New Page 0

Minersville, Pa. - Ryan Smith has won the Gamblers Classic Slingshot race in Atlantic City. He was the 2006 USAC Northeast Ford Focus Champ. He was the 2007 ARDC Rookie of the Year and has won multiple features in Microsprints. He timed in on the front row for a USAC Silver Crown race and finished 6th. The one accomplishment that has eluded him is an ARDC feature win. As of Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway, Smith can now put that notch in his belt. Smith started from the pole and dominated the 20 lapper -- but the race was not without it's drama.

At the outset, Smith began to pull away from the field, but it wasn't long before the yellow was out for a huge pileup in turn one involving nearly a third of the field, including, Paul Kline, Scott Zipp, PJ Gargiulo, Steve Lenig, Zack Martini, Dave Shirk, Donnie Trent, and AJ Ernesto.

When they got down to racing, Smith powered away in the Burke Trucking Spike/Kriner no. 54 and the top 5 settled into Smith, Andy Martin, Carey Becker, Brett Arndt and Frank Polimeda. Becker was enjoying one of his strongest runs of the season, holding steady in third when contact with Brett Arndt sent him sliding backward down the frontstretch and into the infield on lap 8.

The next significant position change came when Tracy Readinger swept into the top 5 on lap 10. The biggest mover in the race was the always impressive Billy Pauch Jr in the Two Dogs Racing no. 49. Coming out of the 18th starting spot, Pauch made his way through the pack mainly using the outside groove -- a groove that most others couldn't make work. Pauch cracked the top 6 on lap 12, and the top 5 on lap 15. Pauch would eventually finish fourth.

While all this was going on behind him, Smith was simply dominating the field. However before he could enjoy his first win, he would have to endure one last restart as the yellow came out for Nick Wean on the backstretch with two laps to go. Two factors combined to make the finish a little more exciting than Smith would have liked. "It stuttered a little bit on the restart," Smith explained after the race. That stutter allowed Andy Martin to take a dive at Smith on the restart.

Then, a little over adjusting in the cockpit by Smith made his last couple of laps a little less than comfortable. "I think I may have gone the wrong way with it," Smith said with a sheepish grin. "I got a little loose and a little excited."

Martin stuck his head into Smith's trailer after the race. "I saw you dialing in the cockpit," Martin said to Smith. "I don't know why you were changing anything, you had me by half a straightaway."

That looseness allowed Martin to stay close enough to attempt a drag race finish off the last corner that Smith won by half a car. Smith can now add an ARDC feature to his resume. Brett Arndt, Pauch Jr and Frank Polimeda rounded out the top five.

34 ARDC Midgets signed in for competition. Heat races were won by Brett Arndt, Ryan Smith and Andy Martin with the B main going to Drew Heistand.

Pit Patter: Second place points runner PJ Gargiulo ran out of gas on the last yellow. The crew was seen searching for a fuel leak after the race as they were sure they had started the race with an adequate fuel load...Friday's win closed out a phenomenal run by Ryan Smith as he won 270 and 600 Micro races at Kutztown, as well as a 600 Micro race at Greenwood Valley... Next up for Smith and the Burke Trucking Team is a trip to Indiana Midget Speedweek where they will run at Gas City, Bloomington and Union City...Drew Heistand had an outstanding run as well, coming from 19th to 7th.

20-Lap ARDC Feature: 1) 54-Ryan Smith 2) 21-Andy Martin 3) 46-Brett Arndt 4) 49-Billy Pauch Jr 5) 44-Frank Polimeda 6) 86-Tracy Readinger 7) 12-Drew Heistand 8) 26-Stephanie Stevens 9) 27-Randy Monroe Jr 10) 11-Eric Heydenreich 11) 00-Greg Robinson 12) 29 Zack Martini 13) 9-Steve Lenig 14) 55-Steve Craig 15) 20-Carey Becker 16) 34-Shane Penny 17) 99-Scott Zipp 18) 51-PJ Gargiulo 19) 77-Nick Wean 20) 5-Paul Kline 21) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 22) 61-PJ Pavlick 23) 17-Donnie Hoffman 24) 16-Dave Shirk 25) 10-Donnie Trent 26) 14-AJ Ernesto