11 West Washington Avenue
Myerstown, PA 17067

Phone

(717) 866-7450

Fax

(717) 866-7402

Email

Rich Tobias | [email protected]
Dianne Tobias | [email protected]

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Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (EST) Saturdays and Sundays

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Rich Tobias Jr. To Be Honored As Hall Of Fame Mechanic

By Buffy Swanson for Northeast DIRT Modified Museum and Hall of Fame

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For his many contributions to the sport, Pennsy entrepreneur Rich Tobias Jr. will be honored with the distinguished Mechanic/Engineering Award during the 2017 Hall of Fame ceremonies, to be held on Monday, July 10, at the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame and Museum on the grounds of Weedsport Speedway in New York.

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The youngest son and namesake of Hall of Fame driver Dick Tobias embodies the definition of a Renaissance Man. At age 50, he has done it all: Built Modifieds in his family’s Lebanon, PA, speed shop. Driven race cars to historic victories (most notably, the big Syracuse DIRT Modified classic in 1992, and USAC’s 2003 Ted Horn Memorial at the DuQuoin Fairgrounds mile). And designed, built, organized, promoted and commandeered a couple classes of small cars that have taken off like a NASA space launch.

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Tobias was only 12 when his famous dad was killed in a USAC crash at the Flemington Fairgrounds. Last in line to the throne, Rich pieced together his own deal when he was old enough to drive, as brothers Ronnie and Scott and brother-inlaw Paul Lotier raced the Tobias Speed Shop house cars.

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He was a 17-year-old kid, a lanky 150 pounds, when he made his driving debut in a Winged Sportsman he built himself. In fact, Tobias built almost every car he has ever driven — including the winning Syracuse Mod and USAC Champ Car. And none of those creations were run-of-the-mill.

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While working at the speed shop, he started some serious thinking about where the sport as a whole needed to go. “People would come in, looking to get started in racing. At that time we were a Stallard dealer for Micro Sprints,” Rich remembered.

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“I kept seeing guys spending their entire paychecks every week, just to race. I thought there had to be a better way.” So Tobias pulled out the drawing board, starting from scratch with a very specific checklist in mind. The car had to be simple by design. It had to fit in the back of a pick-up truck. It had to be strictly regulated so that no team could outspend another. And the price tag had to come in at $7,000 complete.

The Tobias Slingshot — a four-coil car with a 58-inch wheelbase, 600cc Briggs & Stratton engine and a Modified-style body —was unveiled in March 1999, with four of them running an exhibition at Borger’s Speedway. By the end of that year, Rich had constructed and sold more than 100, and introduced the class at seven tracks.

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The economy Slingshot provides a foot in the door for both young novices and older racers looking to downsize. “Instead of running a Sportsman or Modified at Bridgeport, for the same amount of money the driver and his whole crew could get Slingshots — and they could all have fun,” Rich justified.

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He is proud of the fact that a number of today’s young driving stars (“Ryan Smith, Anthony Perrego, Tyler Dippel, Larry Wight, Ryan Phelps, Lucas Schott,” Rich rattled off) came out of the Slingshot ranks. Tobias is the sole distributor of Slingshots and their components, and mass-produces hundreds of parts and pieces at a time, keeping costs low. He also sets the rules, maintaining a close eye to ensure continuity and consistency across the board. He controls every aspect of the program — from manufacture to marketing to
management.

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Until 2002, Tobias worked out of the old speed shop in Lebanon, then found backers in Steve Weirich and Mario Rotondo, who provided enough financing for him to move out and start up Speedway Entertainment.

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While the Slingshots were taking off — at tracks in 10 states and two Canadian provinces — Rich realized there was another niche that needed filling, and got out a clean sheet of paper.

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“It had to have safety built into the design — a bigger cockpit, torque-tube type driveline, fuel cell not hanging off the back of the chassis,” Tobias ticked off the checklist. “Simple construction, to build cheaply. Easily repaired. Adaptable to both dirt and pavement. And open, so the fans can actually see the driver.”

This has been Tobias’ forte: His ingenious ability to think outside the box to fabricate what is needed, not just what is already there.

The SpeedSTR — essentially a self-starting Midget with a four-cylinder Mopar motor — hit the track in 2008. With Rich’s passionate promotion, he lured a lineup of A-list talent to rally around it: Ray Evernham, Billy Pauch, Kenny Brightbill, Rick Eckert, Brian Montieth and Frank Cozze among them.

