Ruppert Rockets To Back-to-Back Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek Wins At Linda’s Speedway
Story By: KASEY KREIDER / LINDA’S SPEEDWAY – JONESTOWN, PA – When you come to Lebanon county for a big-money micro sprint race, one thing has become abundantly clear over the past few years. In order to claim the big prize at the end of the night, you’re going to have to get through Lewisberry, PA’s Alex Ruppert.
The cream rose to the top of the 600 Micro Sprint division on Thursday night at the Linda’s Speedway, as 82 drivers signed in for RaceTech Titanium Night No. 5 of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek presented by Flying A Motorsports. But once again, it was Ruppert who elevated himself above the rest, parking his No. 5 in Linda’s Speedway victory lane following an early-race battle with Connor Gross.
In the process, Ruppert added another signature win to his collection, alongside a Linda’s National Open triumph in 2021, an East Coast Transponders Nationals win earlier in the month at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, and Speedweek wins at both of those Lebanon-based racetracks in 2024.
It was clear early on in the night that Ruppert would be a threat, as set the overall quick time in Groff Motorsports qualifying with a lap of 13.050 seconds around the quarter-mile. Ruppert’s time was fastest of the Flight A cars, while Grady McGrew clocked the quickest time of Flight B, zipping around the track in 13.173 seconds.
Ruppert then flexed his muscle once more in the first of eight Keizer Aluminum Racing Wheels heat races. After a six-car invert, Ruppert climbed his way up to second over the course of the eight laps, trailing only New York’s Geoff Federspiel across the line. Despite not getting all the way to the front, the effort was still good enough to make Ruppert the high-point man entering the 35-lap A-Main, with Middleton, MA’s Gross to his outside for the start and former Speedweek race winner Timmy Buckwalter sharing the second row with Mason Beinhower directly behind them.
Despite a challenge from Gross into turn 3 on the opening lap, Ruppert held onto the lead and control of the race through the opening few circuits. Flips for James Hendricks and Marty Brian on laps 6 and 8, respectively, followed by a six-car pileup on lap 9 involving former Speedweek winner and National Open champ Tommy Kunsman gave the start of the race a choppy flow, and provided Gross with an opportunity to grab the lead away on a restart.The pilot of the No. 14c did just that as the field came back up to speed, using a crossover move off turn 4 to swipe the top spot from Ruppert. Gross led the way for the next several laps before Kyle Lick’s spin from fourth brought out the yellow on lap 16.
An interesting wrinkle was brought to the forefront of the race on the next restart, as Gross elected to start on the top lane for the run down to turn 3, with Ruppert still on the bottom. It worked for Gross the first time, as he fired off nicely and cleared Ruppert into the corner. But Ruppert timed the next restart better one lap later, and with a little wheel-to-wheel contact through the turn, he took back the advantage – ultimately for good – on lap 17.
The restarts continued to provide drama, as a lap 24 resumption saw Gross hop over the left-rear tire of Ruppert’s machine while attempting to pull the same crossover move that had given him the lead earlier. Once the field got wound up, Ruppert would consistently pull the advantage over the rest of the pack, and that restart with 12 laps to go ended up being the final one of the race.
When it was all said and done, Ruppert flashed across the finish line 2.024 seconds ahead of Gross for his third-career Speedweek win. Gross meanwhile was forced to contend with Dylan Kontra – the Tuesday night winner at Greenwood Valley. Gross held on for second, but Kontra’s third-place effort gave him the Speedweek points lead entering the final two races at McGrewBid Motoplex and the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway.
The top-five was completed by Mason Beinhower and Adam Buchel, while Connor Mirabelli picked up the hard charger award for going from 22nd to sixth. Federspiel came home seventh, and former track champion Richie Hartman was eighth. Hendricks rebounded from his early-race barrel roll to come home ninth, and Lick salvaged 10th after his turn 2 spin.
For the second year, the Junior Sprints returned as a part of Speedweek as well. Initially, it appeared that a first-time Speedweek winner would be crowned at the quarter-mile, as Aiden Buckwalter held off a furious charge from both Jax and Ashlyn Wittmer to cross the finish line first at the end of the 15-lapper.
