YORK HAVEN, Pa.: After 30-plus years competing in the Super Sportsman division, Russ Mitten is still crossing things off his to-do list.
Mitten put a check mark next to his biggest bucket list item a year ago when he captured the Super Sportsman 100. And now, he can add another line, albeit a little smaller than his last accomplishment.
With temperatures in the 50s on Saturday, BAPS Motor Speedway finally kicked off the 2022 season. Mitten responded by collecting the victory in the 25-Lap main event on Piper Advertising Night.
“I’m ecstatic,” Mitten said. “I’ve never won an opener in all these years. Obviously, the draw helped a lot. I don’t think you are going to drive from 12th and win like maybe on a regular night where there is a bottom and a top.
“The top was the dominant way around. I don’t know if I made the right choice on the restart when Kenny broke. Troy beat me twice off the bottom, but that’s because he was allowed to go first. I thought, ‘Well, if I’m allowed to go first, I will take the outside because you’ve got to be on the outside going into the corner.’ So, it worked out.”
Troy Rhome started on the pole of the main event and beat Mitten into the first corner to grab the early lead. Tony Jackson was also in the mix and settled into the third position by the completion of Lap 1.
Kenny Edkin was on the move early. After starting sixth on the grid, he moved into fourth on Lap 2 and slipped past Jackson for third on the fifth circuit.
It looked like the top two were on borrowed time. Edkin made a bold move past both Mitten and Rhome to take the lead on Lap 6. He started to pull away, but his race came to an end on Lap 10 when he suffered a mechanical problem and rolled to a stop.
Mitten, who took second from Rhome on Lap 9, assumed the top spot when Edkin slowed. Jackson was in second on the restart, with Rhome running in third.
The final caution of the event occurred on Lap 14, when John Edkin spun in the third corner. Mitten set a blistering pace around the top, but Jackson stayed close and was within striking distance the final 11 laps.
“I didn’t know which way to go,” Mitten said. “The top, I definitely knew if I gave it up, I was going to get beat. Watching Tom [Wyckoff] go down the frontstretch, I didn’t know which way he was going to go.
“It looked like he was going to go to the top, so I switched lanes and went to the bottom, and he started to turn down. I was like, ‘I’m in the wrong spot.’ Luckily, Tony wasn’t on the outside of me, and I could turn to the outside.”
Continued Mitten, “I knew if I could get to where Tom was on the bottom side of me going into three on the last lap, I would be alright. I probably got a little too comfortable, and Tony snuck back up on me.”
Jackson closed, but Mitten had enough to take the win by .615 seconds at the finish. Scott Dellinger advanced from ninth to third, with Chase Gutshall and Rhome completing the top five.
In the Creekside Auto Sales 358 Late Model Feature, Randy Stoudt started on the outside pole and led all 20 laps to take the win.
There were five cautions during the event, including a red flag for Jennifer Lesher, who barrel-rolled on Lap 9. She was OK.
No one was in Stoudt’s league on this night. He took the victory by a gaudy 6.714 seconds at the finish. Travis Mease finished second, with Joey Hoffer advancing from 12th to third. Matt Murphy and Derrick Mease completed the top five.
The 20-Lap Superior Homes Extreme Stock main event saw Sam Rial take the victory after starting on the pole.
Patrick McClane finished second, with Brian Rehbein, Johnny Palm, and Donnie Broderick completing the top five.
Like Stoudt and Rial, Brian Walls led the entire race distance in the Street Stock feature. He started third on the grid and led all 25 circuits, beating Kody Sites to the finish. The night was capped off by Steve Cantwell Jr.’s win in the 15-Lap Classic Car main event.
BAPS Motor Speedway
York Haven, Pa.
