Contact - Deb Smith
For Immediate Release
Phone (610) 972-6176
Email - dsfotog@aol.com

ALEX BRIGHT RACES TO SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON AT PPMS

Alex Bright of Collegeville, PA raced PJ Gargiulo for the lead in the final laps of the twenty lap ARDC feature event at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, picking up his second win of the season in the Lightcap Electric #77. The wingless midgets put on a show for the loyal supporters of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins and gave the folks in the Three Rivers area something to talk about!

Polesitter, Brian Gilmore of Hackettstown, NJ led the starting field to the green flag to start the feature event. Parker Evans from Owego, NY used the outside line to grab the lead as the field crossed the starting line. Trevor Kobylarz quickly advanced from his fourth place start to challenge Evans for the lead, pulling out in front as the drivers headed down the backstretch of the wide, half mile speedway. Kobylarz had the race lead and started to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field.

For several laps, the action was all behind the leader as PJ Gargiulo drove into second on lap two after starting tenth. Brett Arndt took over third one lap later from his seventh place start. Alex and Brenden Bright ran in the top five with five laps complete.

With the half way point approaching, Alex Bright raced into third using the high outside line and made a bid for second. With Bright contesting, Gargiulo shot to the bottom of the track to take the lead. Gargiulo had pulled to a ten car length advantage when Bright took over second from Kobylarz.

While Alex Bright concentrated on Gargiulo in the lead, Arndt, Kobylarz, Brenden Bright and Nick Wean jockeyed for top five positions.

Bright went right to the top of the track during warm-ups and found his line of choice while many chose to run the shortest way around the track by running on the inside. Gargiulo moved to the top of the track and for a while, Bright ran in the tracks of the Morton, PA driver. As the laps counted down, Bright began to close on Gargiulo, moving within striking distance with just three laps to go. As the leaders came to the line with three laps remaining, Bright found an even higher line, running just inches from the wall. Gargiulo and Bright were even going across the line but Bright had the advantage as the cars exited turn two.

“I really didn’t think that I had left him any room out there,” Gargiulo stated. “But he found some - that’s for sure!” Bright said his car was a “rocket” on the top of the track. “I moved up a little bit more and it was even better,” Bright explained. “I know I was just inches from the wall but there was good bite up there!”

Bright led the final laps, taking the checkered flag for the second time this season. Gargiulo had his best outing of the 2012 season, leading laps and finishing second. Unlike his brother, Brenden Bright used the low, inside of the track and made some headway in the final laps, racing to third and the final podium finish. Kobylarz raced home in fourth with current ARDC point leader, Wean in fifth.

Bright was quick to thank his grandfather and car owner, Joe Hemler when he reached Victory Lane. “I want to thank my grandfather for all that he’s done for me,” Bright said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for him!” , it was Bright’s second win of the season and sixth podium finish in the last seven races.

Bright and Wean were the winners of the qualifying heats.

RACE NOTES:

Twelve races have produced seven different winners. Five drivers - Tim Buckwalter, Steve Buckwalter, Trevor Kobylarz, Brenden Bright and Alex Bright - each have two wins so far this season. Nick Wean and Steven Drevicki have one win a piece.

ARDC returns to Western PA to compete at Mercer Raceway Park for the second time this season. Steven Drevicki was the winner at Mercer just a few weeks ago.

ARDC continues to keep former car owner, George Stevens in their thoughts and prayers. The blood drive through the Miller Blood Bank has been extended through Saturday, August 11th. Cards of cheer will reach George at 3165 Belevider Road, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865.

Feature Finish (20 laps)
1-Alex Bright 2-PJ Gargiulo 3-Brenden Bright 4-Trevor Kobylarz 5-Nick Wean 6-Brett Arndt 7-Tim Buckwalter 8-Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 9-Mark Gilmore 10-Parker Evans 11-Brian Gilmore 12-Steve Craig 13-Joe Butera 14-Bret Guzik 15-Brett Wanner 16-Steven Drevicki

Contact - Deb Smith
For Immediate Release
Phone (610) 972-6176
Email - dsfotog@aol.com

ARDC made it’s annual trek south for a weekend of racing in North Carolina’s Dixieland Speedway and County Line Raceway with Brenden Bright and Nick Wean coming home with the wins.

