Saturday, May 09, 2009

Danny captures 1st win of 2009 at Sharon Speedway!‏


For Immediate Release

410 Sprint Car Driver Danny Holtgraver captured his first checkered flag of the 2009 season at Sharon Speedway on Saturday Night May 2. Starting on the front row with Bob Felmlee usually means racing for second. And it looked that way when the green flag dropped as Felmlee jumped out to an early lead. But a caution slowed the field on lap seven and Danny dove under Felmlee on the restart entering turn one. The powerslide put Holtgraver into the lead for good, as even the lapped traffic was no match for the D4. “We battled through a bunch lapped traffic, held on to it and won the race!” commented Danny with an air of pride and satisfaction. Earlier in the evening, Danny finished second in his heat to former Sharon Track Champion Kevin Schaeffer.



Friday was shaping up to be a promising night with a new look D4 on the wing after last week’s flip at Mercer Raceway Park. But rain poured as the first sprint heat was being pushed off, canceling the event. PA Posse Young Gun Cody Darrah was on hand due to serving a suspension at Williams Grove Speedway and Danny was looking forward to racing against him. “I was looking forward to seeing what he was about, but I guess we’ll all just have to wait until the next time he tows out!”



Sunday Night was the first big sprint show of the year at Tri-City Speedway as $2500 was on the line. Tri-City ran sprints on a weekly basis for years, but dropped them at the beginning of last season. A field of thirty plus hit the big half mile, including All Stars Dale Blaney, Tim Shaffer, Greg Wilson and Brandon Wimmer. Danny finished second in his heat ahead of Greg Wilson. He started eighth in the feature, but spun out mired in the slick middle groove bringing out what would be the only caution in the 30 lap race. He had to tag the back of the field on the restart and was passing cars making his way back to the front when he abruptly pulled off the track and into the infield. A post race inspection by his crew revealed what they suspect is a broken valve.



The Holtgraver D4 is slated for competition at Lernerville Speedway this Friday and at Sharon Speedway this Saturday to defend his Opening Night win!



Heading into this weekend, Danny is currently in fourth in the points at Lernerville Speedway, eight back of points leader Ed Lynch Jr. Danny currently leads the points at Sharon Speedway and is 12th at Mercer Raceway Park, but is not necessarily going to run for points at either track on Saturday Nights. He has one feature win (Sharon), a heat race win (at Mercer), four top fives and five top tens. www.DannyHoltgraver.com will be re-launched in the near future.



As always, Danny would like to thank his family, crew and sponsors for everything they do to keep him on the track and running with the big dogs in the Western Pennsylvania 410 sprint car scene. 2009 sponsors and marketing partners include West View Motors, Ti22 Performance, Alternative Power Sources, Kistler Racing Products, Manno’s Automotive, J&J Auto Racing, Frankland Racing Supply, Butler Built Professional Seat Systems, Terry Key Detailing, Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts, D&T Auto Body, Simpson, VRP Shocks, Agip, Spinneweber Auto Sales and Mel Bagley’s Auto Service Center.

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