A full moon and temperate weather welcomed the Pepsi and American Racer Empire Super Sprint Tour 2002 to Eriez Speedway. Mike Stetler led every lap but was disqualified and Ryan Coniam was awarded the win for his Empire Super Sprint first main event of the year. There were twenty-eight sprint cars competing and total of one hundred and sixty four cars in the pits. Randy Lobb broke the ice for his first feature win of the year in the Super Late Model division. John Pencille made it two in a row and won a caution filled Outlaw Cadet event. Dave Surrena and Steve Keith won the Spectator events and Tom Liberatore won the Four Cylinder feature. Bobby Rohrer won the Limited Late for his second win of the season.

         The first Spectator feature was lead to the speedway by Brian Larson. Rich Becker spun on lap one for the first yellow. Larson led till lap three when Dave Surrena moved from fourth to first. Barrett Brown who had run second the entire race lead lap seven but Surrena recovered quickly and passed Brown with one to go and held on for the win. Brown finished second and Larson was third.

Dennis Lumger and Brian Johnson were on the front row for Spectator feature number two. Steve Huling rolled over in traffic on lap one, Huling was okay but his car left the speedway on the hook. Steve Keith moved from fourth to first on the first lap and began to run away from the field. Dana Wellington charged to second on lap three but lost the handle and nearly spun then fell back to the rear of the field. Mike Harmon stopped on the front stretch on lap four for the second caution of the event. Keith, Matt Thomas and Mike Boyd were the leaders after the restart but Dan Shellhouse brought out caution three. Shellhouse brought out caution four with a right rear flat and was towed from the speedway. Wellington spun on the restart but Steve Keith went on to win the race with Dave Auge second and Boyd third.

Crash Nash lead lap one of the ESS B-Main event followed by Tim Zimbardi and Randy Years. Leon Szweda slowed on lap two for the first yellow of the event. Zimbardi got under Nash for the lead on lap three as Years then moved up to challenge Nash. Years passed Nash on lap five and set sail for Zimbardi who had moved out to a ten-car lead. Years ran out of time as Zimbardi won with Years second and Nash third.

Scott Gurdak, Scott Johnson and Al Crocker ran the American Racer Dash to determine the Super Late Model feature lineup.  Johnson won the event an American Racer Tire and his heat would be placed first in the starting lineup. Gurdak was second and Crocker third.

J.R. Cross was the lap one leader of the Four Cylinder feature when debris brought out the yellow. Cross, Tom Liberatore and Steve Forstein raced away from the field. Forstein and Liberatore raced side by side for several laps until the Forstein’ car caught fire for the second yellow of the event. Liberatore beat Cross on the restart and led the last three laps for his first win of the season. Early leader Cross had mechanical problems and spun on the last lap giving second to Dick Price and third to Dale Wise.

             The thirty Outlaw Cadets reported for their feature event. Pole sitter Jeff Campbell got high on the start allowing Brian Fardink to pass inside for the early lead. Phil Knight spun collecting Rick Loomis for the first yellow on lap four. Fardink was still the leader with Dustin Eckman second and Jim Hilyer third. Eckman slowed coming out of turn two on the restart for the second caution. Hilyer was shown second and Jeff Campbell third and Aaron Robinson fourth. Matt Lamphere spun on the restart and the yellow was shown once more. Jeff Campbell spun Fardink on the restart. Fardink was placed at the rear of the field relegating the lead to Jim Hilyer with Robinson second, Campbell third and George Cole fourth. Nathan Short was tagged on the restart and came to a stop in turn one as another attempt at a lap four restart failed. Andy Knight stopped on the next attempt to restart and only twenty-two cars remained on the speedway. Robinson beat Hilyer on the next attempt and lead lap five.  John Pencille and Louie DeDionisio had moved to third and fourth to challenge Hilyer.  Pencille passed Hilyer on lap nine but DeDionisio got caught up with a lap car and spun in turn one and the yellow flew on lap ten. DeDionisio slowed bringing out the next caution on lap twelve. Pencille passed Robinson on the restart and led the final three laps to win his second feature event of the year. Robinson finished second and Hilyer was third. 