For Brenden Bright, it was a return to the track where he won his first ever ARDC feature a year earlier at the Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, NC. Bright had struggled in recent ARDC events but had done his homework prior to the trip south and discovered what he believed to be the problem with the Presidential HVAC #88. “We took everything a part,” Bright explained. “We found some bars that had gone bad…the car was much better this weekend!”

Brian Gilmore led the ARDC field to the green flag but it was 2011 ARDC Champion, Drew Heistand that was the early race leader. On lap three, Dusty Heistand made the pass for the lead. B. Bright passed Drew for second one lap later as B. Gilmore and PJ Gargiulo completed the top five with five laps on the board.

Gargiulo moved up to third, behind Dusty Heistand and Brenden Bright but was soon challenged by Alex Bright for that position. Alex moved up to third as the battle for second was on between the Bright brothers as Dusty Heistand continued to lead. With ten laps remaining, Gargiulo ran in fourth with Tim Buckwalter running fifth.

A late race caution realigned the field with five laps to go. Cars were jostled on the restart as Alex Bright made his bid for the lead but the caution waved quickly when T. Buckwalter got turned around in turn four on the restart.

Dusty Heistand again led the field to the green but was challenged this time by Brenden Bright. As the leaders raced side by side down the homestretch, the close racing resulted in some contact between the leaders. Heistand spun toward the inside guardrail before getting airborne. Heistand’s #6 rolled in the air and landed back on the track upside down. The red flag was thrown. A disappointed Dusty Heistand walked back to the pit area, uninjured.

On the final restart, it was a battle of the Brights as Brenden held off Alex for the win, his second of the season and second consecutive Dixieland Speedway victory. Gargiulo finished third as Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. edged Brett Arndt for fourth at the checkered flag.

Rookie Brian Gilmore won his first qualifying race in heat number one as Brenden Bright and Dusty Hiestand picked up wins in the other two heat races.

Dixieland Speedway Feature Finish (25 laps) 1. Brenden Bright 2. Alex Bright 3. PJ Gargiulo 4. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 5. Brett Arndt 6. Trevor Kobylarz 7. Mark Gilmore 8. Parker Evans 9. Brian Gilmore 10. Joe Butera 11. Andy Cardinale 12. Dusty Hiestand 13. Tim Buckwalter 14. Nick Wean 15.Drew Heistand 16. Steven Drevicki DNS

Nick Wean ended a bad luck streak at the County Line Speedway on Saturday night of the Southern Swing as he led from green to checkered to pick up his first win of the 2012 season.

With five laps to go, Wean thought his bad luck was going to continue. A vibration indicated motor problems for the driver from Phillipsburg, NJ. When Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. took a nasty ride with just a few laps to go, Wean had the opportunity to consult his car owner/father what he should do. “I told him the motor was going to go. I asked him what he wanted me to do,” Wean said the response was “Blow ‘er up!” He had his orders.

Drew Heistand challenged Wean in the early going and ran second throughout the race. Alex Bright moved up to third in the final laps and both Heistand and Bright knew that Wean was in trouble. But Mother Nature smiled on the Wean car on this night and everything stayed together for Wean to take the checkered flag first.

Tim Buckwalter raced his way as high as third but lost a battle with Alex Bright for the spot, finishing fourth at the flag. PJ Gargiulo battled back to finish fifth after restarting in the rear of the field after an incident in turn two. Gargiulo ran into trouble when he hit a wet area in turn two but was able to get the car stopped before hard contact was made.

The race was red flagged on two occasions. The first, when rookie, Brian Gilmore got upside down on the backstretch. With three laps remaining, Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. got into the outside wall in turn one, getting airborne and end for end. Both drivers exited their cars on their own but Buckwalter was later treated and released.

Race Notes:
Alex Bright had the best North Carolina weekend with a second and third. PJ Gargiulo also had a strong run in the south with a third and fifth place finish while Brett Arndt continued his consistent performance with a fifth and sixth place result. Dusty Heistand was able to return to action on Saturday after getting upside down on Friday but had more work to do when he made hard contact with the homestretch wall during Saturday warm-ups. Andy Cardinale ran his first ARDC laps in the Buckwalter rental. Cardinale, who resides in South Carolina, has family ties to ARDC. His grandfather was a wrench on the ARDC championship teams of the early and mid-sixties, wrenching for the Bennet Brothers. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. had the unfortunate situation of finding himself upside down at both speedways on the North Carolina trip.

