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THE ROAD TO SPEEDWEEK
In the summer of 2004 Dan Little and Trip Kone
crossed paths for the first time at a tiny track called Hill Valley
Speedway in Orbisonia, PA. where their sons, Brandon Little and Greg Kone.
Each were driving 600cc micro sprint cars for their fathers. They knew
each other to say hello when passing in the pits, nothing more. The
following year, Dan’s son moved on to a larger V8 stock car class at the
speedway, but Dan still fielded a car with his current driver Tim Dietz.
Greg had purchased his first 600 from Tim Dietz’s uncle. Also named Tim
Dietz. The two teams found a common bond and quickly became close
friends both on and off the track. What followed in the ensuing years
was a wealth of ideas of how to make the class stronger, keep the costs
somewhat in check, keep the racing competitive, and still remain fun and
give something back to the racer.
Central Pennsylvania is a dream come true for anyone who owns a 600cc
micro sprint, boasting at least a dozen tracks within 60 miles of
Harrisburg, PA on any given Friday or Saturday night from early April
until early October. In addition to being able to race all of those
tracks, one driver had the vision and ultimate energy to promote a
$10,000.00 to win micro sprint race. Skeptics told him “There is no way
you can get that sort of money together to sponsor a micro sprint race”.
Fellow racer Dale Thomas thought differently of his idea, and the first
PA “Super 600 Showdown” was held and was a success at the Hill Valley
Speedway, and the idea caught on across the nation. Not willing to leave
well enough alone after the first Showdown, Dan and Trip toyed with many
ideas of how to energize the class even more. Sighting the Showdown was
always held during the 4th of July weekend every year, many teams from
across the country were using the time away from work to come to
Pennsylvania with their families. Why not try to organize additional
races during the week so the travel from distant places was worth the
tow? The idea of a few races quickly became 6, and was immediately
compared to the Ohio and Pennsylvania 410 Speedweek programs
The first annual program was a total shot in the dark as to whether the
idea could be a success, and the limited amount of time to put such a
week in order. Sponsors, track owners, teams, media, and the avenues
needed to do it had to be done in a hurry. Dan’s involvement in racing
goes back many years, fielding a championship late model team with his
brother at the helm. His connection to manufacturers is simply
astounding, making a trip through the aisles at the PRI show in Orlando
and very time consuming adventure! Trip is no stranger to the other side
of racing either. He helped promote the now dormant KARS 358 sprint car
series in Central PA as well as traveling with Brian Paulus on the WoO
tour in the early part of the millennium. Dan hit the phones gathering
sponsors while Trip talked to local track owners and promoters to see if
such an idea was feasible, and it quickly became apparent that it was.
How successful would it be was the only question that couldn’t be
answered until after the week. The word began to spread across the
nation about such a week, and the response was good, but would it
actually happen was the question from the teams. The tow from California
to Pennsylvania is not something you want to do and be disappointed when
finally arriving in PA. International racers were even curious about
visiting for such a week if it were to happen. July 2006 arrived and so
did the racers, with tracks averaging 68 cars per venue and a weekly
high of 123 cars at the Showdown, representing states from coast to
coast and even teams from Australia. Running so many races in such a
short time with purses considered huge to what 600 drivers race for
weekly, a racing vacation with the whole family, the idea of racing
someone from a different region of the country and making new friends
and contacts apparently intrigued a lot of racers for the first year of
the Speedweek shows.
A.J. Bast of Tower City, PA, became the first Pennsylvania 600 Speedweek
Champion. Winning two races (Path Valley Speedway and Linda’s Speedway)
and consistently finishing in all the races, he walked off with over
$5,000 for the week. Mike Dicely was the Showdown winner and also won a
$5,000 race at Hill Valley pocketing more than $15,000 for the two wins.
This year’s 2008 Speedweek show was now in the sights of many more teams
that would now know it was a reality. Purse increases, more contingency
prizes, huge micro sprint industry involvement, and a new launched
website all gave the week the additional credibility it needed. Close to
$80,000 in money and prizes would be awarded during the week. An average
of 84 cars graced the pits at the weeks races with a weekday high of 94
cars at Lincoln Speedway in Hanover, PA. The showdown once again boasted
over 100 cars on a rainy overcast day at the Clyde Martin Memorial
Speedway. This year, it would be the red hot Brent Marks from PA who
would win the 2nd annual Speedweek title and 16-year-old Robbie Kendall
from Baltimore, MD who would earn the $10,000 Showdown loot.
The dust had not settled from the wild 2008 Showdown at Lanco when the
wheels were in motion for the 2009 addition of PA 600 Speedweek. Still
growing, this year’s purses will be more racer friendly all the way
through the “A” main field, as well as a complete pay-out for the “B”
main and gift certificates for all “C” main competitors. In all, more
than $100,000 will be contested for during the first week of July in
Pennsylvania next year. The series has become a favorite of the racers
because all of the sponsor monies and prizes go back to the racer. Dan
and Trip do all of this because they believe in the sport and take no
pay for doing it. If they did, that would be taking money from the
racer, and that’s not what this wild week of micro sprint racing in PA
is all about. |
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