HAMLIN SPEEDWAY NEWS
ByHamlin, PA -Hamlin Speedway Rocks The Poconos With 8 Feature Event Show
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media
Hamlin Speedway Promoters Randy and Denise Smith were perfect in presentation of their twelfth show of the season on Saturday evening as another eight feature event card produced a great night of racing entertainment. With the weather cooperating fully in what may have been the best weather of the season, a large crowd was on hand and a great roster of driving talent strutted their stuff on the 1/5th Mile clay cushioned oval to perfection. With the season heading into it's final chapter for the 2018 racing season, each event is a "gots to be there" for those with aspirations for a title shot. The evening of speed was sponsored by the good folks at S&S Speedways Indoor Go Karts located in Stroudsburg, PA. (www.ssspeedways.com) Eight winners found their way to the RLE Towing and Recovery Winners Circle at the end of the evening and it marked the initial appearance of the Xcel Chassis 600 Modified Tour event at the Hamlin stomping grounds.
The Saturday night action found new winners emerging in some divisions while some veteran performers were at the top of their game to keep their momentum going. "The Rockaway Rocket" Danny Buccafusca was flawless as he captured his first All Star Slingshot feature in some time wheeling the Gilroy Motorsports hot rod to victory. In only his second start in the division, "Chops" Anthony Chrobak pedaled his way to his first ever win at Hamlin in the Motto Motorsports second entry in the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified feature headliner. The Super Slinger feature found Jimmy Conroy whistling up his first ever win as he wired the field and held-off a late charge by John Gilroy to collect the win. Stephen Weirich returned to Hamlin after a lengthy hiatus and drove to victory and dominated the event with a wire to wire triumph for his win of the season in the JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint finale. "The Nickel Man" Joel Smith made a run to the top of the speedway to grab the lead and go on to his first win of the season in the Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600 Sprint headliner. "Lil Miss" Shelby McLaughlin raced to her third win of the season in the Junior Slingshot finale. Paul Richards Jr hopped a ride in the second Macomber racer and dominated all twenty laps as the former division track champion captured the 270 Sprint feature. Flemington, New Jersey's Korey Inglin found the fast lane around the Hamlin Speedway just before the midway point and went on to capture the first ever feature event at the speedway for the Xcel Chassis 600 Modifieds.
Danny Buccafusca grabbed the lead at the start of the All Star Slingshot twenty lap main and quickly found the zone with his fast race car with 13.6 second lap times and dominated all twenty laps of the All Star Slingshot feature. Dale Kober would finish in the runner-up slot with Scott Neary third, Tyler Banks fourth and Austin Silfee rounding out the top five. Tanner Jones headed up the second five with Adam Buchel, Rachel Dickinson, Taylor Mills, Ashley Kober and Mason Pittenger completing the field.
In the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified run, Evan Civick was the early leader and has been fast for the past month and a half. Jacob Nemeth ran second with Anthony Chrobak third and Joel Smith riding in fourth place. A scramble on the back stretch had cars scattering but all would continue on. Chrobak was able to nestle in behind Civick and watched his every move with Nemeth and Smith very much in contention. Chrobak moved up a lane and pulled even with Civick and the pair would race into turns one and two side by side. Chrobak mustered up the speed and came off of turn two with the lead although Civick made a couple of attempts to regain the lead. Chrobak found the zone he wanted and clocked some 13.146 times to drive away to his first ever win in the division and at Hamlin. Evan Civick was strong throughout to record a fine runner-up finish with Nemeth a solid third, Joel Smith fourth and Jasper Ziegafuse fifth. The remainder of the field consisted of Cody Motto, Anthony Recchio, Tanner VanDoren, Amanda Buchel, Adam Buchel, Jeff Hineline and Joel Price.
