Hollenbach Wins Throwdown- Maurer in a Wingless Sprint Thriller Harron Tops 270s while Schoffstall Gains Tour Win Story by : Mike Batz | Photos by : Amy Williams Jonestown, PA | June 2, 2014 - Sometimes its better to be lucky than good. We have all heard the old saying but, sometimes oure lucky enough to be both! When the RTS Chassis sponsored 270 Sprints had a ten car pile up to start the main event we knew it was going to be a very different race than a week ago when the event went green to checkered. Point leader Nick Skias blew up going for fifth and the first of two big wreck occurred. Mike Binkley was the race leader with Mike Rutherford and Kevin Berger making numerous challenges for the lead sometimes going three wide. When Berger caught an infield tire and spun bringing out the red on lap four a fuel stopped was called for. That was the last time the 270 Sprint feature would slow. Binkley led on the restart until lap nine when Rutherford took control. In the mean time Devin Harron began to work his way to the front with tenth place starter Richie Hartman in toe. Harron and Hartman moved into second and third on lap 12. Rutherford began to slow on 18 before pulling to the infield with a blown engine. Harron inherited the lead and drove to his third career Lindas Speedway win. Harron lead most of the main event last week but did not get to the checkered first. Hartman came across second with Kyle Weiss charging from 16th to finish in third. Brandon Edgar came from 12th and Dave Grube from 23rd to finish in the top five! Binkley, Dave Williams, Pat Bealer, Dylan Adams, and Christi Sweigert made up the top ten finishers. Heat races were won by Nick Skias, Adams, Bishop, and Harron to complete a clean sweep of his night of racing. Pete Skias and Lyle Stroman took the consolation wins. Another great field of 31 270 Sprints filled the pits. Any time a Wingless race is held and Tim Buckwalter is on the pole there will be few people that will bet against him. That was the case Friday night when Buckwalter drew the pole for the main event. The former ARDC champion held off the early push from James Morris until lap nine when a new contender came into the picture. Jesse Maurer has run four Wingless Sprint races, including Friday night. He had an uphill climb ahead of him to get by Buckwalter. Also coming into the fold was Mike Rutherford from the ninth starting spot. Maurer followed Buckwalter until lap 18 when he left the bottom to roll around Buckwalter on the top and a big crossover put Maurer into the lead, Rutherford followed. In a rematch from last years 270 Nationals Maurer and Rutherford would begin a fantastic race for the win. Maurer was back on the inside line with Rutherford trying to push around the top. Coming to the line Rutherford made one last ditch effort on the outside to go by Maurer but, it was not enough and Maurer held on by a car length for the win. Buckwalrer, New York native Rob Vivona and the new point leader Bruce Ginther made up the top five. Steve Bull came from 17th, Chris James came from 22nd, and 8 Bruce Buckwalter from 23rd to finish inside the top ten. 14 Jason Swavely recovered from two spins to grab a ninth and Jim Hendricks recorded his first top ten at the track. Morris, Vivona, and Zach Bealer were the heat race winners for a 23 car field to close out the Wingless Sprint May Mayhem in style. Wingless Sprints return on July 11th. An outstanding field of Slingshots are always on hand when the Slingshot Tour comes into Jonestown. The Savage Hyundai Slingshots brought 22 cars to the green flag in their 30 lap feature event Friday. Bill Weaver, the defending champion o the lass, and Alex Schoffstall, the most recent feature winner, share row number one. Weaver got out to the early lead with Schoffstall settling into second. Brett Bieber moved into third near half way to join the fray. yellow on lap 22 bunched the field up for the last time. Schoffstall made one last push but, Weaver was able to hold on and cross the line first even though Weaver had a poor sounding engine because of the loss of a header pipe at the end. Weaver could not clear the scale, coming up two pounds light. Schoffstall was awarded the win with Bieber, Cody Kline, Kyle Gruber, and Larry Raifsnyder the top five. Justin Thompson came from 11th to sixth, Louden Reimert, Sam Scicchitano, Richard Partite, and BJ Antonio made up the top ten. Two rounds of heat races decide the feature line up with Weaver gaining the pole and heat wins going to Weaver, Schoffstall, Kline, Raifsnyder, Reimert, and Antonio. The annual Jonestown Throwdown was held at Lindas Speedway this week. The Throwdown entails match racing in a randomly seated bracket until only one driver is left and that driver is crowned the Jonestown Throwndown champion. In the final race team mates Ed Hollenbach and Troy Hostetter ran head to head with Hollenbach coming out on top. Hollenbach was given a front row challenge offer to start last for an extra $70 to win but, he elected to hold the front row starting spot. Troy Hostetter bolted from the second starting spot into the race lead during the feature race with Hollenbach sliding into second. It wasnt long before Leroy Long drove into second and Hostetter, Long, and Hollenbach formed a familiar battle at the front of the field. Long would fall out on lap 12 of the 20 lap main event. Hostetter pulled away from Hollenbach in the closing laps for his first win of 2014. Hostetter is a former winner of both the Throwdown and the feature event that is held on the same night. Hollenbach came across in second spot, with Tyler Stump, Rich Bossinger, and Butch Helsel rounding out the top five. Austin Brown and Andrew Davis enjoyed strong runs in sixth and seventh, Bill Wentz was eighth, Chris Cunnane ninth, and Chris Derr was tenth. Kevin McCallin won a qualifier to set starting spots for the driver eliminated in the first round. The final four drivers in the match races were Hostetter, Hollenbach, Long, and Chris Smith. This Friday, June 6th, the RTS Chassis 270 Sprints will be joined by the Hoosier Tire 600 Sprints and the Savage Hyundai Slingshots plus the Gutshall Automotive 125 Micro Sprints in Twin 15s. Gates open at 5:30 and Hot Laps are at 7. Information on this weeks racing can be found on LindasSpeedway, Facebook, or Twitter or call the speedway at (717)865-5330. For specific questions you can email the speedway at Mike@lindasspeedway.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 00:00:01 +0000