HAMLIN SPEEDWAY NEWS
ByHamlin, PA - Eight Great Features Highlight The Action Packed Racing At Hamlin Speedway
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media
The 2017 racing season at the Hamlin Speedway continues to rock on into the new season even though the weather has been less than perfect for most of the early season events. Coming back after a scheduled week off and a rain out on the prior Saturday, the Smith Family offered a fabulous racing show in the Poconos Mountains as they welcomed in 128 entries for an exciting night of racing activity. Promoter Randy Smith had the 1/5th mile clay cushioned facility in impeccable condition and all divisions put on a great show for the great crowd on hand to witness the exciting side by side and nose to tail racing action. The sizzling racing action went of without a hitch and was completed at 11 PM. The evening of speed was sponsored by S&S Speedways indoor go karts located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
When the eight feature events with heart stopping racing action was completed, it would be "The Jersey Force" Anthony Recchio holding his competition at bay to capture the exciting victory in the Hampton RV & Trailer Stage One Modified Tour event as he captured the 20-lap finale. "TVD" Tanner VanDoren raced to victory with a dominating performance in the Junior Slingshots feature attraction. "The Tornado" Tyler Peet wired the field to win the All Star Slingshot feature event. Zac Azzalina never looked better as he drove to a solid victory in the Wingless 600 Sprint headliner. Jenna Schostkewitz raced to victory in the Wingless 270 Sprint main event. "The Oxford Express" Dale Kober had the hot hand as he captured the Super Slingers headliner. Damon Paul captured the first of two Hamlin features in the JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint headliner. In the nightcap, "The Big Show" Joey Amantea raced his JPA Masonry hot rod to victory for his first ever Hamlin win in the shortened event that was halted after one competitor dropped a bunch of oil down on the race track. The Smith Family continues to provide an unparalleled promotion for small car division racing and the 2017 racing season has been chock filled with over the top racing excitement.
The Junior Slingshots rolled out onto the raceway for their scheduled 20-lap feature excursion with Tanner Van Doren making an excellent charge at the start from his third starting position to take the lead. Van Doren clicked off some steady 14.3 second laps to drive away from the field. JJ Rice was holding down the runner-up position with lots of pressure coming from Jake Mason. Mason worked his way around Rice and set off for VanDoren. This was the night for VanDoren as he captured the win with Mason is second, two-time winner Shelby McLaughlin was third with John Kendall hustling to fourth and Adam Buchel driving hard to claim a top five finish. The second five found JJ Rice, Tyler Banks, Austin Homan, Abby Yates finishing in line.
The Wingless 270 Sprint main event found Jenna Schostkewitz chasing "The Deuce" Glenn Macomber for the first six laps. Schostkewitz found the line she was seeking on lap seven to slip by Macomber and gain control of the point. Schostkewitz would lead the remaining laps to claim her second win of the young season. Macomber would finish in second with Josh Schaffer third, Mike Kalman fourth and Jason Muldeowney completing the top five.
The first JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint main saw Tony Parlanti lead the first four laps of the feature. Parlanti gave way to Mikey Smith who led the next two laps. Storming to the front from sixth starting position, Damon Paul would seize the lead on lap-8 and drive away from the field for the win. Joe Nemeth enjoyed a great run in second place with Paul Richards Jr, Mikey Smith and Tony Parlanti completing the top five. Jake Roberts, Dakota Bartlet, Tyler Lindsey, Chloe Andreas and Hunter Metzger completed the top ten.
The second JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint feature found Joey Amantea getting a great start and blasting into the lead by turn one. Zack Weisenfluh kept pace along with Jacob Balliet. Amantea was enjoying consistent 12.258 lap times and was in command at the halfway point. As the field completed lap eleven, newcomer Richard Rickle's machine dropped a ton of oil down on the speedway and rather than risk the drivers health and curfew approaching, it was decided to checker flag the event. Amantea earned his first career win at Hamlin and the crew was a happy bunch in victory lane. Weisenfluh was second with Balliet in third, newcomer Logan Snyder fourth and Tyler Kehs fifth. Jenna Schostkewitz headed up the second five with Carmen Leggio, Justin Mills, Scott Slater and Ryan Lacoe completing the top ten.
