Two In A Row For T. Buckwalter; Weisenfluh Wins 1st
Kutztown, PA (May 31)— A message to all the drivers at Championship Energy Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds (who are not named Tim Buckwalter): don’t show the “Wheel Master General” the quick way around the ultra competitive clay, and then abandon that line in favor of another groove.
Buckwalter, from Douglassville, PA, registered his second consecutive Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTR victory on Wednesday, May 31, after he followed Alex Bright for a few laps and saw how fast Bright got around using the high line at both ends of the speedway.
“Yeah, I was kind of surprised because Alex pretty much cleaned off the top for us and he was runnin’ real good up there, and then he went back to the bottom. So I went up top and got to the front. It worked out really well for us,” said Buckwalter in Weaknecht Archery victory lane.
Other Wednesday night winners on Hyper Racing Night included Zack Weisenfluh, who earned his first career Action Track USA triumph in the Hyper Racing non-wing 600 Sprints; Brett Bieber three-peated in the All Star Slingshots; and Matthew Laubach finally shook off the bad luck that was plaguing him and won the Junior Slingshot main.
Doug Snyder bolted into the lead at the start of the 30-lap Hyper Racing SpeedSTR feature, with TJ Mayberry, Mark Manieri, and Alex Bright hot on his heels. Mayberry wrestled the top spot from Snyder on the 11th circuit and Buckwalter, who took the initial green in ninth, rambled into fourth…and that is when he noticed how well Bright was ripping the lip and making the high side work.
On lap 17, Buckwalter went top shelf, storming past Bright and Mayberry to snatch the lead.
Billy Pauch Jr. catapulted from fourth to second on a restart with eight to go, but he could not catch the high-flying Buckwalter. At the finish, it was Tim Buckwalter winning the 20th SpeedSTR feature of his career at Action Track USA. He now trails Pauch Jr. on the all-time SpeedSTR win list by just four.
Pauch Jr., Bright, Briggs Danner, and Mike Bednar finished second through fifth. It was quite a comeback for Bednar, who suffered mechanical issues in warm-ups and had to be towed back to the pits. He missed his heat race while the crew made repairs, then started dead last in the feature. The current point leader from Slatington made lemonade (from the lemons he was handed in hot laps) by threading his way to a top five result in the feature.
“We’ve thrown all sorts of set up ideas on this car so far this year, and tonight we hit on it,” grinned Hyper Racing 600 Sprint victor Zack Weisenfluh from Taylor, PA. “I wanted to make it handle and work good on the bottom, and it was really hooked on the bottom tonight.”
Weisenfluh rolled off on the outside of row three as the green flag waved to begin the 25 lapper for the 600’s. Kyle Herve grabbed the early lead and set the pace over Zack Bealer. Weisenfluh weaved his way to third, and then stole the runner-up spot from Z. Bealer on the seventh revolution. Father and son Bealer (Pat and Zack) then scuffled for third as Weisenfluh worked the low groove to catch and challenge Herve for the lead.
Weisenfluh slipped past Herve to secure the point on the 11th tour of the extremely racy oval. The race turned into a duel between the low line (Weisenfluh) and the high side (Pat Bealer). Behind them, point leader Connor Gross, Zack Bealer, Tim Buckwalter, and Briggs Danner battled furiously for positions three through six. Danner ended up flipping wildly in turn three as the race track simply wasn’t wide enough to contain the fierce battle between himself and Zack Bealer.
When the checkered flag waved to conclude the fast and furious event, Weisenfluh had his first career Action Track USA victory, with P. Bealer chasing him to the stripe. Gross wound up third ahead of T Buckwalter and 15th starter Colin White.
Oley, PA wheel-twister Brett Bieber notched his third straight All Star Slingshot triumph in that division’s 20 lap feature. Bieber started 11th, blasted from seventh to second on a lap five restart, then zipped by early leader Luke McCloskey to take command on the eighth trip around the clay. Five circuits later, Tyler Ulsh passed McCloskey for the runner-up slot as Dave Carraghan and Dylan Hahn fought tooth-and-nail for fourth.
Bieber beat Ulsh to the finish by a half-second, with McCloskey earning his best finish of the season by placing third. Carraghan bested Hahn in the battle for fourth.
Quakertown’s Matthew Laubach led a couple early season races for the Junior Slingshots, but rotten luck hampered his attempts to close the deal and win those 15 lap mains. Last Wednesday, however, Laubach was not to be denied. “The Salt Shaker” darted from his outside front row starting position to grab a lead he would not relinquish.
Jocelynn Darinsig tussled with point leader Darian Danyluk for second while trying to keep Laubach in site. The previous week’s winner, Chase Gular, raced to fourth but could not advance any further.
