Nov
19

HAMLIN SPEEDWAY NEWS

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Hamlin, PA - Hamlin Speedway Honors 2017 Champions And Place Winners At 12th Annual Awards Party Celebration
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

The 2017 Hamlin Speedway racing season officially came to a close on Saturday evening as a packed house of more than 225 people gathered together to celebrate the Hamlin racing season and to honor all of the 2017 seasonal speedway champions and place winners in a special evening of friendship and camaraderie. The S&S Speedway complex, located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania provided the backdrop for a gracious and a fun filled evening in which the Smith Family completed their twelfth successful season of promoting the Hamlin facility, a closed speedway they took over the reigns of in 2006. The S&S Speedway Complex, a great place to party and have fun, allowed the young racers a great opportunity to go head to head with their rivals on the tricky D-shaped speedway and enjoy some great fun as well as take part in the awards ceremony.

The popular multi-division speedway, located in the heart of the Pocono Mountains, enjoyed an 18 event season in 2017 season with great results as the driving stars at the speedway rose to the occasion to shine brightly for the great racing fans who came out to witness the thrill a second excitement....Hamlin Style! The fabulous seven division weekly show proved to be over the top in racing excitement as more and more driving stars etched their names into the Hamlin Speedway record books. The thrill and excitement to compete at Hamlin brought many new faces and talented drivers to the forefront at the speedway including many drivers who transitioned from one division to another for the 2017 season. The solid family oriented atmosphere at Hamlin has placed the speedway in a league of it's own for small division racing with the Smith Family making a commitment to make their thirteenth season in 2018 an even greater experience.

After a fun-filled three hour afternoon period of allowing the drivers to trade paint and laughs on the S&S Speedway racetrack, a happy hour followed and a sumptuous buffet meal from Cook Corners was enjoyed by everyone. Banquet Emcee and Speedway Announcer Steve Pados took to the stage to announce the award festivities. First and foremost, the success of any speedway promotion is determined by a loyal and hard working track staff and Pados was on-point to recognize the great work staff at Hamlin for their total work ethic and dedication to the speedway. Promoters Randy and Denise Smith, Allesson Rode, Olivia Mease, Becky Otto, Ron and Lori Brown, Russ Furry, Sara Silfee and the Concession Staff of Michelle Thoman, Trina Bechtold, Alex Thoman, Kira Serfass and Lisa Mills, Dale Kober, Billy Shepps, Shane Potonsky, Dave Bechtold, Jill Brink, Linda Macomber, Sam and Scott Neary, Tim Krysiuk, Barry Boyd and Steve Pados and the ERT Staff headed up by Tom Rode, Kyle Rode, Joe & Brandy Brown, Shawn Eckhoff, Andrew Frailey, Eric Freldman, Ryan Mathieson and Will Vitulli were recognized and thanked for helping make the Hamlin Speedway the most diversified racing facility in the country today. A special thanks to Don Andreas for supplying the sound equipment for the event. Each division was introduced by Pados with each individual recognized for his performance and awards for the champions and place winners included Champion Jackets, Trophies, Gift Certificates, Cash Awards and Photography.

The "Stars of Tomorrow" from the talented Junior Slingshot division were honored first with Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania talent "Lil Miss" Shelby McLaughlin claiming the track title at Hamlin in a landslide performance. Place winners included Accord Speedway champion "The Cold Spring Kid" Jake Mason, John Kendall, Tyler Banks, Adam Buchel, Abby Yates, James Benz, Joey Kalafut, "Junior Excitement" JJ Rice, James Hendricks and James Costlow. 31 Junior Slingshot drivers were in competition during the season that produced eight different feature event winners.

The next division honored was the JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprints and claiming the title in 2017 was Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania driving talent "The Big Show" Joey Amantea. Amantea made the successful transition out of the quarter midget ranks to claim five wins on his way to the title. Additional award winners for the fast growing division included Ryan Lacoe, Paul Richards Jr, Tony Parlanti, Tyler Lindsay, Carmen Leggio Sr, Macy Litchauer, Noah Zielinski, Chloe Andreas, Justin Mills and Damon Paul. A total of 55 drivers made up the Rookie 600 Sprint roster with twelve different feature winners in 2017.

