Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – A fast and action-packed four-division night of racing greeted race fans at the quarter-mile Linda’s Speedway in Jonestown on Friday night.
The final race before next Friday’s Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek event saw a mix of first-time triumphs and a few veterans returning to the winner’s circle.
Orefield’s Tyler Henry continued his recent hot streak and became the latest driver in a family entrenched within the racing history of Linda’s to grab a feature win at the race track. Henry passed Holden Eckman around the mid-way mark of the Stolz Stove Sales Winged 600 A-Main and was uncontested the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
Henry wasn’t the only first-time winner on the evening, however. The Bernheisel Race Components Charger nightcap saw an epic battle for the win between Frank Stoner and Austin Webster. Webster made the pass for the lead on the race’s penultimate lap and took his No. 41 machine – renumbered as a tribute to former Charger competitor Francis Gross, III – to Selinsgrove Ford Victory Lane.
Friday’s Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprint A-Main saw Brandon Heist make his second trip of the season to victory lane behind the wheel of Dave Walter’s No. 12R. Heist won an early battle with Andrew Dietrich, and the Jonestown driver sped away with the win after making the pass.
The theme of parity continued in the Appalachian Auto Front Wheel Drive division, as Daniel Eitnier found his way to victory lane at the conclusion of the 15-lap A-Main. Eitnier held off a race-long challenge from Ken Buck before the pilot of the No. 12 suffered a flat tire on the race’s final lap. Buck’s misfortune allowed Eitnier to seal the deal with a little more comfort for his first win of the season.
Linda’s Speedway returns to action next Friday, July 21st with one of the biggest races of the season. The Jonestown quarter-mile plays host to Keizer Wheels Night No. 5 of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek presented by Performance Electronics. The best 600cc micro sprint drivers will converge on the speedway in pursuit of a $2,000 grand prize for the race winner, while they also will continue to battle for the overall Speedweek championship. The Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints and the J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots will join the 600 competitors for a can’t-miss night of racing.
7/14/23 Results-
Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints 26 Entries
Feature 1 25 Laps
1. 12R-Brandon Heist Sr[3]; 2. 77S-Ben Stolz[2]; 3. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[1]; 4. 27-Brayden Spencer[9]; 5. 3-Josh Stoyer[8]; 6. 88J-Jason Klinger[7]; 7. 11-Brian Heist[20]; 8. 77-Michael Kreiser[4]; 9. 08-Jason Paisley[14]; 10. 76H-Bryson Haugh[18]; 11. 52-Makayla Fullerton[21]; 12. 56-Bryan Earnst[24]; 13. 45O-Mike Rutherford[6]; 14. 8-Scott Gingrich[5]; 15. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[19]; 16. 19-Matt Fernsler[11]; 17. 27S-Ryan Wickham[22]; 18. 41-Mike Boyer[10]; 19. 23K-Courtney Kupp[12]; 20. 34-Christi Sweigart[13]; 21. 71-Scott Zimmerman[16]; 22. 21J-Josh Weiant[17]; 23. 5-Cody Siegel[23]; 24. (DNS) 6-Danial Boyer
Consi 8 Laps
1. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[2]; 2. 11-Brian Heist[3]; 3. 52-Makayla Fullerton[4]; 4. 27S-Ryan Wickham[6]; 5. 5-Cody Siegel[7]; 6. 56-Bryan Earnst[8]; 7. (DNS) 14C-Darren Schott; 8. (DNS) 74F-Cody West
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 8-Scott Gingrich[1]; 2. 12R-Brandon Heist Sr[5]; 3. 77-Michael Kreiser[3]; 4. 45O-Mike Rutherford[7]; 5. 34-Christi Sweigart[2]; 6. 71-Scott Zimmerman[8]; 7. 14C-Darren Schott[6]; 8. 11-Brian Heist[4]; 9. 56-Bryan Earnst[9]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 77S-Ben Stolz[3]; 2. 41-Mike Boyer[5]; 3. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[7]; 4. 27-Brayden Spencer[8]; 5. 08-Jason Paisley[4]; 6. 21J-Josh Weiant[6]; 7. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[1]; 8. 52-Makayla Fullerton[9]; 9. (DNF) 74F-Cody West[2]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 88J-Jason Klinger[2]; 2. 3-Josh Stoyer[7]; 3. 19-Matt Fernsler[3]; 4. 23K-Courtney Kupp[6]; 5. 6-Danial Boyer[8]; 6. 76H-Bryson Haugh[1]; 7. (DNF) 27S-Ryan Wickham[5]; 8. (DNF) 5-Cody Siegel[4]
Stolz Stove Sales LLC Winged 600 Micro Sprints 16 Entries
Feature 25 Laps
1. 56-Tyler Henry[3]; 2. 11H-Holden Eckman[1]; 3. 29-Clayton Shaw[2]; 4. 5J-Jason Sechrist[8]; 5. 11-Dan Souder[7]; 6. 07-Trevor Teats[4]; 7. 91-Randy Kunkle Jr[10]; 8. 117X-Randy West[5]; 9. 24-Logan Rhoad[13]; 10. 19-Scott Heisey[16]; 11. 77-Ben Stolz[9]; 12. 45-Aiden Lutz[14]; 13. 16-Prestyn Brown[15]; 14. 48-Chase Robinson[11]; 15. 5A-Anthony Yerger[12]; 16. 71-Brian Kramer[6]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 07-Trevor Teats[2]; 2. 5J-Jason Sechrist[3]; 3. 29-Clayton Shaw[1]; 4. 71-Brian Kramer[4]; 5. 77-Ben Stolz[6]; 6. 48-Chase Robinson[5]; 7. 24-Logan Rhoad[8]; 8. 16-Prestyn Brown[7]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 56-Tyler Henry[1]; 2. 117X-Randy West[2]; 3. 11H-Holden Eckman[3]; 4. 11-Dan Souder[6]; 5. 91-Randy Kunkle Jr[4]; 6. 5A-Anthony Yerger[7]; 7. 45-Aiden Lutz[5]; 8. 19-Scott Heisey[8]
Bernheisel Race Cars Chargers 15 Entries
Feature 15 Laps
1. 41-Austin Webster[4]; 2. 24S-Frank Stoner[2]; 3. 711-Eric Hollenbach[5]; 4. 00-Ed Hollenbach[6]; 5. 100-Ronnie Buck[7]; 6. 2M-Josh Michael[8]; 7. 10-Chucky Kimmel[10]; 8. 21-Ian Herr[1]; 9. 30PK-Chris McCarr[12]; 10. 8-John Hall[11]; 11. 33-Scott Lutz[3]; 12. 911-Cheyenne Kreiser[13]; 13. 53K-Bryan Keller[9]; 14. 29-Hailey Smith[15]; 15. 15-Butch Helsel[14]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 24S-Frank Stoner[4]; 2. 33-Scott Lutz[6]; 3. 41-Austin Webster[7]; 4. 100-Ronnie Buck[8]; 5. 53K-Bryan Keller[3]; 6. (DNF) 911-Cheyenne Kreiser[2]; 7. (DNF) 15-Butch Helsel[1]; 8. (DNF) 29-Hailey Smith[5]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 711-Eric Hollenbach[4]; 2. 00-Ed Hollenbach[7]; 3. 21-Ian Herr[1]; 4. 2M-Josh Michael[6]; 5. 10-Chucky Kimmel[5]; 6. 8-John Hall[2]; 7. 30PK-Chris McCarr[3]
Appalachian Auto LLC Front Wheel Drive 11 Entries
Feature 15 Laps
1. 71-Daniel Eitnier[2]; 2. 55J-Rob Pyle[6]; 3. 11-Bill Sherwood[5]; 4. 72-David Eitnier[8]; 5. 18-Shane Flaherty[10]; 6. 51K-Andrew Keefer[7]; 7. 12-Ken Buck[4]; 8. 11W-Ian Whitcomb[1]; 9. 97-Justin Riegel[11]; 10. 97X-Heidi Riegel[9]; 11. 80-Dan Geesaman[3]
Heat 8 Laps
1. 55J-Rob Pyle[2]; 2. 11-Bill Sherwood[1]; 3. 12-Ken Buck[8]; 4. 80-Dan Geesaman[5]; 5. 71-Daniel Eitnier[7]; 6. 11W-Ian Whitcomb[4]; 7. 51K-Andrew Keefer[6]; 8. 72-David Eitnier[3]; 9. 97X-Heidi Riegel[11]; 10. (DNF) 18-Shane Flaherty[9]; 11. (DNF) 97-Justin Riegel[10]