The movie "Lemony Snickets, A Series of Unfortunate Events," had a good ending but somewhat describes the positive and negative forces working at Lernerville Speedway, Friday evening. Three Budweiser Championships were clinched at the track and only the Sprint title is up for grabs next week, on the last "Fabulous Four" point's night.

Nineteen-year old Carl Bowser savored a career first win in the 25-lap Commercial Truck & Trailer Sprints and Matt Lux's 26-lap Friedman's Supermarkets/Bi-Lo Foods Late Models victory was his first ever at the Sarver oval. Lynn Geisler's solid second place finish secured a fifth Late Model crown for the #1 Cochran crew. Geisler won the others in 1989, '92-'94. Jim Weller Jr ended a 13 month dry-spell at the track by capturing the 25-lap Ferrante Motor Cars Modified main but Kevin Bolland, watching most of the race from the pits, became the 2006 "King" of the Modifieds. Bolland's other title was in 2002. Butch Lambert used a last lap pass to score a thrilling fourth victory in the 15-lap Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks and wrap up his second consecutive Budweiser title. Lambert also won the championship in 2002. It was PIA Night at the speedway.

The 2005 Lernerville "Rookie of the Year Carl Bowser lived up to his nick name, "the "Boggsville Bullet," as he both outgunned the competition in the Commercial Truck and Trailer Sprints and averted some near mishaps. "I feel like the weight is off my shoulders," said Bowser. "I have been close so many times, leading a race both this year and last and something would happen." Bowser came from tenth to take the lead on lap 13 after leader Dan Holtgraver spun his #D4 on the back straight. Bowser, running second, sidestepped this incident and later on lap 21, while leading, avoided another when his father, Terry's sprint gyrated in front of him in turn four. Bowser in his Terry Bowser Excavating/Reesman Auto Body #10 drove a flawless race to win the first feature of his career. "I knew when I saw Ed Lynch and Kevin Schaeffer in a first lap accident that I might have a chance tonight," said Bowser. Lynch Jr and Schaeffer are both vying for the Sprint Budweiser Point Championship and had strange endeavors occur. In his bid for a fifth championship, Lynch came into the evening twelve points behind Schaeffer and had a near disaster in the heat race. Smoke and fire spewed from Lynch's 2L midway through the prelim; however, as he kept moving the fire was extinguished. The crew decided to change the engine between the heat and feature. The intensity was heightened in the feature when Schaeffer, who is looking for his first title, and Lynch started side-by-side, 11th and 12th. When the green flag waved, the Lynch and Schaeffer's Sprints came together but the drivers managed to recover. Terry Bowser drove up the back of Lynch's car damaging the wing. Lynch remained on the track, but Schaeffer went to the pits with a flat tire and returned on the same lap. Two laps later on a yellow flagged event for Scott Priester, Lynch went to the pits with a flat tire and also returned. Schaeffer darted through the field and claimed the second spot in front of Brent Matus, Gary Rankin, and Todd Bauer. Matus did not weigh at the scales and was moved to last place. Lynch was fifth and is now 18 points behind Schaeffer coming into the last night of points next week. Priester was sixth, Charlie Holben seventh, Dan Holtgraver, eighth, Dan Kuriger, ninth and Davey Jones tenth. Jones and Lynch Jr won the heat races.

(By: Eric J. Westendorf) -- Father-Son combinations have been a long-standing tradition in all forms of racing, as the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This has been especially true at Lernerville Speedway. From the Wearings and Lynchs, to Dick & Craig Rankin and Lou & Dave/Dale Blaney, sons have been following in their fathers' footsteps, or more appropriately tire tracks for years to come. So in that respect, what Terry (Father) and Carl (Son) Bowser do is not all that out of the ordinary. What makes the Bowser Father-Son combination is that they started racing at about the same time.

Most Father-Son combos occur when the son of a driver comes of age and follows his father's passion. But the Bowsers had planned all along to race together. "We both love to race and we will race together as long as we can," said Terry.

