Action Packed at the Action Track
Kutztown, PA – Billy Pauch Jr. has not finished lower than third in the SpeedSTR races he’s run this season at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA at the Kutztown Fairgounds. On Wednesday, June 19, the Frenchtown, NJ driver added another impressive statistic to his 2013 resume…he captured his second consecutive victory in the Sunoco USAC Championship SpeedSTR division, racing to the win in the 30-lap feature race at Action Track USA.
Kyle Lick, Catasauqua Pa., charged to his second triumph of the season in the 20-lapper for the Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Micro-Sprints, while Kutztown’s own Jarid Kunkle doubled in the winged 270cc Micros, winning the postponed Goldie Meitzler Memorial to open Wednesday’s show, then roaring to a second victory in the regularly scheduled main event for the 270’s.
Danny Buccafusca, from Rockaway NJ, notched the NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshot triumph. It was the teenager’s first win at Kutztown’s Action Track USA.
The Junior Slingshots made their second appearance of the season on Wednesday, with Virginville, Pa.’s Dakota Kohler picking up the win.
Wednesday’s event was the last one before the annual “summer break” as the fairgrounds in Kutztown prepares to host the PA Heritage Festival during Fourth of July week. Racing activity takes a timeout for the next two Wednesdays, returning on July 10 with a busy program that includes the SpeedSTR’s, Wingless 600cc and winged 270cc Micro-Sprints, and the All Star Slingshots. The Wingless 600 portion of the show will be part of Kioti Tractors PA 600 Speedweek, the first time that the series visits Action Track USA and it will also be the first non-winged event ever run in the seven-year history of PA 600 Speedweek.
“I was going to ask Richie (Tobias) to cut the top before our feature if I started farther back,” explained Billy Pauch Jr. after his victory in the SpeedSTR main. “But, since I drew the pole, I kept my mouth shut. And I was glad that he didn’t rework the top of the track before the features. It worked to my advantage, I believe.”
It sure did, although Pauch Jr. had to hold off point leader Kenny Brightbill for most of the 30-lap feature race. Brightbill slipped under Brian Montieth for second on the opening lap, then hounded “the Kid’s Kid” until a strong running Matt Janisch snatched the runner-up spot from Brightbill at the halfway point.
Janisch spun with ten to go, handing second place back to Brightbill. Several others, including Freddie Rahmer Jr., his brother Brandon, Brad Brightbill, Paul Lotier Jr., and Glenn Strunk, all took turns running inside the top five at various times throughout the race, but all of them were involved, at one time or another, in the five caution and one red flag period that slowed the pace of the race.
Those yellows, though, kept Pauch Jr. from dealing with lapped traffic. He was able to run the line he preferred, right around the bottom at both ends of the speedway, for the entire event. He beat Brightbill to the stripe by 0.508-seconds, winning his second straight and closing to within five points of the Shillington driver in the chase for the SpeedSTR point title.
Brandon Rahmer ran a steady race to finish third, with Lotier in fourth and Janisch rebounding for fifth-place money.
Jeffrey Hogue, the realtor who purchased the naming rights to the speedway over the winter months, was on hand to witness Wednesday’s event, and the Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Micro-Sprints gave him a race to remember.
Kyle Lick and two-time winner Brian Carber started on the front row of the 20-lap main, with Lick breaking away to lead and occupying his familiar outside lane. Carber was content to roll around the bottom at both ends of the progressively banked oval as the entire 24-car field chose one of two distinctly fast racing grooves – drivers ran either extremely high on the banking, or as low as possible in the corners.
While Lick maintained command for most of the event, Carber, from Pipersville Pa., surprised him on a restart with seven laps remaining. Lick took a lower line into turn one, still giving Carber room to maneuver on the very bottom of the race track. Carber shot off turn two and into the lead, leaving Lick to deal with 13th-starting Jeff Hartman in a duel for the runner-up position.
Lick went right back to his customary high groove, using momentum gained by rolling the top to run down Carber and, with Jeff Hartman on his tail and only four laps left to run, powered past Carber to reclaim the top spot off turn four.
Driving his dad’s No. 8, Lick flew to the checkered flag, crossing the line one-quarter of a second before Hartman. His second triumph of the season permitted him to jump to second in the point standings, just 40 behind Carber, who finished third in Wednesday’s feature.
