ARDC-Flemington-97-06-/21

For more information: Linda Mansfield, lindamansfield@CompuServe.com

DiMario Does It Again at Flemington in ARDC CARQUEST Midget Action

FLEMINGTON, N.J., June 21 - Phil DiMario of Piermont, N.Y., used lapped traffic to vault from fourth to first in an amazing pass at the half-way point enroute to winning the 20-lap ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series feature at Flemington Speedway Saturday night during "Courier-News Night." Bryan Kobylarz of Birdsboro, Pa., ran just inches behind DiMario the entire second half of the race and finished in the runner-up spot.

DiMario started 11th in the 24-car field and was eighth by the restart of lap one, which was needed when Rudy Boetticher Jr.'s Lindblad Vogler jumped out of gear and rolled to a stop on the frontstretch. Boetticher's brother, Robert Boetticher of Fanwood, N.J., had taken the lead at the drop of the green from his outside front-row starting spot.

DiMario steadily moved up, cracking the top five by lap five. He passed Bob Cicconi of Prospect Park, Pa., for fourth on lap eight, the same time the leader was approaching cars to lap.

On lap nine Kobylarz passed Tom Martocci of Brodheadsville, Pa., for second, and on the following circuit DiMario used the lapped traffic to slide under Martocci, Robert Boetticher and Kobylarz through turns three and four. Kobylarz got by Boetticher too to jump into second, and dogged DiMario from that point on. Kobylarz's black Starrett Ellis Fontana was like a speedy shadow of DiMario's yellow and blue McCabe Stealth Gaerte, much to the delight of the good crowd on hand. The drivers behind the top pair needed a yellow to catch up but that never occurred, and DiMario's ninth career ARDC feature victory was in the books.

Cicconi, driving Mike Roselli Jr.'s Ellis Fontana since the 17-year-old isn't allowed to race in New Jersey due to state age regulations, was third. Gary Halteman of Gilbertsville, Pa., who started beside DiMario and now moves into second in the overall point standings, was fourth. Rudy Boetticher, who lives in Lake Hopatcong, N.J., rebounded from scratch on the first-lap restart for fifth.

Martocci; point leader Ed Stimely Jr. of McVeytown, Pa.; Robert Boetticher; Greg Klar of Reistertown, Md.; and Lew Blair of Hatboro, Pa., completed the top 10.

It was the second victory of the season for the defending ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series champion, who won here on May 24. He was behind the wheel of the Stealth Gaerte owned by Ray McCabe of New Britain, Pa., which is sponsored by Low-Tor Storage, Valvoline, Autometer Products, Pro Shocks, VP Racing Fuels, ThreeBond of America, Hatboro Fasteners, Hoosier and Bowen Lettering. Larry Hentrich of Hatboro, Pa., is the crew chief, assisted by "Little" Ray Brown, Laurie DiMario, Jason Hentrich, Andrew Mehrer and Matthew Scanlon.

DiMario said that the key to his victory was his experience in using lapped traffic to his advantage, and his plan to save his Hoosier rubber for a mid-race charge.

"This place can be a little tough on tires. The car was actually not as good tonight as it was when we won here in May, but don't get me wrong; it was fast from the get-go. I told my crew we'd be O.K. if I ran my own race," DiMario said. "I wanted to just pick my way through the field in the early going, save my tires, and see what we could do from the half-way point and on, and it worked. I love this place."

DiMario had a perfect night, as he also won his heat. The other eight-lap qualifiers went to Halteman and Kobylarz.

The ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series makes its only appearance of the year in Western Pennsylvania this coming Saturday night, June 28, when it appears at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway. Then it's back to the dirt track set-ups for a special holiday show at Lincoln (Pa.) Speedway on Saturday night, July 5. Two more asphalt shows round out the month of July: Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway on Saturday, July 19 and another appearance at Flemington on Saturday, July 26.

The summary:

First Heat (8 laps) - 1. Phil DiMario, 2. Ed Stimely Jr., 3. Doug Borger, 4. Gary Mondschein, 5. Lew Blair, 6. Robert Boetticher, 7. Randy Mausteller (DNF), 8. Monnie Wonder III (DNS). Lap Leaders: Lap 1, Doug Borger; laps 2-8, Phil DiMario. Time: 2:03.38

Second Heat (8 laps) - 1. Gary Halteman, 2. Mark Wakefoose, 3. Greg Klar, 4. Tom Martocci, 5. Bob Krollage, 6. Fred Schell, 7. Art Lawshe Sr., 8. Tim Dietz (DNF). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2, Tim Dietz; laps 3-8, Gary Halteman. Time: 2:18.00.

