PDKA State Championship Kart Series Beats Weather in Round Four By Walt Cox SPRING RUN, PA - Defying heavy overnight rains, more than 220 of the top kart riders in PA and adjoining states converged on the Selinsgrove Raceway Park Sunday, July 14, for round four of the Pennsylvania Dirt Karter's Association (PDKA) State Championship Series. Amber Lyter of Landisburg was among several excited teens that won their first ever feature events in the PDKA features for some nineteen classes of karts. Only two riders repeated wins from the previous race. Four of the races in the six-race series have been completed. The PDKA riders also earn points toward national championships in the Burris National Speedway Series (BNSS) sanctioned by IRA. According to PDKA President Butch Diller, some riders did not race in the fourth PDKA event because they have no hope of a top ten finish. The overnight rain also kept some away. Other races this season have had as many as 250 entries. Many race for the prestige and experience in the highly respected series. "Some of the riders from Maryland and Virginia did not want to risk a wasted trip, but the weather here was almost perfect," he said. "The rain last night made the track much better than our last race here, and the riders were driving much better too." The six-race series alternates between Path Valley and the Selinsgrove Raceway and the remaining two events are Sunday races. Gates open at 7 a.m. with practice at 10 a.m. and racing at noon. The best five finishes are counted toward the Pennsylvania State Championships and the Burris National Speedway Series points. The fifth race at Path Valley is August 18 and the final race is at Selinsgrove Sept. 29. Rain dates are Sept. 22 and Oct. 6. Feature race winners in all classes with 12 or more karts receive a winner's plaque and a $100 gift certificate from the class sponsor. Burris M15A or M15B tires are required for all classes. All riders setting fast times in their class receive a medal. All of those entering the Kids Karts class receive a trophy and cash payouts are based on the number of entries. New classes this year are Briggs Junior Sportsman Champ, Star Champ, Briggs Junior Sportsman 1 Lite & Heavy, Briggs Junior Sportsman 2 Lite & Heavy, F-200 Intek/ Honda/ Kohler/ Tecumseh @ 360#'s. For F-200 Rules click the Info & Rules section of the BNSS web site at www.burrisnationalspeedwayseries.com/. The PDKA competitors range from Kid Karts for those 5 to 7 years old up to adult classes for those 15 and older. For rules, past state champions and information on the PDKA, riders can consult the series website at www.padirtkart.com/. The day's general racing sponsor was JJ's Auto Body, and Midnite Power sponsored the Fast Time Awards. Individual class sponsors for the 19 divisions of karts include: JJ's Auto Body, Awards and Beyond, JS Specialty, Path Valley Speedway, Paul E. Power, Locke's Auto/Viper Engines, Little's Kart Shop, quality cleaning, York County Kart Supply, Trim's Automotive/T-E Motorsports, Ensor's Speed Shop in 2 classes, Selinsgrove Raceway Park, Silver Springs Speedway, In Memory of Kevin Gobrecht, Silver Springs Speedway, Kirby's Speed Secrets, Frank Sears Sanitation, and American Carpentry/Frame to Finish. The results are unofficial until certified by the PDKA board of directors and only the best five finishes of the six-race series count toward the Pennsylvania State Championships. In addition to electronic timing and scoring, the PDKA races feature extensive and minute technical inspections and the winners commonly take their engines home "in a box." RESULTS (Round Four): Kid Karts: 1.) Nathan Long, 2.) Ashley