ARDC Midgets | Monthly Archives: July 2013July 2013

The Passing of Tom Cochrane

Posted on July 29, 2013 by admin Posted in General News Leave a comment

ARDC joins many in the racing world in mourning the passing of Tom Cochrane on Friday, July 26, 2013 at the age of 79.

Cochrane has a long history in racing in the Northeast – especially in midget racing. His days in the cockpit were spent during the eras when roll bars were not part of the standard equipment on a midget. He raced both with and without the benefit of a roll bar.

He was a long standing member of ARDC, SMRC (Super Midget Racing Club) as well as a charter member of USAC. He served as a Trustee on the board of the Checkered Flag Fan Club for many years. He became a fan of auctions and estate sales, eagerly pursuing items of racing memorabilia. He actively supported both the Eastern Auto Racing Historical Society and the Eastern Museum of Auto Racing.

For twenty-five years, he was the proprietor of the Eagle Hotel in Trexlertown, PA.

Cochrane is survived by his wife Carolyn, a son Thomas W, and daughters Lauren Anne and Tracey, two stepsons, Tony and Joseph, a brother, John and sisters Veronica and Mary, and seven grandchildren.

Family and friends can pay their final respects to Tom Cochrane at the Schmoyer Funeral Home, 8926 Brookdale Road, Breinigsville on Wednesday. Call at 9 am with services at 11 o’clock.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made through the funeral home to either the injured driver’s fund of Checkered Flag Fan Club or to the Eastern Museum of Auto Racing at Latimore Valley, PA.

Rest in Peace, Tom Cochrane.

ELEVEN DOWN, ELEVEN TO GO

Posted on July 14, 2013 by admin Posted in General News Leave a comment

ARDC Hits Mid-point in 2013 Season

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The 2013 season of the American Racing Drivers Club, Inc. (ARDC) has reached its mid-point in its twenty-two race schedule but there is plenty of action to come.

Steve Buckwalter – the Royersford Rocket – leads all competitors with three wins after starting off the season with three consecutive victories at New Egypt, Williams Grove and Port Royal. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. is the only other repeat winner with wins at Winchester, VA and Port Royal. Alex Bright, Tim Buckwalter, Trevor Kobylarz, Shawn Jackson and rookie driver, Kyle Lick each have a single victory to their credit so far this season. Mother Nature had just one win – claiming the feature event recently at the Dixieland Speedway near Elizabeth City, NC.

With six different winners in ten feature events, the remaining eleven race dates promise a lot of action before the final checkered flag is waved on the 2013 season. Trevor Kobylarz is the current points leader but less than one hundred points separate the top five drivers. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., Ryan Greth, PJ Gargiulo and Steven Drevicki are still in the thick of the hunt. Brett Arndt, Brenden Bright, rookie Tony DiMattia, Nick Wean and rookie, Kyle Lick currently represent sixth through tenth in the points chase and each competitor believes that he is still in contention with eleven race dates remaining. Gargiulo, Drevicki, Arndt, Wean and Bright all have at least one ARDC victory to their credit and would like nothing better than to get to Victory Lane before the end of the season. Both Greth and DiMattia are still looking for that first trip to the Winner’s Circle.

Last season, eleven different drivers visited ARDC Victory Lane and that mark could be equaled if not beaten before the end of this season.

ARDC heads to Mercer Raceway Park this weekend for its only appearance there this season. A second race at the New Egypt Speedway starts off the action in the month of August. The Bedford Fairgrounds will host ARDC on Friday night, August 23rd for the first time and then the wingless warriors move on to the Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Pittsburgh, PA the next night. A second Potomac/Winchester Speedway weekend is scheduled for August 16th and 17th.

Third appearances at Port Royal, Williams Grove and New Egypt are on the schedule for September. A final visit to Grandview in the Thunder on the Hill Show and the Candy Bowl at the Susquehanna Speedway Park will determine the final point standings for the 2013 season in October.

Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic is the primary sponsor for ARDC competition in 2013 as the midgets complete their seventy-fourth season of competition.

The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Award is being offered for the second season, with separate points being tabulated from one race at each track during the 2013 season. Bob Hilbert Sportswear will award the winner with 100 white express race shirts to be made in the winner’s design when ARDC gathers to celebrate their champions at their annual banquet in November. Last year’s recipient, Nick Wean, had his shirts printed in children’s sizes and has been delighting the young fans as he distributes these shirts free at ARDC events.

