Richie Hitzler Prevails In Grueling & Prestigious Modified 50 at Linda’s Speedway

Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – The Modified 50 annually serves as the crown jewel for the 600cc Modified division.

It’s a race that tests the will of man and machine and always brings the cream of the crop to the top.

So it was no surprise to see one of the division’s most decorated drivers score the victory on Friday night at the Linda’s Speedway, as Richie Hitzler took his Ray Gradwell-owned No. 9 into Selinsgrove Ford Victory Lane.

The race had special meaning for all competitors this season, as a benefit fundraiser was held for Modified competitor Steve McLaughlin, who is continuing his recuperation from a work accident in July. A total of $2,040 was raised and presented to Steve’s wife Amanda and the McLaughlin family during intermission.

As Richie Hitzler put it in a social media post earlier in the morning, Steve McLaughlin was the true winner of the night, as he had won the race of life. But there was still an on-track battle to be settled. Hitzler started his run to the victory with a crucial pass of quick-timer Justin Schraden in the heat race, which put him on pole for the 50-lap main event.

Hitzler lost the lead early to Eric Whitby, but was able to reclaim it a few laps later with a bold outside pass. Hitzler’s machine tickled the top of the cushion throughout virtually the entire race, and the Lebanon native held off a challenge from Josh Bewley and then a furious charge from Tyler Bartik – who had started the race in last – to add another big win to his impressive resume.

Both the Hoffer Paving All Star Slingshots and J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots were also on the card for the night competing in their final regular points races of the year. Dave Carraghan dominated the All Star 20-lapper for his first Linda’s win of the season, while Brett Bieber’s fifth-place finish was good enough for him to virtually lock up another track championship, a title that will become official once “The Oley Jet” shows up for the Lebanon Valley 50 in two weeks.

In the Junior Slingshots it was once again Chase Schott who claimed the win and locked up the championship for the second time in three years.

In the penultimate race of the season for the Stolz Stove Sales Winged 600 Micro Sprints, it was Rodney Westhafer putting the Faulkner No. 44 into the winner’s circle as the Mechanicsburg native led wire-to-wire in the 25-lap event. Ben Stolz finished a strong second while Jason Sechrist could only muster a 14th-place result, giving Stolz a two-point lead in the standings entering the season finale in two weeks.

The Bernheisel Race Components Chargers also returned for their final tune-up before the Charger Championship Race on September 29th. Eric Hollenbach took advantage of Josh Michael’s crash while leading and scored his second win of the season in a race that was shortened due to being over the time limit.
Hollenbach also grabbed the points lead entering the finale in two weeks.

As a result of last week’s rainout, the points-paying seasons for the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints and Appalachian Auto Front Wheel Drives came to a premature end. Two-time Wingless 600 champion Brandon Heist will be the 2023 champion – by one point – in the 270 class, while Rob Pyle will be awarded the championship in the Front Wheel Drive division.

Linda’s Speedway returns to action next Friday, September 22nd with the Kevin Gobrecht Memorial Race for the 270 Micro Sprints. The Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Wingless 600 Micro Sprints and the Mike’s Towing & Recovery 600 Modifieds will contest their final points races of the season. And the Gene Latta Ford Central PA Legends will make their third and final appearance of the year at the Jonestown quarter-mile.

Results-

Stolz Stove Sales LLC Winged 600 Micro Sprints 19 Entries

A-Main 25 Laps

1. 44-Rodney Westhafer[1]; 2. 77-Ben Stolz[2]; 3. 10-Mason Peters[3]; 4. 117-Cody West[6]; 5. 54-Dakota Bartlet[4]; 6. 117X-Randy West[7]; 7. 44S-Steve Whary[8]; 8. 71-Brian Kramer[10]; 9. 11H-Holden Eckman[11]; 10. 3-Jesse Maurer[13]; 11. 19S-Chase Schott[5]; 12. 22H-Fred Heinly[9]; 13. 91-Randy Kunkle Jr[16]; 14. 5J-Jason Sechrist[12]; 15. 56-Morgan Rochelle[19]; 16. 19-Scott Heisey[18]; 17. 32S-Garyt Smith[17]; 18. 45-Aiden Lutz[15]; 19. 2L-Luke Hess[14]

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 54-Dakota Bartlet[3]; 2. 44-Rodney Westhafer[4]; 3. 117-Cody West[6]; 4. 10-Mason Peters[8]; 5. 22H-Fred Heinly[1]; 6. 11H-Holden Eckman[5]; 7. 3-Jesse Maurer[7]; 8. 45-Aiden Lutz[10]; 9. 32S-Garyt Smith[9]; 10. 56-Morgan Rochelle[2]

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 117X-Randy West[2]; 2. 19S-Chase Schott[1]; 3. 44S-Steve Whary[4]; 4. 77-Ben Stolz[6]; 5. 71-Brian Kramer[5]; 6. 5J-Jason Sechrist[7]; 7. 2L-Luke Hess[8]; 8. 91-Randy Kunkle Jr[9]; 9. 19-Scott Heisey[3]

Hoffer Paving All Star Slingshots 17 Entries

A-Main 20 Laps

1. 3-David Carraghan[4]; 2. 112-Cody Kline[2]; 3. 10S-Chase Schott[5]; 4. 1-Tyler Ulsh[7]; 5. 32-Brett Bieber[3]; 6. 22-Matt Kiefert[11]; 7. 77-Daniel Betz[1]; 8. 349-Garrett Chillot[6]; 9. 55AA-Amanda Angstadt[8]; 10. 28K-Karter Adams[9]; 11. 42-Mason Pittenger[17]; 12. 33-Dustin Degler[10]; 13. 95-Lucas Pittenger[12]; 14. K33-Ryan Lutz[13]; 15. 33D-Tytan Deal[14]; 16. 20A-Trevor Slade[15]; 17. (DNS) 55A-Cole Armstrong

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 10S-Chase Schott[4]; 2. 112-Cody Kline[5]; 3. 3-David Carraghan[7]; 4. 55AA-Amanda Angstadt[3]; 5. 28K-Karter Adams[6]; 6. 22-Matt Kiefert[9]; 7. K33-Ryan Lutz[2]; 8. 20A-Trevor Slade[8]; 9. (DNF) 55A-Cole Armstrong[1]

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 349-Garrett Chillot[4]; 2. 1-Tyler Ulsh[6]; 3. 32-Brett Bieber[5]; 4. 77-Daniel Betz[7]; 5. 33-Dustin Degler[8]; 6. 95-Lucas Pittenger[2]; 7. 33D-Tytan Deal[1]; 8. (DNF) 42-Mason Pittenger[3]

J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots 5 Entries

A-Main 15 Laps

1. 10S-Chase Schott[2]; 2. 86H-Anthony Siccone[1]; 3. 77-Daniel Betz[3]; 4. 35A-Aubrey Romig[4]; 5. 7S-Javon Garrison[5]

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 86H-Anthony Siccone[1]; 2. 10S-Chase Schott[5]; 3. 77-Daniel Betz[4]; 4. 35A-Aubrey Romig[3]; 5. 7S-Javon Garrison[2]

Mike’s Towing & Recovery 600cc Modifieds 28 Entries

A-Main 50 Laps

1. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[1]; 2. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[28]; 3. 88-Justin Schraden[4]; 4. 413-Justin Maylath[18]; 5. 7$-Bryce Smith[19]; 6. 21-Mark Bressler[11]; 7. 127-Korey Inglin[6]; 8. 29-Douglas Newbigging[15]; 9. 33-Ryan Heckman[27]; 10. 69-Christian Smith[22]; 11. X-Leeroy Sorenson[24]; 12. 28-Raymond Gradwell[16]; 13. 116-Gerry Bressler[20]; 14. 5S-Geoffrey Sutton[13]; 15. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[5]; 16. 3D-Shjon Dove[9]; 17. 22-Lance Garrison[10]; 18. 78-Josh Bewley[3]; 19. 5-Mason Peters[14]; 20. 20K-Chad Kreiser[23]; 21. 42K-RJ Smith[7]; 22. 12E-Eric Whitby[2]; 23. 17K-Seth Schnoke[12]; 24. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[21]; 25. 61S-Kyle Donati[8]; 26. M1-Tommy Martocci[17]; 27. 20-Ryley Garman[25]; 28. (DNS) 13-Ed Hollenbach

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[2]; 2. 88-Justin Schraden[1]; 3. 42K-RJ Smith[4]; 4. 22-Lance Garrison[3]; 5. 5S-Geoffrey Sutton[5]; 6. 28-Raymond Gradwell[7]; 7. 7$-Bryce Smith[9]; 8. 69-Christian Smith[8]; 9. (DNF) 20-Ryley Garman[6]; 10. (DNS) 85AM-Tyler Bartik

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 12E-Eric Whitby[1]; 2. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[2]; 3. 61S-Kyle Donati[3]; 4. 21-Mark Bressler[5]; 5. 5-Mason Peters[4]; 6. M1-Tommy Martocci[6]; 7. 116-Gerry Bressler[8]; 8. 20K-Chad Kreiser[7]; 9. X-Leeroy Sorenson[9]

Heat 3 8 Laps

1. 78-Josh Bewley[1]; 2. 127-Korey Inglin[5]; 3. 3D-Shjon Dove[4]; 4. 17K-Seth Schnoke[9]; 5. 29-Douglas Newbigging[6]; 6. 413-Justin Maylath[7]; 7. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[3]; 8. (DNF) 13-Ed Hollenbach[2]; 9. (DNF) 33-Ryan Heckman[8]

Qualifying 1 2 Laps

1. 88-Justin Schraden[12]; 2. 12E-Eric Whitby[26]; 3. 78-Josh Bewley[6]; 4. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[20]; 5. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[24]; 6. 13-Ed Hollenbach[25]; 7. 22-Lance Garrison[3]; 8. 61S-Kyle Donati[5]; 9. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[2]; 10. 42K-RJ Smith[28]; 11. 5-Mason Peters[27]; 12. 3D-Shjon Dove[21]; 13. 5S-Geoffrey Sutton[23]; 14. 21-Mark Bressler[22]; 15. 127-Korey Inglin[17]; 16. 20-Ryley Garman[7]; 17. M1-Tommy Martocci[16]; 18. 29-Douglas Newbigging[19]; 19. 28-Raymond Gradwell[11]; 20. 20K-Chad Kreiser[13]; 21. 413-Justin Maylath[15]; 22. 69-Christian Smith[4]; 23. 116-Gerry Bressler[14]; 24. 33-Ryan Heckman[18]; 25. 7$-Bryce Smith[10]; 26. X-Leeroy Sorenson[8]; 27. 17K-Seth Schnoke[9]; 28. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[1]

Bernheisel Race Cars Chargers 16 Entries

A-Main 15 Laps

1. 711-Eric Hollenbach[4]; 2. 24S-Frank Stoner[6]; 3. 33-Scott Lutz[7]; 4. 46-Jeremy Ott[10]; 5. 15-Butch Helsel[13]; 6. 911-Cheyenne Kreiser[14]; 7. 100-Ronnie Buck[3]; 8. 10-Chucky Kimmel[9]; 9. 30PK-Chris McCarr[15]; 10. 2M-Josh Michael[2]; 11. 00-Ed Hollenbach[8]; 12. 8-John Hall[1]; 13. 22-David Fidler[12]; 14. 21-Ian Herr[5]; 15. 7-Rob Kreiser[11]; 16. 27-Austin Webster[16]

Heat 1 8 Laps

1. 2M-Josh Michael[1]; 2. 100-Ronnie Buck[4]; 3. 8-John Hall[2]; 4. 33-Scott Lutz[3]; 5. 10-Chucky Kimmel[5]; 6. 7-Rob Kreiser[6]; 7. 15-Butch Helsel[7]; 8. 911-Cheyenne Kreiser[8]

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 21-Ian Herr[1]; 2. 711-Eric Hollenbach[4]; 3. 24S-Frank Stoner[6]; 4. 00-Ed Hollenbach[5]; 5. 46-Jeremy Ott[7]; 6. 22-David Fidler[8]; 7. (DNF) 30PK-Chris McCarr[2]; 8. (DNF) 27-Austin Webster[3]