By Ernie Saxton
BECHTELSVILLE, PA June 23, 2014 . . . The first Open Wheel Spectacular at the Grandview Speedway lived up to its name as fans saw some great racing by both the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) wingless midgets and the Hilborn Tri-State Race Saver Sprint cars as Sunday night open wheel racing made its return to the high banks of the Grandview Speedway after nearly a thirty year absence. The American Racing Drivers Club wingless midget feature had veteran Steve Buckwalter getting the win while the Hilborn Tri State Race Saver winged sprint car feature was won by Adam Carberry.
ARDC midget action saw 2012 ARDC Rookie, Brett Wanner lead lap number one from the pole. Billy Pauch Jr. took the lead on lap two, driving the RT Racing #20 on this occasion. Racing came to a stop with two laps scored as Tommy Kunsman spun in turns three and four, collecting Ryan Watt. Watt flipped the Fred Schell owned #75. All drivers were okay but Watt and Kunsman were unable to continue.
Pauch Jr. led the field on the restart with Steve Buckwalter in hot pursuit. Tim Buckwalter now ran in third with Danny Stratton and current ARDC point leader, Steven Drevicki completing the top five. With the two Buckwalters racing for second, Pauch was able to pull away from the field temporarily. Alex Bright and Bruce Buckwalter Jr. moved in to fourth and fifth as positions changed on nearly every lap.
Steve Buckwalter closed in on Pauch on lap eight and after a two lap battle, wrestled the lead from Pauch to score lap ten.
Wanner drew a caution when he came to a stop in turns three and four with thirteen complete. Steve led Tim Buckwalter, Pauch, Alex Bright and Steven Drevicki with half of the laps on the books.
Steve Buckwalter held off the challenge of Tim Buckwalter as Pauch, Alex Bright and Drevicki raced in the top five with ten laps remaining.
Bright took over third on lap sixteen and then moved in to challenge Tim Buckwalter for second. Bright had the runner-up spot by lap eighteen and he began to close the gap on the leader in the final laps.
Two restarts realigned the field nose to tail but Steve Buckwalter had the race in hand as he led Alex Bright and Tim Buckwalter to the checkered flag. Drevicki finished fourth with Pauch rounding out the top five.
The win was Buckwalter’s second ARDC midget win of the season.
Qualifying heats were won by Pauch, Drevicki and Kobylarz.
Adam Carberry and Ryan Stillwaggon led the TSRS Sprint Cars to the start with Stillwaggon taking control at the wave of the green.
The red flag was needed for a multi car incident in turns three and four that saw Ian Detweiler get out of shape and several cars had nowhere to go. Stephanie Steven got upside down in the incident that also involved the cars of Cody Jourdan and Bryant Davis. Only Davis was able to continue.
Stillwaggon returned to the lead on the restart with Adam Carberry in hot pursuit. Tom Carberry ran in third followed by Bob DeVault and Tim Tanner. Adam Carberry went to the outside of Stillwaggon on lap five and took over the lead.
Once in the lead, Carberry immediately put some distance between himself and his challengers. Tanner made his way to fourth with a pass by DeVault on lap eight as the duo raced down the backstretch.
DeVault drew a caution on lap ten after Kyle Reinhardt made a move by three cars to take over fifth. Tanner quickly moved up to third on the restart and then advanced to second with a move by Stillwaggon as Carberry drove ahead of the field.
Adam Carberry caught up to the back of the field on lap seventeen. While Carberry negotiated his way through traffic, Tanner began to close in on the leader.
On lap twenty-one, Carberry and Tanner crossed the start/finish line together. Carberry was back in control the next time around but Tanner was in hot pursuit. The leaders raced each other for position all the way to the checkered flag with Carberry earning his first win of the 2014 season. Tanner finished alongside for second with Tommy Carberry finishing third, preferring the high line around the Grandview Speedway. Joseph Kata won the battle for fourth with Stillwaggon rounding out the top five at the line.
The four qualifying heats were won by Tanner, DeVault, Tom Carberry and Detweiler with Jon Haegele taking the consolation.
Kelly Racing Fuels gave five fuel awards to each organization with each based on the #17 – the car number of former driver, Dave Kelly. Haegele received ten gallons of racing fuel for being the 17th driver to draw. Five gallons of fuel went to Cody Jourdan as the 17th entry, Tom Carberry who is 17th in points, Adam Carberry who led TSRS’ last event on the 17th lap and to Mike Haggenbottom who finished 17th in the last TSRS race at Bridgeport.
Ten gallons of Kelly Racing Fuel went to Ryan Watt who started the feature in 17th position. Five gallon awards were given to Greg Fitzpatrick who was the 17th driver to draw, Billy Pauch Jr. who was 17th in points, Steven Drevicki who led the 17th lap of the last ARDC event and John Barnett who finished 17th in that race at Port Royal.
The next Open Wheel Spectacular, again featuring the ARDC midgets and Hilborn TSRS sprints, is set for Sunday, July 20th.
ARDC Midget Feature Finish (25 laps)
1. Steve Buckwalter 2. Alex Bright 3. Tim Buckwalter 4. Steven Drevicki 5. Billy Pauch Jr. 6. Danny Stratton 7. Ryan Greth 8. Brett Arndt 9. Tony DiMattia 10. Austin Burke 11. Brenden Bright 12. Trevor Kobylarz 13. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. 14. Eric Heydenreich 15. Tyler Brehm 16. Greg Fitzpatrick 17. John Barnett 18. James Morris 19. Kyle Lick 20. Brian Gilmore 21. Brett Wanner 22. Nick Wean 23. Clayton Glassman 24. Ryan Watt 25. Tommy Kunsman
Hilborn Tri-State Race Saver Sprint Feature Finish (25 laps)
1. Adam Carberry 2. Tim Tanner 3. Tommy Carberry 4. Joseph Kata 5. Ryan Stillwaggon 6. Stef Palmai 7. Kyle Reinhardt 8. Dave Brown 9. Jeff Geiges 10. Justin Hoffman 11. Eddie Wagner 12. Jon Haegele 13. Bryant Davis 14. Bobby DeVault Jr. 15. Ed Newhauser 16. Scott Frack 17, Mike Esposito 18. Brad Franks 19. Mike Haggenbottom 20. Ian Detweiler 21. Stephanie Stevens 22. Cody Jourdan 23. Dalton Dietrich 24. Jamie Kostic