Terry (#59) started racing in 2004 in a full-size 410 sprint car under the tutelage of longtime local favorite Ralph Spithaler, Jr. Before racing himself, Terry sponsored and helped work on Ralph's familiar #56 sprinter. "Ralph was a very good way for us to get our feet wet around sprint cars," stated Ruth Bowser (wife of Terry, mother of Carl). "Getting to work on the car and help at the track taught us a lot. We really got a well-rounded view of racing in general."

Carl (#10) cut his racing teeth, like many sprint car drivers do, in Micro Sprints at the age of 16. By 2005 and while only a Senior at Freeport High School, Carl was piloting a full-size 410 Sprint Car around Lernerville's famed 4/10 of a mile oval. He won his first Lernerville Feature during the 2006 season, on August 16. Not many drivers can brag that they won a feature at the Action Track during their second season over the likes of Ed Lynch, Jr., Kevin Schaeffer, and Rod George. According to Carl, "Winning my first feature race will always be on of my greatest memories."

Carl's goals for 2007 are to win more races and to be a threat to win every night. It will be difficult to improve upon his 2006 3rd place final standing in the Budweiser Points at Lernerville Speedway. But consistency and more wins will certainly keep him in the Top 3. Carl's long-term goal is to "Race professionally as a paid driver." Unfortunately, in Western Pennsylvania, there aren't very many opportunities to do so. Carl would love to graduate into the All Stars Circuit of Champions or the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, but if that never materializes, he would be honored to follow the career path of Ed Lynch, Jr. and race in Western PA and be a fixture for years to come.

One major difference you can see between father and son is in their perspective. As would any driver who has yet to pull into Victory Lane, Terry's goal for 2007 is to win his first A-main feature event. However, when asked of his greatest memory, Terry stated, "Winning a B-main was great. But I must say it is all the friends we have made both on and off the track.  We race with guys who would give you their last spare part so we could race.  It is really a wonderful group of people." But don't be fooled that Terry is content with winning a B-main. Terry will continue to race as long as he feels like he is competitive and is having fun racing alongside his son, and would like nothing more than to win an A-main feature event and be in Victory Lane as a driver, not just an owner!

Running a 2-car team can pose potential problems and roadblocks. What happens when times gets tight or parts get short? Who gets first dibs? Things can get hairy fast on a Friday night. But not for the Bowsers, "We share everything - the trailer, shop and pit crew," stated Ruth Bowser, "We share pit crews but we have different crew chiefs.  Carl's crew chief is Mike Shick. Terry's crew chief is Pup Nystrom." For Bowser Motorsports it's all about family and friends. Terry and Ruth will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year. Carl is the oldest son, younger son Zane is a senior at Freeport High School, and daughter Michaela is the youngest at 11 years old. They all love racing and are exciting about their role on the race teams.

The Bowser Father-Son relationship goes beyond the racetrack. Terry is the owner/operator of Terry Bowser Excavating. Terry has wanted to operate heavy equipment since he was a kid.  He started his business in 1987, the year Carl was born and now Carl works along side his dad in the company. Of their relationship, wife Ruth stated, "Terry feels very blessed because he truly loves his job." She added, "These guys work and play in the dirt!"

Terry would especially like to thank his wife Ruth because, "this year is our 25th wedding anniversary and it falls on a race night. And yes, we will be at the race track!" He and Carl also wanted to thank their pit crews and all of their great sponsors - Terry Bowser Excavating, Reesman Auto Body, Shellhammer Atwood Nationwide Agency, Mike Shick Motor Designs, and General Handyman Construction.

Come see Terry and Carl Bowser compete every Friday Night at the Lernerville Speedway in the Commercial Truck & Trailer Sprint car division.

Even if it isn't fair, the ultimate measuring stick for a Sprint Car driver is how you do when the World of Outlaws come to town. It doesn't matter if you are Lernerville's all-time leading Sprint Car driver Ed Lynch Jr. or relative newcomer Carl Bowser.

In 64 World of Outlaws races at Lernerville only two have been won by drivers not on the tour. The first was Fred Rahmer in May 1998 and the second was Lynch in 2002. And that is what the 20-year old Bowser, now in his third season at the wheel, has to deal with.

"I don't know how to compare it for people," Bowser said of racing against the WoO. "Maybe if it was another sport it would be walking out on to the field with the Steelers; getting to play pro ball. It could be the same thing as the jocks versus average joes show because these guys do this for a living, for a pay check, and we are out here stumbling around."

