Aug
14

HAMLIN SPEEDWAY NEWS

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Hamlin, PA - Hamlin Speedway Halted By Storm After Six Features Are Completed
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

As the summer sunshine continues to capture the beautiful scenic Pocono Mountain landscape, the drivers and crews of a special breed of racers continue to compete and put on great shows at the Hamlin Speedway and Saturday night was no exception. Promoters Denise and Randy Smith offered another fabulous edition of the 2016 racing season at Hamlin and the talented roster of drivers once again displayed their daredevil, race to the walls brand of racing excitement. A large crowd was on hand to witness the show as close to one hundred racers came to do battle on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, a quick hitting thunderstorm brought a sudden end to the racing activity after six events were completed and the remaining All Star Slingshot feature will be the first event on the speedway on September 9th. The six feature card was once again presented by S&S Speedways Indoor Go Karts located in Snydersville, Pennsylvania.

When the final scorecards were tallied it was "The Oxford Express" Dale Kober getting back in the win column in the Super Slinger finale. Damon Paul continues to raise the bar as he sped to his fourth win of the season in the Hampton RV and Trailer Stage One Modified Division. "Bad" Chad Sandt utilized all of the speedway real estate to capture his fourth win of the season in the Wingless 600 Sprint main. Paul Richards Jr added another notch to his gun belt with his seventh win of the season in the Winged 270 Sprint main. Jared Silfee was in the zone as he raced to his fourth win of the season at Hamlin in the Junior Slingshot finale. "The Mac Attack" Mack Brink was spot on as he sped to his second victory of the season in the Rookie Wingless 600 feature event.

The six feature events were all excellent runs and the "stars of tomorrow" Junior Slingshot drivers continue to excel with each turn of the steering wheel even though it was a short field taking the green on Saturday night. JJ Rice jumped into the lead at the drop of the green flag but a three car jingle in turn three brought the field to a halt and eliminated three cars from the fray. On the restart it would be Rice leading for two laps but yielding to a high flying Jared Silfee on lap three. Silfee attacked the race track as he quickly sped away from the rest of the field. Hunter Lapp kept pace throughout but Silfee proved to have the hot hand on this evening of racing and would earn his fourth win of the season. Lapp, who also earned runner-up honors on Tuesday evening at the Reading Fairgrounds, added another runner-up finish to his expanding racing resume. Cole Stangle was third with JJ Rice in fourth and Emily Fleming fifth.

Damon Paul raced into the lead in turn two at the start of the Hampton RV and Trailer Stage One Modified main event. That would be the only move he needed as he controlled the point and the incoming storm that was about to hit the speedway grounds. The race would be called after 15-laps as a completed feature as in a matter of seconds the racetrack would be awash with a major storm hitting the area. Damon Paul was the winner with 69 year old Will Casazza doing great work in the runner-up role. Bill Dianella was third while Charlie Bodine and Cole Stangle completed the top five. Chloe Andreas, Janell Geary, Joel Smith and Evan Civick completed the field.

The rookie 600 Sprint feature found Brett Altemose hustling out front at the start of the event. Altemose was very good at the top of the raceway and withstood the early pressure from Noah Zielinski. Mack Brink found his way forward and slipped past Zielinski to assume the runner-up role and then began to pressure Altemose with some amazing runs off of the baseline of the speedway. On lap-17, Altemose would jump the cushion in turns one and two and allowed Brink to gain control of the lead. Brink would earn his second win of the season. The rest of the field scrambled at the end as Altemose slid out of the groove and Jakson Ring and Geordan Marrero would get by him for second and third. Altemose would finish fourth in a great run and Zielinski would round out the top five. The second five was headed up by newcomer Scott Myers with Tyler Galatro, newcomer Jared Lilly, the returning Jerry Rutledge and Cody Powell completing the top ten.

The 270 Sprint headliner found "Deuce" Glenn Macomber getting the jump on the field when the green flag was displayed. The event settled into a high speed chase as Paul Richards Jr began to chase Macomber around the speedway. Kyle Ferrucci slipped off the pace with problems in lap nine. On lap-13, Richards made the move of the evening as Macomber slipped past a slower car rolled a bit high on the speedway allowing Richards to also slip past the slower car and dive under Macomber to take control of the point. Once in front, Richards opened up a wide margin went on to capture the win with Macomber second, Randy Gombert third and Stephen Weirich fourth.

Super Slinger action found Steve Pirone getting the jump on the field at the start of the event. Pirone would lead the first four laps until Dale Kober found the inside line open and made a dash for the lead. Once in front, Kober was able to race to daylight while ten-time winner in 2016 Wes Hearn was locked in a battle with the returning Roger Collins and then Steve Pirone. Kober built up a huge lead and drove away to his second win of the season with Hearn making a valiant effort to land in the runner-up role. Pirone had a great outing in third while Collins and steady Jim Conroy rounded out the top five. Jeff Haduck, newcomer Mike Taylor and Ron Jablonka made up the remainder of the field.

The 600 Wingless Sprint main found Saylorsburg resident Chad Sandt driving to daylight at the drop of the green flag. Dylan Martin kept pace early on before he gave way to Danny Buccafusca. Buccafusca threw all he had at Sandt but soon had to contend with Brandon Azzalina as he worked the top of the raceway to perfection to make it a three car battle. Azzalina dogged Buccafusca until he made a clean pass to slip past him. Sandt withstood the heavy pressure from Azzalina for the last five laps to capture his fourth win of the season. Azzalina, Buccafusca, JD Casazza in a great run and Joel Smith completed the top five. Ryan Quackenbush headed up the second five with Mick D'Agostino, Mike Myers, Zac Azzalina and Mike Van Pelt completing the top ten.

