Monthly Archives: August 2013

Follow us on Facebook!

KOBYLARZ LEADS THE WAY TO BEDFORD WIN

Trevor Kobylarz led the field of ARDC midgets as they made their first appearance at the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway on Friday night. Kobylarz picked up his third win of the season on the banked half mile track after taking the lead from Ryan Greth on lap seventeen of the twenty lap main event.

Greth put his wingless racer out in front as he and 2012 ARDC Rookie, Brett Wanner led the starting line-up to the wave of the green flag. Greth began to pull away from the field as Wanner and Jim Radney raced for second. Tony DiMattia ran in fourth as Kobylarz raced into fifth with just five laps scored.

With seven laps on the books, Kyle Lick brought out the first caution as he slowed on the homestretch after losing a wheel.
The field was realigned for the start – Greth’s advantage erased and Alex Bright looking to join the top five.

Kobylarz moved by DiMattia for fourth aand was racing Radney for third at the half way mark. Again, Greth drove away from the field as Kobylarz advanced through the top five.

Kobylarz took second from Wanner on lap fourteen as now Steven Drevicki looked to join the top five. Drevicki moveed up to sixth and then took over the fifth spot with fve laps remaining.

When Greth left an opening on lap seventeen, Kobylarz saw his opportunity as he took the lead as the pair raced down the backstretch.

Kobylarz raced to the checkered flag with Greth a solid second. Drevicki was on the move in the final laps as he took over fourth with two laps to go and then moved up to third on the white flag lap. Wanner had his best outing of the season as he finished fourth with Radney earning his second consecutive top five finish in just his fourth outing with ARDC.

Greth and Radney were the winners of the two eight lap qualifiers. Drevicki was the race’s Hyper Hard Charger.

Finish (20 laps) 1. Trevor Kobylarz 2. Ryan Greth 3. Steven Drevicki 4. Brett Wanner 5. Jim Radney 6. Tony DiMattia 7. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 8. Brett Arndt 9. PJ Gargiulo 10. Joe Butera 11. Alex Bright 12. John Heydenreich 13. Nick Wean 14. Billy Courtwright 15. Kyle Lick

BRIGHT REPEATS AT PPMS IN EXCITING STYLE

In a race that saw five different leaders and countless lead changes, Alex Bright emerged as the winner of his second ARDC event of the season as ARDC raced on the high banks of Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Bright was also the winner in 2012 when ARDC raced at PPMS.

It was one of the most competitive races of the 2013 season as Ryan Greth and Kyle Lick led the field to the start with Greth taking the lead. Greth led for the first two circuits before Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. saw and opportunity and one slide job later, Buckwalter was the new race leader as he slid by Greth and Lick to take the lead.

Buckwalter held the lead as a three way battle was waged for second between Greth, jim Radney and Lick as Alex Bright broke into the top five after starting eighth.

Lick’s preferred line was on the very bottom of the track – quite contrary to his style. But at PPMS, Lick was hooked up on the bottom and sailed into the lead by the half way point.

Lick led the field for several laps with Buckwalter, Radney and Bright in hot pursuit. It was Lick on the bottom as Radney and Bright raced the top of the track. While the leader changed between the corners and the straightaways, Lick crossed the line in the lead for three circuits before Radney took over. Lick went back into the lead when Radney made contact with the wall between turns one and two but the impact just seemed to propel Radney forward as he regained the position down the backstretch.

Radney ran hard into one and two but Bright held the advantage in three and four as he ran to the bottom to take the lead before sliding back to the top in front of Radney.

Bright was the race’s fifth leader but it was still anybody’s race as Lick ran between second and third, between Bright and Radney. Coming to the white flag, Lick’s car jumped out of gear, sending Lick to the pits just one lap from a tremendous finish.

Steven Drevicki took over the third spot as Buckwalter and Brett Arndt raced in the top five going for the checkered. The twenty lap race went green to checkered without a caution in just less than nine minutes.

Greth and Drevicki were the winners of the eight lap heat races. Bright received the Hyper Hard Charger Award.

