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Big
Kahuna Inaugural to Hartman
New Egypt, NJ (May 29, 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 deadlast 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
frontstretch collision involving Dan Bouc, Clay
Butler and Mark Herman took these 3 top 5
contenders out of the mix and left Bob LinemanJr
one last shot at a $500 win in the Cenco Heating
USA-1. The final green was shown and Lineman used
a lowside 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 foday 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 12:20PM and the
checkered was thrown at 3:40PM 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.
BIG KAHUNA
RESULTS 5/29/11:
TOBIAS SPEEDSTRS
1. #5
Jeff Hartman, Flagtown, NJ 2. #6 Kyle Hieber,
Langhorne, PA 3. #51 Freddie Rahmer, Salfordville,
NJ 4. #8 Billy Pauch Jr., Frenchtown, NJ 5. #93D
Darrell DelNero, Manville, NJ 6. #11 Gary Huber,
Riverdale, NJ 7. #33 Doug Sherwood, Oldwick, NJ 8.
#75 Don Zrinski, Piscataway, NJ 9. #3 Matt
Janisch, Nazareth, PA 10. #4X Stan Ploski,
Ringoes, NJ 11. #14 Scott Munroe, Reading, PA 12.
#88 Brandon Rahmer, Salfordville, PA 13. #56 Gary
Hieber, Langhorne, PA 14. #99 Al Arrisher,
Lansdale, PA 15. #77 Rick Schaffer, Woxall, PA 16.
#22 Kim Kamper, Wayne, NJ 17. #12 Tyler Potts,
Milford, NJ 18. #15 Brittany Wixon, Reading, PA
SPORTSMAN
1. #98 Tim Apgar 2. #USA1 Bob
Lineman Jr. 3. #37 Bryan Kuhl 4. #94M Rich Rutski
5. #4M Mike Butler 6. #21L Mike Lyons 7. #3V Kevin
Vaclavicek 8. #14 Joe Funk 9. #64 Danny Bouc 10.
#4B Clay Butler 11. #3H Mark Herman 12. #20 Ryan
Simmons
GREAT AMERICAN ENDURO SERIES
1.
#70 Chuck Detweiler 2. #3 Mark Naftzinger 3. #4
Jim Watkins
4-CYLNDER ENDURO
1. #49 John
Crosby 2. #69 Justin Dunn 3. #03 Scott Dunn
VINTAGE STOCKS
1. #28 Richie Pratt Sr. 2.
#17 Wayne Weaver 3. #17 Stan Hawk 4. #5 Tom
Holding
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