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Kyle Hieber 2008 Weikel Warrior King |
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from Mike Feltenberger, Slingshot by Tobias Staff
It was one of the closest regional tour point finishes in Slingshot history and when the points were tallied after the Twin 15’s at Shenandoah, Langhorne, PA’s Kyle Hieber not only captured one of the Twin 15’s but also sneaked in to win the 2008 Weikel Warrior Tour. His 1st and 3rd place finishes on Saturday at Shenandoah gave him a 5 point advantage over Frenchtown, NJ’s Rob Marino and a 10 point edge over Reading Nostalgia National winner Matt Carman. Kyle was consistent through much of the Weikel Warrior Tour season with his worst finish being an 8th at the season opener at Bridgeport Speedway on April 11th.The Bucks County International sponsored Gary Hieber wrenched 66 found some late season speed in winning the August 23rd event at Shellhammers and getting one of the Twin 15’s at Shenandoah. With top 4 finishes in 6 of the 10 races scheduled, Kyle still needed some luck on his side to get the point title Rob Marino and Matt Carman were setting the pace early in the points chase with Carman finding his way to victory lane on May 10th at Shenandoah and Marino getting the accolades at Shellhammers on April 12th and a convincing win at the Oswego Outback Oval on June 20th.Both drivers had one bad finish and since Marino’s was a 15th at Bridgeport and Carman’s fell at the last race at Shenandoah it was those finishes that made the difference in the final tally. Not to be overlooked in the point chase was Honey Brook, PA’s Kaitie McCardle, ”The Flyin’ Female was not to be denied her first win in claiming the second half of the Twin 15’s at Shenandoah and that securely locked her into a 4th place finishing spot. Kaitie’s driving talents saw the BTM sponsored # 11 in the top 5 six times with her last three races finding her no worse than 4th. Rounding out the top 5 was the Weikel Warrior season opener winner Gary Hieber who also had two strong runs at Shenandoah to stay in the top 5 aboard the Scrappy’s Auto Service 56. Sixth through tenth found some final spots change after Shenandoah with the 2007 Slingshot Sportsmanship Award winner Dave McCullough from Horsham, PA putting his 7X in at 6th just ahead of the Nostalgia National Cash Dash winner Mike Carman in the Edison Generator 747.Jake Smith used 2 cars to notch the 8th place standings. Paul Lotier, Jr. had a top finish of 4th at the Oswego dirt track to finish the season 9th.Greenwood Valley winner Jim Housworth did not run the complete Weikel Warrior Tour but had enough markers for a 10th. The top 3 will find a tour payout of $250 for 1st,$150 for 2nd and $100 for 3rd.
2008 Weikel Warrior Final Standings: 1. Kyle Hieber - Langhorne, PA # 66 - 995; 2. Rob Marino Frenchtown, NJ # 13 - 990; 3. Matt Carman - Flemington, NJ # 2 - 985; 4. Kaitie McCardle - Honey Brook, PA # 11 - 948; 5. Gary Hieber - Langhorne, PA # 56 - 930; 6. Dave McCullough - Horsham, PA # 7X - 843; 7. Mike Carman - Flemington, NJ # 747 / 1 - 790; 8. Jake Smith - Stroudsburg, PA # 18A / 51J - 546; 9. Paul Lotier, Jr. - Lebanon, PA # 7L - 445; 10. Jim Housworth - Riegelsville, PA # 72 - 410; 11. Anthony Perrego - Montgomery, NY # 1A - 343; 12. Rich Sachetta - Sinking Spring, PA # 48 - 270
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