Saturday, April 2, 2022
For Immediate Release
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 77-Russ Mitten[2]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson[3]; 3. 30-Scott Dellinger[9]; 4. 1A-Chase Gutshall[4]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[1]; 6. 222-Jay Fannasy[10]; 7. 7-Timmie Barrick[8]; 8. 5D-Luke Deatrick[18]; 9. 360-George Riden III[7]; 10. 2M-Matt Ondek[14]; 11. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[11]; 12. 14-Nate Young[15]; 13. 6S-Shane McConnell[13]; 14. 91-Lanny Hake[17]; 15. (DNF) 35-John Edkin[5]; 16. (DNF) 75-Kenny Edkin[6]; 17. (DNF) 25-Tyler Wolford[12]; 18. (DNS) 318-Davey Walsh
Lap Leaders: Troy Rhome (1-5); Kenny Edkin (6-9); Russ Mitten (10-25)
Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[2]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson[5]; 3. 35-John Edkin[1]; 4. 1A-Chase Gutshall[8]; 5. 360-George Riden III[3]; 6. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[4]; 7. 6S-Shane McConnell[9]; 8. (DNF) 318-Davey Walsh[6]; 9. (DNS) 5D-Luke Deatrick
Super Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 75-Kenny Edkin[2]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[4]; 3. 7-Timmie Barrick[7]; 4. 00-Troy Rhome[3]; 5. 222-Jay Fannasy[1]; 6. 25-Tyler Wolford[6]; 7. 2M-Matt Ondek[5]; 8. 14-Nate Young[8]; 9. (DNF) 91-Lanny Hake[9]
CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. NINE-Randy Stoudt[2]; 2. 116-Travis Mease[4]; 3. 21-Joey Hoffer[12]; 4. 21M-Matt Murphy[1]; 5. 18-Derrick Mease[7]; 6. 22-Chase Billet[9]; 7. X4-Lou Egrie[18]; 8. 08-Zach Kauffman[17]; 9. ONE-Chuck Schutz[10]; 10. 5-Charles Potts[13]; 11. 48-Kyle Nicholas[20]; 12. 37B-Brandon Eveler[16]; 13. (DNF) 4-John Moser Jr[14]; 14. (DNF) 41-Jake Moser[3]; 15. (DNF) 2-Dan Zechman[8]; 16. (DNF) 711-Jennifer Lesher[21]; 17. (DNF) 27-Cuyler Upperman[5]; 18. (DNF) 19-Bobby Beard[19]; 19. (DNF) 9-Matt Adams[15]; 20. (DNF) 5H-Dustin Hollinger[22]; 21. (DNS) 15-Jared Miller; 22. (DNS) NINEX-Ross Leinbach; 23. (DNS) 40-Tommy Slanker; 24. (DNS) 543-Eric Tripp
Lap Leaders: Randy Stoudt (1-20)
Late Models Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 22-Chase Billet[6]; 2. ONE-Chuck Schutz[2]; 3. 15-Jared Miller[4]; 4. 21M-Matt Murphy[9]; 5. 5-Charles Potts[3]; 6. 37B-Brandon Eveler[7]; 7. 19-Bobby Beard[8]; 8. (DNS) 543-Eric Tripp; 9. (DNS) 72-Wayne Pfeil
Late Models Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps): 1. NINE-Randy Stoudt[6]; 2. 116-Travis Mease[3]; 3. 27-Cuyler Upperman[5]; 4. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[1]; 5. 4-John Moser Jr[7]; 6. 08-Zach Kauffman[8]; 7. (DNF) 5H-Dustin Hollinger[2]; 8. (DNF) 40-Tommy Slanker[4]
Late Models Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 21-Joey Hoffer[1]; 2. 2-Dan Zechman[5]; 3. 41-Jake Moser[7]; 4. 18-Derrick Mease[6]; 5. 9-Matt Adams[2]; 6. X4-Lou Egrie[4]; 7. 48-Kyle Nicholas[8]; 8. 711-Jennifer Lesher[3]
SUPERIOR HOMES EXTREME STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Rial[1]; 2. 79-Patrick McClane[6]; 3. 54-Brian Rehbein[4]; 4. 7JR-Johnny Palm[16]; 5. 97-Donnie Broderick[2]; 6. 33-Michael Goodwin[5]; 7. 65H-Ty Huntsberger[15]; 8. 7-Jordan Fulton[7]; 9. 91-Will Long[12]; 10. 95-Mike Potts[3]; 11. 6G-Gordie Marshall[8]; 12. (DNF) 7F-Hunter Fulton[9]; 13. (DNF) 98-Richard Daughtrey[11]; 14. (DNF) 9-Matt Adams[14]; 15. (DNF) 23-Taylor Bear[10]; 16. (DNF) 11G-Dave Goode[13]; 17. (DNS) 47-Bob Scott; 18. (DNS) 88-Justin Yohn
Lap Leaders: Sam Rial (1-20)
Extreme Stocks Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 7F-Hunter Fulton[9]; 2. 33-Michael Goodwin[6]; 3. 54-Brian Rehbein[2]; 4. 7-Jordan Fulton[8]; 5. 6G-Gordie Marshall[4]; 6. 98-Richard Daughtrey[3]; 7. (DNF) 9-Matt Adams[1]; 8. (DNF) 47-Bob Scott[7]; 9. (DNF) 65H-Ty Huntsberger[5]
Extreme Stocks Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Rial[3]; 2. 79-Patrick McClane[6]; 3. 97-Donnie Broderick[5]; 4. 95-Mike Potts[7]; 5. 23-Taylor Bear[1]; 6. 91-Will Long[2]; 7. 11G-Dave Goode[9]; 8. (DNF) 7JR-Johnny Palm[4]; 9. (DNS) 88-Justin Yohn
STREET STOCKS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2W-Brian Walls[3]; 2. 99K-Kody Sites[7]; 3. 7P-Jim Palm[5]; 4. 59-Ryan Smith[10]; 5. 6T-Jacob Toney[9]; 6. 60A-Aaron Beard[4]; 7. 60-Danny Beard[8]; 8. (DNF) 64-Stan Wanner[2]; 9. (DNF) 18-Bailey Tolson[6]; 10. (DNS) 0-Bryan Bowersox
Lap Leaders: Brian Walls (1-25)
CLASSIC CARS
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 20-Steven Cantwell Jr.; 2. 27-Conner Cantwell; 3. 87-Dylan Brown; 4. 17-Jim Rost; 5. 54J-Jimmy Combs; 6. 89-Joe Brown; 7. 07-Nathan Todt; 8. 09-Ron Grove; 9. 8-Tyler Miller; 10. 53-Bill Brown.
- administrator on Apr 04, 2022
- Article Date: 4/2/2022 by BAPS Motor Speedway