Freeland Wins Wild One at Lincoln in ARDC CARQUEST Midget Action
NEW OXFORD, Pa., July 5 – Mark Freeland of Ickesburg, Pa., became the eighth different feature winner in ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series action this year when he came out on top in a wild Saturday night program at Lincoln Speedway that saw five drivers flip.
The airborne battalion's fireworks all occurred in separate accidents. Randy Mausteller of Bloomsburg, Pa., and Bryan Kobylarz of Birdsboro, Pa., flipped in turn two during the second heat. Ted Schmid of Lititz, Pa., took his tumble on the frontstretch with two laps down in the feature, while Don Trent II of Honeybrook, Pa., rolled in turn two with five laps down in the main event.
Rim-riding Tim Dietz of Hanover, Pa., hit the wall in turn two in the feature just after he'd technically passed Ed Stimely Jr. of McVeytown, Pa., for second, barrel-rolled three and a half times, and then disappeared over the outer guardrail in turn two. His Shack Automotive/Morris Automotive Machine/Avenger/Lee Brothers Racing Avenger Dietz landed between the track's outer catch fence and a debris fence by the stock car pits.
Dietz was shaken and taken to Hanover General Hospital for an examination and tests, including a CAT scan, but he walked out of the hospital under his own power at 2:40 a.m. None of the other drivers required a hospital visit. All of them were sore from the accidents, however, with Dietz in particular favoring his back, shoulder, neck and both kneecaps.
Duane Mausteller of Bloomsburg, Pa., led the first four laps of the feature before he was passed by Walt Stearly of Trappe, Pa., who was in his Stearly Freight Service/Buck Landscaping Hawk Pontiac. The track was a dry slick due to a lack of rain in Central Pennsylvania in recent weeks, and most of the teams found it perplexing to come up with the correct set-ups. Stearly took the low groove, while Stimely and Dietz got caught up in a high-flying duel for second next to the outer guardrail.
Stimely held second from lap seven until the fireworks erupted with 13 laps down. Dietz technically got around him for an instant but then he ran out of track and flipped.
Freeland, who had started tenth, got around Stimely for second in turn four on the restart, and took the lead from Stearly on lap 16. His pass for the lead started in turn two but Stearly fought back ahead on the backstretch and into turn three, but Freeland prevailed in turn four.
Freeland was never again headed, and on lap 25 he posted his second career ARDC CARQUEST victory in the Stealth Scat V4 owned by Roger McKeehan of Newville, Pa. The team is sponsored by Exsportise, Turnbaugh Oil Service, Bob's Outdoor Power Center of Pinchot Park, Lemoyne Sleeper and NTM Machining. Terry Frymoyer and Mike Weber serve as co-chief mechanics, and the victory was a delayed birthday present for Freeland, who turned 29 on June 26.
Stearly held on for second, which was the best finish of his ARDC CARQUEST career. Lou Cicconi Jr. of Aston, Pa., came on strong in the late stages to finish third in his Weiland Racing Enterprises Stealth Brayton. Stimely's tires were going away at the finish but the current point leader held on for fourth. Defending champion Phil DiMario of Piermont, N.Y., went into the pits three times to fine-tune his set-up but battled back for fifth at the checkered.
Bob Cicconi of Prospect Park, Pa.; Michael Roselli Jr. of Brodheadsville, Pa.; Fred Schell of Phoenixville, Pa.; Ray Bull of New Oxford, Pa.; and Lew Blair of Hatboro, Pa., rounded out the top 10.
Both Dietz and Duane Mausteller led all the way to win their respective 10-lap heats.
The ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series teams revert back to their asphalt set-ups for races at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway on Saturday, July 19 and Flemington
(N.J.) Speedway on Saturday, July 26.
The summary:
First Heat (10 laps, 9 to qualify) – 1. Tim Dietz, 2. Mark Freeland, 3. Walt Stearly, 4. Bob Cicconi, 5. Shannon Mausteller, 6. Lew Blair, 7. Ray Bull, 8. Donnie Trent II, 9. Brian Suchy, 10. Michael Roselli Jr., 11. Dennis Schaeffer, 12. Ted Schmid. Lap Leaders – Laps 1-10, Tim Dietz. No Time.
Second Heat (10 laps, 9 to qualify) – 1. Duane Mausteller, 2. Ed Stimely Jr., 3. Phil DiMario, 4. Fred Schell, 5. Gary Halteman, 6. Tom Martocci, 7. Monnie Wonder III, 8. Lou Cicconi Jr., 9. Randy Mausteller, 10. Bryan Kobylarz, 11. T.J. Halligan. Lap Leaders – Laps 1-10, Duane Mausteller. No Time.
Feature (25 laps) – 1. Mark Freeland, 2. Walt Stearly, 3. Lou Cicconi Jr., 4. Ed Stimely Jr., 5. Phil DiMario, 6. Bob Cicconi, 7. Michael Roselli Jr., 8. Fred Schell, 9. Ray Bull, 10. Lew Blair, 11. Dennis Schaeffer, 12. Duane Mausteller, 13. Tom Martocci, 14. Monnie Wonder III, 15. Shannon Mausteller, 16. Gary Halteman, 17. Brian Suchy, 18. Tim Dietz, 19. Don Trent II, 20. Ted Schmid, 21. T.J. Halligan, 22. Bryan Kobylarz.
Lap Leaders – Laps 1-4, Duane Mausteller; laps 5-15, Walt Stearly; laps 16-25, Mark Freeland. No Time.