PDKA State Championship Kart Series races Round Three By Walt Cox SPRING RUN, PA - The ranks of the Pennsylvania Dirt Karters Association (PDKA) swelled to just over 250 entries as karts reached speeds of more than 100 mph on an exceptionally fast and smooth Path Valley Speedway Park Sunday, June 23. The closest finish of the day was in the heavy class when Jeff Rathfon finished a timed 0.187 second ahead of Adam Dimm. Rathfon completed the 20-lap feature in four minutes 45 seconds and his best lap was a scorching 97 mph. The biggest winning margin was that of Alex Benda in the Jr. Sportsman I Lites class. Benda won by a lap ahead of Tyler Bear, and Benda has won features in all three of the events completed to date. The results are unofficial until certified by the PDKA board of directors and only the best five finishes of the six-race series counts 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." The day's general racing sponsor was All Pro of Harrisburg and Midnite Power sponsored the Fast Time Awards. Individual class sponsors for the 19 divisions of karts include: JJ's Auto Body, In Memory of Kevin Gobrecht, Silver Springs Speedway, Kirby's Speed Secrets, Frank Sears Sanitation, 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, American Carpentry/Frame to Finish. According to PDKA President Butch Diller, he does not expect the number of entries to continue to grow in this year's PDKA series because of a controversy involving tires. The series requires the older Burris M15A and M15B tires as a cost saving measure rather than the apparently faster new Burris SS series tires introduced last month. Some claim the older tires are difficult to find, but Diller says there are many still available and he expects more to be for sale as racers who are not PDKA top ten contenders begin selling older tires. "The competition couldn't be better, and we are identifying and honoring the very best young kart riders in Pennsylvania and several neighboring states," Diller states. Promoter Ken Geesey at host track Path Valley noted, "These are some of the finest young people anywhere and it is both an honor and a privilege to see such great racing. We may have had the next Jeff Gordon right here racing today!" The six-race series alternates between Path Valley and the Selinsgrove Raceway and the remaining events are all Sunday races. Gates open at 7 a.m. with practice at 10 a.m. and racing at noon for the four remaining events. The best five finishes are counted toward the Pennsylvania State Championships and the Burris National Speedway Series points. The additional Selinsgrove races are July 14 and Sept. 29. The fifth race at Path Valley is August 18. 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. 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. RESULTS (Round #2): Kid Karts: 1.) Ashley Brooks, 2.) Nathan Long, 3.) Jessica Miller, 4.) Ian Scheaffer, 5.) Blaise Roush, 6.) Travis Tate Yamaha 2-Cycle Lite: 1.) Elvin Diller, 2.) Scott Geesey, 3.) Bob Anderson, 4.) Keith Blumenstein, 5.) Todd Shellenberger, 6.) Andy Little, 7.) Rich Diem, 8.) Shane Ege, 9.) Aaron Anstine, 10.) Mike Kennedy, 11.) Clark Simonton Jr., 12.) Tracy Blumenstein X-Heavy: 1.) Markus Woodring, 2.) Mike Rogers, 3.) Jason Jones, 4.) Jeff Rathfon, 5.) Frederich Meier Jr., 6.) Ken Lawrence, 7.) John Elder, 8.) Jeffrey Fochler, 9.) Chad Bogar, 10.) David Beck