Monthly Archives: June 2013

Dixieland and County Line Speedways Will Feature ARDC This Weekend

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The wingless midgets of the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) will head to North Carolina for their annual Southern Swing weekend.

The ARDC midgets will be welcomed by the fans of the Dixieland Speedway near Elizabeth City, NC on Friday night. Racing action then moves west to County Line Speedway in Elm City, NC for more action on Saturday night.

Brenden Bright, ARDC’s 2011 Rookie of the Year, is looking for his first win of the season and a race at the Dixieland Speedway fits right into that plan. Dixieland was the site of Bright’s first win during his rookie season. He returned to Victory Lane when ARDC visited Dixieland in 2012. He is certainly among the favorites for Friday night’s action.

“Slick Nick” Wean is also looking for his first win of the 2013 campaign. Wean was the feature winner at County Line last season and he would like nothing better than to add another County Line win to his total.

Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. has two feature wins so far this season and is the current ARDC point leader going into this weekend. Buckwalter has been very strong in every outing so far this season and has to be considered a threat when the ARDC teams pull into North Carolina.

The most recent winner on the ARDC schedule is Shawn Jackson of Bear, DE. Jackson earned his first career win with ARDC just two weeks ago when the midgets raced at the Williams Grove Speedway. Jackson has tasted victory and will certainly be looking for a second trip to the Winner’s Circle.

Topton, PA driver, Brett Arndt had his best outing of the season at Williams Grove and is hoping that his momentum will carry him right through the Southern Swing. PJ Gargiulo is currently in the thick of the points battle and has several podium finishes to his credit this season. Trevor Kobylarz recently won his first of the 2013 season at the Susquehanna Speedway. Kobylarz and the #1 are a threat at any track they race.

Steven Drevicki has had the DeGre Engineering car in contention throughout the early part of the season. Drevicki will be joined in the NC field by car owner, Greg Fitzpatrick.

Jimmy Glenn has shown his ability to lead in ARDC competition and he takes his search for his first ARDC win into the south. Ryan Greth has five top five finishes in his second season in the Steward #33. He, too is looking for his first trip to ARDC Victory Lane.

Both Mark Gilmore and 2012 ARDC Rookie of the Year, Brett Wanner will return to ARDC action this weekend after missing several shows due to mechanical problems. Both of the Heistand brothers will be in competition this weekend as 2011 ARDC Champion, Drew and former ARDC Rookie of the Year, Dusty will be in the field at Dixieland and County Line.

Kyle Lick, John Barnett and Tony DiMattia will make their first attempts on the tracks in North Carolina as the three rookie drivers take part in their first Southern Swing. Jason Rice of Danielsville, PA, Joe Butera of Wampum, PA and Bill Courtwright of Hackettstown, NJ have indicated their intentions to compete in both races on the Southern Swing.

The fans of the Dixieland and County Line Speedway are always an enthusiastic about the midgets coming to town. They enjoy the side by side and three wide racing that the wingless midgets provide and the competitors love to put on a show for their appreciation.!

Who will come home with wins from North Carolina this year? Stay tuned for results. Nightly updates will be posted on Facebook as the action happens!

Third Time Is The Charm for Jackson

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Three times Bear, DE driver, Shawn Jackson has paced the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) field of wingless midgets and each time, impressive runs have ended with mechanical failures. But the third time was the charm as ARDC made its second visit to the Williams Grove Speedway and now Jackson’s name will be recorded with a win at the home of open wheel racing in Central Pennsylvania.

It all went Jackson’s way on Friday night as he started out the night with a heat win over Trevor Kobylarz.

For the start of the twenty lap main event, Jackson lined up on the outside of Topton, PA driver, Brett Arndt and then gunned his red #7 into the lead. Jackson immediately began to pull away from the field as Nick Wean, Drew Heistand, Jason Rice and Kyle Lick worked on sorting out the top five positions behind the leaders.

The red flag was needed on lap four when Heistand backed into the turn 3 wall and flipping. Brake issues were the cause and Heistand walked away from the incident uninjured.

On the restart, Jackson again took command as PJ Gargiulo took the fourth spot from Lick. Wean made several attempts to take second from Arndt but Arndt was having none of it as he maintained his grip on the position.

Jackson, Arndt, Wean, Gargiulo and Lick were the top five at half way as Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. and Jason Rice challenged for a spot in the top five. One lap later, Gargiulo took over third from Wean .

The final laps of the race saw some great racing as Buckwalter and Rice worked on Lick for fifth and then Ryan Greth, Tony DiMattia and Ryan Watt moved in to challenge Rice for position.

With the checkered waving, Jackson drove to his first ever win in a midget followed by Arndt with a season best finish in second. Gargiulo picked up the final podium finish in third with Wean and B. Buckwalter completing the top five has Lick’s #8 shut off coming for the checkered flag.

ARDC next travels to North Carolina for races at Dixieland and County Line Speedways on June 28-29.

Finish (20 Laps)
1 – Shawn Jackson 2 – Brett Arndt 3 – PJ Gargiulo 4 – Nick Wean 5 – Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 6 – Ryan Greth 7 – Tony DiMattia 8 – Jason Rice 9 – Jimmy Glenn 10 – Ryan Watt 11 – Tim Buckwalter 12 – Trevor Kobylarz 13 – Steven Drevicki 14 – John Barnett 15 – Kyle Lick 16 – Jamie Spears 17 – Drew Heistand

DNS – Steven Bull

Top 3 Finishers – Pj Gargiulo (3rd), Shawn Jackson (1st), Brett Arndt (2nd)  (Picture by Deb Smith)

Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. Earns Second Win of the Season at Port Royal

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Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. will tell you that he seems to do well at new tracks.

