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Steve
Buckwalter Steals Susky Non-Stop ARDC Feature
By Mark Kielblock
Newberrytown, Pa. - Susquehanna Speedway Park promoter Todd Fisher and the
entire SSP staff were hustling through Thursday night's program as quickly as
they could with rain in the area. They needed all the help they could get from
the ARDC drivers and the ARDC pilots delivered with 20-lap feature that ran
caution free. Caution free features are great for promoters and fans, but for
front running drivers who are handicapped to the middle of the pack -- like
eventual winner Steve Buckwalter -- they make the job that much more
challenging. Buckwalter started 10th, picked his way through the field and dove
under Randy Monroe, Jr. on the white flag lap to steal the win.
"To be honest, in the beginning I really didn't think I was going to be
able to get up there," Buckwalter shared after the race. "I was
getting frustrated because I kept getting boxed in, then I started over-driving
the car. When PJ (Gargiulo) got by me, I had to slow down in one corner and the
car actually went quicker. Then I remembered the old saying, 'slow down to go
fast," Buckwalter explained.
Randy Monroe Jr. and Scott Zipp brought the 26 car field to the green flag.
Monroe showed his power as he immediately began to open a gap. Frank Polimeda
showed early strength jumping from fourth starting spot to second. Scott Zipp
faltered losing several spots in the early laps, but then began to recover by
going to the high groove and re-passing several cars to get back to second spot.
Polimeda began to struggle and started to go in the opposite direction, dropping
through the pack where he would eventually finish 11th.
While all this shuffling was going on up front, fifth row starters Gargiulo and
Buckwalter were making some noise of their own, with Gargiulo showing in the top
five by lap 8 and Steve Buckwalter sweeping by on lap 9 to become the 5th place
runner. From there Buckwalter began a quick but methodical climb to 4th on lap
11 and 3rd on lap 12. On lap 13, PJ Gargiulo slipped into fourth, and at the
five lap to go sign Buckwalter moved into second.
Buckwalter now had a huge task ahead of him as Monroe had built a sizable lead
and Buckwalter only had five laps to slice into it. The driver known as the
"Royersford Rocket" did just that, as each lap the gap became
noticeably smaller. Going into turns 3 and 4 with the white flag in the air
Buckwalter dove to the extreme inside and got his car between the rail and
Monroe's no. 27. When told that that move didn't exactly look like 'slow down to
go fast,' Buckwalter responded matter of factly. "I knew I had to get by
him in the corner, because his motor is so strong on the straightaway,"
Buckwalter remembered. "So I made sure I got alongside him, then used the
brakes." Buckwalter completed the pass at the white flag and went on to
take his 16th career ARDC win and third of the 2008 season.
Monroe was visibly disappointed at leading every lap and losing it on the last
lap, but still showed toughness doing a victory lane interview. "Yeah it
sucks leading every lap and losing it at the end," he said honestly.
"I put that on myself slipping up a little bit on that corner. But I've
still got to thank H&B Railroad, WO Grubb and Bryan Kobylarz for doing a
great job for me. It was still a good night and a good points night,"
Monroe said. Monroe went into the night with a 3 point lead on Polimeda and
stretched it with Polimeda finishing 11th.
33 ARDC Midgets signed in for
competition. Heat races were won by Frank Polimeda, Drew Heistand and Randy
Monroe Jr.
1) 0-Steve
Buckwalter 2) 27-Randy Monroe Jr. 3) 99-Scott Zipp 4) 51-PJ Gargiulo 5) 77-Nick
Wean 6) 9-Steve Lenig 7) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 8) 29-Zack Martini 9) 21-Andy
Martin 10) 86-Tracy Readinger 11) 44-Frank Polimeda 12) 14-AJ Ernesto 13)
11-Eric Heydenreich 14) 00-Greg Robinson 15) 12-Drew Heistand 16) 75-Ryan Watt
17) 54-Ryan Smith 18) 55-Steve Craig 19) 4-Michelle Miller 20) 84-Jimmy Commock
21) 3-Tracy Miller 22) 34-Shane Penny 23) 25-Chris Zrinski 24) 20-Carey Becker
25) 16-Dave Shirk 26) 46-Brett Arndt
ARDC Summer Heat; Susky and
Winchester this Weekend
By Mark Kielblock
Felton, DE - The battle for the 2008 ARDC
Championship is beginning to heat up, just in time for the "Dog Days"
of summer. Appropriately enough, going into this weekend's races -- Thursday,
July 3 at Susquehanna Speedway Park and Saturday, July 5 at Winchester, Va.
