5/22/2021
BAPS Motor Speedway
Edkin Scores 3rd Consecutive Sportsman Victory with Bud Bricker Win at BAPS
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: Kenny Edkin had some obstacles to overcome coming into the 2021 Super Sportsman season at BAPS Motor Speedway.
It wasn’t just a change in track conditions at the York Haven, Pa., facility. Edkin lost his crew chief, which made the decision-making process a bit of a learning curve.
After a handful of shows, Edkin has made the most of the needed adjustments. That’s led to three straight BAPS Super Sportsman victories, including a $6,500 score in Saturday’s 30-Lap Bud Bricker Nationals at BAPS Motor Speedway.
“It just took a couple of weeks for me and Doug to jell,” Edkin said. “We are going back over Donny’s notes, figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
“They are doing something a little different with the track this year, and it took a couple of weeks for us to figure it out. I wouldn’t say we are awesome, but we are going in the right direction.”
This triumph had special meaning. Not only was it a bonus at the pay window, it came on Hall of Fame Night, which features a ceremony to honor past greats in the Super Sportsman, Late Model, Street Stock, and Extreme Stock divisions.
Bob and Zane Highlands, Fred Putney Sr., and Floyd Donnelly were enshrined in the Super Sportsman division. Jim Bernheisel carried the Late Model banner, with Scott Thunberg earning Hall of Fame honors in the Street Stock division Donnie Broderick represented the Extreme Stock division, and speedway founder Bud Bricker were also enshrined.
“I was a Silver Springs kid,” Edkin said. “I grew up going there almost every week, so a lot of the names that are getting inducted, I know and remember even though I’m a young buck.It’s just awesome to win on Hall of Fame night when we got some people here who I looked up to.”
It wasn’t exactly Edkin’s easiest march to victory. He had to win a race-long battle with Frankie Herr to hoist the first-place check.
Herr started on the front row and took the lead over Tony Jackson on the initial start. One lap later, Edkin, who started in the second row, nailed the bottom of Turn 4 to take second from Jackson.
The first caution of the event came out on Lap 5, when Ryan Rutz spun in Turn 3. Edkin slipped under the leader entering Turn 1 on the restart, but Herr used the momentum on the high side of Turn 2 to pull ahead.
Herr noticed how good Edkin was on the bottom of the third and fourth corner and moved down on Lap 10. That gave him enough steam to pull out to a narrow .461-second lead.
But the lead wasn’t safe. Despite a treacherous cushion, Edkin followed Herr through the first and second corner and gained ground at the other end of the speedway.
“The track was really racy, but when you were sucked up behind a car, it was kind of hard to see where they were going,” Edkin said. “So, I was kind of driving off the back of his top wing.
“As soon as I noticed he pushed right [on the cushion], I was like, ‘Oh, crap, I’m following him.’ I’m just glad we both kept it out of the wall, kept it straight, and kept racing.”
And it was a good one.
Herr and Edkin put on a clinic. The two drivers were never separated by more than .612 seconds, with Edkin closing to within .296 seconds with 10 laps to go.
Edkin made his move on the 21st circuit. Herr got a little bottled up on the cushion in Turns 1 and 2, which allowed Edkin to shoot by on the low side of the speedway.
Two laps after taking the lead, Rutz spun again on the frontstretch. Herr pulled a slider on the leader in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 24, but Edkin dove back under and retook the lead at the second-corner exit.
“That was exciting from my seat,” Edkin said. “Frank ran a hell of a race. He was really good on the top of one and two, and it was getting a little treacherous up there.
“There was a really big piece of meat in the center there that if we caught it with the right rear, it would really jump us both over. I was rolling the bottom pretty good, but I also had momentum on the top and just kind of picked my time in lapped traffic.”
Once Edkin crossed Herr over, he took off. The Marysville, Pa., driver wasn’t challenged over the last six laps and took the win by 1.061 seconds.
Herr came away with the hard-fought second-place finish. Jackson, Scott Dellinger, and Russ Mitten completed the top five.
Steve Fannasy was Hard Charger in the event. Jackson set quick time with a lap of 17.530, with Tyler Wolford, Herr, and Dellinger winning heat races.
In Creekside Auto Sales 358 Late Model action, Chase Billet padded his point lead with a win in the 20-Lap main event. It was his third win of the season at the speedway.
Jared Miller led at the drop of the green flag, only to give it up to Shaun Miller on the third circuit. Billet entered the top five on Lap 3 and took second on the sixth circuit.
Once Billet closed on Shaun Miller, he wasted little time unseating him at the front. The Dover, Pa., ace took the lead on Lap 10 and never looked back.
