Hagerstown Speedway

One of the hottest drivers in Carroll County is Mike Walls of Taneytown. With only half of the season completed, he has won five of his last six races at Trail-Way Speedway in Hanover, Pa.What makes the feat so amazing is that Walls does not have his driver's license yet. That won't last long -- he just turned 16 and plans on getting his driving permit as soon as he starts drivers education when school resumes in the fall.Walls competes in the four-cylinder stock class at Trail-Way Speedway every Friday night.

The ultimate dream of many race fans is to drive a race car on one of the local ovals. Until recently, the only way to realize such a dream was to spend a lot of your own money and invest in your own team.Finksburg's Greg O'Neill is trying to change that in the form of a racing school, called Speed Quest Motorsports. Although there is much to be learned, the primary intent of the school is to provide the experience of driving a sprint or late-model race car to local racers and fans.For as little as $200, the racing fan can get into a $50,000 race car and run up to speeds of 100 miles per hour.

Darren Eash, 31, of Woodbine isn't happy unless he is racing. He loves going fast.Darren, like his younger brother Cris, races sprint cars on the tough central Pennsylvania clay ovals.Darren's been racing since he was 17, when his father took him and his two brothers kart racing. All four raced karts for several years, mostly at the Hunterstown, Pa., oval.Darren Eash and his brothers were successful. He won nearly every event possible in the Yamaha Light division. In his quest for speed, he even raced dual-engine karts.

Pro hockey Devils@Capitals Where -- Verizon Center, Washington When -- Tonight, 7 What now? -- Washington is 22-33-6 and in last place in the NHL's Southeast Division. But there's good news: Rookie Alexander Ovechkin just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance by switching to GEICO. Actually he didn't, but the insurance company is sponsoring a giveaway -- a complimentary Capitals visor to every fan. The freebie alone should be worth the price of a ticket, which starts at $10 and can be purchased on the Web site.

The racing season is swiftly drawing to a close, but several Carrolldrivers are remaining hot as the weather cools.No where have they fared better than at 75-80 Dragway in Monrovia, Frederick County.Two county drivers used the final day of points racing to clinch championships at the nearby strip. Joe Mayne of Mount Airy took the top honors in Class I (for cars running the quarter-mile in 11.99 seconds or less) in his dragster, while Roger Jorss of Sykesville used the last two points races to vault into first in Class II.Jorss edged out Union Bridge resident Mike Stambuagh, who had been leading thedivision all summer, for the title.

Consistency has been the key to the season for Manchester resident Jesse Wentz. Though he hasn't reached the winner's circle, he's almost always among the top 15 and rarely fails to finish.Last weekend Wentz moved closer to the top spot, placing fifth in the 25-lap sprint feature Sunday at Susquehanna Speedway, despite threatening weather and rainouts at other area tracks. In other weekend motor-sports action:* Cris Eash of Hanover, a former Woodbine resident, was third in the 20-lap sprint feature at Williams Grove Speedway on Aug. 14. Eash also was 16th in the prestigious Knoxville Nationals feature race the following night in Iowa.

The racing season is coming to a close, and racers are scaling back their appearances at tracks.One driver who is continuing his season is Jeff Shepard of Finksburg. He was third in the 25-lap sprint car feature at Lincoln Speedway on Saturday night, finishing behind Donnie Kreitz after a red flag was waved on Lap 9. He also finished third in his heat.In addition to Shepard's performance at Lincoln, Randy Zechman finished fourth in his semi-late heat and 15th in the feature. Corky Stull of Westminster was sixth in his heat and 18th in the Thundercar feature race.

Area drivers found the cooler weather and the full moon to their liking last weekend as the racing season is coming to a conclusion.Hampstead's Charlie Schaffer grabbed second place at Winchester Speedway's 40-lap summer championship for late models. Schaffer had applied pressure the entire race and went into second on the 31st lap, but could not catch winner Rick Eckert on Saturday night. Rick Jones of Westminster was 10th in the same late-model race.Manchester's Jesse Wentz placed fifth after winning his heat at the Williams Grove Speedway for the 25-lap super sprint feature on Sunday night.

It is hard to believe, but the 1997 racing season began last weekend at the Lincoln and Hagerstown speedways. Each week, more area tracks will open their doors for racing action. Now is a good time to summarize area motor-sports facilities where many Carroll County drivers compete.* Lincoln Speedway: This track will be racing every Saturday afternoon until March 29, when the evening format begins, continuing until October. Woodbine's Cris Eash will be back to defend his championship in the super sprints and will have Manchester's Jesse Wentz as one of his major competitors.

Galen Bare has been around oval-track racing most of his life. He worked on several top late-model teams during the '80s that raced at Lincoln and Hagerstown speedways.He spent a lot of time helping with cars owned by Earl Black of Hanover, Pa., that Rodney Franklin drove.But when it came time for the 37-year-old Westminster resident to start driving, he went the straight route, to drag racing."I like both types of racing," said Bare. "But I know from experience how much work is involved with oval-track racing.