7.4.20 Genesee Speedway Results
Rich Vleck, BATAVIA, NY, (July 4, 2020)- A historic night at Genesee Speedway featuring the return of fans, fireworks and a full moon was accompanied by a full pit area with 106 cars in competition. The return to normalcy so saw familiar winners return back to Victory Lane as well as some new names.
The Late Models featured a full field of 24 cars and with cars capable of winning throughout it was a fight for the front of the pack. David Pangrazio jumped out in front of polesitter Bill Holmes to take the early lead, and held the top spot on the first restart on lap three using the top line. After the second caution flag appeared on lap four, though, Pangrazio chose the bottom line for the restart, which was just what Jeremy Wonderling wanted to see. Wonderling used the top line to drive in front of “Kid Kool” and never looked back, winning by over five seconds in the 25-lap feature.
“I was licking my chops when I saw (Pangrazio) pick the bottom on that restart,” admitted “Mr. Excitement” in Victory Lane. “He took the top line in the restart before and got me so when he picked the bottom I was like ‘alright, game on.’”
Once taking the lead, the Wellsville driver was only able to put a small amount of distance between himself and Pangrazio; as the green flag stretch grew longer however he began to pull away from the No. 136 and the rest of the field, especially as they encountered lapped traffic.
“We’ve had the car where we want it the last few weeks,” stated Wonderling afterwards. “We came here (on June 11) and we were off but tonight it worked really well on the bottom.”
As Wonderling created plenty of social distancing, David Pangrazio had his hands fully with Jimmy Johnson, who stalked the second-place car for the majority of the race. Pangrazio was steady in the middle groove though and was able to hold on to second. Johnson, who had won the first two features of 2020, settled in third. Bill Holmes and JJ Mazur battled hard to round out the top five.
Kyle Inman’s pursuit of three straight feature wins almost was futile before he even started. The four-time track champion found himself sideways on the opening lap of his heat race and after a few laps was in danger of not qualifying for the redraw. After driving up through he selected the pole and made sure he would remain perfect.
Inman, of Darien, used the bottom line to perfection to lead all 25 laps and hold off a stout field to claim a Sportsman Feature injected with $1200 of bonus money from Bellinger Electric.
“So far this year the bottom line has been the place to be,” stated Inman in Victory Lane. “I was nervous because the top looked so good but it was like the old Genesee where you had to dodge the tires on the bottom.”
On the second restart of the race, Dave Conant pulled his No. 44 even with the leader as they entered turn one, but Inman’s No. 20k found bite on the bottom and held him off. On lap 8, Cam Tuttle got by Conant for second and made a bid at Inman, who saw him moving up the scoring pylon from the eighth. Inman would stalk the leader but would have to settle for second. Garrison Krentz ran to a strong third place finish while Jonathan Reid was fourth. Zach George used a second car and changed the front end after the heats to rally back to a fifth place finish.
Josh Pangrazio dominated the Street Stock Feature, which got shortened to 16 laps, as the defending division champion won for the second week in a row. Pangrazio, racing in tribute of Brian Ace, took the lead on a lap 4 restart from Jesse Qutermous and then steadily pulled away from the early leader to capture the win. When the race checkered on lap 16, Josh held 3 fingers out of his window for Brian, who passed away earlier in the week. Qutermous would hold for second while Doug Jones drove up to finish in third. Damian Long crossed in fourth for the second straight week while Byron Dewitt was the hard-charger driving up to round out the top five.
The Mini Stocks fielded a record 30 cars and had some great racing throughout. In the feature, Brandon Shepard took the lead from Ashley Harbison by using the outside line on a lap two restart and then held off Chris Leone through the majority of the feature to claim his first win of 2020. Shepard, the winningest driver in 2019, used a variety of lines, but had to stay true to the top down the stretch when Brad Whiteside inherited second place when Chris Leone broke with 3 laps remaining. Whiteside would settle for second while Dante Mancuso drove up to finish in third. Andy Gayton and Rich Conte rounded out the top five.
