PDKA State Championship Karters finish six-race series Story & photos by Walt Cox SPRING RUN, PA - Tyler Bear of Elliotsburg was the top youth class winner in the Pennsylvania Dirt Karters Association (PDKA) State Championship Series sponsored by Burris Racing Sunday at the Selinsgrove Speedway as he set fast times in two classes and then won both of his feature events. Tommy Beavers of Winchester VA, a defending 2001 PDKA state champion, also won two feature events in the Sr. Lites and Sr. Medium classes. Young Bear beat Michael Bauer of Clarion by almost a second through 20 laps in the Junior Sportsman I Lite class and then later bested Chad Brooks by just over two seconds in the Junior Sportsman I Heavy class. Finishes in all classes were similarly competitive as 220 riders from all parts of Pennsylvania and adjacent states competed in the final series races for the state championships. The final points standings and the Sept. 29 race results will be posted at the PDKA website in about a week, and after two weeks for the teams to examine them, they will be certified by the PDKA board of directors and the 2002 state champions announced. The day's general racing sponsor was Cumberland Valley Land Clearing, 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. According to PDKA President Butch Diller, "These young people put as much effort and spirit into the final race as the first one, and they have all demonstrated good sportsmanship and good competition through the whole series that we can be proud of." 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/. Tech rules and classes for the Burris National Speedway Series are detailed on the BNSS web site at www.burrisnationalspeedwayseries.com/. The six-race series alternated between Path Valley and the Selinsgrove Raceway with three races at each location. The best five finishes are counted toward the Pennsylvania State Championships and the Burris National Speedway Series points. Feature race winners in all classes with 12 or more karts receive a winner's plaque and a gift certificate from the class sponsor. All riders setting fast times in their class received a medal. All of those entering the Kids Karts class received a trophy, and cash payouts were based on the number of entries. 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 the winners commonly take their engines home "in a box." "Each year," Diller said, "We have seen the very best young racers in the state and region racing in the PDKA events, and all of the staff congratulate them on the safety and racing skills they've learned here as some move of them on to faster classes of sprint and stock car racing." FAST TIMES: Jr. I Lite: #25 Tyler Bear, 14.770 Jr. I Heavy: #25 Tyler Bear, 14.704 Jr. II Lite: #52 Austin Hogue, 14.206 Jr. II Heavy: # 12 Keith Blumenstein, 14.257 Jr. III Lite: #7 Matt Cooper, 14.044 Jr. Stock: #40 Randy Woodward, 13.976 Jr. Sportsman Champ: #16 Gerald McIntyre, 15.581 Jr. Champ: #13 Eric Walker, 14.044 Sr. Lite: #78 James Kirby, 13.670 Sr. Medium: #36 Ben Murphy, 13.585 Sr. Heavy: #91 J.R. Fogelsonger, 13.585 Sr. X-Heavy: #68 Ken Brooker III, 14.197 Controlled Medium: #67 Ken Duke, 13.375 Controlled Heavy: #77 Derek Locke, 13.324 Briggs Sr. Champ: #19 Andrew Tate, 14.743 Sr. Starr Champ: #6 John Westbrook, 13.904 Yamaha Lite: #3 Clark Simonton Jr., 12.792 Yamaha Heavy: #21 Elvin Diller III, 13.412 RESULTS(UNOFFICIAL): Kid Karts: 1.) #57 Ian Scheaffer, 2.) #25 Andrew Hogue, 3.) #88 Jessica Miller, 4.) #8 Kyle Denmyer, 5.) #24 Ashley Brooks, 6.) #99 Corey Potts Jr. I Lite: 1.) #25 Tyler Bear, 2.) #45 Michael Bauer, 3.) #37 Alex Benda, 4.) #41 