However, Buckwalter’s car was found to be without a muffler at the conclusion of the race, a violation of the Speedweek rules. As a result, Jax Wittmer was credited with his third win in as many Speedweek races, and his fourth in a row dating back to last Friday’s Junior Sprint event at the Linda’s Speedway.
Behind Wittmer, Andrew Ferriola finished in the runner-up spot, while Logan Schibilia rounded out the podium in third. North Carolina’s Giselle Hicks came home with the fourth position, and Braylon Morris ran fifth.Jax’s sister Ashlyn Wittmer was challenging for victory as well, but hit a yuke tire in turn 2 on the final lap while trying to pass Buckwalter for the win. Wittmer ended up with a 14th-place result.
Linda’s Speedway roars back to life with a “Christmas in July” special on Friday, July 25. Six divisions in total will be in action, with the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink 270 Micro Sprints, the Xcel 600 Modifieds, the All Star Slingshots, the Hoffer Paving Junior Slingshots, the Bernheisel Race Components Chargers, and the Midgets all taking part in competitive action in the final race before a scheduled off week
7-17-2025 Results
WINGLESS 600 MICRO SPRINTS
A-Main (35 Laps): 1. 5R-Alex Ruppert[1]; 2. 14C-Connor Gross[2]; 3. 12-Dylan Kontra[8]; 4. 21-Mason Beinhower[4]; 5. 86-Adam Buchel[7]; 6. 9X-Connor Mirabelli[22]; 7. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[10]; 8. 39-Richie Hartman[6]; 9. 75X-James Hendricks[23]; 10. 11Z-Kyle Lick[9]; 11. 44K-Kayden Barker[20]; 12. 00K-Peyton Knecht[14]; 13. 76-JT Bierman[25]; 14. 34-Abel Engler[11]; 15. 33-Matt Smith[5]; 16. 08-Dominic Schmidt[16]; 17. 71T-Tim Buckwalter[3]; 18. 24C-Dylan Cooke[24]; 19. 16-Marty Brian[12]; 20. 26-Aidan Turner[18]; 21. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[19]; 22. 2S-Garyt Smith[15]; 23. 09-Vincent Gueci[17]; 24. 14-James Roselli[21]; 25. 8G-Grayson Price[26]; 26. 80-Anthony Tramontana[13]
B-Main 1 (12 Laps): 1. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[3]; 2. 14-James Roselli[4]; 3. 75X-James Hendricks[2]; 4. 76-JT Bierman[1]; 5. 41-Brody Snyder[7]; 6. 88-Justin Yohn[6]; 7. 29-Brent Shearer[8]; 8. 98-Matthew Warner[9]; 9. 14Z-Tony Zajonczkoski[5]; 10. 4-Ryan Rochelle[10]; 11. 14X-Cole Gerber[12]; 12. 10L-Lukas Kostic[11]; 13. 31C-Maverick Coffey[14]; 14. 49-Aiden Price[16]; 15. 33J-Joey Robinson[20]; 16. 4J-Julian Rexrode[22]; 17. 92-Jake Winters[19]; 18. 2J-Jace Marshall[23]; 19. 8W-Jayden Wagner[13]; 20. 62-Jacob Lynch[15]; 21. 13-Ben Freels[21]; 22. 50-Jacob Severn[18]; 23. 83H-Cullen Hutchison[24]; 24. 71-Brian Kramer[17]
