Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Firecracker's never-ending rain battle
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: It doesn't rain every year during the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. It sure seems like it, though, especially after Thursday's opener of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event's 2026 edition was washed away by drenching evening thunderstorms. I don't know if the Firecracker, which has been contested annually since 2007, is definitely the most rain-plagued crown jewel show in Dirt Late Model racing, but it sure has to be in the conversation. I took a look back through the Firecracker's history and found that Thursday's cancellation marked the 14th time in now 20 installments of the Firecrackers that the weekend has been hampered in some way by rain, whether it be cancelled nights, postponements or simply notable delays. I found six Firecracker weekends — 2007, '09, '10, '21, '22 and '24 — that were completed without any rainouts or rain delays.
No. 2: The Firecracker 100's finale has only been postponed to a later date twice — in 2008 (to July 29) and '15 (Sept. 5) — and on one occasion (2014) the headliner was shorted to 90 laps by rain. Preliminary programs have been rained out during six Firecrackers, including 2013 and '16 (Friday's show setting up a Saturday doubleheader); '17 (lost both prelim nights creating a single twinbill on Saturday); '19 (Thursday called off shortening the weekend to two nights); '23 (Thursday's twin 25 features held-over to Friday afternoon); and '25 (both prelims washed out with the weekend reduced to a one-day, 100-lap card Saturday).
No. 3: Entering this weekend's Firecracker 100 action, the event's average car count sat at 52.79 entries over its 19-year history with an all-time high of 62 in 2008 and a low of 39 in '15. A field of 43 cars was signed in for Thursday's program before the rain ended it midway through hot laps, marking the first time the event did not reach the 50-car mark since 2020 when a 48-car turnout ended a four-year run of fields in the 40s.
No. 4: A notable competitor in Lernerville's pit area for the Firecracker 100 weekend — albeit entered in the RUSH Crate Late Model division's $20,000-to-win Bill Emig Memorial rather than the Lucas Oil Series position — is Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who is ending a lengthy absence from racing to drive Joe Zulisky's No. 58TAZ Crate Late Model. Lanigan, 56, didn't make a single start last year and only competed a handful of times in recent seasons; his last full-time national touring campaign was in 2020 with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The three-time WoO champion has a sterling performance record in the Firecracker 100 with a victory in 2014 and five runner-up finishes (2008, '09, '10, '12, '19) but hasn't entered the event since finishing fourth in '21. Lanigan's has run the Firecracker weekend's Bill Emig Memorial more recently, placing fifth in the 2023 race.
No. 5: I was shocked Thursday to hear about the passing of Stephane Lafrance, a former Northeast small-block modified regular from St-Albert, Ontario, who has earned recognition throughout the short-track industry with his fabricating and design skills at his Trick Race Parts. Lafrance, who was 57, was most heavily involved in the Northeast modified division, but he was known in Dirt Late Model circles as well for providing a variety of products, including fiberglass roofs and wheel-spinner/siping systems. I knew Lafrance — known as the "Little Hammer" in a play off his late father Marcel "The Hammer" Lafrance's nickname — for decades from my coverage of the Northeast's modified circuit and there was no more engaging and friendly personality I've ever come across. He'll be missed.
