Hamlin, PA -Hamlin Speedway Delivers A Grand Slam With 10 Feature Events
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

The past few weeks of the summer of 2018 have been brutally unkind to track promoters in the Northeast while some have able to keep one step ahead of the whims of Mother Nature and keep their speedway gates open. Hamlin Speedway Promoters Randy and Denise Smith have been part of the lucky ones as the racing has gone on with great entertaining shows being presented. Saturday night was a carbon copy of some of the past weeks as seven divisions of racing thrilled the standing room only crowd of fans in attendance with a show that climaxed with the running of an unbelievable ten feature event program show capping off a great night of racing. More than 100 entries came out to the speedway for the high flying racing action. The evening of speed was sponsored by the good folks at S&S Speedways Indoor Go Karts located in Stroudsburg, PA. (www.ssspeedways.com) Some new winners found their way to the RLE Towing and Recovery Winners Circle at the end of the evening. The ten feature show was completed at 10:37 PM.

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 own momentum going. "The Rockaway Rocket" Danny Buccafusca was flawless as he captured his second consecutive All Star Slingshot feature wheeling the Gilroy Motorsports hot rod to victory. Cody Motto found the zone and pedaled his way to his second 2018 win at Hamlin in the Motto Motorsports entry in the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified feature headliner. The Super Slinger feature found "The Fighting Irishman" John Gilroy the class of the field with a dominating win. Two new winners emerged at Hamlin as Mike Thompson captured the first of two feature headliners while Aidan Borden scored his first win the second of the JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint finales. "Bad" Chad Sandt was all business as led all thirty laps to claim his third win of the season win of the season in the special Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600 Sprint headliner. "Junior Excitement" JJ Rice captured his first win of the season in a very exciting Junior Slingshot event. Alex Reinsmith rolled to his third win of the season in the 270 Sprint feature attraction. "Lil Miss" Shelby McLaughlin raced to her fourth win of the season in the held-over Junior Slingshot finale. "The Oxford Express" Dale Kober captured his first All Star Slingshot win of the season in the held-over event from July 21st.

In the regular All Star Slingshot feature, Danny Buccafusca grabbed the lead at the start of the twenty lap main and quickly distanced himself from the field with some torrid 13.6 second laps around the 1/5th mile clay oval. Scott Neary found himself in a runner-up role and was fending off top notch competition with Wes Hearn and CJ Fritz applying the pressure. The night belonged to Buccafusca as he raced to his second consecutive main event victory. Neary was second with Hearn third, Fritz fourth and Jared Silfee claiming fifth place. New Yorker Tyler Banks headed up the second five with Paul Ennes, Dale Kober, Tanner Jones and Ashley Kober and Mason Pittenger completing the top ten.

In the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified run, Cody Motto rocketed out front at the drop of the green flag and throughout the twenty laps of the event remained there as he scored win number two of the 2018 season. Adam Buchel, Tanner VanDoren and Amanda Buchel remained within striking distance and that would be how they came across the finish line. Joel Smith completed the top five. The second five found Anthony Recchio in sixth with Jeff Hineline, Anthony Chrobak, Jacob Nemeth and John Bachetti following.

The 270 Sprint feature found Glenn Macomber taking off with the lead at the start and he would lead for the first eight laps until mechanical woes sidelined him from the event. Alex Reinsmith inherited the lead and he would dominate the action to go on and claim his third win of the season. Kyle Ferrucci would claim runner-up honors while Anthony Chrobak finished third.

The Super Slingshot feature event found eleven entries going for the gold. Paul Ennes, with a front row start, jumped out front and would lead through five laps. A restart brought the field together and when the light went green Gilroy went fast as he took command of the event and would lead the rest of the way to claim what would be his first ever win at the speedway. Roger Collins raced from ninth to second to score runner-up honors. Wes Hearn, Dale Kober and Paul Ennes would finish as the top five. The second five was headed up by the returning "Flying Dutchman" Richie Van Orden as he returned racing after a long hiatus. Greg Zellman, Wally Bell, David Guest, Jim Conroy and Jan Gensits completed the field.

