Pauch Jr. Sweeps Ronnie Tobias Memorial Twin 20’s; Snyder Nips Danner in 600cc Classic at Action Track USA. Brett Bieber is All Star Slingshot Victor; Junior Sling Main to Mason Lineman
Kutztown, PA – May 25– In the nine year history of the Ronnie Tobias Memorial, only one driver had been able to sweep both of the twin features on the same night. Until last Wednesday, that is…
Frenchtown, NJ’s Billy Pauch Jr. captured both 20 lap mains for the Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTRs on Wednesday, joining Briggs Danner (2018) in performing the sweep at Championship Energy Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds. In doing so, “the Kid’s kid” passed his father and became the winningest driver of Ronnie Tobias Memorial Twin 20’s with four triumphs.
Other winners on the final Wednesday of May included Steven Snyder Jr. (Hyper Racing 600 Sprints), Brett Bieber (All Star Slingshots); and Mason Lineman (Junior Slingshots).
Coming up this Wednesday, June 1, is another outstanding card of close, competitive racing at the Berks County oval. The All Pro SpeedSTRs, 600 Sprints, and All Star Slingshots will battle in qualifying heats, last-chance races, and features. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates will open at 5:00. Warm ups begin at 6:15 and qualifying events will follow the hot lap sessions.
GMI First Mechanical of Reading sponsored the Ronnie Tobias Memorial, and feature number one began with Pauch Jr. on the pole. Billy jumped out to the lead quickly while Andy Haus, Louden Reimert, and ninth-starting Steve Buckwalter fought for second. Reimert prevailed and secured the runner-up spot until Haus reclaimed it on a restart with six circuits complete. At the halfway mark, Buckwalter was now chasing Pauch while Reimert and Haus dueled for third. Pauch Jr. maintained a slim lead over Buckwalter, who was being harassed by Haus and Alex Bright. At the finish, it was Pauch Jr. in for the win with S. Buckwalter hanging on for second place money. Haus recorded his best-ever SpeedSTR finish as he claimed the final podium position. Bright and Tim Buckwalter completed the top five.
In victory lane, Pauch drew a “seven” as the invert number for the nightcap. That is where he lined up as Louden Reimert and Dillon Steuer shared the front row. Steuer grabbed the early lead and Tim Buckwalter roared into second. On the second revolution around the clay,, Steuer and T. Buckwalter tangled in turns three and four, bringing out the yellow and handing the top spot back to Reimert.
The restart saw opening night winner Alex Bright gas his No. 1R past Reimert to grab the lead. Another caution, with two tours in the books, provided an opportunity for Steve Buckwalter and Pauch to restart from the second row. The Heffner Motorsports No. 27, driven by Pauch, leaped into the runner up slot as the green waved once again. Lap five was beneficial as well, with Pauch zipping by Bright to take command.
Steve Buckwalter, Briggs Danner, Bright, and Tom Mayberry battled for positions two through five as the race neared its halfway point. With nine circuits scored, S. Buckwalter and Mayberry got too close for comfort as they rumbled side-by-side down the backstretch. Mayberry climbed the wall and launched high into the Kutztown sky, flipping wildly as Buckwalter’s No. 56b tumbled into the third turn. Both drivers were okay, but knocked out of the race.
Pauch Jr. went on to win and complete the sweep, beating Bright to the checkered by almost one second. Danner, who broke a shock on the opening lap of the first feature, rebounded to finish third in the finale. Reimert finished fourth and Mike Bednar, who lost a driveshaft during the first feature’s pace laps, raced from 18th to fifth in the second feature.
The Hyper Racing 600 Sprint headliner became an instant classic, as defending track champ Steven Snyder Jr. and Briggs Danner waged a furious scuffle for the win as they also negotiated lapped traffic over the final intensely contested trips around the smooth and racy oval.
Prior to the wild finish, Joey Amantea zoomed to the point in a slide-a-palooza with Danner, Tim Buckwalter, Snyder, and Connor Gross. Amantea set the pace and appeared to be headed to his first career Action Track USA victory, but under a yellow caused by a Tim Buckwalter spin (Gross later apologized for accidentally getting into Buckwalter’s No. 71), Amantea suddenly slowed and pulled off the track.