Finish (20 laps) 1. Alex Bright 2. Jim Radney 3. Steven Drevicki 4. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 5. Brett Arndt 6. Ryan Greth 7. PJ Gargiulo 8. Brett Wanner 9. Trevor Kobylarz 10. Tony DiMattia 11. Joe Butera 12. Brian Gilmore 13. Kyle Lick 14. John Heydenreich

PPMS feature finish : 77 Bright, 95 Radney, 19 Drevicki, 83 Buckwalter, 46 Arndt, 33 Greth, 5 Gargulio, 44 Wanner, 1 Kobylarz, 50 DiMattia, 3 Butera, 10 Gilmore, 8 Lick, 22 Heydenreich… Non stop 8:49 hard charger: Bright

Follow us on Facebook!

Current ARDC point leader, Trevor Kobylarz added his third win of the 2013 season when the American Racing Drivers Club visited the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway for the first time.

It was the first of two nights of racing in Western PA as ARDC traveled to Bedford for a Friday night show and then moved on to Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Ryan Greth and Brett Wanner shared the front row start as they led the field to the start of the twenty lap main on Bedford’s banked half mile track. Greth immediately took the lead and started to pull away from the field as Wanner and Jim Radney dueled for the runner-up spot.

Seven consecutive green flag laps of racing saw Greth extend his lead. The caution waved for the first time on lap eight as Kyle Lick had a wheel come off on the homestretch. Greth would restart the race with Wanner, Radney, Tony DiMattia and Trevor Kobylarz nose to tail.

Greth again, pulled away on the restart as Kobylarz passed DiMattia for fourth. As Greth raced ahead, Kobylarz and Radney battled for third at the half way point. Wanner continued his solid race in second while DiMattia had his hands full with challenges by Alex Bright, Steven Drevicki and Nick Wean.

Greth’s advantage was shrinking as Kobylarz took over second on lap fourteen. Drevicki was knocking on the top five on the next circuit.

Kobylarz made his move for the lead as he and f down the backstretch on lap seventeen. Kobylarz was the new race leader as they headed into turn three.

Kobylarz raced to the checkered three laps later with Greth in second. Drevicki’s late race charge resulted in a third place finish for the most recent feature winner, 2012 ARDC Rookie of the Year, Wanner had his best outing in fourth with Radney rounding out the top five.

Greth and Radney were the winners of the qualifying races.

Feature Finish (20 Laps) 1-Trevor Kobylarz 2-Ryan Greth 3-Steven Drevicki 4-Brett Wanner 5-Jim Radney 6-Tony DiMattia 7-Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 8-Brett Arndt 9- PJ Gargiulo 10-Joe Butera 11-Alex Bright 12-John Heydenreich 13-Nick Wean 14-Bill Courtwright 15-Kyle Lick

Feature Finish : 1 – Trevor Kobylarz, 33 – Ryan Greth, 19 – Steven Drevicki, 44 – Brett Wanner, 95 – Jim Radney, 50 – Tony DiMattia, 83 – Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., 46 – Brett Arndt, 5 – P.J. Gargiulo, 3 – Joe Butera, 77 – Alex Bright, 22 – John Heydenreich, 78 – Nick Wean, 10 – Billy Courtwright, 8 – Kyle Lick.   DNS:  Mark Gilmore

The ARDC midgets will make their first ever appearance at the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway on Friday night, August 23 as they join four other divisions at the banked half mile track. Bedford joined forces with Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway to provide a double header of midget racing for race fans in the western part of the state this weekend.

Last year, the race at PPMS had the fans on their feet as PJ Gargiulo led the 20 lap feature event over a hard charging Alex Bright. Bright, who was the winningest driver in ARDC last season, raced with Gargiulo on the top of the big half mile track. With two laps to go, Bright surprised everyone, including Gargiulo, when he found room to challenge for the lead on the outside! Bright went on to take the win over Gargiulo, Brenden Bright, Trevor Kobylarz and Nick Wean.

A twenty lap feature event will be on tap at both speedways this weekend. ARDC will be represented by a field of cars that will include the top ten point men so far this season. Trevor Kobylarz enters this weekend as the current point leader over Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., last week’s winner at the Winchester Speedway, Steven Drevicki, PJ Gargiulo and Brett Arndt.

