PA600 Speedweek

JULY 8, 2007
A.J. BAST CLAIMS 2007 PA 600 SPEEDWEEK CROWN

A.J. Bast of Tower City, PA won two of the PA 600 Speeweek shows (Path Valley and Linda's) enroute to his overall title in the Newly Created Series. He becomes the first-ever champion of the PA 600 Speedweek series, earning the $500 Winner-Take-All point money. Bast surrounded his two Speedweek victories with finishes of fifth (at Hill Valley), second (at Susquehanna, where Jimmy Brookens passed him for the lead with the white flag waving), and tenth at the Showdown. What was the secret to his successful run during the five-event series? "I can't explain it," Bast smiled. "I'm just enjoying it and hoping for one more good day," he said while relaxing in his trailer before the Showdown. I'm proud to be on the list of champions for this great series and I can't wait for next year."

JULY 7, 2007
MIKE DICELY COLLECTS $10,000 AT RACE #5 THE 600 SHOWDOWN

At Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (LANCO) Mike Dicely, by virtue of his win in Dash #1, started on the pole in the Showdown. He led every lap, but Dietz and Rutherford were right behind him, especially as they negotiated heavy lapped traffic during the final ten laps. A caution flag with one to go allowed the leaders to run the final circuit without any traffic in front of them, and Dicely pulled ahead to register the $10,000 victory by three car-lengths over Dietz.

The winner's comments after the race, "We changed one torsion bar and three tires right before our heat race. I went from a dry, slick set-up to a "rubber-down" set-up, and it worked perfectly for the rest of the day." Asked if he was nervous as he encountered the heavy lapped traffic in the final stages, Hyper Mike replied, "No, I was pretty relaxed the whole time. Of course, I didn't know how close anyone really was. This is great, though...I got to lead three Hypers across the line." Dicely was referring to the fact that runner-up Tim Dietz and third-place Mike Rutherford also drive cars built by his company. Perhaps his best quote of the evening was this one... "I remember, years ago, when we were running for trophies, and only trophies, here at Lanco. Look where we are now..." he exclaimed, as he clutched the big check bearing his name and the $10,000 amount that goes to the Showdown victor.

With his 10th place finish, A.J. Bast clinched the 600 Speedweek title. He becomes the first-ever champion of the 600 Speedweek series, earning the $500 Winner-Take-All point money. Bast scored two wins during the series, at Path Valley on Monday, July 2nd, and at Linda's Speedway on Friday, July 6. He also finished fifth at Hill Valley and was runner-up to Jimmy Brookens at Susquehanna Speedway Park. The Tower City hot-shoe barely made it into the Showdown on Saturday, passing two cars on the final lap of his B-Main to secure a starting spot in the 50-lap finale.

A huge crowd, the largest in many years at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, witnessed the day's events. Perfect weather, especially when the sun went down, graced the third running of the Super 600 Showdown. The race was held at Hill Valley in 2005 and 2006, but organizer Dale Thomas decided to move the event to Lanco for 2007.

The total car count for the Showdown was 112. The field was split into 14 qualifying heats, with eight cars starting each ten-lap preliminary. Points were awarded for each driver's finishing position, and passing points were earned according to the number of positions a driver advanced from his/her starting spot. For example, 20 points were given for winning a heat race. Drivers earned one passing point for each position gained. Dicely started eighth in his heat race (because he drew a very high number when he signed in on Saturday) and won it, so he earned 27 points. He was the only driver to start last in his heat race and win, thereby earning more points than anyone else. The top 12 in points after the heats transferred directly into the A-Main. Everyone else was slotted for one of the "alphabet mains", beginning with a pair of E-Mains. Drivers had to race their way into the Showdown from that point. And a couple of wheel-twisters almost ran through the alphabet to make it into the A-Main...Billy Ney, a Lanco regular, won his E-Main, then came from the back to finish 3rd in D-1. His luck ran out in the first C-Main, however, as he missed the transfer by one position. Another midwestern ace, Billy Perry, picked up the win in D-2, then maneuvered through the pack to finish third in C-2. He couldn't quite crack the top six in his B-Main, however, and had to watch the Showdown from the grandstand. Indiana's Josh Ross managed to transfer from his C-Main to B-1, then qualified for the Showdown by climbing to fourth in the B. He advanced from 19th to 11th in the 50-lapper.

