IT'S
B&B NIGHT AT LINCOLN; BUCKWALTER AND BULL WIN ARDC MAINS
By Barry Angstadt
Abbottstown, PA - Even when he's sick, Steve Buckwalter can drive the
wheels off a racecar.
The current ARDC Midget point leader fought off the effects of a week-long
flu bug to win his sixth feature of the year in the wingless 20-lapper
at the Lincoln Speedway. In last Saturday night's winged nightcap, Bloomsburg's
Ray Bull captured his fourth victory of 2005.
"He is just amazing this year," exclaimed Donnie Trent, who
finished second to Buckwalter in the wingless race. "He's fast because
he can put that car anywhere, and it sticks. Then he nails the gas and
he's gone," said Trent in reference to the winner.
Buckwalter started 12th and worked his way into the top five within a
few laps. Michele Miller wrestled the lead away from polesitter Carey
Becker on the opening circuit, but Trent was on the move in the early
laps. Donnie, using the high groove, swept by Michele on lap three to
snatch the lead.
Trent quickly built up a huge advantage as Buckwalter and Andy Martin
threaded their way into second and third, respectively. A caution period
for debris on lap eight enabled Buckwalter to get a shot at the leader,
and Steve made the most of his opportunity.
Coming off turn four to complete the ninth trip around the fast, tacky
oval, Buckwalter ducked to the low side, then found some terrific bite
to grab the top spot as they raced down the homestretch. From that point
on, it was Buckwalter's race.
Trent held on for runner-up honors, while Bull
took the checkered in third place. Hank Rogers, Jr., driving the Zrinski
no. 25 for the first time this season, finished an impressive fourth.
Steve Lenig wound up fifth. "I've been sick all week," noted
the winner in victory lane. "Then we had all kinds of problems with
the other (Miller Racing Team) cars in warm-ups, so I was running around,
trying to help fix them. I was dead tired before the race even started.
But winning sure makes me feel better."
In the winged 20-lapper, Bull rolled off
the starting grid in the eighth position. He motored by rookie Eric Heydenreich
to take the lead coming off the fourth corner as they stormed towards
the completion of lap four. A few tours later, Michele Miller worked her
way under Heydenreich to steal second, and the young lady from Reading,
PA began her pursuit of the leader. Miller dipped to the inside of Bull
on several occasions, but she couldn't make her car stick on the bottom.
On each attempt, Bull would accelerate back
in front as Michele's no. 4 slid up the banking.
The midgets completed the first 11 trips without incident, but a yellow
for a spinning Kathy Kurtz put the field under the only caution period
of the event. On the restart, Michele went to the low side once again
in one and two. Her All Seasons Motorsports/Scott Performance Wire no.
4 got loose in turn two as Bull powered off
the top and pulled ahead by several car lengths.
As Bull rode comfortably out front, Miller
suddenly had a challenger for the runner-up position. Buckwalter began
an assault for the second spot, and all eyes were on that battle as Bull
blasted under the black and white fabric. Michele nipped Buckwalter by
a few feet at the line, with Trent and Mike Miller rounding out the top
five.
Bull complimented the younger of the racing
Miller sisters afterward. "She really ran me
hard; she did a great job. My engine's temperature was up to 280, so I'm
not sure how many more laps it would've gone. But I had to keep my foot
in it because Michele was right there."
LINCOLN NOTES:
On a steamy night at Lincoln, the midgets presented a pair of very competitive
races. But many of the teams had to work through some problems in order
to achieve successful finishes. And a few of the teams had a night they
would like to forget.
Mike Miller could not start the first feature due to mechanical maladies
that popped up in warm-ups. The gremlins turned out to be a fuel flow
problem, and the crew solved it in time to salvage a fifth-place effort
in the second feature.
Michele Miller was running fifth in the wingless event until the rotor
spun, changing the engine's timing. Her performance in the winged finale
proved that the engine was tuned properly for the second 20-lapper.
Ed Stimely, Jr. debuted a brand new Spike Chassis after his violent crash
at the County Line Raceway in North Carolina rendered his former frame
useless. He was happy with the new chassis, but got collected in Steve
Craig's flip on the second lap of the wingless race. The exhaust pipe
was crushed and the oil tank was cracked as Craig landed on top of the
Yetter Racing/ TQ Fiberglass no. 6. Stimely soldiered on to a tenth place
finish, but he was unable to start the second feature.
Kathy Kurtz made her first start of the season aboard the Wing Dynamics/Ray's
Yamaha no. 72. It was a night to work out the bugs for Kurtz, as magneto
and fuel pump troubles cut short both races for the resident of Robesonia,
PA.
Two of micro sprint racing's young chargers made their debut in midgets
at Lincoln. Brett Arndt and Davey Sammons quickly adapted to the increased
horsepower and nimble handling characteristics of the midgets, finishing
in the top ten during the wingless main event. Arndt, who said "it
was a lot of fun; these cars drive easy," registered eighth and ninth
place runs in the two features. Sammons recorded a ninth place effort
in the opener, but retired from the second race with fuel pump problems.
In the midst of an outstanding rookie season, Andy Martin suffered mechanical
problems for the first time this year. He was running a strong third in
the first feature before dropping out with six to go. He tried to hot
lap during the winged practice session, but had to go to the pits without
getting up to speed. Martin was not able to start the second race.
And despite Bull's top-five finishes in both
races, all was not "wine and roses" within the Mega Motorsports
camp. Last year's ARDC Rookie of the Year, Dave Shirk, was involved in
the Steve Craig mishap. He was forced to drop out due to the damage, and
his car was not repaired in time to start the second feature. On top of
that, one of Mega's co-owners, Jeff "Milt" Aquilini, was not
entirely satisfied with the way Bull's car
was running.
"We've been experimenting with shocks and set-ups this year,"
Aquilini pointed out. "The 'Mega Missile' is still not where we want
it to be, but we're gaining on it. It was not taking off on restarts tonight.
For the wing race, we went back to more of a baseline set-up. It seemed
to help, but it's not quite where we want it to be. But we'll get it before
the season's over."
FINISHING ORDER:
FIRST 20-LAP FEATURE (WINGLESS): 1.Steve Buckwalter 2.Donnie Trent
3.Ray Bull 4.Hank Rogers, Jr. 5.Steve Lenig 6.Bryan Kobylarz 7.Eric Heydenreich
8.Brett Arndt 9.Davey Sammons 10.Ed Stimely, Jr. 11.Scott Zipp 12.Jeff
Schell 13.Andy Martin 14.Michele Miller 15.Bill Case, Jr. 16.Bobby Goerner
17.Dave Shirk 18.Ted Schmid 19.Carey Becker 20.Steve Craig DNS: Kathy
Kurtz, Mike Miller, Chris Rupp.
SECOND 20-LAP FEATURE (WINGED): 1.Ray Bull
2.Michele Miller 3.Steve Buckwalter 4.Donnie Trent 5.Mike Miller 6.Hank
Rogers, Jr. 7.Eric Heydenreich 8.Steve Lenig 9.Brett Arndt 10.Bryan Kobylarz
11.Carey Becker 12.Scott Zipp 13.Steve Craig 14.Kathy Kurtz 15.Jeff Schell
16.Davey Sammons 17.Bobby Goerner 18.Ted Schmid DNS: Chris Rupp, Bill
Case, Jr., Dave Shirk, Ed Stimely, Jr., Andy Martin.