Billy Pauch Jr. wound up fourth and Fleetwood’s Zack Fisher completed the top five.
Two feature wins in one night vaulted Jarid Kunkle, the defending 270cc point champion at the Kutztown oval, into the top spot in this year’s standings.
His first win came in the Goldie Meitzler Memorial, a race that was postponed by rain on May 22nd.
Kunkle started tenth in the 20-lapper, methodically weaving his way through traffic as Brandon Edgar of Lehighton set the pace. Kunkle passed Brandon Heist for third, then grabbed second just before the yellow flag waved with five to go.
On the restart, Kunkle gassed his No. 75 to the low side and darted past Edgar on the homestretch, taking a lead that he would not relinquish. He took the checkered by almost a full second over Ross Perchak, who passed Edgar on the final lap.
Edgar wound up third, with Heist and Bobby Butler finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the regularly scheduled feature for the 270’s, Kunkle blasted from the inside of row one – he earned the pole by recording the quickest lap in Timed Dash Qualifications – to lead all the way and register his second win of the night.
Edgar chased Kunkle to the stripe, and Austin Bishop came from the seventh starting spot to finish third. Bishop passed Perchak, Tommy Kunsman Jr., and Bobby Butler to gain third, with Butler and Perchak rounding out the first five at the conclusion of the race.
“I’ve always been criticized as only being good at Hamlin; people also said I can only win in my car. So this feels great…I’ve proven them wrong by winning here tonight and doing it in Randy’s (Smith) No. 55,” exclaimed a very happy Danny Buccafusca in his Savage61.com Victory Lane interview.
A three-time winner at Hamlin Speedway this season, Buccafusca – who just completed eighth-grade and will enter high school in the fall – maintained his composure and control of the NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshot main event to notch his first career victory at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA on Wednesday night.
Opening night winner Larry Raifsnider raced from fourth to second in the early stages, taking the runner-up spot from Donny Hockman on the fifth trip around the clay. Raifsnider stayed within a few carlengths of the leader, but could not muster a serious challenge to Buccafusca, the “Rockaway Rocket.”
Kyle Gruber moved into third with seven laps remaining, then stalked Raifsnider for the duration of the event.
Buccafusca zipped to the finish with room to spare over Raifsnider, with Gruber settling for third place cash. Hockman wound up fourth and Cody Kline emerged from a race long battle with point leader Brett Bieber to finish fifth.
Dakota Kohler survived a few anxious moments in the NAPA Auto Parts Junior Slingshot main, but held on to record the win.
Kohler led all the way, but Dylan Swinehart – the winner in the Junior Slingers’ first appearance on June 4 – and Kassidy Kreitz applied some intense pressure at times, making Kohler sweat a bit to earn the victory.
Swinehart, from Fleetwood, and Sinking Spring’s Kreitz waged their own tussle for the runner-up position when they were not diving under the leader in repeated attempts to take away the top spot. Kreitz dashed under Swinehart on the first lap to snare second, only to have Dylan take it back on the eighth revolution. Just a few circuits later, Kreitz reclaimed the runner-up position for good at the end of the backstretch.
One final caution period (there were only two slowdowns, overall, as the Junior Slingers took just under six minutes to complete their 15-lap main event) with two to go did not deter Kohler, as he raced away to win by almost half-a-second over Kreitz. Swinehart, Andrew Kreis, and Amber Britto made up the top five at the finish.
Action Track Sidebites…
The last race before the three-week summer break drew 20 SpeedSTR’s, 32 of the Wingless 600cc Micro-Sprints, 21 of the winged 270cc Micros, 32 All Star Slingshots, and ten of the Junior Slingers for a five division total of 115 racecars! The six feature program was completed by 10:20 p.m.
Timed Dash Qualifications were held for the SpeedSTR’s, All Star Slingshots, and 270cc Micros. The Fast Five in each division were…
SpeedSTR’s: Billy Pauch Jr. (12.561-seconds), Brian Montieth, Gary Huber, Freddie Rahmer Jr., and Brad Brightbill..
All Star Slingshots: Danny Buccafusca (13.367-seconds), William Mohring, Donny Hockman, Larry Raifsnider, and Cody Kline.
270cc Micro-Sprints: Jarid Kunkle (11.675-seconds), Brandon Edgar, Bobby Butler, Tommy Kunsman Jr., and Ross Perchak.
