FAMILIAR FACES FIND VICTORY LANE AS HESS JR., FRANK, LUNGER, JOHNSON, COVEY, MEASE AND BEAVER ALL SCORE WINS ON A SPACIOUS SATURDAY EVENING AT THE NEW STATELINE SPEEDWAY!

July 31, 2022

Busti, NY (July 30, 2022) by Marc Hoegerl: Fans and race teams were blessed by beautiful weather, as well as another night of action packed racing, completing night #9 of the 2022 campaign. The night would open up with a small ceremony, and prayer, for the Earle, and Johnson families, for their loved ones that had passed away, who have supported the Stateline Speedway throughout the years. Closing the pre-race festivities would be the beautifully sang Star Spangled Banner by Josephine Bailey.

Bear Lake, PA’s Chub Frank scored win #2 in the RUSH Crate Late Models, in a wild one. Dennis Lunger extended his unbeaten streak, by scoring a record 8 consecutive wins in the RUSH Pro Mods. Jason Covey brought home his 2nd win of 2022 in the Pro Stocks. Dave Hess Jr. goes back-to-back by picking up win #4 in the Super Lates. Troy Johnson put a stop to his dry spell by bagging the win in the UMP Modifieds. John Mease scored win #1 of the season, in a thrilling Challenger feature, and Mikael Beaver continued his dominance in the RUSH Stock Cars.

Up first for feature time would be the stout field of RUSH Crate Late Models. Veteran Chub Frank, and once E-Mod great, Randy Hall would bring the 20 car field to green. Frank would get the jump, as Logan Jaquay, and previous winner Damian Bidwell would follow suit. Frank would take control for the first 13 laps, until 6th place starter Jason Genco would grab the lead from Frank on lap 14. Genco would lead the next 3 laps, until he would braze 2 cars that had spun out in front of him in turn 2, giving the 29J a flat, having to go pit side. With Frank now inheriting the lead he would have his hands full with Bidwell, with the 2 swapping leads throughout the final 6 laps. Bidwell looked like he would have a winning run coming out of turn 4, but Frank would crowd his line heading for the checkereds, spinning Bidwell out in the process. With that said, Frank would claim his 2nd RUSH Crate Late Model win of the season. Scott Gurdak, Ward Schell, David Parker, and Jaquay rounded at the top 5.

Next up would be the RUSH Pro Mods. The field would see the unbeaten Dennis Lunger start in the 12th spot to start the 20 lap main event. Adam Ashcroft would take the lead at the drop of veteran flagman Spanky Hall’s green. Ashcroft would have his hands full, as veteran Al Brewer would be glued to his rear bumper for the first 10 laps, as Lunger would make his way into the top 5. Lap 11 would see Lunger pick off two more cars to move into 3rd, as Ashcroft, and Brewer would run side-by-side for the lead in a great battle, on laps 12 & 13. Lap 14 would see Lunger now make it a three car battle that you could have thrown a blanket over the top three positions. Lap 15 would be C'est La Vie, as Lunger would move around Brewer, and Ashcroft to go the rest of the way untouched to score a record 8th win of 2022. Brewer, Zain Harvey, Ashcroft, and Tyler Oakes rounded out your top 5.

3rd feature to grace the 1/3 mile oval would be the Pro Stock division. Gary Fisher would lead the first two laps, until two time winner William Reeves would move into the lead on lap 3. Reeves looked to be in the driver’s seat to pick up win #3, until he would go pit side during a caution on lap 8, now giving the lead to July 2nd winner Jason Covey. Covey would weather several caution periods for the next 5 laps, as time was called on the event, giving Covey win #2 of 2022. John Boardman made a late race pass to bring home 2nd. Fisher Jr., Tyler Dynys, and Bill Applebee rounded out the top 5.

