Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – The annual “Modified 50” – generally regarded as the crown jewel of the Xcel 600 Modified season – was a full mile longer in the 2024 iteration of the event.
The Modifieds went 54 laps on Friday night as a tribute to late local racing hero Smokey Warren, on a night that saw his sons Chris and Billy in attendance to compete in the event, while daughter Lisa also ran in the 270 Micro Sprint division.
The extra four laps at race’s end proved to make no difference in the outcome, however, as Linda’s Speedway’s most decorated 600 Modified driver Richie Hitzler picked up his fourth victory in the event with a wire-to-wire win.
Early on Friday night, it didn’t necessarily seem like the Lebanon native had the dominant car. Linda’s points leader Tyler Bartik laid down the quickest lap in time trials, but he was then bested by R. J. Smith in the first heat race of the night. Hitzler, meanwhile, took the checkers of the other qualifying heat, pairing him up with Smith on the front row for the A-Main.
Once feature time rolled around, the Ray Gradwell-owned No. 9 appeared to flip a switch. Hitzler quickly dashed to the lead from his second starting position. While the toll of a race spanning 13.5 miles took its toll on some of his competition, Hitzler was unfazed and unrattled. Even some car troubles with just a few laps left couldn’t deny Hitzler of reaching his ultimate goal, as he led Ed Hollenbach and Tiffany Hitzler across the stripe to secure back-to-back wins in the longest race of the season.
It was known entering Friday night that Linda’s Speedway would be crowning its first track champion of 2024, with the Hoffer Paving All Star Slingshots contesting their championship finale. What no one could have guessed was that two drivers would end up receiving the title once the dust settled.
As Dave Carraghan sprinted away to his third feature win of the season, Chase Schott and Brett Bieber survived uncharacteristically off nights to salvage finishes of sixth and third, respectively. With Bieber entering the feature three points behind Schott, the two drivers found themselves tied in the points at the end of the 20-lap finale.
And so in a rare twist, the two competitors were crowned as co-champions of the division. The championship is the sixth for Bieber at the quarter-mile, while it’s the first for Schott in All Star competition following two titles in the Junior Slingshots.
The second-to-last points race of 2024 for the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints saw Billy Logeman edge out Chris Dolan in another fantastic finish. Meanwhile, Brandon Heist opened up his points lead to five over Mike Boyer entering the championship race on Sept. 20.
The PA Micro Midgets also made their final trip to quarter-mile in 2024. Ryan Rost bookended the season with his second win of the year in the 500 class, while Alyssa Hackart picked up her first Linda’s win in the 300 division.
Linda’s Speedway returns to action next Friday, Sept. 20 with a five-division show for just $5 of general admission. The Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints and the Stolz Stove Sales Winged 600 Micro Sprints will crown their champions in their final points races of 2024. Joining them on the card will be the 600 Modifieds, the Chargers, and the East Coast Legends.
Results 9-13-2024
Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints 28 Entries
A-Main 25 Laps
1. 27O-Billy Logeman[7]; 2. 9M-Chris Dolan[4]; 3. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[8]; 4. 77-Ben Stolz[3]; 5. 61-Jeff Haefke[10]; 6. 41-Mike Boyer[9]; 7. 1A-Brent Shearer[11]; 8. 6-Danial Boyer[1]; 9. 11H-Chason Hauck[14]; 10. 1L-Dave Labe[22]; 11. 77K-Michael Kreiser[13]; 12. 94-Dallas Sanders[23]; 13. 5W-Jason Klinger[21]; 14. 99K-Chad Kreiser[6]; 15. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[15]; 16. 23K-Courtney Kupp[17]; 17. 54-Lisa Warren[24]; 18. 27-Brayden Spencer[2]; 19. 88-Nolan Higgins[18]; 20. 747-Richie Hartman[12]; 21. 76B-Brandon Shearer[5]; 22. 5A-Anthony Yerger[19]; 23. 76H-Bryson Haugh[16]; 24. (DNS) 08-Jason Paisley
B-Main 8 Laps
1. 5A-Anthony Yerger[2]; 2. 08-Jason Paisley[3]; 3. 5W-Jason Klinger[4]; 4. 1L-Dave Labe[8]; 5. 94-Dallas Sanders[9]; 6. 54-Lisa Warren[5]; 7. (DNF) 71-Scott Zimmerman[10]; 8. (DNS) 2T-Troy Groft; 9. (DNS) 8-Scott Gingrich; 10. (DNS) 3-Josh Stoyer
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 27-Brayden Spencer[2]; 2. 747-Richie Hartman[1]; 3. 27O-Billy Logeman[6]; 4. 9M-Chris Dolan[5]; 5. 77K-Michael Kreiser[4]; 6. 76H-Bryson Haugh[8]; 7. 2T-Troy Groft[10]; 8. (DNF) 8-Scott Gingrich[9]; 9. (DNF) 1L-Dave Labe[7]; 10. (DNF) 94-Dallas Sanders[3]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 76B-Brandon Shearer[2]; 2. 1A-Brent Shearer[9]; 3. 61-Jeff Haefke[7]; 4. 41-Mike Boyer[6]; 5. 11H-Chason Hauck[1]; 6. 23K-Courtney Kupp[4]; 7. 5A-Anthony Yerger[8]; 8. 5W-Jason Klinger[3]; 9. (DNS) 71-Scott Zimmerman
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 5R-Brandon Heist Sr[3]; 2. 6-Danial Boyer[5]; 3. 77-Ben Stolz[6]; 4. 99K-Chad Kreiser[4]; 5. 24M-Andrea Matter Martin[1]; 6. 88-Nolan Higgins[8]; 7. 08-Jason Paisley[7]; 8. 54-Lisa Warren[2]; 9. (DNF) 3-Josh Stoyer[9]
All Star Slingshots 10 Entries
A-Main 20 Laps
1. 3-David Carraghan[5]; 2. 77-Daniel Betz[2]; 3. 32-Brett Bieber[8]; 4. 1-Tyler Ulsh[9]; 5. 14-Austin Kroboth[1]; 6. 54-Chase Schott[10]; 7. 95-Lucas Pittenger[7]; 8. 55A-Amanda Angstadt[3]; 9. 42-Mason Pittenger[6]; 10. 5-Lydia Novarro[4]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 77-Daniel Betz[2]; 2. 14-Austin Kroboth[1]; 3. 3-David Carraghan[8]; 4. 55A-Amanda Angstadt[6]; 5. 5-Lydia Novarro[10]; 6. 42-Mason Pittenger[4]; 7. 95-Lucas Pittenger[3]; 8. 32-Brett Bieber[7]; 9. 1-Tyler Ulsh[5]; 10. 54-Chase Schott[9]
600cc Modifieds 22 Entries
A-Main 54 Laps
1. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[2]; 2. 13-Ed Hollenbach[10]; 3. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[12]; 4. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[5]; 5. 3-Cory Phillips[11]; 6. 10T-Tyler Fronina[6]; 7. 54-Chris Warren[8]; 8. 122-John Hall[18]; 9. 20K-Chad Kreiser[15]; 10. 29-Douglas Newbigging[7]; 11. 69-Christian Smith[14]; 12. 42K-RJ Smith[1]; 13. 20R-Ryley Garman[16]; 14. 2G-Billy Warren[17]; 15. 12E-Eric Whitby[3]; 16. 116-Gerry Bressler[9]; 17. 21-Mark Bressler[13]; 18. 31-Gage Landis[20]; 19. 17K-Kenny Harris[4]; 20. 78-Josh Bewley[21]; 21. 33-Daisy Dove[19]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 42K-RJ Smith[2]; 2. 12E-Eric Whitby[3]; 3. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[1]; 4. 29-Douglas Newbigging[4]; 5. 116-Gerry Bressler[8]; 6. 3-Cory Phillips[5]; 7. 21-Mark Bressler[7]; 8. 20K-Chad Kreiser[9]; 9. 2G-Billy Warren[11]; 10. 33-Daisy Dove[10]; 11. (DNS) 78-Josh Bewley
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler[1]; 2. 17K-Kenny Harris[2]; 3. 10T-Tyler Fronina[3]; 4. 54-Chris Warren[4]; 5. 13-Ed Hollenbach[6]; 6. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[5]; 7. 69-Christian Smith[7]; 8. 20R-Ryley Garman[9]; 9. 122-John Hall[8]; 10. 31-Gage Landis[10]
Time Trials 2 Laps
1. 85AM-Tyler Bartik, 00:12.924[15];
2. 9RGR-Richie Hitzler, 00:12.977[19];
3. 42K-RJ Smith, 00:12.988[7];
4. 17K-Kenny Harris, 00:13.063[18];
5. 12E-Eric Whitby, 00:13.152[6];
6. 10T-Tyler Fronina, 00:13.155[4];
7. 29-Douglas Newbigging, 00:13.285[8];
8. 54-Chris Warren, 00:13.295[11];
9. 3-Cory Phillips, 00:13.297[2];
10. 8-Tiffany Hitzler, 00:13.305[13];
11. 78-Josh Bewley, 00:13.318[20];
12. 13-Ed Hollenbach, 00:13.334[3];
13. 21-Mark Bressler, 00:13.421[1];
14. 69-Christian Smith, 00:13.600[14];
15. 116-Gerry Bressler, 00:13.650[10];
16. 122-John Hall, 00:13.714[12];
17. 20K-Chad Kreiser, 00:13.727[9];
18. 20R-Ryley Garman, 00:13.895[22];
19. 33-Daisy Dove, 00:14.148[16];
20. 31-Gage Landis, 00:14.424[21];
21. 2G-Billy Warren, 00:27.920[17];
22. (DNS) 127-Korey Inglin
PA Micro Midgets 300 4 Entries
A-Main 15 Laps
1. 11Z-Alyssa Hackart[1]; 2. 25S-Cooper Shupe[2]; 3. 87S-Hunter Smith[4]; 4. 17-Dakota Thomas[3]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 11Z-Alyssa Hackart[1]; 2. 25S-Cooper Shupe[2]; 3. 17-Dakota Thomas[3]; 4. 87S-Hunter Smith[4]
PA Micro Midgets 500 23 Entries
A-Main 20 Laps
1. 16-Ryan Rost[8]; 2. 116-CJ Kimm[12]; 3. 19C-Michael Ciccone Ch[7]; 4. 27C-Justin Care[11]; 5. 20-AJ Vanderpool[1]; 6. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool[3]; 7. 00-Andrew Ketterman[10]; 8. 9G-Connor Geiman[2]; 9. 28-Nick Decker[15]; 10. 30-Jermey Sperlein[20]; 11. 27-Zach Cooper[17]; 12. 1XJR-Josh Forry[18]; 13. 81H-Timothy Hartle[22]; 14. 7-Matt Kiefert[4]; 15. 88-Edward Schill Jr[21]; 16. 48N-Mason Noble[9]; 17. 1-Cody Johnson[6]; 18. 10G-Bobby Geiman[5]; 19. 28C-Camden Cooper[19]; 20. 16S-Chris Seitz Jacobus[16]; 21. 4-Mike Potts[13]; 22. 15W-Dennis Scofield[23]; 23. (DNS) 21K-Alyssa Hackart
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 116-CJ Kimm[1]; 2. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool[2]; 3. 48N-Mason Noble[7]; 4. 19C-Michael Ciccone Ch[8]; 5. 4-Mike Potts[4]; 6. 16S-Chris Seitz Jacobus[3]; 7. (DNF) 30-Jermey Sperlein[5]; 8. (DNS) 15W-Dennis Scofield
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 16-Ryan Rost[4]; 2. 9G-Connor Geiman[2]; 3. 10G-Bobby Geiman[6]; 4. 1-Cody Johnson[5]; 5. 21K-Alyssa Hackart[3]; 6. 27-Zach Cooper[7]; 7. 28C-Camden Cooper[8]; 8. (DNF) 88-Edward Schill Jr[1]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 7-Matt Kiefert[3]; 2. 27C-Justin Care[5]; 3. 20-AJ Vanderpool[1]; 4. 00-Andrew Ketterman[7]; 5. 28-Nick Decker[6]; 6. 1XJR-Josh Forry[4]; 7. (DNF) 81H-Timothy Hartle[2]