Monthly Archives: June 2015

     It is the dream of every open cockpit racer in the Northeast and beyond to win at the famed Williams Grove Speedway.

     PJ Gargiulo fulfilled that dream on Friday night – opening night of PA Speed Weeks – when he captured the win in the twenty lap feature for the wingless midgets of the American Racing Drivers Club.  (ARDC)

     “I’ve dreamt of winning here for so long,,” Gargiulo exclaimed in Victory Lane.  Gargiulo, who has fond memories of first coming to Williams Grove at the age of five or six, got to see those memories through the eyes of his nephew, Jo-Jo who was on hand for his uncle’s big win.  It brought Gargiulo’s dream full circle, remembering his thougths when he was his nephew’s age.

     “This place (the Grove) is just incredible,”  Gargiulo stated.  “When I first joined the club (ARDC) and saw Williams Grove on the schedule – the thought just gave me the chills!”     

     Brett Wanner and Jim Radney led the ARDC field to the green flag with Wanner moving out in front on the start.  Radney dropped into second but was quickly replaced by Hyper Racing team mate, Ryan Greth half way through lap number one.  Greth moved in to challenge Wanner for the lead but Wanner held his ground and the top spot.  Gargiulo moved up to third and closed the gap on Greth.  Gargiulo made several attempts on Greth in the corners on lap four but Greth was able to hold off his advances.

     With five laps scored, Wanner led Greth, Gargiulo, Brett Arndt and Tim Buckwalter.

     It became a three way race for the lead between Wanner, Greth and Gargiulo.  On lap six. Gargiulo dropped to the bottom of the track to move ahead of Greth.  Going into turns one and two, Gargiulo poked the nose of the Speer’s Oil #5 to the inside of Wanner.  Wanner opened the door and Gargiulo went into the lead as the field exited turn two.

     Gargiulo put some distance on his competition as Greth ran second, ahead of Wanner.  Tim Buckwalter went to the top of the track to make his way to the front, picking up the third spot on lap eight.

     The caution came out on lap ten when Trevor Kobylarz spun after having a tire go down.  Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. headed to the pits under the caution after coming to a stop on the track.  Gargiulo led Greth, T Buckwalter, Arndt and Wanner on the restart as 2014 ARDC Champion, Steven Drevicki battled with Nick Wean just outside the top five.

     Tim Buckwalter went to the outside of Greth to take over second one lap past the half way point.  On lap twelve, T Buckwalter ran into problems as he caught the cushion in turn four and went for a wild ride in the Heffner #27.  After going over several times, Buckwalter came down the race track where he made contact with Greth and Wanner who were running third and fourth at the time.  The impact caused Greth to get upside down as well.  All drivers were okay.  Wanner attempted to restart but headed to the pits before the green flag.

     Gargiulo went back to work and concentrated on hitting his marks as the laps counted down.  The battle was on for second as Arndt and Drevicki raced side by side, lap after lap, with Arndt maintaining his advantage.

     When the checkered flag waved, Gargiulo drove to the win followed by Arndt, Drevicki, Wean and Radney.

     Qualifying heats were won by Tim Buckwalter and Nick Wean.

     ARDC moves into the holiday weekend with two nights of racing.  On Friday night, ARDC returns to Linda’s Speedway for the running of the “No Bull 25” in honor of six time ARDC Champion, Ray Bull.  After an exciting season opener at Linda’s, many are looking forward to the return of the midgets to the Jonestown, PA track.  On Saturday night, ARDC makes it first over appearance at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Speedway to celebrate the Fourth of July.  For many of the competitors, this weekend marks the return to speedways that they know well from their days in Micro Sprint competition.

FEATURE RESULTS (20 LAPS)

1. PJ Gargiulo, 2. Brett Arndt, 3. Steven Drevicki, 4. Nick Wean, 5. Jim Radney, 6. Shawn Jackson, 7. Jamie Spears, 8. Brett Wanner, 9. Tim Buckwalter, 10. Ryan Greth, 11. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., 12. Trevor Kobylarz     DNS – Jason Rice

The wingless midgets of ARDC make their first appearance of the season at the Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night, June 26th.  With six races completed so far this season, ARDC results boasts five different winners – Danny Stratton, Ryan Greth, Tim Buckwalter, Brett Wanner and Steve Buckwalter with Tim Buckwalter being the only driver – so far this season – to win more than once.

Buckwalter won from the cockpit of the Mike Heffner owned #27 at the Big Diamond Speedway and then picked up a Thunder on the Hill win at the Grandview Speedway while wheeling his own #52.  Three different drivers – Stratton, Tim Buckwalter and Steve Buckwalter – have picked up wins this season with Heffner’s #27.

Next weekend features a big two nights of racing for ARDC to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.

