Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – As a driver with four-straight track championships and a long-awaited National Open triumph from last October on his resume, you wouldn’t think that the man they call “TK” had much left to accomplish around the famed quarter-mile in Jonestown.
But Bethlehem, PA’s Tommy Kunsman added another jewel to his crown Friday night, making the pass on another former National Open champion in Alex Ruppert to claim the win of Keizer Wheels Night No. 5 of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek presented by Performance Electronics.
Kunsman had won 600 Speedweek’s opener at the Clinton County Speedway on Tuesday night, but failed to qualify for Thursday night’s main event at Airport, knocking him from the points lead all the way back to fourth in the week-long standings entering Friday night’s penultimate event.
A third-place time trial effort in Flight A followed by a 6-to-3 run in his heat race put him third on the passing points chart to set the lineup for the A-Main. On the front row ahead of him were two fellow National Open champions from years past. On the pole was Ruppert, the 2021 champion, who also received the Steve Recchione Best Appearing Car Award earlier in the night in memory of the long-time car owner and supporter of the speedway. Outside of him was Brian Carber, the 2015 champion of the National Open.
Ruppert dominated the race through the early laps and some early caution flags. The night’s wildest ride belonged to Tuesday night’s runner-up Mitchell Bard, who hopped a wheel entering turn 3 and flipped wildly toward the wall. Bard was okay, but the car was destroyed.
Kunsman made his move to the inside of Carber for the runner-up spot on lap 7, and had Ruppert in his sights as the caution flag flew with 25 laps still remaining.
Unbeknownst to the drivers at the time, this would end up being the final caution of the race. So the chase was on with Ruppert angling for his first Speedweek win and Kunsman looking for a Speedweek triumph at his home track. Ruppert opened up a four car-length lead off the restart, but as the laps wound down, Kunsman closed in.
Ruppert’s car, which had been so firmly planted in the racing line all A-Main, finally began to slip up through the turns. With six laps to go, Kusman seized his opportunity to squeeze inside of the No. 15 Hyper Chassis. The pilot of the No. 21K completed the pass off turn 4, and pulled away as Ruppert faded quickly off the rear of Kunsman’s mount.
Kunsman grabbed the win by 1.8 seconds at the finish over Carber, who passed Ruppert on the final lap for second. The Lewisberry, PA native in Ruppert clung onto the third spot for his second podium of the week. That finish was good enough for Ruppert to take a five-point lead over Kunsman into Saturday night’s finale at Lanco. Christian Bruno and Brenden Bright rounded out the top five.
The Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints were one of two supporting divisions on the Speedweek card. Just over three months to the day after having open heart surgery following a medical scare, “Pistol” Pete Skias made his return to the driver’s seat and to Selinsgrove Ford Victory Lane. Skias outdueled last year’s Speedweek companion race winner Jeff Haefke for the win. In the J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots, it was “The Wild Child” Chase Schott who dominated to win the Speedweek companion race for the second-straight year.
Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek presented by Performance Electronics concludes Saturday, July 22nd with the $10,000-to-win Dirt2Media Finale at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The $3,000 prize and “big belt” will also be presented to the winner of the week-long championship.
Linda’s Speedway returns to action next Friday, July 28th with Stock Car Friday Night at the speedway. Six divisions of fender car racing will be in action, including the Hoffer Paving All Star Slingshots, J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots, Mike’s Towing & Recovery Modifieds, Bernheisel Race Components Chargers, and the Appalachian Auto Front Wheel Drives. Additionally, the Classic Racing Series will return to the quarter-mile for their only scheduled appearance of the 2023 season.