Shaun Miller settled for second, with Troy Miller, Ben Whitaker, and Matt Murphy completing the top five. Chuck Schultz and Shaun Miller were heat winners.
There were a trio of leaders in the Gene Latta Ford Central Pa. Legends with Seth Kearchner taking the checkered flag in the 20-lap event.
Josh Schrum led the first three circuits, before Scott Houdeshell took over the point on the fourth circuit. The lead was short-lived, as Kearchner charged out front on Lap 7 and led the rest of the way.
Houdeshell ran second, with Chris Transeau finishing third. Schrum and Choya Young completed the top five. Young, Kearchner, and Houdeshell were heat winners, with Jonathan Robinson winning the B-Main.
Jasen Geesaman took the lead from Eric Tripp on Lap 4 and sped away to victory in the 20-Lap Street Stock main. Kody Sites, Tripp, Jim Palm, and Chris Derr completed the top five.
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN “BUD BRICKER NATIONALS”
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 75-Kenny Edkin[3]; 2. 70D-Frankie Herr[2]; 3. 69J-Tony Jackson[1]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger[6]; 5. 77-Russ Mitten[8]; 6. 1A-Chase Gutshall[4]; 7. 0Z-Devin Beidel[9]; 8. 360-Jay Fannasy[12]; 9. 3B-Mike Enders[7]; 10. 35-John Edkin[10]; 11. 383-Steve Fannasy[16]; 12. 25-Tyler Wolford[5]; 13. 5D-Luke Deatrick[11]; 14. 2M-Matt Ondek[13]; 15. 22-Daniel John[18]; 16. 19R-Eric Rutz[21]; 17. 8-Rich Eichelberger[14]; 18. 10H-Dave Hollar[15]; 19. 38-Allan Hallman[17]; 20. 21R-Jamie Rickert[22]; 21. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[19]; 22. (DNF) 16R-Ryan Rutz[23]; 23. (DNF) 88X-Fred Shipley[20].
Lap Leaders: Frankie Herr (1-20), Kenny Edkin (21-30)
Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 25-Tyler Wolford[2]; 2. 3B-Mike Enders[5]; 3. 77-Russ Mitten[3]; 4. 5D-Luke Deatrick[1]; 5. 8-Rich Eichelberger[6]; 6. 69J-Tony Jackson[4]; 7. 14-Nate Young[7]; 8. 21R-Jamie Rickert[8].
Super Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 70D-Frankie Herr[4]; 2. 1A-Chase Gutshall[3]; 3. 0Z-Devin Beidel[2]; 4. 360-Jay Fannasy[1]; 5. 10H-Dave Hollar[6]; 6. 38-Allan Hallman[7]; 7. 88X-Fred Shipley[8]; 8. (DNF) 16R-Ryan Rutz[5].
Super Sportsman Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[2]; 2. 75-Kenny Edkin[4]; 3. 35-John Edkin[1]; 4. 2M-Matt Ondek[3]; 5. 383-Steve Fannasy[5]; 6. 22-Daniel John[6]; 7. 19R-Eric Rutz[7].
CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22-Chase Billet[7]; 2. 115S-Shaun Miller[5]; 3. 115-Troy Miller[6]; 4. 13X-Ben Whitaker[9]; 5. 21M-Matt Murphy[3]; 6. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[2]; 7. 72-Wayne Pfeil[13]; 8. 88C-Chuck Cox III[8]; 9. 1T-Tim Murphy[11]; 10. 48-Kyle Nicholas[12]; 11. 20-Colin Knaub[15]; 12. 35-Bryce Wenger[14]; 13. (DNF) 99-Chad Smith[10]; 14. (DNF) ONE-Chuck Schutz[4]; 15. (DNF) 15-Jared Miller[1]; 16. (DNS) 25-Jedadiah Latshaw.
Lap Leaders: Jared Miller (1-2), Shaun Miller (3-9), Chase Billet (10-20)
Late Model Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. ONE-Chuck Schutz[3]; 2. 21M-Matt Murphy[1]; 3. 22-Chase Billet[5]; 4. 115-Troy Miller[2]; 5. 13X-Ben Whitaker[4]; 6. 1T-Tim Murphy[8]; 7. 72-Wayne Pfeil[7]; 8. (DNF) 20-Colin Knaub[6].
Late Model Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 115S-Shaun Miller[4]; 2. 15-Jared Miller[2]; 3. 88C-Chuck Cox III[3]; 4. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[6]; 5. 99-Chad Smith[5]; 6. 48-Kyle Nicholas[7]; 7. 35-Bryce Wenger[8]; 8. (DNS) 25-Jedadiah Latshaw.