There were many who predicted a "crash fest" on the extremely fast, high-banked, eighth-mile oval. Fortunately, the naysayers were completely mistaken. The A-Main featured some real good racing for position, long stretches of green-flag competition, and was slowed by only six cautions (unofficial count) for minor incidents. A total of 24 qualifying races were held during the long day, with just two significant flips. Wesley Gordon, who's car number is 23 3/4, tumbled hard in his heat race. And Eddie Moss, from Florida, twirled completely up and over Kerry Gilbert's No. 99 in one of the B-Mains. Both drivers were okay, but their cars were mangled.

Brent Marks, the 16-year old from Myerstown, PA, was the Hard Charger of the event, picking up 15 positions during the 50-lapper. Marks started 22nd and finished seventh.

Heath Hehnly, driving Dicely's orange-and-white No. 44h after a hard crash eliminated his own car on Friday night at Linda's, advanced 14 positions in the finale, moving from 23rd to ninth. Bast, who rolled off 24th on the starting grid, also gained 14 spots to record his tenth-place finish. And Delaware's Glenn Heverin, who appeared to have one of the best cars all day, leap-frogged his way from 16th at the start to an impressive fourth at the checkered.

While most of the field stayed glued to the bottom groove throughout the 50-lap finale, Jack Spence and Jimmy Glenn were determined to make the high side work. And it did, at least for a little while. Spence came from 10th to third in the opening laps, trading that position with Duane Harbaugh for several tours before Jack eventually faded to a 12th place finish. Glenn started 14th and utilized the high line to steadily advance his position, ending up sixth as the black-and-white fabric waved over the field. Many observers, along with these two chauffeurs, felt the top groove may have come in even better, had more drivers ventured up there during the A-Main.

Dietz made a slick, three-wide move under Harbaugh and Spence to grab third on lap 16. Flying under the two cars on the homestretch, the 2006 Hill Valley Champ ducked as low as he possibly could in one and two, and the car stuck. Tim nailed the gas out of turn two and, with the car pointed perfectly straight, he took the position. Later, on lap 29 (and just before the competition red was displayed to allow the teams to make adjustments), he used the same line to take the runner-up spot away from Rutherford, who wiggled slightly in two, opening up the bottom lane for Dietz.

The 14 qualifying heats were captured by Spence, Dietz, Indiana's Jonathan Hendrick, Kyle Moody, Jeremy "Jay Dog" Lynch, Chris Gerhart, Sammy Casella, Rutherford, David Gravel, Heverin, Kenny Vincent, Dicely, Oklahoma's Kevin Bayer, and Randy Oswald.

E-Main winners: Billy Ney and Jimmy Dunckley.
D-Main winners: Pete Skias and Billy Perry.
C-Main winners: Heath Hehnly and Caleb Armstrong.
B-Main winners: Brett Schoenly and Jimmy Glenn.
Dash winners: Mike Dicely and Sammy Casella.

Heartbreaker of the night...Kevin Bayer, from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, won his heat race and was leading the first B-Main when his left-rear wheel broke and flew off the car in turns one and two. The misfortune occurred with just a few laps remaining, forcing the owner/operator of Factor One Racing to become a spectator for the Showdown. California's Stan Yockey, the builder of PMP Chassis, started mid-pack in the same B-Main. Yockey moved up close to a transfer spot, then faded as the handle went away on his No. 7x.

COMPLETE FINISHING ORDER: 
Super 600 Showdown (50-Laps): 1.Mike Dicely 2.Tim Dietz 3.Mike Rutherford 4.Glenn Heverin 5.David Gravel 6.Jimmy Glenn 7.Brent Marks 8.Duane Harbaugh 9.Heath Hehnly 10.A.J. Bast 11.Josh Ross 12.Jack Spence 13.Dwayne Gutshall 14.Eric Brobst 15.Brandon Artibani 16.Jonathan Hendrick 17.Bill Thomas 18.Shane Lewis 19.Chris Gerhart 20.Sammy Casella 21.A.J. Michael 22.Joe Goerner 23.Rodney Stealy 24.Brett Schoenly 25.Kyle Moody.