JJ Rice raced into the lead from his front row start and would lead every lap to earn hid first victory of the season at Hamlin. Lots of pressure came his way throughout the twenty lap event as Kasey Hufcut, Shelby McLaughlin and RJ Sherman were relentless in attempting to slip past Rice. Hufcut would try late in the race but slipped high to allow McLaughlin to race by. Rice would win over McLaughlin with Hufcut third. James Benz would race from eighth starting place to claim fourth at the end with RJ Sherman rounding out the top five. The second five found Brian Smith heading up that parade with Charlene Benz, Aidan Donaldson, Joey Kalafut and Austin Homan completing the top ten positions.

Zack Weisenfluh led the first nine laps of the first JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint encounter. A restart found newcomer Mike Thompson taking over the point and he would lead the rest of the way to claim his first ever Hamlin win. Weisenfluh was second with Noah Zielinski, Rich Maguire and Earl Rice completing the top five.

In the second JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 main, Aidan Borden raced to the front at the drop of the green flag and would lead every lap on his way to his first ever Hamlin Speedway victory. Brandon Nicholas kept pace and was the runner-up while Jack Hanna, the returning Scott Slater Jr and Dennis Chamberlain would round out the top five. Cody Powell headed up the next group with Dennis Stawinsky and Matt Zielinski following.

Chad Sandt took the lead at the start of the headliner Chad Wheeler Excavating 600 Sprint special event when he drove to the top of the raceway in turn one and powered his way into the lead. Sandt would receive extreme pressure from Colin White, Mick D'Agostino and Joey Amantea as the laps clicked off but Sandt proved up to be up to the task at hand on this night. White would trade slide jobs with Sandt throughout the event but Sandt would prevail each time. The top four were nose to tail throughout and the competition was top notch all of the way. Sandt would win his third feature of the season with White, D'Agostino and Amantea second through fourth. A late charge from 13th position brought Joel Smith a top five finish. Heading up the second five were Paul Richards Jr, Mike Thompson, Bobby Butler, Jacob Balliet and Joseph Smith. Fifteen starters completed all thirty laps.

In the held-over All Star event, Dale Kober took advantage of a front row start and would lead all of the way to earn his first feature win of the season in the division. Danny Buccafusca would capture runner-up honors while Tyler Banks, CJ Fritz and Wes Hearn completed the top five. The second five was headed up by Scott Neary with Rachel Dickinson, Adam Buchel, Jared Silfee and Ashley Kober.

The Junior Slingshot held-over event found Shelby McLaughlin leading every lap despite the constant pressure from Kasey Hufcut who would finish second. Aidan Donaldson raced to third while JJ Rice and James Benz completed the top five. The second five found Mikey Johannes, Joey Kalafut, Ashton DeWitt, RJ Sherman and Brian Smith following.

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 seven division, ten feature show was completed at 10:37 PM. Kudos to Randy Smith for an excellent track surface that found the drivers utilizing many racing channels throughout the evening of competition.

The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprints were captured by Jack Hanna and Mike Thompson. The Wingless 600 Sprints ran off two rounds of heats with Hunter Metzger and Colin White capturing the first set and Mike Thompson and Chad Sandt prevailing in round two. Kyle Ferrucci captured the 270 Sprint heat. Wally Bell won the Super Slingers heat event. Stage One Modified heats went to Joel Smith and Jeff Hineline.

Time Trials were the order for the All Star Slingshots and the Junior Slingshot divisions. Danny Buccafusca was the top time in the All Stars with a 14.098 second time over Scott Neary's 14.199 time. In the Junior division, Kasey Hufcut was the top timer with a 14.866 time, just nipping JJ Rice who timed at 14.891 seconds.

