Hamlin, PA - Hamlin Speedway Cold, Racing Sizzles With Spectacular Eight Feature Event Card

By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

The 2017 racing season at the Hamlin Speedway got underway on Saturday night to a rousing start with a great collection of veteran and first time performers wasting no time in displaying their style and guile on the 1/5th mile clay oval speedway. Successful promoters Randy and Denise Smith ushered in their twelfth season at the Hamlin facility with an opening night filled with spectacular racing action. The Smith Family and Staff welcomed in a convoy of 124 talented racers from a surrounding five-state area to their premier short track facility located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. The opening day event was chillier than expected as the night time chill in the air (40 degrees) had the brave opening crowd on hand seeking jackets, blankets, and plenty of hot beverages to keep warm. The opening night crowd was treated to an old-fashioned donnybrook of high-flying action on the freshly clayed and banked 1/5 mile racing facility and the lightening fast action allowed for the talented daredevil racing roster to use all of the available speed lanes to present a great evening of racing entertainment. The eight feature event racing card and time trials went off as scheduled and the non-stop racing action was completed at 11 PM and when was all said and done eight elated winners found there way into Hamlin Speedway victory circle for the traditional pomp and circumstance.

The extended hot-lap sessions opened the day's events as the drivers were given ample opportunity to dial in their cars for the evening of racing. The track proved to be silky smooth as the drivers promptly began flirting with all of the racing channels of the speedway. The hot lap sessions lasted an hour and allowed the many new and veteran drivers an opportunity to test the new racing surface and the great field of cars on hand never skipped a beat as they dug their right rear wheels into the rich Pocono clay that was in great condition despite the always frigid weather the Poconos receives during the winter months. The time trials and dual heat format for the Wingless 600 Sprints determined the starting format for the evening of racing that was to follow.

The seven headline divisions found the 28 entries for the JPA Masonry Rookie 600 Sprints broken into two feature events based on time to allow the rookie drivers equal seat time and to become acquainted with the speedway. Jakson Ring and Damon Paul were victorious in the two events. Jenna Schostkewitz dominated the action in the now Wingless 270 Sprint main. "The Jersey Force" Anthony Recchio stepped into a new division and came away with a convincing win in the Hampton RV and Trailer Sales Stage One Modified feature. Russell Benke opened his season on a fine note with a wire to wire triumph in the All Star Slingshot main event. and came away with his first win in his major step up the racing ladder. "The A-Team" Brandon Azzalina base-lined his way to a super win in the 600 Sprint finale, after taking over for early leader Joe Smith. "Lil Miss" Shelby McLaughlin captured the Junior Slingshot main event while "The Oxford Express" Dale Kober was triumphant in the Super Slinger feature event.

The starting field of seventeen Junior Slingshots took off in their scheduled 20-lap feature jaunt. JJ Rice out-dragged Tanner VanDoren into turn one and led much of the first three quarters of the event. Getting into slower traffic proved to be the Achilles heel for Rice as both Shelby McLaughlin and Tanner VanDoren slipped past him. McLaughlin would lead the final laps to capture her first victory at the speedway. VanDoren would wind up second with Rice in third, John Kendall fourth and newcomer James Benz completing the top five. James Hendricks, Ryan Conrad, Jake Mason, Joey Kalafut and Colton Geary completed the top ten.

The first Rookie 600 Sprint main event found the returning Justin Grosz leading the first eight laps before yielding to a high-flying, low-riding defending track champion Jakson Ring. Ring would get plenty of pressure from Grosz and Justin Mills and the three car battle would run its course on lap-18 when Grosz spun out. Ring would lead the final circuits to capture the win with Mills in the runner-up slot and Scott Slater Jr coming on strong to finish third. Chloe Andreas took her first ride in a 600 Sprint and did a great job to finish fourth and newcomer Tyler Lindsey was equally impressive in nailing down fifth place. Noah Zielinski, Tyler Kehs, Cody Powell, Joey Amantea and Ryan Lacoe completed the top ten.

The second Rookie 600 Sprint main found it to be a showcase for Damon Paul as the Stage One Modified champion from a season ago was hammer down from start to finish in capturing the twenty lap event. Newcomer Tyler Ulrich was impressive in a runner-up role while Joe Nemeth, Geordan Marrero and the returning Zack Weisenfluh completing the top five. The second five included Scott Slater Sr, Jake Roberts, Savannah Leggio, Jacob Balliet and Hunter Metzger.

