Rain Pushes Tobias Classic to Championship Night on August 30 at Action Track USA
Kutztown, PA (August 16)— For the third time in the past five years, rain has either canceled or postponed the Dick Tobias Classic at Action Track USA.
Sunday’s wet, gloomy weather forced the event to be postponed until August 30, which is also the Season Finale and Championship Night at Berks County’s Baddest Bullring on the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
On the 30th, the Dick Tobias Classic will once again include the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars presented by Baer Den Farms, the River Vally Builders All Pro SpeedSTRs, and the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, along with the Speedway Entertainment All Star and Junior Slingshots.
The USAC East Coast Sprint Cars have been part of the Tobias Classic since 2023, when Tim Buckwalter not only won the Sprint Car main, but the SpeedSTR and 600 Sprint features, too! He is the first (and only) driver to ever win three features in the same night at Action Track USA.
In 2024, Kenny Miller III captured the USAC East Coast checkered flag in the Tobias Classic. Miller also has a victory in the 600 Sprint portion of the Classic (in 2019).
The River Valley Builders All Pro SpeedSTRs have always played a major role in the Dick Tobias Classic. Their portion of the event was highlighted, for several seasons, by a 75-lap A-main. When the USAC E.C. group was added to the program, the SpeedSTR feature was shortened to 30 circuits.
Billy Pauch Jr.is a four-time SpeedSTR winner of the Tobias Classic; all of them coming in the longer distance races. Buckwalter has three victories in the event, with a pair of them occurring in the 75 lappers.
August 30 is also Championship Night, when the curtain drops on the 2026 season at the Kutztown Fairgrounds oval and point kings are crowned in the four weekly divisions.
Actually, Buckwalter has already clinched the ‘26 SpeedSTR title. He carries a 240 point advantage into the finale over Bobby Butler, with a maximum of 150 points available at each race. The SpeedSTR Championship is the fifth for “The WheelMaster General”, tying him with Billy Pauch Jr. for the most point titles in that division at Action Track USA. It is also the fourth SpeedSTR crown in the past five years for the driver from Douglassville, PA. He is bringing a four race win streak into the August 30 season finale.
Connor Gross leads James Roselli by 63 markers in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint standings. They are the only two wheel-twisters in the running for the championship, and both are gunning for their first Action Track USA point title. If Roselli wins the race on the 30th, Gross must finish sixth or better to earn the title. The points are tight among the third, fourth, and fifth place drivers—Jarid Kunkle, Adam Buchel, and Miller—with just 19 tallies separating the trio.
Brett Bieber has an easier path to his second consecutive track championship—and sixth overall—in the All Star Slingshot class. The “Oley Jet” has a 120 point cushion over Dylan Hahn, so Bieber needs to finish 17th or better if Hahn wins the season-closer. Third place Tyler Ulsh can tie Bieber for the title if he wins the race and Bieber stays home (and that won’t happen).
For the second straight season, the tightest point chase happens to be in the Junior Slingshot class. Two-time winner Landon McNichol has a 55-point bulge over the winner of the past two races, Billy Pauch III, and they are the only pair of Junior Slingers who can win the 2026 title.
If Pauch III wins the feature on August 30, McNichol must finish fourth or better to claim his first Action Track Championship. If BP3 finishes runner-up in the final race of the year, then McNichol has to place ninth or better.
Sunday, August 30: it’s a can’t miss last-race-of-the-year at Action Track USA! All the prestige of the Dick Tobias Classic combined with the drama of point chases…it’s everything a race fan could want in a season-ending event!