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But Tobias wasn’t satisfied with reinventing the wheel; he wanted to realign racing as we know it. To that end, he acquired his own track in 2012, turning the old Kutztown Fairgrounds into Action Track USA and the hottest weeknight ticket in the region, paying Modified-comparable purses to the USAC-branded SpeedSTRs.

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“We proved we can entertain people — with a car that costs a third of the price of a Modified or a Sprint Car,” Rich said of his cutting-edge model at Kutztown. “That’s what most fans miss. The sole premise is the ability of this car to entertain people.”

And keep things affordable for the competitors. But you don’t use the “A” word around Tobias. “I don’t want to try to sell them ‘affordable racing,’” he scoffed. “Fans don’t want to feel like they’re seeing the lesser of something. They don’t want to see a Limited Monster Truck. They want a real Monster Truck!”

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But Tobias keeps coming back to the numbers. “If a SpeedSTR costs $20,000 and a Modified costs $40,000 — times 20 cars, that’s $400,000 more on that race track. Is that Modified show $400,000 better than my show is?” he reasoned.

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Much of Tobias’ thinking is a throwback to his father. “When Kenny Weld came out with his first Modified, my dad saw that costs were escalating and knew something had to be done. He envisioned a small-block spec car. My brother Ronnie tried it out at Reading. But it never came to fruition in his lifetime,” Rich reflected on his father’s concept.

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The SpeedSTR “is exactly what my dad would have liked,” said Tobias — a race car within reach of the common man, easy to work on, with rules that ensure a level playing field and put the show back in the hands of the drivers. “That was his idea,” Rich reiterated. “I guess it’s bred into my DNA.”

The defending World Champion Dylan Hoch rolled the dice at Hamlin Speedway a few times in lap traffic during the Super National Event on Saturday night. Those moves allowed Hoch to stay ahead of Mike McLaughlin and then Shelby McLaughlin in the closing laps to take the big win.

Shelby McLaughlin was second followed by Tyler Hoch who drove back to the front of the field after being involved in an early race yellow flag.

“It was challenging because those cars are still racing for position too,” said Hoch after the win about his endeavors through the lap traffic.

Lap traffic played a key role in the junior Slingshot event as well. Paulie Hartwig III made the pass of Aidan Donaldson in traffic nearing the event of the 25 lap event. Hartwig’s move and then continue maneuvering of the back of the field took him to the checkered flag over Donaldson and James Hendricks.

This weekend at Hamlin Speedway was the second part of the Super National Weekend. The first was held at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. Nick Auspelmyer and Liam Jackson were the winners of the first races.

Shelby McLaughlin and James Hendricks were the two over top point earners from the weekend.

Brett Bieber had a stressful night Saturday, but recovered to hold on to his point leader in the Northeast Series for the All Star Slingshots.

The junior Slingshot points swayed in favor of Aidan Donaldson as his lead grew over James Hendricks.

Empire Series points were also on the line as Tucker Jones made the best of the opportunity to move to the top of the Empire Series All Star Slingshot point standings over Dan Ballard.

Brock Pinkerous extended his lead at Hamlin Speedway over Frank Twing Jr. during the event in the Empire Series junior Slingshot standings.

The Slingshot by Tobias offers a high-level of racing competition with a low cost of entry, providing a foot in the door young novices and older racers looking to downsize – and the perfect option for racing facilities looking to add an entry-level program with a standardized rule package and a well-thought business model from one of racing’s legendary entrepreneurs.

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The brainchild of Hall of Fame Engineer, Rich Tobias Jr., the Slingshot was designed and built to combat the ever-rising cost and difficulty of racing. With a direction in mind, Tobias set out to create a race car that was maintenance friendly, economically reasonable, easy to transport, and strictly regulated.

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In 1999, that dream became reality with the unveiling of the first Slingshot by Tobias – a four-coil car with a 58-inch wheelbase, a 600cc Briggs & Stratton engine, and a Modified-style body. Over the course of the year Tobias had constructed and sold over 100 cars, and helped create a weekly program to introduce to seven tracks.

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Today, the Slingshot maintains weekly racing programs in 10 states and two Canadian provinces, with Drivers like Ryan Smith (All Star Circuit of Champions), Larry Wight (Super DIRTCar Series), and Tyler Dippel (NASCAR K&N Pro Series) having graduated through the division.