RESULTS WITH DRIVER'S HOMETOWN:
1.Mike Dicely................Etters, PA
2.Tim Dietz....................Hanover, PA
3.Mike Rutherford.........Newmanstown, PA
4.Glenn Heverin.............Middletown, DE
5.David Gravel..............Watertown, CT
6.Jimmy Glenn...............Branchburg, NJ
7.Brent Marks...............Myerstown, PA
8.Duane Harbaugh.........Hanover, PA
9.Heath Hehnly..............Manheim, PA
10.A.J. Bast..................Tower City, PA

JULY 6, 2007
A.J. BAST CLAIMS RACE #4 AT LINDA'S

A.J. Bast of Tower City, PA took top honors in the big 25 lap championship event for the popular 600cc Micro Sprints at the Linda's Speedway. The Friday night event was part of a five track Speedweek series. Bast picked up $1000 plus a guaranteed starting spot in the Linda's Speedway 600cc Micro Sprint National Open to take place on October 19-20. 145 cars jammed the Linda's Speedway pits with 63 of the 600's, 30 of the 270's, 30 Slingshots and 22 125cc Sprints. Mike Rutherford of Newmanstown notched his fifth win of the season in the running of the 25 lap feature for the 270cc Sprints as he wins for the second week in a row. Brian Sholley made it two wins in a row also as he dominated the 20 lap feature for the 125cc Sprints. Shawn Light won the 20 lap Slingshot feature to collect his first win of 2007 but what a wild way to win a feature. When Slingshot race leader Marc Daniels was coming down for the white flag his muffler was no longer on the car and as he was headed to the checkered flag he instead saw the black flag with Shawn Light taking the checkered. Slingshot rules state a car will be disqualified when the muffler is disconnected or missing. A tough night for Marc Daniels makes for a good night for Shawn Light.  Tim Dietz, A.J. Bast, Wesley Gordon, Brenden Bright, Mark Shirshekan and Jake Murphy won the six qualifying heat races for the 600's. Those six drivers then drew for their feature race starting positions 1-6. Mark Shirshekan picked the top spot as A.J. Bast picked outside front row. Bast took the top spot on lap one and led all 25 laps to collect the $1000 to prize. Amber Tank Ms MicroRacing 07' was on hand to pose with Bast in the winners circle. Mark Shirshekan finished second with Jake Murphy third, Tim Dietz fourth and Wesley Gordon fifth. Brett Schoenly was sixth with Shane Lewis, Terry Schaeffer, Chad Hough and Ryan Greth completing the top ten. Lex Burritt, Mike Rutherford and David Gravel won the Consolation races. Drivers from Flordia, Missouri, California, Oklahoma, Indiana, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Delaware were just some of the states represented. The 600cc Micro Sprint Speedweek tour started at Hill Valley Speedway on Sunday July 1 then moved to Path Valley Speedway on Monday July 2 followed by the Susquehanna Speedway Park on Tuesday, July 3. Tonight's race at Linda's served as race #4 while the series will come to an end on Saturday, July 7 at the Clyde Martin Speedway with a big $10,000 to win event. The overall winner of the series will pocket an extra $500.

RTS CHASSIS SPONSORED 600CC SPRINTS
HEAT 1 - Tim Dietz, Brett Schoenly, Terry Schaeffer
HEAT 2 - AJ Bast, Greg Kone, Jim Callahan
HEAT 3 - Wesley Gordon, Shane Lewis, Ryan Greth
HEAT 4 - Brenden Bright, Chad Hough, Jonathan Hendrick
HEAT 5 - Mark Shirshekan, Dusty Heistand, Stan Yockey
HEAT 6 - Jake Murphy, Heath Hehnly, Robert Kendall

CONSOLATION 1 - Lex Burritt, Tyler DeVault
CONSOLATION 2 - Mike Rutherford, Ryan Shupp
CONSOLATION 3 - David Gravel, Brock Zearfoss