            Kyle Drum and Mike Stetler were on row one of the Pepsi and American Racer Empire Super Sprint Tour 2002 twenty lap A-Main. Stetler lead the first five till a hard charging local racer Scott Bonnell hit a tire on the inside of turn one and rolled over bringing the event to a stop. Bonnell was not injured in the incident. Kyle Drum and John Karklin followed leader Stetler. Nash retired to the infield at the halfway point as Stetler continued to set the pace. Many time champion Mike Woodring came to stop with front-end damage on lap fourteen after contact in turn four. Woodring was towed to the pits and the cars were realigned for single file restart.  Ryan Coniam passed Drum for second on the restart as Stetler extended his lead. Stetler went on to win the event and Ryan Coniam was second and Drum third. Stetler refused to be weighed after the event and was disqualified making Ryan Coniam the winner of the event.

           Randy Lobb and Ron Olson were on the front row of the Super Late Model feature. Bryan Emory and Dave Lyon tangled on lap one in turn three while Moose Dunnewold, Al Crocker and John Lobb spun in turn one. Olson, Lobb and Bryan Emory were the top three for the first three laps. Dave Lyon moved to third on lap four and Olson almost spun on lap five allowing Randy Lobb to first and Lyon to third. Jason Morrell brought out the caution on lap seven and early leader Olson went into the pits. Scott Gurdak was now third with Emory fourth and Chris Hackett fifth. John Lacki, George LaBarbera, and John Lobb collided coming down for the green flag on the restart and the yellow quickly followed the green. After going to the pits John Lobb joined the rear of the field. Randy Lobb got a good jump on the start as Crocker challenged Emory for fourth. Crocker got by Emory on lap twelve as the leader moved into lap traffic. Lobb ran tight to the inside trying not to give Lyon an opening. Chris Hackett spun in turn one collecting Rod Malloy and Dave Hess Jr. on lap twenty. The lap car of John Lacki was placed between the second and third place cars of Lyon and Gurdak for the restart with five to go. Lacki moved up and out of the way on the restart as Randy Lobb jumped out to a ten-car lead over Lyon.  Gurdak passed Lyon with two to go. Lyon and Gurdak tangled with Lyon getting the worst of it as he stopped then retired to the pits. With one to go Randy Lobb was in the lead with Gurdak second and Crocker third. Randy Lobb was not to be denied as he won his first feature event of the year at Eriez. Gurdak was second while rookie Al Crocker was third.

         Dave Cummings led the first lap of the Budweiser Super Sportsman feature. Robert Nocero lost the left front wheel of his car for the first caution of the event. Cummings spun on lap four and Dom McGuire moved into second followed closely by Randy Parmenter and Scott Bayle. Parmenter passed McGuire on lap eight and began to move away from the field. Bayle got under Don McGuire at the white flag but McGuire came back to pass Bayle on the last lap as Parmenter won, Don McGuire was second, Scott Bayle third and Pat McGuire fifth.

             Justin Carlson lead lap one of the E-Mod feature. Al Cressley passed Carlson but a stalled car brought out the yellow and Carlson was put back into the lead. Cressley passed Carlson on the restart as Mike Hess started pressing Carlson for second. Carlson faded in lap eight to seventh as Mike Hess took over second and Dave Hess Jr. third. Mike Hess caught Cressley on the last lap but could not make the pass. Cressley won with Mike Hess second and Dave Hess Jr. third.