Speedway -- the point race is being led by "Two Dogs Racing" team
driver, Randy Monroe, Jr. of Hampton, Va. Hotter than the July sun on his tail
is versatile veteran, Frank Polimeda of Ft. Lee NJ. The driver of the Neptune
Research Spike/Mopar sits just 3 points behind Monroe.
Based on average finishes at Susky, both Monroe and Polimeda should head into
Thursday's race with confidence. Monroe won the ARDC opener at the Newberrytown
oval, and followed that up with a 6th place finish in the Club's return
visit there on May 3. He also scored a hard-earned ninth place finish at
Susky on June 15th. Monroe had to work for that top-10 by coming from the back
of the pack. That starting spot was the result of being in a heat race
tangle and missing a transfer spot. Polimeda has also had two good finishes at
Susky -- 4th and 3rd -- and one not so good at 17th in the June 15 round at
Susky.
Both drivers will eye the July 5 race at Winchester with a little more
trepidation. In the two 2007 ARDC appearances at the 3/8 clay oval,
only Monroe had one top-5 finish to show. Polimeda encountered problems and
finished outside the top ten in both Winchester races.
York, Pa's Drew Heistand is one of ARDC's "Sensational Sophomore"
class. In his rookie year he grabbed two feature wins, one each at Susky and Big
Diamond en route to a 13th place finish in the 2007 ARDC standings. This season
has started out to be one of consistency for Heistand, which ironically has
turned out to be both good and bad for the driver of the DonCin Transport no.
12. While every driver strives for consistency, the ARDC handicapping system can
make it challenging for those with a good finishing average.
"The point average has been hurting us a little bit. We've been starting
from either the back or the middle of the pack in most of the races,"
Heistand said in a telephone interview. "Going to North Carolina helped us.
Not everybody went, so our starting spot in the next race should be a little
better. I should be starting no worse than 10th for the first time this
year."
It's been a season of contrasts so far for Heistand. "We've been both lucky
and unlucky so far," Heistand explained. "We've been consistent. But
sometimes I've gotten a good start in the races, then try too hard and spin out
-- I don't know" Heistand lamented. "People tell me I need to slow
down, but it's a race
car. It's supposed to go fast," Heistand laughed.
And at times Heistand has been fast -- and unlucky. "In my first DNF at
Susky I was up to second behind Stevie Buckwalter and the timing gears on the
front of the motor broke," Heistand shared. "Then I had a good run
going at Five Mile Point, started 16th and got up to fourth when a rock hit one
of my spark plugs and broke it," Heistand remembered.
The night before that Five Mile Point frustration, Heistand had authored his
best performance of the year at Penn Can. He fought tooth and nail with a
determined Scott Zipp who didn't fold to a Heistand white flag slide job.
Zipp held on to win and Heistand got a season-best second place finish.
Heistand looks forward to kicking off the weekend at Susky. "It's one of my
favorite tracks, it's my home track as well as ARDC's," Heistand said.
Pit Patter: A tip of the hat
goes out to 2007 ARDC Rookie
of the Year Ryan Smith. Smith qualified on the front row with Tracy
Hines for the USAC K&N Silver Crown 100 at Richmond International
Raceway. Smith led the first six laps and went on to a sixth place finish in a
race that featured such names as Hines, Shane Cottle, Levi
Jones, Jerry Coons, Jr and Brian Tyler.
