Here is a brief Bio on Sam Heller’s Slot Car racing through the years as I know it.  Sitting at the lunch table at Methacton High School sometime in the mid 70’s and I mentioned racing H.O Slot cars at our track in Trooper.  Sam heard me and said WHAT!.  That was kind of the start of Sam’s journey in the hobby.  He raced at our track Woodland Speedway and was Rookie of the year in 1975.  Sam won many features at Woodland and a some championships.  At the time our circuit consisted of many tracks running AFX, Magna-Tractions and T-jets.  Among the tracks Sam raced at were Audubon, Perkiomen, Tri-County, Landsdale, Norristown, Farview and of course his own track in Arcola which was appropriately name Bull Ring Speedway.  Sam is a front runner everywhere he hooks up and I still to this day enjoy when we are on the track together.  Many torrid battles have been staged.  Our early days included taking many trips to race at Tom Hiester’s and Big T’s as well as trips to Ace Lane and Clementine Speedways in NJ.  Sam went on to race for Bob Lincoln at Wizzard Racing after that in the early 80’s.  He had much success and is well respected on the National scene.  Sam dropped out of the hobby for a bit in the 90’s until I ran into him one time at the Supermarket. (Genuardi’s in Royersford)  I told him about a track in Kutztown that I was racing Tyco’s again and he gave it a try.  Hooked again, but I don’t think his wife Corrine was too happy with me. 

In round two of the hobby Sam got to reunite with old friends and make many new ones including many that are attending this weekends event at Little T’s Speedway in Myerstown.  Sam and I got to race last season together again at Hiester’s H.O. Raceway in Shillington, but this time we are the old guys.  At Randy’s Sam won 11 features over the years, including 5 in Modified, and 6 in IROC which Sam is always a force in.  The 11 wins place him in a tie for 10^th all time at the Kutztown tracks.  Sam has also raced with many other organizations of which I am not always familiar with but there have been many.  Sam is currently an Officer with MAHOPRA and a regular racer as they travel that circuit in the PA and NJ area.

Sam also drove a Sportsman-Modified in the late 70’s at Grandview, Reading, East Windsor and Bridgeport.  The final race at the Reading Fairgrounds I was helping on our car for Charley Gilmore and we lost the engine during warm-ups.  I ran down and asked Sam if Charley could run his Coupe and Sam said sure.  Charley really liked the Motor that car had under the hood.

By Mark Williams

Mark Williams made to two for two in the early going this season after holding off a strong field of 19 racers at Randy’s Raceway.  Williams won on all 8 lanes this time in the Green Modified.  Second place went to last years runner-up in points Cory Reinhard.  Driving his #5 he won 3 segments on the evening.  Third spot went to Little T who won a single segment on lane 5, the Myerstown racer drove his Bob Amore bodied car #91.  Veteran Jim LeVan shurded off a bad crash on lane six at 8:11pm to grab a solid 4^th place finish.  The top five was completed by Billy Decker who ran consistant races all the way through.  The remaining top ten were Tom Wenner, Scott Bender (2 wins), Randy Haydt (2 wins), Toby Reinhard (1 win), and Brian Sponagle (1 win).

Defending Modified Champion Mark Williams returned to victory lane on week one.  Driving his familiar Kenny Gilmore built MW car Williams won 5 segments.  Second spot went to Veteran Tim Bower’s Jr who is making Randy’s Raceway his new Tuesday night stop.  Little T won 3 segments and survived a wild crash on lane 7 which took his car out of competition.  Randy Haydt scored his second third place finish of the season already in week two.  The racing promoter won 3 segments.  Fourth spot went to Toby Reinhard, the senior member of TCAS racing won a single segment on lane 4.  Rounding out the top five was Tom Wenner who also won on lane 4.  Wenner had a strong run coming off his Opening Night win in the Cup division a week ago. [Read more…]

Veteran Randy Haydt scored a convincing win in the season long IROC Championship.   Haydt won by more than 30 points with 2 feature wins and 13 segment wins in the IROC Class that held 9 races this season.  22 racers took part in the year with 20 of them scoring segment wins and 6 scoring feature wins.  Mark Williams finished the season with a feature win on the final night and added 12 segment wins to finish in the second spot.  Third was Jim LeVan who had 2 feature victories and 11 segments.  Fourth was Brian Sponagle the defending champion who also had 2 feature wins and a season high 14 segment wins.  Rounding out the top five was Cory Reinhard who scored 8 segment wins.  Sixth was Toby Reinhard who was a feature winner on opening night and had 7 segment wins.  Seventh went to Savvy Cunnius who had 5 segment wins and a second in the feature held in November.  Position Eight was Ed Kenderdine who had a best finish of third in March to go along with 4 segment wins.  Brian VanBuskirk was ninth with 7 segment wins and 2 top five feature finishes.  Rounding out the top ten in his first season at Randy’s was ECHORR Ace Hiram Durant with 4 segment wins.  Sam Heller scored a feature win in November although he was not a regular racer this year.

The top five in lowest fall-off average for the season are Hiram Durant 1.67, Larry Sanders 3.00, Chris Brubaker 3.40, James Hammershock 3.50 and Mike Mackaravitz 3.50.

