Story By: KALI LANDIS / BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – YORK HAVEN, PA – Tony Jackson doesn’t need a lot of help when it comes to winning races in the Super Sportsman division at BAPS Motor Speedway.
The speed is there, and Jackson is more than accomplished enough to drive the car to the front, regardless of starting position. So, when he catches a break that puts him near or at the front of the field, it’s lights out.
That was the case Saturday night at the York Haven, Pa., facility. Jackson appeared out of the running for the win in the late stages of the Meyer’s RV Super Sportsman main event, but luck was on his side, and he took advantage of Kenny Edkin’s misfortune to grab his second-straight victory in the Hess Iron Summer Sizzle.
“I always say that you need luck in racing, and haven’t been having any,” said the Newville, Pa., ace. “All of the stars aligned on Saturday night, and everything fell in our lap to make it two in a row.”
Jackson started on the pole of the 30-Lap affair but fell back to second, when Edkin surged out front from his outside-pole position. The red flag flew on Lap 4 for a five-car incident on the backstretch.
The start wasn’t a positive for Jackson. Fourth-place starter Russ Mitten ripped by and was setting his sights on the leader. As for Jackson, he needed a few green-flag laps to get a rhythm and reel in the frontrunners.
Jackson made up ground and closed on Mitten. He shot into the runner-up spot on Lap 9 but was 2.240 seconds back. By the time the 19th circuit was scored, the lead was down to .543 seconds.
“Our car wouldn’t take off Saturday night, and we came to find out that we had an intake gasket sucked in three cylinders,” Jackson said. “So, we were having trouble on takeoff, and restarts were really killing us. As we got going, our car would get better and keep going.
“Kenny got the initial start, and I fell back to third. We got back by Russell, and we were closing on Kenny. We closed to about three car-lengths with eight or 10 to go, and some stuff happened. That messed us up.”
Then came some luck. A lapped car hit the fence, and Edkin had nowhere to go and spun in Turn 1. That put Jackson out front and in position to win.
Edkin tagged the rear and made it back to sixth. As for Jackson, he was the class of the field the rest of the way and claimed the win by a hefty 4.073 seconds.
“When we got messed up, it pushed me back 10 car-lengths. Then a lapped car got into the wall, and Kenny had nowhere to go. I missed it by a couple of feet. That could’ve been me if we would’ve been in the lead, but everything worked out that we ended up winning the race.
“It feels good. We haven’t been running our best motor, because we hurt it the first race of the season. With trying to get parts, we just got them in, and we should have it back in this week. I hope we can run it the next few weeks to dial in for the Sportsman 100. Hopefully, we can knock off a 100-lapper before we retire from Sportsman racing or cut back.”
Mitten was a distant second in the main event. Scott Dellinger, Tyler Wolford, and Jay Fannasy completed the top five. Edkin set quick time for the 19-car field with 17.148. Mitten, Dellinger, and Daniel John were heat winners.
In FXG Sign and Label/Dickey’s 602 Crate Sportsman competition, Michael White led the second half of the 20-Lap feature to earn his first win of the season at the speedway.
White started on the pole but lost the lead on the opening circuit to Talan Carter. White fell back to fourth but climbed into third on Lap 10.
Again, luck played a role in the outcome. Carter and Jax Yohn had an issue in Turn 1 on Lap 11, which turned the lead over to White. He led the rest of the way and took the win by .708 seconds at the stripe.
Adam White finished second. Tom Princiotta, Greg Reed, and Bryce Bashore completed the top five. Carter and Joe Toth were heat winners on the night.
The Gene Latta Ford Legends main event featured seven cautions, but Logan Carbaugh survived the stoppages and the competition to earn the win in an entertaining 15-Lap event.
Colton Friese grabbed the lead from third on the opening lap. Carbaugh, who started fourth, wasted little time getting to the front and held off Bill Diehl by a mere .272 seconds at the finish.
Seth Kearchner, Wayne Dutterer Jr., and Rick Hartwig completed the top five. Kearchner, Rick Hartwig, and Dutterer were heat winners. Jeremy Ott, who was disqualified in the heat race, won the consolation.
Travis Horan topped the field in the Creekside Auto Sales Late Model feature event. He took the lead from Eric Tripp on Lap 2 and led the rest of the way, taking the victory by 2.031 seconds.
