RADCLIFF VICTORIOUS IN MAIN EVENT AT AIRPORT SPEEDWAY
RADCLIFF VICTORIOUS IN MAIN EVENT AT AIRPORT SPEEDWAY
Article co-written by Track Reporters Alex Swift & Reese Long
The first race of the 2015 season brought out the fans in droves, with all of them anxious and ready to watch what many refer to as a “spectacle of speed.”
At 7pm on Saturday April 18th, with the fans in the stands, and the stars of the speedway ready to display their talents on the track, the first green flag of the new season was dropped and the qualifying heats were officially underway. The eight micro-sprint heats races, which were run to determine the feature line-ups for the five classes in attendance, were won by Ryan Heim, Lee Reinhardt, Matt Andrews, Ken Andreas, Alex Swift, Bill Thomas, Chris Locuson, and Rich Mellor. These eight drivers bested the 51 other cars in attendance, all battling in their respective heat races to earn a starting spot near the front of the feature event for their class.
Throughout the night, the track was tacky (hooked-up), fast, and a little unforgiving… but it did give the drivers a chance to race all over the place. In the corners there was a high line, a middle line, and a loooooooow line (think of it in a religious sense; the high side was heaven and a place for the gods, the middle was earth where the people still breathing hung out, and the low line was hell). It was so low that the drivers using it to advance position were right up against the infield tires which outlined the corners, a place where one slip up would send them flipping into orbit, though, despite its potential hellish consequences, the low line provided many drivers with the space they needed to get through traffic and around their fellow competitors.
After the qualifying heats, there was a brief intermission which allowed the drivers and their crews to work on their racers, and it also granted the fans in attendance the opportunity to walk around the pit area to get autographs and to view the work being done to each racecar between the heat and feature events. This also provided head of track preparations, Chris Turner, a chance to re-work the clay-based race track, since it took quite a beating in the qualifying events. Turner smoothed out the track and provided the racers with an excellent racing surface for the feature events.
The visiting Slingshots kicked off our feature night after putting a hard round of qualifying, which forced three of the sixteen drivers in attendance to turn into spectators, since they were not able to answer the call for the feature. After a hard 25 laps, and countless battles for position on the track, the #17 of Tom Arntz, coming from the third starting position, came home with the win.
Slingshots Top Five
1. Tom Arntz (started 3rd)
2. Brett Bieber
3. Donny Hockman
4. Dillon Hoch
5. Dakota Kohler
Fast time of the night: 12.249 Tom Arntz
The 250cc stock division was the first micro sprint class to run their feature event and they sure brought out the high flying, hard racing that the fans were expecting to see that night. After running 7 green flag laps to start the race, #76 Mathew Pfahler took a bit of a tumble on the back straight, which sent him to the infield with a damaged racecar and a bruised ego. One lap later, the #28 Alan Durham got together with Alex Swift and Rob Ford in turn 4 and violently flipped his racecar, ending his bid for the win on opening night. Once the drivers got their wrecks out of the way, the race stayed green for the final 12 laps of the race and the Pat Milligan owned, Scott’s Auto sponsored #22 of Lee Reinhardt came from the 6th starting position to take a dominating win.
250 Stock Top Five
1. Lee Reinhardt (started 6th)
2. Robert Miles
3. Robert Simmerman
4. Trey Jeffords
5. Madison Savaren
Fast time of the night: 10.325 Lee Reinhardt
Following the stocks were the 600cc Winged micro sprints, who made their return to Airport speedway this year as one of the new classes offered at the track each Saturday night. Coming back with their high speed action, #32 Barry Pollard won from the pole, even though his wing started to come apart mid-way through the race. Typically this would greatly alter the handling of these racecar’s, but Pollard, a former track champion and second generation driver, proved he was mightier than his wing, and drove to an easy victory and luckily for him, his mechanical issues did not affect him until after the feature, as his car came to a stop on the backstretch during his parade lap.
Winged 600s Top Five
1. Barry Pollard (started 1st)
2. Bill Thomas
3. Brett Michalski
4. Sam Locuson
5. Chris Locuson
Fast time of the night: 10.018 Barry Pollard
It was nice to see these Winged 600cc sprints back and we will enjoy watching them grow as the season progresses.