Top ten Career IROC Feature winners- R. Haydt 23, Kenny Gilmore 15, Mark Williams 14, Dave Richards 6, Sam Heller,Jim LeVan and Brian Sponagle 5, Shane Hiester 4, Sheldon Hiester 3, Toby Reinhard and Bob Amore 2.

Top ten Career Segment winners-  Mark Williams 135, Randy Haydt 131, Jim LeVan 99, Bob Amore 79, Kenny Gilmore 73, Sam Heller 59, Brian Sponagle 45, Scott Bender 41, Shane Hiester and Billy Decker 40.

A Brand New 3 Race TYCO Race Program is coming to the area.  Racing at three local Speedways will include the Mighty Modifieds and the Super Sprints.  Any Modified or Sprint from Randy’s Raceway, Little T’s Speedway or Hiester’s H.O. Raceway will be legal.  Doors will open at 11:00 with Racing beginning at 12:00 for all events.  Twin 15’s will be the race card and in between shows at intermission a special fun event will be held.  These events will have no entry fee and points will not be kept.  Please support this new program and check back on Randy’s Raceway webpage or Facebook sites for updates.

Schedule of Dates-

Saturday September 28, 2019  Freddy Mac’s Speedway Lenhartsville     Intermission-Team Scramble

Saturday October 26, 2019 Little T’s Speedway Myerstown    Intermission-Dynamic Duo

Saturday November 23, 2019 Woodland Speedway (Randy’s Raceway II) Oley    Intermission-5 car draw

Contact Mark Williams for additional info.  Mwill78554@msn.com

The Banquet was again well attended with over 30 people in attendance.  After all the point awards were made the special awards were also handed out.  Overall Rookie of the Year was Tom Wenner and the Most Improved Driver went to Ed Kenderdine.  Larry Sanders was presented the Sportsmanship Award and Scott Bender was honored as the Track Photographer.  Point Champions included Mark Williams for Modified and Sprint, Jim LeVan for Cup and Randy Haydt in the IROC Division. 

The Pizza was once again sponsored by Little T and Rachel and many other treats were brought in by the crew.  Salsa, Eggs, PB Eggs and Chocolate cake to mention a few. 

The annual banquet IROC race was held using the Coupes provided by Brian Sponagle.  21 drivers entered the race.  Mike Fitzgerald came out on top followed to the line by Chris Brubaker and Brian Sponagle.  Tom Wenner and Jim LeVan rounded out the top 5.  Grabbing 10^th was young James Hammershock.  James will be a good racer next season so get your Popcorn ready.

All Photos by: Scott Bender

Awards Prizes and Give-a-ways

Tom Wenner Rookie of the Year

More Awards Prizes and Give-a-ways

James Hammershock Special Award for Segment Wins Presented by: Brian Sponagle

Larry Sanders Sportsman of the Year

IROC Cars for the Banquet Race built by: Brian Sponagle

Racers and Wives Attending the Banquet

Racers and Wives Attending the Banquet

Racers and Wives Attending the Banquet

T C S Pit Crew Member Princess

Veteran Jim LeVan took advantage of his number 2 draw and won three segments on his way to a victory in the final Nascar feature of the season.  With the win LeVan was able to lock up the point title on the last evening.  In addition to the 3 segment wins that the Reading Racer had he also only had a single fall-off.  Second went to Mark Williams who won 4 segments and fell 6 points short of winning the Nascar title this season.  Third spot went to the Boyertown Bullet Cory Reinhard driving out of team TCS.  Reinhard won 2 segments.  [Read more…]

Randy Haydt won the Sprint Car Final Feature of the season and also decided the season’s Point Battle in the process.  Haydt scored 4 segment wins in his very fast Sprinter.  The win was his overall 4^th feature this season at his Namesake tracks but his first in a Sprint Car.  It was a milestone win as well as it was his 70^th overall Career Win placing him third all-time.  Haydt scored a 13 section of track win over Mark Williams who moved into the point lead on the final night of racing, dropping Cory Reinhard to second.  The top three in points included Haydt were only 3 point apart after the season’s final checkered.  [Read more…]

The wait was well worth it for Blandon Racer Tom Wenner as he scored a victory in the NASCAR Feature on the Tough Tub.  Wenner is considered a rookie this season and he raced to his first ever win at Randy’s Raceways on the Road Course’s second show this year.  The events have quickly become a racers favorite and drew a nice crowd of 13 racers even though a make-up night had to be used this week.  Wenner won 3 segments to post a 12 piece of track win over one of the area’s best Road Racers our own Randy Haydt.  Haydt won 2 segments on the night.  Finishing third was Nick Wummer in one of his best ever runs here at the Kutztown Racetracks.  [Read more…]

The Double show was back on the snow date of Thursday at Randy’s Raceway on the Tricky Tri-Oval.  Veteran racer and Track Founder Randy Haydt found Victory lane for the first time this season in the NASCAR division.  Haydt dodged some early wrecks and went on to score 3 segment wins for a narrow victory over Brian Sponagle.  Spoons also won 3 segments in another good run for the racing Teacher on the Tri-Oval.  Jim LeVan won 4 segments to come home a strong third followed by another racing veteran Billy Decker.  It was Decker’s best finish in the Cup class this year as well.  Cory Reinhard brought the first of three TCS racers home in fifth winner of 3 segments.  [Read more…]