Next race on the ARDC schedule is Friday, July 13th at the Big Diamond Speedway

County Line Raceway Feature (25 laps) 1. Nick Wean 2. Drew Heistand 3. Alex Bright 4. Tim Buckwalter 5. PJ Gargiulo 6. Brett Arndt 7. Dusty Heistand 8. Brenden Bright 9. Mark Gilmore 10. Joe Butera 11. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 12. Andy Cardinale 13. Brian Gilmore 14. Steven Drevicki 15. Parker Evans 16. Trevor Kobylarz

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Contact - Deb Smith
phone (610) 972-6176
email dsfotog@aol.com
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The American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) heads south this weekend for their first of two nights of racing at Maryland’s Potomac Speedway and Virginia’s Winchester Speedway.

On Friday night, the midgets will make their first of two appearances of the 2012 season at the Potomac Speedway in Mechanicsville, MD. The fans at the 3/8 mile Potomac Speedway will be introduced to open wheel racing ARDC style as the midgets join a program of Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, Hobbystocks and Strictly Stock divisions. It will mark the return of the ARDC Midgets to the Potomac facility after an absence of nearly ten years.

Friday, May 18th is also Put on the Purple Day - a special day created by the Lupus Foundation to promote awareness of this debilitating diseases. May is Lupus Awareness month and ARDC competitor, Bruce Buckwalter Jr. has asked that his fellow competitors and fans show their support by wearing purple throughout the day on Friday.

Ryan Watt of Boyertown, PA will make his first ARDC appearance of the 2012 season at Potomac. Watt, who competes with ARDC as his Modified schedule allows, will return to the cockpit of the Fred Schell owned #75 for this event. Watt combined forces with ARDC team owner, Donnie Hoffman for the 2011 season and will continue to pilot the green and white #17 later this season.

Saturday night, ARDC travels west to Winchester, VA for a second night of racing on another 3/8 mile track. When ARDC competed at Winchester last season, it was Ryan Smith in the Jerry & Karen Steward owned #33 who went to Victory Lane.

Will the first repeat winner of the 2012 season finds his way to Victory Lane on one of the 3/8 mile clay tracks at either Potomac or Winchester? Tim Buckwalter, Brenden Bright and Steve Buckwalter have each won one of the first three events of the 2012 season and could be the first repeat winner but their are a host of drivers looking for their first wins of the season that will have something to say about the outcome on Friday and Saturday.

ARDC officials have announced that rookie drivers, Brett Wanner of Shoemakersville, PA and Jimmy Glenn of Branchburg, NJ have been cleared to be handicapped for the first time this season. ARDC rookies are started at the rear of the field for their heats and features for at least their first three events or until club officials feel that they are ready to be handicapped based on points. Both Wanner and Glenn have a tenth place finish to their credit this season, coming from the rear of the field to pick up a top ten finish.

ARDC is also pleased to announce the addition of three shows to their schedule at the Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville, PA. ARDC had eight shows remaining at the Schuylkill County speedway when Big Diamond was forced to discontinue their Saturday night schedule. Big Diamond Speedway management and ARDC worked together to adjust their schedules to include the midgets in the existing 2012 Big Diamond Speedway calendar.

ARDC will be added to the schedule of events at Big Diamond for Friday night racing on July 13th and 27th. ARDC was already on the Friday night schedule for July 6th when Big Diamond presents their annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial Race. The midgets of ARDC have also been added to the biggest event of the Big Diamond season when they will join the Station House 358 Modifeds on Sunday, September 2 for the running of the Coalcracker 72.

As always, ARDC racing is all about wheel to wheel competition. “Where three wide and side-by-side is standard.”

Contact - Deb Smith
For Immediate Release
phone (610) 972-6176
email - dsfotog@aol.com

Steve Buckwalter Slides to First ARDC Win at Port Royal

Steve Buckwalter had been winless in 2012 coming into Saturday night’s race at the Port Royal Speedway but that all changed when the checkered flag waved on the field at the end of twenty thrilling laps of racing.

Buckwalter of Royersford, PA divides his time between 410 Sprint Car racing and the ARDC Midgets. The hard charging 2010 ARDC Champion has not had a lot of laps go his way this season but came home with a runner-up finish just a week ago at the Williams Grove Speedway with a last lap pass for the position. This week, Buckwalter was able to improve that finish by one and take his first win of the 2012 season, becoming the third winner in three races in ARDC competition.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s warm-ups, a heat or a feature,” Buckwalter stated after his win. “When I’m on the track, I’m going as fast as I can!”

