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News from the Kutztown Fair Speedway...Providing Your Midweek Motorsports Adrenaline Rush!
Race organizers Kerry Meitzler (610-683-8234) & Janelle Stump (racektown@aol.com).
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SMITH & McANALLY ARE BIG WINNERS IN KUTZTOWN'S FAIR WEEK NATIONALS
Kutztown, Pa. - August 17 - "We had a flawless night with the No. 22 PACE; it was perfect from start to finish."
When his car is that good, you can count on a flawless performance by its driver, too, and that's exactly why Ryan Smith padded his bank account by $1,000 after a big win in the Wingless 600cc Fair Week Nationals at the Kutztown Fairgrounds on Wednesday evening.
And Smith, from Kunkletown, Pa., nearly pulled off a lucrative double victory, as he finished second to Matt McAnally in the 270cc Micro-Sprint feature. While Smith made things interesting in the late stages of that 30-lapper, it was McAnally, of Warminster, Pa. who gave himself an early 18th birthday gift by claiming the $1,000 winner's share of the prize money.
Adding his name to Wednesday's list of winners was Tyler Johnston, Nepanoch, NY, as the victorious driver in the Junior National Slingshot Tour event.
The Fair Week Nationals lowered the curtain on the Micro-Sprints' 2011 racing season at the Kutztown Fair Speedway. The final race was presented on Thursday, August 18, featuring the Xcel 600 Modified Tour (see separate release for results of that event). News and information regarding the 2012 season at Kutztown will be released during the winter months.
Because he won the Dash Race (contested among the top eight qualifiers), Smith earned the right to start the 600cc A-Main from the pole position. He led all the way, maintaining the point on five restarts during the 30-lap event. There was also one (extremely) close call, as Chris Stockham spun on the front stretch with nine laps remaining - and the spin occurred directly in front of the race leader, causing Smith to take some quick, evasive action.
"Yeah, that was an eye-opening, 'Woah!' type of moment," smiled the victor after the race. "Luckily, I had some room to get around him."
While Smith controlled things at the head of the pack, the racing behind him was fast and furious. In the early stages, as Brett Schoenly tried to keep pace with Smith, Stockham and Brett Michalski dueled for third place. Stockham ended up spinning in turn three, which put him to the rear, leading to the second spin in front of Smith.
Tim Buckwalter began to rumble toward the front after Stockham's first spin, passing Michalski for third on the fifth trip around the one-fifth mile oval. Buckwalter, a two-time Kutztown winner this season, needed the next ten laps to overhaul Schoenly for the runner-up spot, putting him in position to battle Smith for the lead with half the race yet to be run. Smith, however, was just too strong and kept Buckwalter at a safe distance behind him.
Eighth-starting Jay Hartman prevailed in a terrific battle with young charger Jonathan Hull for the fourth position, then Hartman engaged in an entertaining duel with Schoenly for third during the closing laps. Hartman passed Schoenly on the final circuit to secure the third place paycheck.
Smith crossed the stripe with a margin of 0.623 seconds over Buckwalter, with Jay Hartman, Schoenly, and Hull completing the top five.
Teammates Matt McAnally and Josh Pepe, both of whom are set to celebrate their 18th birthdays in the next week, started side-by-side on the front row of the 270cc Micro-Sprint A-Main.
McAnally shot out to the lead as the green waved, leaving his teammate to fight with Ryan Smith for the runner-up spot. With McAnally cruising out front, Smith tried for several laps to duck under Pepe at both ends of the race track. Finally, on a restart with eleven tours complete, Smith squeezed past Pepe to grab second.
Another restart with thirteen to go provided the opportunity for Ross Perchak, newly crowned Kutztown point champion Richie Hartman, and Trevor Kobylarz to pass Pepe and gain the third, fourth, and fifth positions.
Smith closed in on McAnally and had one last shot at the leader as the yellow flag waved with just three laps remaining. McAnally, however, motored away on the final restart and took the checkered flag by almost half a second over Smith. Perchak, Hartman, and Kobylarz finished third through fifth.
"Thought I had something for him at the end, but that last yellow just killed me," explained Smith afterward. "That kid (McAnally) really ran a great race, though. He deserved to win tonight."
Tyler Johnston added to his point lead on the Junior Slingshot National Tour by winning the 20-lap feature for the Junior Slingers at Kutztown.
Johnston made it a clean sweep on Wednesday, as he turned the quickest lap in time trials, won his heat race, and led wire to wire in winning the main event.
The fifteen-car starting field ran the first 16 laps without incident, allowing Johnston to open a substantial lead over his pursuers.
Chris Kurtz, who is currently second in the National point standings for the Juniors, snatched the runner-up spot from Jacob Dunn at the halfway mark, but couldn't catch the high-flying Johnston.
Johnston roared to the checkered by 1.1 seconds over Kurtz, with Abbey Price finishing third. Dylan Martin and Alex Shaffer rounded out the top five.
On Tuesday night at the Kutztown Fair Week Nationals, the track held its final point race of the year for the All Star Slingshots.
Pete Knappenberger, Macungie, held off a determined Shannon Smith to win the 20-lap event. While Smith stayed close, often attempting to dive under Knappenberger as they entered the corners at both ends of the race track. Knappenberger fought off each bid by the 2010 National Slingshot Champion, forcing Shannon to settle for second.
