Fall Jamboree at Grandview: Day One Victories Go To Bednar (SpeedSTR), T. Buckwalter (W/L 600cc), Kurtz (All Star Slingshots), & Mills (Jr. Slingshots)
Bechtelsville, PA – The first day of Speedway Entertainment’s Fourth Annual Fall Jamboree, presented by the all new Savage 61 auto dealership, produced some great racing and a first career win for one driver. The event was held, for the second consecutive year, at the Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville in a joint venture between the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA team and Grandview’s Rogers family.
Mike Bednar emerged from a terrific battle with polesitter and race long leader Jay Hartman to secure the top spot with four to go, then pulled away to win his first feature in the USAC All Pro SpeedSTR division.
Bednar, from Whitehall, PA, used the high side to challenge Hartman for several laps before he eventually swept by the No. 24 and into the lead as they rumbled off turn four to complete lap 16 of the 20-lap main event.
Once in front, Bednar cruised to the popular victory over Hartman, with fifth-starting Tim Buckwalter finishing third ahead of Kris Graver and Grandview Speedway Modified regular Brian Hirthler.
The triumph catapulted Bednar into contention for the National SpeedSTR Championship that will be decided on Sunday, November 1st on the second day of the Fall Jamboree. Pierre Hebert, from St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada is the current point leader in National SpeedSTR standings but Bednar and Tim Buckwalter are still in the running for the title, especially with double points on the line in Sunday’s 30-lap main event.
Douglassville’s Tim Buckwalter made a bold move on a lap six restart in the Wingless 600cc main, diving under Bobby Butler and Pat Bealer to snatch the top spot in turns one and two. Driving a second Tom Fraschetta entry, Buckwalter pulled out to a comfortable advantage as the racing behind him became fast and furious, with numerous wheel-twisters contesting positions and dicing for the runner-up spot.
Bobby Butler finally secured second place, then closed in on Buckwalter over the last couple of trips around the banked oval. Heading for the white flag, Butler slipped up the turn four banking a bit, allowing Buckwalter to open some daylight and score the big win.
Butler wound up second with Bealer, Kyle Lick, and Ryan Smith rounding out the top five.
Chris Kurtz, Saylorsburg, took the lead from Joe Nemeth with seven to go in the National Tour event for the All Star Slingshots. Brett Bieber, who came into the weekend trailing Dylan Hoch by just one point in the National Slingshot Championship chase, finished as the runner-up to Kurtz while Hoch was penalized one spot for jumping on a late race restart and ended up sixth.
Nemeth wound up third with Cody Kline and Wes Hearn completing the top five finishers in the 20 lap main.
Justin Mills, from Bloomingburg, NY, is the current National Junior Slingshot point leader. Mills helped his cause by winning Saturday’s feature race for the Junior Slingers while Cole Stangle, who is second in the point chase, could only muster an eighth place finish on Saturday.
Mills swept the afternoon’s program by setting quick time in the Group Time Trial sessions, then captured the lone heat race for the Junior Slingshots before capturing the feature as well.
As the checkered flag waved, it was Mills, Jared Silfee, Hunter Lapp, Tyler Peet, and Reece Nowatarski completing the top five.
Jamboree Jabber:
Impressive first day car count with 43 All Star Slingshots, 30 SpeedSTR’s, 27 of the Wingless 600cc Sprints, and 13 Junior Slingshots in attendance. That’s a total of 113 entries!
Billy Pauch Sr, set quick time for the SpeedSTRs as he and Tim Buckwalter locked themselves into the redraw by claiming the top two spots in Group Time Trials.
Sunday’s action begins with warm-ups at noon, followed immediately by qualifying for each class. National Champions will be determined during Sunday’s activity in the three Speedway Entertainment divisions – the SpeedSTRs, All Star Slingshots, and Junior Slingshot classes. The Wingless 600cc Sprints will also take part in Sunday’s racing program.
RESULTS:
USAC All Pro SpeedSTR Tour, 20 laps: 1.Mike Bednar, 2.Jay Hartman, 3.Tim Buckwalter, 4.Kris Graver, 5.Brian Hirthler, 6.Lucas Wolfe, 7.Kevin Graver Jr., 8.John Bockhorn, 9.Ryan Smith, 10.Skylar Sheriff, 11.Andy Haus, 12.James Morris, 13.Matt Janisch, 14.Steven Nederostek, 15.Tim Iulg, 16.Glenn Strunk, 17.Damon Paul, 18.Rick Kirkendall, 19.Gary Huber, 20.Kevin Hebert, 21.Carl Labonte, 22.Kyle Lick, 23.Kenny Brightbill, 24.Larry Solomon, 25.Billy Pauch Sr., 26.Pierre Hebert, 27.Frank Cozze Jr.
DNQ: Frank Yankowski, Phil Meisner, Joe Vacarro.
Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Sprint Feature, 20 laps: 1.Tim Buckwalter, 2.Bobby Butler, 3.Pat Bealer, 4.Kyle Lick, 5.Ryan Smith, 6.Robbie Hocker, 7.Freddie Rahmer Jr., 8.Chad Sandt, 9.Rob Vivona, 10.Tommy Kunsman Jr., 11.Jordan Tittle, 12.Jack Conover, 13.Joel Smith, 14.Rich Mellor, 15.Tim Bauer, 16.Devin Gundrum, 17.Ryan Quackenbush, 18.Rebecca LaMothe, 19.Corry Roth, 20.Tom Fraschetta, 21.Dan Leaper, 22.Dave Ogin, 23.Cale Mutter, 24.Jermain Godshall, 25.Troy Musselman.
DNS: Marty Schurr, Jake Fox.
All Star Slingshot National Tour, 20 laps: 1.Chris Kurtz, 2.Brett Bieber, 3.Joe Nemeth, 4.Cody Kline, 5.Wes Hearn, 6.Dylan Hoch, 7.Tom Arntz, 8.Don Schmidt, 9.Andrew Kreis, 10.Alan Selemba, 11.Anthony Raisner, 12.Henry Anderson, 13.Damon Paul, 14.Dave Carraghan, 15.Austin Stufflet, 16.Donny Hockman, 17.Alan Kober, 18.Louden Reimert, 19.Kassidy Kreitz, 20.Dillon Steuer, 21.Dylan Swinehart, 22.Austin Silfee, 23.Dale Kober, 24.John Gilroy, 25.Seth Spayd, 26.Dakota Kohler, 27.Corey Cormier.
DNQ: Sam Scicchitano, Tyler Pirone, Ashley Rogosich, Dave McCullough, Don Boonstra, Tess Horvath, Shawna Stong, Rich Partite, Chris Daw, Casey Boyer, Dan Morgiewicz, Jordan Lawrence, Dawson Landis, Ken Shive, Tim Roeder, Tori Shive.
Junior Slingshot National Tour, 12 laps: 1.Justin Mills, 2.Jared Silfee, 3.Hunter Lapp, 4.Tyler Peet, 5.Reece Nowatarski, 6.Kyle Smith, 7.Gavin Santee, 8.Cole Stangle, 9.Kyle Braun, 10.Alex Yankowski, 11.Nico Flammer, 12.Jack Van Varick, 13.Joey Vacarro.