FINISH ORDER:
25 LAP "SPEEDWEEK" CHAMPIONSHIP $1000 TO WIN - AJ Bast, Mark Shirshekan, Jake Murphy, Tim Dietz, Wesley Gordon, Brett Schoenly, Shane Lewis, Terry Schaeffer, Chad Hough, Ryan Greth, Stan Yockey, Jonathan Hendrick, Robert Kendall, Jim Callahan, Mike Rutherford, David Gravel, Brenden Bright, Brock Zearfoss, Tyler DeVault, Greg Kone, Dusty Heistand, Lex Burritt, Heath Hehnly, Ryan Shupp

NON-QUALIFIERS
Harold Matthews, Ron Lewis, Dillon Stein, Kevin Steele, Kevin Bayer, Tim Gladfelter, Eddie Moss, Brian Woodson, Brent Ely, Matt Mountz, Chris Partin, Greg Miller, Brett Michalski, Pete Skias, Eric Bodine, Ryan Wilson, Jack Conover, Parker Evans, Keith McIntyre, Mike Dicely, Brandon Artibani, Duane Harbaugh, Brett Peters, Brock Bilger, Zach Light, Randy Oswald, Matt Pupello, Alex Bright, Roger Rose, Tom Lynch, Dave Shirk, Brent Marks, Brad Cox, Phil Griffith, Brian Roseman, Kenny Harris III, Rodney Adams, Arron Spahr, Tom Goerner

JULY 3, 2007
JIMMY BROOKENS MAKES LATE PASS TO WIN RACE #3 AT SUSKY

The second annual Eichelberger’s U-Pull It Super Show at the Susquehanna Speedway Park on Tuesday, July 3 lived up to the pre-race hype as Jimmy Brookens won the 15-lap 600cc Micro Sprint feature with a late race pass of A.J. Bast. Dave Ely came from an eighteenth place starting position to pick up the win in the ARDC Midget 20-lap feature. Ronnie Dunstan came from midpack to add to his career win total in the Legends Cars main event.

With a field of sixty-one 600cc Sprint Cars entered, the field was whittled down through heats and consolation races to 27 starters for the 15-lap feature event. A.J. Bast jumped out to the early lead from the front row. Bast held a commanding lead through the majority of the race as a few cautions flew during the first 13 laps. On the restart after the 13th lap caution, Jimmy Brookens, who started eighth, took the lead from Bast to pick up the win. Bast settled for second. Aaron Spahr finished third, followed by Ben Murphy and Jimmy Callahan.

The Super Show was part of the newly formed PA 600cc Sprint Car Speedweeks with races also at Hill Valley Speedway (July 1 - $5,000 to win), Path Valley Speedway (July 2 - $1,000 to win), Linda’s Speedway (July 6 - $1,000 to win) and LANCO Speedway (July 7 - $10,000 to win). Entries from competitors all over the United States competed. The states other than Pennsylvania represented included California , Oklahoma , Texas , Indiana , New York , New Jersey , Maryland and Delaware . Brad Cox from Gunnedah, North Western NSW Australia has also competition and made the feature as the first alternate.

FINISH ORDER:
600cc Micro Sprint Car Feature (15 laps) - 1. Jimmy Brookens; 2. A.J. Bast; 3. Aaron Spahr; 4. Ben Murphy; 5. Jimmy Callahan; 6. Dusty Heistand; 7. Stan Yockey; 8. Dwayne Harbaugh; 9. Heath Hehnley; 10. Brent Marks; 11. Brian Racine; 12. Chad Hough; 13. Jake Murphy; 14. Dwayne Gutshall; 15. Kyle Moody; 16. Brandon Artibani; 17. Mark Strickler; 18. Tim Dietz; 19. Ryan Frable; 20. Nathan Hauck; 21. Timmie Buckwalter; 22. Kevin Bayer; 23. Ryan Greth; 24. Jake Conover; 25. Brad Cox; 26. Mike Dicely; 27. David Gravel; DNS – Matt Puppello.

