While the 2006 dirt late model season didn't start off great for Cranberry's Lynn Geisler, the 2005 Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee is finding the same consistency on the track as he did off it for years.
Lynn's brother, Gary, is responsible for maintaining the car. Jim Ross, of Peters Township, has been with the team since the late 1980s as the tire man. The Geisler brothers and Ross are all over 55. Time hasn't slowed them.
"Things that used to be a two-minute job, you think about it a little now, but we're still having fun and I feel I am as competitive as we've ever been," Geisler said.
Geisler has more than 200 career wins in 35 years. He has won track championships at Lernerville, Motordrome (on dirt), Challenger and Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway along with two North East Winners Series titles and two Mid-Atlantic Championship Series titles.
The team has a routine. The days of traveling long distances are gone.
"We did the best we could do and we're looking to have some fun now and we can have fun racing on Friday at Lernerville and on Saturdays at PPMS," Geisler said. "We like coming up to the garage on Saturday mornings and putting the coffee pot on and deciding to get started, not being 150 miles away from home working on the car in a hotel parking lot."
Competing consistently on a high level, though, can't be done professionally without sponsorship. Cochran Automotive, like the team, has been with Geisler for 25 years.
"It was a step up for me," Geisler said. "I think I was smart enough to realize sponsorship was a key to my success."
Who knew that meeting with Bob Cochran and Jack Crowell of Cochran Pontiac would do what it did. It vaulted him to another level.
"To really be competitive, it was going to need to get into a comfort zone financially and this fit," Geisler said.
"In my case, I needed some good help. I had been racing and when we sat in the meeting, we're not looking for the sponsorship to go racing; we're looking at the sponsorship to be a better racer," he said. " I wanted to be a better racer and do a better job and I think that was the thing that hit home with Bob Cochran."
After 25 years with the same sponsor, Geisler says he learned it was more than just about racing.
"To be forced into being a better racer, not from a performance standpoint but ... from taking on the responsibility of taking care of a sponsor growing with the race team," he said. "I think that's part of the reason I am here today. Not from a winning standpoint but from being recognized; the dealership gave me the recognition to be in the Hall of Fame."
This seasoon, after two early season miscues at Cumberland and Challenger, Geisler settled down with second-place finishes at Lernerville and PPMS. A flat tire put him out of contention in the World of Outlaws Late Model race at Lernerville.
When it's time to quit they'll know. "It will be obvious," Geisler said.
Lugnuts
Latrobe Speedway will reopen May 7 under new promoter Joe Gumbach, a former racer at Latrobe Speedway. Practice will be held 3 p.m. Sunday. ... Lernerville and Motordrome race tonight with Mercer, Sharon, PPMS and Roaring Knob racing tomorrow. ... Jennerstown holds practice tomorrow and opens May 6. ... USAC non-wing sprints race at Lernerville are May 5 with seven drivers fighting for the points lead. Bryan Clauson, 16, will be a guest on Car Radio on KDKA-AM (1020) at 1:45 p.m. tomorrow.
First Published: April 28, 2006, 4:00 a.m.
