Clinton County, PA. August 20th, 2022. Nick Fillman, USAC ECSC
Alex Bright of Collegeville, PA picked up his fifth feature event win of the season at the Clinton County Speedway, in the Rapid Tire Services, USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, Presented by Capitol Renegade debut at the 1/3 mile clay oval.
Colin White and Aidan Borden lead the feature field to green for the first ever event at the Clinton County Speedway, with Mark Smith grabbing the initial lead and pulling away from the front row drivers of White and Borden. Joey Amantea quickly found the bottom side of the speedway to his liking as he utilized the bottom side of the speedway to move his way into the third place position.
Two and three wide battles were common place from third position on back as Alex Bright, Briggs Danner and Steven Drevicki moved forward in the feature field, battling for position inside the top five.
On lap six of the feature event, Mark Smith slowed with a flat right rear tire, just as Joey Amantea was diving to the bottom side of the speedway for the lead, and Mike Thompson had just been slid for position by Alex Bright. While Smith rejoined the field after his time in the work area, this allowed Joey Amantea to have control of the feature field with Mike Thompson, Alex Bright, Steven Drevicki, Briggs Danner, and local 305 driver Tylor Cochran as the top five.
The ensuing restart was intense with driver all throughout the top five going two and three wide all the way around the Clinton County Speedway. Alex Bright had an extremely well handling race car and was able to get great runs off of turn two into turn three and was gaining handfuls of time each lap on the leader Amantea. Ultimately Bright moved to the outside of Amantea for the race lead at the completion of lap ten, and began his drive away from the field.
Amantea held onto second with Steven Drevicki and Briggs Danner quickly drawing in of the back of the 88J. At the halfway point of the feature event Drevicki moved by Amantea to take second away, with Danner trying to follow suit, but unable to get by initially. However only a handful of laps later Danner was able to work to the underside of the Amantea entry and secure the third position as Amantea began to fade in the feature event.
One of the fastest cars on the speedway was that of Tylor Cochran who was picking off cars left and right marching his way to the front of the field from his ninth place starting spot. The Clinton County Regular was slow rolling the bottom of the speedway keeping the car straight as an arrow and challenging some of the fastest cars the series has to offer.
The top three began to settle in and cruise as Bright began to battle lapped traffic in the closing stages of the feature event. Tylor Cochran continued his march forward and was able to move by Amantea to move into the fourth place spot as well. Meanwhile, at the tail end of the top ten a fantastic battle raged on for the majority of the feature event between Ed Aikin and Colin White. The duo battled side by side lap after lap, eventually allowing Bruce Buckwalter Jr to move into the picture and join the battle forcing a three wide battle for position.
Just ahead of the battle between White, Aikin, and Buckwalter, another local 305 driver Josh Beamer had blasted his way through the field from his fifteenth place starting spot and was running a strong and impressive seventh.
Try as they might, Steven Drevicki nor Briggs Danner could make up enough time on the leader Bright, as Alex Bright would go on to collect the first ever USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series event at the Clinton County Speedway. Steven Drevicki, Briggs Danner, Tylor Cochran, and Joey Amantea completed the top five.
While it may have looked like a “Friday Cruise” as Bright called it in victory lane, it was no easy feat. Bright and the Hummer Motorsports team have been fighting engine issues over the last three events, despite switching cars, engines, and engine components. Bright explained that the engine was not running at full capacity, but may actually have been a big benefit to help the Bright maintain great speed through the slick corners of Clinton County.
More steps in the right direction continued for Steven Drevicki, following up his top five run at Bloomsburg with a respectable runner up at Clinton County. While majority of the series regulars do not have any laps around the speedway, Drevicki was one of a handful of drivers to have competed in an ARDC Midget event over a decade ago. Drevicki is more of a small track driver, despite having wins at many different speedways on the series trail. The slick track played right into Drevicki’s favor, and should a caution flag have been displayed, may have been able to take a shot at Bright for the lead.
Briggs Danner continued his incredible 2022 season, picking up a podium finish in his first ever start at the speedway. Danner has struggled with slick tracks over the last two seasons, but Friday night was able to move forward and have a solid run to maintain his now 101 point lead over Bright.
Fourth place was without a doubt the story of the night as local 305 driver Tylor Cochran came away with an impressive effort. Cochran made his first career start on Thursday at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds to get some laps under his belt with no wing on the car, and coupled his non wing practice, with his experience at the Clinton County Speedway, to pick up a remarkable top five run.
Rounding out the top five was early race leader Joey Amantea. Amantea struggled late in the feature event with a very loose race car. Amantea went on to explain after the race that the right rear tire sealed over, leaving Joey skating around the slick of the Clinton County Speedway, unable to get the car to get hooked up again in the remaining laps. Ultimately, Amantea was able to walk away from the speedway with a solid top five, and continued to maintain his top four position in points.
Next up for the series is the second and final appearance of the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series at the Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, August 20th as a part of “Openwheel Madness lll” featuring the 410 Sprint cars, PASS 305 Sprints, and the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars.
USAC East Coast at Clinton County Results:
Heat 1 (10 Laps, 5 Qualify, 3 Invert): 1. 75 Mark Smith, 2. 20 Alex Bright, 3. 90 Colin White, 4. 21k Tommy Kunsman, 5. 83 Bruce Buckwalter Jr, 6. 78c Dakota Schweikert, 7. 78 Dale Schweikert, 8. 12w Troy Fraker.
Heat 2 (10 Laps, 5 Qualify, 3 Invert): 1. 88J Joey Amantea, 5G Briggs Danner, 3. 11 Mike Thompson, 4. 67 Jason Cherry, 5. 83s Billy Ney, 6. 76 Mike Smith, 7. 3 Levi Brungard, 8. 57 JT Ferry.
Heat 3 (10 Laps, 5 Qualify, 3 Invert): 1. 19 Steven Drevicki, 2. 7B Aidan Borden, 3. 19T Tylor Cochran, 4. 7 Ed Aikin, 5. 85 Josh Beamer, 6. 96 Lee Kauffman, 7. 75B Bobby Butler, 8. 42 John Fraker.
Semi Feature Event (10 Laps, 5 Qualify): 1. 75B Bobby Butler, 2. 3 Levi Brungard, 3. 57 JT Ferry, 4. 78 Dale Schweikert, 5. 12w Troy Fraker, 6. 76 Mike Smith, 7. 42 John Fraker, 8. 78c Dakota Schweikert, 9. 96 Lee Kauffman.
Dakota Schweikert flipped on lap eight of the Semi
Feature Event: (25 Laps) 1. 20 Alex Bright, 2 19 Steven Drevicki, 3. 5G Briggs Danner, 4. 19T Tylor Cochran, 5. 88J Joey Amantea, 6. 11 Mike Thompson, 7. 85 Josh Beamer, 8. 7 Ed Aikin, 9. 90 Colin White, 10. 83 Bruce Buckwalter Jr, 11. 78 Dale Schweikert, 12. 7B Aidan Borden, 13. 75B Bobby Butler, 14. 21k Tommy Kunsman, 15. 57 JT Ferry, 16. 83s Billy Ney, 17. 12w Troy Fraker, 18. 3 Levi Brungard, 19. 75 Mark Smith, 20. 67 Jason Cherry.
Lap Leaders: Mark Smith (1-5), Joey Amantea (6-9), Alex Bright (10-25).
Vahlco Wheels Hard Charger: Josh Beamer +8 (15th to 7th)