Veteran drivers prevail at Stateline Speedway!

August 6, 2018 | by Jay Pees

It was “pack the night” at Stateline Speedway featuring adult admission tickets at only $5 and the track was packed as a near-full-house watched as short track veteran drivers prevailed in all six features. Chub Frank, so of an original track owner was first across the line in the Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Models, Scott Gurdak celebrated his 60th birthday in the RUSH Crate Late Model Victory Lane, Greg Johnson won his first Rusted Nutz Garage E-Mod feature of the year, Dennis Lunger collected his fifth RUSH ProMod win of the season out of seven events, John Boardman went to the Penn-Ohio Pro Stock Victory Lane for the fourth time in ’18, and John Zeleznick captured his first win of the season in the Challenger feature.

Adam Ashcroft and Matt Harvey brought the RUSH ProMod feature to green with Ashcroft leading lap one and fourth starting Dennis Lunger Jr coming to second at the start. Ashcroft slid high in turn two of lap three, allowing Lunger to scoot by for the lead. At the halfway point the top five were Lunger, Ashcroft, Harvey, Zach Johnson, and Jason Covey. At thirteen laps Carlson spun in turn four, slowing the race with seven laps left to run. When green was again the status Lunger started extending his lead, looking for win number five. By three laps left Scott Gurdak got to fourth with Justin Carlson fifth. That was the order at the checkers with Harvey only .138 second ahead of Gurdak, celebrating his 60th birthday.

Gurdak started on the pole in the RUSH Crate Late Model finale and led in the early going over third starting Jason Genco, Darrell Bossard, Max Blair and Matthew Sipes. Genco closed the gap throughout the all green event but was unable to prevent Gurdak from celebrating his birthday inn Victory Lane. Blair got by Bossard on lap 18 for third with Sipes fifth.

Greg Johnson and Dan Sasso brought the Outlaw E-Mod feature to green but caution fell at the end of one lap when Calvin Thompson spun in turn four. Tim Peterson came to second at the race resumption but only one more lap was in the books when Robert Cetell Jr spun at the end of the back straight. At green Sasso came to second. Only one more lap was complete when Butch Southwell, Ryan Scott, Brian Stino, Michael McGee, and Deven Dudenhoeffer piled up in turn two. This time the cars only made it to turn two when Dennis Lunger, Al Brewer, Michael Eschrich, and Tim Rockwell spun together. Debris in turn three was the next caution, at four laps. Dudenhoeffer spun in turn one on the start. At five laps Justin Carlson was challenging Sasso for second but Sasso held the spot. Randy Hall was up to fourth after starting tenth and Steve Rex was fifth at nine laps when Dudenhoeffer slowed on the straight, pitting caution again on the field. Being his third charged caution, he was relegated pitside. Johnson continued to lead with Sasso, Carlson, Rex, and Lunger following at six laps left. With five to go Lunger was fourth. As the cars were coming to the line at eighteen complete fifth-running Rex spun in turn four. After green Lunger charged to the outside but could not advance his position. Johnson went on to his first win of the season over Sasso, Carlson, Lunger, and Tim Peterson.

Chub Frank and Bump Hedman started the 25-lap Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Model feature on the front row with Bryce Davis and Doug Eck in row two. Frank led lap one and started pulling away with eighth starting Max Blair advancing to fourth at four laps and Eck getting by Hedman. At six laps it was Frank pulling away when Steve Kania spun into the infield, then pulled to the edge of the track and stopping, earning himself a black flag. At ten laps it was Frank, Eck, Blair, Hess, and Ryan Scott as the top five. At lap ten at the flag stand Blair and Hess got together resulting in Hess’ left rear tire exploding, leaving pieces of tire all the way to turn one. Caution flew and Hess retired pitside, changing the tire but not rejoining the race. At eleven laps Rick Tripodi spun in turns three and four, again slowing the race. At halfway it was Frank, Eck, Blair, Ryan Scott, and Bryce Davis. At fifteen laps Scott got by Blair for third. At the same time Davis on the outside and Darrell Bossard on the inside, were attempting to get by Blair. Davis was fourth at eighteen laps and Bossard fifth at nineteen laps. Davis was challenging Scott for third at twenty one laps and had the spot at twenty-two laps when Blair came to a stop with a flat right rear tire. Davis was next to Eck at two laps left and second at the white flag. At the checkers it was Frank for his first Stateline win of the season over Davis, Eck, Scott, and Bossard.

The Street Stocks started with Dennis Asel and Gary Fisher at the front of the field. Fisher took off with the lead but Asel inched ahead at lap two. Jason Black came to third at four laps and was next to Fisher for second at the line, holding the spot at five laps. Former champion Dave Shagla Jr got to third at seven laps with a side by side battle between Black and Asel at seven laps when Aron Dascomb spun in turn two, restoring Asel to the lead by himself. Shagla came by Black for second at the green but David Baker and Bill Applebee got together at the entrance to turn three with Baker spinning and Applebee coming to a stop in turn four, needing a tow truck to exit the track. At halfway Asel had a two length lead over John Boardman and Shagla, fighting over second. Boardman got the spot and then pulled ahead of Asel at ten laps complete. Luke Rutsky got by Black with three laps remaining for fourth and then by Shagla with one to go just as Justin Pratt spun in turn four, setting up a one lap dash for the win. Boardman went on to his fourth win of the season with Rutsky second, Asel third, Shagla fourth, and Black fifth.

