Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – As summer begins to wind down and racetracks around the northeast begin to hit the stretch run of their seasons, the 35th running of the Linda’s Speedway National Open draws ever closer.
So it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to anybody that Ross Perchak – the 270 National Open’s all-time winningest driver – brought his A-game to Jonestown on Friday night. Perchak won his heat race from sixth before proceeding to motor from 10th to the lead – without the aid of a caution – in the 25-lap feature event.
William Mohring looked as if he could’ve been in position to score an upset victory, as the No. 54 passed points leader Mike Boyer at the start and pulled away from the pack. However, lapped traffic in a race that didn’t see a caution flag until the final circuit gave an opportunity for the field to close back in.
By that point, Perchak had methodically worked his way into the runner-up spot, and it was only a matter of time before the Hazleton native took away the lead. Perchak swiped that top spot with seven laps remaining and set sail en route to his first Linda’s win since last October.
Although Brandon Heist passed Mike Boyer on the final lap for second, Boyer kept his points lead at 11 in the season-long standings.
The Midgets returned to Linda’s Speedway for their final race before Appalachian Midget Week. Eric Heydenreich took the lead from Scott Lawrence just prior to halfway, and with his children in attendance, made an emotional trip to the winner’s circle.
In Hoffer Paving All Star Slingshot competition, Chase Schott prevailed for the third time in 2024, and took over the points lead from Brett Bieber in the process. Schott held off a red-hot Dave Carraghan on the green-white-checkered finish to complete the win.
In the J&J Auto Body Junior Slingshots, Hailey Eroh picked up her fifth straight win at Linda’s – and her 400th all-time in her racing career. But unlike some of the prior victories, this one came with some late-race drama, as Eroh had to execute an outside, last-lap pass on E. J. Hatch in order to secure the victory.
In the nightcap for the Chargers, former champion Ed Hollenbach led all 15 laps for his first win of the season, while his Kimmel Racing teammate Chris Warren moved into the points lead after mechanical troubles plagued Austin Webster’s race.
For the first time ever, the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota will make its way to Linda’s Speedway as part of Milton Hershey School Appalachian Midget Week on Thursday, Aug. 8. The race will be the second of the four-race Eastern swing for the national midget competitors. Joining the Midgets as the support divisions will be the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Wingless 600 Micro Sprints and the Junior Sprints.
Results 8/2/24-
Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints 24 Entries
A-Main 25 Laps
1. 4R-Ross Perchak[10]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[4]; 3. 41-Mike Boyer[1]; 4. 6-Danial Boyer[5]; 5. 9M-Chris Dolan[9]; 6. 54-William Mohring[2]; 7. 19-Matt Fernsler[12]; 8. 76-Tyler Clowes[3]; 9. 77-Ben Stolz[16]; 10. 08G-Issac Graby[8]; 11. 81-Dylan Holmes[6]; 12. 23K-Courtney Kupp[15]; 13. 94-Dallas Sanders[14]; 14. 11H-Chason Hauck[13]; 15. 5W-Jason Klinger[11]; 16. 4-Dylan Pence[17]; 17. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[19]; 18. 26-Ryan Heckman[21]; 19. 67-Cooper Schoenly[20]; 20. 39-Austin Mieczkowski[7]; 21. 14C-Carter Weiant[22]; 22. 08-Jason Paisley[23]; 23. 21D-Dave Williams[18]; 24. (DNS) 22J-Joshua Ohlinger
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 4R-Ross Perchak[7]; 2. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[1]; 3. 08G-Issac Graby[4]; 4. 5W-Jason Klinger[6]; 5. 11H-Chason Hauck[2]; 6. 77-Ben Stolz[5]; 7. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[8]; 8. 14C-Carter Weiant[3]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 76-Tyler Clowes[2]; 2. 9M-Chris Dolan[8]; 3. 81-Dylan Holmes[3]; 4. 39-Austin Mieczkowski[4]; 5. 94-Dallas Sanders[6]; 6. 4-Dylan Pence[7]; 7. 67-Cooper Schoenly[5]; 8. (DNS) 22J-Joshua Ohlinger
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 6-Danial Boyer[2]; 2. 41-Mike Boyer[3]; 3. 54-William Mohring[6]; 4. 19-Matt Fernsler[5]; 5. 23K-Courtney Kupp[7]; 6. 21D-Dave Williams[1]; 7. 26-Ryan Heckman[4]; 8. (DNF) 08-Jason Paisley[8]
All Star Slingshots 11 Entries
A-Main 20 Laps
1. 10S-Chase Schott[2]; 2. 3-David Carraghan[5]; 3. 1-Tyler Ulsh[3]; 4. 32-Brett Bieber[4]; 5. 97Z-Zack Gerber[1]; 6. 95-Lucas Pittenger[8]; 7. 14-Austin Kroboth[7]; 8. 77-Daniel Betz[10]; 9. 98-Jeff Shank[6]; 10. 69-Kenny Zemenzek[11]; 11. 12S-Brianna Snyder[9]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 97Z-Zack Gerber[2]; 2. 10S-Chase Schott[7]; 3. 1-Tyler Ulsh[4]; 4. 32-Brett Bieber[8]; 5. 3-David Carraghan[10]; 6. 98-Jeff Shank[1]; 7. 14-Austin Kroboth[3]; 8. 95-Lucas Pittenger[6]; 9. 12S-Brianna Snyder[9]; 10. 77-Daniel Betz[5]; 11. 69-Kenny Zemenzek[11]
Junior Slingshots 9 Entries
A-Main 15 Laps
1. 57-Hailey Eroh[3]; 2. 50-EJ Hatch[1]; 3. 15-Cameron Hartz[2]; 4. 4C-Colten Berndt[4]; 5. 55B-Barry Seaman[5]; 6. 35A-Aubrey Romig[6]; 7. 1-Lilly Esterly[7]; 8. 77M-Mackenzie Leary[8]; 9. 94S-Emma Sneddon[9]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 50-EJ Hatch[2]; 2. 15-Cameron Hartz[4]; 3. 57-Hailey Eroh[5]; 4. 4C-Colten Berndt[1]; 5. 55B-Barry Seaman[3]; 6. 35A-Aubrey Romig[8]; 7. 1-Lilly Esterly[7]; 8. 77M-Mackenzie Leary[6]; 9. 94S-Emma Sneddon[9]
Chargers 15 Entries
A-Main 15 Laps
1. 01-Ed Hollenbach[2]; 2. 54-Chris Warren[8]; 3. 15-Butch Helsel[4]; 4. 10-Chucky Kimmel[6]; 5. 2M-Josh Michael[10]; 6. 711-Eric Hollenbach[5]; 7. 24S-Frank Stoner[7]; 8. 21-Ian Herr[9]; 9. 6PK-Justin Riegel[14]; 10. 55-William Sterner[12]; 11. 100-Ronnie Buck[11]; 12. 10L-Jeremy Ott[3]; 13. 488-Michael Danner[13]; 14. 27-Austin Webster[1]; 15. (DNS) 30PK-Chris McCarr
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 711-Eric Hollenbach[1]; 2. 01-Ed Hollenbach[3]; 3. 10-Chucky Kimmel[5]; 4. 15-Butch Helsel[6]; 5. 21-Ian Herr[2]; 6. 100-Ronnie Buck[7]; 7. 488-Michael Danner[8]; 8. (DNF) 6PK-Justin Riegel[4]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 24S-Frank Stoner[3]; 2. 27-Austin Webster[4]; 3. 10L-Jeremy Ott[6]; 4. 54-Chris Warren[5]; 5. 2M-Josh Michael[2]; 6. 55-William Sterner[7]; 7. (DNS) 30PK-Chris McCarr
Midgets 6 Entries
A-Main 20 Laps
1. 11-Eric Heydenreich[1]; 2. 09-Scott Lawrence[2]; 3. 5A-JR Booth[4]; 4. 21-Michael Markey[3]; 5. 21M-John Heydenreich[6]; 6. 75-Jeff Schell[5]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 11-Eric Heydenreich[1]; 2. 09-Scott Lawrence[2]; 3. 21-Michael Markey[4]; 4. 5A-JR Booth[3]; 5. 75-Jeff Schell[6]; 6. 21M-John Heydenreich[5]