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It's a twister auntie Em - that's quite possibly what the competition was thinking last weekend at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. Although thunderstorms and tornado warning have been known to postpone races at Lincoln, this time around the extreme turbulence came from the track, a result of Mark Bitner, the Sprint Car racer from Trenton, New Jersey spinning to a group victory at the three-eighths mile, high banked, clay oval track.
Mark Bitner flat-out dominated the URC race at Lincoln Speedway, grabbing the lead by lap five and never looking back.
"We were running a 360 Sprint Car and we started last in the heat race, in a field of eight, and we advanced to second in the first lap, and we finished the race there," said Bitner.
In the feature Bitner started in fourth position, and with a little more racing razzle-dazzle, he nabbed the lead by lap five and ran away with the race. "I guess you could say we dominated the race," remarked an understated Bitner.
"I would definitely credit some of our success to having run with the United States Auto Club (USAC) back in June. The track was slick and we used some of the same set-up options we learned while running with those guys."
Twister Motorsports has been running a minimal schedule with the United Racing Company (URC), mostly the team runs 410 Sprints and Super-Sportsman, and so this win fits nicely into their bonus win category.
"We all thoroughly enjoyed running the USAC Eastern Storm week too, which consisted of four races in Pennsylvania and New Jersey all within five days. We raced hard and finished in the money every night," adds Bitner.
Bitner credits K&N for helping the team with their success. "Our K&N products have been excellent! There's a K&N air filter system on our dually which gets us to every race. K&N air filters are also on our URC, 410 and Super-Sportsman cars, as well as on our unlimited ice quad and our Outlaw Street Stock that we are taking out next week. K&N products have always been extremely reliable and effective. Thanks for everything."
Rochelle says that although she still really likes competing in NHRA Junior Drag Racing League, she feels she ready to take on new challenges in a full-size race car.
More times than not the racing bug is highly contiguous, it's passed from parents to kids. It's nearly unavoidable. Ron Pappel's kids, Jim and Rochelle have a bad case of drag race fever, and they're both plenty skilled at it too. Ron drives a Brogie Series V-Roadster, Jim races a 1975 Vega GT, and Rochelle races in the NHRA Jr. Dragster Fast class. A junior dragster is a half-scale dragster that races down half a dragstrip, or one-eighth of a mile. Rochelle is 16 now and just started testing in the Pro Class Vega, meaning that soon she will potentially be up against her brother, but that's entirely another story.
Rochelle's Cheetah powered dragster is capable of blistering an eight-mile dragstrip at well over 80 mph.
Recently the Pappel racing family traveled from their home in Eugene, Oregon to race at Champion Raceway in Jackson County with all three of their cars in competition. When the Methanol fumes cleared, it proved to be another great weekend for Rochelle.
In round one Rochelle ran as a single dragster, being that there were an odd number of cars and she pulled the single. She ran a 7.998 at 81.79 mph. In round two the win light shone on her, as she ran an 8.02 on her 7.97 dial. Round three (quarter finals) Rochelle wins again, running a 7.987 on her 7.96 dial in. In the semi finals she earns her way into the finals, notching a 7.976 on the 7.96 dial. Alas, she misses winning the finals by going just a hair to fast, breaking out with a 7.938 on her 7.96 dial. Overall another stellar performance from the young up-and-comer.
"Our season in the northwest started a little late this year due to weather but we are running strong now," explains Ron. "Rochelle went six rounds to the finals at the Woodburn Memorial Day Jr. Nationals. She won three races in a row at Champion Raceway in the Junior Drag Racing League. The Super Pro car has gone rounds at every race and has been in the semi finals twice."
The Pappel racing patriarch continues, "K&N has been an outstanding contributor to our success, both on and off the track, providing the best in air and oil filtration for our race cars and tow vehicles. I could not imagine using anything but the best products from K&N."
As for the rest of the season Ron says, "Our cars will continue to run at Woodburn Dragstrip and Champion Raceway this year in the Junior Drag Racing League and the Sunoco Fuel ET Championship Series. As mentioned, Rochelle is now testing in our Pro Class Vega. Watch for her to be competing in the ET Pro class and High School Series real soon."
This is Rochelle's eighth year of drag racing in the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League. She has had great success driving her half-scale Cheetah powered dragster; winning not only several track championships, but also a division title and a National Championship.
"I really do still enjoy competing in the Junior Dragster," said Rochelle. "This is an exciting time for me to learn and be challenged in a different style car now, and I am ready to move into a full-size race car and compete in other NHRA Classes."
Lynton Jeffrey now races a 900 horsepower car around dirt tracks throughout the mid-west.
When he was eight years old, Lynton Jeffrey jumped into a racing kart for the first time. Almost 30 years later, the fire still burns inside Jeffrey, fueling him to become one of the most respected winged sprint car drivers in the United States. Jeffrey now races a 900 horsepower car around dirt tracks throughout the mid-west, and this year he has turned some heads as he looks to bring home multiple championships.
VORTEX Racings' Lynton Jeffrey
"We are having an excellent season so far," said the now 36-year-old. "Our goal is to treat every night as if it was the most important night of our racing life. If we keep doing that, we will achieve everything we are aiming for and more."