Head west for ARDC action this weekend!

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

PPMS is offering $5 off admission for those traveling 50 plus miles!!!

PPMS Contact info

Matt Miley
Miley Motor Sports Inc
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway
23 Chestnut St. Carnegie, PA, 15106
mmiley99@comcast.net
412-736-3142

Kobylarz Wins Second of Season at Potomac Speedway

Follow us on Facebook!

The Potomac Speedway will always be one of Trevor Kobylarz’ favorite tracks. It’s where he captured his first ever ARDC win a year ago in May. Now it’s the track where he picked up his second win of the 2013 season.

The first half of the twenty lap feature certainly did not lack for excitement as Ryan Greth took the race lead. It was a wild night with caution flags keeping the field close.

Two red flag periods interrupted the race when first John Barnett and then 2012 Rookie of the Year, Brett Wanner flipped. Both drivers were uninjured.

It was a three car race for the lead between Greth, Kobylarz and Steven Drevicki. Kobylarz took the lead just before the half way mark on lap nine.

Kobylarz led Drevicki, Kyle Lick, Greth and PJ Gargiulo as the second half of the race progressed. Greth brought out the caution with six laps remaining as Lick was now running second and challenging. Drevicki struggled with an ill running race car and pulled off before the end of the race.

Lick, a rookie with ARDC this season but a veteran of 600 Micro competition, challenged Kobylarz to the checkered. Kobylarz would take his second win of the season over Lick as Jimmy Glenn raced from the back of the pack to finish third and take the Hyper Hard Charger Award. It was Glenn’s best finish of the season. 2011 ARDC Champion, Drew Heistand finished fourth with Gargiulo rounding out the top five.

Rookies Kyle Lick and Tony DiMattia won the first two eight lap qualifiers with PJ Gargiulo picking up the win in the third heat race.

Feature Finish (20 laps)
1. Trevor Kobylarz 2. Kyle Lick 3. Jimmy Glenn 4. Drew Heistand 5. PJ Gargiulo 6. Brett Arndt 7. Alex Bright 8. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 9. Greg Fitzpatrick 10. Tony DiMattia 11. Stephen Bull 12. Jason Rice 13. Billy Courtwright 14. Mark Gilmore 15. Steven Drevicki 16. Ryan Greth 17. Jim Radney 18. Brett Wanner 19. Billy Pauch, Jr. 20. John Barnett 21. Bryan Kobylarz 22. Jamie Speers

DREVICKI WINS FIRST OF SEASON AT WINCHESTER

After a lot of hard work and more than a measure of bad luck, Steven Drevicki drove to this first win of the 2013 season at the Winchester Speedway as he was chased across the finish line by Jimmy Glenn and Alex Bright.

Jason Rice and Billy Courtwright raced for the lead at the start of the twenty-five lap feature event, crossing the start/finish line side by side to complete lap one. Rice edged ahead of the veteran competitor to take the lead on lap two.

Drevicki took the lead briefly on lap six but Rice regained the lead one lap later when Drevicki got a little too high coming through turns three and four. With the race approaching the half way mark, Drevicki took the lead, followed by Rice and Courtwright.

The battle was on for the third on back when Greth and Courtwright tangled in turn two. Drevicki and Rice now had Alex Bright, Jimmy Glenn and Billy Pauch Jr. on their tails when the green flag waved.

Bright worked the outside of the track, taking over second on lap sixteen. Glenn raced side by side with Rice to take over the third spot on lap nineteen. Stephen Bull came to a stop in turn three setting up a one lap shootout for the win.

Drevicki held his line and drove to the win. Bright waged a challenged for the lead and Glenn took advantage to outrace Bright to the line to finish second. Jim Radney, driving in only his third ARDC Midget feature event, raced from nineteenth to take fourth on the final lap of the feature to win the Hyper Hardcharger . Rice had a strong outing to finish fifth.

Greth, Kobylarz and Radney were the winners of the three eight lap qualifiers.