"The Oxford Express" Dale Kober captured the Super Slinger track championship by a runaway margin on the basis of a nine win season. The highly competitive Super Slingshot division was filled with jam-packed action throughout as 23 drivers and four different feature winners provided for a great season in the over 35 years of age division. Mike Taylor, Jim Conroy, Wes Hearn were additional place winners honored for their efforts.

A new champion emerged in the Wingless 270 Sprint division as "Deuce" Glenn Macomber utilized a six win season to go on and capture the title. Twenty drivers were in competition with five different feature winners during the season. Additional place winners included the runner-up Alex Reinsmith and Connecticut's Kyle Ferrucci.

A new champion was crowned for the JPA Masonry Wingless 600 Sprint division as the long travel paid off for Taunton, Massachusetts hot-shoe "The Travelin Man" Mick D'Agostino. The two wins and over the top consistency paid huge dividends for the new champion. Former champion, "The Electric Man" Colin White scored runner-up honors. Additional place winners included "The Gingerbread Man" Damon Paul, "The Nickel Man" Joel Smith, 2016 Champion "Bad" Chad Sandt, "The Little Ice Man" Jacob Balliet, "The Mack Attack" Mack Brink and Justin Mills. The season had 71 competitors and eleven different winners.

"The Captain" Cody Kline captured the All Star Slingshot championship at Hamlin, making him a two time champion at the speedway. Kline also won in 2011 and used his first ever win at Hamlin to capture the big Hamlin 100 in July. The spectacular racing division saw 64 drivers test their skills at the speedway with twelve drivers finding sweet success in victory lane. Additional place winners included runner-up "The Tornado" Tyler Peet, Jared Silfee, "The Bloomingburg Bullet" Taylor Mills, "The Oxford Express" Dale Kober, Austin Silfee, Tess Horvath, Samantha Muller, Amanda Buchel, "Magic Shoes" Mike McLaughlin, Mike Taylor, Wes Hearn, and Emily Fleming.

The Hampton RV and Trailer sponsored Stage One Modifieds completed their sixth season at the speedway and produced some memorable feature events throughout the season. Headed up by Northeast Modified legend "Rapid" Richie Smith, the sharp looking and quick throttled race cars were loaded with driving talent and the racers put it all on the speedway clay when in competition. Former Track Champion "The Nickel Man" Joel Smith put all of the pieces together and carved out an eight feature win season to capture the track title. A rookie in the division, "The Jersey Force" Anthony Recchio" captured runner-up honors. Cody Motto was another newcomer to the division and finished a solid third place in the final standings. "Mighty" Mike Samony, John Mirabelli, Evan Civick, Jasper Ziegafuse, Joel Price and Mark Corna also earned awards.

A great raffle period closed the show with many prizes available and many people walking out of the arena with their arms filled with some great prizes.

Keep in touch with all of the latest updates of the Hamlin Speedway by visiting their website often. All of the news regarding the new 2018 racing season and some special events will follow in a timely manner. The Smith Family would like to thank all of the drivers, owners, staff and the loyal band of race fans who have helped make the Hamlin Speedway the finest well-rounded small car division racing facility in the country.

Drivers please make sure you support the Eleventh Annual Dirt Track Heroes Show that will be taking place from March 4th to the 10th, 2018 at the Phillipsburg Mall located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The event provides a great opportunity to show your race car and to profile yourself and your sponsors to the more than 77,000 visitors who attended the show in 2017. Hamlin Speedway announcer Steve Pados and his brother Ed, along with Bobby Stull, Justin Beltrame and Alex Greenzweig will once again host the nightly shows at the event.

Please support the many great sponsors who assist in working and sponsoring the season long events at the speedway. S&S Speedways, JPA Masonry, Tilcon, Yankowski Enterprises, Ron Brown Hauling and RockAuto.com 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 2018 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

For photos of the great racing action at Hamlin, please contact Tim Krysiuk at: https://strictlydirtphotography.smugmug.com/

Visit us often for a great night of racing action as.........................

The Hamlin Speedway Is The "Pearl" Of The Poconos

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