Pauch Jr., T. Buckwalter, & Bieber Look To Pad Win Totals As Action Track USA Goes Green This Sunday, May 7
Pauch Jr., T. Buckwalter, & Bieber Look To Pad Win Totals As Action Track USA Goes Green This Sunday, May 7
Kutztown, PA (May 1)— The excitement continues to mount as Berks County’s Baddest Bullring, Championship Energy Action Track USA, prepares to enter its second decade under the management team of Rich Tobias & Doug Rose. The season opener gets the green flag this Sunday, May 7, at 6 p.m. As Tobias & Rose gear up for their 11th year of operation of the oval located on the Kutztown Fairgrounds, the theme is “get ready for new beginnings.”
Those “new beginnings” include some new blockbuster events such as the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Car Series, the mighty Modifieds of the Short Track Super Series, and the Xtreme Midget Tour. Another new item—just announced on April 30–is the streaming service that will carry most of the races run at Action Track USA in 2023. The bulk of the speedway’s events will now be broadcast by SprintCarUnlimited.TV powered by DirtTrackDigetst.TV.
The ‘23 slate of competition will see the all-time win leaders in the track’s three weekly divisions (SpeedSTRs, wingless 600 Sprints, and All Star Slingshots) return in an attempt to pad their respective victory totals.
Last season, Frenchtown, NJ’s Billy Pauch Jr. added four triumphs to his SpeedSTR total, giving him a division-leading 24 since the Tobias/Rose renovation and the incorporation of SpeedSTRs onto the weekly docket in 2013. Pottstown’s Tim Buckwalter, the 2022 point champ in this class, is second on the all-time SpeedSTR win list with 18, while Billy Pauch Sr. is third with 10 career victories at Action Track USA. Briggs Danner, from Allentown, PA sits fourth on the list with six feature triumphs. Five drivers, each of whom have four victories, are tied for fifth on the all-time win list. Two of those chauffeurs, Steve Buckwalter and Mike Bednar, are still racing SpeedSTRs and plan to be in the field this season.
Since the track was renovated and became Action Track USA in 2013, Tim Buckwalter has earned more Hyper Racing/EVO Injection 600 Sprint wins than any other driver. The 2015 and 2017 point champ of the Hyper Racing/EVO Injection 600 Sprint division, Buckwalter has accumulated 19 victories, including a trio of wins last year, to sit atop the all-time 600 Sprint win list. Billy Pauch Jr. and Collegeville, PA’s Alex Bright are tied for second with ten wins each, while Eddie Strada, Colin White, and Steven Snyder Jr. are tied for fourth with seven triumphs each. The ‘22 track champion, Christian Bruno, is next with five career wins.
When Brett Bieber won his fourth All Star Slingshot feature of the season on August 17 of last year, he moved to the top of that division’s all-time victory chart. The win, which helped propel the Oley, PA wheel-twister to his third Action Track USA Slingshot point title, was the 14th of his career under the Tobias/Rose regime. Dylan Hoch, Mertztown, PA, has 13 victories, with Mark Sensenig (six wins) sitting third on the all-time All Star Slingshot win list. Three drivers, Danny Buccafusca, Chris Kurtz, and Jared Silfee are next with five triumphs. Among those six pedal-mashers, only Bieber and Buccafusca continue to be active in the Slingshot class.
The Sunday, May 7 season opener has pit gates opening at 3 p.m., with grandstand tickets going on sale at 5:00. Warm-ups begin at 6 p.m. with opening ceremonies and qualifying activity immediately following the hot lap sessions.
Adult general admission tickets are $16, with Seniors admitted for $14. Youth between the ages of six and 12 are just $5, and children under the age of six are free.
Stay abreast of all the news and information regarding Championship Energy Action Track USA on social media outlets such as Facebook (facebook.com/Action Track USA), and Twitter (@ActionTrackUSA), as well as the speedway’s website: www.actiontrackusa.com.
Following Sunday’s opener, the next event at Action Track USA will take place on Wednesday, May 17. Racing will continue for the next several Wednesdays on May 24, 31, and June 7.
[Photos by SDS Photos & Poppa Peppers Racing Photos. Photo #1: Billy Pauch Jr. stands on the roll cage to celebrate a SpeedSTR victory. Photo #2: Pauch, in Mike Heffner’s No. 27, leads all drivers with 24 career wins at Action Track USA. Photo #3: There’s always incredibly close competition in the 600 Sprint division!