Meyer’s RV Super Sportsman 19 Entries
A Feature 1 30 Laps
1. 88-Tony Jackson[1]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[4]; 3. 30-Scott Dellinger[6]; 4. 25-Tyler Wolford[5]; 5. 222-Jay Fannasy[7]; 6. 75-Kenny Edkin[2]; 7. 7-Timmie Barrick[19]; 8. 3B-Mike Enders[10]; 9. 2M-Matt Ondek[9]; 10. 10-Troy Rhome[12]; 11. 318-Steve Wilbur[13]; 12. 35-John Edkin[18]; 13. 32-Gene Eppley[14]; 14. 9B-Blake Brooks[15]; 15. 38H-Allan Hallman[11]; 16. (DNF) 19R-Eric Rutz[8]; 17. (DNF) F14-Jason Fraker[17]; 18. (DNF) 22-Daniel John[3]; 19. (DNF) 11-Chad Baker[16]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 77-Russ Mitten[3]; 2. 75-Kenny Edkin[4]; 3. 19R-Eric Rutz[1]; 4. 38H-Allan Hallman[5]; 5. 32-Gene Eppley[6]; 6. 11-Chad Baker[7]; 7. (DNF) 7-Timmie Barrick[2]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 30-Scott Dellinger[4]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson[3]; 3. 2M-Matt Ondek[2]; 4. 10-Troy Rhome[5]; 5. 9B-Blake Brooks[1]; 6. F14-Jason Fraker[6]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 22-Daniel John[1]; 2. 222-Jay Fannasy[5]; 3. 3B-Mike Enders[6]; 4. 318-Steve Wilbur[2]; 5. 25-Tyler Wolford[3]; 6. (DNF) 35-John Edkin[4]
Qualifying 1 2 Laps
1. 75-Kenny Edkin, 00:17.148[1]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten, 00:17.279[4]; 3. 7-Timmie Barrick, 00:17.544[3]; 4. 19R-Eric Rutz, 00:18.029[5]; 5. 38H-Allan Hallman, 00:18.086[6]; 6. 32-Gene Eppley, 00:18.112[7]; 7. 11-Chad Baker, 00:18.692[2]
Qualifying 2 2 Laps
1. 30-Scott Dellinger, 00:17.180[1]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson, 00:17.317[5]; 3. 2M-Matt Ondek, 00:17.370[4]; 4. 9B-Blake Brooks, 00:17.779[3]; 5. 10-Troy Rhome, 00:17.939[6]; 6. F14-Jason Fraker, 00:18.568[2]
Qualifying 3 2 Laps
1. 35-John Edkin, 00:17.267[1]; 2. 25-Tyler Wolford, 00:17.598[2]; 3. 318-Steve Wilbur, 00:17.901[4]; 4. 22-Daniel John, 00:17.927[5]; 5. 222-Jay Fannasy, 00:18.080[6]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders, 00:18.302[3]
Creekside Auto Sales Late Models 12 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 5W-Travis Horan[2]; 2. 543-Eric Tripp[1]; 3. 08-Zach Kauffman[6]; 4. 9-Matt Adams[4]; 5. 3B-Cameron Benyou[3]; 6. 88C-Chuck Cox III[5]; 7. 15-Jared Miller[8]; 8. 94-Brandon Bard[12]; 9. NINE-Ross Leinbach[7]; 10. (DNF) 7F-Hunter Fulton[9]; 11. (DNF) 711-Jennifer Lesher[11]; 12. (DNF) 14A-Lucas Adams[10]
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 3B-Cameron Benyou[6]; 2. 543-Eric Tripp[3]; 3. 88C-Chuck Cox III[4]; 4. NINE-Ross Leinbach[2]; 5. (DNF) 711-Jennifer Lesher[5]; 6. (DNF) 94-Brandon Bard[1]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 5W-Travis Horan[2]; 2. 9-Matt Adams[1]; 3. 08-Zach Kauffman[6]; 4. 15-Jared Miller[5]; 5. 7F-Hunter Fulton[3]; 6. 14A-Lucas Adams[4]
Gene Latta Ford Central PA Legends 29 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps
1. 27-Logan Carbaugh[4]; 2. 53-Bill Diehl[6]; 3. 30K-Seth Kearchner[12]; 4. 39-Wayne Dutterer Jr[8]; 5. 9-Rick Hartwig[5]; 6. 2G-Jeremy Ott[19]; 7. 70-Mike Racine[15]; 8. 26-Shaun Abney[20]; 9. 90-Scott Spidle[21]; 10. 17-Cory Phillips[14]; 11. 13W-Vincent Wenrich[7]; 12. 12-Kelby Friese[13]; 13. 32-Kevin Boylan[23]; 14. 7H-Hunter McElroy[25]; 15. 11R-Scott Musselman[11]; 16. 79-Ed Trump[18]; 17. 24R-Brian Rampmeyer[22]; 18. (DNF) 25N-Chris Nicoll[24]; 19. (DNF) 7F-Colton Friese[3]; 20. (DNF) 4-Grady McGrew[1]; 21. (DNF) 25-Eric Hurst[17]; 22. (DNF) 119-Brady Arndt[2]; 23. (DNF) 21-Devin Friese[9]; 24. (DNF) 55X-Scott Houdeshell[16]; 25. (DNS) 17H-Tim Hahn
B Feature 1 8 Laps
1. 2G-Jeremy Ott[11]; 2. 26-Shaun Abney[10]; 3. 90-Scott Spidle[5]; 4. 24R-Brian Rampmeyer[3]; 5. 32-Kevin Boylan[7]; 6. 25N-Chris Nicoll[4]; 7. 7H-Hunter McElroy[2]; 8. 5-Tyler Rampmeyer[9]; 9. 22-Josh Trump[6]; 10. (DNF) 79S-Michael Stoppard[1]; 11. (DNS) 77J-Tanner Jones
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 30K-Seth Kearchner[1]; 2. 7F-Colton Friese[2]; 3. 11R-Scott Musselman[4]; 4. 27-Logan Carbaugh[7]; 5. 12-Kelby Friese[3]; 6. 55X-Scott Houdeshell[9]; 7. 79S-Michael Stoppard[6]; 8. 24R-Brian Rampmeyer[5]; 9. 90-Scott Spidle[10]; 10. 32-Kevin Boylan[8]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 2G-Jeremy Ott[8]; 2. 9-Rick Hartwig[9]; 3. 21-Devin Friese[1]; 4. 53-Bill Diehl[7]; 5. 4-Grady McGrew[3]; 6. 17-Cory Phillips[5]; 7. 25-Eric Hurst[6]; 8. 7H-Hunter McElroy[2]; 9. 25N-Chris Nicoll[4]; 10. 22-Josh Trump[10]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 39-Wayne Dutterer Jr[8]; 2. 119-Brady Arndt[1]; 3. 17H-Tim Hahn[6]; 4. 13W-Vincent Wenrich[5]; 5. 70-Mike Racine[9]; 6. 79-Ed Trump[7]; 7. (DNF) 77J-Tanner Jones[3]; 8. (DNF) 5-Tyler Rampmeyer[2]; 9. (DNF) 26-Shaun Abney[4]
FXG Sign & Label/Dickey’s 602 Crate Sportsman 17 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 43-Michael White[1]; 2. 15-Adam White[7]; 3. 32-Tom Princiotta[9]; 4. 21-Greg Reed[4]; 5. 5-Bryce Bashore[6]; 6. 72-Ray Woodall[11]; 7. 1JR-Talan Carter[2]; 8. 17-Bobby Kupp[8]; 9. 78-Troy Conrad[12]; 10. 37-Chris Martinez[15]; 11. 97S-Matt Smith[14]; 12. 44-Bob Stough[16]; 13. (DNF) 14-Joe Toth[3]; 14. (DNF) 74-Jax Yohn[5]; 15. (DNF) 888-Robert Dutton[13]; 16. (DNF) B4-Tim Borror[10]; 17. (DNS) 54-Scott Albert
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 1JR-Talan Carter[1]; 2. 74-Jax Yohn[4]; 3. 5-Bryce Bashore[8]; 4. 21-Greg Reed[5]; 5. 32-Tom Princiotta[7]; 6. 72-Ray Woodall[6]; 7. 888-Robert Dutton[9]; 8. 37-Chris Martinez[3]; 9. (DNF) 54-Scott Albert[2]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 14-Joe Toth[7]; 2. 15-Adam White[5]; 3. 17-Bobby Kupp[1]; 4. 43-Michael White[6]; 5. B4-Tim Borror[3]; 6. 78-Troy Conrad[2]; 7. 97S-Matt Smith[4]; 8. 44-Bob Stough[8]