PEARL JAMS:

Heat racing action at Hamlin continued to fuel the fires that make Hamlin Speedway the place to be on Saturday nights as Jerry Rutledge and Scott Myers were victorious in the Rookie 600 Sprint heat events. One heat was required for the Stage One Modifieds with Damon Paul securing the win. Jared Silfee captured the heat win for the Junior Slingers. Chad Sandt and Dylan Martin captured the two heats in the Wingless 600 Sprints and captured heat number two. Two rounds of heats were need to establish the starting lineup for the All Star Slingshots and capturing heat wins were Austin Silfee, Ashley Kober and Josh Marcus in the first round while Chris Kurtz, Brett Bieber and Mike McLaughlin were victorious in the second round.

The Super Slingers ran time trials with Dale Kober holding the hot hand at 14.302 seconds. Paul Richards was top timer in the 270 Sprints as he stopped the clocks at 11.820 seconds.

Newcomers or returning racers to the Hamlin Speedway scene for the Saturday night racing action included Tommy Stillo in the Junior Slingshots. Roger Collins returned to the speedway for the first time since his harrowing backstretch accident a few weeks ago and was solid throughout the evening in his return to action. Mike Taylor was a newcomer in both the Super Slingers and the All Stars. Randy Gombert was back in action in the 270 Sprints. Pat Bealer, who picked up a win last week in the 270 Sprints, had a 600 Sprint on hand to do battle and was strong until he encountered some problems late in the feature. Janell Geary returned to action in the Stage One Modifieds. The Rookie 600 Sprints were filled out with Jared Lilly, Jerry Rutledge, Cody Powell and David Trego, all new faces in recent weeks. Dylan Hoch, Anthony Raisner, Henry Anderson, Joe Toth and Sarah Bohlin were new additions to the All Star Slingshots.

A new PA system was installed for the racing action and still needs a few tweaks that retired racer Tex Snyder will help iron out in the upcoming weeks. Tex still has his race equipment for sale at reasonable prices and has an ad up on microracing.com.

Randy Smith had the speedway in great shape for the evening of speed and three and four wide action in the heat events was commonplace.

"The Flying Dutchman" Richie Van Orden was taking in the show and the former track record holder in the Slingshots is preparing for some Sportsman racing at OCFS and Accord Speedways.

The speedway paid their final respects to Bryan Clauson, who passed way last Sunday evening at the age of 27. The Bullet was a guest on the Gasoline Alley TV show five times that was hosted by Ed and Steve Pados.

The speedway will be dark next week to allow our racing families to enjoy some quality time off from the rigors of racing. The speedway will return to action on August 27th with a full seven division show of racing excitement, highlighted by a special event for the Wingless 600 Sprints.

RESULTS:

All Star Slingshots: Postponed until September 9th

270cc Sprints: Paul Richards Jr, Glenn Macomber, Randy Gombert, Stephen Weirich, Kyle Ferrucci

600cc Wingless Sprints: Chad Sandt, Brandon Azzalina, Danny Buccafusca, JD Casazza, Joel Smith, Ryan Quackenbush, Mick D'Agostino, Mike Myers, Zac Azzalina, Mike Van Pelt, Sam Kravitsky, Dylan Martin, Don Colaluce, Pat Bealer, Colin White, Joe Howey (DNS)

Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Damon Paul, Will Casazza, Bill Dianella, Charlie Bodine, Cole Stangle, Chloe Andreas, Janell Geary, Joel Smith, Evan Civick

Junior Slingshots: Jared Silfee, Hunter Lapp, Cole Stangle, JJ Rice, Emily Fleming, Shelby McLaughlin, Ty Kelly, Colton Geary, Tommy Stillo

Super Slingshots: Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Steve Pirone, Roger Collins, Jim Conroy, Jeff Haduck, Mike Taylor, Ron Jablonka

Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: Mack Brink, Jakson Ring, Geordan Marrero, Brett Altemose, Noah Zielinski, Scott Myers, Tyler Galatro, Jared Lilly, Jerry Rutledge, Cody Powell, David Trego, Jacob Balliet, Tony Parlanti

Racing every Saturday evening from April through September. Hamlin Speedway will be dark next week to allow racing families some final vacation time before their children head back to school. The next event on the Hamlin Speedway schedule is set for August 27th when all Divisions will be in action on the 1/5th mile clay cushioned oval with a special event added for the Wingless 600 Sprints with $750.00 to win based on 30 entries. Twin heats, Passing Points and a 30-lap main event. Make sure to check the Hamlin Speedway website for additional information. Pit Gates open at the speedway at 3 PM; Drivers Meeting at 5:45; Hot Laps are at 6:00 and the racing begins at 7 PM sharp. Admission Prices for regular shows are: Adults $10.00; Senior Citizens $5.00 Children under 6 are Free

Upcoming events at the speedway include the Roy Smith Memorial for the Hampton RV and Trailer Sales sponsored Stage One Modifieds to be held on September 3rd.

The postponed Speedweeks Slingshot finale will be the first event raced on September 9th, followed by a complete regular show highlighted by the All Star Slingshot National Tour 50-lap Tour event paying $1,000.00 to the winner based on a 24 entry count.

Please support the many great sponsors who assist in working and sponsoring the season long events at the speedway. Tilcon, Yankowski Enterprises, Triple Cities Mack, Dickie Keiper Speed Supplies, Ron Brown Hauling, Classic Cycles, Kim's Kreations, RockAuto.com, Howe's Comfort Inn and Santarelli And Sons Oil Company are all part of the advertising family at the speedway and we graciously thank them for their support.
For further updates and information regarding all of the news and additions to the Hamlin Speedway, logon to their well documented website at: http://www.hamlinspeed.com or call the speedway hotline at: 570 420 5500.

The Hamlin Speedway Is The "Pearl" In The Poconos

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