BDB Graphics will sponsor the Best Appearing Car Award for 2013 and is basing the selection for this year’s award on a fan vote. Fans at the County Line Speedway in Elm City, NC were the first to place their nominations for this award. Fans will be invited to vote for this award at the Potomac Speedway in August, the New Egypt Speedway in September and the Grandview Speedway in October. The Arndt #46, Gargiulo #5, R/T Racing #1, Butera #3 and the B. Buckwalter #83 have been selected by fans to date.

There is plenty of side by side and three wide racing (even four wide at times!) left this season. Support your local race track and come out and watch the wingless midgets of ARDC!

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

TONY DIMATTIA AND TIM BUCKWALTER ARE BIG WINNERS

Posted on July 9, 2013 by admin Posted in General News Leave a comment

PA 600 SPEEDWEEK WINS GO TO DIMATTIA AND BUCKWALTER

Tony DiMattia of Malvern, PA is a rookie in ARDC Midget competition this season. Tim Buckwalter of Douglassville, PA is the reigning ARDC Champion. Both drivers took advantage of an idle weekend on the ARDC schedule to compete in the Kioti Tractors PA 600 Speedweek Presented By Adrenalized Promotions.

Tony DiMattia has turned some heads during the first half of the ARDC Midget season as he wheels a Hyper Midget in ARDC competition and has worked his way into the top ten in points with eleven races remaining on the 2013 schedule.

On Saturday, DiMattia qualified well for the Speedweek opener at Lanco. He timed second fastest and a second place finish in the dash found DiMattia on the outside pole for the start of the main event. DiMattia made a challenged Tyler Walton for the race lead early but then settled into third when Shane Lewis made the pass for second. As the old saying goes, “in order to finish first, you must first finish” – when the leaders tangled while battling for the lead, DiMattia was in the right place at the right time. He may have inherited the lead but he held his own on the double file restarts that came his way before the checkered flag. He had a full second lead at the checkered over second place driver, Chris Panczer and third place competitor, Mike Dicely.

It was a $2,500 pay day for the sixteen year old racer. It was his first win at Lanco, his first win in winged competition and certainly, the biggest win of the young driver’s career. “That’s not the way I like to win but we’ll take it,” DiMattia said of his win.

Tim Buckwalter may have moved into Small Block Modified racing this season but that’s not to say that he won’t jump into a midget or a 600 micro whenever the situation presents itself. And since one of his Modified car owners – Gary and Donna Spotts – is also his car owner in 600 micros, you know that those opportunities are going to be penciled in on the race schedule.

After racing at the Big Diamond and Grandview Speedways on Friday and Saturday night, Buckwalter drove the Spotts’ 600 Micro into Victory Lane at Greenwood Valley for the second race of the PA 600 Speedweek competition. “We figured that place out a while ago,” Buckwalter explained. “We’ve got our set-up and we’re good to go. We were good as soon as the green flag came out.” Buckwalter has also been a feature winner in ARDC competition this season in spite of his limited schedule.

In only three seasons of midget competition, Buckwalter went from Rookie of the Year in 2010 to ARDC Champion in 2012. A seventy plus race schedule is not unheard of for Buckwalter who may very well exceed that number by the time the final checkered flag is waved on the 2013 season.

PA 600 Speedweek competition moves to the JeffreyHogueRealtor.com Action Track USA on Wednesday and both DiMattia and Buckwalter will be in the field. The Wednesday night program will be the first wingless event of Speedweek.

While DiMattia and Buckwalter stole the headlines, several other ARDC competitors have found some success during Speedweek competition. Kyle Lick, who earned his first ARDC victory just tens days ago in North Carolina’s County Line Speedway, finished sixth at Greenwood Valley. Lick already as two wins in wingless 600 competition at the Action Track USA and will be in the field on Wednesday night. Ryan Greth took over the driving chores of the Greth/Carber entry at Lanco and finished fifth in the main event. Alex Bright returned from midget competition in the midwest to pick up a top ten at Greenwood Valley.

Three races remain in Speedweek action – keep your eye on the boys from ARDC!

