The action was hot and heavy at Lindas Speedway on Friday August 20th for the Xcel Chassis 600 modifieds. Thirty nine cars rounded out the largest class of the night and gave the fans a show they would talk about all week.
Slatington native, Tyler Bartik, gave the biggest and best performance of the night earning him a trip to victory lane. Right after his post race interview, Tyler stated “I can’t say enough how everything seems to be coming together right now. My Uncle Jim is our extra set of eyes for the track and a great ear when it comes to getting the car set up. Winning at Lindas is a goal for all the drivers and we have one more race before the Bill Hess Memorial to finish dialing in the car.”
Chris Stockham, Eric Whitby, Brian Mady and George Loux scored heat race wins along with Nick Seaman and Corry Roth carrying over to the feature after winning the B-Mains.
Young guns Aaron Bowes and Justin Schraden set the pace for the 24 car field. A first lap caution would see the #37 of Ryan Suchon on the hook and the 12e of Eric Whitby pit side.
The game changer of the night came early on lap #3 when Schraden made contact with Bowes stacking up the front runners with them. Tyler Bartik, Scott Washburn and Brian Mady were able to clear the dust and found themselves in the top spots.
New this year to the series, the leader can chose to run top or bottom on restarts. Washburn would choose the bottom giving Bartik the line he needed. Sitting in the third position, Brian “BIG DADDY” Mady tried every line he could to get past Washburn and just couldn’t complete the pass. In tech Brian talked about his run, “I knew if I would have pushed the issue I could have gotten by Scotty and hoped to give Bartik a run but that’s not how I race. I can’t complain with the finishes I’ve had lately and we can just keep the ball rolling.”
Bartik took advantage of Washburn holding off Mady to close the night in victory lane for the #85 D&R Well Drilling, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Suzuki powered machine.
Starting the field in the 24th and final spot, Richie Hitzler, rookie of the year contender, knew it would be a wild ride. “I knew I would need to keep my nose clean but race at the same time. These guys run you clean but race you hard so every time I come off the track it’s just more I’ve learned. I can’t believe I finished 6th cause after that workout I had no idea where I ended up.” Moving up 18 positions not only earned him hard charger of the night but has set a new bar as having the record for most spots gained in one race.
Next on tap for the Xcel Chassis 600 mods will be their only trip back to asphalt at the beautiful Mahoning Valley Speedway. August 28th will have Xcel Chassis along with Joe Fanelli honoring one of the good guys with a Carl McElroy Memorial race with an increased purse of $500.00 to the winner.
We are on the back stretch of the 2010 season with some big shows on tap. Sunday Sept. 5th Penn Can Speedway will host the first annual Northeast Small Car Classic with a possible payout of $1200.00 depending on car count for all divisions. Lindas Speedway will host the first Xcel Chassis sponsored Bill Hess Memorial with a $1000.00 payout to the winner. Time Trials and a 50 lapper will determine who brings home the bacon
FEATURE FINISH
TYLER BARTIK, Scott Washburn, Brian Mady, Ryan Kunkle, Mike Kelly, Richie Hitzler, George Loux, RJ Smith, Joe Fanelli, Corry Roth, Nick Seaman, Alec Bartholomew, John Lakatos, BJ Scherff, Shawn Light, Ray Horning, Jeromy Guistwite, Aaron Bowes, Justin Schraden, Chris Stockham, Ryan Higgs, Nick Mady, Ryan Suchon, Eric Whitby, Kasey Ernst, Mike Fry, Jon Horn, Josh Fox, Shawn Horning, Rod Adams, Pasco Tomaino, Joe Carter, Mike Burrows, Paul DeRuyter, Butch Getz, Sean Weiss, Scott Fry, Ian Detweiller, Jeromy Guistwite