Qualifying heat winners for the Wingless 600cc Micros were Billy Pauch Jr., Ryan Morris, and Kyle Lick. The B-Main went to Tim Buckwalter.
SpeedSTR heat winners included Kenny Brightbill and Paul Lotier Jr. Chuck Schutz captured the B-Main victory.
The lone heat race for the Junior Slingshots was won by Dakota Kohler.
Matt Massone took the win in the All Star Slingshot B-Main.
During the summer break – now through the next race on Wednesday, July 10 – news and information regarding the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA can be found on the speedway’s website, www.actiontrackusa.com, and on the track’s facebook page.
RESULTS:
Sunoco USAC Championship SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1.Billy Pauch Jr., 2.Kenny Brightbill, 3.Brandon Rahmer, 4.Paul Lotier Jr., 5.Matt Janisch, 6.Glenn Strunk, 7.Brian Montieth, 8.Brad Brightbill, 9.Mike Vermeulen, 10.Freddie Rahmer Jr., 11.Gary Huber, 12.Brandon Planck, 13.Joey Sanfilippo, 14.Scott Donaldson, 15.Wayne Weaver, 16.Al Arrisher, 17.Richard Janney, 18.Jim Mahaney, 19.Chuck Schutz, 20.Brittany Wixon.
Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 20 laps: 1.Kyle Lick, 2.Jeff Hartman, 3.Brian Carber, 4.Billy Pauch Jr., 5.Zack Fisher, 6.Dave Graziano, 7.Tom Schearer, 8.Blaine Emery, 9.Chris Stockham, 10.Billy Ney,, 11.Rob Adams, 12.Brett Peters, 13.Luke Thomas, 14.Molly Chambers, 15.Brett Schoenly, 16.Carey Becker, 17.Kayla Stoltzfus, 18.Ryan Neil, 19.Ryan Morris, 20.Tim Buckwalter, 21.Shawn Rooney, 22.James Morris, 23.Jay Hartman, 24.Simon Egan.
Winged 270cc Micro-Sprint Feature #1, 20 laps (postponed on May 22): 1.Jarid Kunkle, 2.Ross Perchak, 3.Brandon Edgar, 4.Brandon Heist, 5.Bobby Butler, 6.Pete Skias, 7.Tommy Kunsman Jr., 8.Cheyanne Schaffer, 9.Ronald Helmick, 10.Jeff Carman, 11.Steve Walters, 12.Alex Reinsmith, 13.Andrew Dietrich, 14.Harlee Schaffer, 15.Josh Stoyer, 16.Hayden Miller, 17.Derek Miller, 18.Nick Skias.
Winged 270cc Micro-Sprint Feature #2, 20 laps: 1.Jarid Kunkle, 2.Brandon Edgar, 3.Austin Bishop, 4.Bobby Butler, 5.Ross Perchak, 6.Tommy Kunsman Jr., 7.Josh Stoyer, 8.Billy Murphy, 9.Ronald Helmick, 10.Cheyanne Schaffer, 11.Harlee Schaffer, 12.Brandon Heist, 13.Steve Walters, 14.Alex Reinsmith, 15.Andrew Dietrich, 16.Mike Miller, 17.Nick Skias, 18.Pete Skias, 19.Hayden Miller, 20.Derek Miller.
NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Danny Buccafusca, 2.Larry Raifsnider, 3.Kyle Gruber, 4.Donny Hockman, 5.Cody Kline, 6.Brett Bieber, 7.Chris Kurtz, 8.William Mohring, 9.Dylan Hoch, 10.Joe Nemeth, 11.Louden Reimert, 12.Erik Jones, 13.Ray Nemeth, 14.B.J. Antonio, 15.Matt Miller, 16.Travis Gruber, 17.Matt Massone, 18.Ed Shaub, 19.Mark Sensenig, 20.John Gilroy, 21.Kalli Hartman, 22.Tayllor Schoenly, 23.Jeff Kemp, 24.Travis Bieber.
NAPA Auto Parts Junior Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Dakota Kohler, 2.Kassidy Kreitz, 3.Dylan Swinehart, 4.Andrew Kreis, 5.Amber Britto, 6.Jarrett Davenport, 7.Reese Nowotarski, 8.Alex Yankowski, 9.Chloe Andreas, 10.Logen Snyder
