and the Big
Kahuna Surf Board in the other. Jeff took the win at New
Egypt.
New
Egypt, NJ, May 29th, 2011: The
first ever Big Kahuna Series Event took place at New
Egypt Speedway on May 29th and the 4 division show
featuring the SpeedSTR's, Sportsman Mods, Great American
Enduro Racers and the Vintage Cars had a great track
surface to display their talents.
Heats were used for qualifying
and the 2 Sportsman heats were won by Bob Lineman, Jr
and Mike Lyons. The SpeedSTR heats were won by Gary
Huber and Billy Pauch, Jr. Richie Pratt lead from start
to finish is claiming the Vintage qualifier. The Great
American Enduro Car Series was next on the agenda as the
idea of running the 4 cylinder cars with the 6-8
cylinder, seemed a little intriguing for all parties
involved, but when the green was given for the 100 lap
grind everyone had their gas pedal punched to the floor.
With individual payouts for each class on the line, the
4 cylinders were racing with the 6-8 cylindered cars but
against the other 4 cylinder teams. Tom Wolf was setting
a blistering pace on the freshly watered track surface
and it didn't stop Wolf from being the early leader. As
the track conditions changed Rick Latza moved by Wolf
and also was beginning to encounter slower traffic as
lap 25 was posted. Latza's lead would be short lived as
the 120 headed to the pit area with mechanical problems.
Chuck Detweiler was biding his time behind Latza and
Wolf and with one of the top runners out of the way, it
was time to make his move as the Engle Lettering # 70
passed Wolf and just needed Lady Luck on his side to
notch the first big car Big Kahuna Great American Enduro
win as the Saturn of John Crosby took the 4 cylinder
honors, running only 2 laps behind the big car winner.
Mark Naftzinger finished second with Jim Watkins third.
Trailing Crosby in the 4 cylinder class were Justin Dunn
and Scott Dunn.
Continuing to stay within the
presented time schedule the SpeedSTR's were next on the
agenda with the 25 lap,$2000 to win feature on the grid.
A quick trip to the pit area before the green for Jeff
Hartman had the Bulldog Arts # 5 zipping out of the pits
just in time to take the green in the last spot. Some
real dicing back and forth for the top 10 spots found
Stan Ploski, Rick Schaffer, Gary Huber and Billy Pauch,
Jr. having their own private race in the early going,
but it was Kyle Hieber and Darrell DelNero who had other
ideas and joined the trio with the top 5 cars now
running under a blanket. Pauch, Jr was using a middle
groove in the Fragile X #8 that had him pulling away
from the field, only to have a flat tire halt his front
running status. Quick pit work put Pauch back into the
fray and the race continued on with Huber, Kyle Hieber
and DelNero all out front at one time or another. A
Brittany Wixon spin regrouped the field and there were
now 2 cars attracting the most attention, since at one
time they were both running in the rear. It was on this
restart that they were 6 wide under the starters stand
with everyone taking a different line heading into turn
1.Jeff Hartman got by Doug Sherwood and Freddie Rahmer
to vault into 3rd with Billy Pauch, Jr. working the
wheel to get past Mark Janisch, Stan Ploski and Don
Zrinski to sit 6th at the 18 lap mark.
The final yellow ,changed the
running order and the top spot all in 1 turn. Hieber's
Bucks County International # 6 tightened up heading
through turn 1 leaving the bottom groove and lead open
for the taking as Hartman who disposed of DelNero and
Rahmer the previous lap, now did the same to Hieber and
he was the new leader heading down the backstretch.
Hieber tried to regain the top spot heading into to turn
3 but Hartman was not to be denied. DelNero's # 93 was
now losing power and Rahmer's J&K Salvage # 51 was in a
podium finishing spot with 2 laps to go. Pauch, Jr. got
by DelNero but his chance to catch Rahmer was running
out.
With the white flag being
signaled the top 3 was not going to change but a midpack
battle shaped up with Don Zrinski nipping Matt Janisch
in the Valvoline 3 for 8th as Janisch got to the line
just ahead of Ploski. The SpeedSTR feature had it all.
Pit stop drama,3 wide racing and the winner and 4th
place finisher coming from dead last as DelNero's 5th
place run was done on an empty fuel cell as the Happy
Acres 93 coasted back to the pit area. Passing was the
norm on the well prepared speedway.
A 20 lap A Main awaited the
Sportsman mods and they did nothing to disappoint the
fans as a hotly contested battle for the win between Tim
Apgar and Bob Lineman, Jr gave the NES faithful
something to cheer about. Bryan Kuhl had the sharp
looking # 37 up to the task in the early going but it
was evident the Tim Apgar show was about to begin as the
Weidel Realtors 98 quickly make it's way to the front. A
Mike Butler spin in turn 1 brought out the first yellow
and the restart left little doubt that Apgar wanted the
win.
A front stretch collision
involving Dan Bouc, Clay Butler and Mark Herman took
these 3 top 5 contenders out of the mix and left Bob
Lineman, Jr. one last shot at a $500 win in the Cenco
Heating USA-1.The final green was shown and Lineman used
a low side move to get to Apgar's back bumper, but no
further as Apgar took the Sportsman honors with Lineman
a very close second. Bryan Kuhl slotted in for third
after the 20 laps were completed.
The Vintage Racers completed
the days racing festivities and there was no denying
Richie Pratt, Sr's chance to get the 28 out for some
quick laps as his speeds were within the cars of today
as some of the local speedways. His original 1980's car
bested the Tobias Tribute 17 piloted by Wayne Weaver and
the Stan Hawk # 5 with Tom Holding completing the top 4.
The first Big Kahuna Series event started off at 12:20
and the checkered was thrown at 3:40 for all competitive
events. Next up on the Big Kahuna schedule is a June
26th show for SpeedSTR's, Great American Enduro's,
wingless 305's,358 and 360 sprints and possibly an added
division. Stay tuned.
Results: SpeedSTR's