Contact – Deb Smith

phone (610) 972-6176

email – dsfotog@aol.com

KYLE LICK EARNS FIRST CAREER ARDC WIN ON SOUTHERN SWING

Posted on July 6, 2013 by admin Posted in General News Leave a comment

Rain and Lick are Winners on North Carolina Weekend

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Mother Nature and Kyle Lick were the winners as the American Racing Drivers Club made their annual trek to North Carolina Speedways – Dixieland in Elizabeth City and County Line in Elm City North Carolina.

Qualifying was completed on Friday night at Dixieland Speedway before a persistent threat of rain turned into a steady reality. Drew Heistand, Trevor Kobylarz and Brenden Bright won the three qualifying heats. Threatening skies, streaked with lightning finally brought an end to the Friday night show and the Dixieland fans left the track without seeing most of the feature events.

On Saturday night, the field of ARDC Midgets pulled into the County Line Speedway for a second night of wingless midget competition on the Southern Swing.

Rookie Kyle Lick and Jason Rice lined up in the front row to lead the nineteen car field to the start of the twenty-five lap main event. Lick and Rice raced side by side for the first lap before Lick was able to pull ahead on the second time around. Lick and Rice pulled away as the battle was waged for third between Drew Heistand, Steve Drevicki and Brett Arndt. Trevor Kobylarz raced his way into the top five by lap ten.

Lick turned lap after lap of consistent racing as he led the field as the half way mark of the race was scored. Rice held down the runner-up spot as he fought off the challenges of Drevicki. Drevicki would shoot to the inside as they exited turn four but Rice was able to roll the outside to maintain his edge. With sixteen laps complete, Rice and Drevicki raced in tandem into turn one. Racing side by side for second, they quickly reeled in a slower car. Rice caught a the rear wheel of Joe Butera’s #3, standing his #57 on its nose. The red flag was displayed as Rice emerged uninjured.

With the green flag restarting the action, Lick pulled away from the field. Drevicki faded on the restart with a wheel problem on his #19. PJ Gargiulo moved into second as Heistand, Kobylarz, and Wean battled for third.

With less than five laps remaining, Ryan Greth lost the handle on the Steward #33 entering turn two. Greth kept the car in motion but the caution was needed when contact was made with Tony DiMattia . DiMattia headed to the pits but Greth was able to restart.

With the final lap approaching, Drew Heistand set Gargiulo up as they raced down the backstretch. Lick entered turn four as Heistand slid by Gargiulo to take over second as they raced through turn three.

Lick led the field to the white flag as four cars still battled for second and third. The car came around on Heistand as he slid into turn two. Nick Wean went into a slide to avoid a direct hit with Heistand. The front wheel of the Wean #78 caught the wall and Wean got airborne, flipping over Heistand. The red was thrown and the field slowed to a stop in turn three. Flames shot from Gargiulo’s car as he came to a stop. With less than a lap remaining, three of the top five cars were eliminated. All drivers escaped injury as Heistand , Wean and Gargiulo had their race end just one lap from the finish.

Lick had Kobylarz on his rear bumper for the final lap as he drove to his first win in ARDC Midget competition. Kobylarz was the Hyper Hard Charger, finishing second after starting eleventh. Brett Arndt raced to his second consecutive podium finish with his third place effort. Current ARDC point leader, Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. finished fourth with Brenden Bright completing the top five at the checkered.

Three exciting qualifying heats were won by Lick, Kobylarz and Gargiulo.

ARDC returns to competition at the Mercer Raceway Park on Saturday, July 20th.

Results (25 laps) 1. Kyle Lick 2. Trevor Kobylarz 3. Brett Arndt 4. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 5. Brenden Bright
6. Ryan Greth 7. Dusty Hiestand 8. Bryan Kobylarz 9. Billy Courtwright 10. Steven Drevicki 11. Joe Butera 12. PJ Gargiulo 13. Drew Heistand 14. Nick Wean 15. Tony DiMattia 16. Shawn Jackson 17. Jason Rice 18. Greg Fitzpatrick 19. Mark Gilmore

Top Three at County Line – Kobylarz (2nd), Kyle Lick (winner) and Brett Arndt (3rd)

Hard Charger from County Line was Trevor Kobylarz

Contact – Deb Smith

phone (610) 972-6176

email – dsfotog@aol.com