ARDC CONCLUDES SEASON AT SUSQUEHANNA SPEEDWAY PARKS’ ANNUAL CANDY BOWL

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