Manheim, PA driver, Dusty Heistand led the field to the start and quickly took command from Carey Becker of Reading, PA. Brett Arndt quickly moved in to take over second and set chase on the leader.

Steven Drevicki drew a caution when he slowed on the backstretch on lap three. PJ Gargiulo and Parker Evans both headed to the pits with mechanical issues while the race was under yellow flag conditions.

The younger Heistand brother maintained his lead over Arndt on the single file restart but Drew Heistand, the 2011 ARDC Champion had already moved past Becker to take over third as S. Buckwalter completed the top five in running order at this point in the race.

Drew Heistand took over the runner-up spot from Arndt on lap six and quickly closed in on his brother, the leader. One lap later, Drew shot to the inside of Dusty as the pair entered turn three but a caution flag negated the pass for the lead as Mark Gilmore ran into difficulties between turns three and four.

Returning to green flag conditions, Dusty Heistand maintained his lead but Drew came with a head of steam down the backstretch and completed the pass for the lead as the two brothers entered turn three. There was a new leader on lap seven.

S. Buckwalter had made his way past Arndt and pursued Dusty Hiestand for second, taking over the spot on lap nine. At the half way point, Drew Heistand had pulled away to a lead of several car lengths as S. Buckwalter ran second ahead of Dusty Heistand, Arndt and Bruce Buckwalter, Jr.

With racing conditions staying green, Drew Heistand was able to maintain some breathing room between his #1 and the #0 of S. Buckwalter until the yellow flag waved as the field neared the five to go mark. Rookie, Brett Wanner required assistance in turns three and four and again the field aligned nose to tail with Heistand’s advantage erased.

The battle was on between the two past champions as the lead swapped hands between Drew Heistand and Steve Buckwalter time after time. S. Buckwalter would slide to the lead only to have Drew Heistand slide right back by him in the next set of turns.

This time a red flag would interrupt the race for the lead as rookie, Brian Gilmore laid his #13 over in the turns. Gilmore was uninjured. During the break in the action, a flat tire was reported on the #52 of Tim Buckwalter who had raced into the top ten after starting the race in thirteenth. Track officials allowed for a quick tire change as T. Buckwalter returned to the rear of the field with just three green laps of racing remaining.

Drew Heistand restarted the race as the leader but Steve Buckwalter slid into the lead one last time, using an evasive maneuver that prevented Heistand from sliding back by and into the lead. It was the final lead exchange of the race as Steve Buckwalter went on to take the checkered flag just ahead of Drew Heistand. Arndt captured his first top five of the season as Nick Wean lived up to his name and “Slick Nick” edged Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. for fourth at the finish.

Two qualifying heats were run with wins going to Arndt and B. Buckwalter, Jr.

Race Notes
Brett Arndt picked up his third consecutive heat win on his way to his first top five finish of the young season. Arndt has been strong in every ARDC outing this season but was plagued with an ill running motor during his last two feature outings. A podium finish was just what the Topton, PA driver needed to jump start his season. Jimmy Glenn, one of three ARDC rookies, came from the 21st starting spot to finish tenth at the checkered, advancing the most positions of any driver. Tim Buckwalter also passed a lot of cars. After advancing up to 8th, T. Buckwalter returned to the rear of the field to pick up 6th at the checkered after his tire change with just six laps remaining.

Feature Finish (20 Laps)
1. Steve Buckwalter #0 2. Drew Heistand #1 3. Brett Arndt #46 4. Nick Wean #78 5. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. #83 6. Tim Buckwalter #52 7. Dusty Heistand #6 8. Alex Bright #77 9. Brenden Bright #88 10. Jimmy Glenn #07 11. Steve Craig #55 12. Carey Becker #14 13. Eric Heydenreich #11 14. Dave Shirk #16 15. Joe Butera #3 16. Brian Gilmore #13 17. Trevor Kobylarz #49 18. Brett Wanner #44 19. Shawn Jackson #7 20. Mark Gilmore #10 21. Parker Evans #61 22. PJ Gargiulo #5 23. Steven Drevicki #19

Contact - Deb Smith
For Immediate Release
phone (610) 972-6176
email - dsfotog@aol.com

Brendan Bright, the 2011 ARDC Rookie of the Year, bounced back from a disappointing season opener to win his first of the 2012 season at the prestigous Williams Grove Speedway. (Friday April 27)

Bright was unable to even take the green flag when ARDC opened their season several weeks ago but he made up for lost time with wins in both his heat and feature at Williams Grove from pole position starts. While the front row starts were certainly an advantage, Bright led every lap he raced, surrounded by some of the biggest names in ARDC racing - Smith, Buckwalter and Arndt.

