5.14.22 Stateline Speedway Results
Busti, NY (May 14, 2022) by Marc Hoegerl: Stateline Speedway kicked off their 61st season opener with action packed racing in all divisions, as well as an unexpected hour and a half rain delay, to etch the 2022 season opener in the record books.
Punxsutawney’s, Joe Martin found his liking to New Stateline Speedway by capturing the RUSH Touring Series Bill Law Memorial. Local favorite Greg Oakes held off reigning track champion Dave Hess Jr. to take opening night honors in the Super Lates. Dennis Lunger continued where he left off last season by bringing home the win in the UMP Pro Mods. Greg Johnson went flag to flag in the UMP Modifieds. John Boardman continued his dominance in the Pro Stocks. Peter Volpe concluded the evening by finding victory lane in the Challenger’s.
The first official feature to hit the track in 2022 was the RUSH Pro Mods. Veteran, Al Brewer, as well as Chad Carlson would bring the field to green. Brewer, and Carlson would put on a side by side battle for the first two laps, with Carlson holding a slight advantage. On lap three Brewer would find his way around Carlson to take the top spot, as Zain Harvey would enter the mix to make it a three car battle. Harvey would take away the runner up spot from Carlson on lap four and start his pursuit on the leader Brewer. On lap six, eighth place starter Dennis Lunger would join the top three runners. Lap seven would see Lunger take the bridesmaid position away from Harvey in heavy lapped traffic. Lunger would be all over the back bumper of leader Brewer for the next four circuits and use on outside move coming out of turn two to finally grab the lead. Lunger would weather two late race cautions, and cruise to his first UMP Pro Mods victory of 2022. Brewer would secure the runner up position, Steve Dixon would come home third, Adam Ashcroft after to going to the tail on lap three, would end his night with an impressive fourth place finish, as Victor Earle Jr. would round out the top five.
Up next would be the highly anticipated Fifth Annual RUSH Crate Late Models Bill Law Memorial. Joe Martin would earn the pole position for the event by winning the evenings Sunoco Race Fuels Fast Dash. Martin would take the lead at the outset, with Hall of Famer Chub Frank moving around outside polesitter Jason Genco to complete lap one. Fifth place starter John Waters would take third away from Genco as the field crossed the line on lap two. Leader Martin would distance himself from the field for the next seven laps, as Martin would set his sight on lapped traffic. Frank would gain some ground on the leader as Martin was searching for an open lane to get around the slower cars. Frank would keep cutting into Martin’s lead for the next four circuits until Martin would once again find some breathing room on lap 13. Genco who seemed to be the fastest car on the track at the time, would find his way around Frank on lap 17, then set his sight on the leader Martin. But Martin would go the remaining distance unchallenged to pick up a cool $3,000 in the 30 lap caution free event. Genco, Frank, Waters, and Randy Hall completed the events top five.
Super Late Model Standout Josh Richards’ crew chief Colbey Richman would win the Non-Qualifier event.
The third feature on the docket would be the UMP Modifieds. Greg Johnson, and Braidy Westfall would get the green from starter Spanky Hall. Greg Johnson would immediately jump into the lead, with Timothy Rockwell, and Dan Sasso in pursuit. Cale Crocker would take third away from Sasso on lap two. The running order would remain, Johnson, Rockwell, and Crocker for the next eight laps, until Crocker would make his move around Rockwell for second on lap 10. Lap 12 would see runner up Rockwell spin to bring out the races final caution. On the restart, Crocker would try to make an outside move on the leader Johnson, nearly spinning his mount completely around, giving up the second position to Zach Johnson. Greg Johnson would click off the remaining laps uncontested to earn his first victory lane appearance of 2022. Zach Johnson, Crocker, Michael McGee (after going to the tail on the races first caution) and Butch Southwell rounded out your top five.
Next up would be the Super Late Models. Word around the pit area during the evening. “Does any competitor have anything to stop the dominance of reigning track champ, Dave Hess Jr?”
Once national standout, local favorite, Chub Frank, as well as popular regional driver Greg Oakes would set the pace for the 25 lap main event. Oakes would get the jump using the outside groove to grab the lead from Frank, coming out of turn two. Oakes, and Frank would remain the top two runners, as sixth place starter, Dave Hess Jr. would make his way around Wyatt Scott for third on lap four. With Oakes still in control, Hess would wrestle his way around Frank for second on lap seven. Hess would dog Oakes the rest of the way but couldn’t get much closer than two or three car lengths. Oakes would weather some hefty lapped traffic in the later stages to pick up his first Super Late win of the young season. Hess would settle for second, Frank secured third, Scott would manage fourth, and traveler, Logan Roberson would round out the top five, in his first ever Stateline appearance.