The Super Slinger feature found Dale Kober hustle into the lead at the start, drive out to a comfortable lead and then fight off a strong bid by Wes Hearn late in the event to earn the victory. Wes Hearn was second with Alan Kober third, the returning Mike Taylor fourth, Jim Conroy fifth, Jeff Haduck sixth and the returning John Rooks Sr seventh.
The Wingless 600 Sprint main got off to a rock start as newcomer Billy Koch got up over a wheel and climbed atop the car and came to a peculiar perch in turn three. On the restart it would be Ryan Quackenbush getting hit and the car went into a crazy set of flips while standing on it's tail. Koch nor Quackenbush were injured in the incidents. On the next restart, "The Rockaway Rocket" Danny Buccafusca found the bottom of the raceway much to his liking and he blasted out in front of the highly competitive field. From fifth starting position came "The Travelin Man" Mick D'Agostino and the defending track champion "Bad" Chad Sandt. Buccafusca, who had been having trouble getting his new mount to co-operate early in the season, had the fans buzzing as he zipped around the track in 12.180 second laps. Two cars got together in between turns one and two on lap thirteen and Buccafusca couldn't avoid the mix-up and it would end his night in heart-breaking fashion. On the restart, Zac Azzalina would inherit the lead and that and a big right foot would be all Azzalina would need to lead the remaining laps and claim the victory. D'Agostino would earn his second consecutive runner-up spot with Chad Sandt, Damon Paul and Joel Smith completing the top five. Brandon Azzalina, Pat Bealer, Colin White, Joseph Smith and Ryan Neil would complete the top ten.
The Hampton RV and Trailer Sales Stage One Modified Tour event found Anthony Recchio blasting out front at the start of the feature and the move later proved to be the winning one as he held off a very strong Joel Smith for twenty laps and in doing so picked up his second win of the season. Recchio and Smith were the only drivers to break the 13-second barrier during the feature and Smith settled for second place honors this time around. Michael Samony was a strong third with Cody Motto finishing fourth in his best performance to date and John Mirabelli completing the top five. The second five included Bill Dianella, Jasper Ziegafuse, Janell Geary, newcomers Mark Corna and John Peer.
Twenty eight cars and drivers started the All Star Slingshot main attraction. Tyler Peet had a front row starting spot and used it to his advantage as he blasted out front at the drop of the green flag and soon had 27 other drivers seeking a way around him. This night would prove to be the hot ticket for Peet as he led every lap, never faltered and came away with a great win for his hometown fans. Easton's Tess Horvath matched wits with Peet to the final turn and drove to an excellent runner-up finish. Dale Kober raced from sixth to third, with Wes Hearn fourth and Cody Kline finishing fifth. Russell Benke came from 12th to head up the second five with Jared Silfee, Cole Stangle, Austin Silfee from 17th and Josh Marcus following.
Pearl Jams:
Kudos go out to Randy Smith and his staff for preparing an excellent racing surface for the night of racing battles. With all of the rain that fell during the past week it was nothing short of a miracle the racing could take place at all. The show was able to move along swiftly even with Smith and company taking some breaks to constantly manicure the racing surface and give all of the competitors an equal facility to race on.
Dale Kober was fast timer for the Super Slingers with a 13.895 clocking and ahead of the 14.130 second time of Wes Hearn. The Junior Slingshot time trials found Shelby McLaughlin stopping the clocks at 14.374 seconds to lead all drivers while Tanner VanDoren was second with a 14.469 time.
Heat race wins were captured by Alan Selemba, Tanner VanDoren and Tyler Peet in the All Star Slingshots. Four heats were needed for the influx of 600 Sprints and capturing the heat race wins were Chad Sandt, Zac Azzalina, Brandon Azzalina and Damon Paul. A B-Main for the 600 Sprints found Johnny Smith grabbing up the win. Jenna Schostkewitz nailed down a win in the Wingless 270 Sprint heats. any touring event and winning the Stage One Modified heats were Anthony Recchio and Joel Smith in the first round and Anthony Recchio and Cole Stangle in the second round. Geordan Marrero, Tony Parlanti and Jacob Balliet captured heat race wins for the Rookie 600 Sprints.
New faces continue to emerge at Hamlin as new competitors included Rachel Dickinson in the Junior Slingshot racers. Mike Taylor, Alan Kober and John Rooks Sr were new Super Slinger competitors. Dakota Bartlet, Macy Litchauer, Logan Snyder, Mark Sensenig and Richard Rickle were new Rookie 600 Sprint racers. Billy Koch and Johnny Smith were new 600 Sprint entries. Mark Corna, John Peer and Joel Price were new Stage One entries.
