MICHAEL JR. CASHES IN ON UMP MODIFIED SPECIAL AS HESS, LUNGER, SANTEE, BOARDMAN, HORTON AND WHYTE ALL SCORE WINS!

June 12, 2022 | by Marc Hoegerl

Busti, NY (June 11, 2022): With rain in the surrounding area, Stateline Speedway had no problem getting night #3 of 2022 in the books. Traveler Rich Michael Jr. needed a late race caution to win the thrilling UMP Modified Special. Dave Hess Jr. showed that 2021 wasn’t just a fluke by winning his 2nd consecutive Super Late Model main. Breyton Santee surprised the crowd by bagging the RUSH Crate Late Model feature. Dennis Lunger continued his dominance in the RUSH Pro Mods. John Boardman, after starting deep in the pack, found victory lane in the Pro Stock division. Chris Horton overcame disaster to pick up the win in the Challengers, and Treyton Whyte scored the win in the Sharp Mini Late Models.

First feature to hit the 1/3 mile semi-banked clay oval was the heavily competitive Pro Stock division. Kole Stelmack and Patrick Fielding would bring the 18 car field to green. Fielding would get the jump heading into turn 1, with Dave Shagla and Joe Stajnrajh in tow. An intense three car battle would erupt right off the start between the three competitors that would go on for the first 7 laps. Each racer using three different grooves on the racing surface. Stajnrajh using an outside move would take away 2nd from Shagla on lap 6 and then grab the lead from Fielding on lap 7. With this intense battle going on for the top spot, 16th place starter John Boardman was picking off cars at will at his bid towards the front. Boardman would crack the top 5 in no time on lap 7, then move into 2nd on lap 9. On lap 10 Boardman would pull even, outracing leader Stajnrajh going into turn 1 to grab the lead. Once Boardman was out front he would go the next 5 laps uncontested to pick up the victory. Stajnrajh, Gary Fisher Jr., Shagla, and Tanner Ramsey would round out the top five.

Next up would be the RUSH Crate Late Models. John Stockdale would take the lead at the outset, but Conneaut, Ohio’s Breyton Santee would grab the lead out of turn 4 to lead lap 1. Santee and 6th place starter, Randy Hall, would pull even on laps 2 & 3. Santee would find a little breathing room on lap 4, then continue to stretch his lead. The bid for 3rd was the best race on the track, with Matthew Sipes, Jason Genco, and Khole Wanzer trading positions back and forth over the course of the event. Santee would weather 7 cautions to go on to pick up his first win of 2022. Randy Hall would nail down 2nd, 10th starting David Parker would make a late race run for 3rd, Jason Genco and Matthew Sipes would round out your top five.

Third feature to hit the track would be the much anticipated UMP Modified Special. A pair of 4’s would sit on the front row getting set to take the green from senior flagman Spanky Hall. As the green would wave, outside polesitter Shane Crotty would get the jump on Greg Johnson to maintain the point. These two would put on an epic battle for the lead for the first 10 laps. The two would pull even many times through the early part of the race. On the heels of the leaders, Steve Rex, Rich Michael Jr, and Michael McGee had a battle of their own going on. Until a lap 12 caution you could almost throw a blanket over the top 5. On the lap 12 restart Rich Michael Jr. would power into 2nd then glue himself to the back bumper of race long leader Crotty. Crotty showed he had no intention to give up the lead as Michael Jr. would pull even with Crotty many times during the next 9 circuits, with Crotty still protecting his line. The race would be slowed once again on lap 22 for the races 5th caution. On the restart, Michael Jr. would find the room he needed to make the winning pass, beating Crotty into turn 1. Michael Jr. would maintain control the rest of the way to pick up the $2,000 paycheck. Crotty ran a fantastic race to only come up short in the runner-up spot. Greg Johnson, Michael McGee and Dennis Lunger rounded out the top five.

Next on the docket would be the Super Late Models. Local favorite Wyatt Scott would out-muscle Jason Genco for the lead at the drop of the green. With Scott holding down the lead, 6th place starter Dave Hess Jr. would grab the 3rd spot on lap 2, then the runner-up spot from Genco on lap 4. The duo of Scott and Hess would put on a fierce battle for the lead for the next 7 laps. Scott, diamonding off the corners each lap, with Hess using his signature high side line. Then the two would put on a series of sliders trying to out fox one another, as they were nearing the halfway mark. Hess would take the lead on lap 12 heading into turn 1, only to have Scott take the lead back going down the backstretch. Hess would finally make the outside stick, moving around Scott on lap 13. Scott wouldn’t let Hess out of his sight as the two would race through lapped traffic for the next 3 laps. On lap 17 Hess would finally break free of the traffic to go on to score win #2 of 2022. Hess has won the last 11 out of 18 Super Late Model events at Stateline. This win would be Hess’ 34th career Super Late Model win at the Busti, New York speed-plant. Wyatt Scott, Darrell Bossard, Jason Genco and Dutch Davies rounded out your top five.

