of years past thanks to the partnership with the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series and presenting sponsor Big River Steel, an Arkansas-based steel manufacturer that is a part of the Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corporation.

The 16th annual Firecracker 100 weekend will be June 23-25 next year.

“The Lucas series has been known on a national scale for a long time,” Lernerville Speedway general manager Mike Lysakowski said. “They have had a partnership with Big River Steel for several years now, and when the opportunity came about to increase the winner’s paycheck to $50,000 from the long-standing $30,000 top prize … that is tough to turn down.

“The drivers work hard to entertain our fans for three days, and that hard work pays off even more when there’s a $50,000 paycheck at the end of the weekend that one driver is going to get to claim in 2022.”

It will be the first time the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series will sanction an event in the 53-year history of Lernerville Speedway. The Lucas series streams every race live on Mav TV-plus. This year, they had five races live on the Mav TV cable network, 15 tape-delayed races on CBS Sports Network, five on CBS and 13 on NBC Sports Network.

The move ends the World of Outlaws’ relationship with the Firecracker 100 after being the sanctioning body for the past 15 years.

Lysakowski said they would like to continue the track’s relationship with the World of Outlaws.

The World of Outlaws has sanctioned the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup sprint car race at Lernerville since 1992 as well as the Commonwealth Clash for more than a decade.

The 2021 version of the Commonwealth Clash is next Saturday.

“We will be talking with the World of Outlaws about renewing our two sprint car dates, and there’s always room for a second late model special at Lernerville,” Lysakowski said. “We value our relationship with the World of Outlaws very much. We have nothing but the best intentions of continuing that relationship long, long term into the future, certainly on the sprint car side.

“One of the things that happened here was the Lucas series was working on their schedule more aggressively on the clock than the World of Outlaws are. We will be having discussions with them about renewing the sprint car races, and if there is a proposal that comes along for another World of Outlaws late model race, who knows where that may lead? Right now, the World of Outlaws are not yet planning their 2022 schedule where we can have those discussions just yet.”

As in years past, the 2022 Firecracker 100 weekend will feature a complete racing program all three nights. Two preliminary events June 23-24 lead into the Firecracker 100 on Saturday, June 25. Camping sites for the event are on sale now, and advanced tickets will go on sale before the end of the year.