Pauch Sr. Wins 2nd Straight at Kutztown; Morris Mauls 600’s; Miller Takes Slingshot Thriller
Kutztown, Pa. – It may have been KME First Responder Night at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA in Kutztown, but it was victory number two for Billy Pauch Sr. in the 30-lap SpeedSTR main on Wednesday, May 28.
Fans and racers strongly supported the second event of the season at the Action Track USA despite the threat of rain and rapidly falling temperatures, and they were rewarded for their loyalty with a competitive program highlighted by close racing and several hair-raising tumbles.
A total of 105 race teams took part in the three division show that was streamed live to 143 countries over the world-wide web by the Performance Motorsports Network through its USAC Unleashed Internet Radio Show.
Joining Pauch, Sr. in the winner’s circle on Wednesday were James Morris (Wingless 600cc Sprints) and Matt Miller (All Star Slingshots).
The start of the USAC Championship SpeedSTR main event had to feel pretty special to the Pauch family, as father and son, Billy Sr. and Billy Jr., lined up next to one another on the front row.
Billy Jr. jumped out to the early lead, but magneto ills forced him to the sidelines during a lap five caution period. That put his dad, the opening night winner on May 14, in first place, but this would be no walk in the park for the driver who owns more than 700 feature victories in his long and storied career.
Kenny Brightbill stuck the nose of his Weichert Realtors No. 19 under Pauch on a few occasions, but each time Brightbill rallied to offer a serious challenge, he was attacked by drivers who were hustling through the pack and trying to grab the runner-up spot.
On a restart with 12 circuits scored, Mike Mahaney, who fell deep into the field in the early laps, roared back into contention, sweeping past Rick Eckert and Kyle Weiss to claim the third position. The King’s Ferry, NY standout began to apply heavy pressure to both Brightbill and Pauch, with Eckert close behind in a race-long effort to make the bottom groove work.
After disposing of Brightbill and taking over second place, Mahaney put his nose in front of the race leader on numerous occasions, but Pauch eventually cleared the No. 33 and Mahaney started to fade a bit. Wtih six to go, he and Earl Paules got together on the frontstretch and Mahaney launched into a violent series of barrel rolls before finally coming to rest in turn one. Mahaney was not injured, but his night had ended.
When the green reappeared, Brightbill and Eckert resumed their side-by-side duel right behind Pauch and when the leader bobbled a bit in turn four, Brightbill was there, sticking his front bumper under his longtime nemesis at both ends of the race track. Eckert relentlessly worked the low groove as the three veterans put on a tremendous show for the appreciative crowd.
Pauch switched lanes for almost every restart, alternating between the top and bottom. His Bob Hilbert Sportswear/ FattCat No. 9 fired well from the high side as he propelled away from Brightbill and Eckert on a couple of late race restarts. With Eckert finally gaining an advantage on the bottom, the momentum switched in the battle for second, but he and Brightbill remained locked in a wheel to wheel tussle while still close enough to strike if Pauch bobbled another time.
The Frenchtown, NJ pilot did not waver, however, and he dashed under the checkered flag by almost a half-second over Eckert, of York Pa., who nipped Brightbill for runner-up cash. Paules wound up fourth (in only his second ride in a SpeedSTR) and Kyle Weiss was fifth at the finish.
The win, his second in a row at the Action Track USA, added another $2,000 to Pauch’s bank account.
The 25-lap feature for the Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Sprints offered some unique drama to the evening. Opening night victor Kyle Lick, now living in Bethlehem, Pa., not only took the Gambler’s Challenge, but he also accepted the Hump Day Challenge – which would have been worth an extra $500 to Lick if he could win the race from the 18th starting spot. Adding the base purse, the Gambler’s Challenge, and the Hump Day Challenge, and a second consecutive triumph by Lick would have been worth a cool $1,200!
Although he began to rumble toward the front of the pack, breaking into the top five with six laps remaining, Lick needed some late race yellows to aid his cause, but the cautions did not occur and he settled for a fifth-place finish – but in true Kyle Lick fashion, he certainly made things interesting.
James Morris, from Riegelsville, Pa., is authoring an outstanding season for himself in the first half of the 2014 season. Morris picked up one win during February’s Winternationals at East Bay Raceway in Florida, then recently became the dominant force at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, where he notched two in a row. The victories came with a wing bolted on to his rollcage, but he’d also registered some strong wingless performances.
