A Tale of Two Steves: Buckwalter & Snyder Win Big At Kutztown’s Action Track USA Taylor Mills Scores In Slingshot Main; Chase Schott Takes Junior Slinger Victory
Kutztown, PA – June 23 – Racing took place under a full moon on June 23 and the superstition that the bright yellow sphere causes a plethora of cautions and weird occurrences bore some fruit. But the yellow flags and other oddities took a back seat to the intensely fierce competition and entertaining battles witnessed by the large crowd at Championship Energy Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds. It was First Responder Night at the speedway, and the event was co-sponsored by Glick Fire Equipment and Belfor Property Restoration.
The SpeedSTR feature became a “family feud” as the Buckwalter cousins, Steve and Tim, waged a terrific battle for the top spot before Tim fell victim to mechanical ills and Steve, the defending SpeedSTR champion, notched his first triumph of the year at Action Track USA.
A daring last lap pass propelled Steven Snyder Jr. to his second consecutive 600 Sprint victory while New York’s Taylor Mills prevailed in the All Star Slingshot main. Chase Schott captured the Junior Slingshot victory over Jase Smith.
The Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTRs, presented by VP Racing Fuels, competed in a 30 lap headliner that saw Tim Buckwalter grab the early lead while his cousin, Steve, quickly motored into the runner-up spot. The two family members engaged in a knock-down, drag out fight for the lead and were soon joined by Briggs Danner.
Tim and Steve Buckwalter took turns at sliding one another while Danner lurked close behind. On one occasion, when Tim ducked down in front of his cousin on the homestretch, Steve turned right to go high. He made slight contact with the back end of Tim’s No. 52, and that shot him even higher on the track–and right into the path of a charging Danner, who had gotten a big run off turn four. Steve Buckwalter clipped Danner’s left side, sending the No. 78’s right side up onto the wall. Danner rode the concrete into the first corner where he finally stopped to bring out the yellow flag. His race was finished.
“I honestly didn’t know he was there,” said Steve Buckwalter in victory lane. “I apologize to him; I thought Tim was going to run higher but he moved down. I turned up to try and go around him and just saw a flash of yellow (Danner’s car). I didn’t mean to get into him.’
A few laps after the restart, Tim Buckwalter bobbled a bit in turn one, causing him to lift for a split second, and that is all his cousin needed. The Royersford, PA Rocket, Steve Buckwalter, shot to the inside and zipped past Tim to grab the lead for the final time. With ten to go and Tim still within striking distance, his blue No. 52 suddenly slowed on the front chute and coasted to a stop in turn two.
That put Alex Yankowski, already a one-time winner in 2021, into the runner-up slot. But Yankowski’s Bagel Rack No. 7 was no match for the Bob Swavely owned, Wheeler Contracting No. 56 on this night. When the checkered flag waved after 30 hard fought laps, Steve Buckwalter had his first Action Track USA win of the year by nearly 1.5 seconds over Yankowski.
Young lion Louden Reimert nipped the ageless veteran Billy Pauch Sr. for third by a scant 0.046 seconds as they crossed the stripe. Dillon Steuer rounded out the top five.
“I didn’t think we would be able to start the feature,” stated S. Buckwalter in Weaknecht Archery Victory Lane. “We had a water leak and were not sure how to fix it. But then someone suggested black pepper, and it worked. Thank to the nice people in the refreshment stand for giving us some black pepper to stop the leak.”
For most of the 25 lap Hyper Racing/ EVO Injection 600 Sprint main, it appeared that Danner would gain a measure of retribution after his hard luck ending in the SpeedSTR feature. Briggs led a good portion of the race as 13th starting Steven Snyder Jr. weaved his way through heavy traffic. Snyder eventually worked his way into second place and began his pursuit of Danner. He caught the leader with about five to go, and a couple of slide jobs kept Danner on his toes but still in the top spot.
On the final circuit, a “Snyder Slider” in turns one and two put the No. 21s into the lead as they charged onto the backstretch. Danner attempted to dive under Snyder but could not pull it off, and Snyder, from Rising Sun, Maryland, bolted to his second straight victory and strengthened his hold on the 600 Sprint point lead.
