Spencer, Ulsh, & McNichol Register Victories in Afternoon Portion of Dick Tobias Classic at Action Track USA
Story By: BARRY ANGSTADT / ACTION TRACK USA – KUTZTOWN, PA – It was a Sunday afternoon matinee, and Bernice, PA’s Brayden Spencer was just fine with that.
Spencer darted from his pole starting position to lead by a large margin as the first 17 laps of the winged 270 Micro Sprint feature went clean and green in the afternoon portion of the Dick Tobias Classic at Action Track USA.
A yellow with three to go did not disappoint Spencer, even though his big lead was wiped out by the caution. “I was catching the back of the field, getting ready to start lapping cars, when the yellow came out,” noted Spencer afterward. “That (the yellow) got me out of traffic so I was okay with it.”
He motored away from Chason Hauck on the restart and handily paced the final trio of trips around the speedway to earn his first ever Action Track USA triumph. Hauch finished a half-second behind with Landon Smith slipping past Austin Mieczkowski for third on the lone restart with three circuits remaining.Smith was the heat race winner for the 270’s.
The first 19 revolutions of the All Star Slingshot feature were, for the most part, calm and went by pretty quickly. Dave Carraghan led from the pole with Matthew Laubach giving chase and Tyler Ulsh holding third over point leader Brett Bieber. A yellow with one to go, however, changed everything at the head of the field.
On the single-file restart, Laubach ducked low and attempted to dive under Carraghan in turns one and two. The duo got together in turn two, with both cars coming to a stop as they both went for the same piece of real estate. Carraghan was able to restart at the back of the pack, while Laubach had to be towed off with front end damage.
The ensuing caution handed the lead to Ulsh, who was the All Star Slingshot winner on August 8–the last time the Slingers raced at Berks County’s Baddest Bullring. He easily led the final tour to win his second straight over Bieber, Amanda Angstadt, Luke McCloskey, and Patrick Weiss.
Bieber won the heat race for the All Star Slingers.
Leading the early stages of the Junior Slingshot 15 lap feature was not the place to be, as both Mason Noll and Jon Severn fell out, under yellow flag conditions, while out front. The two wheel-twisters dropped out during consecutive cautions with two laps complete.
Lily Esterly inherited the point when Severn’s car did not go on a restart, but she was quickly passed by Landon McNichol on the second attempt at green flag racing with two circuits in the books. Sixth-starting EJ Hatch, looking for his fourth consecutive Junior Slingshot victory at Action Track USA, moved into the runner-up spot on the fourth trip around the oval, but McNichol took advantage of non-stop conditions for the rest of the race to win by several car-lengths over Hatch.
Waylon Wolf finished third, point leader Hannah Kormann was fourth, and Billy Pauch III raced home in fifth.
McNichol and Hatch were Junior Slingshot heat race winners.
NOTE: Michael Batz contributed to this press release.
Results:
270 Micro Sprints (20 Laps) 1. Brayden Spencer; 2. Chason Hauck; 3. Landon Smith; 4. Austin Mieczkoski; 5. Tyler Puterbaugh; 6. Jeff Furlong; 7. Jonah Meck; 8. Clinton Hauser; 9. Josh Ohlinger; 10. Pat Bealer.
All Star Slingshots (20 Laps) 1. Tyler Ulsh; 2. Brett Bieber; 3. Amanda Angstadt; 4. Luke McClosky; 5. Patrick Weiss; 6. Daniel Betz; 7. Shawn Dengler; 8. Barry Seaman; 9. Nathan Abriams; 10. Dave Carraghan; 11. Matthew Laubach; 12. Ethan Miller.
Junior Slingshots (15 Laps) 1. Landon McNichol; 2. EJ Hatch; 3. Waylon Wolf; 4. Hannah Kormann; 5. Billy Pauch III; 6. Gavin Wolfe; 7. Khloe Dennis; 8. Lily Esterly; 9. MJ Tralies; 10. Frank Fritzinger; 11. Bayleigh Ross; 12. Cheyenne Smoddenly; 13. Kaleb Stofflet; 14. Danica Wenberger; 15. Aiden Buckwalter; 16. Colten Berndt; 17. Emma Snedden; 18. Jonathon Severn; 19. Mason Noll.
