Action Track USA Season Opening Victories To Danner, Bruno, Hahn, & McNichol
COLUMN BY: Barry Angstadt / ACTION TRACK USA – KUTZTOWN, PA – Hustling home after a two-race weekend with USAC in Indiana, Briggs Danner made it a worthwhile trip by winning the season opener for the River Valley Builders SpeedSTRs on Sunday night at Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
Joining Danner in the winner’s circle on Sunday night were Christian Bruno (Hyper Racing 600 Sprints); Dylan Hahn, (All Star Slingshots); and Landon McNichol (Junior Slingshots). During the afternoon matinee program, Korey Inglin was victorious in the Xcel Modified main and Brent Shearer captured the 270cc Micro Sprint feature.
“These cars and this series (SpeedSTRs) makes the trip worthwhile,” explained Danner in victory lane following his triumph. “It just makes sense to own one of these cars; we can run close to home and make some money with this car. And there’s a great group of drivers in them, too, like Pauch, Buckwalter, and Butler. I love running them and that’s why I made it back to race here tonight,” said Danner.
The Allentown, PA resident started eighth in the 30 lap headliner and worked his way to third place by the halfway mark. Billy Pauch Jr. snatched the top spot from pole sitter Steve Drevicki on the initial trip around the oval and the defending point champion opened a sizeable lead during the first half of the race.
Danner had to battle Bobby Butler, Tim Buckwalter, and finally Drevicki before he maneuvered his way into the runner-up position and began his pursuit of the leader. He caught Pauch with ten to go and searched for the right spot to make his move. When Danner tried to sneak under the leader’s No. 1R in turn three, he wiggled badly and fell back by several car lengths.
But Danner’s No. 78 had speed on Sunday, and he soon motored to Pauch’s rear bumper once again. Working the high side of the speedway, Danner powered around the leader in three and four to claim the lead with four to go.
“The car was real good on the top in three and four, and it worked well down low in one and two,” noted Danner afterward. “He gave me the top and the car stuck up there, so we made it work.”
Danner raced home the winner, the 12th SpeedSTR triumph of his career at Action Track USA. Pauch chased him to the checkered for runner-up honors, with Tim Buckwalter finishing third. Dustin Morris and Drevicki completed the top five.
Like Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over till it’s over,” and Christian Bruno made sure he got the most out of every inch of the final lap in the Hyper Racing 600 Sprint main event.
Connor Gross slid up in front of Peyton Knecht as they accelerated off turn two on the second revolution of the 25 lap feature, grabbing the lead then running away from the field. An amazing three car tussle then ensued for second spot between Knecht, Bruno, and 12th starting Tim Buckwalter. The trio traded slide jobs and swapped the second, third, and fourth positions numerous times in the middle stages of the race as Gross waltzed away from them into the chilly night. While battling intensely for second, Knecht and Buckwalter made contact and simultaneously spun out in the third turn.
That incident helped Bruno, from Deptford, NJ, secure the runner-up slot. He had some restarts to work with in his attempt to overtake Gross, but each time the green reappeared, Gross rocketed back in front and dashed out to a comfortable advantage.
Then came a fateful red flag with one lap remaining when Lukas Kostic flipped off turn four and several others spun to avoid contact. Kostic was unhurt, and his tumble set up an instant video clip classic. On the final restart, Bruno blasted to the top, drawing even with Gross as they drag raced down the backstretch. They stayed even through the last set of corners, and Bruno shoved the nose of his No. 5 slightly in front of Gross as the duo flat-footed their mounts to the finish line. As they crossed the stripe, Bruno edged out his buddy for the thrilling victory, with Kenny Miller ending up third. Briggs Danner finished fourth and Nate Freed, who started 23rd, wound up fifth.
Nazareth, PA’s Dylan Hahn recorded his first Action Track USA All Star Slingshot victory on Sunday night. Hahn throttled past pole sitter Shawn Dengler to grab the early lead, then danced to a fairly easy win as the 20 lapper went non-stop from start to finish.
Tyler Ulsh wrestled second from Brian Smith on the fourth tour, but Hahn had already checked out by that time. Eighth starter Dave Carraghan got by Smith for third at the halfway point, but without the benefit of a caution or two, there was no catching the high flying Hahn.
When the checkered flag fell to end the clean and green race, Hahn romped to the victory over Ulsh and Carraghan. Smith nosed out Brett Bieber for fourth position.
Hellertown, PA wheel-twister Landon McNichol captured the Junior Slingshot win after starting eighth in the 15 lap feature.