2008 ARDC MIDGETS SCHEDULE
| Saturday,
April 12, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA |
| Saturday,
May 03, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA |
| Wednesday,
May 21, 2008 |
Grandview
Speedway, Bechtelsville, PA |
| Friday,
May 23, 2008 |
Penn
Can Speedway, Susquehanna, PA |
| Saturday,
May 24, 2008 |
Five
Mile Point Speedway, Kirkwood, NY |
| Saturday,
May 31, 2008 |
New
Egypt Speedway, New Egypt, NJ |
| Tuesday,
June 03, 2008 |
Grandview
Speedway, Bechtelsville, PA |
| Wednesday,
June 04, 2008 |
Williams
Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA |
| Thursday,
June 05, 2008 |
Big
Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA |
| Saturday,
June 14, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA |
| Sunday,
June 15, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA (Rain Date 8/17) |
| Friday,
June 20, 2008 |
Dixieland
Speedway, Elizabeth City, NC |
| Saturday,
June 21, 2008 |
County
Line Raceway, Rocky Mount, NC |
| Thursday,
July 03, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA (Rain Date 7/6) |
| Saturday,
July 05, 2008 |
Winchester
Speedway, Winchester, VA |
| Friday,
July 11, 2008 |
Accord
Speedway, Accord, NY |
| Friday,
August 01, 2008 |
Big
Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA |
| Saturday,
August 02, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA |
| Saturday,
August 16, 2008 |
New
Egypt Speedway, New Egypt, NJ |
| Friday,
August 29, 2008 |
Big
Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA |
| Saturday,
September 13, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA |
| Saturday,
September 27, 2008 |
Big
Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA |
| Saturday,
October 18, 2008 |
Grandview
Speedway, Bechtelsville, PA (Features Only) |
| Saturday,
October 25, 2008 |
Susquehanna
Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA (Rain Date 10/26) |
| **
- All events will be wingless (heats and features) unless noted otherwise |
2008 UMARA SERIES SCHEDULE
Sunday, May
18th
Rockford Speedway
Rockford IL
Co-Sanctioned
USAC Mopar
National Series
* Saturday,
May 24th
Open Practice
& Picture Day
All UMARA
Divisions
Wednesday,
May 28th
Illiana Motor
Speedway Schererville IN
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/USAC
Regional/Ford Focus
Saturday,
May 31st
* UMARA
22nd SEASON OPENER!
All UMARA
Divisions/INEX
* Saturday,
June 7th All UMARA Divisions/INEX
* Saturday,
June 14th
Tribute to Mel
Kenyon -
50 Lap Feature
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/USAC
Regional/
Ford
Focus/Kenyon Cars/INEX
Wednesday,
June 18th
Plymouth Speedway
Plymouth IN
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/USAC
Regional/Ford Focus
* Saturday,
June 21st
Carter/Anderson
Classic 36
All UMARA
Divisions
Sponsored by Hot
Rod Barn
* Saturday,
June 28th All UMARA Divisions/INEX
* Sunday,
July 6th
Afternoon Fair
Event
UMARA
Sportsman/Ford Focus/
Classic Modified
* Saturday,
July 19th All UMARA Divisions/INEX
Saturday,
July 26th
Kalamazoo
Speedway Kalamazoo Michigan
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA National/WOMS
* Saturday,
August 2nd All UMARA Divisions
Wednesday,
August 6th
Illiana Motor
Speedway Schererville IN
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/USAC
Regional/Ford Focus
* Saturday,
August 9th
All UMARA
Divisions/INEX
* Saturday,
August 16th
17th
Annual Illinois State
Championship Race
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/USAC
Regional/Ford Focus/
Kenyon
Cars/INEX
* Saturday,
August 23rd All UMARA Divisions/INEX
* Saturday,
August 30th
Bob Lockard
Memorial - 69
All UMARA
Divisions
Racers Reunion
& Season Finale
Saturday,
September 27th
Berlin Raceway
Marne MI
Co-Sanctioned
UMARA/WOMS/USAC Regional
2008 Winged Midget Schedule

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The John Dillinger Died For You Society
"Never trust a woman
or an automatic weapon"-Johnnie
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