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Born into a racing family, Tobias believes that creating an entry-level option for the younger generation helps keep the family atmosphere alive – offering a confidence-boosting experience for novice racers, an entertaining environment for the racer’s family to spectate, and lifetime of memories at the track or in the race shop.

The first race in the new Keystone Cup for the All Star Slingshots had a thrilling end and for the second year in a row it was Scott Neary with late race heroics.

Kyle Herve led much of the event after wrestling the lead away from defending World Championship Scott Neary at the start.

Yellow flag throughout the event gave Neary chances to take the race lead back, but Herve remained the car the beat. The yellow flags allowed 22nd place starter Dylan Hoch to throw his hat into the ring in the closing laps.

A late race restart put Neary within striking distance. As the white flag fell it looked like Herve, a former Northeast Slingshot series champion, would start this season off at the top of the standings as well. Neary had other plans.

Neary made a bold move driving deep into turn three throwing a slide job on Herve for the top spot. Neary slide fully across the speedway, allowing Herve to turn underneath him in a drag race to the finish line for the win. Neary’s momentum carried him to the checkered flag first.

Neary, Herve, and Hoch were joined in the top five by James Hendricks and Tyler Ulsh.

This event was Hendricks first start as a full time All Star Slingshot competitor. He started 18th before charging to fourth. Ulsh, the 2019 Junior Slingshot World Champion, started 15th.

Defending series champion Brett Bieber finished sixth followed by Amanda Angstadt, James Benz, Jax Yohn, and Sam Neary.

Bieber, Neary, and Aidan Donaldson won heat races for the Slingshots.

Dylan Hoch was the All Star Performance Hard Charger.

The Wilwood “Brake of the race” goes to Dave Carraghan. Unfortunately, Carraghan’s break was a bad one. A car malfunction took him out of a top five run late in the feature event.

The All Star Slingshots return to racing in the Keystone Cup on April 11th at the Grandview Speedway.

The views, information, or opinions expressed throughout this letter are solely those of Michael Batz and do not reflect on Speedway Entertainment…

Let me start by congratulating you on becoming the 2020 World Champion. This is an accomplishment that many of us saw coming, but you made it a reality.

Your sweep of the World Championship Weekend was very impressive with the powerful car count. Some have stepped forward and criticized the format, but simply put the fastest car won the races.

It is understandable to say things need to change when a driver is so successful at an event. What some won’t remember is the driver that crafted his skill last year and showed us a glimpse of strength at this very weekend in 2019. Or, the driver that ran his first full indoor season that left many of us shaking our heads in disbelief. Lost is the success of the Hamlin Speedway champion. All the work behind the scenes that creates a team, car, and driver capable of all the accomplishments can’t be lost. It wasn’t a format that showcased your skill, it was you.

I want you to know that your humble attitude does not go unnoticed. All too often the quiet performances are the ones we cast aside. In a year of chaos, it was refreshing.

Most race car drivers say they would love an opportunity to drive “that car”. With opportunity comes pressure. Taking the wheel of the 55 that has won so many big races and champions before you did not come without high expectations. Your achievement of those goals and the focus it takes to do so is noteworthy for the younger racers.

Speaking of the younger drivers, aside from the racing, I respect your compassion toward the Junior Slingshot World Champion. Paulie Hartwig enjoyed being in victory lane with you as much as he did winning himself. We see so many “role models” on social media for likes, it’s good to see it happen in person.

In a year when we needed it most, we have a champion that came from being a contender and took the next step with a background proving hard work really does pay off.

All Star Slingshot Super Natioanl Point Totals:

2 – 7 Shelby McLaughlin … 200

6 – 3 Dave Carraghan … 173

7 – 1x Brett Bieber … 155

8 – 67 Charlene Benz … 148

10 – 56 Andrew Turpin … 128

11 – 16t Thomas Nettleship … 108

12 – 29 John Heberling … 106

13 – 42p Mason Pittenger … 100

15 – 78 Aidan Donaldson … 90

17 – 14 Brent Schantz … 82

18 – 95p Lucas Pittenger … 78

20 – 5s Danny Buccafusca … 70

22 – 36m Mike Maguire … 60

24 – 75x James Hendricks … 58

25 – 39 Nolan Palaima … 56

26 – 6 Matthew Smolenyak 54

28 – 21j Josh Weiant … 52

29 – 10 Trevor Houghton … 46

31 – 14g George Manion … 40

32 – 4r Ryan Rochelle … 38

33 – 3L Nolan Layser … 20

33 – 18t Tim Buckwalter … 20

33 – 24 Faith Turnbaugh … 20

33 – 14c Carter Weiant … 20

33 – 73 Cooper Schoenly … 20

33 – 76 Chase Bixler … 20

33 – 55a Amanda Angstadt … 20

Junior Slingshot Keystone Super National Point totals:

