Sonny B
04-30-2007, 01:37 PM
Just saw this and thought it was kind of cool.
Polimeda Masters ARDC Midgets
By Mark Kielblock
Minersville, Pa. - In the past, Frank Polimeda of Ft. Lee, NJ has been known as "Mr. Versatility" for his exploits in Modifieds, Legend cars and various types of open wheel cars.
Friday night in ARDC's first appearance of the season at Big Diamond Raceway Polimeda let it be known that he would rather be known as "Mr. Focused," as he has decided to concentrate on running his no. 44 ARDC midget this season.
"I started to assess my performances, I wasn't winning in the modifed and I wasn't winning in the midget, so I decided to concentrate on the midget this season," Polimeda said. That focus paid off as Polimeda charged forward from his 14th starting spot to win the 20-lap ARDC feature at the upgraded and polished Big Diamond Raceway. "I can't believe this is the same race car we got our butts kicked in at Susky. I really have to thank Akos Sule for giving me setup help during the week. Also thanks to my sponsor, Neptune Research."
Polimeda let it be known from the start that he was coming forward quickly. From 14th starting spot he was well inside the top-10 by lap 2. One lap later he was in the top-5 and on lap 7 he took the point from early leader Stephanie Stevens.
Stevens and Scott Zipp led the 24-car starting field down for the green flag. Stevens looked strong from the green and fought off early challenges to lead convincingly until the onslaught of Polimeda on lap 7. Once Polimeda got into the lead he steadily drew away from the pack. There was passing galore on the well-groomed speedway and the next bolt of lightening to come from the rear of the pack was 15th place starter Andy Martin who flew into the top-5 on the same lap the Polimeda took the lead. In the blink of an eye Martin was up to second and seemed ready to mount a threat to Polimeda at the halfway point. From that point on however, Martin began to fade. At one point he took an excursion over the backstretch berm and off the track, but managed to recover to finish fourth.
"The car had a push in it," Martin said after the race. "It was bad -- more than just a regular push, I thought I had a tire going down. We checked the car quickly after the race and couldn't find anything wrong. I hope we can figure out what it was before we go back to Susky."
Another driver who put on a strong late-race charge was Sprint Car pilot, Dave Ely. Ely started 11th and stormed through the top-five to grab second from Tracy Readinger in the late stages of the race. Ely has been occasionally moonlighting in the ARDC midgets this season, but is unsure of how many races he will run this season. "We're just taking it one race at a time," Ely revealed.
Tracy Readinger had mixed feelings about his second consecutive third place finish. "It could be worse, I guess," he smiled. "I tried too to hard to get second and I gave it away to Ely. I didn't have anything for Polimeda anyway -- it was flat to the floor and there wasn't any more."
ARDC Feature Finish - 20 Laps: 1. 44-Frank Polimeda 2. 77-Dave Ely 3. 2t-Tracy Readinger 4. 21-Andy Martin 5. 20-Carey Becker 6. 54-Ryan Smith 7. 14-AJ Ernesto 8. 49-Brett Arndt 9. 17-Doug Rose 10. 11-Eric Heydenreich 12. 78-Nick Wean 13. 9-Steve Lenig 14. 25-Chris Zrinski 15. 16-Dave Shirk 17. 00-Greg Robinson 18.38-Bob Goermer 19. 92-Scott Zipp 20. 26-Stephanie Stevens 21. 83-Bruce Buckwalter 22. 8-Mike Lapp 23. 6-Ed Stimely Jr. 24. 75-Jeff Schell.
Polimeda Masters ARDC Midgets
By Mark Kielblock
Minersville, Pa. - In the past, Frank Polimeda of Ft. Lee, NJ has been known as "Mr. Versatility" for his exploits in Modifieds, Legend cars and various types of open wheel cars.
Friday night in ARDC's first appearance of the season at Big Diamond Raceway Polimeda let it be known that he would rather be known as "Mr. Focused," as he has decided to concentrate on running his no. 44 ARDC midget this season.
"I started to assess my performances, I wasn't winning in the modifed and I wasn't winning in the midget, so I decided to concentrate on the midget this season," Polimeda said. That focus paid off as Polimeda charged forward from his 14th starting spot to win the 20-lap ARDC feature at the upgraded and polished Big Diamond Raceway. "I can't believe this is the same race car we got our butts kicked in at Susky. I really have to thank Akos Sule for giving me setup help during the week. Also thanks to my sponsor, Neptune Research."
Polimeda let it be known from the start that he was coming forward quickly. From 14th starting spot he was well inside the top-10 by lap 2. One lap later he was in the top-5 and on lap 7 he took the point from early leader Stephanie Stevens.
Stevens and Scott Zipp led the 24-car starting field down for the green flag. Stevens looked strong from the green and fought off early challenges to lead convincingly until the onslaught of Polimeda on lap 7. Once Polimeda got into the lead he steadily drew away from the pack. There was passing galore on the well-groomed speedway and the next bolt of lightening to come from the rear of the pack was 15th place starter Andy Martin who flew into the top-5 on the same lap the Polimeda took the lead. In the blink of an eye Martin was up to second and seemed ready to mount a threat to Polimeda at the halfway point. From that point on however, Martin began to fade. At one point he took an excursion over the backstretch berm and off the track, but managed to recover to finish fourth.
"The car had a push in it," Martin said after the race. "It was bad -- more than just a regular push, I thought I had a tire going down. We checked the car quickly after the race and couldn't find anything wrong. I hope we can figure out what it was before we go back to Susky."
Another driver who put on a strong late-race charge was Sprint Car pilot, Dave Ely. Ely started 11th and stormed through the top-five to grab second from Tracy Readinger in the late stages of the race. Ely has been occasionally moonlighting in the ARDC midgets this season, but is unsure of how many races he will run this season. "We're just taking it one race at a time," Ely revealed.
Tracy Readinger had mixed feelings about his second consecutive third place finish. "It could be worse, I guess," he smiled. "I tried too to hard to get second and I gave it away to Ely. I didn't have anything for Polimeda anyway -- it was flat to the floor and there wasn't any more."
ARDC Feature Finish - 20 Laps: 1. 44-Frank Polimeda 2. 77-Dave Ely 3. 2t-Tracy Readinger 4. 21-Andy Martin 5. 20-Carey Becker 6. 54-Ryan Smith 7. 14-AJ Ernesto 8. 49-Brett Arndt 9. 17-Doug Rose 10. 11-Eric Heydenreich 12. 78-Nick Wean 13. 9-Steve Lenig 14. 25-Chris Zrinski 15. 16-Dave Shirk 17. 00-Greg Robinson 18.38-Bob Goermer 19. 92-Scott Zipp 20. 26-Stephanie Stevens 21. 83-Bruce Buckwalter 22. 8-Mike Lapp 23. 6-Ed Stimely Jr. 24. 75-Jeff Schell.