Danner managed a smile over his second place effort, with Tim Buckwalter taking the checkered in third. Connor Gross and Eddie Strada completed the top five.
It was an all female battle royale in the opening stages of the All Star Slingshot 20-lapper as Amanda Angstadt, Shelby McLaughlin, and Blaire Schoenly battled for command. Taylor Mills, from Bloomingburg, NY soon entered the fray, bringing two-time winner Brett Bieber with him. Mills wrestled second away from McLaughlin, then set his sights on race leader Angstadt, who seemed to be having some difficulty keeping her No. 55a on the low side while exiting the corners. Mills dashed under Angstadt’s mount in turn two, then forged ahead as they accelerated onto the backstretch. From there it was all Taylor Mills, although McLaughlin kept him honest after she slid into the runner-up position. Mills, who has desperately wanted a win at Action Track USA for the past several seasons, finally got his wish as he rumbled to the checkers by a few car lengths over McLaughlin. Bieber’s two-race win streak ended with a third place finish. Tyler Ulsh wound up fourth and Jax Yohn sliced his way to a fifth place payday.
Championship Energy Action Track USA will be dark on Wednesday, June 30; no racing is scheduled for that night. But the speedway comes back with a huge event on Wednesday, July 7 as the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Cars make their debut at the Berks County oval. It’s the Iron Cowboy Classic, and the wingless 360 Sprinters will be joined by the Hyper Racing/ EVO Injection 600 Sprints. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. on July 7, with grandstand gates opening at 5:00. Warm-ups begin at 6 p.m. and qualifying heats will follow immediately after the hot lap sessions.
RESULTS:
SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1.Steve Buckwalter, 2.Alex Yankowski, 3.Louden Reimert, 4.Billy Pauch Sr., 5.Dillon Steuer, 6.Kevin Graver Jr., 7.Dustin Morris, 8.Scott Hodeshell, 9.Matt Janisch, 10.Gary Wagner, 11.Tom Mayberry, 12.Tim Buckwalter, 13.Nick Pecko, 14.Briggs Danner, 15.Jason Musser, 16.Justin Thompson, 17.TJ Mayberry, 18.Tyler Brehm, 19.Josh Dalrymple, 20.Nick Havens, 21.Mike Bednar.
Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Steven Snyder Jr., 2.Briggs Danner, 3.Tim Buckwalter, 4.Connor Gross, 5.Eddie Strada, 6.Joe Kay, 7.Joey Amantea, 8.Jasper Zeigafuse, 9.Logan Rumsey, 10.Joey Jarowicz, 11.Preston Lattomus, 12.Sammy Martz Jr., 13.Jarid Kunkle, 14.Tanner VanDoren, 15.Tyler Ulrich, 16.Mike Rutherford, 17.Fred Heinly, 18.Jared Lilly, 19.Tyler Henry, 20.Austin Quick, 21.Colin White, 22.Zack Weisenfluh, 23.Christian Bruno, 24.Michael Nolf, 25.Jay Hartman, 26.Aidan Borden, 27.Jim Radney, 28.Jayden Wolf, 29.Ryan Kunkle. DNS: Billy Koch.
DNQ: Mike Linderman, Pat Bealer, Dylan Schatzer, Geordan Marrero, Thomas Nettleship, Jason Swavely, Danny Buccafusca, Joe Nemeth, Junior Ankiewicz, Zack Bealer, Dominic Schmidt, Jacob Severn, Eric Ankiewicz, Zach Curtis, Teddy Reed, Jeremy Harshman.
All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Taylor Mills, 2.Shelby McLaughlin, 3.Brett Bieber, 4.Tyler Ulsh, 5.Jax Yohn, 6.Blaire Schoenly, 7.Josh Patterson, 8.Jesse Smith, 9.Amanda Angstadt, 10.Cooper Schoenly, 11.Slade Darragh, 12.Brett Spitler, 13.Gavin Danner, 14.Josh Roth. DNS: Adam Meier.
Junior Slingshot Finish: 1.Chase Schott, 2.Jase Smith.
Championship Energy Action Track USA
Kutztown, PA
Rich Tobias & Doug Rose, Co-Owners
Media Contacts:
Barry Angstadt (bwa39@comcast.net) & Michael Batz (speedwaybatz@gmail.com)
