Challenger raceway in PA

[cubcadet31]

First time starting a thread on here so work with me if I screw it up....I really miss that place..I am a central Pa guy....so dog hollow, bedford, lernerville are my home tracks...just wondering what everyone's thoughts are of challenger...so many awesome shows over the years there id put that track up against any other in the country

[Cardirt0]

Welcome to posting on 4m.. Live in Ill so cant say much on that track...But some one will....3 years to post thats a long time...

[GEAR_HEAD]

Welcome to posting on 4m.. Live in Ill so cant say much on that track...But some one will....3 years to post thats a long time...

One of your locals, Billy Drake, was one of the best ever at Challenger.

I miss Challenger. Jack always had the track in great shape.

[Josh Bayko]

I miss Challenger like crazy. It was a unique place, but always so very racy. Those last few fall fests were some of the most fun weekends I've ever had at a track.

[GEAR_HEAD]

I miss Challenger like crazy. It was a unique place, but always so very racy. Those last few fall fests were some of the most fun weekends I've ever had at a track.

Unfortunately people's "fun" at the last few Fall Fests is what lead to its demise. For some reason it was a different breed of people out in that area that attended the races at Challenger and all they did was cause problems. Those trouble makers (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) near killed a kid and an official in separate incidents.

[Josh Bayko]

Unfortunately people's "fun" at the last few Fall Fests is what lead to its demise. For some reason it was a different breed of people out in that area that attended the races at Challenger and all they did was cause problems. Those trouble makers (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) near killed a kid and an official in separate incidents.

Oh I agree. The hillbillies that turned up there sometimes were a different breed entirely, and I don't really mean that in a positive way. I very vividly remember the time Davey J and Jeep started in the back row of a heat and wrecked literally everybody else in the heat except Ryan Scott in their way to the front. The hillbillies were very angry with Jeep, and even tossed a full beer at him as he drove by, and after, they were just salty the rest of the evening.

The incidents that closed the place were horrific though. I tend to think that if folks had been able to be mature that we'd still be making our way up there every October for 20k pill draw fun.

[ClampedUp]

In all the years of Challengers Fall Fests i'm betting the average starting position for the winner was mid - pack or further back. Davey Johnson won from 19th and Gary Stuhler done it from 21st in a daylight race.
One thing Jack always done was run the skinny tired amateur stock feature before the late model Fall Fest feature and those skinny tires would rip up the track just enough to bring the moisture back up and give a consistent 3-4 grooves every time.
And guys like Chub Frank and Tim McCreadie had their own groove down over the back stretch that was a sight to see!!

[Cardirt0]

Oh I agree. The hillbillies that turned up there sometimes were a different breed entirely, and I don't really mean that in a positive way. I very vividly remember the time Davey J and Jeep started in the back row of a heat and wrecked literally everybody else in the heat except Ryan Scott in their way to the front. The hillbillies were very angry with Jeep, and even tossed a full beer at him as he drove by, and after, they were just salty the rest of the evening.

The incidents that closed the place were horrific though. I tend to think that if folks had been able to be mature that we'd still be making our way up there every October for 20k pill draw fun.

The incidents that closed the place were horrific ..May i ask what happen not being from there...

[ClampedUp]

Had a drunk idiot that decided to throw gas on a camp fire that seriously burned an innocent child and the other incident a fool used his race car as a weapon while people were standing on the track. The car he went after and hit had the flagman or assistant flag man standing beside it seriously injuring him.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Had a drunk idiot that decided to throw gas on a camp fire that seriously burned an innocent child and the other incident a fool used his race car as a weapon while people were standing on the track. The car he went after and hit had the flagman or assistant flag man standing beside it seriously injuring him.

Never knew about the child, idiots and a shame. Did know about the on track one, and yeah, Jack and Donna were too old to put up with that sh!t. And I whole heartedly agree, that place was great. Remember Francis, Charlie Swartz, and I think maybe Chub in a NEWS race, awesome stuff.

[Cardirt0]

100 good race fans, but it only takes one to Show some people Just do not belong out in the world...

[wfo2007]

In all the years of Challengers Fall Fests i'm betting the average starting position for the winner was mid - pack or further back. Davey Johnson won from 19th and Gary Stuhler done it from 21st in a daylight race.
One thing Jack always done was run the skinny tired amateur stock feature before the late model Fall Fest feature and those skinny tires would rip up the track just enough to bring the moisture back up and give a consistent 3-4 grooves every time.
And guys like Chub Frank and Tim McCreadie had their own groove down over the back stretch that was a sight to see!!