1 – 5 Lydia Navarro … 120

2 – 42 Dyaln Hahn … 110

3 – 10s Chase Schott … 105

4 – 5x Xavier Sprague … 100

5 – 15 Chase Zimmer … 95

6 – 24 Bobby Klein … 90

7 – 10 Trevor Houghton … 80

8 – 14 Austin Kroboth … 75

10 – h1 Hayden Kimm … 68

Tim Iulg eyes 2021 as a time of redemption for his race team. Iulg plans to compete in all of the Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTR races fueled by VP Racing Fuels in the upcoming season.

The racing history and success runs deep in the Iulg family.

“We did have success before, both in Micros and TQ’s,” said Iulg. “It was nothing for us to win eight to ten plus races a year in 600 micros at tracks all over. We dabbled in TQ’s (Three Quarter Midgets) for just a bit and won a couple races outdoors at Wall Stadium and Borger’s in just a few starts. Had a lot of success in the Crate Sprint Cars at Bridgeport too.”

Iulg’s success at Bridgeport Motorsports Park in the past will give him some confidence although the tracks configuration has changed drastically. Ironically, even after being on of the first cars to flip at Bridgeport’s new facility, Iulg still feels the SpeedSTRs are better on the large tracks. “I love Action Track USA, but I think the SpeedSTRs are better suited for bigger tracks. I love running Bridgeport (especially since it’s close to me) and in the past Grandview, 5 Mile Point and absolutely LOVED running Selinsgrove.”

Iulg has been a SpeedSTR driver for five years. The aforementioned success opened the door for Iulg to race a crate sprint car at Bridgeport Motorsports Park. Following over 15 wins and a championship in a few years that he competed in the crate cars it translated into a ride offer in New York to race the ASCS Sprint Car Series.

Back with his crate Sprint Car owner, Iulg took on a United Racing Club schedule that saw struggles in his rookie season with engine issues. Soon after his car owner would dissolve the team.

Iulg recalls that was a time of transition for he and his family. “About that time, I was a few years into my marriage and we just had two kids and racing became less of a priority. Then I kind of became a driver for hire and had glimpses of success here and there ride hopping. Fast forward a few more years and we found ourselves in the SpeedSTRs. We’ve had a few decent runs over the 5 years in this division, but for the most part, we’ve way underperformed our potential. We just are not meeting our expectations or goals, thus the rededication of efforts this year. We got a great sponsor onboard in Craig and Jamie Kugler at CSI/Claim Specialist INC (www.claimssuccess.com). Super great people that are a ton of help to our race team beyond just financially.”

Iulg likes the diversity on the schedule for the 2021 season as he and his team hope to hit their stride early in the season. “I’m looking forward to running on a variety of tracks and hopefully redeeming ourselves. My Dad and I have won a lot of races together and my racing success has not been great the last hand-full of years, to put it kindly. I feel like I kind of stalled out when I started a family and couldn’t really devote all my time into racing anymore. Obviously, I have no regrets, I love my family and wouldn’t change a thing, but my kids are a bit older now and it’s a bit easier to put more work in the race shop.”

As far as their approach to the new season, the 56 team has set themselves up for success.

“This off season we decided to push all in and we kind of rededicated our efforts and purchased the new car as well. We are hoping that, in part, will translate into the success we used to enjoy. So, it’s good timing to have the SpeedSTR schedule be as aggressive as it is this year. We are looking forward to potentially cashing in on some of that $250,000 in purse payout offered this year!”

“I’m optimistic the new car will give us the platform to potentially have better results this year. We found a lot of issues with our previous frame. It was a 2015 and it had been through a rough 5 years. There were things we found on that chassis when we stripped it this year that made us decide it was done. The new car should, if nothing else, should be a lot more consistent in driver feel from what I was dealing with in the old frame. This will hopefully translate to better feedback from me off the track to help Dad and I make the right decisions with set up on the car. So yes, I’m optimistic the new car will give us the platform to potentially have better results this year.”