On Wednesday, Morris proved just why he is becoming the guy to beat in northeastern 600cc competition, flying by Rick Perone to snatch second place on lap two, then blasting around the outside of leader Bobby Butler to take command on the sixth revolution of the progressively banked oval. He was never headed, although Mike Rutherford, who snared the runner-up position from Butler at the halfway point, closed in Morris as the laps clicked off in rapid fashion.
Just as Rutherford seemed ready to offer a serious challenge to the race leader, he had to switch to a defensive mode to fend off assaults from Billy Pauch Jr.
Pauch Jr. must have been watching Eckert roll the bottom in the SpeedSTR main because he used the same strategy to climb from 11th on the starting grid to battle Rutherford for second as the Wingless 600 race neared its conclusion.
The wrestling match for second enabled Morris to gain a bit of breathing room over his pursuers, but his margin of victory was still a scant 0.460-seconds over Rutherford, who held off Pauch Jr. for second. Twelfth-starting Jay Hartman sliced his way to a fourth-place payday and Lick, who took the initial green from the outside of row nine, weaved his way to a fifth-place finish.
The NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshots completed the night’s program with a 20-lap main event. Larry Raifsnyder charged into the lead from the pole position, but it wasn’t long before “the Thriller” Matt Miller was breathing down the neck of Raifsnyder’s McCoy Home Improvement No. 11R.
Miller, from Blandon, gunned his All County Sealcoating No. 16m to the inside of Raifsnyder as the duo exited turn two on the second trip around the clay. Miller accelerated into the lead and headed for victory.
The action behind him was hot and heavy, though, with Raifsnyder holding off eighth-starting Danny Buccafusca – the defending Slingshot point champ at Action Track USA – and a racey William Mohring, who started 12th but zipped into fourth spot by the halfway mark of the 20-lapper.
Miller was firmly in control, winning by almost a full second over Raifsnyder, with Buccafusca and Mohring on the heels of the No. 11R as the race ended. Dylan Hoch, the big winner of Shellhammers Speedway’s Spring Spectacular a few days earlier, wound up fifth.
Action Track Sidebites…
The total car count of 105 was split as follows: there were 48 of the Wingless 600cc Sprints; 33 All Star Slingshots; and a full field of 24 SpeedSTR’s.
Several hard flips throughout the night had the racers and spectators searching the Berks County sky, figuring there had to be a full moon.
In addition to Mahaney’s wild tumble, Chuck Schutz rode out a series of end-over-end rolls that stopped with his car, nose first, stuck between the first turn fence and the Jersey barriers that line the outside of the speedway. Schutz was shaken up and taken to the hospital as a precaution, but he was pronounced “okay” after an examination at the medical facility.
The homestretch claimed several flip victims on Wednesday, as the Mahaney and Schutz tumbles followed a wicked series of flips by wingless 600cc jockey Daniel Schumaker. And Jarid Kunkle rolled his No. 75 during the wingless 600 B-Main, although Kunkle broke the string by flipping on the backstretch. Thankfully, all of the drivers involved were uninjured.
SpeedSTR Fast Five in the time dashes were Kyle Lick (11.645 seconds), Billy Pauch Jr., Rick Eckert, Kyle Weiss, and Kenny Brightbill.
Eckert and Pauch, Sr. won the two heats run for the USAC Championship SpeedSTR’s, while Mike Bednar captured the B-Main triumph.
For the first time ever at Kutztown, a Mad Scramble was held for the wingless 600cc drivers who did not qualify on opening night. The large car count (52) led co-promoters Rich Tobias and Doug Rose to introduce the Mad Scramble, a 12-lap affair in which only the winner would automatically qualify for the feature. Rick Perone led all the way to win the inaugural Scramble and earn a berth in Wednesday’s 25-lap Pioneer Pole Building main event.
Tim Buckwalter, Lick, Jay Hartman, and Rutherford were victorious in the four heat races for the wingless 600’s. A pair of C-Mains went to Jeff Hartman and Brett Michalski, and Simon Egan won the B-Main.
Three heats were contested by the NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshots. Capturing the checkered flags were Jordan Knepp, Raifsnyder, and Miller. Austin Stufflet won the Slinger’s B-Main.