The ground pounding Super Late Models would be up next, with Dave Hess Jr. holding a slim 27 point lead in the standings over Darrell Bossard, going into the evening. Ryan Scott would take the lead at the outset, with Darrell Bossard, and Chub Frank in tow. With Scott leading, Frank would move under Bossard for 2nd on lap 2. Lap 4 would see last week’s winner, Hess Jr. joining the mix, as his momentum would carry him for the next two laps to make his way around Frank for 2nd. With Hess now in the runner-up spot, he would set his sights on the leader Scott. With Scott leading, Hess could not shake Frank, as Frank kept using the extreme bottom to pull even with Hess numerous times, over the course of the next 5 laps. Once Hess got some breathing room from Frank, he started nosing closer to #0 of Scott. Scott used his racing instincts to move up the race track, taking Hess’s preferred line away, almost making it impossible for Hess to complete the pass. Hess would be glued to Scott’s bumper until the final caution flag would wave on lap 18. Hess would use this to his advantage to set himself up for a possible winning move. As the race got back underway, Hess would make his move using a slide job in turns 1 & 2, that practically brought the leader Scott to a complete stop, as Hess would take over the lead, it was all clear sailing the rest of the way, as Hess would maintain his points lead, as well as picking up career win #36 in the Super Lates, at Stateline. Ryan Scott settled for 2nd, Frank, Bossard, and Dutch Davies rounded out the events top 5.

Next to grace the Chautauqua County speed plant would be the UMP Modifieds. No strangers to victory lane, Greg Johnson, and Al Brewer would pace the 23 car field. Brewer would immediately jump out to the lead. Brewer would lead the first seven laps, until Troy Johnson would take over the lead from Brewer on lap 8, in a great wheel to wheel battle. Once Johnson got out in front he would power his way away from the field to pick up win #2 of 2022, bringing his five week dry spell to a halt. Brewer would settle for 2nd, Raceway 7’s UMP Modified points leader Dustin DeMattia came home 3rd, Greg Johnson 4th, and Dennis Lunger rounded out the top 5.

The nightcap event would be the exciting Challenger’s. Three time winner Chris Horton, and John Seekings, who was looking for his first win of the season, would bring 25 car field to green. Horton would take the lead going into turn 1. Horton, and last week’s winner, Andrew Proper would draw their attention to the crowd, in a great side-by-side battle for the lead, for the first 8 laps. Lap 9 would see Jamestown’s, John Mease come out of nowhere, making it a three car battle for the top spot. Coming down for the checkereds, top runner’s Horton, and Proper would almost be taken out by a lapped car pushing the two towards the infields apron, giving the lead to 3rd place runner Mease. Proper maintained his momentum, as the leader Horton fell back to 7th. Mease would cross the line 1st on the final circuit to go on to win his 1st Challenger feature of the year. Proper, Rick Feely, Seekings, and Dan Bittinger rounded out the features top 5.

Mikael Beaver continued his dominating ways, with a marginal win over Cody Rickard in the RUSH Stock Cars.

RUSH CRATE LATE MODELS (20 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Damian Bidwell 2) Scott Gurdak 3) Gary Youngs 4) Matt Sipes 5) Hunter Proctor 6) Steve Houser 7) Kassandra Norman

Heat 2: 1) Logan Jaquay 2) Randy Hall 3) Ward Schell 4) Khole Wanzer 5) Brian Larson 6) Lonnie Waldron 7) Chad Clement

Heat 3: 1) Chub Frank 2) Jason Genco 3) Josh Ferry 4) Darrin Waldron 5) John Haggerty 6) David Parker

Feature: 1) Frank 2) Gurdak 3) Schell 4) Parker 5) Jaquay 6) Genco 7) Ferry 8- Sipes 9) Wanzer 10) Hall 11) Youngs 12) Larson 13) Houser 14) Bidwell 15) Clement 16) Haggerty 17) D. Waldron 18- Proctor 19) L. Waldron 20) Norman

Lap Leaders: Frank (1-13), Genco (14-16), Frank (17-20)

RUSH PRO MODS (18 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Adam Ashcroft 2) Brendan Warner 3) Stu Rickard 4) Nick Arnold 5) John Cline 6) Ryan Sanders

Heat 2: 1) Tyler Oakes 2) Zain Harvey 3) Al Brewer 4) Brian Mohawk 5) Chad Carlson 6) Chad Ramsey

Heat 3: 1) Dennis Lunger 2) Tyler Sutton 3) Vaughn Nystrom 4) Derek Peterson 5) Donald May Jr. 6) Kirk Mohawk

Feature: 1) Lunger 2) Brewer 3) Harvey 4) Ashcroft 5) Oakes 6) Carlson 7) B. Mohawk 8- Arnold 9) Ramsey 10) Warner 11) May Jr. 12) Sanders 13) Peterson 14) K. Mohawk 15) Sutton 16) Cline 17) Nystrom 18- Rickard