Jonathan Pillion, 5.) #5 Dylan Cisney, 6.) #46 Matthew Bauer, 7.) #11 Troy Cunningham, 8.) #01 Chad Brooks, 9.) #83 Cody Fairchok, 10.) #88 Andrew Dietrich, 11.) #6 Aaron Russell, 12.) #78 Brandon Goodling Jr. Sport. I Heavy: 1.) #25 Tyler Bear, 2.) #01 Chad Brooks, 3.) #5 Dylan Cisney, 4.) #46 Mathew Bauer, 5.) #41 Jonathan Pillion, 6.) #6 Aaron Russell, 7.) #45 Michael Bauer, 8.) #11 Troy Cunningham, 9.) #83 Cody Fairchok, 10.) #88 Andrew Dietrich, 11.) #37 Alex Benda Jr. Sportsman II Lite: 1.) #1 Mike Rodriquez, 2.) #12 Keith Blumenstein, 3.) #52 Austin Hogue, 4.) #22 Anthony Jenkins, 5.) #97 Stephen Mattlin, 6.) #3 Brock Zearfoss, 7.) #19 Brent Marks Jr. Sport. II Heavy: 1.) #12 Keith Blumenstein, 2.) #52 Austin Hogue, 3.) #1 Mike Rodriquez, 4.) #22 Anthony Jenkins, 5.) #19 Brent Marks, 6.) #97 Stephen Mattlin Jr. Sportsman Champ: 1.) #16 Gerard McIntyre, 2.) #01 Chad Brooks, 3.) #83 Cody Flirchok, 4.) #4 Mike Nelson III, 5.) #22 Rodney Westhafer Jr. Champ: 1.) #13 Eric Walker, 2.) #7 Nathan Melton, 3.) #10 Cody Schmiedel, 4.) #2 Chris Melton, 5.) #17 Joshua Rebert, 6.) #1 Brian Behm, 7.) #5 Adam Wilt, 8.) #6 Nicole Eaton, 9.) #8 Jacob Hartlaub, 10.) #00 Brandon Scannell, 11.) #87 Patrick Rineman, 12.) #4 Patrick Debroisse Jr. III Lite: 1.) #61 Craig Wetzel2.) #7 Matt Cooper, 3.) #32 Garrett Kuhns, 4.) #89 Donald Holland Jr., 5.) #21 Cody Seiber, 6.) #0 David Conley, 7.) #40 Randy Woodward, 8.) #50 Timothy Berkheimer, 9.) #2 Ryan Wilson, 10.) #3 Travis Wagner, 11.) #8 Trenton Sheaffer, 12.) #34 Amber Lyter, 13.) #13 Brandon Libby, 14.) #5 Dustin Wagner Sr. Lites: 1.) #31 Tommy Beavers, 2.) #4 Jesse Hare, 3.) #50 Andrew Burkholder, 4.) #80 Eddie Rice, 5.) #67 Kenneth Duke, 6.) #98 Todd Shellenberger, 7.) #78 James Kirby, 8.) #12 Jon Keister, 9.) #21 Mike Rogers, 10.) #88 Rodney Sweger, 11.) #36 Ben Murphy, 12.) #16 Jake Murphy, 13.) #7 Geremey Sheaffer Sr. Medium: 1.) #31 Tommy Beavers, 2.) #88 Rodney Sweger, 3.) #19 Missy Ciucci, 4.) #18 Jake Murphy, 5.) #1 Kirk Ritter, 6.) #7 Chris Davis, 7.) #6 Bryan Mallette, 8.) #15x Scott Sheaffer, 9.) #80 Eddie Rice, 10.) #11 Cale Reigle, 11.) #20 Andrew Burkholder, 12.) #36 Ben Murphy Sr. Heavy: 1.) #9 Jeff Rathfon, 2.) #17 Danny Wiles, 3.) #8 Shawn Anderson, 4.) #6 Bryan Mallette, 5.) #31 Ryan Lower, 6.) #1 Adam Dimm, 7.) #98 DJ Clark, 8.) #61 Michael Trevity, 9.) #63 Ken Lawrence Jr., 10.) #65 Paul Nessinger, 11.) #37 Mark Rhodes, 12.) JR Fogelsonger Sr. X-Heavy: 1.) #95 Markus Woodring, 2.) #9 Jeff Rathfon, 3.) #8 Shawn Anderson, 4.) #68 Ken Brooker III, 5.) #57 Tom Shantz, 6.) #63 Ken Lawrence, 7.) #51 Frederich Maier Jr., 8.) #31 Ryan Lower, 9.) #12 Jason Wevodau, 10.) #18 Lee Hertz, 11.) #73 Matt Gorbera, 12.) #00 David Krause, 13.) #21 Mike Rogers Sr. Champ: 1.) #19 Andrew Tate, 2.) #35x Chris Badger, 3.) #25 Brent Lawrence, 4.) #53 Todd Umbrell, 5.) #16 Brady Bitting, 6.) #20 Brent Baumgartner, 7.) #60 Bob Johnson, 8.) #56 Robert Mallette, 9.) #52 Jesse Maurer, 10.) #1 Cale Reigle, 11.) #74 Greg Hammaker, 12.) #6 John Westbrook Star Champ: 1.) #6 John Westbrook, 2.) #60 Bob Johnson, 3.) #18 Brent Baumgartner Yamaha 2-Cycle Lite: 1.) #3 Clark Simonton Jr., 2.) #21 Elvin Diller, 3.) #12 Keith Blumenstein, 4.) #22 Todd Shellenberger, 5.) #29 Tracy Blumenstein, 6.) #7 Aaron Anstine Yamaha 2-Cycle Heavy: 1.) #21 Elvin Diller III, 2.) #12 Keith Blumenstein, 3.) #29 Tracy Blumenstein Controlled Medium: 1.) #19 Missy Ciucci, 2.) #51 John Hoffman, 3.) #9 Matt Hummel, 4.) #67 Kenneth Duke, 5.) #29 Adam Romig, 6.) #77 Derek Locke, 7.) #15 Eddie Rice, 8.) #6 Randy Goldsborough, 9.) #5 Tommy Wade, 10.) #49 Adam Zimmerman Visit the PDKA website Here!