9/12/2020
BAPS Motor Speedway
Frankie Herr Claims Super Sportsman 100 Victory at BAPS Motor Speedway
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: When you think of the prestigious Super Sportsman 100, you think of two names: Gary Wolford and Frankie Herr.
Wolford is a legend in the division, and the race is named in his honor. As for Herr, he’s the most successful driver to put on a helmet and race in the Gary Wolford Super Sportsman 100.
If the latter fact was ever in doubt, it was squashed Saturday night. Herr carved his way to the front and held off Russ Mitten and Tony Jackson in what was an entertaining and breathtaking 46th annual Sportsman 100 at BAPS Motor Speedway.
“Out of the ones I’ve won, that is the one I had to work for the most,” Herr said after his ninth win in this storied event. “Awesome race team. Bellman Racing Engines, Woodring Chassis, my entire team, they don’t quit.
“We changed about mid-way through the season, and I told Bill [Devine], ‘We’re coming back. It’s still going to be a red 70D, but nothing else is going to be the same.’ Donny made the difference. We were banging our heads in the shop after each night, and I think we hit on something.
“It sure is nice to win the Sportsman 100 for Gary Wolford. I really enjoyed racing with him. He is a good guy and often called me, and we talked ... usually after the 100. He was a heck of a competitor, adn I wish he could be around for all of this.”
This was far from a dominating victory. Herr, who started fifth, took his time getting to the front and had to fend off his pursuers.
Matt Ondek led the first four laps before Kenny Edkin charged out front from his third starting spot on the fifth circuit.
Edkin was in control through the 34th lap. Herr, finally cleared sixth-place starter Tony Jackson and reeled in Edkin for the lead on Lap 35.
Herr led until the break at Lap 60. When the race went back to green, Jackson surprised the leader and blew around the top of Turn 2 to take the lead.
“I really hate those double-file starts,” Herr, of Carlisle, Pa., said. “You probably need to start on the bottom to get the jump.
“After the break, I messed up. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it wasn’t the right thing. That’s why I fell back to second. I figured there were 40 more laps, and I had a good racecar. I figured there would be another caution, and sure enough, we got it done.”
Herr got the caution he was looking for on Lap 67, when Ondek stopped in Turn 1. On the restart, Herr shot to the bottom of Turn 4 and was back out front.
Within three laps, Herr built a 1.780-second advantage. That didn’t stop Jackson from hitting his marks and reeling in the leader.
Jackson closed to within .431 seconds on Lap 75. He got a little closer four laps later and pulled the trigger on a slide job through the third and fourth corner. Herr ducked back under Jackson on exit and continued to lead.
“The last 40, I was buzzing the tires off of two, and I had to quit doing that,” Herr said. “I had to figure out how to quit doing that. Once I got that down, I was pretty good in three and four.
“I hated to go down to the bottom, but I figured I had to when Tony drove under me and I diamonded it off to back under him. The car was operating. Donny had it dead on, and it was a lot of fun.”
Herr also had to deal with Russ Mitten, who had been running in the top five throughout the event. Mitten took the lead on Lap 80, and Herr had to react quick to get back out front on the 81st circuit.
Mitten didn’t go away in second. He continued to run in Herr’s tracks, while Jackson and Chris Meleason were locked in a tight battle for third.
Herr held a .544-second lead on Lap 91. Two laps later, Mitten went looking for the win with an inside move, but he couldn’t pull it off.
Mitten was .144 seconds back on Lap 94, but lapped traffic became an issue. Herr cleared the backmarkers, but Mitten got held up, which allowed Meleason to take second on the frontstretch on Lap 96.
Mitten took the position back one lap later, but he was too far back to make a bid for the lead. It was all Herr at the finish, as he took the win by .770 seconds over Mitten, Meleason, Jackson, and John Edkin.
“I want to thank BAPS for putting this on,” Herr said. “I will probably end up retiring from there. I talked to Bill this week, and we might have another year or two in us, so we will see what happens.
“I can’t race for a better team than the 70D. Bill Devine puts 110 percent into it each week, and that makes a big difference. It makes it easy for us, not that we don’t put 110 percent into it, but it’s all about having a fast racecar. Bill Devine provides a fast racecar.”
Bobby Hockenberry earned the 3M/PPG, Piper Advertising Quick Time Award worth $300. Meleason was Drydene Hard Charger, advancing from 13th to third in the A-Main. Nate Young received the CH Recovery Hard Luck Award, with Jamie Rickert taking home the Marysville Motorcars Rookie of the Year honors.
A pair of Street Stock main events were also on the card. Michelle Walls was declared the winner of the first 20-lap feature when Brian Walls was sent to the rear for spinning Jasen Geesaman at the finish. Kyle Saylor and Greg Diehl finished second and third.
In the second Street Stock feature, Brian Walls stormed back to Victory Lane by passing Geesaman on Lap 10 and leading the rest of the way. Ryan Smith and Geesaman rounded out the podium.
46TH ANNUAL GARY WOLFORD SUPER SPORTSMAN 100 PRESENTED BY 3M
Feature (100 Laps): 1. 70D-Frankie Herr[5]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[4]; 3. 8M-Chris Meleason[13]; 4. 69J-Tony Jackson[6]; 5. 35-John Edkin[11]; 6. 360-Jay Fannasy[2]; 7. 75-Kenny Edkin[3]; 8. 1A-Chase Gutshall[12]; 9. 3B-Mike Enders[10]; 10. 99G-Scott Grace[19]; 11. 30-Scott Dellinger[7]; 12. 383-Steve Fannasy[16]; 13. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[9]; 14. 00-Troy Rhome[14]; 15. 22-Daniel John[17]; 16. 0Z-Devin Beidel[18]; 17. 21R-Jamie Rickert[24]; 18. (DNF) 16R-Ryan Rutz[21]; 19. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[15]; 20. (DNF) 2M-Matt Ondek[1]; 21. (DNF) 19R-Eric Rutz[23]; 22. (DNF) 25-Bobby Hockenberry[8]; 23. (DNF) 71K-Tyler Wolford[20]; 24. (DNF) 10H-Dave Hollar[22].
