Richie Hartman saw his attempt to go for three consecutive championships go up in smoke. Or, so he thought. His engine went on lap 12 of the 600 micro sprint feature at the Shellhammer Dirt Track in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania.
“The engine blew up and I ran a lap trying to keep it going,” Hartman, 40, of Reading, Pennsylvania, said. “I figured if I could putt-putt around the track I might get in front of someone dropping out. Then, the caution flag came out for me. My car was in a cloud of smoke. I threw the steering wheel in disgust — I figured it had to be out of the way anyhow, because I might have to do a quick exit from the car if there was a fire.”
Hartman figured he not only blown his engine, but also his 85-point lead over Adam Buchel. Hartman had won the heat race, with Buchel finishing second. This extended that lead to 90 points. In the feature, Hartman finished 17th. Buchel once again placed seond.
“I was disgusted and distraught at the track,” said Hartman. “It was hard for me to process that the season would end this way. I congratulated Adam [Buchel] and headed home.”
Back home, Hartman’s wife, Breann, tried to console him. After all, he didn’t come away from the track empty-handed. Hartman did win the 270 micro sprint title. He then took a look at the final point standings on his phone.
“I stared in disbelief,” Hartman said. “I won the 600 micro sprint championship by five points.”
Richie Hartman never did the math while waiting for the hook at the Shellhammer Dirt Track. Now he can lay claim to three consecutive 600 micro sprint championships at the speedway.
“It’s my own fault that I didn’t figure it out,” said Hartman. “My biggest regret was that I congratulated Adam for becoming champion. I made him think he won the championship. I feel bad for that.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
