HAMLIN SPEEDWAY NEWS

Hamlin, PA -Hamlin Speedway Closes Out 2018 Season In Spectacular Fashion
By: Steve Pados, GA Motorsports Media

Hamlin Speedway Promoters Randy and Denise Smith welcomed in an energetic group of racers on Saturday evening as they hosted their final event of the 2018 racing season. The racing was top notch all of the way in all divisions and a great crowd was on hand to bring the season to a spectacular finish. The Hamlin driving stars used all channels of the 1/5th mile clay cushioned attraction to keep the fans the fans on their feet throughout the evening of speed. With some additional dollars on the line from a great support group of sponsors, a great field of entries assembled in the Pocono Mountains to place their marks on the "Pearl of the Poconos" racing facility. The high flying racing action was sponsored by the good folks at S&S Speedways Indoor Go Karts located in Stroudsburg, PA. (www.ssspeedways.com) and a great support team of additional sponsors with Gilroy Northeast, JPA Masonry, Hufcut Concrete, Archbald Auto & Truck, Total Fleet Service/Weisenfluh Racing, Richie VanOrden Racing, McLaughlin Racing and Donaldson Farms.. Six smiling winners found their way to the RLE Towing and Recovery Winners Circle at the end of the evening of racing action. The six feature show was completed at 10:21 PM.

The Saturday night action found "The Rockaway Rocket" Danny Buccafusca putting on a show stopping performance as he led the entire 27-lap feature in the All Star Slingshot feature headliner. "The Fighting Irishman" John Gilroy hopped in the same car a bit later on and captured the regular Super Slinger feature for his second win of the season at the speedway. The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint finale went to "The Taylor Tornado" Zack Weisenfluh. Billy Koch made a rare appearance at Hamlin but he put the finishing touches on the great run to capture the Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless Sprint feature over a hard charging "Big Show" Joey Amantea. "Junior Excitement" JJ Rice captured the Junior Slingshot event with a wire to wire run. "Chops" Anthony Chrobak found a ride for the evening and put on a show as he captured his second feature event of the season in only his third start in the Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified headliner.

In the All Star Slingshot feature, Danny Buccafusca wasted no time as he grabbed the lead at the start of the 27-lap main and in a matter of a few laps you could color him gone as he raced away from the field in the Gilroy Northeast Inc hot rod. The battle for runner-up honors was a dandy as 2018 track champion chased Ashley Kober down but could not pull the trigger as Kober was at the top of her game. Buccafusca grabbed the win, his third of the season with Kober in second Neary third, Adam Buchel fourth and rookie graduate Aidan Donaldson taking fifth and top finishing honors for the Juniors graduating into the the All Star ranks. Another graduate Joey Kalafut was sixth and another graduate Shelby McLaughlin was seventh proving the Junior Slingshot division drivers are up to snuff when transitioning into a higher level of racing. Dale Kober, Tanner Jones and Tyler Banks completed the top ten.

The Hampton RV & Trailer Sales Stage One Modified headliner found Anthony Chrobak jumping out front early but getting stiff pressure from John Mirabelli and Adam Buchel. Buchel quickly made his way around Mirabelli, who was making his first start of the season. Chrobak and Buchel ran one/two the remainder of the event and they had to dart and dodge some slower cars in the fast paced event. Chrobak, who landed on his noggin the night prior in going for a win at another speedway, made no mistakes on this night as he captured his second win in the division in three starts. Buchel was second in another great run for the Florida Keys AC/Cole Polishing Team. Jasper Ziegafuse hustled to third with Mirabelli finishing fourth in his return to racing and Jacob Nemeth finishing fifth and newcomer Mark Evans sixth.

The Super Slingshot feature event found Wes Hearn leading for one lap and on a restart John Gilroy unleashed the power on his hot rod and raced away from the field with impressive laps in the 14.2 second range. While Gilroy was stealing the thunder, Wes Hearn, Dale Kober and Alan Kober waged a fierce battle for second place. Gilroy picked up his second win of the season in limited appearances while Wes Hearn, Dale Kober, Alan Kober and Jimmy Conroy completed the top five. Heading up the second five were Richie VanOrden, Derek DeSilva, Wally Bell, David Guest and Wendy Guest.

JJ Rice raced into the lead at the start and would receive early pressure from James Hendricks with Hendricks at one point pulling off a slider to momentarily take over the lead but Rice quickly dove under him, grabbed up the lead and walked away from the field from that point on. Rice would claim his second win of the season with Hendricks in for runner-up honors and hard charging Kasey Hufcut third. Charlene Benz was fourth and Connor Mirabelli completed the top five with the newcomer Mirabelli walking off with the hard charger award put up by VanOrden Racing. The second five found RJ Sherman, Ashton DeWitt, first time racer Isabella VanOrden, Amber Baccaglini and newcomer Chase Zimmer rounding out the field.

The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint encounter found Ryan Lacoe leading the way for four laps before yielding to the high-flying 2018 Rookie 600 Sprint Champion Zack Weisenfluh. Weisenfluh blistered the clay with some 12.3 second laps but behind him Noah Zielinski and Tyler Lindsay stayed with him as they waged a hard fought battle for real estate. Lindsay got by Zielinski late in the event and a lap later Zielinski suffered from mechanical problems and pulled out of the event. Weisenfluh collected his third win of the season with Lindsay getting runner-up honors. Lacoe was third with Dennis Stawinsky fourth and Tony Parlanti completing the top five. Geordan Marrero headed up the second five with Matt Zielinski, BRandon Nicholas, Jake Eby and Noah Zielinski following.

