Whitling and Lunger win big at Stateline Speedway!

July 14, 2018 | by Jay Pees

On a hot July night 128 cars line up and raced for the checkers with Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks and the Elite/Pro Mods Hosting Touring events with extra cash and prestige on the line. Bobby Whitling, in his first appearance at Stateline, took over the lead with five laps remaining to win the Homak Penn-Ohio Pro Stock feature and the $1200 winner’s purse. In the Elite series event Dennis Lunger dominated, grabbing the lead at the drop of the green and never having a serious challenge on his way to his fourth win in as many ProMod races held this season at the track.

In other classes Max Blair continued to dominate the RUSH Crate Late Model division, gaining his third victory in as many appearances and winning his first Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Model feature of the year at Stateline. Lunger also prevailed for his third consecutive Rusted Nuts Garage E-Mod Feature win at Stateline. In total, Lunger now has seven wins at Stateline in 2018. For Chris Horton, he scored his first-ever feature victory in a time-shortened, caution-plagued feature that only ran two laps before the checkers fell at the maximum time allowed for the event.

Kyle Scott, in the car usually driven by Jeremy Williams, and last week’s winner, Dennis Lunger, were the front row for the 20-lap, 20-car Elite/ProMod feature. Lunger took the immediate lead and opened a half straight lead by five laps complete. Yellow flew at six laps when Jarrod Silvis and Nate Young got together just out of turn two as Lunger was closing on the rear of the field. For the green it was Lunger leading Scott, Adam Ashcroft, Chad Carlson, and Scott Gurdak. At eight laps Ashcroft was second as the yellow flew again for Silvis, spun in turn three. In turn two on the restart Bryon Johnson looped his mount. At the end of nine laps Stu Rickard and Silvis got together in turn four. As it was Silvis’ third caution, his night was over. Lunger again led after green and again began to distance himself from his pursuers. Ashcroft ran second with Scott third, when, at lap thirteen, Bryon Johnson and Josh Beckstrom tangled in turn two. Lunger was still the leader at lap fifteen when Nick Mohawk spun in turn two. For the five lap run to the checkers it was Lunger, Ashcroft, Kyle Scott, Scott Gurdak, and Justin Carlson. Kyle Scott got back to second on the restart but only one more lap was complete when Matt Harvey spun in turn two. Carlson was up to third with two laps left but Lunger was on his way to his third in a row and fourth on the season at Stateline. The top five at the finish were Lunger, Ashcroft, Justin Carlson, Kyle Scott, and Gurdak.

Ryan Newman and Bobby Whitling were the front row for the Homak Penn-Ohio Pro Stock 25-lap feature paying $1200 to win. Newman took the immediate lead but Paul Davis, Nick Kocuba, and John Volpe piled up in turn four on lap two, setting up the first restart of event. Newman again led after green with Whitling in hot pursuit. Chris McGuire came to third at five complete. At six laps Whitling was challenging for the lead but Newman was in front again at seven. On the back straight on lap ten Whitling got alongside the leader again but again fell into line at the end of the lap. Yellow flew at fourteen laps with John Boardman, Shane Applebee, and Paul Nelson involved in turn four. Past track champion Dave Shagla was third at sixteen laps with Whitling again next to the leader at seventeen when Luke Rutsky spun in turn two, again slowing the race and putting Whitling behind the leader. Shagla was next to Whitling at eighteen laps with a three way battle for the lead at nineteen. Whitling was half a length in the lead at five laps left and extending his advantage at twenty one when Bill Applebee spun in turn four. On the caution laps Jeff Broniszerso, Chris Withers, and Anthony Marotto got together while trying to get lined up, but all were able to continue. With four laps left it was Whitling, Newman, Shagla, Chris Schneider, and John Boardman. Shagla was second at three laps remaining but Boardman was back to the spot with two left to go. At the white flag Whitling had a two length lead and went on to the win by .351 second over John Boardman, Dave Shagla Jr, Chris Schneider, and Rob Shook.