The 270 Sprint feature found Paul Richards Jr taking off with the lead at the start and the former track champion drove away from the field with lap times in the 11.8 second range to claim his first win of the season. Newcomer Stephen Weirich had a great night at Hamlin as he was the runner-up in the event after securing a win in the Rookie 600 Main. Alex Reinsmith was third while Glenn Macomber was fourth and Anthony Chrobak was fifth. Kyle Ferrucci suffered early woes and was a scratch for the evening.
The Super Slingshot feature event found Jimmy Conroy with a front row start and a big right foot as he got off to a great start and jumped out to a big early lead. Dale Kober settled into second place and John Gilroy drove from fifth into third. As the laps clicked off, Conroy was in command but Kober and Gilroy would race each other hard to keep pace with Conroy. The pair began to whittle away at Conroy's big lead and Gilroy would drive by Kober and set sail for Conroy. Gilroy clipped off some 13.8 second lap times to close in on Conroy at the finish but Conroy would be the very happy camper in the RLE Towing and Recovery Winner's Circle. Gilroy was a close second with Kober third, Wally Bell fourth and Greg Zellman and David Guest following.
Shelby McLaughlin raced into the lead from her front row start and would lead every lap to earn her second victory of the season at Hamlin. Brain Smith would finish as the runner-up with Joey Kalafut in third, Kasey Hufcut fourth and James Benz completing the top five. The second five found JJ Rice, Aidan Donaldson, Austin Homan, James Hendricks and the birthday girl Charlene Benz completing the top ten positions.
The returning Stephen Weirich led the first seven laps of the JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint encounter. A hush came over the crowd when Craig Rochelle began flipping down the backstretch and landed in a grinding heap in turn three. The emergency team at the speedway assisted in getting a visibly shaken Rochelle from his wrecked car. Rochelle complained of soreness but otherwise walked away from a very scary incident. When racing resumed it would be Weirich leading but driving into second place was the hard charging Zack Weisenfluh. Weisenfluh would dog Weirich the rest of the way but it would be Weirich earning his first win of the season. Weisenfluh was second with Dennis Stawinsky third, Noah Zielinski fourth and Brandon Nicholas fifth. The second five included Ryan Lacoe, Fred Heinly, Dennis Chamberlain Jacob Eby and Richie Maguire.
Joel Smith took the lead at the start of the headliner Chad Wheeler Excavating 600 Sprint even when he went to the top of the raceway in turn one and lead-footed his way into the lead. Smith would receive pressure from Joseph Smith as the laps clicked off but Joel Smith would lead all of the way to claim his first 600 Sprint win of the season. Joseph Smith was second while Paul Richards Jr, Joe Nemeth and Tyler Lindsay would complete the top five. Mick D'Agostino headed up the second five with Jacob Balliet, Justin Mills, Cody Smith and Pat Bealer completing the top ten.
The Xcel Chassis 600 Modified Tour was a barn-burner from the start. With a stout field of talent showing up for their initial Hamlin encounter, Shawna Schibilia led the first seven laps of the event. A third turn scramble took out Olivia Schmeltzer and Kevin VanValkenburg. On the restart Korey Inglin went to the baseline in turn one and grabbed the lead over Schibilia who in turn tried to take the lead back. As the laps clicked off, contenders began to emerge as the racing was quick throughout the field. A restart in lap fourteen allowed for an all out shootout as Series point leader Richie Hitzler made some great moves to make his way close to Inglin but it would be Inglin finding the history books in the first Xcel feature at Hamlin. Hitzler would finish second while Travis Fichter, Shawna Schibilia and Brandon Graner would complete the top five. Hunter Deihl, Sam Schicchitano, Bailey Boyd, Jasper Ziegafuse,and Dakota Kohler would complete the top ten. A total of 24 cars came out for the initial Xcel event at Hamlin.
PEARL JAMS:
The hotly contested evening of racing entertainment was precise in every step of the way and even with a couple of breaks for track maintenance the staff kept moving the program along swiftly and the eight division show was completed at 10:35 PM. Kudos to Randy Smith for an excellent track surface.
