By Steve Williams
Ryan Smith likes the comfy confines of Bridgeport ‘s inner ¼ mile oval and used some previous experience to go 2-0 on the season in ARDC Midget competition at the speedway, picking up his third win of the season.
On the initial start a log jam in the first turn claimed the top two in ARDC points. Steve Buckwalter ended up on the outside of the first turn while Drew Heistand had to be towed back to the pits. Eric Heydenreich and Brett Arndt were also involved. All the cars were able to return to the speedway.
On the ensuing restart Carey Becker spun in turn two and the yellow flew again.
With third time being the charm, pole sitting, Dusty Heistand won the drag race down the front stretch and led into the first turn. Outside front row starter, Nick Wean was able to get inside of Heistand going into the third turn and led the first lap.
Wean, who is a past Micro champion at Bridgeport started to open a bit of a lead as tenth place starting, Steve Lenig made a furious charge to the front and moved into second, passing Heistand on the second lap. Following Lenig into third was rookie, Tim Buckwalter, who had started fifth.
Another rookie, Alex Bright joined the fray and started to pressure Buckwalter for third. As the two swapped the position back and forth, Lenig started to track down the front running Wean and on the 12th lap made a slick pass for the lead.
Wean tucked in behind Lenig and as Lenig exited turn four on the next lap he caught a rut that put him sideways. With nowhere to go, Wean clipped the rear of Lenigs racer and sent him on a spin down the front straight in front of the charging field. It appeared as if Lenig might slide to the inside when he was collected by ARDC point leader, Steve Buckwalter. The collision flipped Lenig and severely damaged the front of the Buckwalter car. Both drivers were un-injured but unable to continue.
The red flag put Wean back on the point while Ryan Smith, who had methodically picked his way through the field from his 14th starting position, moved into second. Smith, immediately applied pressure to Wean and on lap 14 hugged the inside and made the winning pass.
“It was really packed up but I rolled it pretty good and one time he missed it and I got by him but I heard him there the whole time and we held on.” “I knew I had to be inside and that’s where I went.” said Smith in victory lane.
While Smith and Wean were running at the head of the pack, two of the ARDC “Young Guns” Alex Bright and Trevor Kobylarz were battling it out for the third spot when they got together in the second turn bringing out the final caution on the 22nd lap.
Smith was able to lead the final three laps, with Wean stuck to his nerf bar, winning by .4 seconds.
PJ Gargiulo finished in third while, Eric Heydenreich drove from the rear after the first lap crash finished fourth and Donnie Trent was fifth.
Brett Arndt, Jimmy Cammock, Shane Penny, Alex Bright and Steve Bull rounded out the top ten.
Heat race winners were, Nick Wean, Alex Bright and Tim Buckwalter
BRIDGEPORT NOTES: ARDC has announced that they have added a race on September 25th at New Egypt Speedway. First time entrants were Catasaqua, PA resident, Kyle Lick in the Burkes Trucking 54, Shawn Jackson of Bear, DE in his own #7 and Shane Penny from Nescopeck, PA in the #4 that was driven earlier in the year by Jeff Furlong. Steve Drevicki had engine problems in warm-ups and was done for the night. Nick Wean, Donnie Trent, Trevor Kobylarz and Chris Zrinski signed autographs in front of the grandstands at intermission. The top three finishers were all past winners of Bridgeport’s Micro Nationals. After spending last weekend racing a 360 Sprint Cars in New York and Pennsylvania, Ryan Smith won a Tri State Race Savers 305 Sprint Car Race at New Egypt Speedway on Monday and now owns 20 wins this season in Sprints, Midgets and Micros.
