9/26/2020
BAPS Motor Speedway
Russ Mitten Lands in Victory Lane for Dirty 30 Win at BAPS
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: Russ Mitten has been fast enough to win a pile of races at BAPS Motor Speedway during the 2020 season.
If it wasn’t bad luck, it was another competitor having a faster car or being in the right place at the right time to have things break their way. Still, you could feel another win was around the corner for the Newville, Pa., standout.
That moment came Saturday night. Sporting a fresh powerplant, Mitten captured the Super Sportsman Dirty 30 for his second win of the season. His 13th career BAPS Motor Speedway victory netted him $3,000.
“We spent all day on the dyno with this engine, and Danny from DMY built this motor, and he put a lot into it,” Mitten said. “I have to thank Big Dan Rhome — Troy’s Dad — helped with it, and Danny, they worked to put a deal together.
“This thing runs. We had to tweak on it from warm-ups and got it a little better for time trials. It was good enough for quick time, but one more shot at it, I think I could make it better. We were good in the heat and made some changes for the Dash and were really good there.”
Continued Mitten, “On a night like tonight where it was heavy and the rain made it heavier, starting spot meant a lot. I don’t even know who was second.”
It didn’t matter.
Kenny Edkin started on the pole, but his brother John Edkin burst into the lead. Mitten, who started third, made his way into a position to challenge for the lead on Lap 6 and blew by John Edkin one lap later.
But John Edkin didn’t go away. He had a fast car and chased Mitten for the next 10 laps before taking the top spot back on the 17th circuit.
A weird sequence of events occurred after Jim Hulse spun on Lap 19. John Edkin and Mitten lined up next to each other, and Edkin drove into the side of Mitten, getting over his wheel and tipping over.
“I haven’t run that hard in a while,” Mitten said of the race. “I don’t know what he was trying to prove. He had a fast car, and I don’t know if he lost that race for himself, but he lost a good finish. I’m sure he made the comment that he has more cars, but guess what, I build them.”
With John Edkin at the back of the field, Mitten took advantage and opened up a slight advantage over Tony Jackson, who started eighth on the grid.
Jackson was within striking distance through Lap 25, but Mitten was too good down the stretch. The leader had too much motor and expertise in traffic and went on to take the victory by 1.17 seconds at the stripe.
“I was happy to see that white flag,” Mitten said. “The lapped cars were all over the place, and I didn’t know which way to go. They were on the top, and when I got to them, they switched to the bottom. I’m just glad no one was close to me to pass me on the last lap. That would’ve sucked.
“I got to thank my crew, Wizard, Big Steve, Cody. Big Dan, Troy Rhome ... I think we started it up at 8:30 or 9 last night ... it was a good night.
“I also want to thank Billy [Devine]. He is a hell of a guy and really enjoys doing stuff for this division and wants to see it keep going. I can’t thank him enough for doing this event.”
Jackson settled for second. Frankie Herr came from 10th to third, with Scott Dellinger and Steve Fannasy completing the top five.
Kenny Edkin pocketed an extra $500 for winning the Dash for Cash courtesy of Dirty Deeds, who was the title sponsor of the event. Mitten set quick time with a lap of 16.896. Jay Fannasy was Hard Charger, advancing from 16th to seventh.
In Creekside Auto Sales 358 Late Model competition, Travis Mease led the final seven circuits and collected the win in the 25-Lap main event.
Tommy Slanker started on the outside pole and charged into the lead. Mease took over the top spot on Lap 3 and led until Daulton Bigler made a pass for the lead on Lap 13.
Bigler’s standing at the top of the leaderboard lasted all of one lap after he suffered a flat tire. Mease took over and led the rest of the way for the win.
Alan Sagi finished second. Wayne Pfeil, Troy Miller, and Shaun Miller completed the top five in the main event.
Showers hit the speedway after the completion of the Late Model feature. The Street Stock feature will be made up Saturday, October 10, and the Extreme Stock feature will be made up Saturday, October 24.
