By: Betty Glynn
La Salle, IL – Lil’ John Provenzano is a legend in his own rite. He has been there and done that. In the spring, he declared he is officially done.
After forty years of a hobby that became a way of life, he is ready to sit back and enjoy his family and their racing endeavors. Without question, the Provenzano family tree has an abundance of speed enthusiasts one of whom is currently Lil’ John’s leading challenger.
Prior to the season’s start, his biggest fan and supporter started spreading the word of his future plans. His daughter Crystal Provenzano Broyles sent an electronic message with plenty of words but three nearly jumped off the page “Dad is retiring”. Reading those words several times before truly absorbing what it said. I found myself thinking about many of occasions where the veteran racer wheeled his way through lapped traffic and across the finish line first but refused to acknowledge his own accomplishments. In fact, he was often speaking of how tough the competition was.
The 2010 season has been a year to remember for a man who is a husband, father, and grandfather ahead of being a racecar driver. It is a family affair in the pit area of the Provenzano’s. Those who aren’t pitside have their own cheering section in the bleachers. All in all a true racing family with a legend at the top.
John has two sons that race Street Stock regular Tim and the La Salle Speedway 2009 Late Model Track Champion Mike. Like their father they can wheel a car around the high banks.
Sometimes we have more than one favorite to root for throughout the night but for the Provenzano’s it is even toughter. It can’t be easy to have a father and son duo competing for the checkers. This season the pair has finished nose to tail often and stole positions from each other in barn burning style.
Lil’ John, a two time La Salle champ, and Mike are officially tied going into the last points race this Saturday. If that weren’t enough pressure, they have other talent that is ready to step in and steal the Provenzano show away.
That competitor is Rich Bell who has been consistent all season winning three feature events while the Provenzano’s each earned two trophies a piece. The only other two racers to have won during the nine regular season races is Scott Schmitt and Bret Sievert.
The Provenzano boys are sitting on top with 446 points with Bell a mere 11 points behind them. The pressure is on and one thing for sure is all three front runners will have every bolt tightened and their machines prepped for action. The points system is very simple, drivers earn points for each event they compete in. To kick things off, the fastest two qualifiers can add a couple points in their favor, the top four fast heat finishers earn more points than any other heats top four finishers. The feature is the place to score the most points. One bad feature finish can truly separate a champion from a runner up.
No matter the outcome on Saturday, it has been an exciting time watching the torch pass from father to son with wheel to wheel action.
The showdown starts with qualifying at 6:30pm and racing at 7:30pm.
La Salle Speedway Points Standings
UMP Late Models
Position Driver Points
1 Mike Provenzano 446
1 Lil John Provenzano 446
3 Rich Bell 435
4 Keith Piano 369
5 Scott Schmitt 284
6 Travis Mahoney 290
7 Aaron Schmidt 264
8 Mike Glynn 242
9 Jeff Small 235
10 Jon Small 235
UMP Modifieds
Position Driver Points
1 Vince Cooper 504
2 Phil Line 475
3 Nathan Balensiefen 434
4 Dale Lueth 366
5 Brad Stewart 338
6 Steven Brooks 338
7 Travis Kohler 291
8 Tom Knippenberg 285
9 Tim Loomis 278
10 Matt Gremminger 256
UMP Street Stocks
Position Driver Points
1 Roger Rickels 524
2 Brandon Maciejewski 489
3 Mike Hughes 450
4 Randy Lucas 398
5 Steve Lewis 380
6 Nick Sell 358
6 Jamie Balensiefen 358
7 Tim Provenzano 348
8 Kevin Snowberger 342
9 Mike McKinney 341
10 Jake Miller 300
UMP 4 Cylinders
Position Driver Points
1 Phil Burdette 514
2 JR Brown 481
3 Jerry Legner 436
4 Rick Zifko 401
5 Andrew Schwarko 320
6 Mark Sutton Sr. 244
7 Asa Robart 231
8 Freddie Thatcher 228
9 Aaron Sutton 228
10 DJ Kilanowski 202
La Salle, IL – Lil’ John Provenzano is a legend in his own rite. He has been there and done that. In the spring, he declared he is officially done.
