Dave Hess, 23, of Waterford, Pa., races dirt late models and modifieds in the Tri-State area. He started this season at Volusia Speedway Park near Daytona, Fla., competing mostly in the modifieds during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals. Hess picked up one win and, while it was only worth $1,500, that lone win and votes from thousands of friends and fans netted Hess a $12,000 bonus from Alltel.

Hess qualified for the Alltel All-Star online contest against some of the best and most well-known dirt track racers in the country. He received 10 times more votes than two-time World of Outlaws sprint champ, Donnie Schatz. He also outpolled Billy Moyer, Jason Meyers, Craig Dollansky and even Danny "The Dude" Lasoski.

Only Wayne Johnson, a sprint car driver from Mustang, Okla., gave Hess a run for the grand prize. Johnson finished 0.9 percentage points behind Hess, who received 25.6 percent of all votes cast by the March 16 deadline -- a month after the 10 days of racing concluded.

Hess plans on racing the late model tonight at Lernerville and again Tuesday in "Showdown at Savertown." With 600 to 700 laps already under his belt, Hess is looking forward to the WoO Dirt Late Models' first appearance of the season at Lernerville for the $10,000 to-win event.

Laurie Cannister didn't just break the records established for the IHRA Alcohol Funny Cars on the eighth-mile at the Nitro Jam Texas Nationals near San Antonio, she crushed them. This Clinton native picked up her second career Ironman win after a five-year absence from the sport. Cannister set the record in qualifying with a run of 3.731 seconds at 198.32 mph.

With fuel prices going out of orbit, the Unified Force Race Championship Tour was designed to allow Super Late Model teams to compete in high-dollar races with minimal amounts of travel. A tentative schedule has 12 events: Challenger Raceway (4), Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway (4), Central Pa. Speedway, Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex and Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia. The UFo season begins April 19-20 at Challenger Raceway with a $5,000 to-win, 51-lap feature the second day. Comcast, the presenting sponsor, will televise two races on a tape-delayed basis May 18 at PPMS and the final race of the year at Challenger.

Lernerville and Motordrome once again attempt their season openers tonight, weather permitting. ... PPMS had a successful opener with multi-time champion Lynn Geisler earning career win No. 67 in the Super Late Models at the Monster half-mile. ... Mercer's Chiller Thriller for the Steel Block Late Models was won by Dennis Lunger of Corry. ... Sportsman's Speedway in Knox, Pa., was sold again. Plans for the Clarion County track have not been announced.