Tyler Vinson made his first trip to Genesee count as he led wire-to-wire to win the 15-lap Novice Sportsman Feature. Vinson had to hold off last week’s winner Dylan Duhow down the stretch, who was gaining ground but could not get close enough to the No. 93 and would have to settle for second. Tim Nies completed the podium.
Jake Bansmer stayed perfect for 2020 as he won his third Bandit Feature of the season. Bansmer took the lead from Tyler Guzzardi after a lap 4 restart and then pulled away for the win. Behind him was some wild racing with Brian Gregory rallying to finish in second, ahead of Alexis Traxler, who completed the podium.
To round out the great night of action, an amazing fireworks show had the crowd roaring. Next up at Genesee Speedway will be a special Thursday Night show this July 9. The event will start at 7:00. There will be no races next Saturday, July 11. For more information, visit www.Genesee-Speedway.com.
Genesee Speedway Results: 7/4/2020-
Stirling Lubricants Night
Cornerstone Eye Associates RUSH Late Model Feature (25 Laps)- JEREMY WONDERLING, Scott Pangrazio, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Holmes, JJ Mazur, Greg Mrzywka, Dave DuBois, John Waters, Kyle Murray, Jon Rivers, Doug Ricotta, Paul Grigsby, Alan Chapman, Tim Schram, Austin Hauser, Nick Snayczuk, Billy DuBois, Austyn Fugle, DJ Krug, Bill Button, Mark Sundt, Brian Kotarski, TJ Downs, Beamer Guzzardi.
Lap Leaders- Pangrazio 1-4, Wonderling 5-25.
Heat Winners- Mrzywka, Downs, Wonderling.
Stirling Lubricants DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (25 Laps)- KYLE INMAN, Cam Tuttle, Garrison Krentz, Jonathan Reid, Zach George, Ray Bliss, TJ Newton, Sarah Johnson, Jim Harbison, Larry Vick, Mike Taddonio, Dan Kolb, Dave Conant, Byron Dewitt, Noah Walker, Clayton Cain, Jordan Moden, Brett Senek (DNS).
Lap Leader- Inman 1-25.
Heat Winners- Johnson, Conant.
Yasses Trucking & Construction Street Stock Feature (Shortened to 16 Laps)- JOSH PANGRAZIO, Jesse Qutermous, Doug Jones, Damian Long, Byron Dewitt, Bill Taylor, Dustin Goss, Mike Kramarz, Chuck Cala, Dale Rissinger, Dan Brumsted, Shawn Hazlett, Jason Quigley, Steve Austin, Mike Kelly, Brandon Sherwood, Matt Tracey, Adam DePuy (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Qutermous 1-3, Pangrazio 4-16.
Heat Winners-Sherwood, DePuy.
Pellegrino Auto Sales Mini Stock Feature (15 Laps)- BRANDON SHEPARD, Brad Whiteside, Dante Mancuso, Ashley Harbison, Andrew Gayton, Rich Conte, Eric Brumsted, Ryan Allen, Jessica Schleede, Andy Schumaker, Shauna Knapp, Rocco Conte, Larry Wise, Cody Griffin, Olivia Coniber, Chris McGuire, Tony Hermanson, Dakota Kaczynski, Chris Leone, Cole Susice, Eric Weis, 16x, Chris Miller, Jeff Wynes, Thomas Knapp, Rich Neamon, Cody Wise, Brad Shepard, James Gayton (DNS), Gary Hopkins (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Harbison 1, Brandon Shepard 2-15.
Heat Winners- A. Gayton, Brandon Shepard, Brad Shepard.
Novice Sportsman Feature (12 Laps)- TYLER VINSON, Dylan Duhow, Tim Nies, Andrew Joy, Eric Bovee, Brandon Close, Mike McCarthy, Ryan Barrett, John Livingston Jr., Scott Wolfe.
Lap Leaders- Vinson
Heat Winners- Vinson, Duhow.
DML Sealing Bandits (12 Laps)- JAKE BANSMER, Brian Gregory, Alexis Traxler, Tyler Guzzardi, Joey Swick, Brian Gregory.
Lap Leaders- Guzzardi 1-3, Bansmer 4-12.
Heat Winner- Bansmer.