After forty years of a hobby that became a way of life, he is ready to sit back and enjoy his family and their racing endeavors. Without question, the Provenzano family tree has an abundance of speed enthusiasts one of whom is currently Lil’ John’s leading challenger.
Prior to the season’s start, his biggest fan and supporter started spreading the word of his future plans. His daughter Crystal Provenzano Broyles sent an electronic message with plenty of words but three nearly jumped off the page “Dad is retiring”. Reading those words several times before truly absorbing what it said. I found myself thinking about many of occasions where the veteran racer wheeled his way through lapped traffic and across the finish line first but refused to acknowledge his own accomplishments. In fact, he was often speaking of how tough the competition was.
The 2010 season has been a year to remember for a man who is a husband, father, and grandfather ahead of being a racecar driver. It is a family affair in the pit area of the Provenzano’s. Those who aren’t pitside have their own cheering section in the bleachers. All in all a true racing family with a legend at the top.
John has two sons that race Street Stock regular Tim and the La Salle Speedway 2009 Late Model Track Champion Mike. Like their father they can wheel a car around the high banks.
Sometimes we have more than one favorite to root for throughout the night but for the Provenzano’s it is even toughter. It can’t be easy to have a father and son duo competing for the checkers. This season the pair has finished nose to tail often and stole positions from each other in barn burning style.
Lil’ John, a two time La Salle champ, and Mike are officially tied going into the last points race this Saturday. If that weren’t enough pressure, they have other talent that is ready to step in and steal the Provenzano show away.
That competitor is Rich Bell who has been consistent all season winning three feature events while the Provenzano’s each earned two trophies a piece. The only other two racers to have won during the nine regular season races is Scott Schmitt and Bret Sievert.
The Provenzano boys are sitting on top with 446 points with Bell a mere 11 points behind them. The pressure is on and one thing for sure is all three front runners will have every bolt tightened and their machines prepped for action. The points system is very simple, drivers earn points for each event they compete in. To kick things off, the fastest two qualifiers can add a couple points in their favor, the top four fast heat finishers earn more points than any other heats top four finishers. The feature is the place to score the most points. One bad feature finish can truly separate a champion from a runner up.
No matter the outcome on Saturday, it has been an exciting time watching the torch pass from father to son with wheel to wheel action.
The showdown starts with qualifying at 6:30pm and racing at 7:30pm.
La Salle Speedway Points Standings
UMP Late Models
Position Driver Points
1 Mike Provenzano 446
1 Lil John Provenzano 446
3 Rich Bell 435
4 Keith Piano 369
5 Scott Schmitt 284
6 Travis Mahoney 290
7 Aaron Schmidt 264
8 Mike Glynn 242
9 Jeff Small 235
10 Jon Small 235
UMP Modifieds
Position Driver Points
1 Vince Cooper 504
2 Phil Line 475
3 Nathan Balensiefen 434
4 Dale Lueth 366
5 Brad Stewart 338
6 Steven Brooks 338
7 Travis Kohler 291
8 Tom Knippenberg 285
9 Tim Loomis 278
10 Matt Gremminger 256
UMP Street Stocks
Position Driver Points
1 Roger Rickels 524
2 Brandon Maciejewski 489
3 Mike Hughes 450
4 Randy Lucas 398
5 Steve Lewis 380
6 Nick Sell 358
6 Jamie Balensiefen 358
7 Tim Provenzano 348
8 Kevin Snowberger 342
9 Mike McKinney 341
10 Jake Miller 300
UMP 4 Cylinders
Position Driver Points
1 Phil Burdette 514
2 JR Brown 481
3 Jerry Legner 436
4 Rick Zifko 401
5 Andrew Schwarko 320
6 Mark Sutton Sr. 244
7 Asa Robart 231
8 Freddie Thatcher 228
9 Aaron Sutton 228
10 DJ Kilanowski 202