Last season Jeffrey broke onto the scene in his VORTEX Racing Products, K&N Filters entry by winning the World Challenge at the famed Knoxville Nationals. The World Challenge is held on the Friday before the Nationals, in front of an audience of more than 35,000 fans. This season, Jeffrey has parlayed his success into strong finishes at Hustes Speedway, where he leads the points, as well as at Knoxville, where he currently is in the top five in the championship chase.
While Lynton stays busy on the race track, he also owns and manages the world's most successful sprint car wing business, VORTEX Racing Products. His wings have captured more A-Main Event wins than any wing in sprint car history.
Jeffrey and his team always seem to run well at the big races. Before winning the World Challenge in 2009, Lynton captured the checkered flag at the 2006 Pella Nationals. This year, Jeffrey plans on taking the 50th Knoxville Nationals by storm, with hopes of unveil a second team with a driver that will make some noise. "I guarantee we will be the talk of the Nationals," said the excited driver.
When asked about keeping his giant aluminum Chevrolet engine up to performance standards, Jeffrey credited K&N's world famous filters. "K&N help our motors stay clean and live longer which not only reduced our engine rebuilding costs but gives our motor better performance while protecting the wearing part. Engine Failure is our biggest expense so K&N helps insure that we don't suffer the expense."
Bobby Santos III has driven an amazing 23 different styles of race cars, everything from USAC, ARCA, NASCAR Nationwide and Trucks, to the Modified car he currently races. After running part-time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour since 2004, Santos is now driving the No. 4 full time in 2010 for Mystic Missile Racing. The 24-year-old from Franklin, Massachusetts, is definitely enjoying 2010 so far. "In four races, we have set two track records at Thompson Speedway and Stafford Speedway.
Bobby Santos III in Victory Lane
We had a win in the Thompson Ice Breaker and a second place finish in the Stafford Spring Sizzler, along with a win in the Stafford Tsi 125," says Santos. A win at the Whelan 200 at Martinsville followed and Santos is now leading the point standing so far in the 14 race tour. "In the USAC Midget, we have a fast time, a win and a second place finish at Iowa Speedway in the Triple Header" says Santos.
The fifth race of the Modified tour season, the New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, saw Bobby qualify second fastest to Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman. Bobby ran up front for the entire race, even having the lead a few times, but finishing fourth. Running the sixth race of the Modified season at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT, Santos was hoping for a solid top ten finish. "I don't have any road course experience and I was running around 6th and 7th for the majority of the race when I got a flat tire and then a blown engine," says Santos. "I ended up 17th, but had a lot of fun with the road course."
The next Modified race is coming up at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire. The Modified tour has not raced at this track since 1990. Santos previously had a feature win at Monadnock while driving a NEMA Midget in July of 2008 for Santos Motorsports. He will also be competing in the USAC Silver Crown Series on July 22nd at O'Reilly Raceway Park for Carl Edwards/R.E. Technologies Racing.
Santos is confident that his winning year will continue and credits K&N with some of that success. "I choose K&N because the products are high quality and dependable. K&N is a loyal supporter of short track racing and they have been instrumental in keeping short track racing alive. I am hoping to continue to have a great year on the Whelen Modified Tour and in the USAC Midget. I want to put our K&N sponsored cars in victory lane as many times as possible," says Santos.
Four miles south of Ohio Turnpike Exit 91, in the Sandusky County Fairgrounds, you'll find Fremont Speedway. The one-third mile semi-banked clay oval is a familiar site for Sandusky's Chris Andrews, it's practically in his backyard after all, and it suits his driving style just dandy.
The victory at Fremont Speedway tells the crew and Andrews that they are finally getting back on the winning track for the rest of the season.
Last Saturday night Andrews Motorsports team raced at Fremont and Andrews set the quick time in qualifying. In the A-Main Andrews kept drama alive by waiting until lap 17 to make his move. Then, in the course of one lap, he went around second and first place to take the lead. Towards the end of the race Andrews got hung up in lapped traffic, but he was able to win the drag race to the checkered flag.
"To get this win means a lot to me because of the tough competition, those guys that were in that race are the best in the country. If you're able to run up front, and can beat them, you know you're in the right ball park."
Andrews won the track championship last year at Attica Raceway Park, another track favorite of his, and overall it was perhaps the best year so far in his young career. 2010 hasn't been as kind to him, so far anyway.
"We've been struggling all year with these new Goodyear tires, which has put us behind the eight ball. It's a very inconsistent tire that reacts completely different in clean and dirty air, which makes it hard to get a good balance on your racecar," explained Andrews.
"But, my crew didn't give up, they kept working, and kept trying to keep me positive. We started to turn things around during Speedweek, slowly but surely, and then we had the good run last night (he started nineteenth and finished ninth at Attica Raceway Park Friday) and then to win here the next night. I normally don't run well on this type of track, when it's slicks off, but the car felt good on the bottom tonight," commented Andrews after the race.
Andrews says that part of the struggle for him this year has been the tire rule change, but the team is starting to find the car's balance and they should be good for running up front again consistently now.
Andrews says he never has to worry about the consistency of his K&N air and oil filters and pre-filters though. "They are simply the best parts money can buy."
"We still have fifteen races yet this season between Attica Raceway and Fremont Speedway with the F.A.S.T. Series, as well as four more races with the All-Star Circuit of Champion races," says Andrews, "And we're starting to feel pretty good now."
