AARON EASLER SELECTED AS 2014 “WESTERN PA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Butler, Pa. March 16, 2015....Aaron Easler from Butler, Pa has been selected as the 2014 “Western PA Rookie of the Year” by a panel of over 70 members of the media and track officials covering the western PA oval track racing circuit. Easler, who just turned 23 in January, raced in the Sportsman class at the Lernerville Speedway, and turned in an excellent record during his first year of racing to win the 47th annual award for a first year driver. The award is presented annually by Walt Wimer, a long time writer and track announcer on the western PA racing circuit...
Easler, like several other past winners of the award, got his start in Go-kart racing back in 2001 at the tender age on nine with his first race at the Naugle Speedway. He raced the small cars for a number of years and won a lot of races before graduation to full size race cars during the later part of the 2013 season. He raced about five times that year, staying below the limit allowed to be eligible for the 2014 rookie award. Racing in The Sportsman (street stock) class at Lernerville, one of the most competitive classes of its kind in the entire western PA area, Easler put forth an impressive season to be ranked fifth in points at the end of the year, finishing ahead of a number of seasoned veterans of the class. Although he has yet to win a race, Easler was runner-up twice during 2014 and also third and fourth two times each. That gave the Butler driver six top five finishes and 13 top tens in the 15 races for the class that usually sees 20 plus drivers start the main race every Friday night.
Easler is self employed as a graphic designer for Aaron Easler Decals & Design and that is one of the reasons his bright yellow No. 11 was always one of the sharpest cars on the track week after week. The Easler team is a family one with dad Sylvan Easler, Jr. the owner of the car and brother Ben, who also drives from time to time, the team’s crew chief. Crew members include Mike Stillwagon, Ralph Engel, Jr. Rex Gibson and Dave Primrose. The No. 11 is powered by a Chevrolet 604 “crate” engine, is sponsored by Alternative Power Sources in Gibsonia, PA.
Easler topped a strong field of 17 other drivers nominated for the award and won by a strong margin over runner-up Brady Miller, the Mini-stock track point champ at the Dog Hollow Speedway. “Honorable Mention’' went to Sye Lynch and Devin Litwiler, two young drivers who ran limited Sprint Cars at Mercer Raceway Park and Sportsman’s Speedway. The annual award, started by Wimer in 1968, has seen many top drivers win the honor during their first season of racing. Most notable are the Blaney brothers Dave and Dale. Dave won the award in 1981 and then went on to become a point champion with the nationally known World of Outlaws Sprint Car series before becoming a regular driver on NASCAR’s top series for over a decade. Younger brother Dale won the award in 1990 and also drove Sprint Cars, winning the All Star Circuit of Champions series title five times and is that series all time top winner with 115 victories. Ed Lynch, Jr. (1983) is the all time top Sprint Car winner at the Lernerville Speedway with 108 wins, four track titles and beat the World of Outlaws touring drivers in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup race in 2002. Other well known western PA drivers to have won the award include Dave Murdick (1977), Kevin Bolland (1982), Bob Felmlee (1986) and Jared Miley (2004).
Edited by Rappin on Racin, 17 March 2015 - 09:59 AM.
