Salute to the Champions…whose names will be added to the prestigious list this year?
The drivers who have earned point titles at the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA over the past four seasons are some of the “best of the best” in local Motorsports.
In 2013, Kenny Brightbill proved that he”s still got what it takes to win races and championships. “The Shillington Slingshot”, also known as “Mr. Excitement” during his heyday at the Reading Fairgrounds, utilized one feature win and lots of consistency to narrowly out-point Billy Pauch Jr. For the first SpeedSTR Championship at Action Track USA.
The next two years, 2014 and ’15, saw Pauch Jr. Capture consecutive point crowns in the SpeedSTR division. Billy Jr. Notched three feature victories in each of the first three seasons of Action Track USA’s existence.
Last year it was another Pauch, Billy Sr., who annexed his first SpeedSTR title in what turned out to be his final season of STR competition. The elder Pauch recorded four triumphs enroute to the championship aboard his Heffner Motorsports No. 27.
The battles for the Hyper Racing Wingless 600 Sprint championships have been some of the closest and intense in any of the weekly classes that compete at the Berks County oval.
Jay Hartman was the driver to beat in 2013 and 2014, as the Jersey driver piled up more points than anyone else to win back to back titles.
Tim Buckwalter emerged with the 2015 championship in the wingless 600’s, pulling it out by a very slim margin over Brandon Azzalina. And last year, Eddie Strada and Billy Pauch Jr. Were tied for the point lead heading into the Kutztown Fair Nationals event – which became the final race of the season when the Dick Tobias Classic was rained out on August 21. Strada finished sixth in the 60-lap Fair National to win the title by a mere five points over Pauch.
The All Star Slingshots have waged some interesting championship chases as well. Danny Buccafusca, who was just 14 years-old in 2013, won the point crown driving for Randy Smith. Buccafusca enjoyed that title so much that he came back and did it again in 2014.
Brett Bieber, “the Oley Jet”, has numerous Slingshot titles (including four National Championships) at various tracks throughout the region during his stellar career in the division. He used two wins and a ton of top-five efforts to win his first Action Track USA title in 2015.
Last year it was Dylan Hoch, from nearby Mertztown, registering his initial track championship at AT USA, along with a huge triumph – worth $4,000 – in the Slinger Warehouse Super Slingshot Fair National. It was one of four victories on the season for Hoch, who also went on to win his second National Slingshot championship in November.
Who will prevail in this year’s championship tussles? Trying to predict the winning driver in each division leads one, as Tom Petty sings, “into the great wide open,” as the list of contenders is long in all three of the weekly classes.
The chase to the championship(s) begins on Sunday, May 14, with the running of the Fourth Annual Dick Tobias Classic. Gates open at 2 p.m. And cars will hit the track at 5:15. Treat mom, on Mother’s Day, to an exciting night at the races…at Action Track USA, where the Superstars come to race!
