Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – For the first time since the split between the Bernheisel Race Components Charger and Appalachian Auto Front Wheel Drive divisions, the two classes shared the speedway in a one-night-only special event, pitting both of the division’s best drivers against each other.
After a thrilling 20-lap main event, Cody Klinedinst scored the victory, holding off a host of Charger competitors to put his No. 99 Front Wheel Drive machine in victory lane.
The format consisted of four dash races among the 27 entries, where the top two from each dash would transfer to a head-to-head, bracket style match race round. As the runner-up of the third dash, Klinedinst entered as the No. 7 seed and beat Eric Hollenbach in the opening round, before downing Ronnie Buck in the semifinals and besting Bill Sherwood in the final round to claim the pole position for the 20-lap A-Main.
In the night’s final race, Klinedinst held off an early challenge from Sherwood, a mid-race rally from Hollenbach, and a late-race charge from Buck to claim a dramatic victory in the all-star stock car event.
Three other divisions also graced the Jonestown quarter-mile in the final race of the month of May. Defending 600 Micro Sprint National Open champion Tommy Kunsman made his first appearance of the season at the speedway and pulled double-duty between the 270 and Wingless 600 divisions.
In the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Wingless 600 A-Main, Kunsman followed Rodney Westhafer through the field, and efforted to erase a large Westhafer advantage once he got into the runner-up spot. Neither driver would claim victory though, as Westhafer crashed with a lapped car in turns 1 and 2 and Kunsman could not avoid the parked No. 44 machine. Their misfortune opened the door for pole sitter and early race leader Brandon Heist to claim the win, as the former two-time champion scored his second win at the speedway in as many weekends.
Kunsman would seek revenge starting from the outside pole for the second Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprint Time Trial Series event of the season. Quick-timer Josh Stoyer led in the early laps, but Kunsman made the move for the lead around the halfway mark and didn’t look back en route to the win.
The night also saw the 2023 debut of the Xcel 600 Modified Tour at the Linda’s Speedway. Looking for her first win in the division, Tiffany Hitzler-Mays started on the pole and led the way through several crucial restarts, fending off challenges from Shjon Dove on each one. When Dove and Tyler Bartik tangled on the final lap, Hitzler-Mays was forced to endure a one-lap shootout, with tour regular Korey Inglin lined up behind her. Hitzler-Mays executed the last restart to perfection and came across the checkered flag first for career win No. 1 in the class.
The Linda’s Speedway returns on Friday, June 2nd with Appalachian Auto Jonestown Night, where all residents of Jonestown will get grandstand admission into the speedway free of charge. Five divisions will be on the card, with the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints, Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Wingless 600 Micro Sprints, Mike’s Towing and Recovery Modifieds, J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots, and the return of the Bologna Bowl for the first Open 4 Cylinder race of the year all on the schedule to begin the month of June.
