All eyes turn to Pennsylvania Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Pittsburgher race

CBS News Pittsburgh Live

IMPERIAL, Pa. (KDKA) — The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial on Saturday for the 35th annual Pittsburgher race.

Stars in the world of dirt racing such as Jonathan Davenport, Hudson O’Neal and Ricky Thornton Jr. will be competing to stay alive in the playoffs.

The Pittsburgher will determine the final four playoff drivers heading into the final race of the season at Eldora Speedway in Ohio next month.

Thornton has already clinched a spot in the final four with his sizeable lead over O’Neal, Davenport and Brandon Overton. But there are a few drivers vying for the other three spots.

Both O’Neal and Thornton have won this race in previous years. 

“I don’t want to say I got lucky, but I had a lot of things fall my way,” O’Neal said. “There’s a lot of things that happen throughout that race that make a difference, we have to find ourselves in the right place at the right time.”

This year’s Pittsburgher will be 75 laps, which is down from the previous races where it was 100 laps. The winner will take home $30,000. 

Imperial native and Moon Area High School graduate Logan Zarin will compete in Saturday’s race. 

“You got to really be on your game and really know what you’re doing,” Zarin said. “I have some experience with Pittsburgh. I think we got a really good shot at making the show and having a good showing.”

Grandstand gates open at 5 p.m. on Saturday, with qualifying laps starting at 6 p.m. The races start at 7 p.m.

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