RESULTS-
Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints 20 Entries
Feature 25 Laps
1. 3-Pete Skias[2]; 2. 12R-Brandon Heist Sr[3]; 3. 61-Jeff Haefke[1]; 4. 41-Mike Boyer[7]; 5. 747-Richie Hartman[5]; 6. 5W-Darren Miller[4]; 7. 11-Brian Heist[15]; 8. 08-Jason Paisley[9]; 9. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[14]; 10. 8-Scott Gingrich[8]; 11. 83-Matt Haefke[6]; 12. 21D-Dave Williams[11]; 13. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[16]; 14. 2C-Cory Thornton[10]; 15. 52-Makayla Fullerton[17]; 16. 21-Dustin Young[13]; 17. 10-Travis Hodge[18]; 18. 14D-Danny Wright[19]; 19. 6-Danial Boyer[12]; 20. (DNS) 94-Dallas Sanders
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 5W-Darren Miller[5]; 2. 747-Richie Hartman[2]; 3. 41-Mike Boyer[7]; 4. 3-Pete Skias[9]; 5. 08-Jason Paisley[10]; 6. 21D-Dave Williams[1]; 7. 21-Dustin Young[8]; 8. 11-Brian Heist[4]; 9. 52-Makayla Fullerton[6]; 10. (DNS) 94-Dallas Sanders
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 61-Jeff Haefke[2]; 2. 8-Scott Gingrich[3]; 3. 12R-Brandon Heist Sr[5]; 4. 83-Matt Haefke[1]; 5. 2C-Cory Thornton[4]; 6. 6-Danial Boyer[9]; 7. 88D-Andrew Dietrich[6]; 8. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[10]; 9. 10-Travis Hodge[7]; 10. (DNF) 14D-Danny Wright[8]
Hyper Racing Wingless 600 Speedweek 82 Entries
Feature 35 Laps
1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[3]; 2. 95A-Brian Carber[2]; 3. 15-Alex Ruppert[1]; 4. 5-Christian Bruno[14]; 5. 74-Brenden Bright[8]; 6. 11Z-Kyle Lick[4]; 7. 16-Marty Brian[6]; 8. 2-Zachery Bealer[7]; 9. 15N-Neal Allison[17]; 10. 5J-Braden Jones[5]; 11. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[9]; 12. 23-Alec Quiggle[21]; 13. 71K-Brian Kramer[20]; 14. 2D-Cole Dewease[11]; 15. Z71-Michael Nolf[26]; 16. 44-Pat Bealer[22]; 17. 29-PJ Williams[23]; 18. 74B-Robby Brockman[19]; 19. 54-Dakota Bartlet[15]; 20. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 21. 21-Mason Beinhower[13]; 22. 33M-Matt Smith[12]; 23. 03-Ryan Groff[25]; 24. 39-Richie Hartman[16]; 25. 6-Colin White[18]; 26. 7B-Mitchell Bard[24]
B Main 1 12 Laps
1. 74B-Robby Brockman[2]; 2. 29-PJ Williams[3]; 3. 33J-Joey Robinson[1]; 4. 44S-Steve Whary[4]; 5. 56-Michael Hubert[6]; 6. 99-Briggs Danner[7]; 7. 49K-Scott Kreutter[5]; 8. 95-PJ Reutimann[8]; 9. 7L-Chase Layser[10]; 10. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr[9]; 11. Z29-Evan Nolf[12]; 12. 570-Prestyn Brown[11]; 13. 09W-Wesley Sweatman[14]; 14. 30-Jack Fraser[13]; 15. 81G-Giancarlo Ramessar[16]; 16. 28-Dustin Degler[15]
B Main 2 12 Laps
1. 71K-Brian Kramer[1]; 2. 7B-Mitchell Bard[2]; 3. 15D-Matthew Donley[7]; 4. 24L-Logan Rhoad[6]; 5. 9W-Weston Doklan[15]; 6. 92W-Jake Winters[13]; 7. 11B-Brandon Hughes[14]; 8. 11H-Holden Eckman[5]; 9. 17-Biscuit Williams[8]; 10. 96-Zach Jurcik[9]; 11. 2S-Garyt Smith[4]; 12. 20X-Chase Cabre[3]; 13. 50-Jacob Severn[11]; 14. 07R-Bubba Rains[10]; 15. 64D-Ronnie Dawson[12]; 16. (DNS) 08-Jace McIntosh
B Main 3 12 Laps
1. 23-Alec Quiggle[1]; 2. 03-Ryan Groff[2]; 3. 55-Trevor Cline[4]; 4. 56T-Tyler Henry[3]; 5. 19-Sam Johnson[6]; 6. 9C-Hayden Wise[5]; 7. 99C-Cliff Brian Jr[7]; 8. 26-Aidan Turner[8]; 9. 5B-Ryan Boyd[9]; 10. 16X-Nick Groff[13]; 11. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[11]; 12. 29X-Mark Sokol[12]; 13. 23NH-Caiden Herbert[10]; 14. 51-Amanda Onimus[15]; 15. (DNS) 78J-Joe Askew; 16. (DNS) 24W-Zack Weisenfluh
B Main 4 12 Laps
1. 44-Pat Bealer[1]; 2. Z71-Michael Nolf[2]; 3. 44H-Olivia Haworth[5]; 4. 3-Jesse Maurer[7]; 5. 49-Aiden Price[4]; 6. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[10]; 7. 15T-Maddie Boyd[9]; 8. 29S-Sophya Papp[11]; 9. 24-Robert Pierce[15]; 10. 90-Trent Warner[8]; 11. 5H-Haylee Papp[13]; 12. 10L-Lukas Kostic[14]; 13. 101E-Easton Lebo[3]; 14. 3D-Dallas Damask[6]; 15. 32H-Aidan Goldsmith[16]; 16. (DNS) 27-Brad Arnold
Heat 1 10 Laps
1. 5-Christian Bruno[1]; 2. 16-Marty Brian[4]; 3. 74-Brenden Bright[5]; 4. 9C-Hayden Wise[2]; 5. 44-Pat Bealer[6]; 6. 3-Jesse Maurer[7]; 7. 26-Aidan Turner[10]; 8. 15T-Maddie Boyd[3]; 9. 27-Brad Arnold[9]; 10. 78J-Joe Askew[8]; 11. (DNS) 32H-Aidan Goldsmith
Heat 2 10 Laps
1. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[2]; 2. 2D-Cole Dewease[3]; 3. 21-Mason Beinhower[4]; 4. 15N-Neal Allison[5]; 5. 95-PJ Reutimann[1]; 6. 55-Trevor Cline[6]; 7. 90-Trent Warner[7]; 8. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[9]; 9. 29X-Mark Sokol[8]; 10. 24-Robert Pierce[10]
Heat 3 10 Laps
1. 33J-Joey Robinson[1]; 2. 7B-Mitchell Bard[2]; 3. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[6]; 4. 29-PJ Williams[4]; 5. 19-Sam Johnson[3]; 6. 56-Michael Hubert[5]; 7. 96-Zach Jurcik[7]; 8. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[8]; 9. 16X-Nick Groff[9]; 10. 81G-Giancarlo Ramessar[10]
Heat 4 10 Laps
1. 71K-Brian Kramer[1]; 2. 33M-Matt Smith[3]; 3. 101E-Easton Lebo[2]; 4. 23-Alec Quiggle[5]; 5. 03-Ryan Groff[6]; 6. 99C-Cliff Brian Jr[4]; 7. 7L-Chase Layser[7]; 8. 29S-Sophya Papp[8]; 9. 09W-Wesley Sweatman[9]; 10. 08-Jace McIntosh[10]
Heat 5 10 Laps
1. 54-Dakota Bartlet[1]; 2. 95A-Brian Carber[5]; 3. 56T-Tyler Henry[2]; 4. 44S-Steve Whary[3]; 5. 44H-Olivia Haworth[8]; 6. 99-Briggs Danner[4]; 7. 24W-Zack Weisenfluh[11]; 8. 23NH-Caiden Herbert[7]; 9. 30-Jack Fraser[9]; 10. 28-Dustin Degler[10]; 11. 50-Jacob Severn[6]
Heat 6 10 Laps
1. 39-Richie Hartman[1]; 2. 74B-Robby Brockman[2]; 3. Z71-Michael Nolf[3]; 4. 6-Colin White[5]; 5. 49K-Scott Kreutter[4]; 6. 49-Aiden Price[6]; 7. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr[7]; 8. 570-Prestyn Brown[9]; 9. 92W-Jake Winters[10]; 10. 10L-Lukas Kostic[8]
Heat 7 10 Laps
1. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr[2]; 2. 15-Alex Ruppert[6]; 3. 11H-Holden Eckman[1]; 4. 20X-Chase Cabre[4]; 5. 3D-Dallas Damask[3]; 6. 24L-Logan Rhoad[5]; 7. 5B-Ryan Boyd[7]; 8. 64D-Ronnie Dawson[8]; 9. 11B-Brandon Hughes[10]; 10. 51-Amanda Onimus[9]
Heat 8 10 Laps
1. 5J-Braden Jones[3]; 2. 2-Zachery Bealer[4]; 3. 11Z-Kyle Lick[6]; 4. 15D-Matthew Donley[1]; 5. 2S-Garyt Smith[5]; 6. 17-Biscuit Williams[2]; 7. 07R-Bubba Rains[7]; 8. Z29-Evan Nolf[8]; 9. 5H-Haylee Papp[10]; 10. 9W-Weston Doklan[9]
Time Trials Flight A 2 Laps
1. 44-Pat Bealer, 00:12.931[24];
2. 55-Trevor Cline, 00:13.068[39];
3. 21K-Tommy Kunsman, 00:13.103[38];
4. 03-Ryan Groff, 00:13.119[13];
5. 74-Brenden Bright, 00:13.131[6];
6. 15N-Neal Allison, 00:13.135[9];
7. 56-Michael Hubert, 00:13.139[2];
8. 23-Alec Quiggle, 00:13.168[41];
9. 16-Marty Brian, 00:13.168[35];
10. 21-Mason Beinhower, 00:13.180[19];
11. 29-PJ Williams, 00:13.183[31];
12. 99C-Cliff Brian Jr, 00:13.187[3];
13. 15T-Maddie Boyd, 00:13.218[32];
14. 2D-Cole Dewease, 00:13.221[15];
15. 19-Sam Johnson, 00:13.224[27];
16. 33M-Matt Smith, 00:13.246[33];
17. 9C-Hayden Wise, 00:13.255[5];
18. 21G-Geoff Federspiel, 00:13.273[34];
19. 7B-Mitchell Bard, 00:13.293[37];
20. 101E-Easton Lebo, 00:13.313[7];
21. 5-Christian Bruno, 00:13.323[17];
22. 95-PJ Reutimann, 00:13.349[18];
23. 33J-Joey Robinson, 00:13.384[12];
24. 71K-Brian Kramer, 00:13.397[20];
25. 3-Jesse Maurer, 00:13.403[16];
26. 90-Trent Warner, 00:13.407[30];
27. 96-Zach Jurcik, 00:13.414[8];
28. 7L-Chase Layser, 00:13.443[22];
29. 78J-Joe Askew, 00:13.473[40];
30. 29X-Mark Sokol, 00:13.482[11];
31. 7-Shelby McLaughlin, 00:13.494[28];
32. 29S-Sophya Papp, 00:13.511[23];
33. 27-Brad Arnold, 00:13.543[29];
34. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III, 00:13.545[26];
35. 16X-Nick Groff, 00:13.552[21];
36. 09W-Wesley Sweatman, 00:13.552[36];
37. 26-Aidan Turner, 00:13.565[14];
38. 24-Robert Pierce, 00:13.618[1];
39. 81G-Giancarlo Ramessar, 00:13.663[4];
40. 08-Jace McIntosh, 00:13.751[10];
41. 32H-Aidan Goldsmith, 00:13.751[25]
Time Trials Flight B 2 Laps
1. 50-Jacob Severn, 00:13.097[12];
2. 49-Aiden Price, 00:13.114[36];
3. 15-Alex Ruppert, 00:13.166[39];
4. 11Z-Kyle Lick, 00:13.237[9];
5. 95A-Brian Carber, 00:13.258[1];
6. 6-Colin White, 00:13.267[37];
7. 24L-Logan Rhoad, 00:13.271[22];
8. 2S-Garyt Smith, 00:13.278[21];
9. 99-Briggs Danner, 00:13.283[31];
10. 49K-Scott Kreutter, 00:13.286[20];
11. 20X-Chase Cabre, 00:13.310[35];
12. 2-Zachery Bealer, 00:13.319[34];
13. 44S-Steve Whary, 00:13.335[27];
14. Z71-Michael Nolf, 00:13.363[40];
15. 3D-Dallas Damask, 00:13.386[26];
16. 5J-Braden Jones, 00:13.395[5];
17. 56T-Tyler Henry, 00:13.402[14];
18. 74B-Robby Brockman, 00:13.414[29];
19. 21S-Steven Snyder Jr, 00:13.429[19];
20. 17-Biscuit Williams, 00:13.445[17];
21. 54-Dakota Bartlet, 00:13.454[16];
22. 39-Richie Hartman, 00:13.473[10];
23. 11H-Holden Eckman, 00:13.496[28];
24. 15D-Matthew Donley, 00:13.566[15];
25. 23NH-Caiden Herbert, 00:13.579[7];
26. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr, 00:13.587[32];
27. 5B-Ryan Boyd, 00:13.588[11];
28. 07R-Bubba Rains, 00:13.595[30];
29. 44H-Olivia Haworth, 00:13.614[8];
30. 10L-Lukas Kostic, 00:13.615[25];
31. 64D-Ronnie Dawson, 00:13.667[4];
32. Z29-Evan Nolf, 00:13.686[3];
33. 30-Jack Fraser, 00:13.703[13];
34. 570-Prestyn Brown, 00:13.707[38];
35. 51-Amanda Onimus, 00:13.748[6];
36. 9W-Weston Doklan, 00:13.750[18];
37. 28-Dustin Degler, 00:13.768[24];
38. 92W-Jake Winters, 00:13.847[33];
39. 11B-Brandon Hughes, 00:13.886[41];
40. 5H-Haylee Papp, 00:14.279[2];
41. 24W-Zack Weisenfluh, 00:14.279[23]
J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots 10 Entries
Feature 15 Laps
1. 10S-Chase Schott[4]; 2. 35A-Aubrey Romig[1]; 3. 72D-Darian Danyluk[3]; 4. 77-Daniel Betz[2]; 5. 5S-Anthony Speece[5]; 6. 12S-Brianna Snyder[6]; 7. 55B-Barry Seaman[10]; 8. 52M-Collin Carpenter[7]; 9. 97JR-Charlie Geibel[9]; 10. 7S-Javon Garrison[8]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 10S-Chase Schott[1]; 2. 72D-Darian Danyluk[3]; 3. 77-Daniel Betz[2]; 4. 35A-Aubrey Romig[7]; 5. 5S-Anthony Speece[8]; 6. 12S-Brianna Snyder[4]; 7. 52M-Collin Carpenter[9]; 8. 7S-Javon Garrison[10]; 9. 97JR-Charlie Geibel[6]; 10. (DNF) 55B-Barry Seaman[5]