It’s been the same headline since May 19, 2002.

Either “Rod George scores another win” or “Ed Lynch Jr. is in victory lane once again.”

For over a year, George and Lynch have been the dominant men in Super Sprint action at Tri-City Speedway. The competition keeps improving, but the two veterans continue to outwit those behind them.

One driver is confident, however, that he will be able to finally end their stranglehold on the winner’s circle.

Jason Jacoby is currently third in the point standings and hot on the heels of the two winners. The second generation racer still scratches his head about their success, but he feels a lot closer today than he did before.

“We’re real close to them,” said the Franklin racer. “I don’t want to change too much because that’ll put us behind. We’ve changed a few things, but we’re still off just a little bit.”

Last Sunday, Jacoby actually started to close on George late in the 20-lap Super Sprint feature. A late-race caution slowed his pace, however. With his car working better on longer runs around the track, the shortened race to the checkered flag would not allow him to top George.

“Rod is able to run about a car width up from the bottom groove, and there isn’t anybody else out there that can run like him,” said Jacoby, who works as a crane operator at Ferguson Steel Erectors in Greenville. “He’s also real good through turn one, which is the toughest corner at the track because it is so tight. He has a distinct advantage there.”

Jacoby, 31, followed the footsteps of his father, Henry, and started racing Super Sprints ten years ago. Since then, he’s been one of the most consistent racers at Tri-City with top ten point finishes in each season since the track reopened in 1996. His best point finish is fourth on five occasions (1996, 1999-2002). His best feature finish is second on four occasions, including the last two races at Tri-City. In fact, this season, Jacoby has earned six top five finishes in seven feature events.

“We’re real consistent. We’re really working on our setups to score a win. We’re changing torsion bars, shocks and wheel spacing. Rod and Ed are good to talk to and they’ll share a few things. Now that I’m getting better, they’ve stopped telling me as much,” grinned Jacoby.

While he works on the chassis setup, his father is steady at machining parts for the car, including the engines.

“A few years ago, we raced an expensive Gaerte engine, and we were real unhappy with it. Dad and I decided to go back to our own stuff. He has the patience to do our machine work. I really like the mechanics and setups of the car more.”

Over the last decade, Jacoby has earned one win at Mercer Raceway Park. Although his resume is replete with great races, he still searches for more glory.

“There are a lot of times when I’m frustrated.  I’m not the type of person that lets aggravation get the best of me. I keep digging at it. As a racer, you have to invest a lot of time and money into the car. You have to like it a lot. I work on my car every night before the weekend, and I still love to do it.”

This season, Jacoby focused most of his attention to Tri-City. He started the season at Sharon Speedway and earned a career-best second at the Ohio track on opening night. Then, he accidentally failed to cross the scales one night and was disqualified. He also was caught up in a couple of accidents in the following weeks. As a result, he started to funnel all his energies into racing at the Venango County half-mile oval.

“I really like Tri-City because the track surface is pretty consistent, which makes it easier to setup the chassis. At Sharon, one week it’ll be tacky and rough, and the next week it’ll be slick. That’s makes it hard to prepare and race.”

Among Jacoby’s sponsors on his silver Eagle No. 4J are Galaxy Federal Credit Union, Green Enterprises, Franklin Service & Supply, Vision’s Collision Center and McCartney Vinyl Graphic, all of Franklin.

As an area racer, Jacoby is a fan favorite at Tri-City. One day, everything will finally come together for him, and he will score that first career win at Tri-City. That time may come sooner than later, and Jacoby would love to be the one to finally end the George-Lynch juggernaut.

RECORD TIME

With all their wins over the last two seasons, George and Lynch continue to rewrite the Tri-City record book.

Since Tri-City reopened in 1996, Lynch has scored 18 feature wins. His first career win at the track occurred in 1998. Bob Felmlee is second on the modern era win list with 16 wins followed by Jimmy Hawley and George with 13 apiece.

When examining the overall track win list, Lou Blaney is the top Super Sprint winner since 1968 with 29 victories. Buddy Cochran is second with 24 wins followed by Johnny Beaber at 21 wins and George with 20. Thus, with his next victory, George will tie the legendary Beaber for third on Tri-City’s all-time Super Sprint win list.