Lap Leaders: Matt Ondek (1-4), Kenny Edkin (5-34), Frankie Herr (35-60), Tony Jackson (61-67), Herr (68-79), Russ Mitten (80), Herr (81-100).
Super Sportsman Time Trial Results: 1. 25-Bobby Hockenberry, 00:17.131[2]; 2. 30-Scott Dellinger, 00:17.176[12]; 3. 69J-Tony Jackson, 00:17.179[6]; 4. 70D-Frankie Herr, 00:17.282[1]; 5. 77-Russ Mitten, 00:17.300[19]; 6. 75-Kenny Edkin, 00:17.315[4]; 7. 360-Jay Fannasy, 00:17.332[5]; 8. 2M-Matt Ondek, 00:17.349[25]; 9. 77W-Tom Wyckoff, 00:17.377[9]; 10. 3B-Mike Enders, 00:17.450[22]; 11. 35-John Edkin, 00:17.574[17]; 12. 1A-Chase Gutshall, 00:17.601[21]; 13. 8M-Chris Meleason, 00:17.607[10]; 14. 5D-Luke Deatrick, 00:17.618[24]; 15. 00-Troy Rhome, 00:17.629[7]; 16. 7-Timmie Barrick, 00:17.709[15]; 17. 22-Daniel John, 00:17.747[26]; 18. 14-Nate Young, 00:17.776[13]; 19. 383-Steve Fannasy, 00:17.815[18]; 20. 71K-Tyler Wolford, 00:17.858[8]; 21. 99G-Scott Grace, 00:17.910[3]; 22. 0Z-Devin Beidel, 00:18.082[23]; 23. 16R-Ryan Rutz, 00:18.087[16]; 24. 10H-Dave Hollar, 00:18.141[20]; 25. 19R-Eric Rutz, 00:18.334[14]; 26. 21R-Jamie Rickert, 00:18.790[11].
Super Sportsman B-Main 1 Finish (10 Laps): 1. 8M-Chris Meleason[1]; 2. 00-Troy Rhome[2]; 3. 383-Steve Fannasy[4]; 4. 22-Daniel John[3]; 5. 99G-Scott Grace[5]; 6. 16R-Ryan Rutz[6]; 7. 19R-Eric Rutz[7].
Super Sportsman B-Main 2 Finish (10 Laps): 1. 5D-Luke Deatrick[1]; 2. 14-Nate Young[3]; 3. 7-Timmie Barrick[2]; 4. 0Z-Devin Beidel[5]; 5. 71K-Tyler Wolford[4]; 6. 10H-Dave Hollar[6]; 7. 21R-Jamie Rickert[7].
STREET STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 2W-Brian Walls[4]; 2. 59-Ryan Smith[2]; 3. 81-Jasen Geesaman[3]; 4. 72M-Sam Rial[7]; 5. 543-Eric Tripp[6]; 6. 5-Niklas Stoudt[9]; 7. 7P-Jim Palm[5]; 8. 80D-Greg Diehl[1]; 9. 64W-Stan Wanner[13]; 10. 5W-Bud Witmer[8]; 11. 8-Sam Leonard Jr[10]; 12. 15-Brian Boughter[14]; 13. 14-Kyle Saylor[11]; 14. (DNF) 64-Brandon Wanner[12]; 15. (DNF) 1W-Mike Walls[17]; 16. (DNF) 5X-Bill Wentz[16]; 17. (DNS) 181-Butch Helsel.
Lap Leaders: Greg Diehl (1), Jasen Geesaman (2-9), Brian Walls (10-20)
Street Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 2W-Brian Walls[7]; 2. 59-Ryan Smith[4]; 3. 7P-Jim Palm[2]; 4. 72M-Sam Rial[8]; 5. 5-Niklas Stoudt[1]; 6. 14-Kyle Saylor[9]; 7. 64W-Stan Wanner[6]; 8. (DNF) 181-Butch Helsel[3]; 9. (DNS) 1W-Mike Walls.
Street Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 81-Jasen Geesaman[4]; 2. 80D-Greg Diehl[1]; 3. 543-Eric Tripp[2]; 4. 5W-Bud Witmer[5]; 5. 8-Sam Leonard Jr[6]; 6. 64-Brandon Wanner[7]; 7. 15-Brian Boughter[3]; 8. (DNF) 5X-Bill Wentz[8].
August 1 Make Up Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1W-Michelle Walls[4]; 2. 14-Kyle Saylor[6]; 3. 80D-Greg Diehl[7]; 4. 59-Ryan Smith[3]; 5. 5W-Bud Witmer[10]; 6. 543-Eric Tripp[11]; 7. 64W-Stan Wanner[1]; 8. 7P-Jim Palm[8]; 9. 81-Jasen Geesaman[2]; 10. 5-Niklas Stoudt[13]; 11. 64-Brandon Wanner[12]; 12. (DNF) 15-Brian Boughter[9]; 13. (DQ) 2W-Brian Walls[5].
Lap Leaders: Jasen Geesaman (1-19), Brian Walls (20)
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
