Kutztown Fair Race Results: Hartman Wingless 270 Winner; Twice Is Nice For Paul; Ahner Jr. Takes Daniel Boone 100 on 8/14

Kutztown, PA – The 270cc Micro-Sprints don’t get many opportunities to compete without wings bolted to the top of their rollcages. When they do, though, they put on one heck of a show.

Thursday night’s Kutztown Fair program at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA was highlighted by a terrific, 25-lap main event for the wingless 270’s. Three of the division’s best racers showcased their talents and, when the checkered flag waved, Temple’s Richie Hartman parked his Jared Davis Motorsports, Valley Forge Inc., Kim’s Kreations, RTS Chassis No. 39 in the winner’s circle. It was Hartman’s first feature win of the season (anywhere), and his first in non-winged competition. And he had to pass a five-time track champion at the Kutztown Fairgrounds in order to achieve the victory.

Ross Perchak, from Hazleton, went three-wide on the start to grab the early lead. On the third trip around the progressively banked oval, Hartman zipped under Perchak and went to the front.

On a restart with six complete, Perchak launched his RTS Chassis, Perchak Trucking No. 4 off the turn two banking and moved to the top spot once again…but his advantage would last just seven more circuits, as Hartman decided to try the high side and blasted around Perchak to reclaim the lead at the halfway point.

Mike Rutherford made his presence known as the race entered its final stages. Rutherford, from Lititz, throttled his No. 5k into the top three, then slipped past Perchak to snare the runner-up position with four to go. By that time, Hartman had checked out on the field and Rutherford, who likely would have made things interesting had he gotten a yellow in the closing laps, had to settle for second.

Hartman flashed across the stripe, almost 2.5 seconds in front of Rutherford, to score the $750 triumph. Perchak ended up third, with Darren Miller surviving an entertaining battle with Toby Blumenshine to finish fourth.

A nice field of 23 cars took part in the 270cc Fair Week National, with wingless heat races going to John Vreeland, Hartman, and Perchak.

Damon Paul, from Stoney Point, NY, picked up his third and fourth (consecutive) victories at Action Track USA on Thursday. The pint-sized kid with the heavy right foot captured the 20-lap Junior Slingshot National Tour win, then followed it up with another dominating run in the Junior Slingers second main event of the night.

In the National Tour 20-lapper, Paul started fifth, worked his way to second with a pass of Andrew Kreis, then wrestled the top spot from Dylan Swinehart as they raced down the backstretch. He went on to win by a comfortable margin over Dillon Steuer, Kyle Smith, Swinehart, and Chloe Andreas.

The second feature for the Juniors, a 15-lap affair, saw Paul again start fifth and quickly propel his No. 144 to the front of the pack. Paul darted by Tyler Peet to snatch the lead on lap three, then cruise to his second win of the evening and his fourth straight triumph at Kutztown’s Action Track USA.

Peet finished second, with Swinehart, Steuer, and Gavin Santee making up the top five.

There were 17 Junior Slingshots in action on Thursday. Heat race victories went to Chloe Andreas and Swinehart.

Kunkletown’s Randy Ahner Jr. took the lead with one-third of the Daniel Boone 100 complete, then raced to an easy victory in the Enduro-style event.

Ahner Jr. was on a lap by himself at the end, leaving Jeff Pawling and Justin Steigerwalt to battle for second. Pawling fought a bent right-rear wheel for almost three-quarters of the century grind, earning runner-up honors over Steigerwalt, who ran in the top three the entire time. Devin Gibson and Earl Paules rounded out the top five finishers.

Twenty cars took the green in the Daniel Boone 100.

This Sunday, August 17, is the season finale at Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds. The SpeedSTR’s will take part in the Second Annual Dick Tobias Classic, a 60-lap main event offering a whopping $5,000 to the winner.

In addition, all three weekly divisions (USAC Championship SpeedSTR’s, Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Sprints, and NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshots) will crown their point champions on Sunday. Billy Pauch Jr. leads his dad, Billy Sr., by 35 tallies in the SpeedSTR point chase. Kenny Brightbill, last year’s champ, trails in third.

Jay Hartman is bidding to win his second consecutive Wingless 600cc Sprint title, leading Billy Pauch Jr. and Mike Rutherford by nice but not title-clinching margins as they head into Sunday’s finale.

Brett Bieber looks to win his second Kutztown track championship, and the Oley Jet holds a tenuous 20-point lead over last season’s point champ Danny Buccafusca with only Sunday’s event remaining.

Warm-ups begin at 6 p.m. on Sunday, with qualifying activity following immediately after the hot lap sessions.

It’s going to exciting and dramatic, so don’t miss your final opportunity to soak up a motorsports adrenaline rush at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA…where the superstars come to race!

RESULTS:
Wingless 270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Richie Hartman, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Ross Perchak, 4.Darren Miller, 5.Toby Blumenshine, 6.Ronald Helmick, 7.Trevor Dunn, 8.Robbie Watson, 9.Tyler Galatro, 10.Marty Gorr, 11.Jacob Dunn, 12.Mark Ewer, 13.John Vreeland, 14.Damon Bomgardner, 15.Brent Bull, 16.Geordan Marrero, 17.Chad Owens, 18.Cale Mutter, 19.Derek Miller, 20.Brandon Kohler, 21.Nick Sweigart. DNS: Mike Kalman, Mark Kemp.

Junior Slingshot National Tour Race, 20 laps: 1.Damon Paul, 2.Dillon Steuer, 3.Kyle Smith, 4.Dylan Swinehart, 5.Chloe Andreas, 6.Tyler Peet, 7.Daniel Morgiewicz, 8.Gavin Santee, 9.Alex Yankowski, 10.Reese Nowotarski, 11.Aidan Svanda, 12.Michael Samony, 13.Antoine Parent, 14.Ryan Graver, 15.Dakota Kohler, 16.Cody Motto, 17.Andrew Kreis.

Junior Slingshot Feature #2, 15 laps: 1.Damon Paul, 2.Tyler Peet, 3.Dylan Swinehart, 4.Dillon Steuer, 5.Gavin Santee, 6.Daniel Morgiewicz, 7.Alex Yankowski, 8.Reese Nowotarski, 9.Ryan Graver, 10.Kyle Smith, 11.Dakota Kohler, 12.Michael Samony, 13.Antoine Parent, 14.Aidan Svanda. DNS: Chloe Andreas, Cody Motto, Andrew Kreis.

Daniel Boone 100 Stock Car Race, 100 laps: 1.Randy Ahner Jr., 2.Jeff Pawling, 3.Justin Steigerwalt, 4.Devin Gibson, 5.Earl Paules, 6.Kelly Frantz, 7.Perrell Snyder, 8.Robert Kulik, 9.Brendan Hires, 10.Josh Young, 11.Mike Fiskaldo, 12.Tyler Wallen, 13.Fred Krajcic, 14.Doug Naftzinger, 15.Jose Cerda, 16.Jason Dion, 17.Jayson Detweiler, 18.Bee Luckenbill, 19.Justin Rowlands, 20.Patrick Kirn.

Blast From the Past Modified Feature, 15 laps: 1.Kevin Kuser.