The 2021 Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTRs fueled by VP Racing Fuels season will open at Middleford Speedway in Seaford, De on March 20. This event will be the first in a 25-race schedule that will see the class compete at five different facilities in three states. Each event will award the winner at minimum $2,000.

For more information regarding the SpeedSTR cars or series you’re encouraged to visit SpeedwayEnt.com or Facebook. You can contact the Speedway Entertainment office at 717-866-7450.

Mike Bednar picked up the win in the Speedway Entertainment All Pro SpeedSTR feature fueled by VP Racing Fuels on Saturday at the Bridgeport Motorsports Park. Bednar came from the 14th starting position in the 72 and took the top spot after battling with Billy Pauch and Alex Yankowski. It was Bednar’s first Bridgeport Motorsports Park victory.

Yankowski was sidelined when the engine blew in the Bob Swavely No. 56 while pacing the field in the event.

Bednar led Pauch to the checkered followed by Tom Mayberry, Tim Iulg and Jason Musser. Jeff Hartman, Jay Hartman, Nick Pecko, Justin Thompson and Nick Havens rounded out the top ten.

1. Mike Bednar, 2. Billy Pauch, 3. Tom Mayberry, 4. Tim Iulg, 5. Jason Musser, 6. Jeff Hartman, 7. Jay Hartman, 8. Nick Pecko, 9. Justin Thompson, 10. Nick Havens, 11. Dustin Morris, 12. Alex Yankowski, 13. Jeff Cot, 14. Tim Buckwalter DNS: TJ Mayberry

Ironically, because of rain outs, the two non Pennsylvania tracks on the Keystone Cup tour (Middleford and Spirit Auto Center Speedways) has hosted the first two races of the 2021 season.

Scott Neary weaved his way through traffic to the front of the field at Spirit Auto Center Speedway on Sunday in the second race of the season for the Keystone Cup. Neary started mid pack and took advantage of restart opportunities to get to the head of the field to remain the only winner in the series in 2021.

Cody Kline guided the field early before spinning on a restart. Dave Carraghan worked to second and also ended up backward on a restart. Kyle Herve was leading the feature with a potential second showdown with Neary following their battle at Middleford Speedway in the series opener. Herve slowed off the track from the top spot on lap 18.

Neary held off challenges from defending series champion Brett Bieber along with 2020 Spirit Speedway champion Amanda Angstadt. Angstadt stayed on Neary’s rear bumper until the checkered flag to record her best Keystone Cup finish of second. Cody Kline recovered to drive from the tail to finish in third.

Jason Kraycirik finished fourth in a team car to Angstadt. Shelby McLaughlin also recovered from an early race incident to race back up to finish fifth.

Charlene Benz, James Benz, Jax Yohn, Tim Franks, and Zach Merola were the top ten finishers.

Tess Horvath, Kyle Herve and Dave Carraghan won the heat races.

Chase Schott jumped into the race lead from his front row starting spot as the Junior Slingshots took their first green flag at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway.

Schott showed the way for much of the event including holding off Chase Zimmer and Ryan Rochelle on restarts. Rochelle had one last shot in the late stages of the feature event, but Schott remained at the front of the field until the checkered flag flew taking his first Keystone Cup win.

Rochelle was second followed by Zimmer, Weston Doklan, and Nick Bilello.

Schott also won the heat race.

Racers will take on Snydersville Raceway in the Junior and All Star Slingshots this Friday, July 2 for the next Keystone Cup event. This is also the first night of the Super National Weekend earning points toward the World Championships. The tour will continue with the All Star Slingshots at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Sunday July 4.

Hamlin Speedway will have the Saturday race for the Super National Race, July 3.

Linda’s Speedway will play host to World Championship Weekend again in 2021. The World Championships offer a rare scenario of racing four times in three days. Friday night a single event is held. Saturday the action picks up and racing is held both in the afternoon and the evening. Sunday is the finale with racing in the afternoon before the newly crowned World Champions are introduced.

The active Slingshot car count currently numbers near 400, with weekly racing venues located in Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Jersey. Slingshots have competed throughout the country; including Delaware, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

A new assembled Slingshot rolls out of Speedway Entertainment at a cost of $8,888.

Information about the Slingshots can be found on Speedwayent.com or by calling Speedway Entertainment at 717-866-7450.