NON-QUALIFIERS
Chris Krull; Alex Bright; Brock Bilger; Lex Burritt; Shane Lewis; Devin Gundrum; Joe Goerner; Mike Rutherford; Mike Freed; Trevin Shank; Greg Kone; Kevin Steele; Dave Feeser; Robbie Shuttlesworth; Brendon Bright; Keith Ford; Ricky Stonebraker; Dave Thrush; Isaac Sneeringer; Tyler Devault; Todd Scharger; Brandon Yarlett; Vince Izeller; Alex Schantz; Eric Bodine; Timmie Barrick; Bradley Weber; Pete Skias; and Ryan Wilson.

JULY 2, 2007
A.J. BAST WINS RACE #2 AT PATH VALLEY

A.J. Bast roared out of an eleventh place start and passed Jimmy Callahan for the lead on lap 26 to win the PA 600 Sprints Speed Week feature Monday night at the Path Valley Speedway Park. For his first win of the season at Path Valley, Bast took home $1000.

After some early race cautions, Tim Dietz was the early leader in the 30-lap 600 Speed Week feature with past champion Callahan from a fourth place start into the lead on lap seven. Bast worked from his eleventh place start into third by lap nine and took second place from Dietz on lap 14. After caution flags on lap 20 and 21 closed up the field, Bast went to work on Callahan and in lap 25 Callahan went too fast, high and wide out of turn four and Bast dropped down for the inside pass to take the lead at the start of lap 26.

The front ten out of the 65 entries for the 600 Sprints feature were Bast, Callahan, Dietz, Mike Dicely, Jake Murphy, Chad Hough, Stan Yockey, Rodney Glass, Kevin Bayer, and Jimmy Brookens. Eleven-car heat race winners were Callahan, Mike Rutherford, Kevin Bayer, Tim Dietz, Mark Strickler, and Parker Evans. Two racers qualified for the feature from each of three 15 lap consolation races, and the winner of each of two 15 lap Last Chance features, Chad Hough and Heath Hehnly, also qualified. Hough started 25 and finished in sixth.

Said race director John Winsett, "The drivers gave us all their skill and some hard, fast, clean racing. We want to extend special thanks to the sponsors, Wee Bee Audio and The Workshop and to (Warren) Trip Kone for helping organize the five-race Speed Week tour."

FINISH ORDER:
600 Sprints Speed Week - AJ Bast (started 11- $1,000), Jimmy Callahan, Tim Dietz, Mike Dicely, Jake Murphy, Chad Hough, Stan Yockey, Rodney Glass, Kevin Bayer, Jimmy Brookens, Tyler DeVault, Mark Strickler, Jan Luckenbaugh, Ben Murphy, Dwayne Gutshall, Brett Schoenly, Timmie Barrick, AJ Michael, Parker Evans, Duane Harbaugh, Brent Marks, Richie Fitz, Heath Hehnly, Mike Rutherford, David Gravel, Robbie Kendall. Heat Winners: Callahan, Rutherford, Bayer, Dietz, Strickler, Evans.

Consi Qualifiers:
Consi 1, Brookens, Murphy;
Consi 2, Luckenbaugh, Yockey;
Consi 3, Kendall, Gutshall.
Last Chance Winners, Chad Hough, Heath Hehnly.

JULY 1, 2007
MIKE DICELY TAKES RACE #1 OF THE INAGURAL SPEEDWEEK SERIES AT HILL
VALLEY

Mike Dicely had a great Sunday drive on the clay of Hill Valley Speedway as he claimed the checkered flag worth $5,000. The Rumble in the Hills event kicked off the newly created 2007 Pennsylvania 600 Micro Sprint Speedweek Series. With an amazing 64 cars total in the pits, Mike's day was far from easy. His number 44 Hyper managed its way through all the qualifing races and into the A-Main where he steered his way to one of the biggest pay-days you can find in 600cc Micro Sprint racing today.

FINISH ORDER:
Rumble in the Hills - Hill Valley Speedway (Car Count: 64)
1. Mike Dicely ($5,000), 2. Kevin Bayer, 3. Stan Yockey, 4. Ryan Greth, 5. A.J. Bast