RUSH Pro Mods would be up next. Tyler Sutton would pace the 21 car field to green. Sutton would lead the first 5 laps until Adam Ashcroft would move around the leader on lap 6. 6th place starter Dennis Lunger would move around Sutton for 2nd on lap 6, then outduel Ashcroft for the lead on lap 7. Once Lunger grabbed the top spot he would ease the rest of the way to pick up his 3rd consecutive Stateline RUSH Pro Mod win of 2022. Zain Harvey, Adam Ashcroft, Chad Carlson, and Tyler Sutton would round out the top five.

The Sharp Mini Late Models would take the track for one of their three events of 2022. Ryan Card would take the lead from Treyton Whyte on the races opening lap of their 20 lap main event. Whyte would use a banzai move coming out of turn 4 on lap 2 to grab the lead. Whyte would have no serious threats the rest of the way to pick up the win. Christopher Whyte would bring home a solid second. Ryan card would recover from a mid-race spin to nail down third and Kyle Coons would secure the 4th spot.

In the evening’s nightcap event. The famed Challengers would take the track for their 12 lap A-Main. Nicholas Reed and Holden Heineman would bring the 24 car field to green. Heineman would show the way for the first four circuits, as Challenger standout Christopher Horton worked his way quickly through traffic to move into the 2nd position. Following a series of restarts, 8th place starter Christopher Horton would make the winning pass on lap 5 to secure his first Stateline win of 2022. John Mease, Nicholas Robie, Daniel Bittinger and Peter Volpe with a late race run rounded out the top five spots.

Super Late Models (15 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) Dutch Davies 2) Jason Genco 3) Darrell Bossard 4) Greg Oakes 5) Khole Wanzer 6) Andy Boozel 7) Jake Finnerty 8) Steve Dellahoy Jr.
Heat 2: 1) Dave Hess Jr. 2) Wyatt Scott 3) Breyton Santee 4) Wendell Pinckney 5) Bob Dorman 6) Michael Smith 7) Kevin Smith
Feature: 1) Dave Hess Jr. 2) Wyatt Scott 3) Darrell Bossard 4) Jason Genco 5) Dutch Davies 6) Breyton Santee 7) Greg Oakes 8) Andy Boozel 9) Jacob Finnerty 10) Bob Dorman 11) Khole Wanzer 12) Kevin Smith 13) Steve Dellahoy Jr. 14) Wendell Pinckney

Lap Leaders: W. Scott (1-12), Hess Jr. (13-25)

UMP Modifieds (27 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) Dennis Lunger 2) Greg Johnson 3) Tim Rockwell 4) Cale Crocker 5) Dave Lamphere 6) Christopher Deponceau 7) Paul Nelson
Heat 2: 1) Bud Watson 2) Zach Johnson 3) Shane Crotty 4) Al Brewer 5) Butch Southwell 6) Matt Kosinski 7) Joel Lanphere
Heat 3: 1) Michael McGee 2) Rich Michael Jr. 3) Joel Watson 4) Tim Peterson 5) Mason Lobb 6) Dan Sasso 7) James Wilburn
Heat 4: 1) Eric Reinwald 2) Steve Rex 3) Troy Johnson 4) Justin Carlson 5) Jason Brightman 6) Byron Johnson
B-Main: 1) Kosinski 2) Sasso 3) Lanphere 4) B. Johnson 5) Deponceau 6) Nelson 7) Wilburn
Feature: 1) Rich Michael Jr. 2) Shane Crotty 3) Greg Johnson 4) Michael McGee 5) Dennis Lunger 6) Joel Watson 7) Bud Watson 8) Troy Johnson 9) Cale Crocker 10) Zach Johnson 11) Butch Southwell 12) Tim Rockwell 13) Jason Brightman 14) Dan Sasso 15) Byron Johnson 16) Joel Lanphere 17) Al Brewer 18) Mason Lobb 19) Steve Rex 20) Justin Carlson 21) Dave Lanphere 22) Tim Peterson 23) Eric Reinwald 24) Matt Kosinski

Lap Leaders: Crotty (1-22), Michael Jr.(23-25)

RUSH Crate Late Models (24 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) David Parker 2) Khole Wanzer 3) Andy Michael 4) Randy Hall 5) Rodney Houser 6) Draven Kuzminski 7) Kassandra Norman 8) Darrin Waldron
Heat 2: 1) Scott Gurdak 2) Jeff Hoffman 3) Breyton Santee 4) Chad Clement 5) Brian Larson 6) Lonnie Waldron 7) Mason Jaquay 8) Jarrod Lyon
Heat 3: 1) Jason Genco 2) Ward Schell 3) Matthew Sipes 4) Jonathan Stockdale 5) Steve Houser 6) Hunter Proctor 7) Gary Youngs 8) Rory Houser
Feature: 1) Breyton Santee 2) Randy Hall 3) David Parker 4) Jason Genco 5) Matthew Sipes 6) Khole Wanzer 7) Jeff Hoffman 8) Andy Michael 9) Scott Gurdak 10) Ward Schell 11) S. Houser 12) Brian Larson 13) Gary Youngs 14) Chad Clement 15) Logan Jaquay 16) Draven Kuzminski 17) L. Waldron 18) Rodney Houser 19) Kassandra Norman 20) Rory Houser 21) Hunter Proctor 22) D. Waldron 23) Jonathan Stockdale 24) Jarrod Lyon