BRIDGEPORT SPEEDWAY 9-11-2010 ARDC Midgets 25-Laps 27-Entries) 1) 34 Ryan Smith, 2) Nick Wean, 3) PJ Gargiulo, 4) 11 Eric Heydenreich, 5) 91 Donnie Trent, 6) 46 Brett Arndt, 7) 83 Jimmy Cammock, 8) 4 Shane Penny, 9) 77 Alex Bright, 10) 01 Steve Bull, 11) 54 Kyle Lick, 12) 99 Scott Zipp, 13) 7 Shawn Jackson, 14) 17 Donnie Hoffman, 15) 49 Trevor Kobylarz, 16) 12 Drew Heistand, 17) 9 Steve Lenig, 18) 0 Steve Buckwalter, 19) 52 Tim Buckwalter, 20) 16 Dave Shirk, 21) 25 Chris Zrinski, 22) 6 Dusty Heistand, 23) 83 Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 24) 20 Carey Becker, 25) 75 Ryan Watt, 26) 53 Randy Reid, DNQ 19 Steve Drevicki
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday September 25, 2010
New Egypt Speedway
Saturday, October 02, 2010
TBA Big Diamond Raceway
Sunday, October 03, 2010
TBA Big Diamond Raceway
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Grandview TOTH
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park (Rain Date)
PAST RESULTS
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway
RAIN
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Billy Pauch Jr
Candy Bowl Makeup
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, April 30, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway
RAIN
March 28th Makeup
RAIN
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
RAIN
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Grandview Speedway
Billy Pauch Jr
Friday, May 28, 2010
Penn Can Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Grandview Speedway TOTH
Steve Buckwalter
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Lincoln Speedway w/USAC
Eric Heydenreich
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Bridgeport Speedway (1/4 mile)
Ryan Smith
Friday, July 02, 2010
Central Pennsylvania Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Georgetown Speedway
POSTPONED
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
Bruce Buckwalter
Saturday, July 10, 2010
May 8th Makeup
Ryan Smith
Friday, July 16, 2010
Accord Speedway
RAIN
Friday, July 30, 2010
Clinton County Speedway
Completion TBA
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Mercer Raceway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, August 06, 2010
Dixieland Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday August 13, 2010
Accord Speedway
Tim Buckwalter
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
New Egypt Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, September 3, 2010
Clinton County Raceway
Postponed
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Bridgeport Speedway (1/4 mile)
Ryan Smith
UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS
CAR #
DRIVER
TOTAL POINTS
1
0
STEVE
BUCKWALTER
1798
2
34
RYAN
SMITH
1772
3
12
DREW
HEISTAND
1732
4
11
ERIC
HEYDENREICH
1587
5
46
BRETT
ARNDT
1396
6
77
ALEX
BRIGHT
1386
7
83
BRUCE
BUCKWALTER
1373
8
51
PJ
GARGIULO
1241
9
44
FRANK
POLIMEDA
1233
10
78
NICK
WEAN
1216
11
52
TIM
BUCKWALTER
1206
12
9
STEVE
LENIG
1139
13
19
STEVEN
DREVICKI
1096
14
6
DUSTY
HEISTAND
1063
15
…
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Steve Williams
show details 1:54 PM (2 hours ago)
Media Contact: Steve Williams
E-mail: swilliamsardc@gmail.com
Phone 570-473-8878
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE WITH OUR THANKS
ARDC MIDGETS ADDED TO NEW EYGPT SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT
ARDC Midget driver representative, P.J. Gargiulo has announced that, “New Egypt Speedway management was extremely satisfied with the “as advertised” 3-Wide and Side-by-Side action produced by the ARDC during the speedway’s annual “Summer Sizzler” program on Tuesday (August 31st), and has decided to book the Wingless Midgets for their “Championship Night” event scheduled for Saturday September 25th, 2010.”
ARDC point leader, Steve Buckwalter will be looking forward to the Championship Night event, to see if he can earn repeat trip to victory lane. Buckwalter was the winner over Drew Heistand, who currently sits second in points and his cousin, Bruce Buckwalter Jr.
The Midgets will appear on the card which also includes Modified’s Twin-20’s and Wall Factory Stocks.
Race time for the event is 6:00pm.
– Show quoted text –
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday September 25, 2010
New Egypt Speedway
Saturday, October 02, 2010
TBA Big Diamond Raceway
Sunday, October 03, 2010
TBA Big Diamond Raceway
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Grandview TOTH
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park (Rain Date)
PAST RESULTS
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway
RAIN
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Billy Pauch Jr
Candy Bowl Makeup
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, April 30, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway
RAIN
March 28th Makeup
RAIN
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
RAIN
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Grandview Speedway
Billy Pauch Jr
Friday, May 28, 2010
Penn Can Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Grandview Speedway TOTH
Steve Buckwalter
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Lincoln Speedway w/USAC
Eric Heydenreich
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Susquehanna Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Bridgeport Speedway (1/4 mile)
Ryan Smith
Friday, July 02, 2010
Central Pennsylvania Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Georgetown Speedway
POSTPONED
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Williams Grove Speedway
Bruce Buckwalter
Saturday, July 10, 2010
May 8th Makeup
Ryan Smith
Friday, July 16, 2010
Accord Speedway
RAIN
Friday, July 30, 2010
Clinton County Speedway
Completion TBA
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Mercer Raceway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, August 06, 2010
Dixieland Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday August 13, 2010
Accord Speedway
Tim Buckwalter
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
New Egypt Speedway
Steve Buckwalter
Friday, September 3, 2010
Clinton County Raceway
Postponed
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Bridgeport Speedway (1/4 mile)
Ryan Smith
UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS
CAR #
DRIVER
TOTAL POINTS
1
0
STEVE
BUCKWALTER
1798
2
34
RYAN
SMITH
1772
3
12
DREW
HEISTAND
1732
4
11
ERIC
HEYDENREICH
1587
5
46
BRETT
ARNDT
1396
6
77
ALEX
BRIGHT
1386
7
83
BRUCE
BUCKWALTER
1373
8
51
PJ
GARGIULO
1241
9
44
FRANK
POLIMEDA
1233
10
78
NICK
WEAN
1216
11
52
TIM
BUCKWALTER
1206
12
9
STEVE
LENIG
1139
13
19
STEVEN
DREVICKI
1096
14
6
DUSTY
HEISTAND
1063
15
49
TREVOR
KOBYLARZ
1011
16
16
DAVE
SHIRK
960
16
…