BUCKWALTER
SWEEPS TWIN 20'S AT DIXIELAND
Elizabeth City, NC - The bottom line is simply this:
Steve Buckwalter is on a tear, and last Friday night he stormed into North
Carolina's Dixieland Speedway. When he left, the fans were dazzled by
his performance, as the Royersford (PA) Rocket captured both ends of the
Twin 20-lap main events.
Excellent racing and some new faces marked the return of the mighty midgets
to Dixieland. In the first feature, the winged midgets of ARDC followed
Donnie Trent around the 3/8-mile oval for the first six circuits. As Trent
built a comfortable lead, the action behind him was hot and heavy.
Buckwalter, who started tenth, was on the move early, throttling by Ray
Bull and Scott Zipp on the high side entering turn three to snare the
third spot on lap five.
One straightaway later, he gassed the Victory Motorcycle no. 5 up to the
cushion, passing Fred Schell for the runner-up position.
During the next two trips around the sandy clay, Buckwalter chased down
Trent, then used a classic slide job in turn one to grab the lead. After
the event's second and final caution flag on lap seven, the current point
leader sprinted away from the field, racing into his own zip code. Trent
held on to finish second, and Michele Miller won a spirited battle with
her father, Mike, for the third spot. Andy Martin, who was also mixing
it up with the Millers, wound up fifth.
The victory, Buckwalter's fourth of the year in ARDC competition, was
popular with the large crowd on hand at Dixieland. "Yeah, we love
coming down here and putting on a good show for the great fans at Dixieland,"
commented the winner. "I race (micro sprints) on a track up in Pennsylvania
called Trailways. It's somewhat similar to this track, and I think that
helps me to feel comfortable here and put a good set-up under the car."
The night's second feature, also run with wings, saw Scott Zipp break
out to the early lead. With one lap in the books, Michele Miller flashed
by the 3D Auto Parts no. 99 to steal the top spot. As Michele began to
slip away from the pack, some intense racing was taking place for the
second through fifth positions. Zipp, Carey Becker, Ray Bull, Mike Miller,
and Buckwalter were dueling side-by-side and sometimes three-wide, before
Buckwalter, who was glued to the inside guardrail, darted into the runner-up
slot. A couple of yellows on laps five and six erased Michele's advantage
and set up a terrific battle between the two young wheel-twisters.
As the green flag waved on each of the restarts, Buckwalter would dive
for the bottom going into one. Michele Miller, utilizing the middle groove,
had to run into the corners harder and harder to protect her lead. On
the seventh trip around the smooth, fast oval, she blasted into turns
one and two a little bit too hard, skating up the track and opening the
door for Buckwalter.
"I knew, as well as Michele was running, that I had to make her run
through the turns harder than she wanted to," said Buckwalter, as
he explained his strategy afterward. "It paid off, because she finally
ran in too hot, and that's how I was able to get under her. She was really
fast; she did a great job tonight." Unfortunately for Michele, who
was the sentimental favorite of the Dixieland crowd, the handling was
going away on her Ray's Yamaha/All Seasons Motorsports/Scott Performance
Wire no. 4. She continued to fade back into the field as the laps ticked
off, finishing seventh as the checkered mercifully waved. "It went
away big time," noted Michele of her handling woes. "I'm not
sure what happened."
Five-time ARDC champion Ray Bull, from Bloomsburg, PA, motored into second
at the halfway point, but the Mega Motorsports ace had nothing for Buckwalter.
Bull, who suffered through another difficult Twin 20 program (see notes
below), wound up a distant second at the end. Mike Miller and Andy Martin
swapped the third spot a few times as the race neared its conclusion,
with Miller eventually nipping Martin for the position at the finish line.
Martin held off a fast-closing Billy Pauch, Jr. for fourth. Pauch, in
just his second outing in a midget, had to come from the back after spinning
in turn four with five laps complete.
DIXIELAND NOTES:
Deja vu for Bull...The Bloomsburg Blaster
had another tough night, as his Lobitz Catering no. 22 was stricken with
mechanical ills in warm-ups. The Mega Motorsports team quickly altered
the set-up on Dave Shirk's no. 2, as Bull's teammate handed his ride over
to the defending ARDC champion. Two week's prior, at Mercer Raceway Park,
the same thing happened during the first 20-lap feature. At least this
time, the gremlins popped up in hot laps, and the switch was made in time
for Bull to run both 20-lappers. Bull
had to pit to replace a flat tire on lap seven of the first feature, then
persevered to finish ninth. After additional adjustments between races,
the Schannauer Plumbing &Heating/Denny's Electric no. 2 was much more
to Bull's liking, and Ray
steered it to a runner-up finish in the nightcap.
Those new faces...As mentioned above, a couple of new faces joined ARDC's
cast of regulars in North Carolina. Billy Pauch, Jr. strapped into Doug
Starrett's no. 49 for the second time this season. Although Billy had
never seen the Dixieland Speedway, by the end of the evening he looked
completely comfortable on the smooth, slick surface. "It's a tricky
place, but I think I learned how to position the car to come off the corners
properly," commented Pauch after warm-ups. In the first feature,
Billy spun the car in turn one as Bull slowed with his flat left-rear.
He soldiered on to finish 11th. In the finale, however, the son of the
dirt Modified legend came roaring back after a spin in turn four with
fifteen to go. Passing some of the club's veterans, Pauch climbed to fifth
and almost got by Martin for fourth by the time the race ended.
Another newcomer who made the trip to North Carolina was micro sprint
standout A.J. Michael. Wheeling one of the Miller Racing Team entries,
A.J. anxiously took advantage of all the practice time he could get at
Dixieland. He reportedly felt "more and more comfortable" as
his seat time increased, and the team decided he looked fast enough to
put more gear in the car for the features. In the first two midget mains
of his career, Michael ran every lap, staying smooth and keeping himself
out of trouble. He finished 12th in the first one, and then placed 10th
in the final race of the night. "It was a lot of fun; the car is
much easier to steer than I expected. I just need more laps, but I really
enjoyed it."
Quote of the night...Steady Ed Stimely, Jr., stared at his Yetter Racing
no. 6 at night's end and said, "After 20 years of runnin' these things,
you'd think I would understand them. But some nights, I really don't..."
Stimely was a bit frustrated with himself because he was comin' on in
the second race, running strong on the outside. He had just passed Michele
Miller for fifth when the yellow appeared for a spinning car in turn three
- Stimely. "I didn't go in high enough, I guess, and the car slid
up into the marbles and spun."
ORDER OF FINISH:
1ST FEATURE (20 LAPS): 1.Steve Buckwalter 2.Donnie Trent 3.Michele Miller
4.Mike Miller 5.Andy Martin 6.Scott Zipp 7.Steve Lenig 8.Ed Stimely, Jr.
9.Ray Bull 10.Jeff Stelter 11.Billy Pauch, Jr. 12.A.J. Michael
13.Carey Becker 14.Mark Lawshe 15.Fred Schell 16.Ted Schmid DNS: Dave
Shirk.
2ND FEATURE (20 LAPS): 1.Steve Buckwalter 2.Ray
Bull 3.Mike Miller 4.Andy Martin 5.Billy Pauch, Jr. 6.Steve Lenig
7.Michele Miller 8.Jeff Stelter 9.Ed Stimely, Jr. 10.A.J. Michael 11.Scott
Zipp 12.Carey Becker 13.Ted Schmid 14.Donnie Trent DNS: Fred Schell, Mark
Lawshe, Dave Shirk.