The Super Slinger feature found Wes Hearn and Dale Kober resume their on-going track battles and it would be Kober leading the entire distance to kick off his season in fine fashion. Hearn was second with Jeff Haduck, Jimmy Conroy and Greg Zellman following.

The Wingless 600 Sprint main was all-star caliber from the drop of the green flag as Joe Smith charged to the front for the first half of the event with pressure coming from as many as ten other cars who all had the same notion of getting to the front. Lapped traffic would prove to be a factor with Brandon Azzalina challenging Smith from the baseline. Azzalina drove down to the baseline glued himself there and took over the lead on lap-17. Once in front, "The A-Team" put on a dazzling drive that found him in the 12-second mark as the race wore on. Azzalina would score the win with Pat Bealer in second, Joe Smith third, defending track champ Chad Sandt fourth and "TK" Tommy Kunsman nailing down fifth in his return to the speedway. Robbie Hocker headed up the second five with former champion Bobby Butler and Colin White, James Morris and Damon Paul competing the top ten.

Jenna Schostkewitz led the entire distance to capture the Wingless 270 Sprint main. The redesigned class found the action tight with newcomer Tyler Ulrich grabbing up runner-up honors. Mike Kalman was third with Glenn Macomber fourth and Paul Richard Sr fifth. Newcomer Jason Muldowney was sixth.

The Hampton RV and Trailer Stage One Modifieds found Anthony Recchio showcasing his talent in a new division as the second generation driver led all twenty laps enroot to his first win in his first race in the division. Cole Stangle kept pace and settled for second with John Mirabelli third in his first run, the returning AJ Hobbs fourth and Jasper Zeigafuse steering the Smith Fabrications Rental to fifth place. Michael Samony, Evan Civick, Janelle Geary and newcomer Cody Motto completed the field

The All Star Slingshot main event saw an elite 25-car field take the green flag in their feature attraction. Russell Benke shot out of the blocks like a cannon at the start of the event and would establish the point with former track and national champion Cody Kline breathing down his tailpipe. Benke never waivered even when slower traffic came into play as he would lower his times in the event to 13.8 seconds with both Kline and Wes Hearn and Cole Stangle in the same range. Benke would be seriously challenged throughout the event but prevailed with a great win to start off the season on sound footing. Kline would finish second with Hearn third, Stangle fourth and Mike McLaughlin topping the front five. The second five included Jared Silfee, the returning Mike Fogler, Nick Vinciguerra, Scott Neary and Alan Kober.

Pearl Jams:

The new season of racing at Hamlin kicked-off in spectacular fashion and a strong loyal fan base in support of the evening of events. The great concession stand was doing a brisk business all evening long with plenty of Chicken Noodle Soup, hot coffee and hot chocolate being dispersed.

A tip of the fedora to Randy Smith and crew for working diligently on the speedway throughout the evening to make the speedway racy throughout all of the events. The Randy Smith moniker, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" speaks volumes for the great show presented.

The speedway has an aggressive season of special events planned for the 2017 season and small car division racing is definitely the wave of the future and truly happening at the Hamlin facility. The increasing numbers for small car division racing continues to rise and those who have the need for speed and want to remain within their budget restraints, Hamlin Speedway offers the superb alternative with their many divisions of great and affordable competition.

The new season brought out a great new batch of new and refurbished racing equipment to the speedway. Along with many new race cars, many new faces put in their first Hamlin Speedway appearances and the car count of 124 speaks well as the draw of racing equipment to the Pocono facility has far reaching effects with the New England driving contingent adding great flavor to the exciting racing action. The fans had the opportunity to check out the many new paint schemes and graphics of the great field of cars on hand and the seasonally changing rookie division will act as the farm system for many full size racing divisions at other speedways for those who will make the transition into the regular divisions in the future.

New drivers on hand included James Benz, Ryan Conrad, Joey Kalafut, Austin Homan, Matthew Backus, Abby Yates, Mikey Johannes and Tyler Banks in the Junior Slingshots. New rookie 600 Sprint drivers included Chloe Andreas, Tyler Lindsey, Joey Amantea, Aiden Borden, Tyler Ulrich, Zack Weisenfluh, Jake Roberts and Macy Litchauer. The 270 Sprints had Tyler Ulrich and Jason Muldowney as new additions. Kyle Spence, Justin Grosz and Damon Paul added to the 600 Sprint field. Anthony Recchio, AJ Hobbs, John Mirabelli, Cody Motto and Jasper Zeigafuse were new entries for the Stage One Modifieds. Scott Neary, who last raced at Hamlin in the Go Kart era at the speedway, headed up the new Slingshot stars along with CJ Fritz, Tanner VanDoren, Corey Zielinski and the return of Mike Fogler, Cody Kline and Troy Langendoerfer.