The Pro Stock main would be up next. Bill Applebee would take off from his front row starting position to lead lap one. Applebee would maintain control as the laps clicked down, with standout John Boardman glued to his back bumper. The third position was up for grabs most of the race with the position changing numerous times, between Jason Covey, and Tanner Ramsey. Race long leader Applebee would lose control coming out of turn two, with two laps remaining, giving away the lead to Boardman. Boardman would lead the final two circuits to claim win number one of 2022. Second place would be the position up for grabs as the checkereds flew, with Covey edging out Eric Reinwald. Applebee, and Brandon Huffman completed the top five.
The ever so competitive Challengers would be the evenings nightcap event. Erie’s Nicholas Robie would drag race outside pole sitter Rachel Moller into turn one. Robie would grab the lead and stay there for the first six circuits, until Peter Volpe would make an outside run on Robie to grab the top spot on lap seven. Lap seven would see the 134 of Andrew Proper take away second from Robie, as you could throw a blanket over the top five. With Volpe on cruise control the races premier battle was for second between, Robie, and Proper. Robie would finally take second away from Proper for good on lap ten. Robie would track down leader Volpe in remaining two laps and would come up just a half a car length short at the stand, in probably the most exciting finish of the evening. Following Volpe at the line was, Robie, Proper, Tommy Labarbera, and John Mease.
Hats off to the Stateline track crew as they got the track back into racing form in record time. Don’t forget next week, May 21st will be a 25 lap $2,000 to win UMP Modified Special, along with our weekly racing divisions. Pit gates open at 4, Grandstands open at 5, and racing at 7 sharp, weather permitting.
SUPER LATE MODELS (15 Entries)
Heat 1: 1) Greg Oakes 2) Wyatt Scott 3) Logan Roberson 4) Andy Boozel 5) Jason Genco 6) Bump Headman 7) Wendell Pinckney 8) Scott Dellahoy Jr.
Heat 2: 1) Dave Hess Jr. 2) Bob Dorman 3) Chub Frank 4) Darrell Bossard 5) Dutch Davies 6) Khole Wanzer 7) Kevin Smith
Feature: 1) Oakes 2) Hess Jr. 3) Frank 4) Scott 5) Roberson 6) Bossard 7) Genco 8) Davies 9) Dorman 10) Pinckney 11) Hedman 12) Wanzer 13) Boozel 14) Smith 15) Dellahoy Jr.
Lap Leaders: Oakes(1-25)
RUSH CRATE LATE MODELS (34 Entries)
Fast Qualifier: John Waters 16.717
Heat 1: 1) John Watters 2) Chub Frank 3) Ashton Briggs 4) Breyton Santee 5) Matt Latta 6) William Pinckney 7) Craig Graham 8) Chad Clement 9) Scott Dellahoy Jr. DQ
Heat 2: 1) Jeremy Wonderling 2) Dennis Lunger 3) Josh Ferry 4) Ward Schell 5) Matt Sipes 6) Jim Rasey 7) Darrin Woldron 8) Colbey Richman 9) Steve Houser DNS
Heat 3: 1) Randy Hall 2) Joe Martin 3) Brady Wonderling 4) Logan Roberson 5) Andy Michael 6) Scott Gurdak 7) Draven Kuzminski 8) Hunter Proctor
Heat 4: 1) Jason Genco 2) David Parker 3) Brandt Graham 4) Khole Wanzer 5) Jonathan Stockdale 6) Brian Larson 7) Ray Houser 8) Buddy Westfall
Fast Dash: 1) Martin 2) Genco 3) Frank 4) Hall 5) Waters 6) Parker 7) J. Wonderling 8) Lunger
B Main 1: 1) W. Pinckney 2) Gurdak 3) Clement 4) C. Graham 5) Kuzminski 6) Proctor 7) Dellahoy Jr.