McNichol was up to third by lap three, then got by Danica Weinberger for second and immediately put pressure on race leader Kenna Evans. Evans holding her own on in the low groove, but McNichol found the opening he needed on the eighth circuit. He got beside Evans in turn two, then produced a great launch off the bottom of the corner to become the new leader.
Mason Noll passed Evans for the runner-up position with four tours remaining, but he could not close in on McNichol over the final laps. McNichol rumbled to the triumph, with Noll settling for second place money. Evans scored her best Action Track USA finish by placing third, with James Labar finishing fourth and Kylin Evans crossing the line in fifth.
In the matinee program run on Sunday afternoon, Korey Inglin (Xcel Modifieds) and Brent Shearer (270 Micro Sprints) picked up the feature victories.
Inglin, who hails from Milford, NJ, jumped to the lead from his outside front row starting spot as the green waved to begin the Xcel Modified 25 lapper. Griffin Hendershot, winner of the Xcel race during the Kutztown Fair last August, dashed into the runner-up slot on the opening circuit and hounded Inglin for the race lead during the first few trips around the oval.
Inglin held serve out front, pulling away as he deftly navigated lapped traffic through a yellow flag with nine tours in the books.
A terrific battle for third position was raging behind the leaders, as Ryley Garman and Doug Newbigging fought door-to-door, trading the final podium spot several times.
After a caution period with six to go, Hendershot hung with the leader, but Inglin had his No. 127 planted firmly in the bottom groove and Hendershot could not muscle by him.
“Oh yeah, the bottom was definitely the place to be,” stated Inglin in victory lane. “I tried the top earlier and it just wasn’t there, so I thought maybe the slider line would work. But I got nervous when I saw Griffin get under me on a restart, so I just held my ground down low.”
At the finish it was Inglin scoring his second Xcel win at Action Track USA (the first was in 2021) over Hendershot, who narrowly held off Newbigging for runner-up pay. Following Newbigging across the line was Tyler Bartik with Ryley Garman completing the top five.
“This was just the third time out (for this car) this year, and I think we are starting to figure it out.” Those were the words of 270 Micro Sprint feature winner Brent Shearer, and it certainly appears that he and his crew “figured it out” as the driver from Manheim, PA swept the 270 portion of the event by winning his heat race and dominating the 25 lap feature.
Shearer started on the pole and led all the way, easily beating Kutztown’s Jarid Kunkle to the checkered flag. Kunkle finished second with Tyler Puterbaugh earning third place cash. Toby Blumenshine raced from eighth to fourth, and Jonah Meck rounded out the top five.
Action Track USA swings back into race-mode on Wednesday, May 13, with the running of the Goldie & Elton Meitzler Memorial. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. with grandstand ticket sales beginning at 5:00. Race cars hit the track at 6:15 for warm-ups, with opening ceremonies and heat races starting a few minutes following the hot lap sessions. The four weekly divisions (River Valley Builders SpeedSTRs; Hyper Racing 600 Sprints; and Speedway Entertainment All Star & Junior Slingshots.
Adult general admission is $18 with a two-dollar discount for Seniors. Youth between the ages of 6 – 12 are just $5, and children five-and-under are free.
Coming up on Tuesday, May 26, is the first appearance of the season by the STSS Modifieds. They will be joined by the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints, and there is a Wednesday, May 27, rain date for the event.
RESULTS:
River Valley SpeedSTR Feature, 30 laps: 1. 78-Briggs Danner[8]; 2. 1R-Billy Pauch Jr[2]; 3. 52-Tim Buckwalter[7]; 4. 15-Dustin Morris[4]; 5. 29-Steven Drevicki[1]; 6. 04-Bobby Butler[6]; 7. 15S-Daniel Schumaker[3]; 8. 24-Sammy Martz Jr[10]; 9. 5S-Scott Houdeshell[14]; 10. 28-Brad Arnold[12]; 11. 9H-Chase Hartline[18]; 12. 21R-John Barnett Jr[9]; 13. 23-Aidan Svanda[5]; 14. 8-Earl Paules[16]; 15. 66-Dan Lane Jr[13]; 16. 86-Kenny Miller III[11]; 17. 20C-Cole Stangle[15]; 18. 27-Jase Smith[17]. DNS: 14-Austin Kroboth[19].