The last thing that Ted Bright said to his son and driver before the start of the race was, “Don’t overdrive the first turn.” With Ryan Smith and Steve Buckwalter right on his tail from the drop of the green flag, those words of advice were hard to follow! Both Smith and S. Buckwalter are past winners of ARDC events at Williams Grove.

It took several attempts to get lap one on the books but the remaining nineteen laps produced some great wheel to wheel racing.

Steve Craig and Carey Becker were involved in a turn three incident when Becker lost the brakes on his #14. Alex Bright had a problem in turn one on the next go round and required the services of a wrecker. Dave Ely also exited to the pit area on this caution.

Bright remained on the point on the restart as S.Buckwalter challenged Smith for second and Parker Evans and PJ Gargiulo battled for the fourth spot. Brett Arndt lost positions as he struggled with a malfunctioning engine.

When Jimmy Glenn brought out the caution after the completion of five laps, Steve Craig and 2011 ARDC Champion, Drew Heistand headed to the pits.

On the restart, Smith took a look to the inside of Bright’s #88 while Trevor Kobylarz battled Steven Drevicki for fifth. By lap nine, Gargiulo had both Kobylarz and Tim Buckwalter challenging. At the half way mark, Bright held the lead followed by Smith, S. Buckwalter, Evans and T. Buckwalter.

At times, Bright was able to pull away from the field by several car lengths while the second through fifth positions were being hotly contested but his comfort level was short lived as Smith and S. Buckwalter would join be on his tail once again.

Billy Pauch Jr. brought out the caution on lap eleven when he was unable to get his disabled Burke Trucking entry off of the track.

After starting in the fifteenth position, T. Buckwalter joined the charge as he took over fourth from Evans just past the half way mark.

Smith had S. Buckwalter to his outside as the pair not only battled for second but looked for racing room to take the lead. On laps fourteen and fifteen, Smith pulled even with Bright in the corners. The pair raced side by side with Bright showing a slight advantage on the long straigtaways.

As the leaders dueled, T. Buckwalter caught the top three and made it a four way battle to the finish. The top four cars were side by side and nose to tail for the final laps of the race.

Coming to the checkered flag, S. Buckwalter made a move to the outside. Bright took the checkered flag first with S. Buckwalter edging Smith at the finish line for second. Fourth went to opening day winner, T. Buckwalter with Kobylarz finishing fifth.

It was clearly a night to remember for the second year driver from Collegeville, PA. Bright talked about the race from his perspective. “I ran the middle of the track in the beginning,” Bright explained. “Toward the end, I was just about standing up in the car to slow it down. Smith got underneath me a couple of times. After that I tried the bottom and it worked for me to run down there.”

Rick Wean finished sixth followed by Eric Heydenreich, Evans and Gargiulo.

Another young ARDC driver had a good outing at Williams Grove. Starting scratch on the feature field, rookie Brett Wanner came home with a tenth place finish in his second outing with ARDC.

The three qualifying heats were won by B. Bright, Arndt and S. Buckwalter.

RACE NOTES
Rookie Brian Gilmore, the younger brother of second year ARDC driver, Mark Gilmore, made his ARDC debut after celebrating his sixteenth birthday. Also making their first starts of the 2012 season were Bear, DE driver, Shawn Jackson and Billy Pauch Jr. On what was a cold and windy night for racing, Bruce Buckwalter Jr. had more heat than he wanted or needed when the engine in the #83 left go during warm-ups. A fire broke out but extinguished itself quickly as Buckwalter tried to exit the car.

Feature Finish (20 laps)
1. Brenden Bright 2. Steve Buckwalter 3. Ryan Smith 4. Tim Buckwalter 5. Trevor Kobylarz
6. NIck Wean 7. Eric Heydenreich 8. Parker Evnas 9. PJ Gargiulo 10. Brett Wanner 11. Brett Arndt 12. Dave Shirk 13. Mark Gilmore 14. Randy Reid 15. Brian Gilmore 16. Steven Drevicki 17. Billy Pauch Jr. 18. Steve Craig 19. Drew Heistand 20. Jimmy Glenn 21. Dusty Heistand 22. Dave Ely 23. Alex Bright 24. Carey Becker 25. Ryan Greth DNS - Shawn Jackson