Hamlin Speedway Beats Rain With Seven-Features Highlighting Action

Story By: STEVE PADOS / HAMLIN SPEEDWAY – HAMLIN, PA – The successful Hamlin Speedway promotional team of Randy and Denise Smith presented their second event of the 2018 season on Saturday evening and another spectacular racing card entertained the loyal fans with seven divisions of racing talent that filled the Hamlin Speedway speed arena last evening.

The exciting racing action produced a great crowd for the new season and 100 entries came out to do battle in the Pocono Mountains and the racers gave it everything they had and then some as they maneuvered their sleek hot rods around the tricky-quick and perfectly manicured 1/5 mile newly clay cushioned arena. When all was said and done, the S&S Speedways sponsored event saw many familiar faces smiling in the RLE Towing and Recovery winners circle and their pockets full of jingle from their solid racing experiences. Right after the final checkered flag fell it began to rain.

The seven feature event card found the first special event of the season as the Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600 Sprint division time- shortened 28-lap feature attraction found former champion Kyle “The Hot” Lick returning to action and capturing the win after another former champion “The Conductor” Bobby Butler found his car amiss in the final laps. “The Sandman” Troy Langendoerfer returned to action and captured the All Star Slingshot Feature attraction. Circleville, New York’s Kasey Hufcut earned his first ever win at Hamlin in the Junior Slingshot finale. “The Oxford Express” Dale Kober and “The Ambassador” Wes Hearn put on a whale of a show in the Super Slingers feature with Kober winning the event. “The Fearless One” Kyle Ferrucci captured his first Winged 270 Sprint feature of the season. “The Nickel Man” Joel Smith was all business as he raced to his second consecutive win in the Hampton RV and Trailer Stage One Modified run in a close battle with. Joe Nemeth hustled his way around the Hamlin Speedway to capture the JPA Masonry sponsored Rookie 600 Sprint feature event.

The Junior Slingshots toured the Hamlin oval quickly in their 20-lap feature excursion. The “Stars of Tomorrow” rarely disappoint and Ashton DeWitt grabbed the lead at the start with Kasey Hufcut breathing down his tailpipe. Hufcut was quick and took control of the lead on lap seven and opening night winner James Benz moved into the runner-up role. Hufcut raced to the win, his first at Hamlin, while Benz finished in the runner-up role. Jasper Ziegafuse started ninth and enjoyed a stout outing with a third place run. Adam Buchel and Abby Yates completed the top five. Shelby McLaughlin drove to a sixth place finish with Aidan Donaldson seventh after a spin sent him to the rear early in the event. Brian Smith, Joey Kalafut and Charlene Benz completed the top ten.

Dale Kober took command of the Super Slinger feature at the drop of the green flag and led all of the way despite the persistence of Wes Hearn who dogged him all of the way through the twenty lap event. Roger Collins was third with Greg Zellman and David Guest completing the top five.

The Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600 Sprint feature was hell’s bells from the word go. Bobby Butler enjoyed a pole start and made the most of it start of the event. Numerous restarts were needed during the event but in the green flag conditions Butler, Damon Paul, Kyle Lick, Paul Richards, Joseph Smith and Chad Sandt kept knocking on the “butler’s door.” The attrition was high but the racing was my oh my as the leaders matched moves like Jagger. Some top challengers began to fall with Alex Bright out early, followed by Joseph and Joel Smith and Richards.

Reigning track champion Mick D’Agostino became a player and a late challenge came from Jacob Balliet. With 23-laps in the books, Butler began having problems with his racer. He gave way to Kyle Lick who would go on to capture the win in a great return to the speedway. “The Gingerbread Man” Damon Paul gave it all he had with a gutsy, hard fought runner-up finish. Colin White finished third with D’Agostino coming in fourth and Jacob Balliet completing the top five. Chad Sandt headed up the next five with the disappointed Butler, Tyler Lindsay, Mack Brink and Zack Bealer rounding out the top ten.

Joe Nemeth had the hot hand and a very fast racer as he grabbed the lead at the start of the JPA Masonry sponsored Rookie 600 Sprint main and though he withstood a few restarts he dominated the event to capture his first win of the season at Hamlin. Nemeth turned some of the fastest times of the night as he consistently ran 12.2 second laps. Noah Zielinski raced hard to finish and during the event did turn a 12.161 second lap for the fastest time of the evening. Ryan Lacoe was steady with a third place run while Zack Weisenfluh and Earl Rice completed the top five.

John Comandini was a firecracker at the start of the Hampton RV and Trailer sponsored Stage One Modified finale as he took control of the lead from his front row start and quickly ran to daylight. By the midway point, all eyes were on Joel Smith as he began to get faster with each passing lap. Lap-14 proved to be the Achilles Heel for Comandini as Smith got around him and assumed control of the event. Smith would drive on for his second straight win in 2018 with Comandini finishing in the runner-up role. Matt Massoney was third in the Motto Motorsports rental car. Amanda Buchel raced hard to nail down fourth place and Joel Price completed the top five. Tanner VanDoren headed up the second five with Jeff Hineline, Evan Civick, and John Bachetti Jr and Sr completing the top ten.