On Friday night, July 3rd, ARDC makes it second appearance of the 2015 season at Linda’s Speedway for the “No Bull 25” – a race honoring former micro competitor and six time ARDC Champion, Ray Bull.  ARDC opened this season at Linda’s and no one left the packed facility disappointed.  The “No Bull 25” promises to be another great race at Linda and Michael Batz’s facility.

On Saturday night, July 4th, ARDC makes its first ever appearance at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Lanco) with the Star Spangled Havoc event.  Several teams have practiced on the track earlier this season and there is much anticipation for this event.  Add to that the fact that several ARDC competitors are past Saturday night racers at the Clyde and you’ve got yourself a real interesting event coming up!

     Steve Buckwalter made his first start of the 2015 season in American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) competition when the wingless midgets of ARDC joined the wingless sprint cars of USAC at the Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night.  After twenty laps of action, Buckwalter emerged with his first ARDC win of the year and the 50th of his career, tying him with six time ARDC Champion, Ray Bull in fourth on the All Time Feature Winners list.   

     Buckwalter was behind the wheel of the Mike Heffner owned, Lelands.com #27 midget.  It was Heffner’s third win of the season in midget competition with his third different driver.  Danny Stratton picked up Heffner’s first win on opening night and then Tim Buckwalter was the feature winner a few weeks later.

     Polesitter, Jim Radney led the first six laps of the main event, leading the field with his Hyper Racing #95.  Buckwalter sliced his way to the front from his eleventh place start quickly, running third behind Radney and 2015 feature winner, Brett Wanner with just five laps scored.   Buckwalter completed the pass by Wanner for second just one lap later and set his sights on the leader, Radney.  Buckwalter raced into the lead on lap seven.

     At the half way mark, Steve Buckwalter led Radney and Wanner.  Trevor Kobylarz had just moved up to fourth ahead of Ryan Greth.

     With Buckwalter pulling away from the field, Kobylarz closed in on Radney to set up a challenge for second.  As the leaders were coming through turns three and four to complete lap fifteen, Kobylarz set up a cross over move to move ahead of Radney for second but his R/T Racing #14 caught a rut in the track, sending Kobylarz into a spin.  Wanner, who was racing in fourth at the time, at nowhere to go and made hard contact with Kobylarz.  Wanner got upside down and the red flag was thrown while the safety crews headed to turn four.

     Kobylarz had enough damage from the contact to send him to the pits but Wanner had his #44 back on its wheels and asked for a push truck.  In the spirit of “never say die”, Wanner rejoined the back of the field to complete the feature event.

     It was all Steve Buckwalter to the checkered flag as he led Radney and Greth to the finish line.  Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. made a late race run to take fourth over Steven Drevicki,

     Kobylarz and Greth were the winners of the qualifying races.

     Western PA swing is next on the ARDC schedule with Bedford on Friday, June 19th and Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 20th.

RACE NOTES

Trevor Kobylarz, Brett Arndt & Tony DiMattia all competing in Eastern Storm competition this week.  DiMattia missed Port Royal event due to illness.  Kobylarz lost several positions late in the USAC thirty lap main at Port Royal to finish 16th.  Interesting side note was that Kobylarz turned a lap of 19.240 in time trials for the USAC sprints.  While leading the heat with his wingless midget, Kobylarz was turning laps of 19.750.  Now stop and think about that!  Arndt did a fine job, missing a transfer spot on Saturday night by just one spot while driving the Biasi #1a with only a 360 under the hood.  Arndt was up to fourth in the midget feature before catching a rut that unsettled the car, allowing several cars to get by.

FEATURE RESULTS (20 LAPS)

1. Steve Buckwalter, 2. Jim Radney, 3. Ryan Greth, 4. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 5. Steven Drevicki 6. Brett Arndt, 7. PJ Gargiulo, 8. Brett Wanner, 9. Trevor Kobylarz, 10. Nick Wean, 11. Shawn Jackson, 12. PJ Pavlich, 13. Jim Jackson, 14. Brian Gilmore, DNS – Mark Gilmore

The wingless midgets of  the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) will join the wingless sprint cars of the United States Auto Club  (USAC) in racing action on Saturday night at the Port Royal Speedway.

With five races recorded so far this season, only Douglassville, PA driver, Tim Buckwalter has been able to repeat in the win column.  Buckwalter won in Mike Heffner’s #27 midget at the Big Diamond Speedway and then picked up a second win in his own car in a Thunder on the Hill show at the Grandview Speedway a few weeks later.  But Tim Buckwalter will be strapped into his small block modified on Saturday night and won’t be part of the field when the green flag waves at Port Royal.

Will there be another repeat winner in 2015 or will it be another first time winner this season?   2013 ARDC Champion, Trevor Kobylarz and 2014 ARDC Champion, Steven Drevicki all both in search of their first wins of the 2015 season.