I believe (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) Barton won from last starting spot (26th?) one year. And even more of an eyebrow raiser was he ran AR 23's on all 4 corners. The race was 75 laps I believe.

[cubcadet31]

I was pretty young at the time but I believe it was an outlaws race around the 4th of july one year....they dug the track up after everything...hot laps dug it up..qualifying dug it up...etc... can't even remember who won that race...but I've never saw that kinda track prep since

[TRocket8]

I was pretty young at the time but I believe it was an outlaws race around the 4th of july one year....they dug the track up after everything...hot laps dug it up..qualifying dug it up...etc... can't even remember who won that race...but I've never saw that kinda track prep since

Davey Johnson won the Woo race there in 2004. Stacker 2 Extreme guys were off, so some of them dropped in to race. EPJ set fast time on GYs I believe. Good Race. Lanigan and Bloomquist hated the place. McDowell broke and David Scott spun out the same lap and they both were in the top 5.

After Challenger went to specials only. it seemed like the only guys that won there were Billy Drake, Rob Blair, Rick Eckert would usually win the spring special and Davey Johnson. I know Tim McCreadie got a win in there and Jimmy Mars won the last Fall Fest in 2008.

I miss challenger too because it use to bring a lot of guys together to race at one place, the guys from up north would come down, the guys from Lernerville, a few guys from OH/WV and guys from the eastern part of the state.

[PennDirt]

Since the stats and demise of Challenger are fairly well covered, I'll stick to confessing my admiration from my own perspective.

First off, Jack and Donna Lentz were great owners. Donna greeted all customers with a smile and she wasn't shy about remembering the same faces that walked through their gate over the years. Jack was a man who proudly displayed his grapefruit-sized promoter balls from day one to the very end.

When Jack was hiring personnel for Challenger's upstart, he put a price tag on regionally-known flagman, Kent Michael, that was unheard of at the time, certainly an amount no other track was even remotely close to matching. Having had the privilege of cutting my teeth with Kent in the flagstand apprentice business, I was instantly impressed with Jack's sincerity of obtaining the best even when Challenger's classes were a huge risk and on paper, should have never worked. Jack was a longhaul guy, apparently.

Moving forward, I really believe the Geesey Brothers owe an unrepayable amount of credit to Jack for making the MACS what it eventually was in terms of success and popularity. Yes, the Geeseys paid their dues, put in the time and did all the heavy lifting but Jack scarfed up a massive amount of dates in the birthing years of MACS. Watching Challenger go from 800-1000 patrons to near-SRO in such a short period was pure late model magic. No one would deny Challenger became the MACS default track. Jack gave them a huge break risking so much schedule on the unknown.

Jack was majorly influenced by Lernerville. Jack modeled portions of Challenger after the famed 4/10ths mile track and Jack was a hard study of its racing surface, too. There's no shame in admitting that mimicking Ouch's prep recipe was ever a bad thing. Those who attended Challenger were constantly at the crossroad with Jack's obsession to taking the time to rework the track. To most, it was always worth the extra time. Jack told me he always wanted to see the race from the ticket buyers point-of-view. I believed him. Eventually he got it down to a science where reworks went a lot faster and the wait was less annoying.

Late models paid the freight but Jack was a huge sprint fan. I feel bad Jack never got his WoO sprint race. Challenger's untimely demise happened before the WoO new-age think tank relaxed its no-compete clause for tracks XXX miles (I wanna say 125-150 miles) away from established WoO sprint tracks. Lernerville blocked Sharon for a good many years with this rule rumor has it. I believe had Challenger stayed operational, Jack would have gotten his WoO sprint race by now.

Jack did more for this state by way of multi-day shows, six-figure purses than any other promoter. Fall Fest, for its brief time span, was virtually unchallenged as the state's premier non-sprint event. Those who stole Jack's blueprint could never build it quite the same though its fair to say the Firecracker is the nearest successor by way of popularity but certainly not by the added attractions Jack would field.

There's no way to put applicable words to what its absence means to me.

I think of Challenger and this picture will always pop into my head.

[SprintFun]

Great post PennDirt. Challenger is a track I wish I was able to get to.

Here are the results from the 2004 WoO race. What a field! http://www.woolms.com/results/2004-r...ewayindiana-pa