Steve Buckwalter takes Flyin’ Farmer 40
KUTZTOWN » Wednesday, June 13 was a night of lucrative, long distance racing and USAC superstars looking to earn some extra cash. It turned into a heart-warming evening highlighted by several drivers who ended seasons of frustration by winning and/or scoring podium finishes. And it all took place at Championship Energy Action Track USA on the Kutztown Fairgrounds.
Steve Buckwalter and his car owner, Bob Swavely, had come so close on so many occasions to earning their first win in the USAC All Pro SpeedSTR division, only to have a mechanical issue or just plain bad luck ruin their chance for victory. The trend came to an end on Wednesday, however, as the Royersford Rocket came on like gangbusters in the final quarter of the Flyin’ Farmer 40, registering his initial SpeedSTR triumph and pocketing $3,000 for his efforts.
Kenny Miller III celebrated his recent high school graduation by winning his first Action Track USA event in the 25-lap main for the Hyper Racing 600 Sprints. And Nick DelCampo rebounded from a devastating late-race mishap, while going for the win, a couple of weeks earlier when he captured Wednesday’s 20-lap feature for the All Star Slingshots.
With seven of USAC’s biggest stars picking up rides in SpeedSTRs (and some pulling double duty in the 600 Sprints as well), the Flyin’ Farmer 40 paid tribute to the memory and accomplishments of Oley’s Tommy Hinnershitz - one of the best to ever wheel a Sprint Car. And Hinnershitz would have been proud of the wildly competitive race presented by the SpeedSTRs last Wednesday.
Steve Buckwalter and the leader threw sliders at one another for two revolutions, with Buckwalter shoving his nose in front to lead lap 31. A couple of sliders later, Buckwalter would secure the top spot for good and begin to separate himself from Pauch. With the laps winding down, Westfall challenged Pauch for second and USAC’s Hall of Famer Dave Darland, in the Meisner No. 17x SpeedSTR, got by Tim Buckwalter to run fourth.
At the finish, it was Steve Buckwalter, from Royersford, motoring to the win and, in doing so, kept alive the streak of no repeat winners in the six-year history of the Flyin’ Farmer 40. Pauch held off Westfall for runner-up pay, with Darland winning the hearts of the crowd by finishing fourth. Tim Buckwalter completed the top five.
“I kind of got boxed in on the bottom when the race started,” explained Steve Buckwalter afterward. “It took a while before I found the top, and the car really liked it up there. We’ve broken stuff here so often over the past few years, but tonight she held together. Bob (Swavely) and our crew guy, Dave, spend a lot of time in the shop - at least that’s what they say,” laughed the winner. “I was doubting them because we kept breaking stuff, but seriously, Bob puts a lot of effort into this thing and I’m glad we could finally win one here.”