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 77-Russ Mitten[3]; 2. 69J-Tony Jackson[8]; 3. 70D-Frankie Herr[10]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger[4]; 5. 383-Steve Fannasy[7]; 6. 2M-Matt Ondek[6]; 7. 360-Jay Fannasy[16]; 8. 75-Kenny Edkin[1]; 9. 10H-Dave Hollar[5]; 10. 5D-Luke Deatrick[19]; 11. 00-Troy Rhome[12]; 12. 35-John Edkin[2]; 13. 25-Bobby Hockenberry[11]; 14. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[14]; 15. 14-Nate Young[17]; 16. 16R-Ryan Rutz[21]; 17. (DNF) 19R-Eric Rutz[22]; 18. (DNF) 1R-Jim Hulse[24]; 19. (DNF) 71K-Tyler Wolford[18]; 20. (DNF) 8M-Chris Meleason[13]; 21. (DNF) 21R-Jamie Rickert[20]; 22. (DNF) 3B-Mike Enders[9]; 23. (DNF) 22-Daniel John[15]; 24. (DNS) 91-Lanny Hake.
Lap Leaders: John Edkin (1-6), Russ Mitten (7-16), Edkin (17-18). Mitten (19-30)
Super Sportsman Time Trial Finish: 1. 77-Russ Mitten, 00:16.896[8]; 2. 383-Steve Fannasy, 00:16.959[2]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin, 00:16.970[18]; 4. 69J-Tony Jackson, 00:17.000[20]; 5. 35-John Edkin, 00:17.042[14]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders, 00:17.090[13]; 7. 30-Scott Dellinger, 00:17.107[23]; 8. 10H-Dave Hollar, 00:17.150[12]; 9. 71K-Tyler Wolford, 00:17.152[11]; 10. 8M-Chris Meleason, 00:17.154[17]; 11. 77W-Tom Wyckoff, 00:17.155[22]; 12. 2M-Matt Ondek, 00:17.195[21]; 13. 70D-Frankie Herr, 00:17.196[4]; 14. 0Z-Devin Beidel, 00:17.221[16]; 15. 00-Troy Rhome, 00:17.252[1]; 16. 360-Jay Fannasy, 00:17.298[10]; 17. 14-Nate Young, 00:17.335[6]; 18. 16R-Ryan Rutz, 00:17.394[3]; 19. 5D-Luke Deatrick, 00:17.425[9]; 20. 25-Bobby Hockenberry, 00:17.513[5]; 21. 22-Daniel John, 00:17.621[19]; 22. 19R-Eric Rutz, 00:17.900[7]; 23. 91-Lanny Hake, 00:17.932[26]; 24. 2-Austin Lorah, 00:18.818[15]; 25. 1R-Jim Hulse, 00:18.998[24]; 26. 21R-Jamie Rickert, 00:19.951[25].
Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[2]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[4]; 3. 69J-Tony Jackson[3]; 4. 70D-Frankie Herr[5]; 5. 8M-Chris Meleason[1]; 6. 360-Jay Fannasy[6]; 7. 5D-Luke Deatrick[7]; 8. 19R-Eric Rutz[8]; 9. 1R-Jim Hulse[9].
Super Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 10H-Dave Hollar[2]; 2. 35-John Edkin[3]; 3. 383-Steve Fannasy[4]; 4. 25-Bobby Hockenberry[7]; 5. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[1]; 6. 14-Nate Young[6]; 7. 21R-Jamie Rickert[9]; 8. 91-Lanny Hake[8]; 9. (DNF) 0Z-Devin Beidel[5].
Super Sportsman Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 75-Kenny Edkin[4]; 2. 2M-Matt Ondek[1]; 3. 3B-Mike Enders[3]; 4. 00-Troy Rhome[5]; 5. 22-Daniel John[7]; 6. 71K-Tyler Wolford[2]; 7. 16R-Ryan Rutz[6]; 8. (DNF) 2-Austin Lorah[8].
Super Sportsman Dash for Cash (6 Laps): 1. 75-Kenny Edkin($500)[1]; 2. 35-John Edkin($400)[3]; 3. 77-Russ Mitten($300)[4]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger($200)[5]; 5. 10H-Dave Hollar($150)[2]; 6. 2M-Matt Ondek($100)[6].
CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 116-Travis Mease[1]; 2. NINE-Alan Sagi[3]; 3. 72-Wayne Pfeil[7]; 4. 115-Troy Miller[10]; 5. 115S-Shaun Miller[5]; 6. 112-Brandon Little[9]; 7. 21-Joey Hoffer[8]; 8. N20-Joe Lusk[19]; 9. 13X-Ben Whitaker[6]; 10. 21M-Matt Murphy[15]; 11. 88C-Chuck Cox III[13]; 12. 24-Daulton Bigler[4]; 13. 93-Steve Todorow[22]; 14. 79-Chase Bowsman[16]; 15. 711-Jennifer Hartz[23]; 16. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[18]; 17. 51N-Nick Palmerino[17]; 18. (DNF) 40-Tommy Slanker[2]; 19. (DNF) 20-Corey Knaub[20]; 20. (DNF) 6-Terry Gingerich[21]; 21. (DNF) 14-Matt Adams[14]; 22. (DNF) 22-Chase Billet[12]; 23. (DNF) 18-Derrick Mease[11].
Lap Leaders: Tommy Slanker (1-2), Travis Mease (3-12), Daulton Bigler (13), Mease (14-20)
Late Model Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. NINE-Alan Sagi[1]; 2. 116-Travis Mease[8]; 3. 72-Wayne Pfeil[5]; 4. 115-Troy Miller[3]; 5. 88C-Chuck Cox III[6]; 6. 79-Chase Bowsman[7]; 7. N20-Joe Lusk[2]; 8. (DNF) X4-Lou Egrie[4]; 9. (DNF) 93-Steve Todorow[9].
Late Model Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 24-Daulton Bigler[4]; 2. 115S-Shaun Miller[7]; 3. 21-Joey Hoffer[3]; 4. 18-Derrick Mease[5]; 5. 14-Matt Adams[8]; 6. 51N-Nick Palmerino[1]; 7. (DNF) 6-Terry Gingerich[2]; 8. (DNS) 711-Jennifer Hartz.
Late Model Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 40-Tommy Slanker[2]; 2. 13X-Ben Whitaker[1]; 3. 112-Brandon Little[3]; 4. 22-Chase Billet[5]; 5. 21M-Matt Murphy[6]; 6. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[4]; 7. 20-Corey Knaub[8]; 8. (DNF) 17JR-Jason Nace[7].
MIKE’S TOWING & RECOVERY/FRANKIE’S USED AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): Postponed due to rain. Make up date: Saturday, October 10, 2020.
Lap Leaders:
Street Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 81-Jasen Geesaman[2]; 2. 14-Kyle Saylor[5]; 3. 5-Niklas Stoudt[4]; 4. 72X-Sam Rial[9]; 5. 99K-Kody Sites[8]; 6. 8-Sam Leonard Jr[1]; 7. 64W-Stan Wanner[7]; 8. 15-Brian Boughter[3]; 9. 181-Butch Helsel[6].
Street Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 52W-Mike Walls[6]; 2. 72M-Russ Shoop[2]; 3. 7P-Jim Palm[3]; 4. 21H-Travis Horan[1]; 5. 543-Eric Tripp[4]; 6. 5W-Bud Witmer[8]; 7. 64-Brandon Wanner[7]; 8. 333-John McGeoy[9]; 9. 5X-Bill Wentz[5].
SUPERIOR HOMES EXTREME STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): Postponed due to rain. Make up date: Saturday, October 24, 2020.
Lap Leaders:
Extreme Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 91-Will Long[2]; 2. 7F-Hunter Fulton[7]; 3. 97-Donnie Broderick[4]; 4. 7JR-Johnny Palm[5]; 5. LAZY8-John Wright[3]; 6. 98-Richard Daughtrey[9]; 7. 16L-Walt Lemmon[10]; 8. 7-Bill Fulton[1]; 9. 11A-Tim Arnold[11]; 10. (DNF) 41-Howard Williams[6]; 11. (DNS) 97X-Paul Sylvester.
Extreme Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 16-Patrick McClane[2]; 2. 11-Sam Rial[1]; 3. 1A-Scott Arnold[6]; 4. 52-Austin Hogue[5]; 5. 25-Andrew Hogue[4]; 6. 25J-Nathan Romig[10]; 7. 50-Andy Hogue[9]; 8. 3-Kevin Dobson[3]; 9. (DNF) 54-Chase Rehbein[8]; 10. (DQ) 357-Ronnie Buck[7].
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