Jared Silfee took the lead at the start of the headliner for the All Star Slingshot race cars and maintained a small advantage early on despite constant pressure from Troy Langendoerfer, Austin Silfee and Tyler Banks. A seventh lap restart allowed Langendoerfer to restart alongside of Jared Silfee and when the green flag dropped it would be Langendoerfer winning the drag race on the front stretch to claim the lead. School was out at that point for the rest of the field as Langendoerfer put on a clinic running consistent 13.5’s and 13.6’s for the remainder of the laps to claim the win. Jared Silfee, Austin Silfee, Dale Kober and Wes Hearn would complete the top five. Scott Neary headed up the second five with Ashley Kober, Tanner VanDoren, John Kendall and Mike Fogler closing out the top ten.

Kyle Ferrucci jumped into the lead at the start of the headliner for the Winged 270 Sprints and quickly distanced himself from the rest of the field as he led all twenty laps to lay claim to his first win of the season. Reigning track champion Glenn Macomber would finish second after battling with Don Schmidt for most the event. Schmidt finished third with JJ Uliana and Anthony Chrobak nailing down top five finishes.

Pearl Jams:

Once again Promoter Randy Smith and crew had the speedplant in top form and the racers responded well as they tried out the multi-channeled speedway throughout the night’s events. The effort produced some excellent side by side and more wide racing action.

Heat races were claimed by Aiden Donaldson and Shelby McLaughlin in the Junior Slingshots. Kyle Ferrucci captured the 270 Sprint heat. Stage One Modified heats were won by Joel Smith and Jeff Hineline. Rookie 600 Heats were claimed by Ryan Lacoe, Jack Hanna and Dennis Stawinsky. The two All Star Slingshot heats went to Mike Fogler and Troy Langendoerfer.

New faces at the speedway for the event included Austin Homan in the Junior Slingshots. Mark Exeter was a first timer for the Super Slingers but had trouble during hot laps and withdrew from racing for the evening. Tyler Lindsay and Nick Corazzi were newcomers to the 600 Sprint ranks while it was great to see Kyle Lick, Alex Bright, Zack Bealer, Brett Altemose and Mike Linderman return to the Hamlin clay. Cole Stangle made his first appearance of the season in the Rookie 600 Sprint ranks. Cole has been racing Sportsman racers at Accord Speedway. Rich Maguire Sr joined the Rookie 600 Ranks. John Kendall and Andrew Turpin were new racers for the All Star Slingshot division. Anthony Chrobak and JJ Uliana were new additions to the 270 Sprint ranks.

Top timers for the evening were Dale Kober in the Super Slingers with a 14.331 as opposed to Wes Hearn’s time at 14.366. Damon Paul was fast timer in the 600 Sprints with a 12.234 second time over Joseph Smith’s 12.374 and Butler with a 12.377.

Results:

All Star Slingshots: Troy Langendoerfer, Jared Silfee, Austin Silfee, Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Scott Neary, Ashley Kober, Tanner VanDoren, John Kendall, Mike Fogler, Tanner Jones, Tyler Banks, Andrew Turpin, Rachel Dickinson, Amanda Buchel

Winged 270cc Sprints: Kyle Ferrucci, Glenn Macomber, Don Schmidt, JJ Uliana, Anthony Chrobak, Alex Reinsmith

Chad Wheeler Excavating Wingless 600cc Sprints: (40 laps)Kyle Lick, Damon Paul, Colin White, Mick D’Agostino, Jacob Balliet, Chad Sandt, Bobby Butler, Tyler Lindsay, Mack Brink, Zack Bealer, Mike Linderman, (DNF’s) Billy Koch, Nick Corazzi, Paul Richards Jr, Joel Smith, Joseph Smith, Brett Altemose, Cody Smith, Ryan Neil, Joey Amantea, Hunter Metzger, Alex Bright, Joe Nemeth

Hampton RV And Trailer Stage One Modifieds: Joel Smith, John Comandini, Matt Massoney, Amanda Buchel, Joel Price, Tanner VanDoren, Jeff Hineline, Evan Civick, John Bachetti Jr, John Bachetti Sr, Michael Samony, Cody Motto, Anthony Recchio

Junior Slingshots: Kasey Hufcut, James Benz, Jasper Ziegafuse, Adam Buchel, Abby Yates, Shelby McLaughlin, Aiden Donaldson, Brian Smith, Joey Kalafut, Charlene Benz, James Costlow, JJ Rice, Austin Homan, James Hendricks, Ashton DeWitt

Super Slingshots: Dale Kober, Wes Hearn, Roger Collins, Greg Zellman, David Guest, Jim Conroy

JPA Masonry Rookie 600cc Wingless Sprints: Joe Nemeth, Noah Zielinski, Ryan Lacoe, Zack Weisenfluh, Earl Rice, Brandon Nicholas, Cole Stangle, Carmen Leggio Sr, DNF’s Dennis Stawinsky, Dennis Chamberlain, Jack Hanna, Tony Parlanti, Rich Maguire, Cody Powell, Annie Rudy, Savannah Leggio, Rich Maguire Sr, Aidan Borden, Hunter Metzger