Getting Linda's track out of the way for #116
#116 Linda's Speedway, Jonestown, PA (1/4-mile dirt), 10/6/06...
The weather report was certainly conflicting for central Pa. this past weekend. Some forecasts had rain early Friday and clearing for the rest of the weekend, while others had a chance of rain right throught Saturday evening.
My plan was Linda's Speedway Friday night, Shippensburg Speedway Saturday afternoon, capped off by my favorite track Lincoln Speedway Saturday night. The first two tracks would be new ones.
Rain showers broke up and pushed south early in the morning. However, the rain pretty much stayed right on the turnpike and south for much of the day. Linda's is only 20-30 miles away. I watched the radar all day and the shower seemed to have a tough time progressing north of the turnpike so I left at 2:30 figuring worse case I'd either be down their for Saturday's races or at the last minute could head to Borger's.
I had sunshine until I got off I-80 and it got progessively cloudier as I headed south. By the time I reached Port Royal it was cloudy and looked as if it could rain at any minute. I kept calling every 30 minutes and never did talk to anyone only the answering machine. As I got to Harrisburg and headed north on I-81 the skies lightened and I figured i was in the clear. In fact skies cleared later and the moon, with an odd large ring around it, was visible for most of the night.
I got to Linda's shortly after 6:30 PM as hot laps were slated for 7 and racing at 7:30. A huge field of cars were on hand including 59 270 micro sprints, 47 600 micro sprints, 21 125 micro sprints, and 13 chargers. The car count was boasted for three reasons, one was the fact that it was the Steve Buch Memorial with $500 on the line in both the 270s and 600s., two, many drivers were prepping for the upcoming National Open, and three, Path Valley Speedway had cancelled.
I knew it was going to be a long night with the large car count plus a make-up feature was up first for the 270s. Hot laps, which started after 7 took forever to complete. The September 22 make-up feature took the green at 8:06. Rich McKay won his first of the year in a race that had just two cautions. Mike Rutherford and Ed Kenderdine were second and third. The field was so tough in the night’s regular program that McKay didn’t even make the feature.
The first of 14 heat races took the green at 8:24. After 5 b mains, the 600 micro sprint feature took the green at eight minutes shy of 11 p.m. Mike Dicely took the lead on lap three and cruised to the dominating victory in his first appearance of the season. Seven cautions plagued the event. Arron Spahr and Drew Heistand finished second and third.
The charger feature was a good one with pole-sitter Chris Smith scoring the victory. Smith’s victory came by less than one-half car-lenth over Mike Derr. Dave Reightler was third.
Mike Dicely’s bid for a sweep of both features was short lived. The pole-sitter led the first two laps of the 270 feature, but Steve Buckwalter was too much taking over on the third circuit and went on to the easy victory. Buckwalter of Royersford drives just about anything including ARDC Midgets, 410 Sprint Cars, and 358 Sprints to name a few. Buckwalter has been at winner at Mercer in the midgets. Dicely completed a great night finishing second. Robert Crawford, who finished fifth in the make-up feature, came home third. In should be noted that a fuel stop was required after just three cautions and ZERO laps completed...yes that's right! The feature ended up with 7 cautions.
With it being after midnight and only the 125 micro feature remaining, I made my way to the exits. I did enjoy the racing at Linda's. The 600s always put on a great show no matter where I see them race. The downside was the constant problems getting the car in line. The flagman grew more and more frustrated as the night went on and numerous times went down to line-up the cars himself, which cost more and more laps. Admission at Linda’s is only $6 and they had some of the cheapest food prices I’ve seen. I had an excellent hot sausage sandwich from the crock pot, french fries, and a pop for just $5.
Linda’s made for my 48th Pennsylvania track and 116th overall.
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06
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The weather report was certainly conflicting for central Pa. this past weekend. Some forecasts had rain early Friday and clearing for the rest of the weekend, while others had a chance of rain right throught Saturday evening.
My plan was Linda's Speedway Friday night, Shippensburg Speedway Saturday afternoon, capped off by my favorite track Lincoln Speedway Saturday night. The first two tracks would be new ones.
Rain showers broke up and pushed south early in the morning. However, the rain pretty much stayed right on the turnpike and south for much of the day. Linda's is only 20-30 miles away. I watched the radar all day and the shower seemed to have a tough time progressing north of the turnpike so I left at 2:30 figuring worse case I'd either be down their for Saturday's races or at the last minute could head to Borger's.
I had sunshine until I got off I-80 and it got progessively cloudier as I headed south. By the time I reached Port Royal it was cloudy and looked as if it could rain at any minute. I kept calling every 30 minutes and never did talk to anyone only the answering machine. As I got to Harrisburg and headed north on I-81 the skies lightened and I figured i was in the clear. In fact skies cleared later and the moon, with an odd large ring around it, was visible for most of the night.
I got to Linda's shortly after 6:30 PM as hot laps were slated for 7 and racing at 7:30. A huge field of cars were on hand including 59 270 micro sprints, 47 600 micro sprints, 21 125 micro sprints, and 13 chargers. The car count was boasted for three reasons, one was the fact that it was the Steve Buch Memorial with $500 on the line in both the 270s and 600s., two, many drivers were prepping for the upcoming National Open, and three, Path Valley Speedway had cancelled.
I knew it was going to be a long night with the large car count plus a make-up feature was up first for the 270s. Hot laps, which started after 7 took forever to complete. The September 22 make-up feature took the green at 8:06. Rich McKay won his first of the year in a race that had just two cautions. Mike Rutherford and Ed Kenderdine were second and third. The field was so tough in the night’s regular program that McKay didn’t even make the feature.
The first of 14 heat races took the green at 8:24. After 5 b mains, the 600 micro sprint feature took the green at eight minutes shy of 11 p.m. Mike Dicely took the lead on lap three and cruised to the dominating victory in his first appearance of the season. Seven cautions plagued the event. Arron Spahr and Drew Heistand finished second and third.
The charger feature was a good one with pole-sitter Chris Smith scoring the victory. Smith’s victory came by less than one-half car-lenth over Mike Derr. Dave Reightler was third.
Mike Dicely’s bid for a sweep of both features was short lived. The pole-sitter led the first two laps of the 270 feature, but Steve Buckwalter was too much taking over on the third circuit and went on to the easy victory. Buckwalter of Royersford drives just about anything including ARDC Midgets, 410 Sprint Cars, and 358 Sprints to name a few. Buckwalter has been at winner at Mercer in the midgets. Dicely completed a great night finishing second. Robert Crawford, who finished fifth in the make-up feature, came home third. In should be noted that a fuel stop was required after just three cautions and ZERO laps completed...yes that's right! The feature ended up with 7 cautions.
With it being after midnight and only the 125 micro feature remaining, I made my way to the exits. I did enjoy the racing at Linda's. The 600s always put on a great show no matter where I see them race. The downside was the constant problems getting the car in line. The flagman grew more and more frustrated as the night went on and numerous times went down to line-up the cars himself, which cost more and more laps. Admission at Linda’s is only $6 and they had some of the cheapest food prices I’ve seen. I had an excellent hot sausage sandwich from the crock pot, french fries, and a pop for just $5.
Linda’s made for my 48th Pennsylvania track and 116th overall.
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06
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posted by Mike Leone at 1:00 PM
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