There were no gremlins for Laubach on this night, and the Armada Building Supply No. 17 flew to victory over Darinsig, Danyluk, Gular, and an impressive Lily Barrett, who started 12th in an infrequent appearance at the Kutztown race place.
This Wednesday, June 7, is the Prelude to the Storm, with the four weekly divisions on the menu once again. The SpeedSTRs, 600 Sprints, All Star and Junior Slingshots will compete in qualifying races and clay-spraying main events.
Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates swing open at 5:00. Warm-ups get underway at 6 p.m. with qualifying races going green shortly after the hot lap sessions and opening ceremonies.
Adult general admission is $16; Senior Citizens get in for $14. Youth between the ages of six and 12 are $5, and children under six are free.
Following the June 7 racing program, the next event on the Action Track USA docket is set for Sunday, June 18, when the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Car Series makes its first-ever visit to Berks County’s baddest bullring. It will be the final event of the Eastern Storm for USAC’s Thunder and Lightning division, a “can’t miss” show for race fans.
RESULTS:
Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTRs, 30 laps: 1.Tim Buckwalter, 2.Billy Pauch Jr., 3.Alex Bright, 4.Briggs Danner, 5.Mike Bednar, 6.TJ Mayberry, 7.Dan Schumaker, 8.Matt Janisch, 9.Doug Snyder, 10.Billy Pauch Sr., 11.Mark Manieri, 12.Shea Wills, 13.Richie Page, 14.Josh Dalrymple, 15.Cale Zangli, 16.Steve Young, 17.Jason Muldowney, 18.Sammy Martz Jr., 19.Gary Wagner, 20.Dustin Morris, 21.Eddie Strada.
Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, 25 laps: 1.Zack Weisenfluh, 2.Pat Bealer, 3.Connor Gross, 4.Tim Buckwalter, 5.Colin White, 6.Eddie Strada, 7.Geordan Marrero, 8.Christian Bruno, 9.Kenny Miller III, 10.Kyle Herve, 11.Jacob Severn, 12.Steven Snyder Jr., 13.Preston Lattomus, 14.Gabe Gerber, 15.Lucas Kostic, 16.Connor Mirabelli, 17.Shelby McLaughlin, 18.Wayne Scott, 19.Tyler Lindsay, 20.Briggs Danner, 21.Zack Bealer, 22.Mason Peters, 23.Michael Nolf, 24.Mason Beinhower, 25.Evan Nolf, 26.Aidan Donaldson, 27.Jacob Fisher, 28.Zach Curtis, 29.Alex Ruppert.
DNQ: Matt Smith, Joe Kay, Morgan Rochelle Bealer, Patrick Chilmonik, Aidan Svanda, Gunnar Pio, Dan Bair, Richie Baker Jr., James Thomas, Lavar Scott, Nate Smith, Joe Nemeth, Connor Sheffield, Garth Rickards, Jase Smith, Kaitlyn Swist, Brenden Hires, Weston Doklan, James Roselli, Kenny Beinhower, Jacob Homnick, Corey Colaluce.
All Star Slingshots, 20 laps: 1.Brett Bieber, 2Tyler Ulsh, 3.Luke McCloskey, 4.Dave Carraghan, 5.Dylan Hahn, 6.Amanda Angstadt, 7.Austin Kroboth, 8.Kyle Herve, 9.Jax Yohn, 10.Tyler Hoch, 11.Andrew Turpin, 12.Ryan Rochelle, 13.Gavin Danner, 14.Hunter Handlelong, 15.James Hendricks, 16.Tom Mawson, 17.John Redner, 18.Brianna Snyder, 19.Mike Maguire, 20.Karter Adams, 21.Mason Lineman, 22.Colton Lineman, 23.Griffin Hendershot, 24.Shawn Dengler.
Junior Slingshots, 15 laps: 1.Matthew Laubach, 2.Jocelynn Darinsig, 3.Darian Danyluk, 4.Chase Gular, 5.Lily Barrett, 6.Gage Marrero, 7.Ryan Rutski, 8.Mason Noll, 9.Richie Rutski, 10.Gavin Marrero, 11.Carter Parsons, 12.Cody Williamson.
600 Sprints Mad Scramble, 8 laps (winner to feature): 1.Tyler Lindsay,, 2.Briggs Danner, 3.Connor Mirabelli, 4.Garth Rickards, 5.Patrick Chilmonik, 6.Geordan Marrero, 7.Zach Curtis, 8.Kyle Herve, 9.Corey Colaluce, 10.Lucas Kostic, 11.Kaitlyn Swist, 12.Aidan Svanda, 13.Joe Nemeth.