Against the WoO last season, Bowser made it to the B-Main but he missed a transfer spot to the main event by two positions. This season the results were similar. Bowser qualified 35th out of 46 cars with a time of 13.464 seconds. Jason Meyers set fastest time with a 12.959. It may not seem like a big difference but it is, and qualifying is tough for drivers who don't have to do it on a weekly basis.

"For us it's just not knowing how to set the car up for qualifying," Bowser said. "These guys do it every night and know just what to do. I think in qualifying it is always heavy and they know just how much to loosen the car so you are not too loose. That's why they are on the World of Outlaws tour and we are still working on our cars trying to get them just right."

Bowser finished eighth in his heat, which put him back in the same position as last year: the C-Main, once he managed to transfer with a second-place finish. In the B-Main he finished 13th and his night was over.

"I want to learn as much as we can in a night like this," Bowser said before qualifying for the WoO show. "Making the race would be great, if we could do that, everything else is just extra. If you do well on a night like this I think you can take a lot from it. Maybe not in just what you did to the car but with momentum."

"I can remember my first World of Outlaws and when I was getting pushed out for qualifying I was so nervous I was shaking," Bowser said. "Last year for the second Outlaws show everything was a little bit more routine. But when you are parked next to a 53-foot trailer with every bell and whistle on the car it can be pretty intimidating."

Bowser and the rest of Lernerville, and local Sprint Car drivers, will get another shot at the WoO on July 17 for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup race. Or they can head to Sharon Speedway on June 1 where the WoO will open its Midwest swing.

So while Bowser did not get into the feature race against the World of Outlaws he is still confident in what he can accomplish this season.

"I think I am a lot better than I was two years ago," Bowser said. "I think I can read the track better. And really I think I was too cautious when I started. I am pretty confident this year. Last year I wanted one thing and the crew chief wanted another thing. So that really didn't work. This year I have more confidence in myself and the car."

Equipment in racing is paramount. You could have A.J. Foyt behind the wheel and if the car is not up to snuff it won't matter. A big part of Bowser's development as a driver comes from the fact that his father, Terry, also a Sprint Car driver, has made sure the racing equipment has been top-shelf.

"We have some good stuff," Bowser said. "Dad owns it all and he makes sure we have good equipment. I don't have a 900-horsepower motor and we may be down about 50 horsepower to these guys but I would rather have one good thing rather than three or four not-so-good things.

"Once a week, Dad and I sit in the garage and I ask him how he thinks he is running," Bowser said. "It is strange but I try to explain to him some different lines. This year his car has been better and he has a better motor finally, because he always wanted to make sure I had good equipment. I just try to help him. When I try to explain things it is pretty funny because sometimes his views are completely different from mine."

Bowser has a new crew chief this season and he attributes his slow start this season to that situation.

"We got one win here and that came late last year," Bowser said. "This year we got off to a slow start because my crew chief Mike (Shick) was in school and he just got back last Friday. So far it has just been me and Dad getting things ready and it's not progressed as quickly as I would have liked.

"It has not been like me and Mike working together," Bowser said. "It's different than just trying to feel it and then make adjustments by myself. Now we can both look at it and see what we think needs done. Mike wasn't crew chief last year but he was on the crew and he used to work with Charlie Holben."

Bowser is not afraid to ask other more experienced drivers like Rod George and Lynch for advice if he is searching for answers.

"I have learned a lot from the experienced guys," Bowser said. "We park next to Rod and sometimes I will go over and ask him or his crew chief something. I will tell them what I am thinking of doing and I ask them if they think it's the right thing. Both Ed and Rod are headed in the right direction and they don't want to see anyone go out there and do badly."

Even though Bowser does not feel he has had a good start to the season, he is still fifth in points and he has been in the top-10 in all six features. His top finish was this past week when he finished second behind George.

We finished third in points last year and I would certainly like to stay at least in the top-three," Bowser said. "I would like to get more wins. I got that one last year and I think we are capable of winning five races this year. So far we have just been at Lernerville but now that my crew chief is back I think we will try to run two nights per week, mostly Sharon (Speedway) and a few times at Mercer (Raceway Park)."