Brett Bieber entered the night's competition trailing Gary Hieber by 16 points in the Slingshot standings. Bieber started third and, despite numerous attempts to slide under Smith and overtake her for second, Bieber just couldn't make his No. 32 stick on the bottom in order to complete the pass.
On lap five, point leader Gary Hieber ducked under Simon Egan to claim fourth position, where he stayed for the remainder of the race.
Hieber's move was more than enough to give him an 11 point edge in the final standings over B. Bieber.
The top four ran nose-to-tail for almost the entire second half of the 20-lapper, with Knappenberger repelling each attack by S. Smith.
Knappenberger went on to win, with Smith, B. Bieber, Hieber, and Egan rounding out the top five.
With 24 of the Slingshots on hand, heat race victories fell to Tayllor Schoenly, Hieber, and Egan.
The RPM Parts Online Kutztown Challenge was also on Tuesday's agenda. The series of one-on-one match races was contested among the top ten in the All Star Slingshot point standings.
Matt Massone triumphed in the first three matches before he fell to Travis Beiber. Bieber won twice, then was defeated by Simon Egan. Egan captured the final four challenges, taking the final over Shannon Smith. Each match race was worth $20 to the victor, and Egan also claimed $100 from RPM Parts Online as the overall winner.
Fair Week Nationals Notes...
*Profitable couple of days for Ryan Smith....$1,000 to win the Wingless 600cc feature and $750 for second in the 270cc A-Main.
*A packed grandstand watched Wednesday's portion of the Fair Week Nationals, and there were 39 of the Wingless 600's; 31 of the 270cc Micros; 24 of the All Star Slingshots, and 15 of the Junior Slingers who took part in the action.
*Uliana's Race Products Hard Charger Awards went to Shane Lewis (25th to 8th in the Wingless 600cc main event) and Tyler Reinhardt (22nd to 13th in the 270cc feature).
*The Dash Winners, Matt McAnally (270cc) and Ryan Smith (Wingless 600cc), each received a new set of front hubs from DMI.
*Schoenly Enterprises awarded Ryan Smith a cash bonus for setting fast time in Tuesday's time trials.
*Robbie Watson was given the NAPA Auto Parts Quick Time award for setting fast time in the 270cc class.
*The winners' trophies were sponsored by J.R. Michalski Heating & Cooling, and the trophies were in memory of former track photographer, the late Bill Hess.
Kutztown Fair Speedway's Fair Week Nationals
Wingless 600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 30 laps: 1.Ryan Smith, 2.Tim Buckwalter, 3.Jay Hartman, 4.Brett Schoenly, 5.Jonathan Hull, 6.Luke Thomas, 7.Kyle Lick, 8.Shane Lewis, 9.Brett Arndt, 10.Brett Michalski, 11.Blaine Emery, 12.Ryan Greth, 13.Jacob Hendershot, 14.DAve Dimaio, 15.Tyler DeVault, 16.Chris Stockham, 17.Joe Smith, 18.Rick Perone, 19.Chad Sandt, 20.Shelby Harper, 21.Jesse Hartman, 22.Chris Rupp, 23.Devin Beidel, 24.Tyler Esh, 25.Doug Snyder.
Winged 270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 30 laps: 1.Matt McAnally, 2.Ryan Smith, 3.Ross Perchak, 4.Richie Hartman, 5.Trevor Kobylarz, 6.Brandon Edgar, 7.Robbie Watson, 8.Tom Schearer, 9.Tommy Kunsman Jr., 10.Josh Pepe, 11.Jonathan Pepe, 12.Devin Harron, 13.Tyler Reinhardt, 14.Dave Grube, 15.Bret Guzik, 16.Steve Lipina, 17.Austin Guelich, 18.Tiffany Wambold, 19.Harlee Schaffer, 20.Jarid Kunkle, 21.Nunzi Allegrucci, 22.Austin Bishop, 23.Kurt Bettler, 24.Trevor Dunn, 25.Steve Walters.
Junior National Slingshot Tour, 20 laps: 1.Tyler Johnston, 2.Chris Kurtz, 3.Abbey Price, 4.Dylan Martin, 5.Alex Shaffer, 6.Louden Reimert, 7.Kyle Gruber, 8.B.J. Antonio, 9.Jacob Dunn, 10.Brandon McGill, 11.Kevin Predmore Jr., 12.Bobby Flood, 13.Dakota Barlet, 14.Josh Bok, 15.Dylan Hoch.
All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Pete Knappenberger, 2.Shannon Smith, 3.Brett Bieber, 4.Gary Hieber, 5.Simon Egan, 6.J.R. Fulper, 7.Tayllor Schoenly, 8.Mike Glass, 9.Ryan Raidline, 10.A.J. Gerhart, 11.Matt Massone, 12.Kyle Hieber, 13.Travis Bieber, 14.Joe Nemeth, 15.Steve Heckman, 16.William Mohring, 17.Karl Fegley, 18.Jordan Moyer, 19.Matt Miller, 20.Ben Rabenold, 21.Taylor Troxell, 22.Mark Sensenig, 23.Simon Whitnell. DNS: Danny Buccafusca.
Slingshot Kutztown Challenge Match Races: Simon Egan defeats Shannon Smith in Finals.
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