Evil E
08-10-2009, 03:48 PM
By Mark Kielblock
Elizabeth City NC - Something about the state of North Carolina agrees with ARDC's "Slick" Nick Wean. The Phillipsburg NJ driver prevailed in a battle with rookie Dusty Heistand to take the lead and drive on to his second win in as many years in the Tarheel State, this time at Dixieland Speedway. "I do love North Carolina," Wean grinned in victory lane. Wean took his first career ARDC win at County Line Raceway in Rocky Mount, NC in 2008.
Rookie Justin Grosz and Jimmy Cammock brought the 23 car starting field to the green flag. Grosz got a strong start, jumping out from the pole position to grab the lead over fellow rookie Dusty Heistand. The two first year drivers showed veteran form as they battled for the lead over the opening laps, with Heistand prevailing as he grabbed the lead on lap 3. Wean then began to flex his muscle grabbing second spot and immediately contesting the lead with Heistand. Heistand stubbornly held on, but Wean finally grabbed the lead on lap 7 after running some side by side laps with Wean on the outside. "I have to give Dusty credit, he ran clean and never came up on me," Wean related.
As Wean paced the field, Heistand stayed within a couple of car lengths and some furious battling was going on behind them. At lap 10 the top 6 was Wean, Heistand, Grosz, Frank Polimeda, Bruce Buckwalter, up from 12th starting spot and PJ Gargiulo up from 14th. One lap later, Polimeda grabbed third from the determined rookie Grosz. On lap 15, Gargiulo slipped around Buckwalter and the top 5 was Wean, Heistand, Polimeda, Gargiulo and Buckwalter.
Over the last 10 laps of the race, Wean established a strong lead, but Heistand, Polimeda and Gargiulo put on the show of the night, dicing it up for second through fourth. The action went down to the last lap as Gargiulo was able to grab third from Polimeda. Another impressive run was turned in by Kunkletown Pa's Ryan Smith making his debut in Jerry Steward's Spike/Ford. Smith drove the car from 17th starting spot to move into the top 5 on lap 20. Brett Arndt put in a hard night's work coming out of 16th starting spot, driving all the way up to 6th.
Car Owners Come Through: ARDC's car owners should take a bow. On ARDC's longest haul from their Central Pa. home, an impressive 23 Cars signed into the pits at Dixieland Speedway. Lou Zrinski brought two cars, with 2007 URC Rookie of the Year Andrew Hannula driving from 21st starting spot to 12th. Jerry Steward brought two cars as well with Smith getting a top 5 and Greg Robinson recovering from an early race spin to grab a top 10 finish...Rookie Jason Rice had a frustrating night with ignition problems...Owego, NY driver Parker Evans had a spectacular debut with ARDC, having his steering wheel come off going into turn 3 in his heat race, the 61 car disappeared over the berm..."It stood on it's tail, but it didn't go over," Evans said...The Evans crew was able to get the car repaired for the feature, but the night ended with a tangle in turn 1...Rear end problems kept rookie Trevor Kobylarz from starting the feature after an impressive heat race win.
Heat Races for the 23 ARDC Midgets were won by Nick Wean, Jimmy Cammock and Trevor Kobylarz.
25-Lap ARDC Midget Feature: 1) 78-Nick Wean 2) 6-Dusty Heistand 3) 51-PJ Gargiulo 4) 44-Frank Polimea 5) 34-Ryan Smith 6) 46-Brett Arndt 7) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 8) 39-Justin Grosz 9) 3-Greg Robinson 10) 11-Eric Heydenreich 11) 84 Jimmy Cammock 12) 10-Andrew Hannula 13) 9-Steve Lenig 14) 16-Dave Shirk 15) 91-Donnie Trent 16) 99-Scott Zipp 17) 25-Chris Zrinski 18) 12-Drew Heistand 19) 49-Carey Becker 20) 26-Stephanie Stevens 21) 61-Parker Evans 22) 57-Jason Rice 23) 05-Trevor Kobylarz (DNS)
Elizabeth City NC - Something about the state of North Carolina agrees with ARDC's "Slick" Nick Wean. The Phillipsburg NJ driver prevailed in a battle with rookie Dusty Heistand to take the lead and drive on to his second win in as many years in the Tarheel State, this time at Dixieland Speedway. "I do love North Carolina," Wean grinned in victory lane. Wean took his first career ARDC win at County Line Raceway in Rocky Mount, NC in 2008.