The speedway wishes to thank Kovatch Motorsports and KME for their efforst in presenting First Responder Night at the track. Thanks also go out to Miller-Keystone Blood Mobile, the reps from Pocono Raceway, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, NAPA of Kutztown, Vic’s Mower Shop, the Quality Shoppe of Kutztown, and the crew from the Performance Motorsports Network (Bob Steele and Mike Wolfe anchored the live broadcast with help from Low Down and Dirty show hosts Scott Diehl and Whippy).
Coming up this Wednesday, June 4th, is the salute to Tommy Hinnershitz, the late, great racer from Oley who attained incredible success in Sprint Cars and Midgets. Hinnershitz also competed in the 500 at Indianapolis on a few occasions. He was known as “the Flyin’ Farmer”, and this week the Action Track presents the second annual Flyin’ Farmer 40 for the SpeedSTR’s, with a hefty $3,000 going to the winner.
The wingless 600cc Sprints and the All Star Slingshots will also be in action. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates at 5:00. Warm-ups begin at 6:15 and the first heat race goes green at 6:35.
Grandstand general admission for adults is $12.00.
The competition in all three weekly divisions has been awesome so far, and things are just beginning to heat up at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds. To get your midweek motorsports adrenaline rush, you’ve gotta come out to Wild Wednesdays at the Action Track USA…where the superstars come to race!
RESULTS:
USAC Championship SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1.Billy Pauch Sr., 2.Rick Eckert, 3.Kenny Brightbill, 4.Earl Paules, 5.Kyle Weiss, 6.Larry Solomon, 7.Jeff Strunk, 8.Mike Bednar, 9.Kyle Lick, 10.John Kovatch IV, 11.Brett Michalski, 12.Gary Huber, 13.Mike Vermeulen, 14.Mike Mahaney, 15.Steve Buckwalter, 16.Ryan Krachun, 17.Frank Cozze, 18.Wayne Weaver, 19.Frank Yankowski, 20.Brad Brightbill, 21.Billy Pauch Jr.
DNS: Lee Nardelli, Chuck Schutz, Brittany Wixon.
Pioneer Pole Building Wingless 600cc Sprint Feature, 30 laps: 1.James Morris, 2.Mike Rutherford, 3.Billy Pauch Jr., 4.Jay Hartman, 5.Kyle Lick, 6. Alex Bright, 7.JefHartman 8.Chris Stockham, 9.Tommy Kunzman Jr., 10.Bobby Butler, 11.Tim Buckwalter, 12.Will Butler, 13.Eddie Strada, 14.Shelby Harper, 15.Joe Kay, 16.Rick Perone, 17.Blaine Emery, 18.Rhett Long, 19.Frank Cozze, 20.Ryan Neil, 21.Jermain Godshall, 22.Greg Stevens, 23.Joey Jarowicz, 24.Simon Egan, 25.Billy Ney, 26.Zach Fisher.
DNQ: Peter Michael, Eric Whitby, Dave Dimaio, Molly Chambers, Brett Michalski, Jessica Weiss, Jarid Kunkle, Jeff Carman, Jason VanDoren, Mark Conrad Jr., Sam Kravitsky, Jim Hendricks, Garrett Glassman, Daniel Schumaker, Joe Goerner, Shawn Rooney, Marty Gorr, Donny Smith, Heidi Hedin, Paul Quear, Rob Adams, Tex Snyder.
NAPA Auto Parts All Star Slingshots Feature, 20 laps: 1.Matt Miller, 2.Larry Raifsnyder, 3.Danny Buccafusca, 4.William Mohring, 5.Dylan Hoch, 6.Matt Massone, 7.Brett Bieber, 8.Louden Reimert, 9.Travis Bieber, 10.Mark Sensenig, 11.Mark Hartman, 12.Kassidy Kreitz, 13.Austin Stufflet, 14.Tayllor Schoenly, 15.Jordan Knepp, 16.Donny Heckman, 17.Sterling Hamm, 18.David Morrell, 19.Ray Nemeth, 20.Dave Carraghan, 21.John Bockhorn, 22.Simon Whitnell, 23.Joe Nemeth, 24.Cody Kline.
DNQ: Matt Stangle, Tess Horvath, Jeff Kemp, Billy Osmun, Damian Nemeth, Darrell Herman, Erik Jones, Gary Grim, John Kovatch IV.
