6.26.21 Genesee Speedway Results
Rich Vleck, BATAVIA, NY, (June 26, 2021)- A warm night brought out a host of repeat winners, but at the end of the night, one driver was able to claim their first feature victory of 2021 with an impressive performance.
Paul Grigsby had run fairly well in his Late Model all season, but on Saturday Night he took a different approach: he let his crew take the reins on the setup and he would just take care of the driving. That paid off in a big way as he would lead all 25 laps to score the feature victory.
“I had made some mistakes on setup so far this year so I told my guys to set me up so I could run the top side and it worked tonight,” stated Grigsby in Victory Lane.
Grigsby, of Springville, scored his second career victory at Genesee in his No. 24 late model. After taking the early lead from polesitter Austyn Fugle, Grigsby had to deal with point leader Bill Holmes, who took over second on lap five and started to run down the leader. The margin would plateau at around one second until a lap 16 caution bunched the field together. Grigsby was perfect on the ensuing restart, along with the final restart on lap 21, as he was able to focus before each return to green flag racing.
“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t spin my tires coming off the corner,” admitted Grigsby after the event. “I saw Bill (Holmes) was on the board in second and he’s one of the top guys to beat here but I’ve raced with him for a long time and knew he was going to run me clean.”
Grigsby became the sixth different feature in the division this season, the most of any class at Genesee in 2021. Holmes would pad his point lead with his second place effort while Dave DuBois had a strong run in third after a heat race win, as did fellow heat winner Austyn Fugle in fourth. Beamer Guzzardi rounded out the top five.
After winning two of the first three Sportsman features of the season it looked as if Phil Vigneri III would be winning plenty in 2021; despite running well over the six weeks he had hit a dry spell, that is until Saturday Night when he withstood a host of challenges to get back on to Victory Lane.
Vigneri, of Elba, led all 25 laps en route to his third feature win of the season. After holding a comfortable lead during a long green-flag stretch in the first half of the race, Vigneri was faced with a myriad of restarts, most of which featured Noah Walker challenging the No. 12v for the lead. After the final restart on lap 20 though, “PV3” was able to put some distance over himself and the rest of the pack as the laps wore on and was able to smoothly pick up the victory. The best battle down the stretch was for second and third as Dave Conant moved up in to third on the final restart and would stalk the No. 22 for the runner-up spot but it would be Walker holding on to second. After that duo was Cameron Tuttle and Brandon Michaud, who would complete the top five.
The Street Stock drivers seemed to play “musical chairs” of sorts for the race lead as three different drivers took the lead from a driver that suffered mechanical issues. Brandon Sherwood took the early lead from polesitter Bill Taylor on the start but under the first caution period on lap five Sherwood’s No. 87 slow on the pace laps and be forced pitside. Taylor would inherit the lead but on a lap nine restart would sputter just briefly off the 2nd corner but would retain the top spot; however, on the ensuing restart on lap 16 his No. 1 slowed on the backstretch just long enough to enable John Zimmerman to move up in to the lead. In the closing laps, Taylor was able to chase down Zimmerman and peaked to the inside but Zimmerman was too strong and would hang on for his second win of the year. Taylor would cross in second while Mike Kelly had his best finish of the season in third. Dale Rissinger would also finish strong in fourth while Dan Schulz rounded out the top five.
Dante Mancuso led all 15 laps of the Mini Stock Feature, but when his No.1 did not pass post-race inspection, the win was given to Brad Whiteside. Whiteside, of Caledonia, ran second to Mancuso for much of the race and now has two wins on the year. Cole Susice, Andrew Gayton, Andy Schumaker and James Gayton completed the top five.
Jake Bansmer made a sharp move for the lead underneath Andrew Joy on the second lap of the Novice Sportsman feature and then never looked back as the point leader ran off to win his seventh feature of the season in dominating fashion. Bansmer, of East Aurora, used the tacky surface to build his lead over the field during the caution-free event, eventually winning by over six seconds. Andrew Joy would finish in second for the second-straight event while Allison Dewitt drove to a podium finish.
The Bandit Feature was wild right down to the finish. Point Leader Alexis Traxler took the lead from Seth Johnson on a lap 3 restart but could not run away as the duo duked it out on the final lap. They made contact going in to the final set of corners and off the exit off the 4th corner more contact was made with Johnson’s No. 85 ending up spun around, allowing Traxler to drive off to her sixth win of the year. The incident would enable Jonathan Logsdon to cross in second while Ian Paul rounded out the top five.
All six divisions are back in action next Saturday, along with a BIG fireworks show as part of “Christmas in July”. Racing action starts at 6:00. For more information, visit www.Genesee-Speedway.com.
Genesee Speedway Results: 6/26/2021-
DC Enterprise and Pepsi Night
Cornerstone Eye Associates RUSH Late Model Feature (25 Laps)- PAUL GRIGSBY, Bill Holmes, Dave DuBois, Austyn Fugle, Beamer Guzzardi, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Button, Jon Rivers, Austin Hauser, +0Billy DuBois, Doug Ricotta, Mark Sundt.
Lap Leaders- Grigsby 1-25.
Heat Winners- D. DuBois, Fugle.
Stirling Lubricants DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (25 Laps)- PHIL VIGNERI III, Noah Walker, Dave Conant, Cameron Tuttle, Brandon Michaud, Ray Bliss, Kyle Richner, Jim Harbison, TJ Newton, Larry Vick, Dan Kolb, Byron Dewitt, Greg Mrzywka, Jessica Kriegisch, Gordy Hermanson Jr., Michael McCarthy.
Lap Leader- Vigneri 1-25.
Heat Winners- Kriegisch, Walker.
Yasses Trucking & Construction Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- JOHN ZIMMERMAN, Bill Taylor, Mike Kelly, Dale Rissinger Jr., Dan Schulz, Neil Patterson, Tom Baker, Shawn Hazlett, Sherman Gage, Phil Schepis, Damian Long, Pat Powers, Jacob Vick, Dennis Cummings, Brandon Sherwood, Robbie Knapp (DNS), Kenny Begnouche (DNS), Zach Walsh (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Sherwood 1-5, Taylor 6-15, Zimmerman 16-20.
Heat Winners- Hazlett, Sherwood.
Pellegrino Auto Sales Mini Stock Feature (15 Laps)- BRAD WHITESIDE, Cole Susice, Andrew Gayton, Andy Schumaker, James Gayton, Rich Conte, Brian Johnson, Don Whiteside, Olivia Coniber, Jessica Schleede, Eric Brumsted, Robert Knapp, Caleb Wolcott, Gary Hopkins, Curtis Rung, Dante Mancuso (DQ).
Lap Leaders- Mancuso 1-15.
Heat Winners- Schmaker, A. Gayton.
Champion Racing Oil Novice Sportsman Feature (15 Laps)- JAKE BANSMER, Andrew Joy, Allison Dewitt, Tyler Guzzardi, Casey Jonathan, Bailey Logsdon, Nate Rheiner, John Livingston Jr.
Lap Leaders- Joy 1, Bansmer 2-15.
Heat Winner- Joy.
DML Sealing Bandits (10 Laps)- ALEXIS TRAXLER, Jonathan Logsdon, Ian Paul, Nicholas Lipome, Morgan Coniber, Seth Johnson.
Lap Leaders- Johnson 1-2, Traxler 3-10.