Brooks, 3.) Ian Scheaffer, 4.) Jessica Miller, 5.) Andrew Hogue Yamaha 2-Cycle Lite: 1.) Clark Simonton Jr., 2.) Elvin Diller, 3.) Todd Shellenberger , 4.) Keith Blumenstein, 5.) Andy Little, 6.) Aaron Anstine, 7.) Rich Diem, 8.) Bob Anderson, 9.) Shane Ege X-Heavy: 1.) Jeff Rathfon, 2.) Mike Rogers, 3.) Markus Woodring, 4.) Jason Wevadoe, 5.) Matt Garbers, 6.) John Elder, 7.) Ryan Lower, 8.) Derek Mease, 9.) Chad Borger, 10.) Ken Brooker III, 11.) Jeffrey Fochler, 12.) Ken Lawrence, 13.) David Martin, 14.) Frederich Meier Jr. Medium: 1.) Rodney Sweger, 2.) Tommy Beavers, 3.) Pete Meleason, 4.) Eddie Rice, 5.) Chris Claar, 6.) Missy Ciucci, 7.) Christopher Davis, 8.) Jake Murphy, 9.) Dwayne Gutshall, 10.) Ben Murphy, 11.) Andrew Burkholder, 12.) Kirk Ritter, 13.) Bill Smith, 14.) Brian Sprankle, 15.) Andrew Tate, 16.) Brent Comp, 17.) Jon Keister, 18.) Justin Seigler, 19.) Jason Emlet, 20.) Scott Fannasy. Jr. Champ: 1.) Adam Witt, 2.) Nathan Melton, 3.) Patrick Rineman, 4.) Eric Walker, 5.) Chris Melton, 6.) Joshua Rebert, 7.) Brian Behm, 8.) Nicole Eaton, 9.) Cody Schmiedel, 10.) Brandon Scannell, Sr. Heavy: 1.) Adam Dimm, 2.) Jeff Rathfon, 3.) DJ Clark, 4.) Mike Daugherty, 5.) Shawn Anderson, 6.) Jason Emlet, 7.) Michael Trevity, 8.) Danny Wiles, 9.) Mark Rhodes, 10.) Kevin Holliday, 11.) Jace Cresswell, 12.) Paul Nessinger, 13.) Andy Kirby, 14.) Ryan Lower. Jr. Sportsman II Heavy: 1.) Keith Blumenstein. 2.) Mike Rodriquez, 3.) Justin Shriver, 4.) Austin Hogue, 5.) Danny Holtgraver, 6.) Brent Marks, 7.) Austin Hogue, 8.) Anthony Jenkins, 9.) Lee Thomas, 10.) Brock Zearfoss Junior: 1.) Garrett Kuhns, 2.) Roger Coss, 3.) Donald Holland Jr., 4.) Randy Woodward, 5.) Bobby McDade, 6.) Eddie Mehl, 7.) Amber Lyter, 8.) David Conley, 9.) Travis Wagner, 10.) Cale Ross, 11.) Autumn Baer, 12.) Tim Berkheimer, 13.) Garrett Krummert, 14.) Matt Cooper, 15.) Patrick Rineman. Yamaha 2-Cycle Heavy: 1.) Elvin Diller III, 2.) Keith Blumenstein, 3.) Andy Little, 4.) Bob Anderson, 5.) Mike Kennedy, 6.) Dale Boward Sr. Champ: 1.) Cale Reigle, 2.) Brady Bitting, 3.) Todd Umbrell, 4.) Bob Johnson, 5.) John Westbrook, 6.) Andrew Tate, 7.) Jeff Shellenberger, 8.) Brent Baumgartner, 9.) Greg Hammaker, 10.) Earl Hoon Sr., 11.) Matt Roberts Sr. Lite: 1.) Jake Murphy, 2.) Todd Shellenberger, 3.) JR Peters, 4.) Jon Keister, 5.) Geremey Sheaffer, 6.) Justin Seigler, 7.) Tommy Beavers, 8.) Eddie Rice, 9.) Kevin Kretzer, 10.) Kenneth Duke, 11.) Chris Shuttlesworth, 12.) Rodney Sweger, 13.) James Kirby, 14.) Jesse Hare, 15.) Ben Murphy, 16.) Justin Weaver, 17.) Bryan Cheary, 18.) Terry Ford Jr. Sportsman Champ: 1.) Gerard McIntyre, 2.) Chad Brooks, 3.) Rodney Westhafer, 4.) Mike Nelson III, 5.) Cody Fairchock Jr. Sportsman III Lites: 1.) Amber Lyter, 2.) Randy Woodward, 3.) Travis Wagner, 4.) Brandon Libby, 5.) Craig Wetzel, 6.) Matt Cooper, 7.) Trenton Sheaffer, 8.) Donald Holland Jr., 9.) Ryan Wilson, 10.) Aisha Thomas, 11.) Garrett Kummert, 12.) David Corley, 13.) Cody Seiber, 14.) Zachary Newlin, 15.) Timothy Berkheimer. Jr. Sportsman I Lites: 1.) Jonathan Pillion, 2.) Michael Bauer, 3.) Matthew Bauer, 4.) Brandon Goodling, 5.) Troy Cunningham, 6.) Tyler Baer, 7.) Chad Brooks, 8.) Dakota Baer, 9.) Alex Benda, 10.) Cody Fairchok, 11.) Andrew Dietrich, 12.) Dylan Cisney. Jr. Sportsman II Lites: 1.) Stephen Mattlin, 2.) Austin Hogue, 3.) Keith Blumenstein, 4.) Danny Holtgraver, 5.) Brock Zearfoss, 6.) Brent Marks, 7.) Justin Shriver, 8.) Lance Newlin, 9.) Anthony Jenkins, 10.) Mike Rodriquez. Star Champ: 1.) Greg Robinson, 2.) John Westbrook, 3.) Bob Johnson, 4.) Brent Baumgartner Visit the Pennslyvania Dirt Karters Association's website Here!