Lap Leaders: Ashcroft (1-14) , Lunger (15-20)

PRO STOCKS (17 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Joe Stajnrajh 2) Bill Applebee 3) John Boardman 4) Tanner Ramsey 5) Dale Sheets 6) Grant Richard

Heat 2: 1) William Reeves 2) Shane Applebee 3) Tyler Dynys 4) Gary Fisher III 5) Justin Pratt 6) Jason Black

Heat 3: 1) Gary Fisher Jr. 2) Jason Covey 3) David Tower 4) David Baker Jr. 5) Mark Ramsey

Feature: 1) Covey 2) Boardman 3) Fisher Jr.

Lap Leaders: Fisher Jr. (1,2) , Reeves (3-8- , Covey (9-13)

SUPER LATE MODELS (17 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Dutch Davies 2) Ryan Scott 3) Bump Headman 4) Bob Dorman 5) Jason Genco 6) Scott Dellahoy Jr.

Heat 2: 1) Chub Frank 2) Garrett Mott 3) Wendell Pinckney 4) Michael Smith 5) Kevin Smith 6) Allen Haskin

Heat 3: 1) Dave Hess Jr. 2) Darrell Bossard 3) Jake Finnerty 4) Khole Wanzer 5) Anthony Marotto

Feature: 1) Hess Jr. 2) R. Scott 3) Frank 4) Bossard 5) Davies 6) Dorman 7) Genco 8- Finnerty 9) Headman 10) Mott 11) Wanzer 12) Pinckney 13) Dellahoy Jr. 14) K. Smith 15) Haskins 16) M. Smith 17) Marotto

Lap Leaders: R. Scott (1-21) , Hess (22-25)

UMP MODIFIEDS (23 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Dennis Lunger 2) Greg Johnson 3) Steve Rex 4) Bud Watson 5) Tim Rockwell 6) Jason Brightman 7) Dave Lanphere 8- Rick Sperry

Heat 2: 1) Troy Johnson 2) Al Brewer 3) Zach Johnson 4) Dan Sasso 5) Tim Peterson 6) Andrew Beatman 7) Byron Johnson 8- James Wilburn

Heat 3: 1) Dustin DeMattia 2) Cale Crocker 3) Butch Southwell 4) Matt Kosinski 5) Matt Haskins 6) Joel Lanphere 7) Dennis Asel

Feature: 1) T. Johnson 2) Brewer 3) DeMattia 4) G. Johnson 5) Lunger 6) Southwell 7) Rex 8- Peterson 9) Crocker 10) Z. Johnson 11) Brightman 12) B. Watson 13) Sasso 14) Kosinski 15) D. Lanphere 16) Asel 17) Haskins 18- Wilburn 19) J. Lanphere 20) Beatman 21) B. Johnson 22) Rockwell 23) Sperry

Lap Leaders: Brewer (1-7), T. Johnson (8-20)

CHALLENGERS (25 Entrants)

Heat 1: 1) Andrew Proper 2) Chris Horton 3) John Mease 4) Gary Troyer 5) Dan Bittinger 6) Rachel Moller 7) Craig Karns 8- Pete Volpe 9) Charles Silvis

Heat 2: 1) Charles Houser 2) Pat Hanlon 3) Jessica Harvey 4) Brandon Huffman 5) Tyler Pearson 6) Cassandra Goodwill 7) Kayla York 8- Dale McDonald

Heat 3: 1) Rick Feely 2) Jon Seekings 3) Tammy Watson 4) Mark Winans 5) Mike Provorse 6) Jasmine Markham 7) Joe Foti 8- Domingo Echevarria

Feature: 1) Mease 2) Proper 3) Feely 4) Seekings 5) Bittinger 6) Hanlon 7) Horton 8- Watson 9) Houser 10) Harvey 11) Huffman 12) R. Moller 13) Volpe 14) Winans 15) Pearson 16) Echevarria 17) Markham 18- Goodwill 19) Foti 20) Silvis 21) York 22) McDonald 23) Troyer 24) Karns 25) Provorse

Lap Leaders: Horton (1-11) , Mease (12)

RUSH STOCK CARS (Entrants 2)

Feature: 1) Mikael Beaver 2) Cody Rickard

Lap Leaders: Beaver (1-12)