Hyper Racing 600 Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1. 5-Christian Bruno[5]; 2. 14C-Connor Gross[3]; 3. 23M-Kenny Miller III[2]; 4. 99-Briggs Danner[7]; 5. 91-Nate Freed[23]; 6. 10G-Mason Peters[16]; 7. 86B-Adam Buchel[17]; 8. 78-Aidan Donaldson[14]; 9. 7-Shelby McLaughlin[15]; 10. 9X-Connor Mirabelli[25]; 11. 00K-Peyton Knecht[1]; 12. 95-James Roselli[22]; 13. 56-Tyler Henry[6]; 14. 21-Zach Curtis[20]; 15. 5L-Logan Mears[18]; 16. 22-Chase Wehr[13]; 17. 10L-Lukas Kostic[10]; 18. 9W-Weston Doklan[24]; 19. 32-Justin Burr[21]; 20. 70-Jasper Zeigafuse[26]; 21. 71-Tim Buckwalter[12]; 22. 76J-JT Bierman[8]; 23. 75K-Jarid Kunkle[19]; 24. 76-Larry Kelleher[28]; 25. 29X-Liam Kane[4]; 26. 44-Aiden Purdue[11]; 27. 6-Colin White[9]. DNS: 65Z-Jake Fisher, Kyle Lick.
DNQ: Michael Nolf, Amanda Onimus, Brody Snyder, Kris Mckeown, James Hendricks, Colton Colaluce, TJ Dilts, Luke Repsik, Steve Fleetwood, Owen Steigerwalt, Cole Gerber, Luke McCloskey, Brandon Pavel, Julian Rexrode, Evan Nolf, Kate Mattern, Aubree Bane, Dominic Schmidt, Vince Gueci, Chase Rogers, Karter Kunsman, Dylan Kontra, Korey Inglin, Brody Adamsky, Rhett Long, Jacob Homnick.
All Star Slingshot Feature, 20 laps: 1. 42H-Dylan Hahn[2]; 2. 1T-Tyler Ulsh[6]; 3. 3-David Carraghan[8]; 4. 12-Brian Smith[4]; 5. 32-Brett Bieber[11]; 6. 77-Daniel Betz[3]; 7. 16K-Hannah Kormann[5]; 8. 55A-Amanda Angstadt[9]; 9. 99-Shawn Dengler[1]; 10. 18-Mackenzie Henn[10]; 11. X-Terry Noll[17]; 12. 349-Hunter Handelong[12]; 13. 50-EJ Hatch[7]; 14. 55B-Barry Seaman[13]; 15. 12J-Josh Roth[18]; 16. 29B-Bayleigh Ross[16]; 17. 171-Larry Raifsnider[14]; 18. 1-Lilly Esterly[15].
Junior Slingshot Feature, 15 laps: 1. 72-Landon McNichol[8]; 2. 43-Mason Noll[12]; 3. 10K-Kenna Evans[3]; 4. 48-James Labar[10]; 5. 14K-Kylin Evans[9]; 6. 44-Jonathan Severn[13]; 7. 7D-Dawson Gulick[2]; 8. 15-Billy Pauch III[6]; 9. 5A-Anna Strachko[15]; 10. 86-Logan Showers[16]; 11. 50F-Nick Fry[14]; 12. 00-Pierce Weinberger[17]; 13. 02-Joey Osowski[5]; 14. 13-Danica Weinberger[4]; 15. 5M-MJ Tralies[7]; 16. 38-Kaleb Stofflet[11]; 17. 21B-Benji Fry[1]
Xcel Modified Feature, 25 Laps :1. 127-Korey Inglin[2]; 2. 4X-Griffin Hendershot[3]; 3. 29-Douglas Newbigging[10]; 4. 85AM-Tyler Bartik[14]; 5. 555-Ryley Garman[6]; 6. 4M-Dylan Cordier[4]; 7. 8-Tiffany Hitzler[17]; 8. 23-Jason Mills[5]; 9. 15-Jimmy Stong[21]; 10. 17G-Scott Washburn[19]; 11. 7$-Bryce Smith[20]; 12. 20K-Chad Kreiser[23]; 13. 08-Tim VanHorn[13]; 14. 7-Kenny Harris[22]; 15. 13W-Vincent Wenrich[15]; 16. 30NN-Nathan Oropallo[16]; 17. 17S-Masen Stapleton[12]; 18. 10T-Tyler Fronina[9]; 19. 9-Richie Hitzler[7]; 20. 2-Bobby Butler[1]; 21. 14X-Dave Fry[11]; 22. 31-Gage Landis[8]; 23. 27J-Joey Oropallo[18].
270 Micro Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1. 1A-Brent Shearer[1]; 2. 14L-Jarid Kunkle[3]; 3. 1-Tyler Puterbaugh[5]; 4. 1J-Toby Blumenshine[8]; 5. 48-Jonah Meck[4]; 6. 32-Michael Hoffmaster[6]; 7. 22-Clinton Hauser[7]; 8. 71-Joe Dopke[2].