B-Main 2 (12 Laps): 1. 44K-Kayden Barker[1]; 2. 9X-Connor Mirabelli[4]; 3. 24C-Dylan Cooke[2]; 4. 8G-Grayson Price[3]; 5. 16T-Trevor Gach[9]; 6. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[8]; 7. 30-Jack Fraser[5]; 8. 19-Chase Schott[7]; 9. 86B-Danny Buccafusca[12]; 10. 07R-Bubba Rains[20]; 11. 91-Nate Freed[23]; 12. 96-Zach Jurcik[13]; 13. 5-Christian Bruno[6]; 14. 24W-Zack Weisenfluh[16]; 15. 64-Ronnie Dawson[21]; 16. 570-Prestyn Brown[14]; 17. 11H-Holden Eckman[22]; 18. 7D-Wyatt Davis[24]; 19. 9G-Grady McGrew[11]; 20. 1F-James Fries[15]; 21. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[19]; 22. 78-Zak Gorski[17]; 23. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr[10]; 24. 56-Tyler Henry[18]
C-Main 1 (12 Laps): 1. 13-Ben Freels[2]; 2. 4J-Julian Rexrode[3]; 3. 2J-Jace Marshall[6]; 4. 83H-Cullen Hutchison[5]; 5. 5H-Haylee Papp[4]; 6. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[8]; 7. 42R-RJ Deighton[9]; 8. 51-Amanda Onimus[7]; 9. (DNS) 72-Sam Johnson; 10. (DNS) 52-Scott Kreutter; 11. (DNS) 54-Dakota Barlet; 12. (DNS) 18-Zachery Bealer
C-Main 2 (12 Laps): 1. 64-Ronnie Dawson[1]; 2. 11H-Holden Eckman[6]; 3. 91-Nate Freed[9]; 4. 7D-Wyatt Davis[10]; 5. 597-John Shrewsbury[2]; 6. 88B-Billy Calvert[3]; 7. 44-Blake Ludwig[7]; 8. 14H-Luke Harding[8]; 9. (DNS) 88J-JR McCutcheon; 10. (DNS) 22-Kole Kirkman; 11. (DNS) 9S-Sawyer Davis; 12. (DNS) 22L-Braeden Locascio
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21G-Geoff Federspiel[2]; 2. 5R-Alex Ruppert[6]; 3. 8G-Grayson Price[3]; 4. 9X-Connor Mirabelli[4]; 5. 29-Brent Shearer[9]; 6. 71-Brian Kramer[1]; 7. 24W-Zack Weisenfluh[11]; 8. 72-Sam Johnson[7]; 9. 2J-Jace Marshall[10]; 10. 91-Nate Freed[8]; 11. 88J-JR McCutcheon[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Anthony Tramontana[2]; 2. 33-Matt Smith[4]; 3. 14C-Connor Gross[6]; 4. 8W-Jayden Wagner[1]; 5. 4-Ryan Rochelle[7]; 6. 570-Prestyn Brown[3]; 7. 78-Zak Gorski[8]; 8. 13-Ben Freels[9]; 9. 51-Amanda Onimus[10]; 10. 64-Ronnie Dawson[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 75X-James Hendricks[1]; 2. 39-Richie Hartman[4]; 3. 14Z-Tony Zajonczkoski[2]; 4. 2S-Garyt Smith[6]; 5. 14X-Cole Gerber[3]; 6. 1F-James Fries[8]; 7. 56-Tyler Henry[7]; 8. 49-Aiden Price[5]; 9. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III[9]; 10. 52-Scott Kreutter[10]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Dominic Schmidt[2]; 2. 26-Aidan Turner[3]; 3. 16-Marty Brian[5]; 4. 31C-Maverick Coffey[1]; 5. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[4]; 6. 41-Brody Snyder[6]; 7. 99-Brandon Heist Sr[8]; 8. 4J-Julian Rexrode[9]; 9. 83H-Cullen Hutchison[7]; 10. 7D-Wyatt Davis[10]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Abel Engler[2]; 2. 21-Mason Beinhower[4]; 3. 11Z-Kyle Lick[5]; 4. 88-Justin Yohn[3]; 5. 98-Matthew Warner[7]; 6. 62-Jacob Lynch[8]; 7. 9G-Grady McGrew[6]; 8. 88B-Billy Calvert[1]; 9. 11H-Holden Eckman[9]; 10. 22L-Braeden Locascio[11]; 11. (DNS) 54-Dakota Barlet