B Main 2: 1) Rasey 2) Larson 3) Richman 4) R. Houser 5) Waldron 6) Westfall 7) S. Houser
30 Lap Feature: 1) Martin 2) Genco 3) Frank 4) Waters 5) Hall 6) J. Wonderling 7) Ferry 8) Parker 9) Santee 10) Roberson 11) B. Wonderling 12) Michael 13) Latta 14) Gurdak 15) Sipes 16) Wanzer 17) Briggs 18) Graham 19) Stockdale 20) Rasey 21) Pinckney 22) Larson 23) Schell 24) Lunger DNS
Lap Leaders: Martin(1-30)
Non Qualifier: 1) Richman 2) Proctor 3) Westfall
PRO MODS (21 Entries)
Heat 1: 1)Brodie Hill 2)Steve Dixon 3)Stu Rickard 4)Nick Arnold 5)Tyler Oakes 6)Donald May Jr. 7)Ian Degolier
Heat 2: 1)Dennis Lunger 2)Zain Harvey 3)Chad Carlson 4)Victor Earle Jr. 5)Derek Peterson 6)Vaughn Nystrom 7)Kirk Mohawk
Heat 3: 1)Adam Ashcroft 2)Al Brewer 3)Chad Ramsey 4)Cody Stronghart 5)Brendon Warner 6)Jamon Davis 7)Chad Schauers
Feature: 1)Lunger 2)Brewer 3)Dixon 4)Ashcroft 5)Earle Jr. 6)Hill 7)Oakes 8)Rickard 9)Ramsey 10)Peterson 11)Arnold 12)Davis 13)Degolier 14)Mohawk 15)Warner 16)Nystrom 17)Carlson 18)May Jr. 19)Harvey 20)Stronghart 21)Schauers
Lap Leaders: Carlson(1-2) Brewer(3-10) Lunger(11-20)
UMP MODIFIEDS (19 Entries)
Heat 1: 1)Greg Johnson 2)Cale Crocker 3)Dan Sasso 4)Steve Rex 5)Dave Lanphere 6)Justin Carlson
Heat 2: 1)Joel Watson 2)Tim Peterson 3)Braidy Westfall 4)Andrew Beatman 5)Joel Lanphere 6)James Wilburn
Heat 3: 1)Mason Lobb 2)Timothy Rockwell 3)Mike McGee 4)Zach Johnson 5)Troy Johnson 6)Butch Southwell 7)Hershel Seitz DNS
Feature: 1)G. Johnson 2)Z. Johnson 3)Crocker 4)McGee 5)Southwell 6)Sasso 7) Rex 8)Lobb 9)D. Lanphere 10)Beatman 11)Seitz 12)J. Lanphere 13)Rockwell 14)Westfall 15)Watson 16)Peterson 17)Johnson 18)Carlson 19)Wilburn
Lap Leaders: Johnson(1-20)
PRO STOCKS (13 Entries)
Heat 1: 1)Jason Covey 2)Tanner Ramsey 3)Gary Fisher Jr. 4)Shane Applebee 5)Cody Rickard 6)Matt Sampson 7)Dale Sheets
Heat 2: 1)Bill Applebee 2)John Boardman 3)Eric Reinwald 4)Kole Stelmack 5)Brandon Huffman 6)Donald Blood
Feature: 1)Boardman 2)Covey 3)Reinwald 4)B. Applebee 5)Huffman 6)Stelmack 7)Ramsey 8)Sampson 9)Rickard 10)Fisher Jr. 11)S. Applebee 12)Blood 13)Sheets
Lap Leaders: B. Applebee(1-13) Boardman (14-15)
CHALLENGERS (25 Entries)
Heat 1: 1)John Mease 2)Andrew Proper 3)Nicholas Robie 4)Rachel Moller 5)Joey Lindberg 6)David Moller 7)Domingo Echevarria 8)Joe Foti 9)Kayla Meran York
Heat 2: 1)Chris Horton 2)Tommy Labarbera 3)Pete Volpe 4)John Seekings 5)Nicholas Reed 6)Tyler Peterson 7)Charles Houser 8)Mark Lawrence
Heat 3: 1)Bryson Hill 2)Rick Feely 3)Jess Harvey 4)Pat Hanlon 5)Tammy Watson 6)Jordan Richard 7) Phillip Birt 8)Michael Provorse
Feature: 1)Volpe 2)Robie 3)Proper 4)Labarbera 5)Mease 6)Horton 7)Harvey 8)R. Moller 9)Reed 10)D. Moller
Lap Leaders: Robie(1-6) Volpe(7-12)