Rookie Justin Grosz and Jimmy Cammock brought the 23 car starting field to the green flag. Grosz got a strong start, jumping out from the pole position to grab the lead over fellow rookie Dusty Heistand. The two first year drivers showed veteran form as they battled for the lead over the opening laps, with Heistand prevailing as he grabbed the lead on lap 3. Wean then began to flex his muscle grabbing second spot and immediately contesting the lead with Heistand. Heistand stubbornly held on, but Wean finally grabbed the lead on lap 7 after running some side by side laps with Wean on the outside. "I have to give Dusty credit, he ran clean and never came up on me," Wean related.
As Wean paced the field, Heistand stayed within a couple of car lengths and some furious battling was going on behind them. At lap 10 the top 6 was Wean, Heistand, Grosz, Frank Polimeda, Bruce Buckwalter, up from 12th starting spot and PJ Gargiulo up from 14th. One lap later, Polimeda grabbed third from the determined rookie Grosz. On lap 15, Gargiulo slipped around Buckwalter and the top 5 was Wean, Heistand, Polimeda, Gargiulo and Buckwalter.
Over the last 10 laps of the race, Wean established a strong lead, but Heistand, Polimeda and Gargiulo put on the show of the night, dicing it up for second through fourth. The action went down to the last lap as Gargiulo was able to grab third from Polimeda. Another impressive run was turned in by Kunkletown Pa's Ryan Smith making his debut in Jerry Steward's Spike/Ford. Smith drove the car from 17th starting spot to move into the top 5 on lap 20. Brett Arndt put in a hard night's work coming out of 16th starting spot, driving all the way up to 6th.
Car Owners Come Through: ARDC's car owners should take a bow. On ARDC's longest haul from their Central Pa. home, an impressive 23 Cars signed into the pits at Dixieland Speedway. Lou Zrinski brought two cars, with 2007 URC Rookie of the Year Andrew Hannula driving from 21st starting spot to 12th. Jerry Steward brought two cars as well with Smith getting a top 5 and Greg Robinson recovering from an early race spin to grab a top 10 finish...Rookie Jason Rice had a frustrating night with ignition problems...Owego, NY driver Parker Evans had a spectacular debut with ARDC, having his steering wheel come off going into turn 3 in his heat race, the 61 car disappeared over the berm..."It stood on it's tail, but it didn't go over," Evans said...The Evans crew was able to get the car repaired for the feature, but the night ended with a tangle in turn 1...Rear end problems kept rookie Trevor Kobylarz from starting the feature after an impressive heat race win.
Heat Races for the 23 ARDC Midgets were won by Nick Wean, Jimmy Cammock and Trevor Kobylarz.
25-Lap ARDC Midget Feature: 1) 78-Nick Wean 2) 6-Dusty Heistand 3) 51-PJ Gargiulo 4) 44-Frank Polimea 5) 34-Ryan Smith 6) 46-Brett Arndt 7) 83-Bruce Buckwalter 8) 39-Justin Grosz 9) 3-Greg Robinson 10) 11-Eric Heydenreich 11) 84 Jimmy Cammock 12) 10-Andrew Hannula 13) 9-Steve Lenig 14) 16-Dave Shirk 15) 91-Donnie Trent 16) 99-Scott Zipp 17) 25-Chris Zrinski 18) 12-Drew Heistand 19) 49-Carey Becker 20) 26-Stephanie Stevens 21) 61-Parker Evans 22) 57-Jason Rice 23) 05-Trevor Kobylarz (DNS)