Danner inherited the top spot after Amantea fell out, with Snyder set to attack from second. The pair of young lions swapped the lead at both ends of the speedway, trading slide jobs lap after lap. Catching the back of the field as the lap wound down, both Danner and Snyder took turns slicing between a slower car and the challenger to reclaim the number one spot. Danner led at the white flag, but a “Snyder Slider” in one and two propelled the Rising Sun, Maryland pilot back in front of Danner’s No. 99. Snyder rolled the middle through three and four, thwarting any ideas Danner may have had about throwing a slider of his own. Snyder won the burst to the line with Danner a disappointed second and Gross finishing a close third. Joe Kay wound up fourth and Jacob Severn crossed the stripe in fifth.
Defending All Star Slingshot point champion Brett Bieber, from Oley, PA, notched his first triumph of the campaign in Wednesday’s 20 lapper. Bieber passed Amanda Angstadt on lap two, then held off a strong running Tyler Ulsh to register the win. Shelby McLaughlin nipped Angstadt for third and Gavin Danner finished fifth.
Mason Lineman was the third and final leader of the Junior Slingshot main. Brianna Snyder led the first few revolutions before her No. 12s threw its drive chain. Weston Doklan then set the pace, but he spun after contact in turn two. Then it was Lineman’s turn at the head of the pack, and Mason made the most of it, leading the rest of the 15 lap affair. Following Lineman to the checkered was Aubrey Romig, who dashed past Doklan off turn four to record the runner up finish by inches. Doklan settled for third, with Hailey Burnatowski and Matthew Laubach making up the top five.
RESULTS:
1st SpeedSTR Feature, 20 laps: 1.Billy Pauch Jr., 2.Steve Buckwalter, 3.Andy Haus, 4.Alex Bright, 5.Tim Buckwalter, 6.Dillon Steuer, 7.Louden Reimert, 8.Jason Musser, 9.Tom Mayberry, 10.TJ Mayberry, 11.Devon Borden, 12.Scott Houdeshell, 13.Dustin Morris, 14.Cale Zangli, 15.Gary Wagner, 16.Nick Arment, 17.Briggs Danner, 18.Ryan Krachun, 19.Mike Bednar. DNS: Andy Ressler.
2nd SpeedSTR Feature, 20 laps: 1.Billy Pauch Jr., 2.Alex Bright, 3.Briggs Danner, 4.Louden Reimert, 5.Mike Bednar, 6.Tim Buckwalter, 7.Jason Musser, 8.Gary Wagner, 9.Scott Houdeshell, 10.Andy Haus, 11.Devon Borden, 12.Cale Zangli, 13.Dustin Morris, 14.Nick Arment, 15.Steve Buckwalter, 16.Tom Mayberry, 17.TJ Mayberry, 18.Dillon Steuer. DNS: Andy Ressler; Ryan Krachun.
Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Steven Snyder Jr., 2.Briggs Danner, 3.Connor Gross, 4.Joe Kay, 5.Jacob Severn, 6.Joe Nemeth, 7.Christian Bruno, 8.Michael Nolf, 9.Danny Buccafusca, 10.Reese Nowatarski, 11.Jared Kreider, 12.Billy Koch, 13.Mason Beinhower, 14.James Morris, 15.Shelby McLaughlin, 16.Ryan Kunkle, 17.Zack Weisenfluh, 18.Tyler Lindsay, 19.Gunner Pio, 20.Garyt Smith, 21.Tim Buckwalter, 22.Gabe Gerber, 23.Adrianna Delliponti, 24.JT Ferry, 25.Joey Amantea, 26.Derek Swartz. DNS: Preston Lattomus.
DNQ: Jim Radney, Jarid Kunkle, Jacob Fisher, Donny Smith, Fred Heinly, Ryan Boyd, Sam Martz Jr., Eric Atherbolt, Dylan Kontra, Mason Peters, Jackson White, Matthew Donley, JT Ferry, Dawson Landis, Corey Colaluce, Evan Nolf, Kenny Beinhower, Hunter Metzger.
All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Bret Bieber, 2.Tyler Ulsh, 3.Shelby McLaughlin, 4.Amanda Angstadt, 5.Gavin Danner, 6.Austin Kroboth, 7.Josh Roth, 8.John Redner, 9.James Hendricks, 10.Colton Lineman, 11.Cody Kline, 12..Tom Mawson, 13.Dave Carraghan, 14.Tyler Hoch, 15.Molly Struss.
Junior Slingshot Feature, 15 laps: 1.Mason Lineman, 2.Aubrey Romig, 3.Weston Doklan, 4.Hailey Burnatowski, 5.Matthew Laubach, 6.Brianna Snyder.
