Evil E
07-26-2009, 01:31 AM
By Mark Kielblock
Bridgeport, NJ - It's been four years since ARDC ran at Bridgeport Speedway, but Bruce Buckwalter and PJ Gargiulo made it worth every bit of the wait as they staged a thrilling duel on the 1/4 mile inner oval. Gargiulo did his best to steal the win away late, but Buckwalter held on for his second career win in ARDC competition.
Jimmy Cammock and Chris Zrinski brought the 24 car field down for the green flag. Carey Becker of Reading Pa. slipped quickly up from fourth starting spot to take the early lead while PJ Gargiulo was on the move as well grabbing second from the sixth starting spot. Gargiulo then got crossed up off of turn four and lost several spots. A multi-car tangle broke out behind him bringing out an early caution.
When they got back to racing, Becker -- who showed signs of running strong in ARDC's last race at Grandview -- picked up where he left off leading the field over the early laps. While Becker held sway over the field and Gargiulo began to reclaim his lost spots, Bruce Buckwalter was charging forward out of the eighth starting spot.
On lap nine going into turn three, Buckwalter executed an outside to inside dive to sweep past Becker and take the lead. Gargiulo charged his way back through the top five to regain second, while Becker rode third. Chris Zrinski was authoring his breakout race of the season holding onto fourth, while point leader Frank Polimeda was fifth. Ryan Watt had another unbelievable run in Schell Racing no. 75 picking his way through the field from 14th starting spot to eventually get by Polimeda for fifth.
Gargiulo began to eat into Buckwalter's lead as the laps spun off. "I found something up high off of four that carried me all the way down the frontstretch and into one," Gargiulo said after the race. Gargiulo was then all over Buckwalter for the lead, but the battle was interrupted by a caution with four laps to go.
When the green dropped for the final four laps, the battle was back on. Buckwalter initially opener a gap on the restart, but Gargiulo quickly closed and slipped past Buckwalter briefly on the backstretch. As they charged for turn 3, Gargiulo tried to protect his lead. "I made my moves by running the top side," Gargiulo explained. "I should've stuck with what got me there, but I tried moving down and skated up the track just enough for Bruce to get under me."
Buckwalter stuck his car into an impossibly small hole between the inside barrier and Gargiulo's 51 to pull off a picture perfect pass for the lead. "I was driving with a vengeance tonight to make up for getting on my head at Grandview," Buckwalter said, referring to a spill that he took early in the Thunder on the Hill show. Once Buckwalter got into the lead, Gargiulo lost some ground as he got out wide off of turn four. A last ditch effort by Gargiulo fell short and Buckwalter held on for the hard-fought win.
Becker grabbed third as he was also seeking to make up for a late race spin that cost him second spot at Grandview. "I had to redeem myself after Wednesday night," Becker said. "The early wreck off of four threw some water up on the track and made it slick, so the car was skating. Patience definitely paid off tonight." Ryan Watt finished off his beautiful drive grabbing one more spot in the closing laps to claim fourth.
Chris Zrinski placed a season high fifth and had high praise for some extra crew help that he received during the night. "Andrew Hannula and his dad really helped me alot tonight along with Bill Jackson (Crew Chief of Gargiulo's no. 51)," Zrinski emphasized. "And as always I have to thank my dad (ARDC VP Lou Zrinski), we had a really good night."
Calling All Legends: Hoping to follow up a highly successful honoring of ARDC's past stars at Grandview's Thunder on the Hill, VP Lou Zrinski wants to send out the call for all who attended Grandview to make a return visit to the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds. The Eastern Museum of Auto Racing is honoring ARDC's 70th Anniversary on August 14-16. All who would like to attend are urged to contact Lou Zrinski at: 908-568-5424.
Heat Races for the 25 ARDC Midgets on hand were won by Frank Polimeda, PJ Gargiulo and Bruce Buckwalter.
25-Lap ARDC Midget Feature: 1) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 2) 51-PJ Gargiulo 3) 49-Carey Becker 4) 75-Ryan Watt 5) 25-Chris Zrinski 6) 44-Frank Polimeda 7) 46-Brett Arndt 8) 16-Dave Shirk 9) 11-Eric Heydenreich 10) 99-Scott Zipp 11) 26-Stephanie Stevens 12) 00-Greg Robinson 13) 10-Steve Lenig 14) 05-Trevor Kobylarz 15) 53-Randy Reid 16) 7-Chris Rupp 17) 12-Drew Heistand 18) 84-Jimmy Cammock 19) 2-Tracy Readinger 20) 55-Steve Craig 21) 6-Dusty Heistand 22) 39-Justin Grosz 23) 57-Jason Rice 24) 78-Nick Wean 25) 17-Donnie Hoffman
Bridgeport, NJ - It's been four years since ARDC ran at Bridgeport Speedway, but Bruce Buckwalter and PJ Gargiulo made it worth every bit of the wait as they staged a thrilling duel on the 1/4 mile inner oval. Gargiulo did his best to steal the win away late, but Buckwalter held on for his second career win in ARDC competition.