Feature Finish (20 laps)
1. Steven Drevicki 2. Jimmy Glenn 3. Alex Bright 4. Jim Radney 5. Jason Rice 6. Billy Pauch, Jr. 7. Brett Arndt 8. Brett Wanner 9. Mark Gilmore 10. Trevor Kobylarz 11. Billy Courtwright 12. Tony DiMattia 13. Kyle Lick 14. Bryan Kobylarz 15. Joe Butera 16. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 17. Stephen Bull 18. PJ Gargiulo 19. Ryan Greth

Weekend Race Notes
Jimmy Glenn had a career highlight weekend with podium finishes both nights – third at Potomac and then a second at Winchester. It was a career highlight for Glenn. Brett Wanner rebounded from his flip on Friday night to a top ten finish at Winchester. Billy Courtwright showed that there’s strength in experience as he led the third heat race for five laps and then raced for the lead in the feature. Some driver changes for the Potomac/Winchester weekend saw Billy Pauch, Jr. in a second Steward #33, Bryan Kobylarz in Carey Becker’s #20 and Tony DiMattia in the cockpit of the Burke #54.

Contact – Deb Smith

phone (610) 972-6176

Feature finish : Drevicki, Glenn, Bright, Radney, Rice, Pauch, Arndt, Wanner, Gilmore, T. Kobylarz, Courtwright, DiMattia, Lick, B. Kobylarz, Butera, Buckwalter,Bull, Gargiulo, Greth DNS: Shirk, Fitzpatrick

Feature Finish :  T. Kobylarz,  Lick,  Glenn,  Heistand,  Gargiulo,  Arndt,  Bright,  Buckwalter,  Fitzpatrick,  DiMattia,  Bull,  Rice,  Courtwright,  Gilmore,  Drevicki,  Greth,  Radney,  Wanner,  Pauch,  Barnett,  B. Kobylarz,  Speers

Follow us on Facebook!

Alex Bright and Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. are anxious to return to both the Potomac and Winchester Speedways this weekend!

When ARDC traveled to the Potomac Speedway for the first time in May, Alex Bright was able to pick up his first win of the 2013 season. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. did the same thing the next night at the Winchester Speedway and then picked up a second win at Port Royal just a few weeks later. both drivers will be in the field this weekend when ARDC heads south to Maryland and Virginia.

But Bright and Buckwalter are not the only drivers looking forward to this trip.

It was just a year ago that current ARDC point leader, Trevor Kobylarz picked up his first ever ARDC feature win when ARDC headed to Potomac last May. Kobylarz picked up another win before finishing second in championship points.

2012 ARDC Rookie of the Year, Brett Wanner will always remember his trip to Potomac & Winchester last August. Wanner led the first laps of the feature event at Potomac until a storm hit. The remainder of that feature was completed the next night at Winchester. Tim Buckwalter was the feature winner but Wanner earned his best finish of the season. A complete regular show was then run and Wanner came back to WIN the second feature of the night! That’s a night not soon to be
forgotten!

Shawn Jackson and rookie, Kyle Lick have earned their career first ARDC wins earlier this season and would like nothing better than to return to Victory Lane at Potomac or Winchester. Jackson led the race in May by a straightaway before he was sidelined with mechanical issues.

Steven Drevicki, PJ Gargiulo, Ryan Greth, rookie, Tony DiMattia, Brett Arndt, Jason Rice and Jimmy Glenn have been in the thick of the hunt all season but are still seeking the Winner’s Circle. Billy Pauch Jr. will join the field of ARDC competitors this weekend in a second Steward entry. Pauch has a fifth place finish from earlier this season.

Nine more races remain on the 2013 ARDC schedule. Following the Potomac/Winchester weekend, ARDC makes it’s first ever appearance at the Bedford Fairgrounds on August 23rd and then Pittsburgh the following night. Port Royal, Williams Grove and New Egypt are on the schedule in September with the Thunder on the Hill at the Grandview Speedway and the Candy Bowl at Susquehanna Speedway Park wrapping up the season in October.

ARDC is currently in their 74th season of competition and is one of the oldest race sanctioning bodies in the United States.

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