Anthony Recchio has four wins in the new season and they have come in bunches with a pair of wins at Accord and Hamlin on opening night at both tracks and then this past weekend when Recchio scored again at both Accord and Hamlin. Jake Mason enjoyed a great run with a second place finish at Hamlin and at Accord, Jake has been the meal ticket winning all three events there thus far. Jake interviewed at Accord with Steve Pados on Friday night and said he hoped to find pay dirt at Hamlin this year.
Mike McLaughlin won the 50/50 at the speedway. Happy Birthday wishes go out to Josh Marcus who turned 15.
Many graduates of racing at Hamlin have ventured into other forms of racing and are having success on dirt or pavement and the Speedway Staff is very proud they began their racing careers at Hamlin. One such driver is the current Modified champion at Accord, Anthony Perrego. Perrego broke through for his first win of the season on Friday night. The list goes on and on and each week this writer will pick another name from past racing at Hamlin and give the readers an update on their racing activities.
The speedway will be busy with many special events taking place in the month of June. The July 1st date of the Hamlin "Firecracker 100" is one of those events with the speedway raising money for VetStock of the Northeast. Any parties wishing to become involved in this promotion should contact Allesson Rode or Steve Pados or contact the speedway offices. There will be much more information shortly regarding the event.
Results:
All Star Slingshots: Tyler Peet, Tess Horvath, Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Cody Kline, Russell Benke, Jared Silfee, Cole Stangle, Austin Silfee, Josh Marcus, Nick Delcampo, Samantha Muller, Taylor Mills, Troy Langendoerfer, Amanda Buchel, Clayton Davey, Alan Selemba, Emily Fleming, Mike Taylor, John Rooks Jr, CJ Fritz, Ashley Kober, Mike McLaughlin, Matt Miller, Tanner VanDoren, Nick Vinciguerra, Mike Fogler
Wingless 270cc Sprints: Jenna Schostkewitz, Glenn Macomber, Josh Schaffer, Mike Kalman, Jason Muldeowney
Wingless 600cc Sprints: Zac Azzalina, Mick D'Agostino, Chad Sandt, Damon Paul, Joel Smith, Brandon Azzalina, Pat Bealer, Colin White, Joseph Smith, Ryan Neil, Chris Kurtz, JD Casazza, Jacob Balliet, Geordan Marrero, Duane White, Justin Mills, Justin Grosz, Logan Snyder, Tyler Galatro, Joey Amantea, Danny Buccafusca, Johnny Smith, Tyler Ulrich, Scott Slater Jr, Ryan Quackenbush, Billy Koch
Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: (Tour Event)Anthony Recchio, Joel Smith, Michael Samony, Cody Motto, John Mirabelli, Bill Dianella, Jasper Zeigafuse, Janell Geary, Mark Corna, John Peer, Joel Price, Cole Stangle
Junior Slingshots: Tanner VanDoren, Jake Mason, Shelby McLaughlin, John Kendall, Adam Buchel, JJ Rice, Tyler Banks, Austin Homan, Abby Yates, James Benz, Tommy Stillo, James Costlow, Joey Kalafut, Colton Geary, Rachel Dickinson, Matthew Backus
Super Slingshots: Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Alan Kober, Mike Taylor, Jim Conroy, Jeff Haduck, John Rooks Sr, Greg Zellman
JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: (1) Damon Paul, Joe Nemeth, Paul Richards Jr, Mikey Smith, Tony Parlanti, Jake Roberts, Dakota Bartlet, Tyler Lindsey, Chloe Andreas, Hunter Metzger, Macy Litchauer
JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: (2) Joey Amantea, Zack Weisenfluh, Jacob Balliet, Logan Snyder, Tyler Kehs, Jenna Schostkewitz, Carmen Leggio Sr, Justin Mills, Scott Slater, Ryan Lacoe, Noah Zielinski, Mark Sensenig, Richard Rickle, Geordan Marrero, Cody Powell
Racing every Saturday evening from April through September. The next event on the Hamlin Speedway schedule is set for May 27th when all Divisions will be in action on the 1/5th mile clay cushioned oval as well as Driver Introductions for the "Stars of Tomorrow" Junior Slingshot Division.
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