The Junior Slingshot heats were won by newcomer RJ Sherman and JJ Rice. Newcomer Fred Heinly and Dennis Chamberlian captured the heat wins in JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprints. The 600 Sprints ran off two heats with Paul Richards Jr and Joseph Smith claiming the wins. Dale Kober and Danny Buccafusca captured heat wins in the All Star Slingshots. Stage One Modified heats went to Anthony Chrobak and Jasper Ziegafuse. The Super Slinger heat went to Jimmy Conroy and Paul Richards Jr captured the heat win for the 270 Sprints.
Three heats were run by the Xcel 600 group with Korey Inglin, Brian Blankenbillar and Richie Hitzler capturing wins.
RESULTS:
All Star Slingshots: Danny Buccafusca, Dale Kober, Scott Neary, Tyler Banks, Austin Silfee, Tanner Jones, Adam Buchel, Rachel Dickinson, Taylor Mills, Ashley Kober, Jared Silfee
Winged 270cc Sprints: Paul Richards Jr, Stephen Weirich, Alex Reinsmith, Glenn Macomber, Anthony Chrobak, Kyle Ferrucci
Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600cc Sprints: Joel Smith, Joseph Smith, Paul Richards Jr, Joe Nemeth, Tyler Lindsay, Mick D'Agostino, Jacob Balliet, Justin Mills, Cody Smith, Pat Bealer, Tony Parlanti, Mack Brink, Fred Heinly
Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Anthony Chrobak, Evan Civick, Jacob Nemeth, Joel Smith, Jasper Ziegafuse, Cody Motto, Anthony Recchio, Tanner VanDoren, Amanda Buchel, Adam Buchel, Jeff Hineline, Joel Price
Junior Slingshots: Shelby McLaughlin, James Benz, JJ Rice, Aidan Donaldson, Joey Kalafut, Brian Smith, Charlene Benz, RJ Sherman, Amber Baccaglini, James Hendricks, Kasey Hufcut, Cole Perry, James Costlow
Super Slingshots: Jimmy Conroy, John Gilroy, Dale Kober, Wally Bell, Greg Zellman, David Guest
JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: Stephen Weirich, Zack Weisenfluh, Dennis Stawinsky, Noah Zielinski, Brandon Nicholas, Brandon Nicholas, Ryan Lacoe, Fred Heinly, Dennis Chamberlain, Jacob Eby, Richie Maguire, Carmen Leggio Sr, Tony Parlanti, Craig Rochelle, Cory Zielinski, Jack Hanna, Matt Zielinski, Ryan Stangle
Xcel 600 Modified Tour: Korey Inglin, Richie Hitzler, Travis Fichter, Shawna Schibilia, Brandon Graner, Hunter Deihl, Sam Schicchitano, Bailey Boyd, Jasper Ziegafuse, Dakota Kohler, Grant Schibilia, Ray Gradwell, Gabby Meixell, Robert Martin, Ed Fentzlaff, Mike Wilcha, Brian Blankenbillar, Keith Inglin, Kevin VanValkenburg, Olivia Schmeltzer, Kyle Inglin
Racing action returns every Saturday evening from April through September. The next event on the Hamlin Speedway schedule is set for August 11th when all seven Divisions will be in action on the 1/5th mile clay cushioned oval. The event will also mark the Briggs & Stratton Speed-week All Star Slingshot Tour. Five Hundred Dollars to win is on the line with 24 entries.
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, Chad Wheeler Excavating, RLE Towing and Recovery, 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 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.hamlinspeed.com/ or on facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/HamlinSpeed/ or
https://www.facebook.com/SSSpeedways/ and http://ssspeedways.com/
http://ssspeedways.com/
For photos of the great racing action at Hamlin Speedway, contact Tim
Krysiuk at: https://strictlydirtphotography.smugmug.com or
https://www.facebook.com/tim.krysiuk
Visit us often for a great night of racing action as.........................
The Hamlin Speedway Is The "Pearl" Of The Poconos