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 76-JT Bierman[1]; 2. 21K-Tommy Kunsman[2]; 3. 14-James Roselli[3]; 4. 44K-Kayden Barker[5]; 5. 19-Chase Schott[4]; 6. 5-Christian Bruno[6]; 7. 50-Jacob Severn[7]; 8. 597-John Shrewsbury[8]; 9. 44-Blake Ludwig[9]; 10. (DNS) 22-Kole Kirkman
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 00K-Peyton Knecht[2]; 2. 86-Adam Buchel[4]; 3. 71T-Tim Buckwalter[6]; 4. 96-Zach Jurcik[1]; 5. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr[8]; 6. 16T-Trevor Gach[5]; 7. 92-Jake Winters[7]; 8. 07R-Bubba Rains[3]; 9. 14H-Luke Harding[9]; 10. (DNS) 9S-Sawyer Davis
Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 24C-Dylan Cooke[1]; 2. 12-Dylan Kontra[4]; 3. 30-Jack Fraser[2]; 4. 09-Vincent Gueci[6]; 5. 86B-Danny Buccafusca[3]; 6. 10L-Lukas Kostic[5]; 7. 33J-Joey Robinson[7]; 8. 5H-Haylee Papp[8]; 9. 42R-RJ Deighton[9]; 10. (DNS) 18-Zachery Bealer
Flight A (2 Laps): 1. 5R-Alex Ruppert, 00:13.050[21]; 2. 14C-Connor Gross, 00:13.128[16]; 3. 2S-Garyt Smith, 00:13.159[38]; 4. 41-Brody Snyder, 00:13.162[15]; 5. 88J-JR McCutcheon, 00:13.173[27]; 6. 64-Ronnie Dawson, 00:13.202[30]; 7. 49-Aiden Price, 00:13.205[12]; 8. 16-Marty Brian, 00:13.207[5]; 9. 9X-Connor Mirabelli, 00:13.217[31]; 10. 33-Matt Smith, 00:13.230[4]; 11. 39-Richie Hartman, 00:13.270[32]; 12. 7-Shelby McLaughlin, 00:13.276[10]; 13. 8G-Grayson Price, 00:13.286[24]; 14. 570-Prestyn Brown, 00:13.290[17]; 15. 14X-Cole Gerber, 00:13.295[40]; 16. 26-Aidan Turner, 00:13.304[6]; 17. 21G-Geoff Federspiel, 00:13.305[13]; 18. 80-Anthony Tramontana, 00:13.313[8]; 19. 14Z-Tony Zajonczkoski, 00:13.330[18]; 20. 08-Dominic Schmidt, 00:13.332[34]; 21. 71-Brian Kramer, 00:13.367[9]; 22. 8W-Jayden Wagner, 00:13.371[22]; 23. 75X-James Hendricks, 00:13.376[20]; 24. 31C-Maverick Coffey, 00:13.395[7]; 25. 72-Sam Johnson, 00:13.405[28]; 26. 4-Ryan Rochelle, 00:13.426[11]; 27. 56-Tyler Henry, 00:13.435[26]; 28. 83H-Cullen Hutchison, 00:13.442[37]; 29. 91-Nate Freed, 00:13.464[41]; 30. 78-Zak Gorski, 00:13.465[2]; 31. 1F-James Fries, 00:13.466[25]; 32. 99-Brandon Heist Sr, 00:13.468[36]; 33. 29-Brent Shearer, 00:13.508[35]; 34. 13-Ben Freels, 00:13.509[1]; 35. 25-Kenneth Beinhower III, 00:13.515[19]; 36. 4J-Julian Rexrode, 00:13.516[33]; 37. 2J-Jace Marshall, 00:13.530[14]; 38. 51-Amanda Onimus, 00:13.553[23]; 39. 52-Scott Kreutter, 00:13.623[3]; 40. 7D-Wyatt Davis, 00:13.632[39]; 41. 24W-Zack Weisenfluh, 00:13.705[29]