GENE LATTA FORD CENTRAL PA LEGENDS PRESENTED BY BAKER DOOR COMPANY
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 30K-Seth Kearchner[4]; 2. 5-Scott Houdeshell[3]; 3. 53-Bill Diehl[8]; 4. 18-Chris Transeau[10]; 5. 4G-Josh Schrum[1]; 6. 4J-Choya Young[7]; 7. 27-Logan Carbaugh[14]; 8. 55X-Richie Dobson[6]; 9. 31-Lincoln Kearchner[11]; 10. 94-Greg Burd[18]; 11. 56X-Alex Funari[17]; 12. 3-Scott Montgomery[20]; 13. 00-eric McClane[23]; 14. 4-Eli Dodge[24]; 15. 17-Cory Phillips[16]; 16. (DNF) 7-Preston Alleman[22]; 17. (DNF) 26-Shaun Abney[9]; 18. (DNF) 11R-Scott Musselman[21]; 19. (DNF) 19J-Jonathan Robinson[19]; 20. (DNF) 32-Quinn Trimmer[5]; 21. (DNF) 48-Donald Stoudt[2]; 22. (DNF) 2A-Cody Altland[12]; 23. (DNF) 1D-Owen Dimm[15]; 24. (DNF) 75-Chandler Pagnotta[13].
Lap Leaders: Josh Schrum (1-3), Scott Houdeshell (4-6), Seth Kearchner (7-20)
Legend Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/Top 6 Transfer to Feature): 1. 4J-Choya Young[2]; 2. 18-Chris Transeau[8]; 3. 32-Quinn Trimmer[9]; 4. 26-Shaun Abney[1]; 5. 75-Chandler Pagnotta[6]; 6. 17-Cory Phillips[7]; 7. 19J-Jonathan Robinson[10]; 8. 824-Brian Scott Rampmeyer Jr[3]; 9. 4-Eli Dodge[5]; 10. (DNF) 56-Zach Baxter[4].
Legend Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/Top 6 Transfer to Feature): 1. 31-Lincoln Kearchner[5]; 2. 2A-Cody Altland[7]; 3. 48-Donald Stoudt[9]; 4. 55X-Richie Dobson[6]; 5. 27-Logan Carbaugh[4]; 6. 56X-Alex Funari[1]; 7. 3-Scott Montgomery[2]; 8. K24-Ryan Voland[8]; 9. (DNS) 16-Tyler Kaylor; 10. (DNS) 45-Logan Jones.
Legend Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps/Top 6 Transfer to Feature): 1. 5-Scott Houdeshell[1]; 2. 4G-Josh Schrum[5]; 3. 53-Bill Diehl[7]; 4. 30K-Seth Kearchner[6]; 5. 1D-Owen Dimm[2]; 6. 94-Greg Burd[4]; 7. 11R-Scott Musselman[9]; 8. 7-Preston Alleman[8]; 9. Z12-Randy Getz Jr[10]; 10. (DNS) 00-eric McClane.
Legend Consolation Finish (8 Laps/Top 6 Transfer to Feature): 1. 19J-Jonathan Robinson[1]; 2. 3-Scott Montgomery[2]; 3. 11R-Scott Musselman[3]; 4. 7-Preston Alleman[6]; 5. 00-eric McClane[12]; 6. 4-Eli Dodge[7]; 7. 824-Brian Scott Rampmeyer Jr[4]; 8. (DNF) K24-Ryan Voland[5]; 9. (DNF) Z12-Randy Getz Jr[8]; 10. (DNS) 56-Zach Baxter; 11. (DNS) 16-Tyler Kaylor; 12. (DNS) 45-Logan Jones
STREET STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 81-Jasen Geesaman[5]; 2. 99K-Kody Sites[11]; 3. 543-Eric Tripp[3]; 4. 7P-Jim Palm[7]; 5. 28-Chris Derr[6]; 6. 5-Niklas Stoudt[10]; 7. 55-Brian Rehbein[9]; 8. 14-Kyle Saylor[4]; 9. 59-Ryan Smith[12]; 10. 48-Dave Radabaugh[8]; 11. 181-Butch Helsel[1]; 12. 0-Bryan Bowersox[2]; 13. R28-Ronnie Rhoads[15]; 14. (DNF) 12-Scott Thunberg[14]; 15. (DNS) 64-Stan Wanner.
Lap Leaders: Eric Tripp (1-3), Jasen Geesaman (4-20)
Photo Credit: Tim Basehore (WRT Speedwerx)
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
