Story By: DINO OBERTO / MAHONING VALLEY SPEEDWAY – LEHIGHTON, PA – The Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame Series (MVSHoFS) will be on tap this coming Saturday, June 11, with the Dave Schlenker Tribute. Race time is 6:00 pm
Schlenker, a 2013 inductee into the Dorney Park Speedway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame, is a past official at both tracks as well as that of Lehighton, Nazareth, Grandview and other area speedways.
His duties over the years included scorer, handicapper, flagger, announcer, statistician, photographer, PR and just about anything else there was to do. At Mahoning Valley his work there began in the mid-1950s when the facility was still a dirt surface. He was also a main figure with the Lehighton Stock Car Racing Club which oversaw racing around the region.
Schlenker’s sons and grandson, Randy, Alan and Matt, have all gone on to successful driving careers. Randy is the current Race Director at Mahoning. Grandson Matt will be racing his No. 38 Street Stock this Saturday.
Matter of fact with the 38 being the longtime signature number of the Schlenker team, the Street Stocks will be racing in twin-38 lap features. Modifieds will race in a 50 lapper and the Hobby Stocks going 25.
The aforementioned divisions are all part of the MVSHoFS. There will be a draw for heat line-ups and redraw for the features. While there is a separate point tally for the MVSHoFS, all drivers signed in will also collect 50 show-up points towards the regular season championships.
Also in action will be the Pro 4s and Futures running regular point paying races.
The Modified 50 pays $2250 to win.
The twin Street Stock mains will both be full purse paying features and each run as a cone race. In addition there is a random $100 bonus in each 38. The driver with the best overall average finish of the two runs will be named the champion and receive a $200 bonus courtesy of the Schlenker family.
The winner of the first feature will pick a pill of either 5, 10 or 15 to determine the redraw for the second 38 starting line-up.
This will be the first race of the special five race series which pays honor to members of the Hall of Fame located at the America On Wheels Museum in Allentown. Race #1, the Freddy Hamm Tribute, was rained out on April 9 and is rescheduled for June 25.
Wristbands from the Hamm race will be honored this Saturday.
Pit gates open at 11:00 am. Early paid practice will take place from noon to 3:00 pm. Warm-ups begin at 4:00 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $20. Pits are $45. Driver sign-ins are from 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm.