july 28 2010

                         Brownstown and Montpelier On Tap For UMRA
By Alex Wollf
 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets rolls on with two races this week.  Thursday night the setting will be the Brownstown Speedway as the UMRA will contest a race run in conjunction with the Jackson County Fair.  It will mark the third appearance of 2010 for the TQs at Brownstown as Oogie Goff got the win on May 15 and Brandon Gray picked up his first career win on July 10.  Saturday night the UMRA will make its second appearance of the season at the Montpelier Motor Speedway.  On July 3, Jason Goff picked up the win with a pass of Ron Combs on a late-race restart.
            There will be a pair of contingency awards that the drivers will be battling for at Brownstown and Montpelier this week.  The $50 from the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” will go to the highest finishing rookie each night.  The G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” will reward the driver who advances the most positions in the feature event with five gallons of fuel.  Kids will want to get their parents to bring them out to the races this week as a lucky young fan will leave the track with a brand new kids bike.
            The second half of the season is really starting to heat up and you will want to be a part of the exciting action this week at two great tracks.  Gates open at 4 PM on Thursday at Brownstown with practice at 6:30, and racing set to begin at 7.  On Saturday at Montpelier the gates open at 4 PM, practice is at 6, and racing is scheduled to start at 7.
 
Top Ten in UMRA Points (After 12 Races)
1. Terry Goff               1752       6. Michael Koontz       1268
2. Ron Combs             1505       7. Doug Roland           1229
3. Jason Goff              1497       8. Trent Henderson     1135
4. Robbie Roland       1390       9. Jon Steed                1000
5. Brandon Gray         1303      10. Scotty Orme           985


July 27 2010

MARIO PAGE IS TOPS IN SPEEDSTR THRILLER AT NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY 
                                                    Photo by Jim Brown Racing Photos © 2010
                                         
          "Super" Mario Page takes a well deserved rest by sitting on his right front tire after he recorded his 5th 
                SpeedSTR Victory in 2010 at NES. Team Sponsor Dave Izzi is all Smiles as he takes care of the Trophy. 


Myerstown PA, July 24th, 2010:  The northeast continued to get hammered by the blistering heat wave, but management at New Egypt Speedway was prepared. The track conditions were impeccable with moisture from guard rail to guard rail and a sweet cushion for the racers to utilize.
 
The SpeedSTR's took to the track for their 7th of 10 National events at the New Egypt Speedway. Kyle Hieber (Langhorne, PA) looked to be the early race leader but hopped the cushion going into turn one allowing Dash 2 winner Don Zrinski (Piscataway, NJ) to take command of the STR field as Mr. Consistent Gary Huber was hot on his tail coming from sixth. Lap four would see Huber take over the race lead as Zrinski hung tough in second followed by Tyler Potts (Milford, NJ) with NES Sportsman regular Mike Butler already up to fourth from his tenth place starting position.
 
Lap six would see Zrinski take back over the race lead with his team mate, Doug Sherwood (Piscataway, NJ)  (the hard charger of the race) already up to sixth from starting at the tail of the field. By the midway point Zrinski continued to lead, but STR point leader Mario Page (Hillsborough, NJ) had got by the 12 of Potts for second with Brittany Wixon (Reading, PA) close behind in fourth after starting ninth. Wixon has been very impressive in recent weeks and tonight at NES she really came to the forefront.
 
Lap 12 DJ Macri (Waretown, NJ) would make contact with the front stretch wall sending the car into a series of flips, Driver was ok. As racing resumed Page put move after move on Zrinski as the remaining of the STR field was consistently three abreast off of turn two headed through the NES dogleg. Zrinski, Page, and Potts dueled for the race lead with Page taking control.
 
A late race restart would make the final laps very tense. Potts would get a run on the second place car of Zrinski and cleared him through the dog leg, but Zrinski challenged back with a slider in turn three but lost momentum allowing Potts to grab the second position behind Page who seized the $800.00 payday. Zrinski would secure third followed by Hieber and Mike Butler would round out the top five after the early race spin.
 
Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 1 winner: Kyle Hieber
Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 2 winner: Don Zrinski
 
Bilstein Racing Shocks National Event Feature Results (20 laps):
 
1. Mario Page (Izzi Trucking 10, Hillsborough, NJ), ($800.00), 2. Tyler Potts (THP Racing 12, Milford, NJ), 3. Don Zrinski (Kiwi Farms 75, Piscataway, NJ), 4. Kyle Hieber (Bucks County International 66, Langhorne, PA), 5.Mike Butler (Thompson Motorsports 2, Hershey, PA), 6. Brittany Wixon (Wixon Racing 15, Reading, PA), 7. Doug Sherwood (Kiwi Farms 33, Piscataway, NJ), 8. Darrell Delnero (Thompson Motorsports 5, Lebanon, PA), 9. Gary Hieber Jr. (Scrappy’s DR56, Lebanon, PA), 10. Chris Stockham (Valvoline VR1, Cicero, NY), 11. Scott Munroe (Bull Dog


July 26 2010

                                        Terry Goff Wins at Mount Lawn
By Alex Wollf
 
            Terry Goff took the win in the 20-lap feature for the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets at the Mount Lawn Speedway on Saturday night.  Terry made the winning pass on his son Jason as they finished one-two for the fourth time this season with each driver getting the better of the other on two occasions when they have finished first and second.  It was the second win of the 2010 season for Terry Goff and the 113th of his UMRA career.  Following Terry and Jason to the finish line was Scott Petry in third, CJ Leary in fourth, and Johnny Goff followed up his first ever heat race win with a fifth place finish.
            The eight-lap heat races went to Johnny Goff and Terry Goff.  The $50 from the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” went to Johnny Goff.  The five gallons of fuel that goes to the driver who advances the most positions in the feature as part of the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” went to CJ Leary who came from 12th to 4th.
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets continues on Thursday night at the Brownstown Speedway.
 
Results
Heat Race Winners:
Johnny Goff,
Terry Goff
Feature:
1. Terry Goff, 2. Jason Goff, 3. Scott Petry, 4. CJ Leary, 5. Johnny Goff, 6. Brandon Gray, 7. Trent Henderson, 8. Michael Koontz, 9. Scotty Orme, 10. Jon Steed, 11. Robbie Roland, 12. Ron Hamm, 13. Kevin Blue, 14. Doug Roland, 15. Jeremy Rainwater

“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: Johnny Goff
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: CJ Leary (Advanced from 12th to 4th)


July 24 2010

  CARL LABONTE VICTORIOUS IN SPEEDSTR ALL-STAR NATIONAL AT CAYUGA COUNTY
  
                                        
Feature winner Carl Labonte all smiles after winning the Saturday 20 lap SpeedSTR All-Star National Feature event
                                          at Cayuga County Speedway. Photo by Jay Fish © 2010
 
Myerstown PA, July 17th, 2010:  Saturday evening would feature the second night of All-Star Weekend at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway and RevStar Co-Owner Carl Labonte was geared up for competition..
 
Doug Sherwood (Piscataway, NJ) who was coming off a strong runner up finish in Friday evenings preliminary All Star event continued his strong presence by winning dash #1 which would give him the pole position for the feature event with Carl Labonte (Drummondville, Qc, Canada) lining up outside front row. Labonte wasted no time getting to the lead as Sherwood would have to fight off the challenges of  Mike Mahaney a Cayuga County Modified  regular and Yannick Poirier (Beloeil, Qc, Canada). Meanwhile National and Regional point leader Mario Page (Hillsborough, NJ) was picking off STR's high and low as he was clawing his way to the front on the black slick surface. 

                      
Jean-Nicholas Gareau had this ultra cool looking #53 in action during the 2 day event. Photo by Jay Fish © 2010
 
By the midway point of the race Labonte was continuing to make flawless laps along the inside jersey barrier as Page had raced his way to third with Sherwood just in front. The duo would battle lap after lap. Sherwood working the bottom and Page looking for grip up top. While a great battle for the top five was brewing between Mahaney, Poirier, Chris Stockham (Cicero, NY) in the Valvoline #3, Richie Tobias (Hershey, PA), and  Kyle Hieber (Langhorne, PA) .
 
With the laps winding down Page went to the high side of Sherwood in turn one, but Sherwood would slide up the track and close the door as they went down into three, Page again went high and this time would diamond off Sherwood and attacked the bottom going into one. As Page took the preferred line of  Sherwood, the two would make contact causing the Kiwi Farms 33 to collect the previous nights winner Richie Tobias Jr. (Hershey, PA). The final restart would see the #24 of Labonte hold off the challenges of Page and Mahaney with Poirier and Stockham rounding out the top five.

                       
Baldwinsville NY Driver Jeff Gallup, shown above getting it a little sideways during heat action. Photo by Jay Fish © 2010
 
 Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 1 winner: Doug Sherwood
 Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 2 winner: Carl Labonte
 
 Bilstein Racing Shocks National Event Feature Results (20 laps):
 
1. Carl Labonte (RevStar 24, Drummondville, Qc, Canada) ($800.00), 2. Mario Page (Izzi Trucking 10, Hillsborough, NJ), 3. Mike Mahaney (Thompson Motorsports 5, Lebanon, PA), 4. Yannick Poirier (Poirier Motorsports 28, Beloeil, Qc, Canada), 5. Chris Stockham (Valvoline VR1, Cicero, NY), 6. Kyle Hieber (Bucks County International 66, Langhorne, PA), 7. Don Zrinski (Kiwi Farms 75, Piscataway, NJ), 8. Daniel Nadeau (Nadeau Racing 54, Marieville, Qc, Canada), 9. Freddie Rahmer Jr. (Rahmer Team 51, Salfordville, PA), 10. Gary Hieber Jr. (Scrappy’s DR56, Lebanon, PA), 11. Gabriel Richer (Groupe Richer Racing 10X, Les Coteaux, Qc, Canada), 12. Tyler Potts (THP Racing 12, Milford, NJ), 13. Brandon Rahmer (Rahmer Motorsports 8, Salfordville, PA), 14. Kenney Johnson (Johnson Racing 46, CT), 15. Brittany Wixon (Wixon Racing 15, Reading, PA), 16. Kaitie McCardle (McCardle Motorsports 11, Honeybrook, PA), 17. Doug Sherwood (Kiwi Farms 33, Piscataway, NJ), 18. Richie Tobias (Thompson Motorsports 2, Hershey, PA), 19. DJ Macri (Johnny Muffler 28, Waretown, NJ), 20. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY), 21. Jean-Nicholas Gareau (Gareau Motorsports 53, St-Hyacinthe, Qc, Canada), 22. Scott Munroe (Bull Dog Racing 14, Reading, PA).


July 23 2010
                             UMRA Returns to Mount Lawn on Saturday
By Alex Wollf
             The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill UMRA TQ Midgets continues this Saturday night with the second race of the season at the Mount Lawn Speedway in New Castle.  The first race at Mount Lawn this season was on June 19 and it was a thriller as Terry Goff made a last lap pass on his son Jason to take an emotional Father’s Day weekend victory.
            Terry and Jason have finished first and second on two more occasions in the 2010 season with Jason getting the better of his father both times at Montpelier on July 3 and last Friday night at Columbus.  This Saturday at Mount Lawn Terry will be hoping for another father-son, one-two finish but with a result similar to the June 19 race at one of his favorite tracks.  However, there will be a lot of hungry drivers eager spoil the family reunion at the front of the field at one of the most scenic and historic tracks in the area.
            There will be a pair of contingency awards that the drivers will be shooting for on Saturday night.  $50 will be on the line as part of the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” that goes to the highest finishing rookie.  Five gallons of fuel will go to the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” which goes to the driver who advances the most positions in the feature event.  Kids will also want to get their parents to bring them to Mount Lawn as a brand new kids bike will go to one lucky young fan.
            Saturday at Mount Lawn the gates open at 3PM, practice is at 5:15, qualifying at 6:15, and racing is scheduled to get underway at 7:30.
 
Top Ten in UMRA Points (After 11 Races)
1. Terry Goff             1602      6. Michael Koontz         1175
2. Ron Combs           1505     7. Doug Roland             1157
3. Jason Goff            1361     8. Trent Henderson        1028
4. Robbie Roland     1302      9. Jon Steed ®               919
5. Brandon Gray       1199    10. Scotty Orme ®           896


     BUCK BLAIR WINS SECOND SPEEDWAY CYCLE MAIN @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY 

                                                               BY
                                                               
                                           Tim Kennedy
                                                                    Los Angeles Ca. 
                                                               Contributor OWR3
 
Industry, CA, Jul. 21 – Buck Blair, from Huntington Beach, continued his current hot streak in speedway motorcycle racing Wednesday night by winning his second 500cc Division 1 main event of 2010 at Industry Speedway in front of about 500 fans. He also won on June 30. Within the last week, the 32-year old builder by trade won the D-1 Orange County Fair Derby event at Costa Mesa last Friday and the feature at Victorville last Saturday. The D-1 field at Industry this week consisted of 18 riders with four Division 2 (intermediate-level) riders assimilated into an 18-rider D-1 field.

The five-rider feature Wednesday had Blair and Shawn McConnell tied at 15 points after three heat races and the pair of five-rider semi-final races, which they both won. Blair won the tie-breaking coin toss and selected the pole position. He launched from the first lane and beat lane five rider Mike Faria and lane two starter McConnell to the first turn. Blair led all four laps and won by five yards. McConnell, 51, made an inside pass in the third and fourth turns and took second from Faria, 53, on the final lap. Faria, Eddie Castro, 51, and Tyson Burmeister, 26, followed. Faria won the last chance race for the third and fourth place finishers from the two semi-final races.

Paraplegic driver Brian Motis and his sidecar “swinger” Brandi McElroy won their first sidecar main event at Industry as a team this season. Last week they flipped exiting turn four and McElroy left the dirt track on a stretcher wearing a neck brace. She declined transport to a hospital for examination and said she was okay. They returned on the same No. 2 sidecar and led all four laps of the main event. Two other sidecar teams won the three preliminary sidecar heat races.

Former sidecar competitor Chris Jones, of Aliso Viejo, won his first 500cc Division 3 main for entry level riders. He parked his cycle near the finish line and cartwheeled four times across the finish line in his now traditional celebration. Broc Nicol, 12, of Lomita, won his first Youth Division main for 150cc cycles. In his fourth week of racing, the son of recent D-1 rider Doug Nicol led all four laps in a field of six pre-teens. Rocco Scopelite, 14, of Huntington Beach, fell on the original start of the Youth 250cc main. He returned for the restart and won his first main this year over Max Ruml, 13, the 250cc winner a week ago. Tristan Britt, 7, of Huntington Beach, won his second 50cc mini cycle pee-wee main of the eight-week old season. He led all four laps in a six rider field.

There were two special events this week under the title speedway games. A wheelie contest trophy and $50 cash prize went to McConnell over Burmeister and Neil Facchini. From a rolling start, McConnell made it to the second turn. Then five riders participated individually in a hot lap contest with the winner receiving a trophy and $50 cash. After the starting line tapes raised, Austin Novratil, 15, and Blair tied with laps of 11.00. John Marquez ran a 11.65, Tyson Talkington ran 11.70 and Michael Raines turned 11.90. A one-lap runoff race was used to settle the tie. Novratil used lane two and Blair had lane four. They ran side-by-side all the way and Novratil, on the inside, edged Blair by a wheel-length.

With summer speedway cycle racing in full swing, D-1 feature winners during the last week were: Nor Cal tracks: (Friday) Charlie Venegas at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, and (Saturday) Billy Janniro at Golden Gate Speedway in Vallejo at Solano County Fairgrounds. So Cal tracks: (Wednesday) Bobby Schwartz, 53, at Industry Speedway; (Friday) Blair at Orange County Fair Costa Mesa Speedway; (Saturday) Blair at Victorville; (Saturday) Tyson Burmeister in scratch main and Philip Harmatiuk in handicap main at Inland Motorcycle Speedway in San Bernardino (Orange Show Fairgrounds).

Next week (July 28) will be round nine of Wednesday night Industry Speedway season seven. It will feature Harley-Davidson Night II of 2010 for street-legal motorcycles.

July 20 2010

                     TOBIAS CAPTURES SPEEDSTR NIGHT 1 OF ALL-STAR WEEKEND AT CAYUGA COUNTY ..

 

Rich "Toby" Tobias picked off the Friday night All-Star SpeedSTR Feature

at Cayuga County Speedway. Rich out lasted the 22 car field for the win.

Photo by Jay Fish © 2010

 

Myerstown PA, July 16th, 2010:  22 SpeedSTR's signed in to compete at the Cayuga County Speedway All-star Weekend event in Weedsport, NY.

 

North East point leader Mario Page (Hillsborough, NJ) and RevStar Co-Owner Carl Labonte (Drummondville, Qc, Canada), who set fast time during qualifying, lead the historic field of 22 STR’s to the green flag on the opening night of All-star Weekend in conjunction with the DIRT Modifieds. Page and Labonte put on a hair raising wheel to wheel battle during the opening laps with Kyle Hieber (Langhorne, PA) lurking in the tracks of the two leaders, while the Kiwi Farms 33 of Doug Sherwood (Piscataway, NJ) and the 2 of Richie Tobias (Hershey, PA) were charging towards the front. The top 5 was heated with Tobias racing above the cushion, Sherwood down on the hub, and Page, Hieber, and Labonte searching the cushion.

 

Click to Enlarge Image

Kenney Johnson shown above in his self-owned

#46 SpeedSTR made the trip from Connecticut.

Photo by Jay Fish © 2010

 

At the midway point of the race Tobias and Page had swapped the lead and a little paint several times. On lap 11 Tobias secured the point as the 33 of Sherwood continued to work the bottom. Lap 13 would see Sherwood scoot by the point leader of Page. Page would battle back lap after lap on the high side only to have Sherwood pull in front off each corner. Now enter Yannick Poirier (Beloeil, Qc, Canada) and Chris Stockham (Cicero, NY) in the Valvoline #3 into the battle for the top 5. Hieber and Labonte who ran solidly up front all race long had the duo charging from behind.

 

Tobias would take the victory with Sherwood edging out Page for second followed by Hieber, and Poirier. Tobias exclaimed in victory lane how excited he was not only to win the race but how exciting it was to have 22 STR’s participate in this great event. “We have worked hard to build this series and I am so proud of everyone that has decided this is the car for them. This is a win for everyone tonight.”

 

STR Notes:

National Point Leader Gabriel Richer (Les Coteaux, Qc, Canada) had a rough night getting upside down early in the event. The Richer crew worked through out the night to get ready for night 2 of competition. Kaitie McCardle secured yet another great run, finishing in the top 10.

 

Click to Enlarge Image

Milford NJ's Tyler Potts is hard on the gas

during his heat race action at Cayuga County.

Photo by Jay Fish © 2010

 

   

Bilstein Racing Shocks National Event Feature Results (20 laps):

 

1. Richie Tobias (Thompson Motorsports 2, Hershey, PA) ($800.00), 2. Doug Sherwood (Kiwi Farms 33, Piscataway, NJ), 3. Mario Page (Izzi Trucking 10, Hillsborough, NJ), 4. Kyle Hieber (Bucks County International 66, Langhorne, PA), 5. Yannick Poirier (Poirier Motorsports 28, Beloeil, Qc, Canada), 6. Carl Labonte (RevStar 24, Drummondville, Qc, Canada), 7. Chris Stockham (Valvoline VR1, Cicero, NY), 8. Don Zrinski (Kiwi Farms 75, Piscataway, NJ), 9. Mike Mahaney (Thompson Motorsports 5, Lebanon, PA), 10. Kaitie McCardle (McCardle Motorsports 11, Honeybrook, PA), 11. Scott Munroe (Bull Dog Racing 14, Reading, PA), 12. Brandon Rahmer (Rahmer Motorsports 8, Salfordville, PA), 13. DJ Macri (Johnny Muffler 28, Waretown, NJ), 14. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY), 15. Daniel Nadeau (Nadeau Racing 54, Marieville, Qc, Canada), 16. Tyler Potts (THP Racing 12, Milford, NJ), 17. Freddie Rahmer Jr. (Rahmer Team 51, Salfordville, PA), 18. Jean-Nicholas Gareau (Gareau Motorsports 53, St-Hyacinthe, Qc, Canada), 19. Justin Thompson (Scrappy’s DR56, Lebanon, PA), 20. Kenney Johnson

July 17 2010
                                  Jason Goff Wins at Columbus
By Alex Wollf
 
            Jason Goff was the winner of the 25-lap feature for the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets on Friday night at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds in Columbus.  It was Jason’s second win of the 2010 season to go with a win at Montpelier Motor Speedway on July 3rd.  It also marked the third time this season that Jason and his father Terry finished first and second in a feature.  Jason now holds the two to one edge this season with Terry getting the best of Jason at Mount Lawn on June 19th.
            Following Jason and Terry to the finish line was third place finisher Ron Hamm, Oogie Goff was fourth, and Zach Cougill rounded out the top five.  The eight-lap heats went to Terry Goff, Jason Goff, and Travis Welpott.  The $50 from the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” for the highest finishing rookie went to Scotty Orme.  The five gallons of fuel for the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” went to Doug Roland who came from 14th to 6th in the feature.
            The next race for the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets is on July 24 at the Mount Lawn Speedway in New Castle.
 
Results
Heat Race Winners: Terry Goff, Jason Goff, Travis Welpott
Feature: 1. Jason Goff, 2. Terry Goff, 3. Ron Hamm, 4. Oogie Goff, 5. Zach Cougill, 6. Doug Roland, 7. Ron Combs, 8. Robbie Roland, 9. Scotty Orme, 10. Jon Steed, 11. Travis Welpott, 12. Scot Quintel, 13. Johnny Goff, 14. Rick Robinson, 15. Kellen Conover, 16. Michael Koontz
“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: Scotty Orme
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: Doug Roland (Advanced from 14th to 6th)

July 16 2010

BOBBY “BOOGALOO” SCHWARTZ WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLE FEATURE @ INDUSTRY spdwy

July 17 2010By Alex Wollf             July 16 2010

                                                                BY
                                                               
                                           Tim Kennedy
                                                                    Los Angeles Ca. 
                                                               Contributor OWR3
 
Industry, CA., Jul. 14 – Legendary Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz, 53-year old two-time US National Champion (1986 & 89) and two-time California State Champion (1988 & 91), enjoyed his most successful night of Wednesday night speedway cycle racing in seven years for the series at Industry Speedway. More than 800 fans of the sport cheered his perseverance and popular victory on $2.00 concession purchases night. Schwartz, who began racing speedway cycles 36 years ago, won two of his three heat races, placed second in the other, and was high point rider with eight points. The Costa Mesa resident parlayed that honor to victory in his semi-final race and selected the inside lane (pole position) for the five-rider feature. He shot into the first turn in a virtual three-way tie and used his inside position to emerge with the lead he held all four laps.
“This is my second win at this track and my first in four or five years here. I like the track when it is dry and slick the way it was tonight,” the winner said after posing for photos on the podium with his five-year old son Bobby, Jr. and the trophy.” Many fans came from the grandstands at The Grand to congratulate the popular veteran. Clearly enjoying the spotlight, Schwartz, who has raced at more than 20 tracks in the USA and countless more throughout Europe, posed for photos with winners of other main events and with all the pee-wee division riders in a group photo. He became the fourth different winner in seven D-1 features this season.

Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell pressured Schwartz intensely during the final three laps after second-running Mike Faria dropped out on lap 2 with a mechanical problem. Last chance race winner Buck Blair started from lane five and finished third. He is the only rider to qualify for all seven D-1 features this season. Charlie Venegas had qualified for all six and won four of the six D-1 mains, but he missed his flight south after preparing his track in Vallejo for its Saturday season opener and he was not present Wednesday. Teenager Austin Novratil made his first Industry D-1 main this season and placed fourth. Faria was fifth.

Eloy Medellin, 40, of Garden Grove, won the five rider Division 2 main on his 500cc JAWA. Dewayne “Sugar Daddy” Stark, 69, led all four laps and won his first D-3 main of the season in a six-rider field of newer riders. Stark, from Lake Forest, missed last week action with an exhaust valve problem. Max Ruml, 13, of Huntington Beach, won the first youth main on his 250cc cycle. Dillon Ruml, 11, followed his brother to victory by winning the second youth main for cycles up to 150cc. Sebastian Palmese, 6, of Santa Margarita, won his fourth pee-wee main in seven weeks. He led all four laps in a six rider field on 50cc mini cycles.

Joe Jones and his sidecar rider Jimmy Olsen won the three-team sidecar feature. Collisions in sidecar heat races earlier eliminated two teams from their main event. During the third sidecar heat, the Brian Motis (driver)/Brandi McElroy (sidecar swinger) hit the wall leaving the fourth turn and flipped. The rig landed on McElroy, who who remained on the ground with neck pain for several minutes. EMTs present put on a precautionary neck collar and wheeled her to the pits on a gurney. She said she was okay, declined transport to a hospital and remained in the pits.

During intermission before the third round of heat races, two USAC Ford Focus midgets took to the indoor dirt track for ten demonstration laps at speed. Wally Pankratz, USAC Western Midget Series 2000 champion, drove his blue No. 37 and Bruce Penhall, retired two-time National Speedway Cycle champion and TV show CHiPS actor in the 1970s, drove the yellow No. 8 midget. Pankratz uses both cars to train new drivers at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. From a side-by-side standing start from the starting line, inside driver Penhall led the first two laps and then spun in turn one. Pankratz spun into the stalled car. Both drivers used on-board starters and restarted. They reeled off five more hot laps with Penhall in front all the way. Pankratz closed to within three-quarters of a straightaway at the checkered flag. Penhall knocked over five of the orange cones used to keep the midgets higher than the speedway cycles dark groove. Both drivers came to The Grand and practiced Tuesday night from 5 to 7 pm. Penhall said he ran about 100 laps.

Penhall told the crowd that he drove Sleepy Tripp's midget during 1981 on a quarter-mile dirt track in Australia on a demo run. He praised Pankratz as “a great teacher” and added “running the midget is a lot like running a speedway cycle here.” Open wheel midget and sprint car drivers present included Tripp,two-time USAC Western midget champion Jerome Rodela, retired sprint car driver Steve Howard, plus Mark Dolacki, who lives in La Puente, a block from the Industry Hills Expo Center site. He said his nephew, Tyler Dolacki, 17-year old son of USAC Midget driver Robert Dolacki, of Madera, will be racing soon in USAC Ford Focus midget they purchased recently.

OTHER MOTORCYCLE RACING NEWS: Speedway cycle racing will switch to Friday night July 16 at Costa Mesa during the Orange County Fair at the fairgrounds. Speedway cycle racing will move from the usual Friday night action this week on the Inland Motorcycle Speedway at the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino. ... For fans in Northern California, Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn has its usual Friday night speedway cycle racing. Venegas will start his weekly Saturday night speedway cycle racing program July 17 at Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo. ... AMA Grand National dirt track motorcycle racing for the 750cc Harleys and other makes will race for the first time at the big half-mile, clay Calistoga Speedway at the Napa County Fairgrounds in scenic Calistoga on Saturday, July 31.



                   Scott Adams Making His Mark in Modifieds

                                   By Dino Oberto ..... “Keeping Track”

                                                
                                                   Dino Oberto
                                              Contributor OWR3
As a youngster during the 1990’s, Scott Adams traveled many Saturday nights to Sundance Vacations Speedway (Evergreen) to watch and help championship driver Chuck Schartzer of Nescopeck as well as his father Mike and uncle Mitch of Berwick.

Schartzer and his dad used the track’s ladder system of divisions to advance to the top class of modifieds where success followed both. Mitch stayed on as a crewman.

             Now 27-years old, Adams is making his own inroads with a modified car. After a very successful tenure of running factory stocks, Adams got his chance to follow his boyhood heroes in modifieds, the region’s premier class, both dirt and asphalt.

“The big thing was that my dad was well experienced in setting up a modified plus he makes so many of the parts which makes things even easier,” said Adams, who now calls Lake Ariel home.

“It’s almost cheaper to run the modified because he makes all the rub rails, bodies, A-arms and all that stuff.”

Adams races a ‘sport modified’ identical in appearance to full or tour-type mods with the exception of the tires, carburetor and engine which are all smaller. For a driver who cannot foot the cost of a regular modified it is the perfect match. For traditionalists the car can best be described as a ‘Sportsman’ class racer.

After years of making laps at the same track, Adams decided he would venture out this season. He has been making periodic stops at the demanding Mahoning Valley Speedway and in the most recent outing he nearly pulled off a win, finishing a close second to Don Wagner. And, he passed track kingpin John Bennett in the process before falling short to Wagner.

It was also came against a field of regular modifieds which was quite a feat for a Mahoning novice.

“We went to the sport modified because it was less expensive with the motor and tires. That was one of the benefits about going to Mahoning too. Down there you can race without the bigger motor and tires and be competitive,” said Adams.

“The first week there (Mahoning) we weren’t too bad. It was different because it was actually my first time of racing at a track other than Sundance. It took a little getting use too. It’s more of a momentum track and that helps because you don’t have to burn the tires off.

“The bottom end of that motor is the same one from my factory stock car. It’s not a big dollar motor but it did the job. Andy Jensen (engine builder) did a great job of preparing it for us,” he continued.

“It was almost like a victory. I would say it was the first time in a long while that I had fun racing. There’s a lot of side-by-side and the fact that there’s a good outer lane made a big difference and it even was the preferred lane. Sure there’s a little bit of bumping and banging but that’s racing. I definitely had fun down there.”

Interesting to note it is that Wagner was also among the talent pool of drivers during Adams’ youth.

“One thing I thought about finishing second to Donny Wagner, I can remember being nine or ten year’s old over at Evergreen and watching him and other guys like Chuck (Schartzer) and my dad. I never thought that someday I would be racing against him.”

Adams’ quick progression of reaching the front of the pack should come as no surprise. With his factory stock he claimed nine wins in a two year period and in 2008 was oh-so-close to a championship as he missed the factory stock title by a bumper, literally. The whole season came down to the last lap of the last race were eventual titlist Nick Ross edged him for the crown.

Adams always admired and respected racers such as his dad, uncle and Schartzer and now that he is doing the same he reflects back on what they meant to him then and now.

“When I was younger I was always working with those guys on their cars and never thinking about those guys working on my car like they are now.

“If it wasn’t for my dad there would be no way I could do this, maybe with the factory stock but never with the modified. He does so much fabrication and moneywise I could never pay someone to do it for me or make all the parts. He and my uncle Mitch, they just have so much knowledge and I could never do it without them.”

July 13 2010 
     MATT JANISCH CONQUERS SPEEDSTR NATIONAL EVENT AT SHANGRI LA II SPDWY 
 
                                        
Feature winner Matt Janisch (center) is flanked on his right by Paul Lotier Jr,
who finished 2nd, and on his left is Gabriel Richer, who finished 3rd in the
 SpeedSTR National Feature event held at Shangri La II Speedway.
Photo by Mojo © 2010
 
Myerstown PA, July 10th, 2010:  TQ midget Superstars Matt Janisch and Paul Lotier Jr. finish one, two in the SpeedSTR National event on the super fast concrete of Shangri La II Speedway. After a week off,  the Cars and Stars of the International SpeedSTR series gathered for the North East regions first Pavement/Concrete race as well as the season's first National Event at the Shangri LA II Speedway.
 
The Pavement/Concrete National Events line qualifying races up by time from two practice sessions. Doug Rose (Syracuse, NY) in the Lowes DR1 set fast time of the day and would win dash number one. Matt Janisch driving the Valvoline VR1 was second quickest in qualifying and would conquer dash number two. 
 
                  
       Kaitie McCardle leads the way over 5 fellow SpeedSTR Drivers during heat action.
          Photo by Mojo © 2010
 
A redraw of the top 4 in each dash would set the line up for the feature event with Paul Lotier Jr. (Lebanon, PA) a former winner in the STR series drawing the pole position. Canadian standout Gabriel Richer (Les Coteaux, Qc, Canada) would start outside front row. Lotier Jr. set the early pace of the 18 car field followed by Richer and Janisch with a hard fought battle taking place for fourth between the 28 of Yannick Poirier (Beloeil Qc, Canada), DJ Macri (Waretown, NJ) and Rose. As Rose moved past Macri, Janisch would take over second from Richer and put pressure on race leader Lotier.
 
The only caution of the evening would fly on lap 11 bunching up the field. During the caution period, Rose would duck into the pits with brake issues and moments later point leader Mario Page (Hillsborough, NJ) would go pit side. On the ensuing restart Janisch would pounce on Lotier to take over the race lead and never look back as Macri would go to the high side around Poirier for 4th. Lotier would hold off challenges from Richer and Macri with Poirier rounding out the top 5. Janisch took the checkered flag and pulled the Valvoline VR1 into victory lane. " Rich did a great job with these cars, they are a blast to drive and the $800.00 payday is pretty cool too."
 

Industry, CA., Jul. 7 – Charlie “the Edge” Venegas won for the fourth time in six weeks of Wednesday night speedway cycle racing at Industry Speedway on a “Salute to Classic American & Muscle Car Night”. The 43-year old San Bernardino resident became the second consecutive 500cc Division 1 feature winner who earned the final feature starting spot by winning the last chance race. He started the main event on the outside in lane five and chased inside lane starter Mike Faria for two laps. Then Venegas shot to the inside in the second turn and raced his JAWA cycle past Faria to lead the final two laps. He won by ten yards over Faria, a three-time national champion. 

Tyson Burmeister, who won one of two semi-final races along with Faria, finished third. Buck Blair, the June 30 Industry D-1 feature winner, took fourth spot away from Shawn McConnell on the final lap in front of 615 spectators on KLOS, 95.5 fm night. DJ Joe Benson was in the house as well. After missing the Industry race last week, Faria, 53, installed a new motor overnight because his prior motor failed June 23. He won all three of his heat races and was the only rider with a perfect score of nine points.

Incredible Aaron Fox, a 22-year old from Menifee, did it again on his 500cc JAWA. In only his sixth night of speedway cycle racing, he won all three of his heat races and then led all four laps of the Division 2 main event for intermediate level riders. Fox has not been defeated in any heat or main during the three weeks he has raced at Industry Speedway. He has a D-3 and two D-2 feature triumphs. His only main event defeat came at Costa Mesa Speedway where he finished second to D-2 veteran Rudy Lauer. Fox said officials told him he will be racing in D-1 next week. 

Kevin Wybenga, a 22-year old Whittier resident, led all four laps for his third 500cc Division 3 (rookies) victory in the six weeks of racing at Industry. He will be moved up to D-2 for July 14 action. A four-team 1,000cc motorcycle/sidecar race, run in a clockwise direction as usual, went to first-time winners Dylan Beard and his sidecar “swinger” Crystal Laurie, 28. They led all four laps and defeated last week's initial sidecar winners Sean and Casey Driggers, a father and son team. The other two teams collided on the final lap in turn two while battling for third place. Both teams pulled to the infield. 

Max Ruml, 13, of Huntington Beach, won the over 200cc youth main on his 250cc JAWA. Eleven-year old Kurtis Hamill, of Carlsbad, won the four-rider under 200cc main. He wore the same No. 104 leathers used by his father, retired speedway cycle racing champion Billy Hamill, when he raced at the same age as a resident of Monrovia. It was his initial Industry Speedway first place trophy and came in his third week at the track. 

Blond rookie Alyssa Smith, 8, of Lakewood, wore her familiar pink helmet and led the first three laps of the pee-wee main on her 50cc mini cycle. Heading for the waving checkered flag as she exited turn four on the final lap she bobbled briefly. Domenic Laney, 7, of Fountain Valley, passed her on the outside and barely won by half a length over the disappointed former leader. It was his third week racing his 50cc mini cycle and his first P. 1 medal. His aunt Carla Laney, the sister of sprint car champion and dirt late model racer Mike Kirby, has raced dirt track stock cars at Perris for years and at Ascot Park in Gardena before that. 

Next Wednesday, July 14 will have the annual exhibition of USAC Ford Focus-powered Midgets on the Industry Speedway dirt track inside The Grand Arena. Drivers will be USAC 2000 Western Series Midget Champion Wally Pankratz and retired speedway cycle champion Bruce Penhall, who also was an actor on the 1970s TV show CHiPs” starring Eric Estrada.


          Ron Combs Wins UMRA TQ Midget feature at Greensburg
By Alex Wollf
 
            Ron Combs picked up the win in the 25-lap Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midget feature at his home track at the Decatur County Fairgrounds in Greensburg on Friday night.  He made the winning pass just before the halfway point and never looked back in a race that saw close racing throughout the field.  Terry Goff finished second, CJ Leary was third, Brandon Gray was fourth, and Michael Koontz rounded out the top five.
            The ten-lap heats went to Ron Combs, CJ Leary, and Becky Brown.  The 12-lap semi feature sponsored by Gray Auto and Tony Stewart Racing went to Terry Goff.  The $50 to the highest finishing rookie as part of the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” went to CJ Leary.  The five gallons of fuel for the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” went to Trent Henderson who came from 16th to 6th in the feature.
 
Results
Heat Race Winners: Ron Combs, CJ Leary, Becky Brown
Semi Winner: Terry Goff
Feature: 1. Ron Combs, 2. Terry Goff, 3. CJ Leary, 4. Brandon Gray, 5. Michael Koontz, 6. Trent Henderson, 7. Robbie Roland, 8. Ron Hamm, 9. Brayton Leisure, 10. Becky Brown, 11. Bobby Walton, 12. Johnny Goff, 13. Travis Welpott, 14. Jason VanOsdol, 15. Scotty Orme, 16. Jon Steed, 17. Rob Walton, 18. Nick Speidel, 19. Doug Roland, 20. Jason Goff, 21. Jeremy Rainwater
“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: CJ Leary
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: Trent Henderson (Advanced from 16th to 6th)




July 6 2010

               Greensburg and Brownstown On Tap This Weekend for UMRA
By Alex Wollf
 
            A doubleheader weekend is next up for the 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets. 
Friday night will see the TQs at the Decatur County Fairgrounds in Greensburg for the first time in 2010.  Last September when the UMRA was there Terry Goff captured one of his eight checkered flags in Greensburg.  However, Friday night he will have to answer the tough challenge of veterans like Greensburg driver Ron Combs who has three wins in 2010, rising stars like Brandon Gray and Robbie Roland who are eager to break into the win column, and his own son Jason Goff who won this past Saturday night at the Montpelier Motor Speedway.
Saturday night will be the second trip of the season to the Brownstown Speedway.  When the series hit the Jackson County quarter-mile on May 15 the big story was the comeback of Oogie Goff who won in his first start since leg injuries ended his 2009 season prematurely.  The first race of the season at Brownstown was a very entertaining one and Saturday night should be no exception.
There will be a pair of contingency awards that the drivers will be going after on Friday and Saturday nights.  $50 will go to the highest finishing rookie as a part of the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge.”  There will also be five gallons of fuel on the line with the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” for the driver who advances the most positions in the feature event.  Kids will also want get their parents to take them to the races with one lucky young fan each night winning a brand new kids bike.
Times are the same both Friday night at Greensburg and Saturday night at Brownstown.  Gates open at three, practice is at 5:30, and racing is scheduled to begin at seven.

Top Ten In UMRA Points (After Eight Races)
1. Terry Goff                 1222   6. Brandon Gray            898
2. Ron Combs               1118   7. Doug Roland            878
3. Jason Goff                1019   8. Trent Henderson       818
4. Robbie Roland           998    9. Jeremy Rainwater     769
5. Michael Koontz          930    10. Scott Petry             760

July 2 2010

            BLAIR WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLES FEATURE @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY 
                                                               BY
                                                               
                                           Tim Kennedy
                                                                    Los Angeles Ca. 
                                                               Contributor OWR3

Industry, CA., Jun. 30 – Buck Blair started from the outside (fifth) lane and shot into the lead on a restarted first lap Wednesday night in the 500cc Division 1 Industry Speedway feature. He led all four laps for his first feature triumph in week five of the seventh annual summer speedway motorcycle racing series at the Grand Arena in the Industry Hills Expo Center. Blair benefited from the first lap third turn falls by Shawn McConnell and Eddie Castro. Their separate mishaps caused a red flag and wiped out the opening lap lead of pole starter Charlie Venegas.

Venegas clearly was unhappy with the restart by Blair and confronted the winner during podium trophy presentations and again in the pits. He said Blair had made an unfair start and cut him off entering the first turn. Venegas trailed Blair and Bobby Schwartz for the first two laps and then passed Schwartz on lap 3. The three-time 2010 Industry winner tried to make it four in a row, but he trailed Blair by two lengths at the finish line. After remounting for the restart, McConnell and Castro passed Schwartz on the final lap. Schwartz slowed from the second turn to the checkered flag and placed fifth.

Aaron Fox, 22, of Menifee, continued his impressive showings in his second week of racing at Industry. He won all his Division 3 (rookies) heats and main event a week ago on his 500cc JAWA..Officials moved him up to Division 2 (intermediate level riders) and he again won both of his heat races and his first D-2 main event. He led laps 3 and 4 in a five rider field. Kevin Wybenga, 22, of Whittier, captured his second four rider D-3 main event at Industry. He led all four laps.

With six 1,000cc motorcycle and sidecar teams present, heat races were extremely competitive and lead changes commonplace. After three teams qualified by points for the feature, a three team “last chance” race took place with only the winner advancing. The Driggers father-son team of Sean, 49, and Casey, 17, won the final berth. The Driggers, from Lake Forest, led all four laps of the feature and beat frequent winners Joe James and his swing-man Jimmy Olsen. The race was so close at the end that the front wheels of the Jones/Olsen cycle left rips and tire marks on the leathers of swing-man Casey Driggers as he leaned over the track from the sidecar.

Youth main events went to a pair of Huntington Beach residents--Max Ruml, 12, in a three-rider race for older youths, and Michael Wells, 9, for newer/younger riders. Ruml rode a 250cc bike and Wells was aboard a 140cc cycle. Sebastian Palmese, 6, of Santa Margarita, won his third consecutive pee-wee division main on a 50cc mini cycle.

Wild and unusual events included D-1 rider Eloy Medellin taking a spectacular spill. He hiked his front wheel exiting turn two on the first lap of his second heat race and came off the back onto the track. His 500cc cycle flipped over the backstretch wall—a first in seven years of racing at The Grand. The former D-2 feature winner was able to rise eventually and walk to the pits. Crews wheeled his damaged cycle from the outside of the track to the pits. Medellin and his cycle were sidelined for the evening.

The track's five-ton Case tractor came onto the track to drag, or recondition, the dirt track prior to D-1 round three heat races. A loud snap from a sheared steering shaft stopped the tractor in the second turn. A second IHEC tractor could not move the first tractor from the track. Then track officials called in “Big Bertha”--a heavy duty Hyster fork lift. The driver positioned twin forks under the immobile tractor and lifted it high in the air before backing off the track to the pits. Racing continued. A delay of 20 minutes caused racing to conclude a minute before the 10:00 pm curfew.

Speedway cycle champion Billy Hamill, whose son Kurtis, 11, now races in the youth division, has announced a Hagon Shocks-backed Speedway Cycle Academy. The training site is Inland Motorsport Speedway in San Bernardino at the Orange Show Fairgrounds. The purpose is to increase the number of young speedway cycle racers. It is free to kids from ages 8 through 14, but youngsters must have some motorcycle experience in motocross or desert riding. Hamill will provide skid shoes, boots and entry-level 140cc cycles free and will provide instruction to newcomers. Adult group and individual classes also are available as well as cycle rentals. For more information e-mail www.hagonshocks@yahoo.com or phone (760) 308-8124.

Next Wednesday will have classic and muscle cars on display prior to and after speedway cycle racers entertain fans, who make Industry Speedway “the only reason for Wednesday nights.”


July 1 2010
                     EVANS WINS THIRD 2010 NMRA-TQ MIDGET FEATURE
                                                               BY
                                                               
                                           Tim Kennedy
                                                                    Los Angeles Ca. 
                                                               Contributor OWR3

 Bakersfield, CA., Jun. 26 – Evans Motorsports did it again Saturday night at the third-mile, clay Bakersfield Speedway as part of a multi-division racing program. The two-car Moorpark-based NMRA-TQ Midget Series team finished one-two in the main event for the second consecutive time and third time in eight races this season. They also ran one-two in the May 22 Bakersfield race and during the June 19 Perris race. In each case team owner West Evans won aboard his No. 36 Spike-750cc Suzuki. Over the last four races, his cousin Chuck West, from Clovis, drove the No. 38 Stealth/750cc Suzuki to three seconds and a victory in event six when Evans finished fourth.

The 25-lap feature started 11 cars, tying the season high car count in round two at Bakersfield on March 27. Kenny Wiley started in P. 2 Saturday and led the first 17 laps before he dropped out on lap 18. Evans, the fourth starter, inherited the lead and remained in front for the final eight circuits. West started eighth and claimed second. Evans entered the race 35 points in back of series point leader Anthony Lopiccolo. He now trails Lopiccolo by only seven points as they both seek their first TQ driving championship. Evans' No. 38 car tied Lopiccolo's No. 21 TQ at 462 points. Both cars trail the Evans No. 38 by 30 points with nine NMRA races remaining on the schedule.

Pole starter Ron Ahrendt finished third in his own No. 87 Ellis/Honda. Bruce Hiroshima started in P. 5 and earned fourth. Hometown driver Dakota Schweitzer started third and finished fifth. Scott Dobson (from 11th), Jimmy Dodson (from P. 6), Dave Lambert (from 10th), and Amanda Thomas (from P. 9) were the other finishers and all completed 25 laps. Non-finishers were Wiley with 17 laps and point leader Lopiccolo with two laps.

The two eight-lap heat races had six and five starters. Fourth starter Evans won over sixth starter West in the first heat. Schweitzer, from P. 3, won the second heat over fourth starter Hiroshima. The next scheduled NMRA race, round nine of 16, will be Saturday, July 24. It will be the fifth of nine TQ races scheduled at Bakersfield Speedway this year.

Summary:

Heat 1 – West Evans, Chuck West, Kenny Wiley, Jimmy Dodson, Amanda Thomas, Scott Dobson.

Heat 2 – Dakota Schweitzer, Bruce Hiroshima, Anthony Lopiccolo, Ron Ahrendt, Dave Lambert.

Main – Evans, West, Ahrendt, Hiroshima, Schweitzer, Dobson, Dodson, Lambert, Thomas, Wiley, Lopiccolo.

POINT STANDINGS: (as of July 1)

            Drivers                                     Car Owners

1 Anthony Lopiccolo        442           1 Car 38 West Evans     492

2 West Evans                 438           2 Car 36 Wrest Evans    462

3 Chuck West                 415           2 Car 21 Paul Lopiccolo 462

4 Bruce Hiroshima           394          4 Car 87 Ron Ahrendt     424

5 Ron Ahrendt                 388          5 Car 5 Bruce Hiroshima 415

6 Dakota Schweitzer        354          6 Car 6 Jimmy Dodson   404

7 Jimmy Dodson              332          7 Car 59 Steve Parke     400

8 Dave Lambert               328          8 Car 55 Dave Lambert  352

9 Amanda Thomas           325          9 Car 40 Ed Thomas      349

10 Scott Niven                 290         10 Car 66 Scott Niven      308


                      UMRA Heads to Montpelier Saturday Night
By Alex Wollf
 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets continues on Saturday night at the Montpelier Motor Speedway if Mother Nature will finally cooperate.  Saturday’s race was supposed to be the third of the season at Montpelier but heat races on May 8 have served as the only on-track action of 2010 at the track for the UMRA due to those pesky rain showers.
            Following the 2010 edition of the Rushville Nationals, this year honoring the memory of the legendary Crocky Wright, the hottest driver on the circuit is 1989 and 2005 series champion Ron Combs who swept the annual Friday and Saturday races held during the Rush County Fair in his Tony Stewart owned #50.  However, as the season nears the midway point, veterans like 14-time UMRA champion Terry Goff and rising stars like third-place point man Robbie Roland are eager to start a run towards a possible championship in 2010.
            There should be enough fireworks on the track at Montpelier this Independence Day Weekend to yield plenty of “Oohs” and “Ahhs” from the crowd watching the exciting brand of action that the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets provide night in and night out.  Gates open at 4 PM on Saturday, practice is at 6, and racing is set to roll of at 7!
 
Top Ten In UMRA Points (After Seven Races)
1. Terry Goff         1082 6. Michael Koontz          805
2. Ron Combs       983 7. Doug Roland               805
3. Robbie Roland  914 8. Trent Henderson         755
4. Jason Goff        873 9. Patrick Wolf                 699
5. Brandon Gray    830 10. Jeremy Rainwater      673


June 28 2010

Venegas started from the inside lane in a five-rider field and beat reinvigorated Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz, 53, into the first turn. They raced evenly, shoulder to shoulder, to the second turn of the dirt track that had taken rubber by that point. Venegas shot ahead on the backstretch and opened a ten-yard advantage to the checkered flag. Fourth lane rider Shawn McConnell passed Schwartz on the first lap and finished second. Schwartz claimed third “on my kind of track”. Buck Blair and Eddie Castro followed closely behind Schwartz when the checkered flag flew at 9:26 pm.

Tim McGrath, of San Gabriel, led all four laps of the 500cc Division 2 race for five intermediate skill level riders. It was his first D-2 feature victory in his first season as a D-2 rider. He won several D-3 main events for rookie riders in recent years. Aaron Fox, 22, of Menifee, tried the Industry track for the first time and won all three of his heat races by at least a straightaway and his first four-lap D-3 feature. Four riders started and Fox led every lap, winning easily by half a lap on his 500cc JAWA.

Sidecar racing had four two-person rigs in extremely close competition in each of the sidecar races. Leads changed in both preliminary heat races with two and even three teams swapping the lead in each heat. The sidecar main event went to Costa Mesa residents Joe Jones and sidecar passenger Jimmy Olsen. The Jones/Olsen duo took control on the third of four laps. It was Harley-Davidson Night and five street-legal motorcycles “raced” four laps. A 1969 BSA 650cc driven by Jim Joseph, of La Mirada, barely edged a closing stock Harley piloted by “Horny Man”, a Viking horns helmeted rider who completes in this event annually at Industry.

Kurtis Hamill, 11-year old son of retired speedway cycle racing champion Bobby Hamil, had a stunning Industry debut as a youth division rider. The Carlsbad resident wore the same leathers that his dad wore in 1982 as a young racer and the leathers still carried “Bobby” and No. 104. Kurtis, a former pee-wee rider years ago, chased Dillon Ruml,of Huntington Beach, for almost four laps. With the checkers waving, he passed Ruml on the outside near the finish line and won by half a wheel-length. Maverick Molloy, 8, of Chino Hills, won the other youth main over Michael Wells, 9. Three pee-wee riders raced on 50cc mini-cycles and Sebastian Palmese, 6, of Santa Margarita led all four laps.

Next week round five of the Wednesday night summer speedway cycle racing season at Industry Speedway will have speedway cycles and sidecar racing as usual and a NHRA Museum muscle car exposition as well. Preliminary racing rounds start at 7:00, with the National Anthem at 7:30 pm followed by about two hours of virtually non-stop action.



June 24 2010

WEST EVANS—FIRST REPEAT WINNER IN NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN @ PERRIS 
 BY

Tim Kennedy
  Los Angeles Ca. 
 Contributor OWR3

Perris, CA., Jun. 19 – West Evans won round seven of the touring NMRA-TQ Midget season Saturday on the quarter-mile clay Perris Auto Speedway in a six-division card with local modified and stock car divisions. He became the first repeat feature winner of the season and backed up his May 22 Bakersfield Speedway triumph. The 47-year old Moorpark (Ventura County) resident and NMRA officer started fifth in a ten-car field and led the final 21 laps of the 25-lap race.

Evans drove his own No. 36 Spike chassis with a Bob Wirth Suzuki 750cc engine. It was his fifth TQ midget main event victory since he and other TQ midget owners/drivers in 2002 revived the 30-year old TQ-only sanctioning body. USAC had sanctioned TQ racing on the West Coast for 15 years through 2001. Evans also won a pair of TQ main events under USAC sanction during 2001. He began racing TQs in 1988 and climbed the points ladder steadily each season. He finished fifth, sixth or seventh in driver points each year from 1996-2001. He also received the 1996 USAC Most Improved Driver Award for the TQ division.

Chuck West, the last TQ feature winner at Santa Maria Speedway, started seventh and finished second in the West Evans Motor-sports No. 38 Stealth/750cc Suzuki owned by his cousin. Bruce Hiroshima raced from sixth starting to third place in his Rick Stewart chassis with Honda power. Jimmy Dodson, the 2008 NMRA rookie of the year, came from ninth at the start to earn fourth. Point leader Anthony Lopiccolo raced from eighth to fifth. NMRA's 2009 rookie award winner Dakota Schweitzer (from fifth), Scott Niven (from third), and Amanda Thomas (from pole) completed the top eight and logged 25 laps. Thomas also led the first four laps. Retired LAPD police officer Ron Ahrendt, 67, and Dave Lambert finished ninth and tenth and both finished 24 laps. Evans (from third) and Lopiccolo (from fifth) won the two five-car, eight-lap heat races.

NMRA point standings for drivers and owners tightened considerably following Perris. Lopiccolo had his drivers point lead cut from 47 to 35 points over Evans. Both drivers are seeking their initial TQ driving championship. Evans has won two TQ car owner championships (2006 and 08). The 2010 car owner championship race had Evans' No. 38 car overcome a five point deficit to Paul Lopiccolo's No. 21 Stewart/Honda; it now leads the 21 car by a slim five points (427-424) with nine races remaining in the current 16 event schedule.

NMRA teams will compete Saturday, June 26 at the Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. It will be the fourth of seven TQ races in 2010 at the third-mile clay track in northern Bakersfield as part of another multi-division card.

Summary:

Heat 1 – West Evans, Chuck West, Scott Niven, Amanda Thomas, Jimmy Dodson.

Heat 2 – Anthony Lopiccolo, Bruce Hiroshima, Ron Ahrendt, Dakota Schweitzer, Dave Lambert.

Main – Evans, West, Hiroshima, Dodson, Lopiccolo, Schweitzer, Niven, Thomas, Ahrendt, Lambert.

POINT STANDINGS (as of June 23, 2010)

  Drivers                               Car Owners

  1 Anthony Lopiccolo         407             1 Car 38 West Evans          427

  2 West Evans                    372             2 Car 21 Paul Lopiccolo      424

  3 Chuck West                   353             3 Car 36 West Evans          393

  4 Bruce Hiroshima           338             4 Car 87 Ron Ahrendt         364

  5 Ron Ahrendt                 331             5 Car 5 Bruce Hiroshima      356

  6 Dakota Schweitzer       300             5 Car 6 Jimmy Dodson         356

  7 Scott Niven                  290             7 Car 59 Steve Parke         343

  8 Dave Lambert              289             8 Car 55 Dave Lambert        310

  8 Amanda Thomas          289             8 Car 40 Ed Thomas           310

10 Jimmy Dodson              287            10 Car 66 Scott Niven         308


June 23 2010
Terry Goff Takes Emotional Win at Mount Lawn
By Alex Wollf
 
            Terry Goff gave himself a father’s day present that he will never forget on Saturday night as he beat his son Jason Goff in dramatic fashion in the 25-lap Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midget feature at the Mount Lawn Speedway sponsored by NAP Investments.  Oogie Goff led the early stages of the race from his outside front row starting position.  Near the midway point of the race Terry Goff took the lead of the race but received a strong challenge throughout the second half of the feature from his son Jason.  Jason would make what appeared to be the winning pass with three laps to go.  However, Terry would pass Jason on the final lap to take the win in what he called in victory lane the highlight of his career.  Scott Petry finished third, Brandon Gray was fourth, and Oogie Goff rounded out the top five.
            Quick time was Terry Goff at 16.214 seconds.  The heat race winners were Terry Goff and Scott Petry.  The $50 for the highest finishing rookie as part of the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” went to Scotty Orme.  The five gallons of fuel for the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” went to Terry Goff who advanced from tenth to first in the feature.
            The next event in the 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets is the Rushville Nationals at the Rush County Fairgrounds on June 25 and 26 sponsored by Hubler Chevrolet and honoring the memory of Crocky Wright as the TQs will be joined by the 600cc micros.
 
Results
Quick Time: Terry Goff-16.214 seconds
Heat Race Winners: Terry Goff, Scott Petry
Feature: 1. Terry Goff, 2. Jason Goff, 3. Scott Petry, 4. Brandon Gray, 5. Oogie Goff, 6. Ron Hamm, 7. Doug Roland, 8. Michael Koontz, 9. Jeremy Rainwater, 10. Trent Henderson, 11. Scotty Orme, 12. Robbie Roland, 13. Kevin Blue
“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: Scotty Orme
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: Terry Goff (Advanced from 10th to 1st)




MARIO PAGE ADDS SPEEDSTR SERIES VICTORY TO HIS NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY WIN LIST 
 
 
                                                    
Kyle Mario Page is all smiles after recording his 3rd International SpeedSTR Series Win of the 2010 season at New Egypt

Myerstown, PA - June 19th, 2010 - STR point leader Mario Page has won in numerous divisions at the New Egypt Speedway and now adds the SpeedSTR series to his illustrious list. Steve Hicks (Doylestown, PA) and Gary Hieber Jr. (Langhorne, PA) led a robust field of 17 STR's to the green with Hicks quickly jumping out to the lead over Hieber Jr. and Tyler Potts (Milford, NJ). Meanwhile Mario Page (Hillsborough, NJ) was wasting no time charging to the front from seventh. By lap five Page was contending for the lead from Hicks. Page would take over the top spot but Hicks would hang tough all race long.
Click to Enlarge Image
 
By the midway point Gary Huber (Riverdale, NJ) would move into third getting past the DR56 of Hieber Jr. while Doug Sherwood (Piscataway, NJ) who was tough all evening after winning his heat race and running in the top 5 all feature long. The last caution of the evening would set up a late race shoot out. "Hicks got a good run into turn one on me and he could have slid up in front and take the lead but he held his line and I was able to get off turn 2 and pull him down the back stretch Stated Page". Page would go on to collect the $800.00 pay day followed by Hicks, Huber, Hieber Jr., and Sherwood. Kyle Hieber (Langhorne, PA) made a late race challenge for the top five position but would fall just short. Hieber was clearly the hard charger of the race coming from 15th to 6th by the races end.
 

                                                         
                           Doug Rose gets his SpeedSTR sideways through the turns at New Egypt Speedway.
 
STR Notes: New Egypt Speedway presented a 5 lap Fathers Day Race for each division. Richie Page II would capture the victory followed by David Izzi and Lee Wixon . Brittany Wixon continues to show steady improvement. Wixon who came to the STR series via the Karting brought home a solid 9th place finish Saturday evening. Jorden Henn, grandson of "Moose" Eisenhard (owner of the Keith Hoffman's modified) was on hand in the #5 STR. Henn was solid all evening. Big Block Modified regular Frank Cozze Jr. did double duty in the Modifieds and the SpeedSTR's. Cozze came from last to second in his heat race and ran 10th in the feature.

June 18 2010

Rushville Nationals To Honor Memory of Crocky Wright
By Alex Wollf
 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets is a time for reflection.  It is a time to remember and celebrate the history of an organization that started in 1961 when Mel Harpring was the first UMRA champion.  It is also a time to reflect on the people who have been great supporters of the UMRA over the past half century.  One man who was a great backer of the UMRA was Crocky Wright.
            Crocky Wright was born Ernest Schlausky in New Jersey where his formative years came in the era of “the mighty midgets” and gave him a chance to see them race at the famed Nutley Velodrome in the 1930s.  He also was a lover of motorcycle racing where his hero was a speedway racer by the name of Emerson “Crocky” Rawding.  After serving in the military during the Second World War, the young Schlausky made an attempt at racing in midgets.  It was during this period that Ernest Schlausky made a trip to New York City.  He had begun to adopt the first name Crocky in honor of his hero when a truck with a business ad on the side of it drove past him in “The Big Apple.”  The ad on the truck said “Wright” and after picking the name right off of the side of the truck from that day on Ernest Schlausky was known to the world as Crocky Wright.
            Crocky would soon find his calling in writing about racing.  He would go on to write articles for racing publications and books about the history of midget racing that proudly sit in the bookcases of lovers of the sport.  Eventually Crocky would migrate from New Jersey to settle in Indiana.  The state was the perfect place for Crocky as it was (and remains to this day) a hotbed of midget racing.  Of the many books that Crocky had written was a history of three-quarter midget racing on the East Coast and it so happened that Indiana was a hotbed of those as well.
            The TQ’s were the perfect car for Crocky as it combined his two loves with the midget car and the motorcycle powerplants.  Crocky became a big supporter of the UMRA by coming out to the track to cover the races and also keep meticulous notes on the events.  He also had a sharp eye for talent and at a UMRA event in Madison, Indiana on July 18, 1989 one upstart driver from Columbus, Indiana caught his eye.  The driver was Tony Stewart.  The date became so etched in Crocky’s mind that for many years he would purchase a cake on July 18 and bring from the trailer that he lived in across from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and share it with employees at the track to celebrate the day that he discovered the future racing legend whose cause he championed in the early years.
            Many stories about Crocky have been well documented.  The fact that he was the only man ever fired from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for driving the tour bus too fast.  The fact that he was also a motorcycle daredevil at heart, performing the “wall of fire” stunt up until the age of 77!  It has also been well documented that in recent years Stewart purchased a home in Columbus for Crocky to live in.  In later years you could tell that Crocky was slowing down physically but his love of the sport never did.  He could still be found in the press box at Eldora, Bloomington, and ORP whenever there was a big race.  He even came out to the fair race in Columbus in July of 2008 and was in the grandstands as Jason Vest took his first career UMRA feature win.  On December 23, 2009 one of the most colorful lives came to an end as Crocky Wright passed away at the age of 90.
            However, the story does not end there as in his will Crocky set aside money to go towards the purse of the Rushville Nationals to be held on June 25 and 26 at the Rush County Fairgrounds.  The Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets invite race fans to come to the Rushville Nationals to honor the memory of a truly one-of-a-kind individual, Crocky Wright


June 17 2010


CHUCK WEST WINS NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN @ SANTA MARIA 
 BY

Tim Kennedy
  Los Angeles Ca. 
 Contributor OWR3

Santa Maria, CA., Jun. 12 – Round six of the 16-race 2010 NMRA-TQ Midget Series Saturday at the third-mile clay Santa Maria Speedway produced the sixth different feature winner—Chuck West, of Clovis. The three-time NMRA-TQ driving champion (2002, 06 and 08) started first and led all 25 laps. He scored his 18th TQ main event victory since NMRA reformed in 2002. The winner drove the Repell, CW Industries of Fresno, SDTC Equipment Rentals No. 38 Stealth/Suzuki 750cc-powered car owned by his cousin, West Evans. West, who was not present at one of the six events this season, jumped from sixth in 2010 driver points to a third place tie with Ron Ahrendt at 291 points. The 38 car remained second in owner points.

Anthony Lopiccolo, the 2010 point leader, charged from sixth-starting spot in a nine-car field and finished second to retain his point advantage by 47 points over Evans. Lopiccolo's No. 21 TQ, owned by his father Paul, is five points ahead of the No. 38 TQ. Greg Edenholm drove the 38 car on April 10 when the traveling NMRA teams last raced in Santa Maria and West was absent. Bruce Hiroshima came from eighth to third at the checkers. Evans (from fifth) and Dakota Schweitzer (from fourth) also completed all 25 laps and rounded out the top[ five finishers. Sixth place Ron Ahrendt (from third) and Dave Lambert (from second) finished 24 laps. Eighth finisher Amanda Thomas ran 13 laps after starting seventh. Edenholm did not log any laps in his own No. 2 TQ.

Two eight-lap heat races went to Ahrendt (from second starting) and Lopiccolo (from third). All nine cars ran a pair of laps during afternoon time trials and Hiroshima set the fastest time of 16.063 on his first lap. Second fastest qualifier Amanda Thomas also ran her best lap on her first lap at 16.290. The next six drivers set their best lap on their second timed lap. The spread from fastest to slowest qualifier was 0.634. The next NMRA-TQ race will be held Saturday, June 19 at Perris Auto Speedway where Hiroshima started fourth and won the TQ season-opening main on March 13 over Lopiccolo.

Summary:

Fast Time: Bruce Hiroshima, 16.063.

Heat 1: Ron Ahrendt, Chuck West, West Evans, Hiroshima, Greg Edenholm.

Heat 2: Andrew Lopiccolo, Dakota Schweitzer, Dave Lambert, Amanda Thomas.

Main: West, Lopiccolo, Hiroshima, Evans, Schweitzer, Ahrendt, Lambert, Thomas, Edenholm.

 
POINT STANDINGS (June 13)

Venegas beat runner-up Mike Faria by ten yards. Faria, formerly from Reno, now lives in California where he is able to race at three area tracks each week. Eddie Castro, from Ojai, ran third all the way. Tyson Burmeister took fourth place on lap 2 from Buck Blair, the fifth finisher. Blair and Venegas won the two semi-mains and Castro earned the final feature position by leading all four laps of the last chance race for third and fourth place riders in the two semis.

Eloy Medellin, 40, of Garden Grove, won the four-lap D-2 500cc main. Rookie rider Mike Salyer, 51, of Claremont, took the 500cc D-3 lead on lap 3 of 4 and defeated five other riders. It was his first victory and came four months after he made his speedway cycle debut. Five 1,000cc sidecar teams were present and they raced in three preliminary heats to determine the four main event teams. The new team of Danny Jones and sidecar rider Brandi McElroy led all four laps of the competitive sidecar race. Gerard Jackson and his rider Dave German trailed closely, with Joe Jones and his rider Jimmy Olsen pressing both of the leading teams.

Mavrick Malloy, 8, of Chino Hills, won the 200cc youth main as the sole entrant. A large field of pee-wee riders on 50cc mini-cycles competed. They included seven youngsters of the three Cameron brothers—Todd, Johnny and Ryan. Two pee-wee main event winners were Hunter Cameron, 5, of Orange, in his first night of racing at Industry, and Sebastian Palmese, 6, of Santa Margarita.



June 16 2010

UMRA Heads For Mount Lawn Saturday Night
By Alex Wollf
 
            For the first time in 2010 the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets will make an appearance at the Mount Lawn Speedway in New Castle on Saturday night.  It will be the first official pavement race of the 50th anniversary season after severe storms forced the cancellation of last Saturday night’s program at the Anderson Speedway after qualifications where Terry Goff had quick time.
            Terry Goff swept the races last season at the scenic and historic Mount Lawn Speedway in 2009 and will look to continue his dominance on Saturday night.  However, Terry will face significant challenges from drivers like two-time UMRA champion and current point leader Ron Combs, Terry’s son Jason and Brandon Gray.  Jason and Brandon each posted runner-up finishes at Mount Lawn in 2009 and are eager to do one spot better in 2010 at the tricky track.
            The festivities for the races will begin at 11AM on Saturday morning with the Father’s Day Salute at the Dutch Mill Buffet at 8500 South State Road 3 in Milroy.  Racers from the UMRA and the Mount Lawn Speedway will be on hand to greet fans and display their cars.  A special offer will also be in place for race fans as for just $22 you will get the delicious Father’s Day buffet at the Dutch Mill AND a ticket to the races at Mount Lawn on Saturday night.
            Saturday night’s Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA race at the Mount Lawn Speedway will be sponsored by NAP Investments.  Founded by Daniel S. Rodriguez and UMRA driver Jeremy Rainwater in 2008, NAP Investments specializes in taking older properties and transforming them into affordable homes with custom touches.  More information can be found at www.napinvestmentsllc.com.  There will be a pair of contingency awards on the line as well on Saturday night.  The G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” will have five gallons of fuel go to the driver who advances the most positions in the feature event.  The “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” will have $50 go to the highest finishing rookie.  The kids will want to have their parents bring them out to Mount Lawn on Saturday night as a brand new bike will be given away to a lucky young fan.
            Gates open at the Mount Lawn Speedway at 3PM on Saturday, practice is at 5, qualifying at 6:15, and racing scheduled to begin at 7:30.
 
Top Ten in 2010 UMRA Points (After Four Races)
1. Ron Combs         682 6. Doug Roland          541
2. Terry Goff        661 7. Trent Henderson      512
3. Patrick Wolf      624 8. Michael Koontz       491
4. Jason Goff        580 9. Brandon Gray         488
5. Robbie Roland    576 10. Jon Steed (r)        423


June 12 2010

SpeedSTRs Return To Shangri-La II On "Hoosier Daddy Night", Saturday, June 12 Along With Full Program Of Weekly Racing Classes 
 
                        
The SpeedSTRs, open cockpit cars which created such a positive impression among Shangri-La II Motor Speedway racing fans in 2009, are set for their first of two appearances at the Concrete Castle on Hoosier Daddy Night presented by Hoosier Racing Tires this Saturday, June 12. Race time is 5:00 p.m. for the five-class ASA Member Track program that includes the headline tour-type Modifieds, the ASA Late Models, the Sportsman Modifieds, and the Street Stocks.
 
The SpeedSTR class is the creation of racing veteran Richie Tobias, who conceived and produced a racer that looks and performs much like a midget car from the USAC circuits, but at a fraction of the cost. A sealed four-cylinder Mopar engine of 280 horsepower permits lap speeds close to the Sportsman Modifieds at a price of $17,000, ready to race.
 
When it was first introduced, the SpeedSTR class was most notable for its celebrity competitors like Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker, but now it is producing talent for the higher ranks of open cockpit racing, like Billy Van Inwegen who has moved on to the limited sprint car ranks with success. Among the SpeedSTR rookies of 2010 is Fred Rahmer Jr., the teenage son of sprint car legend "Fast Freddy" Rahmer.
 
This week's appearance by the SpeedSTRs is a regular season event. When they return on July 10, it will be national points race, so Saturday's car count is expected to be bolstered by point chasers looking for an edge in next month's showdown.
 
The last race at Shangri-La II, Memorial Day Madness on May 30, saw two winning streaks broken as Travis Fisher was unable to extend his ASA Late Model run, and Chad McDonald was knocked off his perch in the Street Stocks. On the other hand, Tony Hanbury just kept rolling like the nearby Susquehanna River, staying undefeated in four Sportsman Modified races.
 
The Modifieds have yet to see a repeat winner as the victories, not counting the Race of Champions Tour non-point special event, have been shared by Brian Defebo, Rick Zacharias, and Jim Storace.
Gates open for Hoosier Daddy Night presented by Hoosier Racing Tires at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, with practice at 3:00 p.m. and the first heat at 5:00 p.m., one half hour earlier than usual due to the addition of the SpeedSTRs. For more information, visit shangrila-2.com or call 607-330-2622. Shangri-La II Motor Speedway is located on top of the ridge, one mile east of Tioga Center on Route 17C. It is easily accessed from Route 17, the Southern Tier Expressway, by taking Route 17C west from Exit 64 (Owego/Ithaca) or Route 17C east from Exit 62 (Nichols).


June11 2010
VENEGAS WINS INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY CYCLE MAIN EVENT

 BY

Tim Kennedy
  Los Angeles Ca. 
 Contributor OWR3
Industry, CA., Jun. 9 – Charlie “the Edge” Venegas, of San Bernardino, proved that he still has the edge at Industry Speedway in round two of the 2010 weekly Wednesday night speedway cycle racing series. The past track champion and all-time main event winner at The Grand dirt track in the Industry Hills Expo Center led all four laps of the five-rider 500cc Division 1 feature. An all-time track record crowd of 2,500 persons included players, families, friends and officials of the La Puente Little League baseball teams on their awards night. Most improved players for all 30 teams (minors, farm and tee-ball) were named before the second round of D-1 heat races. The large crowd filled about half of the 5,000 seat grandstands at the open-sided indoor arena on a hillside overlooking the East San Gabriel Valley. With schools closed for summer vacation, nearly all of the baseball partisans remained in their seats and enjoyed the motorcycle action through the final race.

When the starting line tapes lifted, Venegas shot from the fourth lane into the lead entering the first turn on his Bower Development No. 43 JAWA Buck Blair, from the pole, ran second all four laps and trailed Venegas by five yards at the checkered flag. Neil Facchini took third on lap 3 and Mike Faria followed him past Jimmy Fishback as well on lap 3. Fifth place Fishback trailed the winner by 20-yards in the tight field. Venegas said has has somewhere between 50 and 70 wins at the Industry track during eight seasons.

Tyson Talkington, a 23-year old from Riverside, won the 500cc Division 2 feature for intermediate-skill level riders. He led all four laps despite incurring a ten yard penalty at the start for anticipating the green light and touching the starting tapes with his front wheel. Norman Graham, 49, from Costa Mesa, led all the way in the 500cc D-3 main for rookie riders. That race had a crash on the first lap when leader Kevin Wybenga, of Whittier, fell in the fourth turn without injury. Third place “Big” Yogi Isgro hit the front wheel of the downed cycle with his front wheel. Isgro launched over the front of his cycle and landed hard on his right shoulder. He rolled on the ground in pain and required medical attention from paramedics present. He rose in a few minutes and was able to return to the pits

Costa Mesa residents won the four-team 1,000cc sidecar 4-lap main event. Driver Joe Jones and swing-man  mmy Olsen were trailing the team of Gerard Jackson and swinger Dave German after the first two laps when a frightening flip on lap 3 caused a red flag and a complete restart. Third place Ken Brown and swinger Matt Davis were in third place at speed when they entered the third turn, dug in and suddenly flipped twice. Both men were thrown to the dirt and the rig came down on top of Davis. The two competitors were stunned and sat on the track, but soon both were able to walk to the pits. On the restart the Jones/Olsen team grabbed the lead over Jackson/German, led all four laps and edged the former leaders by one length. Jackson/German had won two earlier heat races over Jones/Olsen with last lap inside passes in the third and fourth turns.

Blair (over Venegas) and Fishback (over Facchini) won the two scratch semi-main events that sent the top two finishers in each race to the feature. Faria started second and led all four laps in the D-1 last chance race to earn the fifth and final main event berth. Eddie Castro, the only rider to score a perfect nine points by winning all three of his heat races, fell while taking the lead in his five-rider semi-main. He remounted quickly, lost half a lap and finished fifth. He did not transfer to the last chance race that was open only to the third and fourth place riders in the two semis.

Dillon Ruml, 10, won the youth division 200cc main and Sammy Ramirez, 10, from Orange, won the youth 250cc feature in the second category within the same race. Rossmoor resident Matthew Duffy, 9, won the three-rider, 4-lap pee-wee 

June 5 2010
We will have some AMA articles as they filter in. so if you have some AMA articles or pictures please send them in
aXe

                        Reigning Daytona SportBike Champion Eslick
Tops Inaugural AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series Practice Session Charts

             
 
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 4, 2010) - The first practice round of the inaugural AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series season kicked off at 2:50 p.m. local time Friday, during the first day of competition for the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader weekend at Road America, and AMA Pro Daytona SportBike points leader Danny Eslick showed his confidence aboard the big-bore machine by topping the practice charts with a time of 2:40.310 (90.904 mph) around the 4.05-mile natural road course.

"I hadn't ridden one until this weekend so I didn't know what to expect but it was super fun," said Eslick.   "I had a blast riding around out there with Jake [Holden].  The whole time I had a big smile on my face just sliding that thing around."

The reigning Daytona SportBike champion has had a busy week, competing in last weekend's AMA Pro Flat Track Springfield TT event and doing double duty this weekend by racing in both the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL division and the Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, but the Oklahoman clearly enjoys the extra work.

"I've been riding a Harley on the street so I'm used to it," Eslick commented on the Harley-Davidson XR1200.  "I think the trick is not getting too tense and just letting it do its thing."

Regular National Guard American SuperBike competitor Jake Holden is also wearing multiple hats this weekend and turned the second fastest time of the XR1200 practice session at 2:42.050 (89.928 mph).  In addition to turning laps on the Harley-Davidson XR1200, Holden is also riding the No. 3 M4 Monster Energy Suzuki in SuperBike in place of John Hopkins, who is recovering from wrist surgery.

Third fastest was Travis Wyman, who posted a time of 2:43.198 (89.925 mph) with his brother Kyle Wyman right on his tail, the older brother posting the fourth fastest time of the session at 2:43.515 (89.122 mph).

Local riders Shawn Conrad, of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., Paul James, of Waukesha, Wis., and Aaron Frank, of Milwaukee, Wis., all showed constant improvement, each lowering their laptimes over the course of the session as they worked out the kinks in the new race machines.

The first qualifying session for the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series begins at 8:40 a.m. local time tomorrow, with final qualifying scheduled for 4:50 p.m. Sunday will see a rider autograph session at 10:50 a.m., a fan grid walk at 11:30 a.m. and the inaugural XR1200 Series race beginning at 12:30 p.m.

SPEED will be broadcasting highlights of the race in same-weekend coverage.

Please visit www.roadamerica.com for ticket and schedule information of the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend and visit www.amaproracing.com for additional series information. 
 
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.  Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

June 4 2010
We are not sure if We want to follow speedway bikes? Let us know what you think?
aXe

JANNIRO WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLE SEASON OPENER @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY 

Tim Kennedy
  Los Angeles Ca. 
 Contributor OWR3

 Industry, CA., Jun. 2 – Billy Janniro, a 29-year old resident of San Pablo, continued his red-hot 2010 speedway cycle racing season Wednesday night at the Industry Speedway dirt track. He won the season-opener at The Grand Arena of the Industry Hills Expo Center and added to his growing 2010 feature victory total. The 2008 AMA U. S. National Champion and 2004 SRA U.S. National Champion has raced in recent years for speedway cycle teams in England. He began May by winning four main events (three scratch and one handicap) at the Gold Country Fairgrounds Fast Friday Speedway in Auburn. Jeff and Madison Immediato, promoting at Industry for the third year, attracted a strong field of 19 Division 1 riders on the 500cc alcohol-fueled bikes with no brakes. They present up to 40 or more four-lap races from 7:00 to 10:00 pm each race night from June through September.

As one of three riders who scored 11 out of 12 possible points in the three rounds of D-1 heat races, Janniro won a coin toss and selected the pole position in the line of five main event riders. Charlie Venegas, Mike Faria, Buck Blair and Tommy Hedden started alongside. Hedden, from Auburn, won the last chance race for his fifth spot. Janniro got the hole shot entering the crowded first turn and led all four laps. He edged Industry Speedway past track champion and all-time feature winner Venegas by three lengths. Blair, Hedden and Faria followed in close order. Janniro hiked his front wheel as he crossed the finish line and did wheelies on the backstretch in celebration.

Tyson Talkington led all four laps to win his first 500cc Division 2 main event at Industry. Newcomer Kevin Wybenga, of Whittier, won the four-lap 500cc Division 3 main for rookies after winning both of his D-3 heat races earlier on his first night of racing at the track. Janniro and Venegas won the two scratch semi-mains that advanced the first two finishers in each semi to the feature. In a field of six 1,000cc sidecar rigs, Costa Mesa residents Joe Jones and sidecar rider Jimmy Olsen led all four laps in a field of four. A final lap incident in the third corner resulted in sidecar riders of the second and third place teams being dumped onto the track. They were able to walk away after a few minutes on the ground. Sidecar teams raced in a clockwise direction. Cycle riders raced counter-clockwise.

Rocco Scopellite won the four-rider 250cc Junior Division main event for riders under age 16. Dillon Ruml also led all four laps in a three-rider Junior race for under 200cc cycles. Tristan Britt, a 7-year old newcomer from Huntington Beach, won his first 50cc mini cycle race for pee-wees. Fellow pee-wee newcomer Alyssa Smith, 8, of Lakewood, finished second with coaching from her father Tom Smith, the 2006 Outlaw Figure 8 track champion at Irwindale.

Spectators in the estimated crowd of 550 included well-known midget and sprint car drivers Wally Pankratz, Jerome Rodela and Steve Howard. Following the National Anthem, promoter Immediato presented trophies and prize money to 2009 Industry Speedway high-point riders as follows: D-3 – Dewayne Stark, D-2 – Joey Holt, D-1 - P. 1- Gary Hicks, P. 2 Jimmy Fishback, P. 3 Charlie Venegas, P. 4 Mike Faria and P. 5 Shawn McConnell. Southern California speedway cycle racing continues on Friday nights at the Inland Motor Speedway at the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino, plus the regular Costa Mesa Speedway action at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Industry Speedway speedway cycle racing will continue each Wednesday night and Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn presents races every Friday night. Numerous north-state speedway riders call that track their home base. Promoter Venegas will renew his Vallejo Speedway Saturday night speedway cycle racing events in July

 



June 1 2010
UMRA Races Into Rushville Saturday Night

By Alex Wollf
 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets continues on Saturday night with the first visit to the famed Rush County Fairgrounds in Rushville on Saturday night.  Saturday night’s race at Rushville will be sponsored by Hubler Chevrolet of Rushville.  Hubler Chevrolet will be providing the pace truck for the races along with trucks that will carry the drivers who will contest the feature on Saturday night.  Fans will want to be sure to come out as Hubler Chevrolet will have plenty of fan giveaways and will be providing extra money to the purse that the drivers will be gunning for.  There will also be an opportunity for fans to win tickets to the race this Saturday so you’ll want to be sure to listen to WIFE 94.3 FM in Rushville throughout the week to have a chance to win.
            Saturday night will be a night to have fun and watch some of the best in the business battle for victory but it will also be a night to help a very worthy cause.  The UMRA has set a $500 bounty on each of the three Rushville races in 2010 to raise that amount for Riley Children’s Hospital.  One way that fans will be invited to help achieve that goal will be by pledging a penny for each lap that is turned by the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets and the 600cc micros that will also be on the card.  This Saturday night will also see the return of the bike giveaways so kids will want to be sure and get their parents to bring them out to have a shot at taking home a new mode of transportation.
            The last time that the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets were on track at the Kokomo Speedway on May 23rd it was Scott Petry going to victory lane in a thriller over teammate Terry Goff.  Last season in the first Rushville race, Petry looked like a sure winner when a crash knocked him out of the race seven laps from the finish and handed the win to 1993 UMRA Champion Travis Welpott.  This Saturday Petry looks for revenge along with the third straight win for the Terry Goff owned #2 to go with his Kokomo triumph and Oogie Goff’s at Brownstown on May 15th.  600cc micros will share the racing card on Saturday at Rushville with their always exciting brand of competition.
            Gates open at 3 PM, practice is set for 5:30 with qualifying at 6, and racing scheduled to begin at 7!
 
Top Ten in UMRA Point Standings
1. Ron Combs        505 6. Doug Roland              391
2. Terry Goff         479 7. Brandon Gray             372
3. Patrick Wolf      474 8. Michael Koontz          358
4. Jason Goff         457 9. Trent Henderson         351
5. Robbie Roland   442 10. Jeremy Rainwater     333



May 27 2010

WEST EVANS WINS NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN @ BAKERSFIELD 

 
Tim Kennedy
Los Angeles Ca. 
Contributor OWR3

   Bakersfield, CA., may 22 – West Evans became the fifth different winner in the fifth NMRA-TQ Midget Series feature this season on Saturday at the third-mile clay Bakersfield Speedway. The Moorpark-based TQ racing organization was part of a multi-division card at the historic Kern County track that began hosting races in 1946. He drove his own No. 36 Spike chassis powered by a Bob Wirth Suzuki engine to the first-ever main event victory for a Spike TQ midget chassis. Evans started second in a ten-car field and led all 25 laps. The winner is the Spike West Coast dealer for Spike chassis owner/manufacturer John Godfrey of Brownsburg, Indiana.

It was Evans' fourth NMRA feature triumph since he and others in 2002 reformed the three decades-old NMRA-TQ sanctioning body after USAC dropped TQ racing to sanction Ford Focus Midget racing. USAC sanctioned TQ racing for 15 years from 1987-2001. Evans was a super-modified driver in events such as the Copper World Classic on the Phoenix International Raceway mile as well during his racing career. He won two USAC TQ main events and both came in back-to-back races during the seven event final USAC 2001 season. He won initially on July 21 at Bakersfield and then on September 2 at Santa Maria driving his own No. 36 Stealth. He finished sixth in driver points that year.

Chuck West started sixth and finished second to his cousin Evans at Bakersfield in the No. 38 team car owned by Evans Motorsports. Bruce Hiroshima (from fourth starting spot) trailed in third position. Jimmy Dodson (from fifth), Scott Niven (from third) were the other drivers who completed all 25 laps. Sixth through tenth place drivers were: Bakersfield's Dakota Schweitzer (from ninth), Amanda Thomas (from pole) and Dave Lambert (from eighth). Seventh starter Anthony Lopiccolo dropped out on lap 6 and Ron Ahrendt did not complete a lap.

Evans (from second) also won the first of two five-car, eight-lap heat races. His teammate West (from fourth) took the second five-car eight-lap run. Every driver completed eight laps in both heats. Hiroshima, from the pole, won the four-lap trophy dash for the first two finishers from both heat races. Evans' feature victory propelled him from fifth to second in2010 driver point standings. Lopiccolo retained his point lead but his DNF cut his point advantage from 43 to 38 points after five of 16 scheduled races. Lopiccolo's car owner (dad Paul) point lead slipped from 27 points to four over the Evans No. 38 TQ, which has been raced by West in four events and by Greg Edenholm once.

NMRA feature winners so far this season have been Hiroshima (No. 5) , Dodson (No. 6). Lopiccolo (No. 21) and Schweitzer (No. 59) in the last event. The next NMRA-TQ event will be held on Saturday, June 12 at the third-mile clay Santa Maria Speedway as part of another multi-division program at the racy speedway on the central coast of California. NMRA has four remaining race dates at Bakersfield Speedway on June 26, July 24, August 21 and September 11.

Summary:

Heat 1 – West Evans, Bruce Hiroshima, Jimmy Dodson, Amanda Thomas, Dakota Schweitzer.

Heat 2 – Chuck West, Scott Niven, Anthony Lopiccolo, Ron Ahrendt, Dave Lambert.

Dash – Hiroshima, Niven, West, Evans.

Main – Evans, West, Hiroshima, Dodson, Niven, Schweitzer, Thomas, Lambert, Lopiccolo, Ahrendt.

POINT STANDINGS:

 Drivers                               Car Owners

 1 Anthony Lopiccolo      287          1 No. 21 Paul Lopiccolo          298

 2 West Evans             249          2 No. 38 West Evans              294

 3 Scott Niven            244          3 No. 87 Ron Ahrendt             267

 4 Ron Ahrendt            240          4 No. 36 West Evans              264

 5 Jimmy Dodson           236          5 No. 66 Scott Niven             259

 6 Chuck West             226          6 No. 6 Jimmy Dodson             248

 7 Bruce Hiroshima        216          7 No. 59 Steve Parke             235

 8 Dave Lambert           210          8 No. 5 Bruce Hiroshima          228

 9 Amanda Thomas          200          9 No. 55 Dave Lambert            225

10 Dakota Schweitzer     198           10 No. 40 Ed Thomas              215


May 25 2010

           Richie Tobias Jr. made his first start of the season in a SpeedSTR a memorable One 
                                                   
                       Feature Winner Rich "Toby" Tobias, (center), is flanked by 2nd place finisher
                           Mario Page (left), and long time Modified stand out Rick Schaffer, (right),
                           who finished 3rd in his first ever race behind the wheel of a SpeedSTR.
                                                                                                       Photo by 3 Wide © 2010
 
Myerstown, PA - May 22, 2010 - Richie Tobias Jr. made his first start of the season in a SpeedSTR a memorable one for the NES fans. Tobias started last in his heat race and set sail above the cushion to win his first event and was equally as sensational in the feature starting 8th and taking the lead by lap 7 slicing and dicing through the field.
 
Doug Sherwood led the field of 18 STR's to the green flag on a beautifully prepared New Egypt surface, but it would be the NES veteran Mario Page grabbing the early lead. Page would set the pace while current point leader Kyle Hieber had quickly advanced to the front. Both Rich Tobias, driving the Valvoline VR1 number 3 and "Slick" Rick Schaffer (3rd all-time Modified feature winner at Grandview Speedway) wheeling the Freddie Rahmer Jr. #51 were also charging to the front. 
                                                  
                                                   Mario Page #11, and Kyle Hieber #66 battle for
                                                               the lead at New Egypt Speedway.
                                                                                  Photo by Jim Brown © 2010
 
The racing surface was impeccable allowing for 3 wide racing everywhere. "The track surface was perfect all night, you could go anywhere and we all did. High, low, middle it didn't matter, there was bite and intermittent slippery spots everywhere, stated Tobias". The midway point saw Tobias leading the way with Page and Schaffer lurking behind. Tyler Potts had fourth solidly locked down while a hard fought skirmish amongst 7 STR's was going on for fifth, with DJ Macri leading the pack.
 
As the field took the 5 to go sign, Schaffer was pressuring Page hard for second. Schaffer commented after the race, "These cars are a blast to drive, Richie did a great job here. I made some changes for the feature and the car was pretty neutral, I could go just about anywhere I wanted. We came to learn some things and I did, now I have some hands on knowledge to take back to the boys." Page would hold off the challenges of Schaffer to capture second followed by Potts (4th), and Macri rounding out the top 5.
 
STR Notes: Only 1 caution flag flew during the entire SpeedSTR evening events. Rick Schaeffer made his first ever start in a SpeedSTR to better familiarize himself with them to help out the Rahmer boys. Brittany Wixon ran her best race of the season and continued to show great improvement.
 
 Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 1 winner: Doug Sherwood
 Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 2 winner: Richie Tobias Jr.
 
 Bilstein Racing Shocks Feature Results (25 laps):
 
1. Rich Tobias (Valvoline VR1, Hershey, PA) ) ($800.00), 2. Mario Page (Izzi Trucking 10, Hillsborough, NJ), 3. Rick Schaffer (Rahmer Motorsports 51, Woxall, PA), 4. Tyler Potts (THP Racing 12, Milford, NJ), 5. DJ Macri (Johnny Muffler 28, Waretown, NJ), 6. Doug Sherwood (Kiwi Farms 33, Piscataway, NJ), 7. Gary Huber (H&V Racing 11H, Riverdale, NJ), 8. Doug Rose (Amrose Motorsports DR1, Syracuse, NY), 9. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY), 10. Steve Hicks (Hicks Motorsports 1, Doylestown, PA), 11. Gary Hieber Jr. (Thompson Motorsports 2, Langhorne, PA), 12. Brittany Wixon (Wixon Racing 15, Reading, PA), 13. Ben Whitaker (Thompson Motorsports 5, Lebanon, PA), 14. Kaitie McCardle (McCardle Motorsports 11, Honeybrook, PA), 15. Scott Monroe (Monroe Motorsports 14, Leesport, PA), 16. Kyle Hieber (Bucks County International 66, Langhorne, PA), 17. Don Zrinski (Kiwi Farms 75, Piscataway, NJ), 18. Al Arrisher (Rahmer Motorsports 8, Salfordville, PA)

Scott Petry Wins UMRA Feature at Kokomo
By Alex Wollf
 
            Scott Petry was the winner of a thrilling 20-lap feature for the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets on Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway.  Petry started on the pole and led every lap but the fourth win of his UMRA career and first since May 31, 2008 at Twin Cities Raceway Park was not that easy.  The driver of the Terry Goff owned #2 had to hold off a lead pack that at one time or another during the feature saw challenges to his top spot come from Terry Goff, Ron Combs, Patrick Wolf, and Brandon Gray.  Petry’s great drive nearly came unraveled on the final lap when a bobble in turn two gave Terry Goff one last chance to take the win.  However, Petry persevered to give the #2 its second win in a row after Oogie Goff won at Brownstown on May 15.  Following Petry to the line was second place Terry Goff, third place Ron Combs, fourth place Brandon Gray, and Patrick Wolf, who came back from a near spin to finish fifth.
            The eight-lap heats went to Brandon Gray and Jason Goff.  Jon Steed swept the contingency awards at Kokomo as by virtue of his tenth place finish he received the $50 from the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” for being the highest finishing rookie.  By coming from 17th to 10th he also received five gallons of fuel for being the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race.” 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets continues on June 5 at the Rush County Fairgrounds in Rushville as the TQs will be joined by 600 mini sprints.
 
Results
Heat Race Winners: Brandon Gray, Jason Goff
Feature: 1. Scott Petry, 2. Terry Goff, 3. Ron Combs, 4. Brandon Gray, 5. Patrick Wolf, 6. Robbie Roland, 7. Doug Roland, 8. Jason Goff, 9. Travis Welpott, 10. Jon Steed, 11. Zach Cougill, 12. Trent Henderson, 13. Scot Quintel, 14. Jeremy Rainwater, 15. Michael Koontz, 16. Scotty Orme, 17. Ron Hamm
“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: Jon Steed
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: Jon Steed (Advanced from 17th to 10th)

May 18 2010
UMRA TQ Midgets Head For Montpelier and Kokomo
By Alex Wollf
 
            The 50th anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets continues this weekend with a doubleheader at the Montpelier Motor Speedway on Saturday night and the Kokomo Speedway on Sunday.  Saturday’s event at Montpelier will be a twin bill as there will be the regular program along with a makeup feature from the May 8th event that was rained out after the heat races.  Before Mother Nature took the checkered flag for the night at Montpelier, heat races went to Robbie Roland, Brandon Gray, and Ron Combs.  The cars and stars of the UMRA will return to the Kokomo Speedway for a Sunday night show where last August Terry Goff was able to hold off Ron Combs for the win.
            This past weekend the weather cooperated and two great races were run at two great venues.  On Friday night Ron Combs took an exciting 25-lap feature on the red clay of the Bloomington Speedway in his car that carries the #50 in honor of the 50th UMRA season.  The win was the 23rd of Ron’s UMRA career and moved him into a tie with Bob Hamilton for sixth on the all-time win list.  The scene shifted on Saturday night to the Brownstown Speedway where after a long rain delay, Oogie Goff completed an amazing comeback story as in his first race back since a leg injury suffered in an off-track accident last summer he took the 45th victory of his UMRA career.
            There will be a pair of contingency awards up for grabs both nights this weekend.  The G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” will give the driver who advances the most positions in the feature five gallons of fuel.  At Bloomington on Friday night Ron Combs was the hard charger by coming from 8th to 1st, at Brownstown on Saturday night the fuel went to Jason Goff who advanced from 6th to 2nd.  The highest finishing rookie in the features this weekend will receive $50 from the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge.”  At Bloomington Jon Steed was the highest finishing rookie and at Brownstown it was Ryan Koontz.
            On Saturday night at Montpelier the gates open at 4:00 PM, hot laps are at 6:00, and racing is scheduled to begin at 7:00.  On Sunday at Kokomo the gates open at 3:30 PM, hot laps are at 5:45, and racing is schedules to begin at 7:00.

Top Ten In UMRA Points (After Two Races)
1. Ron Combs      322   6. Michael Koontz       240
2. Patrick Wolf   297   7. Doug Roland          232
3. Terry Goff     295   8. Travis Stickels      222
4. Jason Goff     291   9. Trent Henderson      221
5. Robbie Roland  274  10. Jeremy Rainwater     210



May 17 2010
Ron Combs Wins UMRA Feature at Bloomington
By Alex Wollf
 
            Ron Combs captured the opening round of the 2010 Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midget season on Friday night at the Bloomington Speedway sponsored by Woods Electrical Contractors.  Driving car #50 in honor of the 50th anniversary season of the UMRA, Combs came out on top of a fierce battle for the lead between himself, Brandon Gray, and Terry Goff.  Combs had a pass for the lead on Brandon Gray negated by a caution with seven laps to go in the twenty-five lap feature but made the pass for good on a restart four laps from the finish.  Following Combs to the finish line was Brandon Gray, Terry Goff, Patrick Wolf, and Jason Goff rounded out the top five.
            The eight-lap heat races went to Scott Petry, Patrick Wolf, and Terry Goff.  The UMRA would like to thank the following local sponsors who sponsored the heat races and feature laps, Root Accounting, Baldy’s Pizzeria, Holden Wealth Management, Extreme Performance, Quality Collision, Van Horn Tint & Accessories, DDI Auto Detailing, State Farm Mike Weston Agency, Aqua Pro Pool & Spa, and Mancino’s Grinders.  The five gallons of fuel for the G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race” went to Ron Combs.  The $50 for the highest finishing rookie as part of the “Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” went to Jon Steed who finished 14th.
 
Results
Heat Race Winners: Scott Petry, Patrick Wolf, Terry Goff
Feature: 1. Ron Combs, 2. Brandon Gray, 3. Terry Goff, 4. Patrick Wolf, 5. Jason Goff, 6. Robbie Roland, 7. Michael Koontz, 8. Trent Henderson, 9. Travis Stickels, 10. Doug Roland, 11. Scott Petry, 12. Jeremy Rainwater, 13. Nick Speidel, 14. Jon Steed, 15. Zach Cougill, 16. Scotty Orme, 17. CJ Leary, 18. Ryan Koontz, 19. Brandon Ladyman
G&G Oil “Hard Charger of the Race”: Ron Combs (Advanced from 8th to 1st)
“Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge” Highest Finishing Rookie: Jon Steed

 
Don Zrinski leads the way during heat action.

   The front three of Page, Rose, and Macri continued to set the pace. Potts would eventually get by Macri on a restart and set his sights on Rose. Page pulled out to a 3 car advantage as Potts pressured Rose for second. The two would make contact, with Rose going around on lap 22.
The following restart saw 2009 SpeedSTR National Champion, Billy VanInwegen move into fourth with Kyle Hieber (Langhorne, PA) the previous STR feature winner cracking the top 5. As the STR's came for the white flag, Page would lead comfortably, but  Hieber, Huber, and the Kiwi Farms 33 of Doug Sherwood (Piscataway, NJ) were all battling for the 5th position. The three would make contact entering turn one with Rose and Zrinski looking for room by, but all competitors kept control and continued down the backstretch. Hieber would grab the hard fought fifth position. Page led the pack to the $800.00 checkered flag, followed by Potts, Macri, VanInwegen, and Hieber.
STR notes: The 14 year old Rahmer boys, Freddie Jr. and Brandon both were on hand in their SpeedSTR's this weekend. Freddie Jr. pitted mid race with a right rear flat and Brandon came home a solid 9th in his STR début.
17 SpeedSTR's were on hand at Grandview Speedway. The division continues to grow each and every season.
 
 
Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 1 winner: DJ Macri
 
Valvoline Synthetic VR1 dash 2 winner: Doug Rose
 
 Bilstein Racing Shocks Feature Results (25 laps):
 
1. Mario Page (Izzi Trucking 10, Hillsborough, NJ) ($800.00),  2. Tyler Potts (Thompson Motorsports 5, Milford, NJ),  3. DJ Macri (Johnny Muffler 28, Waretown, NJ),  4. Billy Van Inwegen Jr. (Monroe Motorsports 14, Sparrow Bush, NY),  5. Kyle Hieber (Thompson Motorsports 5, Langhorne, PA),  6. Gary Huber (Huber Racing 11H, Riverdale, NJ),  7. Doug Sherwood (Kiwi Farms 33, Piscataway, NJ),  8. Doug Rose (Amrose Motorsports DR1, Syracuse, NY),  9. Brandon Rahmer (Rahmer Motorsports 8, Salfordville, PA),  10. Don Zrinski (Kiwi Farms 75, Piscataway, NJ),  11. Kaitie McCardle (McCardle Motorsports 11, Honeybrook, PA),  12. Brittany Wixon (Wixon Racing 15, Reading, PA),  13. Steve Hicks (Hicks Motorsports , Doylestown, PA),  14. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. (Rahmer Motorsports 51, Salfordville, PA),  15. Scott Monroe (THP Racing 12, Reading, PA),  16. Justin Thompson (Thompson Motorsports 3, Lebanon, PA),  17. Jeff Gallup (Gallup Racing 9, Baldwinsville, NY)


Brian Corso Dumps the 09 Image and Posts a 2010 Win
Placerville Speedway
 5/8/10
By Steve Hazelton

 
Brian Corso in his #10, ART Kawasaki,
was oh so close to a win, in the 09 season, finishing second more times than he wants to count.  Now the monkey is off Corso’s back with a convincing flag to flag win in the 5th race of the BCRA Midget Lite season.
 
Defending champ Doug Nunes #1 was on the pole, and #35jr, Dakota Albright on the outside pole for the start.  At the cone both made slight contact and Albright accelerated for the start.  Head official Mike Andreeta called it a false start and sent Albright to the back, moving Corso up.
 
#6 Holbrook brought out the yellow on lap 3 with a spin in turn 4, and #53c Cory Green had an electrical problem on lap 16, bringing out the only other yellow. Corso was on the ball on both restarts, hearing Nunes engine behind him.
 
11x Jason Sneep and Nunes battled behind Corso, along with recent hot shoe #75 Richie Hoover.  Albright battled back to finish 6th.
 
53c Cory Green, rejoined the Lites after a winning Funny Car break, in grand fashion by winning the first heat by 1.130 seconds over Sneep and Nunes.  This is the first BCRA win for Green and his Green Motorsports team.
 
#75 Richie Hoover, who led 19 laps at Marysville, last week, took the first heat by .113 seconds over Corso and .495 over Albright.
 
Main: Corso, Sneep, Nunes, R. Hoover, Kinney, Albright, Paulson, Shurley, Holbrook, Buffa, Green, J. Hoover, Holsted
 
Heat 1: R. Hoover, Corso, Albright, Shurley, Holbrook, Buffa, Holsted
 
Heat 2: Green, Sneep, Nunes, Paulson, Kinney, J. Hoover


May 8 2010

Stephanie Stevens an ARDC Driver's report

Point leader Anthony Lopiccolo, the April 10 feature winner at Santa Maria Speedway, started seventh and finished second. He increased his point lead from 29 to 43. Hometown driver Jimmy Dodson, the last NMRA feature winner at Bakersfield on March 27, placed third after starting eighth. Scott Niven (from third grid position), and Chuck West (from sixth) completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were: Scott Dobson (from tenth), Rob Ahrendt (fifth), Dave Lambert (from pole), Amanda Thomas (ninth) and West Evans (fourth). All drivers completed 25 laps.

Schweitzer won the five-car, eight-lap first heat race from second starting spot. Niven started and finished first in the five-car, six-lap second heat. Round five of the current 17 event NMRA racing schedule is set for Saturday, May 8 at the Orange Show Speedway paved quarter mile in San Bernardino. It is the first of three TQ events scheduled at the only paved track on the NMRA schedule. The other dates at OSS are October 2 and 16.

Summary:

Heat 1: Dakota Schweitzer, West Evans, Jimmy Dodson, Chuck West, Amanda Thomas.

Heat 2: Scott Niven, Dave Lambert, Ron Ahrendt, Anthony Lopiccolo, Scott Dobson.

Main: Schweitzer, Lopiccolo, Dodson, Niven, West, Dobson, Ahrendt, Lambert, Thomas, Evans.

POINT STANDINGS:

          Drivers                                                     Car Owners

1 Anthony Lopiccolo           247            1 # 21 Paul Lopiccolo      255
2 Ron Ahrendt                     204             2 # 38 West Evans          228
3 Scott Niven                       188             3 # 87 Ron Ahrendt         216
4 Jimmy Dodson                 184             4 # 66 Scott Niven           200
5 West Evans                       183             5 # 59 Steve Parke        199
6 Dave Lambert                   171             6 # 36 West Evans         195
7 Chuck West                       163             7 # 6 Jimmy Dodson      193
8 Bruce Hiroshima                157            8 # 55 Dave Lambert     183
9 Amanda Thomas               155            9 # 49 Ed Thomas          167
10 Dakota Schweitzer          153          10 # 5 Bruce Hiroshima   166



50th Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA Season Begins Saturday at Montpelier
By Alex Wollf
 
            The golden anniversary season of the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets begins this Saturday night at the Montpelier Motor Speedway in Montpelier, Indiana.  Much has changed in the half century since Mel Harpring won the first UMRA championship in 1961 but the one thing that has remained constant is the exciting brand of action that fans can expect when the UMRA hits the track. 
            Saturday night the UMRA will make their first trip to the Montpelier Motor Speedway since August 19, 2007.  The race on Saturday night will also be the first of four trips to Montpelier Motor Speedway for the Dutch Mill Buffet UMRA TQ Midgets in the 2010 season.
            As the 2010 season gets set to roll off, there are several bits of history that are possible.  When talking about the history of the UMRA one must begin with Terry Goff.  In 2010 the Fortville, Indiana pilot will be in search of his fourth title in a row and fifteenth of his illustrious career.  Terry also enters the season with 111 career wins, four wins away from the 115 wins of Rick Meyer which is second on the all-time wins list.  Ron Combs of Greensburg, Indiana is in search of his third series championship to go with titles won in 1989 and 2005.  A third title would make Combs just the fourth driver in UMRA history to win three or more titles.  Ron Combs has 22 career wins, one win shy of tying Bob Hamilton for sixth on the all-time wins list.  In a season that promises to be a historic one, Goff and Combs are just two of the drivers to watch in 2010 as others like Doug Roland, Jason Goff, Michael Koontz, just to name a few are hungry to etch their names in the record books of the UMRA this season.
            The UMRA welcomes aboard the Dutch Mill Buffet in Milroy, Indiana as the title sponsor in 2010 after a great 2009 season of giving out gift certificates to competitors on a nightly basis.  The race at Montpelier will also begin the start of another exciting program as the 2010 Tony Stewart Rookie Challenge opens up.  The highest finishing rookie at each UMRA race will receive $50 with prize money going to the top three rookies in the final point standings.
            Fans will want to come out to Montpelier on Saturday night for the start of an exciting and special 2010 season.  Gates open at 4:00 PM, hot laps are at 6:00 PM, and racing at Montpelier is set to begin at 7:00 PM.


VALVOLINE TO SUPPORT SPEEDSTR SERIES FOR REMAINDER OF 2010
 
Myerstown, PA - April 22, 2010 - Speedway Entertainment is pleased to announce its new alliance with legendary oil producer, Valvoline.  Valvoline will be the Primary Sponsor of all SpeedSTR qualifying events for the remainder of 2010 season.
 
Valvoline has been a successful major sponsor in numerous forms of Motorsports for many years. Valvoline believes in grass roots racing and felt that the SpeedSTR series, which is one of the fastest growing series in the northeast, was an excellent outlet to showcase their VR1 Synthetic 10/30 Racing Oil.
 
Series creator and car builder Rich Tobias stated, "I am extremely pleased to announce our association with Valvoline for the remainder of the 2010 season. It's exciting anytime you can align yourself with great marketing partners like Valvoline. Our updated rules and maintenance handbook will feature Valvoline VR1 Synthetic 10/30 Racing Oil as the recommended oil for all SpeedSTR competitors. Valvoline has become known among the top levels of Motorsports in the US and we are very proud to represent such a great brand with our SpeedSTR series as we continue to bring in new sponsors during these tough economic times."
 
For over 140 years Valvoline has produced the best quality motor oils, longer than any other oil marketer. Valvoline Racing Synthetic VR1 Motor Oil has been engineered to deliver maximum horsepower and is track proven to maintain pressure and protect from foaming. The VR1 synthetic series is compatible with both gasoline and alcohol fuels and is available at participating auto parts stores.
 
Visit Valvoline on the web at www.Valvoline.com

 (LEHIGHTON, PA 4-11-10) Who said the days of racing the same modified on dirt one night and on asphalt the next is a thing of the past, not for Keith Hoffman anyway as the Whitehall racer drove the Dennis "Moose" Eisenhard #77 to a convincing victory Sunday afternoon at Mahoning Valley Speedway less than 24 hours after racing the same car on the high banks of Grandview Speedway.

The 50-lap season opening race was worth $1200 for Hoffman who earned his career first win on pavement in only his second time on asphalt.

Starting second, Hoffman outran pole sitter Bill Briggs for the opening lap lead. He gave up the top spot for one lap when Brett Ballard overtook him on a lap-15 restart but two laps later Hoffman was able to retake the lead in the same manner.

Briggs then got back into the mix and was mounting an intense battle with Hoffman as several times he was able pull alongside. His strong running effort was thwarted on lap 31 when he and Hoffman came up on the lapped car of Joe Stangle. Hoffman took the low line to get by while Briggs went high. With limited room Stangle and Briggs made contact which sent the quick paced x15 sliding into the turn two wall.

Ballard then assumed second but was unable to mount a run at Hoffman as he did earlier. Hoffman gradually pulled away and in the waning laps division champion Randy Thomas moved to second but had nothing for the winner.

“That was fun today. Doug (Hoffman, track promoter) has this deal up here with these dirt cars and it worked out great for us. It was a lot of work for us I can tell you that. We ran Grandview the night before. To get the car ready I had a bunch of guys that don’t normally help me and they did a good job,” said Hoffman.

“Those guys (Briggs, Ballard) have been here a couple other times and they had a little more time in setting their cars up. It was tough running against them but I felt we were good enough to win and that’s all the counts. It’s neat to win on asphalt.”

Of interest is the fact that the only other 50-lap dirt modified race was held at the end of 2005 and the Eisenhard car won that night too and with a Hoffman driving. That victory went to Keith’s brother Doug.

“That’s pretty cool. I have to thank Moose (Eisenhard) for the ride and letting us come up here with the Blue Monkey Sports Restaurant car. It’s great to be able to get this win for him. Two starts and two wins on pavement at the same track, that’s real special.”

Ryan Beltz, Dave Thomas and Don Wagner completed the top five. Heat wins went to Briggs and Hoffman.

The Street Stocks also opened up their 2010 season with a 25-lap feature and in a wild race that saw six lead changes among four drivers and in the end it was Zach “Scooter” Graver of Lehighton whp emerged as a first time class winner.

Devin Gibson led from the pole and had past champ Jon Moser keeping chase. Moser grabbed the lead after a lap two restart but Gibson returned the favor on the ensuing tour.

While looking good out front, a blanketed gaggle of cars jostled for second including Moser, defending champ Randy Ahner, Jr., TJ Gursky, Kristy Arthofer, Graver and Jason Frey.

On lap 11 Ahner and Gursky got together to bring out the yellow and then on the restart leader Gibson and Arthofer had the same situation.

When the action finally resumed Moser was back in front with Arthofer and Graver side-by-side on his rear bumper.

With five laps to go another yellow waved and on the restart Graver zoomed past Moser for the lead. Moser was not so quick to give up, however, as he bolted back out front the following lap. Looking to score his second straight Opening Day win, Moser lost the lead with two to go when he spun coming off turn four.

Graver went back to the head of the pack and held on for his first division win and seventh overall.

After a few years’ hiatus, Steven Steigerwalt made a great return with a runner up tally while Arthofer, Todd Ahner and Eric Danyluk rounded out the front five.

Gibson, Graver and Moser notched heat wins.

 Dirt Modified Feature Finish, 50 Laps: 1.Keith Hoffman 2.Randy Thomas 3.Ryan Beltz 4.Dave Thomas 5.Don Wagner 6.Jimmy Horton IV 7.John Parker 8.Brett Ballard 9.Bill Sittler 10.Bill Briggs 11.Jeff Parker 12.Joe Stangle 13.Tom Cramer 14.Steve Folk 15.DJ Wagner

  Street Stock Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1.Zach Graver 2.Steven Steigerwalt 3.Kristy Morone Arthofer 4.Todd Ahner 5.Eric Danyluk 6.Mathias Hoffman 7.TJ Gursky 8.Matt May 9.Jason Frey 10.Jillian Long 11.Randy Ahner, Jr. 12.Josh Mooney 13.Joe Mooney 14.Adam Santee 15.Brian Labar 16.Jon Moser 17.Devin Gibson 18.Bernie Uphold 19.Jamie Smith 20.Justin Miller 21.Gene Bowers

COMING EVENTS:
Saturday, April 17, 6:00 pm 100-lap Mods, LM, SS, Dirt Mods, Pro4s
Saturday, April 24, 6:00 pm regular show all track divisions

 $3000 Awaits Mahoning Valley Modified Winner April 17

 (LEHIGHTON, PA 4-10-10) Now entering its 59^th year, Lehighton’s Mahoning Valley Speedway begins full weekly action will all divisions, Modifieds, Late Models, Street Stocks, Dirt Mods and Pro4 Late Models, on Saturday April 17 starting at 6:00 p.m.

Headlining the night will be a $3000-to-win 100-lap feature for the Modifieds which is a carryover event from the 2009 Mahoning Valley Speedway Poker Series Tournament.

This is the fifth of five events which will crown the champion of the special match series. Last year five 100-lap $3000 to win shows were scheduled but after several tries due to inclement weather the finale was put on hold until Opening Night 2010.  A $5000 jackpot will be divvied between the top three drivers who are able to put together the best poker hand. That lucky trio will get $2500, $1500 and $1000 respectively.

Currently there are ten drivers who have a shot at sharing the payoff led by Eric Beers with a pair of Aces. Others include Earl Paules, Brian DeFebo, Chip Santee, James Pritchard, Jr., Matt Hirschman, John Bennett, Don Wagner, Andy Szapacs and Lonnie Behler.

Time trials will be used to lock in the top-12 starters and then heats and a consolation will be run to fill out the remainder of the grid.

Also on the card will be a regular heat and features for the Late Models, Street Stocks, Dirt Mods and Pro4’s.

A whole new Mahoning Valley Speedway Poker Tournament, “7 Card Stud” begins on June 12.

The speedway, which starts its sixth season under the direction of the husband and wife team Doug and Gena Hoffman, is located on PA route 443 two miles west of Lehighton.

For additional updates and information log onto www.mahoningspeedway.com or call the track office at 570-386-4900. You can also follow the track on Facebook and Rainout.com.

April 8 2010
WILLMAN AND GODOWN MAY BE FAN FAVORITES FOR WIN IN 40-LAP NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE AT GRANDVIEW
 
BECHTELSVILLE, PA April 8, 2010 . . . In the BPG Racing Pick 3 Contest which offers fans at Grandview Speedway a chance to win cash for picking the top three finishers in the NASCAR 358 Modified feature race no one picked John Willman to win last Saturday.
 This Saturday night fans will probably make John Willman one of the fan favorites in the Pick 3 contest selections. Last Saturday night he was able to hold off Duane Howard, a consistent top performer in the NASCAR 358 Modifieds to win the 30-lap open night feature. It was just his third career victory and his first in a number of years.
 With $4,000 waiting for the winner in the 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All American Series 358 Modified feature race on Saturday (April 10) Willman will go off as a fan favorite to win as long as he can qualify for the 29-car starting field.
 Last Saturday 55 Modifieds tried to qualify with 26 racers ending up as spectators. There should be that many if not more trying for a starting spot in the rich classic.
 Many feel that Ryan Godown would have been tough to beat if he had not run into tire problems.  He had a very comfortable lead when he was forced to the pits with a flat tire about midway in the main event. Godown will be a big fan favorite as a result of his strong effort.
 There will be plenty of competition for Willman and Godown including Howard, eight time Modified champion Jeff Strunk, Craig VonDohren, Billy Pauch Jr., Doug Manmiller, Keith Hoffman, Mike Gular, Terry Meitzler, Jason Hamilton and a host of others.
 The NASCAR Late Models will be the second part of this exciting doubleheader show set to start at 7 p.m. Mike Kellner, open night winner, will be looking for his second win in a row.
 Adult admission for the special April 10 doubleheader is $20, kids 6-11 pay $5 and under 6 are admitted FREE. There is always FREE parking on the speedway grounds.
 Sunday, April 11, 2 p.m. the NEETS Enduro competitors will be in action along with the open cockpit SpeedSTRs. Jeff Strunk will be part of the SpeedSTR action.
 Grandview Speedway is located at 43 Passmore Road, just off Route 100, in Bechtelsville, PA, 10 miles north of Pottstown. For information telephone 610.754.7688 or check in at www.grandviewspeedway.com.

USAC WESTERN FORD FOCUS DIRT SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 3, 2010 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway

  FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Nick Carlson (#19 Carlson), 2. Jake Blackhurst (#14k Kruseman), 3. Andrew Mulhearn (#14 Mulhearn), 4. Andrew Murray (#18 Murray), 5. Connor Kassik (#26 Kassik). NT

  SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jet Davison (#59 Davison), 2. Kyle Edwards (#39 Edwards), 3. A.J. Nigh (#17k Kruseman), 4. Kalvin Douglas (#31 Douglas). NT

  FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Andrew Mulhearn, 2. Nick Carlson, 3. Kyle Edwards, 4. Wally Pankratz (#37 Pankratz), 5. Andrew Murray, 6. Jake Blackhurst, 7. A.J. Nigh, 8. Kalvin Douglas, 9. Jet Davison, 10. Connor Kassik. NT

  FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Mulhearn.

  NEW WESTERN FORD FOCUS SERIES POINTS: 1-Edwards-233; 2-Kassik-173; 3-Carlson-133; 4-Eli Schrock-121; 5-Mulhearn-120; 6-Bobby Runyan-119; 7-Cody Gerhardt-115; 8-Davison-108; 9-Blackhurst-103; 10-Shawn Buckley-102.

NEW WESTERN FORD FOCUS DIRT SERIES POINTS: 1-Carlson-133; 2-Mulhearn-120; 3-Edwards-119; 4-Davison-108; 5-Blackhurst-103; 6-Douglas-86; 7-Kassik-79; 8-Murray-53; 9-Pakkratz-51; 10-Austin Smith-50.

NEXT WESTERN FORD FOCUS RACE: April 10 – Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway Bullring

NEXT WESTERN FORD FOCUS DIRT RACE: May 22 – Ventura (CA) Raceway

 
USAC WESTERN YOUNG GUNS DIRT SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 3, 2010 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway

  HEAT RACE: (10 laps) 1. Casey Martinez (#94 Martinez), 2. Daniel Williams (#25 Williams), 3. Jared Blondel (#98 Blondel), 4. Alex Jacobsen (#12k Kruseman), 5. Tanner Kershaw (#81 Kershaw), 6. Al Simpson (#31k Kruseman), 7. Bradley Morris (#18k Kruseman), 8. Logan Williams (#37 Pankratz), 9. Collin Henry (#12c Henry). NT

  FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Alex Jacobsen, 2. Daniel Williams, 3. Casey Martinez, 4. Jared Blondel, 5. Collin Henry, 6. Bradley Morris, 7. Al Simpson, 8. Tanner Kershaw, 9. Logan Williams. NT

  FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Jacobsen.

  NEW WESTERN YOUNG GUNS SERIES POINTS: 1-Blondel-220; 2-Brandon White-133; 3-Austin Farley-130; 4-Martinez-130; 5-Jacobsen-128; 6-Winn Frazin-120; 7-Kershaw-99; 8-Henry-96; 9-Morris-93; 10-Simpson-87.

NEW WESTERN YOUNG GUNS DIRT SERIES POINTS: 1-Martinez-130; 2-Jacobsen-128; 3-Blondel-103; 4-Kershaw-99; 5-Henry-96; 6-Morris-93; 7-Simpson-87; 8-D.Williams-64; 9-Winn Frazin-58; 10-L.Williams-36.

 
NEXT WESTERN YOUNG GUNS RACE: April 17 – Stockton (CA) 99 Speedway

NEXT WESTERN YOUNG GUNS DIRT RACE: May 22 – Ventura (CA) Racew




April 2 2010
                    JIMMY DODSON WINS BAKERSFIELD NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN   –
By Tim Kennedy
 
Oildale, CA., Mar. 27 – Jimmy Dodson started third and won the NMRA-TQ Midget main event Saturday at his hometown Bakersfield Speedway third-mile banked clay oval. It was the second NMRA point event this season and the first outing for Dodson. He took command on the seventh lap and led the final 18 laps of a 25-lap feature in his 836-cc Honda powered No. 6 TQ. All 11 cars in the race completed 25 laps. (See track release or website for results of other divisions.)

         For many years the Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Chapter of the Sports Car Club of America (NEPASCCA) has had a strong membership presence throughout this area.
     The infield road course at Pocono Raceway has been the hub of racing for those participants. NEPASCCA is also plays a huge role in the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association Race Series as well.
     Two weeks ago the time honored group held their annual awards banquet at Bentley’s in Ashley and it was a rewarding evening for a number of the locals.
     Leading the way was Joel Lipperini of Pittston who was named the Oscar Koveleski Road Racer of the Year in the Northeast Division. Lipperini, who drives a Honda Civic in the SSC Division, had an absolute dream season in 2009.
    Not only did he win every national event he entered in last year, he did so from the pole and led every lap in the process.
    By winning the award Lipperini has added his name to an impressive list of Northeast Division Driver of the Year racers including such road race icons as Mark Donahue, Bob Sharp. Doc Bundy, Bob Litzinger and Paul Newman to name but a few.
    Lipperini also gained national recognition as well by winning the Triple Crown of SCCA, again in impressive fashion. The criteria for the achievement was to win a drivers division, a national race, a national championship and be the top point getter in your division in the country which he did in dominating fashion.
    Lipperini put the punctuation mark on his perfect season at the SCCA Run-offs  held in September at Road America. The run-offs are the yearly pinnacle of road racing in this country and in his feature race Lipperini bested a field of nearly 50 others.
    Other award winners included Matt Kujat, Sr., of Freeland who was named the “Tim Mayer Best New Driver Award,” an honor that has been giving out yearly since 1965 and includes world renowned racing star Michael Andretti as a past recipient.
    John Pitman, formerly of Freeland and now a resident of Carlisle, was a double awardee as he honored as the “Member of the Year” and “King of the Hill” for his work in the hillclimb events.
    The “Horses Derriere” a yearly comedic award which goes to a member who during the past season had a forgettable incident that is also worth years of ribbing, all in good humor, went to Freeland’s John “Giz” Breznitsky, a crewman for White Haven’s Sam Ryan.  
    Ryan’s six-year old daughter, Emily Ryan, a very talented go-kart racer, was presented with special recognition from Firestone.
    For the third year in a row Andy Bower of Danville was named “Solo Driver of the Year.”
   The NEPASCCA is to be commended on another successful season of racing. A job well done goes out to board members Tom Knorr of Pen Argyl, Hugh Maloney of Freeland and Joe Wilkie of Wilkes-Barre.
   Since 1944, SCCA has championed one mission: To bring motorsports to the masses of American men and women who are passionate about automobiles, speed and competition. From National Championships to regional events, whether professional or amateur, they exist to organize, support and develop auto racing at every level.
   In the same regard NEPASCCA is a core group of racers that are committed to the tradition of road racing. They could be considered the best kept secrets in area racing as they stage excellent events that are all closely run amongst the various classes.


Feb 3 2010
  SERIES KICKS OFF 2010 AT MOTORSPORTS 2010
  
 
Speedway Entertainment provided everyone who
attended the 2010 Motorsports Show with an
impressive display of their race equipment,
 
 like the upright SpeedSTR frame above.   
Myerstown PA, February 1st, 2010:  Rich Tobias Jr. has been known to think outside the box. Case in point: the Speedway Entertainment display during Motorsports 2010 presented by VP's Street Blaze 100 at the Oaks, Pa., Greater Philadelphia Convention Center Jan. 22-24.
 
Tobias stood that SpeedSTR Midget vertically in the air above to represent the growth of the SpeedSTR Series. "It was a great show for us," said Tobias. "The Sammons family and their staff did a great job. We had so much traffic at our booth with race teams from all forms of racing inquiring about the series."



The display included the flat-black SpeedSTR no.5 to be driven by Curt Weller above


Also the Radical Design Group-lettered Steven Hicks SpeedSTR and a familiar No.51 above with a well-known last name. Young Freddie Rahmer Jr., son of the 410 Sprint Car icon Fred Rahmer, will move into the SpeedSTR ranks this summer.
 
Tobias feels the SpeedSTR concept is beginning to catch on throughout the region. "We had youngsters looking to move up and veterans from other divisions such as Legends, Modifieds, ARDC, Micros, etc.  just looking for somewhere that is affordable to race," Tobias said. "We were so glad that racers actually get what I am trying to achieve here. I am not here to just start another division. I am here to provide a product where the racer can afford to race, have what every other team has, and still get paid a fair purse."