Former track champion "The Conductor" Bobby Butler and the defending New Egypt Sprint car champ, was on hand and tried to make things happen and it cost him a couple of spots near the end but still enjoyed a great run. front. Some misfortunes connected a few drivers such as Emily Fleming and Samantha Muller in the Slingshots while Mack Brink suffered front end damage in his 600 and Tony Parlanti got upside down in one of the feature events in the Rookies. Danny Buccafusca encountered some opening night gremlins with his new mount and scratched out for the evening.

Special thanks are in order to all of the Quarter Midget and Go Kart Clubs in the local areas for assisting in preparing the future driving stars for battle as they transition into the next phase of their racing careers.

Get well wishes remain order for speedway videographer Barry Boyd. .

RESULTS:

All Star Slingshots: Russell Benke, Cody Kline, Wes Hearn, Cole Stangle, Mike McLaughlin, Jared Silfee, Mike Fogler, Nick Vinciguerra, Scott Neary, Alan Kober, Dale Kober, Troy Langendoerfer, Alan Selemba, Josh Marcus, Ryan Neiger, Tyler Peet, Taylor Mills, Tanner VanDoren, Tess Horvath, Ashley Kober, CJ Fritz, Amanda Buchel, Cory Zielinski, Samantha Muller, Emily Fleming

Wingless 270cc Sprints: Jenna Schostkewitz, Tyler Ulrich, Mike Kalman, Glenn Macomber, Paul Richards Sr, Jason Muldowny, Randy Gombert, Don Schmidt, Kyle Ferrucci, Alex Reinsmith

Wingless 600cc Sprints: Brandon Azzalina, Pat Bealer, Joe Smith, Chad Sandt, Tommy Kunsman, Robbie Hocker, Bobby Butler, Colin White, James Morris, Damon Paul, Joel Smith, Mick D'Agostino, Mark Manieri, Ryan Quackenbush, Geordan Marrero, JD Casazza, Duane White, Jacob Balliet, Ryan Neil, Cody Smith, Kyle Spence, Chloe Andreas, Doug Snyder, Zac Azzalina, Justin Grosz, Danny Buccafusca

Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Anthony Recchio, Cole Stangle, John Mirabelli, AJ Hobbs, Jasper Zeigafuse, Michael Samony, Evan Civick, Janelle Geary, Cody Motto, Bill Dianella, Joel Smith

Junior Slingshots: Shelby McLaughlin, Tanner VanDoren, JJ Rice, John Kendall, James Benz, James Hendricks, Ryan Conrad, Jake Mason, Joey Kalafut, Colton Geary, Austin Homan, Matthew Backus, Abby Yates, Mikey Johannes, Tyler Banks, Adam Buchel, James Costlow

Super Slingshots: Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Jeff Haduck, Jim Conroy, Greg Zellman

JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: (1) Jakson Ring, Justin Mills, Scott Slater Jr, Chloe Andreas, Tyler Lindsey, Noah Zielinski, Tyler Kehs, Cody Powell, Joey Amantea, Ryan Lacoe, JR Williams, Aiden Borden, Justin Grosz, Paul Richards Jr

JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: (2) Damon Paul, Tyler Ulrich, Joe Nemeth, Geordan Marrero, Zack Weisenfluh, Scott Slater Sr, Jake Roberts, Savannah Leggio, Jacob Balliet, Hunter Metzger, Macy Litchauer, Carmen Leggio Sr, Tony Parlanti

Racing every Saturday evening from April through September. The next event on the Hamlin Speedway schedule is set for April 29th when all Divisions will be in action on the 1/5th mile clay cushioned oval. Make sure to check the Hamlin Speedway website or Facebook page for any 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

Please support the many great sponsors who assist in working and sponsoring the season long events at the speedway. Tilcon, Ron Brown Hauling, JPA Masonry, RockAuto.com, S&S Speedways and Yankowski Enterprises are all part of the advertising family at the speedway and we graciously thank them for their support.

Hamlin Speedway is seeking additional marketing sponsors to join the speedway team for the 2017 racing season. For more information, contact Steve Pados at: 484-784-7756 or through email at: steveswp@ptd.net or Denise Smith at S&S Speedways at: 570-420-5500 or at: www.SSSpeedways.com or on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/SSSpeedways/ or www.HamlinSpeed.com or facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/HamlinSpeed
Visit us often for a great night of racing action as.........................

The Hamlin Speedway Is The "Pearl" Of The Poconos