Sye Lynch is “on the right track.”

The third generation driver’s goal in 2015 is to be the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum’s 410 Sprint Rookie of the Year.

Lynch is a 17-year-old junior at Kiski Area High School. His major sport there is golf where he played varsity (left-handed) since ninth grade. Sye never had a professional lesson and the Kiski coaches developed his natural talent.

As a freshman, Sye also played baseball, but the season and games interfered with his first love, that of racing. Since he was a little boy scraping mud from his dad’s (Ed Lynch Jr) car, Sye’s dream was to be a 410 Sprint car driver.

Over the years, Sye has worked on his Dad’s car and studied his driving skills, as Lynch Jr became Lernerville’s All Time Sprint Winner with 110 victories.

Sye is very focused and poised for his age. His grandfather Ed Lynch Sr said, “He has a positive attitude and that is needed to advance in racing.”

Sye is his harshest critic. He continually wants to be better and isn’t happy when he doesn’t see progress.

In 2014, Sye drove the #58 Lockhart 305 Sprint at Mercer part of the season. The car was plagued with mechanical problems and although he did not get a lot of seat time, he did have a second and a third place feature finish.

At the October 2014 Lernerville “Stampede” Sprint race, Sye drove the McMillin Brothers 410 Sprint to a fifth place, which was his first time in a 410 Sprint.

At the Lernerville Banquet in March, Jim McMillin announced that he and his brother Bob had chosen Sye as their 2015 driver, replacing Mike Lutz. The McMillin family has been racing Sprints for over 50 years. The patriarch of the family, the late Jim McMillin owned the infamous #5 Sprint in which Ted Wise collected over 40 wins. The McMillin brothers inherited their father’s love for racing.

On opening night at Lernerville, Sye garnered a 10th place in the main event and scored another 10th the following week. At the UNOH All Star Sprint show, Sye qualified for the feature through the heat race.

Thursday is the day Sye and his dad critique film from the previous week’s race. He is eager to learn and respects his dad’s opinion.

His Uncle, former Sprint driver Chad Hill said, “He is far ahead of where I was at the same point in time. I hope he will continue to remain as humble as he is now.”

Sye has found another type of racing that has peaked his interest. He received a surprise Christmas present from his grandmother, Jean Lynch, a plane ticket to the Chile Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa Oklahoma last January.

He was totally intrigued by the event. Three hundred sixty cars registered for the indoor four-night race meet that happens once a year. Sye laughed and said, “ These little cars stay on the gas all of the time. When one rolls over, they just upright them with the driver in the car and they continue on their way.” He would like to try his hand at this some day.

Sye Lynch will make his mark in racing. There are other third generation Sprint drivers that are eager to do so also and they are Brandon Matus, A.J. Flick, Adam Kekich and Lee Jacobs.

Wedding bells

Wedding bells rang for Jack Sodeman Jr and Catherine Chong recently. In June Donny Martin Roenigk will marry Ashley Fake and newspaper scribe DJ Johnson will tie the knot with Catherine Rader in July.

Bolland returning

Kevin Bolland was in the Lernerville pits recently. He reports that as soon as he finds a hauler he will be back at the track racing Modifieds again.

Murdick’s final season

After 57 years the “Patriarch of racing,” Carl Murdick, said 2015 would be his last season in the Modified. The ageless wonder will be 78 and has raced at Lernerville every year that it has been open.

Murdick’s granddaughter Jo Rankin Krummert is very happy that her husband Garret Krummert has switched from Late Models to Modifieds this season. Krummert originally started in the 358 Modifieds at Mercer and won a championship there. Jo said, “Since this is grandpa’s last year, I want to see every race he is in and sometimes Modifieds and Late Models don’t race at the same track.”

Weller III returns

Jimmy Weller III has moved back to Ohio from North Carolina and will run Modifieds at Sharon Speedway and occasionally Lernerville. He will commute to Charlotte for three more NASCAR Xfinity races.

Newcomers

George Englert and Darrin Gallagher have joined the Mercer 305 Modifeds. Clayton Kennedy and Colton Flinner are newcomers to the Late Model division

Kennedy will continue to drive E-Mods at Sharon. Tim Shaffer will be debuting a Late Model soon in addition to running the All Star Sprint schedule.

What’s on tap

Sharon Speedway has discontinued heat races and is only running features. Since they now have a liquor license, no beer can be brought into the track.

Thunder Mountain will re-open Sunday with Late Model driver Bo Lockard at the Helm. After a four-year hiatus, Tri-City’s opening day fell to Mother Nature. Co-promoters Sam Tatalovic and Chad Wagner will oversee the operations at the speedway. A name change to Tri-City Raceway Park will also enable the facility to host events such as car cruises and flea markets.

Former driver Snookey Williams will be the Track Manager at Jennerstown Speedway as they get ready to open the track for the first time since 2009.

Friday night is Armed Forces Night at Lernerville. PA Motor Speedway will host the Penn National Rush Late Model Sizzler and will offer free admission to public safety personnel and residents of Ohio and West Virginia. The Wingless Sprints will be featured at Mercer Raceway Park.

Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle