Danner Doubles In Action Track USA Extra During Inaugural Event At Pagoda Motorcycle Club

Story By: BARRY ANGSTADT / PAGODA MOTORCYCLE CLUB – BIRDSBORO, PA – When he’s not chasing USAC National Sprint Car victories, Allentown, PA’s Briggs Danner enjoys dabbling in All Pro SpeedSTR and Hyper Racing 600 Sprint competition. And he did more than just “dabble” on Sunday.

Danner made history by sweeping the SpeedSTR and 600 Sprint races in the Inaugural; a first-of-its-kind event at the sprawling new Speedway at Pagoda Motorcycle Club near Birdsboro, PA.

The SpeedSTR main saw Danner leap from his pole starting position to show the way as the battle for second turned into an all-out war between friends. Dustin Morris, who did much of the planning and work to make this speedway a reality, fought tooth-and-nail with Buckwalter for the runner -up slot. Laps five through 24 saw a heated battle among friends, as Buckwalter threw the kitchen sink at Morris but the Phoenixville driver fended off the challenges of Buckwalter’s No. 52 throughout that 20 lap scuffle. Buckwalter finally went to the top and made it pay off, as he muscled to the outside of Morris and stormed past his friendly rival to grab second with six to go.

The only caution flag of the entire race came with two to go. “Yeah, I was mumbling some bad words inside my helmet at that point,” said Danner. It got me out of traffic, but it also wiped out my big lead. I was worried about Timmy and those guys having a shot at me on the restart.”

No worries for Briggs, though, as he darted away on the restart and maintained the lead over the next 1 ¾ laps. Buckwalter finished second ahead of Morris after a race-long, entertaining battle for that position. Bobby Butler and Steve Drevicki rounded out the top five.

Buckwalter was the Hard Charger of the race, earning an extra $100 courtesy of Chris Spotts Welding and Repair.

The 25 lap Hyper Racing 600 Sprint feature was terrific, at least until Danner snatched the lead from Koch and Kenny Miller III in a thrilling two-for-one move in turns one and two at the halfway point. Prior to that, Miller and Koch engaged in a thrilling tussle for the lead with Miller pacing the first six tours until Koch wrestled the position away on lap seven, just before a yellow flag slowed the action.

On the restart, as Koch and Miller threw multiple sliders on one another, Danner suddenly appeared in third after starting the race in ninth place. Danner, doing his work in the bottom lane of the D-shaped oval, secured the top spot at the halfway mark. He quickly motored away, leaving Koch and Miller to fight with Tim Buckwalter for runner-up honors. At the finish, it was Danner beating Tim Buckwalter to the stripe by 1.062 seconds. Koch hung on for third, with Miller fourth and Nate Freed claiming fifth place cash. Freed climbed from 19th to fifth, earning himself the $75 Hard Charger award from Chris Spotts Welding & Repair.

Zack Gerber set the pace early in the 20 lap, All Star Singshot main. A couple of drivers took turns at unseating the leader, but without success. Eventually, Hannah Kormann and Amanda Angstadt began to pressure the Gerber’s No. 97z, but they too were unable to get by Gerber for the top spot. With just two laps remaining, Angstadt shoved the nose of her car under the No. 97z and roared off turn two as the new leader. Angstadt, from Shillington PA, danced away and won by several car lengths over Gerber, Charlie Moore, Brett Bieber, and Kormann.

Chason Hauck (270 Micro Sprint) and Jocelynn Darinsig (Jr. Slingshot) captured the afternoon mains on Sunday.

Hauck, from York, PA, led wire to wire in the 25 lap feature for the winged 270 Micros, but Brayden Spencer applied pressure over the second half of the event, forcing Hauck to maintain his composure and not slip over as they rounded the D-shaped oval.

Hauck, who flipped his car less than 24 hours earlier in a race at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, never wavered and took the checkered flag half-a-second in front of Spencer, with Dylan Pence finishing third.

In the 20 lap Junior Slingshot main, EJ Hatch took the early lead with Hannah Kormann slipping into the runner-up spot. Kormann stalked Hatch for for several circuits, jabbing her nose under the leader on a few occasions without success. On the 14th revolution, there was contact in turn four and the No. 50 of Hatch went spinning. Kormann was also put to the rear, handing the lead to Exeter Township’s Jocelynn Darinsig.

Darinsig made the most of her good fortune, pacing the field over the final six tours to register the victory. Mason Noll started 11th and trekked through the field to finish second, with Barry Seaman, Kormann and Colton Berndt completing the top five.

The next Action Track USA “takeover” event at the Pagoda Motorcycle Club is slated for Sunday, May 25. The All Pro SpeedSTRs, Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, All Star & Junior Slingshots will be on the card, with warm-ups beginning at 5:30.

RESULTS:

All Pro SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1.Briggs Danner, 2.Tim Buckwalter, 3.Dustin Morris, 4.Bobby Butler, 5.Steven Drevicki, 6.Steve Young, 7.Scott Houdeshell, 8.Danny Buccafusca, 9.Daniel Schumaker, 10.Cole Stangle, 11.Andy Ressler, 12.Austin Kroboth, 13.John Barnett, 14.Matt Chowns, 15.Tyler Kehs. DNS: Cale Zangli.

Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Briggs Danner, 2.Tim Buckwalter, 3.Billy Koch, 4.Kenny Miller III, 5.Nate Freed, 6.Michael Nolf, 7.Dan Lane Jr., 8.Vincent Gueci, 9.Connor Gross, 10.Cole Gerber, 11.Christian Bruno, 12.Jarid Kunkle, 13.Adam Buchel, 14.Lukas Kostic, 15.Dakota Barlet, 16.Jacob Fisher, 17.Zach Curtis, 18.Connor Mirabelli, 19.Shelby McLaughlin, 20.Jase Smith, 21.Weston Doklan, 22.Dylan Smith, 23.Tyler Henry, 24.Ryan Rochelle.

All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Amanda Angstadt, 2.Zack Gerber, 3.Charlie Moore, 4.Brett Bieber, 5.Hannah Kormann, 6.Chris Laureigh, 7.Dave Carraghan, 8.Daniel Betz, 9.Lucas Pittenger, 10.Jon Imhoff, 11.Jocelynn Darinsig, 12.Jonathan Laureigh, 13.Anna Strachko, 14.Riley Maguirre, 15.Madalyn Krause, 16.Gary Bozowski. DNS: Terry Noll, Shaun Rothman.

Winged 270 Micro Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Chase Hauck, 2.Brayden Spencer, 3.Dylan Pence, 4.Jason Paisley, 5.Clinton Hauser, 6.MacKenzie Hixon. DNS: Madison Wily.

Junior Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1.Jocelynn Darinsig, 2.Mason Noll, 3.Barry Seaman, 4.Hannah Kormann, 5.Colton Berndt, 6.MJ Tralies, 7.Lilly Esterly, 8.EJ Hatch, 9.Logan Showers, 10.Anthony Dinatale, 11.Billy Pauch III, 12.Aubrey Romig, 13.Aiden Buckwalter, 14.Baileigh Ross, 15.Jon Severn, 16.Anna Strachko, 17.Gavin Wolfe.