Flight B (2 Laps): 1. 9G-Grady McGrew, 00:13.173[28]; 2. 5-Christian Bruno, 00:13.196[20]; 3. 71T-Tim Buckwalter, 00:13.197[35]; 4. 09-Vincent Gueci, 00:13.221[36]; 5. 11Z-Kyle Lick, 00:13.228[13]; 6. 44K-Kayden Barker, 00:13.232[38]; 7. 16T-Trevor Gach, 00:13.245[33]; 8. 10L-Lukas Kostic, 00:13.271[2]; 9. 21-Mason Beinhower, 00:13.296[14]; 10. 19-Chase Schott, 00:13.299[10]; 11. 86-Adam Buchel, 00:13.322[39]; 12. 12-Dylan Kontra, 00:13.354[26]; 13. 88-Justin Yohn, 00:13.378[22]; 14. 14-James Roselli, 00:13.385[25]; 15. 07R-Bubba Rains, 00:13.387[23]; 16. 86B-Danny Buccafusca, 00:13.415[12]; 17. 34-Abel Engler, 00:13.416[8]; 18. 21K-Tommy Kunsman, 00:13.418[1]; 19. 00K-Peyton Knecht, 00:13.425[34]; 20. 30-Jack Fraser, 00:13.435[11]; 21. 88B-Billy Calvert, 00:13.450[16]; 22. 76-JT Bierman, 00:13.454[17]; 23. 96-Zach Jurcik, 00:13.494[32]; 24. 24C-Dylan Cooke, 00:13.508[27]; 25. 98-Matthew Warner, 00:13.522[30]; 26. 50-Jacob Severn, 00:13.543[21]; 27. 92-Jake Winters, 00:13.565[5]; 28. 33J-Joey Robinson, 00:13.572[37]; 29. 62-Jacob Lynch, 00:13.579[4]; 30. 597-John Shrewsbury, 00:13.644[3]; 31. 9-Keith McIntyre Jr, 00:13.652[29]; 32. 5H-Haylee Papp, 00:13.674[15]; 33. 11H-Holden Eckman, 00:13.714[9]; 34. 44-Blake Ludwig, 00:13.895[19]; 35. 14H-Luke Harding, 00:13.953[7]; 36. 42R-RJ Deighton, 00:13.959[24]; 37. 54-Dakota Barlet, 00:17.151[41]; 38. 22-Kole Kirkman, 00:21.754[40]; 39. 9S-Sawyer Davis, 00:21.754[6]; 40. 18-Zachery Bealer, 00:21.754[18]; 41. 22L-Braeden Locascio, 00:21.754[31]
JUNIOR SPRINTS
A-Main (15 Laps): 1. 707-Jax Wittmer[2]; 2. 26-Andrew Ferriola[8]; 3. 16-Logan Schibilia[7]; 4. 21G-Giselle Hicks[10]; 5. 15-Braylon Morris[11]; 6. 1E-Enzo Iudicello[6]; 7. 5-Gage Pio[9]; 8. 64B-Barrett Bressler[12]; 9. 28-Archer Jumper[17]; 10. 75-Lucas Ferriola[5]; 11. 49-Brooks White[4]; 12. 39W-Logan Wirt[16]; 13. 52K-Dawson Kreutter[22]; 14. 7-Ashlyn Wittmer[3]; 15. 27-Jase Smith[19]; 16. 1S-Will Simco[24]; 17. 22H-Gauge Healy[15]; 18. 2-Brantlee Leitzel[23]; 19. 14-Lane White[21]; 20. 23G-Gavin Wolfe[20]; 21. 20-Preston Trautschold[14]; 22. 26C-Camden McGaha[13]; 23. (DNS) 1B-Landon Bailey; 24. (DQ) 52-Aiden Buckwalter[1]
B-Main (8 Laps): 1. 27-Jase Smith[8]; 2. 23G-Gavin Wolfe[2]; 3. 14-Lane White[9]; 4. 52K-Dawson Kreutter[3]; 5. 2-Brantlee Leitzel[5]; 6. 1S-Will Simco[1]; 7. 33-Cole Surman[6]; 8. 7N-Norman Oldham[4]; 9. (DNS) 5B-Reid Bailey
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Aiden Buckwalter[3]; 2. 49-Brooks White[1]; 3. 16-Logan Schibilia[9]; 4. 21G-Giselle Hicks[4]; 5. 26C-Camden McGaha[5]; 6. 39W-Logan Wirt[2]; 7. 1S-Will Simco[8]; 8. 7N-Norman Oldham[6]; 9. 5B-Reid Bailey[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 707-Jax Wittmer[7]; 2. 75-Lucas Ferriola[1]; 3. 26-Andrew Ferriola[9]; 4. 15-Braylon Morris[6]; 5. 20-Preston Trautschold[3]; 6. 28-Archer Jumper[8]; 7. 23G-Gavin Wolfe[5]; 8. 2-Brantlee Leitzel[4]; 9. 27-Jase Smith[2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Ashlyn Wittmer[3]; 2. 1E-Enzo Iudicello[9]; 3. 5-Gage Pio[5]; 4. 64B-Barrett Bressler[2]; 5. 22H-Gauge Healy[7]; 6. 1B-Landon Bailey[1]; 7. 52K-Dawson Kreutter[8]; 8. 33-Cole Surman[4]; 9. 14-Lane White[6]
