By Steve Williams
The Wingless Midgets of the American Racing Drivers Club will conclude the 2010 season this Saturday as part of the annual Susquehanna Speedway Park’s Candy Bowl VI presented by J&K Salvage.
Last year, coming into the Candy Bowl, Frank Polimeda had built up an insurmountable point lead and had already claimed the 2009 Championship. Fast forward to 2010 and the points championship is still up for grabs with three driver still having a mathematical chance to become the first time champion of a club that brags such racing icons as, Bill Schindler, Ed “Dutch” Schaefer and Len Duncan as past champions.
Coming into this weekends action, 10 time winner Steve Buckwalter leads the points race with 2300 points even. Ryan Smith, with 4 wins on the season, holds down the second spot with 2232 markers. Sitting in the third spot is Drew Heistand, who just recently picked up a win at New Egypt, with 2198 points.
The ARDC utilizes a point system that awards, attendance as well as heat and feature performance. To start each driver that attends an ARDC race gets 25 show points. The heat race winner is awarded 15 points, second gets 12 and third gets 10 points. The points awarded for each position after third are reduced by one per spot.
The feature winner gets 100 points followed by 95 for second and 90 for third. The points for positions 4th through 15th are reduced by 5 points per spot and positions 16th through 26th reduced by 2 points.
Using this scenario, all Steve Buckwalter needs to do, to win his first championship, is finish sixth in the feature. If he can do that it will not matter where he finishes in his heat or how Ryan Smith finishes.
For Ryan Smith to become champion he will need to win his heat and feature race and hope that Buckwalter finishes no better than 15th in the feature, if he has also won his heat race. If Buckwalter or Smith don’t win their heat it will depend on where Buckwalter finishes the feature as to how many more positions he needs to improve to claim the crown.
Trailing by 102 points, the formula for Drew Heistand to win his first championship, is a bit more complicated but not impossible. Suffice to say that the high flying Heistand needs to win his heat and feature and hope that both Buckwalter and Smith have some problems that keep them from a good finish in their heats and feature.
Looking to take the spotlight off the veterans will be a couple of outstanding rookie talents. Alex Bright and Tim Buckwalter, currently sitting fifth and seventh in points, are separated by only 83 points. Steve’s cousin Timmy has already picked up wins at Accord and Grandview Speedways, while Bright, a second year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Akron will make the short five hour commute to Susquehanna looking to pickup his first win of the season. Both drivers are hoping to become the 2010 Dutch Schaefer / Jiggs Peters ARDC Rookie of the Year.
The race at Susquehanna Speedway Park will conclude the ARDC’s 71st season.
Pit gates will open at 12:30pm with racing to start at 3:00pm
UPCOMING EVENTS
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 w/ USAC
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 Jr.
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
Saturday September 25, 2010
New Egypt Speedway
Drew Heistand
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway (3-28 Makeup)
Steve Buckwalter
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Big Diamond Raceway
Ryan Smith
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Grandview TOTH
Tim Buckwalter
UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS
Pos.
Car No.
Drivers Name
Points
1
0
Steve
Buckwalter
2300
2
34
Ryan
Smith
2232
3
12
Drew
Heistand
2198
4
11
Eric
Heydenreich
1769
5
77
Alex
Bright
1735
6
46
Brett
Arndt
1723
7
52
Tim
Buckwalter
1652
8
51
PJ
Gargiulo
1586
9
83
Bruce
Buckwalter
1549
10
44
Frank
Polimeda
1509
11
6
Dusty
Heistand
1489
12
78
Nick
Wean
1474
13
9
Steve
Lenig
1453
14
49
Trevor
…