Third Heat (8 laps) - 1. Bryan Kobylarz, 2. Bob Cicconi, 3. Rudy Boetticher Jr., 4. Scott Jackson, 5. Mike Lapp, 6. Brian Suchy, 7. Skip Serridge, 8. Shannon Mausteller (DNF), 9. Mark Lawshe Sr. (DNF). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-8, Bryan Kobylarz. No time.

Feature (20 laps) - 1. Phil DiMario, 2. Bryan Kobylarz, 3. Bob Cicconi, 4. Gary Halteman, 5. Rudy Boetticher Jr., 6. Tom Martocci, 7. Ed Stimely Jr., 8. Robert Boetticher, 9. Greg Klar, 10. Lew Blair, 11. Mark Wakefoose, 12. Fred Schell, 13. Skip Serridge, 14. Bob Krollage, 15. Mark Lawshe Sr., 16. Scott Jackson, 17. Mike Lapp, 18. Brian Suchy, 19. Doug Borger, 20. Art Lawshe Sr., 21. Shannon Mausteller, 22. Tim Dietz, 23. Monnie Wonder III, 24. Randy Mausteller. Lap Leaders: Laps 1-9, Robert Boetticher; laps 10-20, Phil DiMario. No time.

ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series Point Standings

                        1.      Ed Stimely Jr.                  937
                        2.      Gary Halteman                         854
                        3.      Phil DiMario                    792
                                Mike Roselli Jr.                792
                        5.      Bob Cicconi                     715
                                Bryan Kobylarz                  715
                        7.      Tom Martocci                    635
                        8.      Doug Borger                     614
                        9.      Randy Mausteller                508
                        10.     Mark Freeland                   485
                        11.     Tim Dietz                       484
                        12.     Shannon Mausteller              475
                        13.     Fred Schell                     446
                        14.     Lou Cicconi Jr.                   402
                        15.     Duane Mausteller                384
                        16.     Gary Mondschein                        357
                        17.     Brian Seidel                    316
                        18.     Rudy Boetticher Jr.             312
                        19.     Don Trent II                    301
                        20.     Greg Klar                       295
                        21.     Bill Ertel                      247
                        22.     Brian Suchy                     226
                        23.     Walt Stearly                    225
                                Monnie Wonder III               225
                        25.     Robert Boetticher               223
                        26.     Tom Fraschetta                  212
                        27.     Dennis Schaeffer                190
                        28.     Mike Lapp                       158
                        29.     Mark Lawshe Sr.                 149
                        30.     Mark Wakefoose                  145
                        31.     Art Lawshe Sr.                  135
                        32.     Fremont Dickerman               134
                        33.     J.R. Booth                      95
                        34.     Jim Jackson                     89
                        35.     Ted Schmid                      83
                        36.     Lew Blair                       68
                        37.     Dan Shelbo Jr.                  65
                        38.     Skip Serridge                   51
                        39.     Bob Krollage                    46
                        40.     John Heydenreich                43
                        41.     Scott Jackson                   42
                        42.     Ray Bull                        9
                        43.     Darryl Bloom                    5
                                Duke Pavlick                    5

Quote of the Night:

"J.R. is on vacation, but he's soon to return, I hope."

- Car owner Skip Serridge of Flemington, N.J., substituting for his vacationing driver, J.R. Booth of Lebanon, N.J.

Serridge is being a little hard on himself, however. He had never driven a midget before and the last time he drove a race car of any type was in 1985, when he drove a sprint car. Still, he finished seventh in his heat and 13th in the ARDC CARQUEST Midget Series feature Saturday night at Flemington, N.J.

"I'll stick to driving it in the driveway when I have to move it around to work on it," Serridge added with a smile.

Human Interest Note of the Night:

Eight-year-old Matthew Scanlon's name has been on his uncle's ARDC CARQUEST midgets since the year he was born, but Saturday night was the first time he's actually seen his uncle's car compete.

He ended up celebrating in victory lane, too. Matthew is the nephew of the winning car owner, Ray McCabe, also of New Britain, Pa.

With the help of a friend in the grandstand, McCabe was "kid-sitting" Saturday night at Flemington Speedway in addition to being a car owner and ARDC's race director.