The 12-year-old phenom Paulie Hartwig III continues to impress. He won his first feature on dirt last Thursday. Hartwig topped 20 other 602 crate modified drivers at Bloomsburg Fair Raceway in Pennsylvania.
“I like dirt because it is harder for me to race on — it is a challenge,” Hartwig, of Galloway, New Jersey, said. “You have to find moisture to make the car be faster. I knew that because I have been watching dirt since I was a little kid.”
Last year, Hartwig won six features on pavement. (For more on that, read “Paulie Hartwig: Low-Budget 11-Year-Old Wins Big”.)
“It is important for a driver to be great at both dirt and pavement to have a career in racing,” said Hartwig. “Both kinds of tracks have things about them that are the same for a driver. Both have things that are very different.”
Despite only being a sixth grader, he is wise beyond his years.
“On an asphalt track, I find it easier to pass,” Hartwig said. “On both surfaces, I like to run on the top — the outside lane is best for me. I like to stay in the outside groove, and then do a cut down. If it is dirt or asphalt, it all depends upon how good the racer next to you is, when you are deciding when to make your move to pass. It is good to watch that racer for a few laps.”
In his other outing on dirt this year, Hartwig experienced heartbreak.
“I had a half-lap lead two weeks ago and I got tangled up with a lapped car on the last lap at Big Diamond Speedway [in Pottsville, Pennsylvania],” said Hartwig. “I did much better this week.”
Paulie Hartwig III has a bright future ahead — and he also has big ambitions.
“This season, I’m hoping to get a ride in a 600 sprint and maybe in a pavement NASCAR modified,” Hartwig said. “I’m going to race in the Short Track Super Series on dirt, as well as Bloomsburg Fair Raceway and Big Diamond Speedway. We should have 40 to 50 races on our schedule this season [with] an even amount on dirt and asphalt.”
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.