For the first time since joining the ranks of the American Racing Driver’s Club in 2008, Buckwalter returned to Victory Lane at a track where he had previously won – the Port Royal Speedway. Up until Saturday night, all of Buckwalter’s ARDC wins had come at different tracks.

Buckwalter battled with Brenden Bright during the running of the first qualifying heat, unable to take the lead from the Collegeville, PA driver. But the twenty lap main event offered a different outcome.

Bright took the lead at the green flag but was immediately challenged by Buckwalter for the top spot. Bright started outside on the front row with Buckwalter right behind him on the starting grid. Buckwalter made his pass count on lap two, becoming the race leader and never looking back. Buckwalter started to pull away from Bright and the rest of the field in his BDB Construction #83.

Three time ARDC feature winner, Steve Buckwalter, slowed on the fifth lap. Engine problems sidelined the Royersford Rocket from contention.

Buckwalter held a comfortable lead over Bright who had some breathing room ahead of third place driver, Steven Drevicki. The battle was behind the top three and Ryan Greth, Tony DiMattia and 2011 ARDC Champion, Drew Heistand battled for position. DiMattia held the fourth spot with just five laps to go but the rookie had his hands full in the final five circuits as both Greth and Heistand challenged for position.

Bright began to close in on Buckwalter in the closing laps. A loose race car had Buckwalter taking it easy. “If someone had shown their nose or gotten close, I could have reacted,” Buckwalter stated. But Bright’s challenge fell short when he made contact with the outside wall between turns one and two. Bright did a great job recovering and not losing a position in the process.

Buckwalter crossed the finish line for his second win of the 2013 season with Bright earning a season best finish in second. Drevicki was the final podium finish in third. Greth won the three way battle for fourth – his fourth, fourth place finish of the season as Heistand edged DiMattia for fifth.

Brenden Bright and Steven Drevicki were the winner’s of the qualifying heats.

Feature (20 laps) 1. Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 2. Brenden Bright, 3. Steve Drevicki, 4. Ryan Greth, 5. Drew Heistand, 6. Tony DiMattia, 7. PJ Gargiulo, 8. Brett Arndt, 9. Kyle Lick, 10. Billy Pauch Jr., 11. Nick Wean, 12. Trevor Kobylarz, 13. Jason Rice, 14. Brian Gilmore, 15. Joe Butera, 16. Jamie Spears, 17. Steve Buckwalter

Bruce Buckwalter Jr.  WINNER @ Port Royal Speedway (Photo by Ty Garl)

ARDC “At the Track” @ Port Royal Speedway

Kobylarz Wins at Susky in Eastern Storm Finale

Trevor Kobylarz picked up his first win of the 2013 season on the third night of ARDC competition as the wingless midgets joined the wingless sprint cars of USAC for their Eastern Storm Tour.

Brett Arndt led the field to the start of the twenty lap feature event and took the lead as rookie, Tony DiMattia took over second on lap two. One lap later, Kobylarz was challenging DiMattia for the runner-up position as Ryan Greth and Steven Drevicki were trying to determine the fourth position. With just five laps scored, Arndt led Kobylarz, Greth, DiMattia and Drevicki around the 4/10 of a mile track.

They were three wide off of turn two as Kobylarz, Greth, Drevicki and DiMattia sliced and diced for position behind the leader, Arndt. “It was a little hairy there,” Kobylarz related. “With the five of us battling!” Drevicki moved by Greth to take third just before Kobylarz used a pass on the high, outside to move past Arndt and take the lead on lap seven. Mechanical ills sent Arndt pitside just before the halfway point.

With Kobylarz out in front, Greth reclaimed the second spot ahead of Drevicki before a caution was thrown for Jason Rice. The red flag was needed on the restart as Steven Bull had nowhere to go when Brenden Bright spun going into turn one. Neither driver was injured.

“The red flag killed us,” Drevicki would state later. “The caution hurt us but the red flag did us in.” Drevicki’s tire sealed over while the cars sat and waited for the race to resume.

With Kobylarz out in front, Drevicki continued to run the bottom of the track to look for an advantage over Greth. As the laps counted down, the three way battle for fourth held everyone’s attention as DiMattia, Nick Wean and Drew Heistand battled it out. On several occasions, Wean threw a slide job to overtake the rookie who would power right back to reclaim the spot, running the inside while Wean slid to the outside. Heistand would ultimately claim the fourth spot. Ryan Watt raced his way through the field after starting in fourteenth to finish fifth in the RAACE Foundation, Dave Shirk/Glen Good entry.

Kobylarz took the checkered flag – his first at the Susquehanna Speedway park with Greth picking up a season best second place run. Drevicki took the final podium finish for the second night in a row to finish third ahead of Heistand and Watt.

Greth and Kobylarz were the winners of the qualfiying races.

ARDC returns to action at the Williams Grove Speedway this Friday night, June 14th.

Feature (20 laps) 1. Trevor Kobylarz 2. Ryan Greth 3. Steven Drevicki 4. Drew Heistand 5. Ryan Watt 6. Tony DiMattia 7. Nick Wean 8. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 9. Kyle Lick 10. Tim Buckwalter 11. PJ Gargiulo 12. Jason Rice 13. Brenden Bright 14. Steven Bull 15. Brett Arndt
DNS – Brian Gilmore

Trevor Kobylarz WINNER @ Susquehanna (Picture by Ty Garl)

Hyper Hard Charger – Ryan Watt (Photo by Deb Smith)

ARDC “At the Track” @ Susquehanna Speedway Park

Contact – Deb Smith
phone (610) 972-6176
email – dsfotog@aol.com

ARDC Midgets Join USAC Sprints for Three Shows

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