"Bad" Chad Sandt took the lead at the start of the Chad Wheeler Excavating 600 Sprint event and he would lead through the first four laps until Billy Koch pulled off a slider in turn three and was able to control the point. The event was far from over as fifth starting Joey Amantea began to turn up the heat in his JPA Masonry hot rod. Amantea was able to drive by those in front of him to gain second place and with a couple of laps to go put a ton of pressure on Koch. Amantea was able to drive alongside of Koch but Amantea had to check up as the racing was that close, allowing Koch to gain a margin of victory as the pair crossed the start/finish line with Koch just nipping Amantea. Chad Sandt was third in a solid performance while Noah Zielinski was fourth in his first start and Mack Brink completed the top five, The second five was headed up by Paul Richards Jr with Geordan Marrero, Zack Weisenfluh, Duane White and Scott Slater rounding out the top ten.

PEARL JAMS:

Kudos to Randy Smith for an excellent track surface that once again found the drivers utilizing the many racing channels throughout the evening of competition. Additional time was taken to keep the track surface smooth and tacky throughout the evening of speed.

The JPA Masonry Rookie Wingless 600 Sprint heats were captured by Ryan Lacoe and Hunter Metzger. The Wingless 600 Sprints ran off two heats with Chad Sandt and Noah Zielinski capturing the wins. The Junior Slingshots ran one heat with JJ Rice claiming the victory. All Star Slingshot heats were won by Ashley Kober and a very excited Andrew Turpin for getting his first heat win. Wes Hearn captured the Super Slinger heat event. John Mirabelli captured the Stage One Modified heat run.

Special thanks to LeAnn Hearn for her assistance all night and to former racer JD Cazzaza for taking control of turns one and two for the evening. The Timing Controls failed in the tower and the limited staff did a yeoman's job in keeping up with the show throughout the evening. It was back to the days of hand scoring for some of the events and arthritis kicking in towards the end of the evening.

Announcer Steve Pados offered a special prayer for great racer Greg Hodnett who lost his life on Thursday night at another speedway. Hodnett was a many time guest on the Pados Brother's Gasoline Alley show. All of the features were 27 laps in honors of Hodnett and the Lelands.com race team.

Once again many thanks to all of the teams and sponsors for kicking in for the special bonus race addition at Hamlin. All of you make Hamlin Speedway a special place to be on Saturday night and we can't thank you enough for your support and loyalty.

The event ends the season at Hamlin. A party in November at S&S Speedways will take place with awards being handed out. More information will follow on the speedway website.

On behalf of the Smith Family and Staff, thank you all for being part of our Hamlin racing community.

RESULTS:

All Star Slingshots: Danny Buccafusca, Ashley Kober, Scott Neary, Adam Buchel, Aidan Donaldson, Joey Kalafut, Shelby McLaughlin, Dale Kober, Tanner Jones, Tyler Banks, Wally Bell, Wes Hearn, Taylor Mills, Brian Smith, Richie VanOrden, Mikey Johannes, Justin Newhard, Andrew Turpin, James Benz, Rachel Dickinson (Highest Finishing Junior Graduate Aidan Donaldson, Courtesy of McLaughlin Racing & Donaldson Farms-$50.00) Speed Sport Showcase) ($125.00 Bonus Money to top 3 finishers, Courtesy of Gilroy Northeast Inc)

Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600cc Sprints: Billy Koch, Joey Amantea, Chad Sandt, Noah Zielinski, Mack Brink, Paul Richards Jr, Geordan Marrero, Zack Weisenfluh, Duane White, Scott Slater, Mike Myers, Cory Zielinski, Tony Parlanti, Hunter Metzger, Dennis Stawinsky, Tyler Lindsay, Luke Schostkewitz, Jacob Nemeth, Brandon Nicholas $200.00 Bonus Money to top 3 finishers Courtesy of JPA Masonry) (Hard Charger Mike Myers $50.00 Courtesy of JPA Masonry)

Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Anthony Chrobak, Adam Buchel, Jasper Ziegafuse, John Mirabelli, Jacob Nemeth, Mark Evans, Amanda Buchel, Joel Price, Jeff Hineline (DNS)

Junior Slingshots: JJ Rice, James Hendricks, Kasey Hufcut, Charlene Benz, Connor Mirabelli, RJ Sherman, Ashton DeWitt, Isabella VanOrden, Amber Baccaglini, Chase Zimmer (Hard Charger Connor Mirabelli Courtesy of Richie of VanOrden Racing-$50.00)

Super Slingshots: John Gilroy, Wes Hearn, Dale Kober, Alan Kober, Jim Conroy, Richie VanOrden, Derek DeSilva, Wally Bell, David Guest, Wendy Guest ($125.00 Bonus Money to top 3 Finishers Courtesy of Gilroy Motorsports Northeast Inc)

JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: Zack Weisenfluh, Tyler Lindsay, Ryan Lacoe, Dennis Stawinsky, Tony Parlanti, Geordan Marrero, Matt Zielinski, Brandon Nicholas, Jake Eby, Noah Zielinski, Scott Slater, Jacob Nemeth, Ron Bosga, Hunter Metzger ($200.00 Bonus Money to top 3 finishers Courtesy of Archbald Auto & Truck Center and $100.00 Courtesy of Total Fleet Service/Weisenfluh Racing)

The event completes the 2018 racing season at Hamlin Speedway.

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 2019 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