For Michael Lutz, Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, has not been kind to him. He has flipped his 410 sprint car there. Twice.
His latest flip occurred Sunday during the second qualifying heat during the Ice Breaker weekend.
“I just drove in too hard, hopped the cushion, and then got in the slime, which took me into the wall,” Lutz, 17, of Mercer, Pennsylvania, said. “I went over one and a half times. It was the same chassis that turned over the first time I raced there in 2021.”
Lutz emerged from the flip uninjured. He sat in an Ultra Shield Race Products full-containment seat paired with a RaceQuip five-point harness. He wore an Impact helmet, with a HANS device.
“The safety crew just turned my car upright with me in it,” said Lutz. “I exited just like I normally would.”
Lutz and his father, Mike, bought the 2014 Mach 1 chassis used at a swap meet. The crash only damaged the left-side wheels.
“I was anxious to get back on the track,” Lutz said. “So, we made some quick repairs so we could get the car back together in time to make it into the B-main lineup. It was exciting to make a comeback after a flip.”
Unfortunately, the comeback ended before the green flag waved in the B-main.
“We must have stressed the driveshaft in the flip,” said Lutz. “Before I could start the B-main, the driveshaft failed.”
Ultimately, it was a rough weekend for Lutz. He battled fuel pickup problems on Thursday at Lincoln Speedway. On his way back from the track on Sunday, their truck broke down. They’ll regroup and hope to make their next race in two weeks at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio.
In the meantime, on Monday Michael Lutz returned to high school, where he’s a junior.
“After high school, racing full-time is my dream,” Lutz said. “I’ll work with my dad at his remodeling business and put the money I make into racing.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
