Rain Continues To Plague Action Track USA; Ronnie Tobias Memorial Postponed

Eroh Wins Only Feature Run on June 5

Kutztown, PA (June 5)— Some rain fell in Kutztown, PA on Wednesday night…and why not? The storm that stopped the Ronnie Tobias Memorial at Foley Cat Action Track USA simply continued the pattern of unfavorable precipitation that has plagued early season events at Berks County’s #1 bullring.
All of the preliminary races were in the books and one feature, a Super National for the Junior Slingshots, also ran to completion. But the features for the All Pro SpeedSTRs, Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, and the Super National 25-lapper for the All Star Slingshots were washed away by the quick-hitting storm that enveloped the speedway shortly after 8 p.m.
The three A-mains that were lost to the weather on Wednesday will be made up over the next few weeks. Co-owners Rich Tobias and Doug Rose were going to hash out the make up dates by the end of the week. Those dates will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.
Hailey Eroh notched her first career victory at Foley Cat Action Track USA with an impressive run in the 20-lap Junior Slingshot Super National race. The lass from New Tripoli, PA started sixth in the 19-car field. Eroh, who has not logged many laps at the track situated on the Kutztown Fairgrounds, deftly sliced her way forward as the early going was marred by a number of cautions.
Eroh zipped into the runner-up spot on the fifth circuit, then powered to the lead with an outside charge around early race leader Jack Jarvis on a restart with five complete.
Last year’s Junior Slingshot point champion Matthew Laubach motored into second at the halfway mark. Laubach’s repeated attempts to pull alongside the No. 57 of Eroh were repelled by the leader before Eroh throttled away to a 0.416-second victory.
Tenth-starting Hannah Kormann drove a great race to finish third in her Action Track USA debut. EJ Hatch and Preston Trautshold rounded out the top five.
Laubach and Jarvis were heat race winners as 19 Junior Slingers entered the Ronnie Tobias Memorial.
There were also 19 All Pro SpeedSTRs on hand, with defending point king Tim Buckwalter turning the fastest lap in timed warm-ups at 11.669.
SpeedSTR heat winners included Buckwalter, Briggs Danner, and Matt Janisch. When the feature is made up, New Jersey’s Shea Wills is set to start on the pole with Mike Bednar on the outside of row one.
Pat Bealer actually won the first race of the night as the Lehighton icon captured the Mad Scramble for 600 Sprint drivers who did not qualify (or were not in attendance) for the season opener on May 21.
Aidan Donaldson, Shelby McLaughlin, and Tim Buckwalter were victorious in the 600 heats, while Kenny Miller III and Christian Bruno scored the LCQ triumphs.
A total of 36 entries took part in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint portion of the program.
When the 600 feature is made up, the track will honor the memory of long time supporter and friend to everyone in the pit area, Joe Kay. The popular race was fatally injured in a tragic roadway accident on Saturday night, June 1. Kay will be the provisional pole sitter and the field will line up in a missing man formation when they take the green for their 25-lap Ronnie Tobias Memorial race.
Twenty-eight All Star Slingshots competed in the first Super National of the ‘24 season on Wednesday. Dylan Hoch, Brett Bieber, and Chase Schott took top honors in the heat races, and Patrick Weiss will be on the pole when the feature is made up.
This Wednesday, June 12, Berks County’s #1 bullring will try—for the third time this year—to run the Goldie & Elton Meitzler Memorial. The four weekly classes (SpeedSTRs, 600 Sprints, All Star & Junior Slingshots) will compete in qualifying heats, last chance qualifiers, and feature races.
Pit gates open at 4 p.m. with grandstand gates swinging open at 5:00. Warm-ups get underway at 6:15 with opening ceremonies and heat race activity beginning a few minutes after the hot lap sessions.
Wednesday, June 5 Results:
Junior Slingshots Super National, 20 laps: 1.Hailey Eroh, 2.Matthew Laubach, 3.Hannah Kormann, 4.EJ Hatch, 5.Preston Trautshold, 6.Trevor Houghton, 7.Jocelynn Darinsig, 8.Anthony Ciccone, 9.Jack Jarvis, 10. David Morrison, 11.Landon McNichol, 12.Colton Henry, 13.Billy Pauch III, 14.Lily Esterly, 15.Carter Mullins, 16.Jon Severn, 17.Anna Strachko, 18.Kaleb Stofflet, 19.Jakoby Thompson.