RONNIE BUCKS TAKES WIN AT AUSTIN GELWICKS MEMORIAL
By Judy McGee Timmons
Austin Ray Gelwicks, was honored Saturday evening during
racing events at Path Valley Speedway, by family, friends,
drivers & fans. Austin had a passion for racing, & drove the
#69G race car in the thunder car division for 4 years, winning
“Rookie of the Year” in 2014, at Path Valley.
Austin tragically passed away on December 21st, 2016, from
injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident, at the young age
of 17. Austin was a senior at Fannett-Metal High School, a soon
to be graduate with the Class of 2017. Austin is the son of Daniel
& Heather {Gipe} Gelwicks, and a brother to Olivia Gelwicks.
Austin’s grandfather, Mike Gipe, drove Austin’s racecar as a
pace vehicle for the evening’s events, accompanied by the
#21 late model of the late Dave Hampton, which was bought
& restored by Dr. Zachary Crouse.
Kenny Yoder & Ronnie Buck Jr. were at the front when the flag waved green for the Austin Gelwicks Memorial Race, in the Cisney’s Auto Parts Thunder Car feature, with Buck taking the lead, followed by Yoder, Jeremy Eutzy, Aaron Updegraff & Travis Burkholder. Yoder pulled to the lead for a lap, but Buck reclaimed the position, as Jeremy Ott moved into 4th, ahead of Burkholder & Updegraff. The racers remained in their top five spots for 12 laps, with Ott & Updegraff going into door to door action various times, with Ott maintaining his 4th place position. Cheyenne Ingram, Eric Seibert, Travis Burkholder, Doug Sales & Brock Foster were running in the 6th thru 10th spots, where they remained as Jeremy Ott raced by Yoder, to take 2nd, as Buck crossed the finish line for the win. Jeremy Ott had the best lap speed, racing at 61.429 MPH in 14.651 seconds. Thunder car heats were won by Yoder, Buck, Burkholder, & Eutzy. Tyler Stine received the “Hard Charger Award” after starting 22nd & finishing 13th in the 25 lap feature.
Kyle Lear took home the $2000.00 payout sponsored by Dr. Zachary Crouse DVM, in the Dr. Zachary Crouse Topless Limited Late Model feature, after starting at the front beside Gunner Walls in the 30 lap event. Lear was followed by Walls, who had George Dixon Jr., in his tracks, with Kyle Lee & Trent Merkel finishing out the top five.
Tyler Bowman & Sammy Rial, exited the oval following early cautions, but with 5 laps complete, the center to the back of the lineup, came out of turn 2 like bolts of lightning, putting cars in all directions, resulting in Andy Fries, John Moser, & Kyle Moser going to the pits, while Shyann Smith made a direct exit to change a flat tire, returning to the rear of the reline.
The restart was Lear, Gunner Walls, Dixon Jr., Kyle Lee & D.J. Myers, who was moving through the competition, from his 9th place starting position. The laps were counting down as the top racer positions began to reform, as Kyle Lee & D.J. Myers passed Dixon, putting them in 3rd & 4th positions. The racers held these placements for 8 laps, till Myers pulled by Lee, taking 3rd. Myers was on a mission as he slid his racer into the turns to gain momentum, pulling beside Walls, then taking second place with 2 laps to go. Lear passed the checkered, followed by Myers, Walls, Lee, & Merkel for the top five. Jeff King received the “Hard Charger” award for starting in 18th & finishing the race in 8th. Kyle Lear had the best speed lap, traveling at 72.312 MPH in 12.446 seconds. Late Model Heats were won by Lear, Gunner Walls, & D.J. Myers.
The Macri Concrete 600 Sprints had polesitter, Dominic Ciucci, pull to the lead, but an immediate caution for Cole Armstrong in turn 4, & Darren Kauffman, who came to a stop on the backstretch, put the racers into a reline as Armstrong went to the rear, & Kauffman retired his racer for the evening. Ciucci held the lead, followed by Rich Kerstetter, Vincent Gaudiosi, Tanner Pressley & Jim Young, the top five for 8 laps. Gaudiosi & Kerstetter went into wheel to wheel action, with Gaudiosi taking claim to 2nd for a short time before his racer went out of control in turn 2, putting him to the back of the field.
Ciucci led the reline, but Tanner Pressley came from 6th to pull beside Kerstetter, taking over 2nd place. Ciucci & Pressley pulled away from the remainder of the racers, as they battled for 9 laps, before Pressley took the lead with only 3 laps to go. Ciucci, Kerstetter, Jarrett Cavalet, & Jim Young crossed the line behind Pressley for the finish. Dominick Ciucci had the best speed lap, racing at 76.976 MPH in 11.692 seconds. Tanner Pressley received the “Hard Charger” award while Jarrett Cavalet & Gaudiosi were the winners of the heat events.
The T.A. Ward Construction 270 Sprints feature had Brycen Doyle & Bradyn Kuhn at the helm of the 24 car field, with Doyle taking the lead, followed by Kuhn, Bill Laughman, Wes Libert, & Cayden Forsythe, for five laps till Garrison Zook came from 12th to pass Forsythe, claiming 5th place. Three laps later, Zook moved into 4th, then passed Laughman to pull into 3rd by lap 10.
Jason Houtz brought his racer from 7th to pass the frontrunners, after a caution on the backstretch for Robert Bush, putting his ride at the top of the line, with Kuhn, Zook, Doyle & Laughman in pursuit. Houtz held the lead for the final 10 laps, with Kuhn maintaining 2nd, Laughman passing Doyle to take 3rd, while Libert & Cory Myers moved into 4th & 5th place, for the final lap. Aidan Crouse had the best speed lap, running at 74.738 MPH in 12.042 seconds. The 270 heat events were won by Brycen Doyle, Brayden Kuhn, & Bill Laughman. The consi for the 270 was won by Aidan Crouse.
The Dr. Zachary Crouse/ Friese Transportation East Coast Legends, had Scott Musselman & Jeremy Ott sitting in the top row on green, with Ott taking the lead, while Musselman, Bill Diehl, Alex McCollum & Lincoln Kearchner sat in the top five. Logan Jones had issues in turn four, putting him to the rear, while Kirk Martin & Rick Hartwig exited the oval with 6 laps complete. The reline had Ott, Musselman, McCollum, Diehl & Kearchner at the top with Colton Friese & Mason Weakley moving into 6th & 7th.
Seven laps remained when McCollum passed Musselman, taking over 2nd, & Logan Jones came from the rear, to pass Friese & Deihl, putting him into 5th position, as Ott took the win. Jeremy Ott had the best speed lap, racing at 65.949 MPH in 13.647 seconds. Bill Diehl, Brock Doyle, & Jeremy Ott were the heat event winners. Logan Jones received the “Hard Charger” award.
The Randy Burkholder Racing Supplies Strictly Stocks, did not get the opportunity to race their feature event due to rain.
The second feature for the Cisney Auto Parts 4 Cylinder Thunder Cars was also delayed due to the rain after Tara Sales had the lead for prelap cautions, followed by leading the first lap before her racer went into a spin out of turn two, being hit by Sonny Williamson as other racers scattered to avoid collision. Sales’s racer was being towed as the rain took charge, canceling the remainder of the event.