Jr., 11.) Brian Witmer, 12.) Jason Wevadoe, 13.) Lee Hertz, 14.) Derek Mease, 15.) Donnie Hotts, 16.) Ken Brooker III 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.) Nathan Melton, 2.) Adam Witt, 3.) Eric Walker, 4.) Brian Behm, 5.) Cody Schmiedel, 6.) Trenton Sheaffer, 7.) Joshua Rebert, 8.) Nicole Easton, 9.) Patrick Rineman, 10.) Travis Pollock, 11.) Brandon Scannell, 12.) Patrick Debroisse, 13.) Chris Melton Jr. Sportsman I Heavy: 1.) Tyler Bear, 2.) Alex Benda, 3.) Jonathan Pillion, 4.) Chad Brooks, 5.) Aaron Russell, 6.) Troy Cunningham, 7.) Dylan Cisney, 8.) Matthew Bauer, 9.) Ronald Little Jr., 10.) Michael Bauer, 11.) Andrew Dietrich, 12.) Cody Fairchok, 13.) Derek Goldsborough Heavy: 1.) Jeff Rathfon, 2.) Adam Dimm, 3.) Chris Claar, 4.) Shane Davis, 5.) Denny Wiles, 6.) DJ Clark, 7.) Mark Rhodes, 8.) Paul Nessinger, 9.) Michael Trevity, 10.) Ryan Lower, 11.) Ed Murphy, 12.) Shawn Anderson, 13.) Matt Smith, 14.) Scott Arnold, 15.) Mike Daugherty, 16.) Jason Fones Jr. Sportsman II Heavy: 1.) Brock Zearfoss, 2.) Austin Hogue, 3.) Brent Marks, 4.) Keith Blumenstein, 5.) Mike Rodriquez, 6.) Danny Holtgraver, 7.) Stephen Mattlin, 8.) Cody Rathfon, 9.) Zane Farrell, 10.) Anthony Jenkins Junior: 1.) Patrick Rineman, 2.) Travis Wagner, 3.) Garrett Kuhns, 4.) Matt Cooper, 5.) Donald Holland Jr., 6.) Bobby McDade, 7.) Randy Burkholder, 8.) Timothy Berkheimer, 9.) Amber Lyter, 10.) Autumn Bear, 11.) Eddie Mehl, 12.) Randy Woodward, 13.) Robert Mogel, 14.) Roger Coss, 15.) David Corley, 16.) Cale Ross, 17.) Josh Holtgraver, 18.) Garrett Krummert, 19.) Danny McGuire Controlled Medium: 1.) Missy Ciucci, 2.) Matt Hummel, 3.) Kenneth Duke, 4.) Adam Romig, 5.) Tommy Wade, 6.) Derek Locke, 7.) Randy Goldsborough, 8.) Scott Tamaro, 9.) Brent Comp, 10.) John Hoffman Yamaha 2-Cycle Heavy: 1.) Scott Geesey, 2.) Bob Anderson, 3.) Elvin Diller III, 4.) Andy Little, 5.) Keith Blumenstein, 6.) Dale Boward, 7.) Mike Kennedy, 8.) Shane Ege, 9.) Tracy Blumenstein Sr. Champ: 1.) Brent Baumgartner, 2.) Chad Wiley, 3.) Andrew Tate, 4.) Scott Jones, 5.) Jeff Shellenberger, 6.) Bob Johnson, 7.) Earl Hoon Sr., 8.) John Westbrook, 9.) Greg Hammaker, 10.) Cale Reigle, 11.) Eddie Rice, 12.) Tom Schantz, 13.) Todd Wildasin, 14.) Todd Umbrell, 15.) Tim Geesey, 16.) Matt Roberts, 17.) Terry Kline, 18.) Brady Bitting Lite: 1.) Tommy Beavers, 2.) James Kirby, 3.) Rodney Sweger, 4.) Ben Murphy, 5.) Geremy Sheaffer, 6.) Todd Shellenberger, 7.) Kenneth Duke, 8.) Justin Seigler, 9.) Jake Murphy, 10.) Chris Shuttlesworth, 11.) Jon Keister, 12.) Steve Fannasy, 13.) Kevin Kratzer, 14.) Justin Weaver, 15.) Dwayne Gutshall, 16.) Chris Davis, 17.) David Golden Jr. Sportsman Champ: 1.) Gerard McIntyre, 2.) Rodney Westhafer, 3.) Chad Brooks, 4.) Cody Fairchock Jr. Sportsman I Lites: 1.) Alex Benda, 2.) Tyler Bear, 3.) Jonathan Pillion, 4.) Chad Brooks, 5.) Brandon Goodling, 6.) Michael Bauer, 7.) Dylan Cisney, 8.) Matthew Bauer, 9.) Ronald Little Jr., 10.) Aaron Russell, 11.) Andrew Dietrich, 12.) Cody Fairchok, 13.) Dakota Baer, 14.) Troy Cunningham Jr. Sportsman II Lite: 1.) Austin Hogue, 2.) Brock Zearfoss, 3.) Brent Marks, 4.) Mike Rodriquez, 5.) Anthony Jenkins, 6.) Danny Holtgraver, 7.) Keith Blumenstein, 8.) Stephen Mattlin, 9.) Lee Thomas Star Champ: 1.) Greg Robinson, 2.) Brent Baumgartner, 3.) Bob Johnson, 4.) JJ Kline, 5.) John Westbrook Visit the PDKA website Here!