Drew Heistand Nails Lincoln ARDC by Kielblock

Philadelphia, Pa. Drew Heistand has had a nose for the front of the pack in recent weeks, and at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night he charged fom 14th starting spot to his second win of the season. Heistand found the upper groove earlier in the evening in his heat race and continued that path in the feature. "I watched Brian Montieth (In the All Star Sprint Car race) and I got fired up," Heistand said in victory lane."I thought, ''I''m gonna go faster than Brian''. I almost went a little too fast and made a couple of mistakes." Heistand was referring to a mid race bobble that cost him several spots after he had cracked the top 5

Dave Shirk and Tracy Readinger brought the 26 car starting field to the green flag. Readinger rolled around Shirk to take the early lead, but that was short-lived as Drew Heistand''s brother Dusty sailed into the lead around Readinger on lap 3, Dusty would lead through lap 10. Bruce Buckwalter was an early mover sliding into the top 5 from 12th starting spot on lap 4. Hot on his heels was Drew Heistand into the top 5 from 14th spot. The hot and heavy action continued as ARDC rookie Trevor Koylarz vaulted into the top 5 on lap 10.

Bruce Buckwalter was the new leader on lap 11. Ryan Watt had a phenomenal run from 16th starting spot to the top 5 come to a unfortunate end with a hard crash in turn one on lap 13, bringing out a red flag. Watt was not injured. The ensuing restart was Drew Heistand''s time to shine as he swept from 4th spot to the lead via the outside groove, he would pull away from there.

At lap 20 the top 5 was Drew Heistand, Buckwalter, Dusty Heistand, Nick Wean up from 11th and Kobylarz. Kobylarz had to fight off the determined challenges of Eric Heydenreich. The most fun for Kobylarz was racing with Wean. "We must''ve passed and re-passed each other four times," Kobylarz said. The final pass of the race was when Wean grabbed third from Dusty Heistand in the races closing laps.

Bruce Buckwalter was happy with his second place run. "I got second tonight and Stevie got third (referring to cousin Steve Buckwalter''s 3rd place run in Lawrenceburg, Indiana) so it was a good night for Team Buckwalter," Buckwalter enthused.

Drew Heistand, Nick Wean and Frank Polimeda won heat races for the 28 ARDC Midgets on hand. Eric Heydenreich won the B main.

25 Lap ARDC Feature: 1) 12 Drew Heistand 2) 83 Bruce Buckwalter 3) 78-Nick Wean 4) 6 Dusty Heistand 5) 05- Trevor Kobylarz 6) 11- Eric Heydenreich 7) 2-Tracy Readinger 8) 29-Zach Martini 9) 46-Brett Arndt 10) 44-Frank Polimeda 11) 26-Stephanie Stevens 12) 57-Jason Rice 13) 10-PJ Gargiulo 14) 25-Chris Zrinski 15) 01-Mike Krause 16) 99-Scott Zipp 17) 00-Greg Robinson 18) 9-Steve Lenig 19) 33-Lew Blair 20) 53-Randy Reid 21) 75-Ryan Watt 22) 91-Donnie Trent 23) 16-Dave Shirk 24) 34-Shane Penny 25) 17-Donnie Hoffman 26) 7-Chris Rupp (DNS)

Pit Patter: Drew and Dusty Heistand''s dad Don was understandably all smiles following the event. "They made me proud," he beamed. He also recalled a 600 Micro race where Dusty prevailed over Drew. "That was the only time they finished 1-2," the elder Heistand recalled... Dusty''s late race fade was explained by mechanical issues "I started to lose my brakes near the end," he explained...Car owner Fred Schell was philosophical after viewing the damage to his no. 75 after Ryan Watt''s crash. "If it was easy, everybody would do it," he said with a smile...Club official Krissy Lauer spent the night limping in a walking cast with a broken leg...reports were that she lost in a battle with gravity...