Darrell Bossard and Matt Sipes were at the front of the RUSH Crate Late Model feature, running for twenty laps. Bossard grabbed the lead at green with third starting Max Blair second at the end of the lap. Paul Norman drew the first caution with a spin in turn four at the end of the first lap. Blair came by Bossard on lap two for the lead, looking for his third win of the season in as many weeks. Scott Gurdak was challenging Bossard using the high line at seven laps and nosed into second at eight. Blair had a quarter lap lead at halfway over Gurdak, Bossard, Bob Craig, and Jason Genco. On lap eleven Chad Schauers and Darrin Waldron spun in turn four. Will Pinckney was sent to the rear for his part in the caution. Genco was fourth at lap thirteen when yellow flew again, for Nick Snayczak, stopped in turn four. Blair extended his lead over the rest of the event, winning over Gurdak, Bossard, Genco, and Matthew Sipes.

The Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Model feature had Greg Oakes and Max Blair at the head of the field for the green, both looking for their first Super Late Model win at Stateline in 2018. Blair showed the way right from the start with Oakes, Chris Hackett, Ryan Scott, and Wyatt Scott filling out the top five. Ryan Scott and Hackett were side by side at four laps for third with Scott holding the spot at five laps. At seven laps Blair had a half straight lead. At ten laps Hackett was again third and at eleven it was a three-way fight for second. Hackett got the position at twelve laps. At halfway it was Blair, Hackett, Oakes, Ryan Scott and Bossard. With one to go Blair was in lapped traffic and still lengthening his lead. At the end of the all-green feature. Blair had nearly a half lap lead, winning by 8.7 seconds over Hackett, Ryan Scott, Oakes, and Bossard.

Tim Peterson and Justin Carlson led the Outlaw E-Mods to green with Peterson leading third starting Greg Johnson at the end of one. At five laps it was still Peterson over Johnson, Dennis Lunger, Carlson, and Butch Southwell. The battle for third was side by side at halfway while the fight for the lead was heating up as Johnson was putting serious pressure on Peterson. At lap thirteen Lunger joined the lead battle and had the front to himself at fourteen. Peterson and Johnson tussled over second with Johnson getting alongside at laps sixteen through nineteen when Peterson again had the spot but Johnson was there on the final lap, edging out Peterson the runner up spot. Justin Carlson was fourth with Butch Southwell fifth.

Chris Horton and Rory Houser were the front row for the Challenger feature. With Horton leading lap one just as caution flew for debris in turn three. At green Holden Heineman went by for the lead but Steve Markham spun in turn one, restoring Horton to the front for the restart and Houser back to second with Heineman third, Joe Karash fourth, and Joey Karash fifth. Horton again led until caution flew at two laps when Jaycob Courtney came to a halt on the back stretch. On this green it was a three way battle with Horton, Heineman, and Mitchell Rex but caution awaited at the end of the lap for Jasmine Markham, Tommy LaBarbara, and Charles Sullivan, tangled in turn two. Karash had moved into third at the time of caution. At this point the time limit for the event passed so it was declared complete. The top five were Horton, Heineman, Karash, Rex, and Dillon Speer.

Results:

Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Models:

Heat 1: Darrell Bossard, Chris Hackett, Ryan Scott, Greg Oakes, Wendall Pinckney, Chuck Parker, John Lobb
Heat 2: Wyatt Scott, Bob Dorman, Max Blair, Max Blair, Chad Valone, Bump Hedman, Matt Urban, Al Brewer, Rick Tripodi
Feature: Max Blair, Chris Hackett, Than Scott, Greg Oakes, Darrell Bossard, Wyatt Scott, Chad Valone, Bump Hedman, John Lobb, Wendall Pinckney, Matt Urban, Rick Tripodi, Jake Finnerty, Al Brewer, Bob Dorman, Chuck Parker

RUSH Crate Late Models:

Heat 1: Scott Gurdak, Darrell Bossard, Jason Genco, Paul Norman, Will Pinckney, Chad Schauers, Darrin Waldron
Heat 2: Max Blair, Matt Sipes, Nick Snayczak, Bob Craig, Gary Troyer, Chad Clement
Feature: Max Blair, Scott Gurdak, Darrell Bossard, Jason Genco, Matt Sipes, Bob Craig, Chad Schauers, Will Pinckney, Paul Norman, Gary Troyer, Darrin Waldron, Nick Snayczak

Rusted Nutz Garage Outlaw E-Mods:

Heat 1: Tim Rockwell. Justin Carlson, Tim Peterson, Steve Rex, Cale Crocker, Randy Hall. Mike Eschrich, Brian Stino
Heat 2: Dennis Lunger, Greg Johnson, Al Brewer, Butch Southwell, Shawn Shingledecker, Ryan Scott, Mark Thrasher, Dave Lamphere
Feature: Dennis Lunger, Greg Johnson, Tim Peterson, Justin Carlson, Butch Southwell, Ryan Scott, Tim Rockwell, Al Brewer, Mike Eschrich, Cale Crocker, Randy Hall, Dave Lamphere, Shawn Shingledecker, Mark Thrasher, Steve Rex

Homak Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks:

Heat 1: Rob Shook, Chris McGuire, Chris Schneider, John Boardman, Shane Applebee, John Volpe, Todd Weldon, Tyler Thompson, Jason Black
Heat 2:Lee Wheeler, Bobby Whitling, Ryan Newman, Andrew Gordon, Gary Fisher, Dennis Asel, Douglas Eck, Rod Laskey, Curt Bish
Heat 3: Jeff Broniszerso, Anthony Marotto, Terry Wheeler, Paul Nelson, Michael Reed, Paul Davis, Chris Withers, Justin Pratt
Heat 4: Dave Shagla Jr, Luke Rutsky, Jordan Eck, Bill Applebee, Brian Crandall, Nick Kocuba, Victor Redeye, Brian Myers
B-Main 1: John Volpe, Todd Weldon, Tyler Thompson, Rod Laskey, Dennis Asel, Jason Black, Douglas Eck
B-Main 2: Paul David, Chris Withers, Nick Kocuba, Victor Redeye, Brian Myers (DNS), Justin Pratt (DNS), Curt Bish (DNS)
Feature: Bobby Whitling, John Boardman, Dave Shagla Jr, Chris Schneider, Rob Shook, Ryan Newman, Gary Fisher, Chris McGuire, Anthony Marotto, Michael Reed, Leigh Wheeler, Jeff Broniszerso, Chris Withers, Luke Rutsky, Paul Nelson, Jordan Eck, Bill Applebee, Nick Kocuba, Jason Black, Shane Applebee, Terry Wheeler, John Volpe, Andrew Gordon, Paul Davis, Brian Crandall, Todd Weldon

RUSH Promods:

Heat 1: Justin Carlson, Adam Ashcroft, Kyle Scott, Stu Rickard, Bud Watson, Mate Young, Zach Johnson
Heat 2: Dennis Lunger, Scott Gurdak, Matt Alexander, Matt Harvey, Nicholas Mohawk, Mitch Wright, Josh Beckstrom
Heat 3: ChadCarlson, Jason Covey, Josh Ferry, Jarrod Silvis, Bryon Johnson, Vaughn, Nystrom (DNS)
Feature: Dennis Lunger, Adam Ashcroft, Justin Carlson, Kyle Scott, Scott Gurdak, Josh Ferry Chad Carlson, Bud Watson, Matt Alexander, Zach Johnson, Nate Young, Stu Rickard, Mitch Wright, Josh Beckstrom, Matt Harvey, Jason Covey, Bryon Johnson, Nicholas Mohawk, Jarrod Silvis

Challengers:

Heat 1:Mitchell Rex, Chris Horton, William VanGuilder, Joe Karash, Dylan Greene, Steven Markham, Jasmine Jackson, Dakota Curry, Brandon Huffman, Nichole Condron
Heat 2: Dillon Speer, Kevin Covell, Tommy LaBarbara, Joey Karash, Pat Hanlon, Brandon Stover, Jasmine Markham, Patrick Todd Hanlon, Jon Seekings (BF)Jacob Courtney
Heat 3: Holden Heineman, John Zeleznick, Dustin Lamb, Rory Houser, Jordan Melice, Chris Knisley, Charles Sullivan, Tyler Walters, Brandon Hall
Feature: Chris Horton, Holden Heineman, Joe Karash, Mitchell Rex, Dillon Speer, Rory Houser. William Vanguilder, John Zeleznick, Kevin Covell, Dylan Greene, Joey Karash, Chris Knisley, Jordan Melice, Pat Hanlon, Brandon Stover, Jon Seekings, Tyler Walters, Dustin Lamb, Brandon Hall, Dakota Curry, Jasmine Jackson, Tommy LaBarbara, Jasmine Markham, Charles Sullivan, Jaycob Courtney, Steven Markham, Patrick Todd Hanlon (DNS), Brandon Huffman (DNS), Nichole Condron (DNS)