After the Winged 600cc monsters ended their feature, things were slowed down a bit as the 125cc Jr. class, for drivers 10-15 years old, took to the speedway. This is a new class aimed at prepping drivers for future high speed success, and gives the blackbird micro midget club, the club which runs Airport Speedway throughout the season, an entry level class for new drivers to test the waters in the micro sprint world. The kids and young teens put on a good show with the #4 of Decker Morrow leading laps in the early going, until his car suddenly came to a stop on the front straight, right in front of the whole field. The remaining drivers scrambled to avoid his parked car, and luckily nobody suffered any damage during the scramble. After everything was said and done, the #34 of Lavar Scott, in his first micro sprint race, came from the 6th starting position and claimed the victory.
JR 125s Top Five
1. Lavar Scott (started 6th)
2. Ryan Heim
3. Brandon Shipley
4. Buddy Schweibbnz
5. Cheyenne Robicheaux
Fast time of the night: 10.682 Johnny Trandler
The 250cc Open Class came out next for their 20 lap feature. Immediately on lap 1, moments after the green flag fell, the leader, James Cubbage, got too sideways entering turn 1 and collected three others for first yellow. When things got straightened out, a lot of high speed action took place, with all eyes directed towards the John Cabral owned #7c driven by seven time Airport Speedway track champion Kenny Andreas. As usual, his speed was a sight to be seen and he was on rails, as they say, earning his victory by coming from his sixth place starting position and surviving several bone-headed moves by the other drivers in his class.
270 Open Top Five
1. Ken Andreas (started 6th)
2. Bill Murphy
3. Dana Watkins
4. James Cubbage
5. Anthony Chvostal
Fast time of the night: 10.101 Ken Andreas
Since it was the first race of the season, the disparity of speed amongst the cars in each class was more evident than usual. As most racers will tell you, you never know what you got (equipment wise) until the dust clears on the first night of racing, especially when you’re racing at a track like the one at Airport Speedway Saturday night, where off season changes to the track greatly re-configured the racing surface, and erased any previous *go-to*car setups you may have relied on in the past, to an extent of course.
The greatest margins of victory amongst the first four feature races that night were earned by Ken Andreas and Lee Reinhardt in the 250cc class, as these drivers finished over 5 seconds ahead of their closest competitor. Both of those drivers showed just how far ahead of their competitors they were that night, cruising to easy victories.
What couldn’t have been easy though was fielding a car fast enough to win the main event on this night, which was the Wingless 600cc class. This class featured the highest car count of the night with 19. The level of talent in that class is currently unmatched by any other class at the track, and it seems like it will be the main attraction week in and week out.
After a few tries at green, the #11 of Tyler Tank flipped his car on the back straight taking him out of the race. Early race leader Jon Keller seemed to have the field covered until mechanical issues sent him into the infield on lap number 7. Jon, a young driver with years of experience, cut his teeth at Airport Speedway several years ago the 250cc classes, and was a welcomed addition to last Saturday’s field.
After Keller dropped out, Bryan Radcliff, Airport’s 2012 Winged 600 track champion and all around nice guy, inherited the lead and never looked back, though if he had, he would have been in for a real treat as the racing behind him was fantastic (though I imagine he wouldn’t have been able to keep his speed up if he wasn’t looking forward). Each Wingless 600cc driver threw caution to the wind as they battled lap after lap and swapped positions more frequently than lover’s spit on prom night. It was definitely fun to watch’em all race and to see great drivers such as the #81 of Drew “Speed” Richmond, the #73b of Brett “The Hammer Michalski, the #92 of Nick Walton, and the #29 of Billy Thomas battle it out on the speedway.
Wingless 600s Top Five
1. Bryan Radcliff (started 3rd)
2. Wayne Scott
3. Nick Walton
4. Andrew Locuson
5. Bill Thomas
Fast time of the night: 10.561 Bryan Radcliff
After the Wingless 600cc feature race was ran, opening night came to a close. The drivers claimed their payout checks, the lights went out, and the after-party began.
Some of drivers celebrated and some drowned in their sorrows, but everyone could find comfort in the fact that, in just one week, they’d have a chance to do it again.
Please visit us @ www.AirportSpeedway.com for more info on the remaining 19 races we have scheduled at the track this year.
And for post-race content, search Airport Speedway Live! on Facebook and check out the videos of the previous week’s races,
as well as news and updates pertaining to all things Airport.
Airport Speedway – 2412 Speedway Drive – New Castle, DE 19720
Grandstand Tickets: $8 adults – $6 Seniors – $6 Military w/ID – $3 Children 6-12 years old – $Free Children under 6
Racing begins @ 7pm every week