Lap Leaders: Santee (1-20)

RUSH Pro Mods (21 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) Dennis Lunger 2) Chad Carlson 3) Tyler Sutton 4) Brian Mohawk 5) Cody Stronghart 6) Garrett Miller 7) John Cline
Heat 2: 1) Victor Earle Jr. 2) Zain Harvey 3) Derek Peterson 4) Vaughn Nystrom 5) Donald May Jr. 6) Chad Ramsey 7) Kirk Mohawk
Heat 3: 1) Adam Ashcroft 2) Stu Rickard 3) Brendan Warner 4) Nick Arnold 5) Tyler Oakes 6) Brodie Hill 7) Thomas Root
Feature: 1) Dennis Lunger 2) Zain Harvey 3) Adam Ashcroft 4) Chad Carlson 5) Tyler Sutton 6) Stu Rickard 7) Brian Mohawk 8) Vaughn Nystrom 9) Brendan Warner 10) Nick Arnold 11) Derek Peterson 12) Brodie Hill 13) Donald May Jr. 14) Thomas Root 15) Garrett Miller 16) Tyler Oakes 17) Cody Stronghart 18) Chad Ramsey 19) Victor Earle Jr. 20) John Cline 21) Kirk Mohawk

Lap Leaders: Sutton (1-5), Ashcroft (6), Lunger (7-20)

Pro Stocks (17 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) Gary Fisher Jr. 2) Bill Applebee 3) Rod Laskey 4) Dana Maybee 5) John Boardman 6) David Tower
Heat 2: 1) Tanner Ramsey 2) Jason Covey 3) Pat Fielding 4) Dave Baker Jr. 5) Cody Rickard 6) Matt Sampson
Heat 3: 1) Joe Stajnrajh 2) Dave Shagla 3) Kole Stelmack 4) Justin Pratt 5) Dale Sheets
Feature: 1) John Boardman 2) Joe Stajnrajh 3) Gary Fisher Jr. 4) Dave Shagla 5) Tanner Ramsey 6) Pat Fielding 7) Jason Covey 8) Matt Sampson 9) Bill Applebee 10) Dave Baker Jr. 11) David Tower 12) Cody Rickard 13) Justin Pratt 14) Dale Sheets 15) Kole Stelmack 16) Dana Maybee 17) McCray 18) Laskey

Lap Leaders: Fielding (1-6), Stajnrajh (7-9), Boardman (10-15)

Challengers (29 Entries)

Heat 1: 1) Bryson Hill 2) Chris Horton 3) Nicholas Robie 4) Mark Lawrence 5) Jon Seekings 6) Collin Larson 7) Ricky Houser 8) Kayla York
Heat 2: 1) Daniel Bittinger 2) Andrew Proper 3) Jess Harvey 4) Peter Volpe 5) Domingo Echevarria 6) Preston Matve 7) Kasey Markham
Heat 3: 1) Holden Heineman 2) Tammy Watson 3) Charles Houser 4) Phillip Powell 5) Michael Provorse 6) Tyler Pearson 7) Rick Feely
Heat 4: 1) John Mease 2) Nicholas Reed 3) Craig Karns 4) Phillip Bart 5) Joe Foti 6) Jordan Richard 7)Joey Lindberg
B-Main: 1) Larson 2) Feely 3) Houser 4) Lindberg 5) Pearson 6) Markham 7) Richard 8) Matve 9) York
Feature: 1) Christopher Horton 2) John Mease 3) Nicholas Robie 4) Daniel Bittinger 5) Pete Volpe 6) Jess Harvey 7) Jon Seekings 8) Rick Feely 9) Domingo Echevarria 10) Bryson Hill 11) Craig Karns 12) Tammy Watson 13) Nicholas Reed 14) Phillip Powell 15) Phillip Birt 16) Joey Lindberg 17) Ricky Houser 18) Holden Heineman 19) Joseph Foti 20) Andrew Proper 21) Mark Lawrence 22) Charles Houser 23) Michael Provorse DNS 24) Collin Larson DNS

Lap Leaders: Heineman (1-5), Mease (6-8), Horton (9-12)

SHARP Mini Late Models (4 Entries)

Heat: 1) Treyton Whyte 2) Ryan Card 3) Christopher Whyte 4) Kyle Coons
Feature: 1)Treyton Whyte 2) Christopher Whyte 3) Ryan Card 4) Kyle Coons

Lap Leaders: Card (1), T. Whyte (2-20)