New faces emerged on Saturday night as Richie VanOrden made his return to Hamlin, where he enjoyed much success in the past. Brett Romer was a new entry as well. Anthony Chrobak was back in the saddle of the second Motto entry. Jan Gensits was on board in the Super Slingers. Brock Pinkerous and Jakoby Thompson were new arrivals for the Junior Slingshots while Evan VanValkneburg returned to action. Mike Thompson, Scott Slater Jr, Jake Eby and Bob Hummer were new Rookie 600 entries. Bobby Butler returned to the speedway while Zach Weidner and Don Colaluce made their first appearances in some time.

Even though the season is in the latter stages of the 2018 racing season, there is still plenty of hot racing action coming to close out the season. The Mom and Pop Smith Memorial for the Hampton RV and Trailer Sales Stage One Modifieds will head up the Labor Day Show on August 31st as the speedway pays tribute to two of the pioneers of racing in the Northeast.

RESULTS:

All Star Slingshots: Danny Buccafusca, Scott Neary, Wes Hearn, CJ Fritz, Jared Silfee, Tyler Banks, Paul Ennes, Dale Kober, Tanner Jones, Ashley Kober, Rich VanOrden, Adam Buchel, Rachel Dickinson, Wally Bell, Brett Romer, Jasper Ziegafuse

Winged 270cc Sprints: Alex Reinsmith, Kyle Ferrucci, Anthony Chrobak, Glenn Macomber

Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600cc Sprints: (30 Laps) Chad Sandt, Colin White, Mick D'Agostino, Joey Amantea, Joel Smith, Paul Richards Jr, Mike Thompson, Bobby Butler, Jacob Balliet, Joseph Smith, Zach Weidner, Mack Brink, Duane White, Tyler Lindsay, Joe Nemeth, Don Colaluce, Fred Heinly, Cody Smith, Aidan Borden, Hunter Metzger

Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Cody Motto, Adam Buchel, Tanner VanDoren, Amanda Buchel, Joel Smith, Anthony Recchio, Jeff Hineline, Anthony Chrobak, Jacob Nemeth, John Bachetti, Jasper Ziegafuse, Joel Price

Junior Slingshots: JJ Rice, Shelby McLaughlin, Kasey Hufcut, James Benz, RJ Sherman, Brian Smith, Charlene Benz, Aidan Donaldson, Joey Kalafut, Austin Homan, James Hendricks, Ashton DeWitt, Evan VanValkenburg, Mason Trautschold, James Costlow, Brock Pinkerous, Mikey Johannes, Jakoby Thompson

Super Slingshots: John Gilroy, Roger Collins, Wes Hearn, Dale Kober, Paul Ennes, Rich VanOrden, Greg Zellman, Wally Bell, David Guest, Jim Conroy, Jan Gensits

JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: (1) Mike Thompson, Zach Weisenfluh, Noah Zielinski, Rich Maguire, Earl Rice, Jake Eby, Ryan Lacoe, Carmen Leggio Sr, Bob Hummer, Fred Heinly

JPA Masonry Rookie 600 Wingless Sprints: (2) Aidan Borden, Brandon Nicholas, Jack Hanna, Scott Slater Jr, Dennis Chamberlain, Cody Powell, Dennis Stawinsky, Matt Zielinski, Richie Maguire, Tony Parlanti

Junior Slingshots: (Heldover from 7/21) Shelby McLaughlin, Kasey Hufcut, Aiden Donaldson, JJ Rice, James Benz, Mikey Johannes, Joey Kalafut, Ashton DeWitt, RJ Sherman, Brian Smith, Charlene Benz, Brock Pinkerous, Mason Trautschold

All Star Slingshots: (Heldover from 7/21) Dale Kober, Danny Buccafusca, Tyler Banks, CJ Fritz, Wes Hearn, Scott Neary, Rachel Dickinson, Adam Buchel, Jared Silfee, Ashley Kober, Jasper Ziegafuse, Tanner Jones

Racing action returns every Saturday evening from April through September. The next event on the Hamlin Speedway schedule is set for August 31st when the Hampton RV and Trailer Sales Stage One Modifieds headline the action with the running of the Annual Mom and Pop Smith Memorial event. All regular seven divisions will be on the race card.

Make sure to always 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: http://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