Tommy LaBarbera and Chris Horton were the front row for the Challenger feature with 24 cars in the starting field. LaBarbera led from the start with Horton second and Charles Sullivan third. At two laps Brandon Stover, Joey Karash, and Preston Matve all had problems in turn four. Chris Horton came to a stop in turn four as well. LaBarbera again led after green with John Zeleznick second for a lap when Kevin Covell and Pat Hanlon spun in turn two. Greene and Zeleznick ran side by side for a lap with Zeleznick getting the spot at lap five. Zeleznick got next to the leader on the back stretch on lap seven and was the leader at the line. Charles Sullivan came to third at three laps left with Horton fourth and Rory Houser fifth at the white flag. That was the order at the checkers with Zeleznick getting his first win of the season.

Results:

Overhead Door of Jamestown Super Late Models:

Heat 1: Chub Frank, Dave Hess Jr, John Lobb, Matt Urban, Rich Gardner, Wendell Pinckney, Wyatt Scott
Heat 2: Max Blair, Darrell Bossard, Doug Eck, Greg Oakes , Jake Finnerty, Chad Valone, Al Brewer
Heat 3: Bryce Davis, Bumpy, Steve Kania, Ryan Scott, Chris Hackett, Rick Tripodi

Feature: Chub Frank, Bryce Davis, Doug Eck, Ryan Scott, Darrell Bossard, John Lobb, Greg Oakes, Jacob Finnerty, Matt Urban, Rich Gardner, Wendell Pinckney, Bump Hedman, Chris Hackett, Wyatt Scott, Rick Tripodi, Al Brewer, Max Blair, Chad Valone, Dave Hess Jr, Steve Kania

RUSH Crate Late Models:

Heat 1: Scott Gurdak, Max Blair, Darrell Bossard, Bob Craig, Gary Troyer, Steve Houser
Heat 2: Jason Genco, Matthew Sipes, William Pinckney, Chad Schauers, Chad Clement Darron Waldron

Feature: Scott Gurdak, Jason Genco, Max Blair, Darrell Bossard, Matthew Sipes, William Pinckney, Bob Craig, Chad Schauers, GaryTroy, Chad Clement, Steve Houser

Rusted Nutz Garage Outlaw E-Mods:

Heat 1: Greg Johnson, Dennis Lunger Jr, Tim Rockwell, Butch Southwell, Cale Crocker, Ron Seeley, Dave Lamphere
Heat 2: Randy Hall, Michael McGee, Tim Peterson, Brian Stino, Ray Houser, Bryan Johnson, Deven Dudenhoeffer, Robert Cetell Jr
Heat 3: Al Brewer, Justin Carlson, Steve Rex, Ryan Scott, Mark Thrasher, Michael Eschrich, Calvin Thomson

Feature: Greg Johnson, Justin Carlson, Dennis Lunger Jr, Tim Peterson, Butch Southwell, Tim Rockwell, Al Brewer, Randy Hall, Ron Seeley, Dave Lamphere, Mark Thrasher, Mike Eschrich, Steve Rex, Dan Sasso, Bryon Johnson, Calvin Thomson, Deven Dudenhoeffer, Cale Crocker, Brian Stino, Michael McGee, Ryan Scott, Robert Cetell Jr

Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks:

Heat 1: John Boardman, Dave Shagla Jr, Gary Fisher, Jason Black, Bill Applebee, Anthony Marotto, Aron Dascomb, Paul Nelson
Heat 2: Joe Stajnrajh, Dennis Asel, Luke Rutsky, Brad Church, David Baker, Brian Myers

Feature: John Boardman, Luke Rutsky, Dennis Asel, Dave Shagla Jr, Jason Black, Anthony Marotto, Brad Church, Gary Fisher, Paul Nelson, Aron Dascomb, Brian Myers, Justin Pratt, Joe Stajnrajh, Bill Applebee, David Baker

RUSH Promods:

Heat 1: Adam Ashcroft, Dennis Lunger Jr, Matt Harvey, Nicholas Mohawk, Jeramy Williams, Stu Rickard, Vaughn Nystrom
Heat 2: Jason Covey, Chad Carlson, Zach Gurdak, Scott Gurdak, Justin Carlson, Jarrod Silvis

Feature: Dennis Lunger Jr, Adam Ashcroft, Matt Harvey, Scott Gurdak, Justin Carlson, Jason Covey, Chad Carlson, Jeramy Williams, Zach Johnson, Vaughn Nystrom, Jarrod Silvis, Stu Rickard, Nicholas Mohawk

Challengers:

Heat 1: Dylan Green, Chris Horton, Joey Karash, Skip Jackson, Chris Knisley, Jordan Melice, Jordan Melice, Zachary Bush, Pat Hanlon, Jasmine Markham
Heat 2: John Zeleznick, Rory Houser, Brandon Stover, Brandon hall, Steve Markham, Hope Bailey, Ricky Whitney, Pat Hanlon
Heat 3: Charles Sullivan, Tommy LaBarbara, Kevin Covell, Preston Matve, David Warrior, Shawn VanGuilder, Charles Morris, Jasmine Jackson

Feature: John Zeleznick, Tommy LaBarbera, Charles Sullivan, Dylan Greene, Rory Houser, Pat Hanlon, Kevin Covell, Chris Knisley, Shawn Vanguilder, Brandon Hall, David Warrior, Brandon Stover, Charles Morris, Steven Markham, Zachary Bush, Skip Jackson, Jasmine Jackson, Ricky Whitney, Jasmine Markham, Jordan Melice, Pat Hanlon, Chris Horton, Preston Matve, Joey Karash, Hope Bailey (DNS)