             Bobby Rohrer pushed Pat McGuire high in turn two to lead lap one of the Limited Late Model feature. Al Cressley was second as McGuire was pushed to third and Mike Moore fourth. Mike Coyle spun on lap six bunching the field behind Rohrer and Cressley. Cressley got under Rohrer on the restart but Rohrer slammed the door shut going into three. Two laps later Gwen Sayers and Jim Rohrer tangled for the second caution. Les Lyon spun on lap nine for the third caution. Rohrer was the leader at the halfway mark and Andy Sweetland had started to press McGuire for third. A spinning John Kline stopped the race after eleven laps. Sweetland spun in front of the flagman on the restart and then went to the pits as the field was one again realigned. Tom Hagberg lost the handle on lap thirteen forcing Bear Moynihan, Paul Briggs and Gwen Sayers to spin to avoid Hagberg. Moynihan and Briggs were unable to continue. Rohrer lead the remaining laps to post his second win of the season. Cressley finished second and Pat McGuire third.

 Results:

 Spectators:

Heat 1: Barrett Brown, Brian Larson, Jason Heslop

Heat 2: Mike Boyd, Steve Huling, Steve Keith

Feature 1: Dave Surrena Jr. Barrett Brown, Brian Larson, Art Churchill, Fred McClanahan

Feature 2: Steve Keith, Dave Auge, Mike Boyd, Matt Thomas, Dana Wellington

 4-Cylinder Sportsmen

Heat 1: J.R. Cross, Steve Forstein, Dick Price

Feature: Tom Liberatore, Dick Price, Dale Wise, Bethany Pease, J.R. Cross, Ken Wanzer, Steve Forstein, Wendell Pinkney, Larry Boumans, Dan Maxim

  Outlaw Cadets

Heat 1: Chris Blose, George Cole, Terry Daniels

Heat 2: Aaron Robinson, Chris Swanson, Bill Dunn

Heat 3: Louie DeDionisio, Gary Eicher, John Pencille

Feature 1: John Pencille, Aaron Robinson, Jim Hilyer, Andy Knight, George Cole, Chris Blose, Gary Eicher, Terry Daniels, John Coughlin, Jim Moon

E-Mods:

Heat 1: Dale Applebee, Stu Rickard, Mike Hess

Heat 2: Kevin Decker, Dave Hess Jr., Tink Mealy

Feature: Al Cressley, Mike Hess, Dave Hess Jr., Stu Rickard, Tim Rater, Kevin Decker, Justin Carlson, Dale Applebee, Matt Swanson, Darryl Greene

Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

Heat 1:  Randy Parmenter, Scott Bayle, Don McGuire

Feature: Randy Parmenter, Don McGuire, Scott Bayle, Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings, Brent Crandall, Gary Foster, Bob VanArsdale, Don Stanley, Hank Francis

Limited Late Models:

Heat 1: Bobby Rohrer, Mike Moore, Andy Sweetland, Chris Sutton

Heat 2: Pat McGuire, Al Cressley, Steve Moynihan, John Kline

Feature: Bobby Rohrer, Al Cressley, Pat McGuire, Tom Hagberg, Mike Moore, Ron Seeley, Chris Sutton, Mike Coyle, Gwen Sayers, Andy Sweetland

American Racer Dash: Scott Johnson, Scott Gurdak, Al Crocker

Late Models:

Heat 1: Randy Lobb, Dave Lyon, Scott Gurdak, John Lacki

Heat 2: Ron Olson, Bryan Emory, Scott Johnson, Jay Watson

Heat 3: Chris Hackett, Rich Gardner, Al Crocker, Kelly Frederes

Feature: Randy Lobb, Scott Gurdak, Al Crocker, Rich Gardner, Bryan Emory, Scott Johnson, Doug Eck, Dave Hess Jr., Rod Maloy, Keith Zimmerman

 Empire Super Sprints:

Heat 1: Ryan Coniam, Mike Stetler, Lance Yonge, Scott Bonnell

Heat 2: Bill Coffey, Tim Kelly, Kyle Drum, Bubby Kerrick

Heat 3: Bobby Podolak, Don Sharp Jr., John Karklin, Mike Woodring

B-Main: Tim Zimbardi, Randy Years, Crash Nash,

A-Main: Ryan Coniam, Kyle Drum, John Karklin, Tim Kelly, Phil Mott, Bobby Podolak, Lance Yonge, Bubby Kerrick, Erin Crocker, Bill Coffey