5/26 Results-
Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints 33 Entries
Feature 25 Laps
1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[2]; 2. 3-Josh Stoyer[1]; 3. 16C-Pat Bealer[6]; 4. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[10]; 5. 8-Scott Gingrich[7]; 6. 56-Marshall Labuda[9]; 7. 747-Richie Hartman[14]; 8. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[11]; 9. 25-Ryan McAndrew[12]; 10. 76-Tyler Clowes[4]; 11. 2-Mike Schuckers[15]; 12. 23K-Courtney Kupp[20]; 13. 88J-Jason Klinger[21]; 14. 71-Scott Zimmerman[18]; 15. 24-Colten McAndrew[13]; 16. 22L-Patrick Locascio[23]; 17. X-Dave Schroeder[16]; 18. 72-Jonathan John[22]; 19. 14-Jason Swavely[5]; 20. 88-Nick Skias[3]; 21. N8-Ian Anders[24]; 22. 69-Albert Pignoli[19]; 23. 27O-Billy Logeman[8]; 24. 77S-Ben Stolz[17]
Consolation 8 Laps
1. 69-Albert Pignoli[1]; 2. 23K-Courtney Kupp[2]; 3. 88J-Jason Klinger[6]; 4. 72-Jonathan John[4]; 5. 22L-Patrick Locascio[5]; 6. N8-Ian Anders[7]; 7. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[9]; 8. 21J-Josh Weiant[8]; 9. 8B-Braeden Locascio[11]; 10. 19-Matt Fernsler[3]; 11. 52-Makayla Fullerton[10]; 12. (DNS) 14D-Danny Wright; 13. (DNS) 4J-Jeffrey Confer; 14. (DNS) 14C-Carter Weiant; 15. (DNS) 4B-Brandon Confer
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 3-Josh Stoyer[1]; 2. 76-Tyler Clowes[3]; 3. 8-Scott Gingrich[2]; 4. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[4]; 5. 24-Colten McAndrew[5]; 6. X-Dave Schroeder[7]; 7. 69-Albert Pignoli[6]; 8. 72-Jonathan John[10]; 9. N8-Ian Anders[8]; 10. 52-Makayla Fullerton[11]; 11. (DNF) 14D-Danny Wright[9]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[2]; 2. 14-Jason Swavely[4]; 3. 27O-Billy Logeman[1]; 4. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[3]; 5. 747-Richie Hartman[5]; 6. 77S-Ben Stolz[6]; 7. 23K-Courtney Kupp[7]; 8. 22L-Patrick Locascio[9]; 9. 21J-Josh Weiant[8]; 10. 8B-Braeden Locascio[10]; 11. (DNS) 14C-Carter Weiant
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 88-Nick Skias[1]; 2. 16C-Pat Bealer[2]; 3. 56-Marshall Labuda[3]; 4. 25-Ryan McAndrew[4]; 5. 2-Mike Schuckers[6]; 6. 71-Scott Zimmerman[11]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[8]; 8. 88J-Jason Klinger[5]; 9. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[10]; 10. (DNF) 4J-Jeffrey Confer[7]; 11. (DNS) 4B-Brandon Confer
Time Trials
1. 3-Josh Stoyer, 00:12.381[19]
2. 27O-Billy Logeman, 00:12.430[3]
3. 88-Nick Skias, 00:12.435[18]
4. 8-Scott Gingrich, 00:12.470[10]
5. 21K-Tommy Kunsman, 00:12.470[7]
6. 16C-Pat Bealer, 00:12.500[20]
7. 76-Tyler Clowes, 00:12.510[31]
8. 88D-Andrew Dietrich, 00:12.512[16]
9. 56-Marshall Labuda, 00:12.513[13]
10. 99-Brandon Heist Sr, 00:12.524[27]
11. 14-Jason Swavely, 00:12.547[25]
12. 25-Ryan McAndrew, 00:12.610[26]
13. 24-Colten McAndrew, 00:12.629[12]
14. 747-Richie Hartman, 00:12.692[21]
15. 88J-Jason Klinger, 00:12.695[24]
16. 69-Albert Pignoli, 00:12.713[15]
17. 77S-Ben Stolz, 00:12.762[23]
18. 2-Mike Schuckers, 00:12.791[28]
19. X-Dave Schroeder, 00:12.818[17]
20. 23K-Courtney Kupp, 00:12.854[11]
21. 4J-Jeffrey Confer, 00:13.002[2]
22. N8-Ian Anders, 00:13.195[30]
23. 21J-Josh Weiant, 00:13.249[14]
24. 19-Matt Fernsler, 00:13.261[1]
25. 14D-Danny Wright, 00:13.308[8]
26. 22L-Patrick Locascio, 00:13.363[9]
27. 4B-Brandon Confer, 00:13.407[22]
28. 72-Jonathan John, 00:13.469[4]
29. 8B-Braeden Locascio, 00:13.471[32]
30. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin, 00:13.542[29]
31. 52-Makayla Fullerton, 00:13.612[33]
32. 14C-Carter Weiant, 00:13.612[6]
33. 71-Scott Zimmerman, 00:13.612[5]
Wingless 600 Micro Sprints 26 Entries
Feature 1 25 Laps
1. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 2. 80-Anthony Tramontana[4]; 3. 21-Mason Beinhower[7]; 4. 39-Richie Hartman[9]; 5. 14-Jason Swavely[10]; 6. 2D-Cole Dewease[15]; 7. 12J-Jacob Homnick[11]; 8. 5-Chris Kurtz[22]; 9. 22H-Fred Heinly[14]; 10. 71-Brian Kramer[17]; 11. 7L-Chase Layser[13]; 12. 47-Scott Gesford[18]; 13. 15S-Ethan Simpson[6]; 14. 27-Brad Arnold[23]; 15. 51-Amanda Onimus[19]; 16. 19-Timothy Horney[20]; 17. 44-Rodney Westhafer[2]; 18. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[5]; 19. 61-Ryan Kunkle[3]; 20. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[12]; 21. 9X-Jeff Cloud Jr[21]; 22. 44S-Steve Whary[8]; 23. 28-Dustin Degler[16]; 24. (DNS) 1F-James Fries
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[6]; 2. 44S-Steve Whary[3]; 3. 14-Jason Swavely[5]; 4. 12J-Jacob Homnick[1]; 5. 7L-Chase Layser[8]; 6. 28-Dustin Degler[2]; 7. 51-Amanda Onimus[4]; 8. (DNF) 11H-Holden Eckman[7]; 9. (DNF) 46H-Kyle Hill[9]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 44-Rodney Westhafer[1]; 2. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[2]; 3. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[8]; 4. 15S-Ethan Simpson[4]; 5. 22H-Fred Heinly[6]; 6. 71-Brian Kramer[7]; 7. 19-Timothy Horney[5]; 8. 9X-Jeff Cloud Jr[9]; 9. (DNF) 5-Chris Kurtz[3]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 21-Mason Beinhower[3]; 2. 80-Anthony Tramontana[4]; 3. 61-Ryan Kunkle[5]; 4. 39-Richie Hartman[7]; 5. 2D-Cole Dewease[6]; 6. 47-Scott Gesford[1]; 7. (DNF) 27-Brad Arnold[2]; 8. (DNF) 1F-James Fries[8]
Mike’s Towing & Recovery 600cc Modifieds 26 Entries
Feature 30 Laps
1. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[1]; 2. 127-Korey Inglin[4]; 3. 78-Josh Bewley[10]; 4. 88-Justin Schraden[11]; 5. 5S-Geoffrey Sutton[9]; 6. 5-Robert Swavely[2]; 7. 21-Mark Bressler[5]; 8. 17K-Kenny Harris[12]; 9. 1-Trevor Bixler[14]; 10. 29-Douglas Newbigging[16]; 11. M1-Tommy Martocci[18]; 12. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[13]; 13. 69-Christian Smith[19]; 14. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[26]; 15. 22-Lance Garrison[17]; 16. 13-Ed Hollenbach[24]; 17. 20K-Chad Kreiser[23]; 18. 22K-Brandon Kulp[21]; 19. 3D-Shjon Dove[6]; 20. 10T-Tyler Fronina[22]; 21. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[8]; 22. 4M-Steven McLaughlin[3]; 23. 20-Ryley Garman[15]; 24. 28-Raymond Gradwell[7]; 25. 44$-Bryce Smith[20]; 26. 33-Daisy Dove[25]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 5S-Geoffrey Sutton[1]; 2. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[2]; 3. 3D-Shjon Dove[6]; 4. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[8]; 5. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[7]; 6. 29-Douglas Newbigging[5]; 7. 69-Christian Smith[3]; 8. 10T-Tyler Fronina[4]; 9. 33-Daisy Dove[9]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 21-Mark Bressler[1]; 2. 5-Robert Swavely[2]; 3. 88-Justin Schraden[5]; 4. 127-Korey Inglin[4]; 5. 1-Trevor Bixler[3]; 6. 22-Lance Garrison[8]; 7. 44$-Bryce Smith[6]; 8. 20K-Chad Kreiser[7]; 9. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[9]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 4M-Steven McLaughlin[1]; 2. 78-Josh Bewley[6]; 3. 28-Raymond Gradwell[2]; 4. 17K-Kenny Harris[5]; 5. 20-Ryley Garman[4]; 6. M1-Tommy Martocci[3]; 7. 22K-Brandon Kulp[8]; 8. 13-Ed Hollenbach[7]
Stock Cars Jonestown Throwdown 27 Entries
Feature 20 Laps
1. 99-Cody Klinedinst[1]; 2. 100-Ronnie Buck[3]; 3. 711-Eric Hollenbach[5]; 4. 27-Austin Webster[6]; 5. 00-Ed Hollenbach[8]; 6. 10J-Jeremy Ott[9]; 7. 24S-Frank Stoner[7]; 8. 11-Bill Sherwood[2]; 9. 10-Rob Pyle[12]; 10. 18-Shane Flaherty[14]; 11. 21-Ian Herr[11]; 12. 20-Roger Kummerer[18]; 13. 16-Julio Perez[16]; 14. 228F-Nicholas Barthalow[13]; 15. 8-John Hall[10]; 16. 30PK-Chris McCarr[15]; 17. 71-Daniel Eitnier[4]; 18. 34-Brandon Fisher[17]
Consolation 8 Laps
1. 18-Shane Flaherty[1]; 2. 30PK-Chris McCarr[2]; 3. 16-Julio Perez[10]; 4. 34-Brandon Fisher[3]; 5. 20-Roger Kummerer[5]; 6. 12-Ken Buck[13]; 7. 2M-Josh Michael[11]; 8. 53K-Bryan Keller[4]; 9. 29-Hailey Smith[9]; 10. 19-Zack Nace[6]; 11. 97-Justin Riegel[12]; 12. (DNS) 911-Cheyenne Kreiser; 13. (DNS) 01-Chucky Kimmel; 14. (DNS) 33-Scott Lutz
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 711-Eric Hollenbach[1]; 2. 00-Ed Hollenbach[5]; 3. 21-Ian Herr[4]; 4. 18-Shane Flaherty[8]; 5. 53K-Bryan Keller[3]; 6. (DNF) 12-Ken Buck[7]; 7. (DNF) 01-Chucky Kimmel[6]; 8. (DNF) 2M-Josh Michael[2]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 27-Austin Webster[1]; 2. 10J-Jeremy Ott[8]; 3. 10-Rob Pyle[5]; 4. 30PK-Chris McCarr[2]; 5. 20-Roger Kummerer[7]; 6. (DNF) 29-Hailey Smith[6]; 7. (DNF) 97-Justin Riegel[4]; 8. (DNS) 33-Scott Lutz
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 24S-Frank Stoner[1]; 2. 8-John Hall[2]; 3. 228F-Nicholas Barthalow[6]; 4. 34-Brandon Fisher[7]; 5. 19-Zack Nace[4]; 6. 911-Cheyenne Kreiser[3]; 7. (DNF) 16-Julio Perez[5]
Dash 1 3 Laps
1. 11-Bill Sherwood[2]; 2. 27-Austin Webster[5]; 3. 53K-Bryan Keller[3]; 4. 30PK-Chris McCarr[1]; 5. 34-Brandon Fisher[7]; 6. 97-Justin Riegel[4]; 7. (DNS) 228F-Nicholas Barthalow
Dash 2 3 Laps
1. 711-Eric Hollenbach[1]; 2. 24S-Frank Stoner[2]; 3. 16-Julio Perez[5]; 4. 18-Shane Flaherty[7]; 5. 12-Ken Buck[6]; 6. 19-Zack Nace[4]; 7. (DNS) 33-Scott Lutz
Dash 3 3 Laps
1. 100-Ronnie Buck[1]; 2. 99-Cody Klinedinst[2]; 3. 10J-Jeremy Ott[7]; 4. 00-Ed Hollenbach[4]; 5. 01-Chucky Kimmel[5]; 6. 20-Roger Kummerer[6]; 7. (DNS) 911-Cheyenne Kreiser
Dash 4 3 Laps
1. 71-Daniel Eitnier[1]; 2. 2M-Josh Michael[6]; 3. 8-John Hall[2]; 4. 10-Rob Pyle[4]; 5. 29-Hailey Smith[5]; 6. 21-Ian Herr[3]