Jimmy Cammock and Chris Zrinski brought the 24 car field down for the green flag. Carey Becker of Reading Pa. slipped quickly up from fourth starting spot to take the early lead while PJ Gargiulo was on the move as well grabbing second from the sixth starting spot. Gargiulo then got crossed up off of turn four and lost several spots. A multi-car tangle broke out behind him bringing out an early caution.
When they got back to racing, Becker -- who showed signs of running strong in ARDC's last race at Grandview -- picked up where he left off leading the field over the early laps. While Becker held sway over the field and Gargiulo began to reclaim his lost spots, Bruce Buckwalter was charging forward out of the eighth starting spot.
On lap nine going into turn three, Buckwalter executed an outside to inside dive to sweep past Becker and take the lead. Gargiulo charged his way back through the top five to regain second, while Becker rode third. Chris Zrinski was authoring his breakout race of the season holding onto fourth, while point leader Frank Polimeda was fifth. Ryan Watt had another unbelievable run in Schell Racing no. 75 picking his way through the field from 14th starting spot to eventually get by Polimeda for fifth.
Gargiulo began to eat into Buckwalter's lead as the laps spun off. "I found something up high off of four that carried me all the way down the frontstretch and into one," Gargiulo said after the race. Gargiulo was then all over Buckwalter for the lead, but the battle was interrupted by a caution with four laps to go.
When the green dropped for the final four laps, the battle was back on. Buckwalter initially opener a gap on the restart, but Gargiulo quickly closed and slipped past Buckwalter briefly on the backstretch. As they charged for turn 3, Gargiulo tried to protect his lead. "I made my moves by running the top side," Gargiulo explained. "I should've stuck with what got me there, but I tried moving down and skated up the track just enough for Bruce to get under me."
Buckwalter stuck his car into an impossibly small hole between the inside barrier and Gargiulo's 51 to pull off a picture perfect pass for the lead. "I was driving with a vengeance tonight to make up for getting on my head at Grandview," Buckwalter said, referring to a spill that he took early in the Thunder on the Hill show. Once Buckwalter got into the lead, Gargiulo lost some ground as he got out wide off of turn four. A last ditch effort by Gargiulo fell short and Buckwalter held on for the hard-fought win.
Becker grabbed third as he was also seeking to make up for a late race spin that cost him second spot at Grandview. "I had to redeem myself after Wednesday night," Becker said. "The early wreck off of four threw some water up on the track and made it slick, so the car was skating. Patience definitely paid off tonight." Ryan Watt finished off his beautiful drive grabbing one more spot in the closing laps to claim fourth.
Chris Zrinski placed a season high fifth and had high praise for some extra crew help that he received during the night. "Andrew Hannula and his dad really helped me alot tonight along with Bill Jackson (Crew Chief of Gargiulo's no. 51)," Zrinski emphasized. "And as always I have to thank my dad (ARDC VP Lou Zrinski), we had a really good night."
Calling All Legends: Hoping to follow up a highly successful honoring of ARDC's past stars at Grandview's Thunder on the Hill, VP Lou Zrinski wants to send out the call for all who attended Grandview to make a return visit to the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds. The Eastern Museum of Auto Racing is honoring ARDC's 70th Anniversary on August 14-16. All who would like to attend are urged to contact Lou Zrinski at: 908-568-5424.
Heat Races for the 25 ARDC Midgets on hand were won by Frank Polimeda, PJ Gargiulo and Bruce Buckwalter.
25-Lap ARDC Midget Feature: 1) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 2) 51-PJ Gargiulo 3) 49-Carey Becker 4) 75-Ryan Watt 5) 25-Chris Zrinski 6) 44-Frank Polimeda 7) 46-Brett Arndt 8) 16-Dave Shirk 9) 11-Eric Heydenreich 10) 99-Scott Zipp 11) 26-Stephanie Stevens 12) 00-Greg Robinson 13) 10-Steve Lenig 14) 05-Trevor Kobylarz 15) 53-Randy Reid 16) 7-Chris Rupp 17) 12-Drew Heistand 18) 84-Jimmy Cammock 19) 2-Tracy Readinger 20) 55-Steve Craig 21) 6-Dusty Heistand 22) 39-Justin Grosz 23) 57-Jason Rice 24) 78-Nick Wean 25) 17-Donnie Hoffman