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As the last month of summer break appeared on the calendar, Lane Snook and team had a busy month ahead of them. After the last few months of impressive runs and finishes, and August featuring some big shows, anticipation was high for the young 16-year-old driver.

The month started off with an appearance at the Path Valley Speedway on August 10th. The fifth starting spot would be where the 23 car would roll off from. A few missteps landed the Mifflintown racer back in the 9th position, partway through the feature. However, the high side of the speedway was inviting to Snook, and he took to it, passing back the positions lost, and then some. Lane was able to stand on the podium box, scoring a 3rd place finish.

A week later at the BAPS Motor Speedway, the top step on the podium would be his. A strong heat set the young racer up for a front-row starting spot. Around the halfway mark of the feature, “we were able to pass for the lead” and win a second Limited Late Model event of the season.

Big money was on the line the following Friday, as the rained-out Zimmerman Tribute race was run alongside the Lucas Oil Late Model program, at Port Royal Speedway. A promising start to the night with a strong 2nd place effort in their qualifying group, put them on the pole of a heat race. Bad luck befell the 23 team, as they had “a left rear blow off the bead racing for second.” Luckily, the good time in qualifying allowed them to start on the pole of the B-Main, and Lane was able to win that event. Passing was at a premium in feature, as Snook advanced a few spots, going from 21st-18th.

Switching gears back to short tracks, the now 2-time winner, would break through once more and pick up his third feature win of the season at the Path Valley Speedway. Lane was able to grab the lead, almost right away, and “drove off to the win.” Snook stated that “the confidence is pretty high, especially on the short tracks.” Evidence being that all three of his triumphs this season have come on smaller tracks. Lane also stated there has been “less pressure” when talking about getting more wins, after scoring his first a few months prior.

To round out the month, another small track was on the card, as the team went to Clinton County. The handicap style invert to the feature lineup, put Lane starting 7th. At the end of the feature, another podium finish was added to the resume of the 2nd-year Limited driver, scoring a 3rd place result.

Rain pushed what would have been the final event on the team’s August schedule to a later date, as the Renninger Memorial got moved to a part of Monday’s Labor Day Classic at Port Royal.

As the season starts to wind down, the team and Lane now stand at three wins. “I just wanted to win at least 1 race this year.” While most wins and podium finishes have happened at smaller tracks, “we are finding more speed on the big tracks” said Snook. This is an area the young racer looks to improve upon in the remainder of the season.

The month of September features a few races for the Mifflintown-based team. BAPS is up next for the team on September 14th. The rest of the month is still up in the air, but the team does plan to race a few more times before the month is out. The hope is for August’s momentum to carry into a few strong closing months of the season.

As the temperature continued to rise and make for hot days and nights in July, Lane Snook also started to rise in performance. After scoring several strong runs in May and June, including a win, July proved to be no different. 

While not all results saw the 23 car in a podium spot, speed was evident. To start off the month, a make-up feature was on tap at BAPS. Podium one of the month found the young 16-year old driver, as Lane charged from 8th to 3rd position. Being an addition to the regular show, this meant the team would have to prepare for another feature that evening. Rolling off 9th in the regular feature, misfortune found the 23 car. “Had a car spin in front of us and I had to spin to avoid.” Not what you want to happen, but the aforementioned gains in speed showed. “We went to the rear and made our way back up to 10th.” Good speed shown, with two top 10’s to kick off the month. 

The next weekend found the team traveling to Selinsgrove, where speed seemed to be produced right out of the box for the Mifflintown native. Going to the top of the speed chart on his first lap of time trials, again proved the speed found. However, lap two ended the night, with a blown motor. The team was understandably bummed, but with the small track car loaded up, the team went to Path Valley the following week and didn’t appear to have missed a beat. 

“Started 3rd in the heat and finished 4th. That put us starting 7th in the feature and made our way to 2nd.” Even after a slight misstep on the cushion set him back to 3rd late, Lane was able to power back around and grab the 2nd spot on the final circuit. 

Closing out the month of July at BAPS brought the team back to the site of Snook’s first win. Winning speed was there and Lane advanced from 9th-2nd in the feature event. “The car kept getting better as the race went on,” stated the young late model pilot. “I think the more laps I’ve run, that we’ve found some stuff that I like with the setup on the car. I’ve definitely got more comfortable as the year has went on and we are putting some good runs together.” All of this while having to navigate different types of tracks and surfaces. 

The ¼ mile tracks like Path Valley are definitely fun and elbows up,” said Snook. “½ miles are aero dependent and that can make them hard to race on,” identifying a key challenge of the bigger speedways like Port Royal and Selinsgrove. “If they widen out, they can race good.” 

As evident with his performances there this year, Lane highlighted ⅜ mile tracks, like BAPS as “about the perfect size for a racetrack. The last couple times we’ve been there, it’s been good racing and fun to race on.” 

August will be no different in the variety of facilities the 23 team looks to head to. Port Royal will kick off the month on August 3rd, followed by Path Valley on the 10th. BAPS Motor Speedway success will hopefully continue as the limited late models are on the card August 17th. A double header weekend featuring Port Royal and Selinsgrove is on the calendar for the 23rd and 24th, before rounding out the month at Port Royal for the start of the Juniata County Fair. 

A month racing in the heat and on different size speedways, not only showed the teams ability to compete on a regular basis, but also proved the progress made by a young racer. Three podiums and a top-10, helped the confidence of the 16-year old driver, and will hopefully continue as August features a similar schedule to that of the successful July. 

The Snook family and Lane, would again like to thank all of their amazing partners and sponsors for keeping the team on track and performing at a consistently strong level.