YORK HAVEN, PA: Tony Jackson had a little bit of pressure on his shoulders through the early-season events at BAPS Motor Speedway.
First and foremost, Jackson is now a hired driver. After his previous owner, Clair Finkenbinder, got out of the game, the Newville, Pa., ace was picked up by Scott and Lori Hess for the 2022 season.
That left Jackson wanting to win and win early. In doing so last Saturday night at BAPS Motor Speedway, he crossed off another bucket-list item.
Jackson topped Russ Mitten in a 25-Lap thriller in the BAPS Super Sportsman main event. He came back later and captured the Faulkner Subaru Wingless Super Sportsman Tour event to complete a two-victory sweep on Sipe’s Lawn Care and Landscaping Night.
“When last year was over, I kind of thought I was done, because I don’t have deep enough pockets to run my own deal,” Jackson said. “In the Super Sportsman deal, there aren’t too many owners out there who hire drivers. If you own the stuff, you drive the stuff.
“When this worked out, I’m a hired driver now. So, the pressure was on more. I wanted to win as soon as I could to get that off my back, and I wanted to win for them. Two in one night helped.”
Jackson was in a good position to start the winged Sportsman A-Main, as he lined up on the outside pole. He jumped out front but was surprised by George Riden, who slipped by to lead the second circuit.
It was short-lived. Jackson regained the position on Lap 3 and was setting a pretty good pace around the speedway.
Meanwhile, Mitten, who won the first two races of the season, was carving his way through the field. The fellow Newville driver made his way into the top five by Lap 3 and took second from Steve Fannasy on Lap 12.
The final caution of the event came out on Lap 20, when Devin Beidel came to a stop on the backstretch. It gave Mitten a chance to battle Jackson for the win, and he wasn’t about to let it slide by.
Mitten wrestled the lead away from Jackson on Lap 23. Jackson was able to return the favor coming to the white flag, setting up a one-lap battle to the finish.
“We had a yellow with five to go, and we had a little trouble taking off for some reason, and it was kind of in the back of my head,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘I need to get a good start here, because Russell has been fast the first two weeks.
“Russ started 10th, and I knew he was coming. I didn’t get the start I wanted to, but I feel like I drove my guts out the last five laps.”
The two leaders touched, but it was good, close racing. Jackson won the scrum and took the victory over Mitten by .317 seconds. Kenny Edkin, Fannasy, and Scott Dellinger completed the top five.
“It was good, hard racing, and Russ and I go way back to JEI when he worked there and I did for four or five months in the Winter,” Jackson said. “So, we knew each other a long time before that, because Newville is such a small town. It was kind of cool to go wheel-to-wheel with the veteran of our sport now that Rich [Eichelberg] and Frankie [Herr] are gone.
“It was cool to do and also get respect from those guys. It was good, hard-nosed racing. We got together a little bit, but it’s nothing that isn’t going to happen nine times out of 10 when you are racing that hard.”
In the 25-Lap Wingless Sportsman main event, Scott Dellinger led the first seven circuits from his third-place starting spot. Jackson, who started sixth, got into second on the fifth circuit and shot into the lead on Lap 8.
Jackson dominated from there and took the win over Dellinger by 2.398 seconds. Steve Wilbur, Eric Walker, and Matt Ondek completed the top five.
“Winning both winged and wingless in the same night was always a goal of mine," Jackson said. "It isn’t that often that you get to run both.
"We were close to doing it once last year, but I think I won the wingless part and was fourth in the winged part. It never happened, but we were able to make it happen this year, so it was pretty cool to do.”
In the nightcap, Sam Rial topped the field in the Superior Homes Extreme Stock feature. He took the lead from Hunter Fulton on Lap 8 and claimed the 20-Lap victory by 2.137 seconds at the stripe.
BAPS Motor Speedway
York Haven, Pa.
Saturday, April 23, 2022
For Immediate Release
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 88-Tony Jackson[2]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[10]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin[5]; 4. 383-Steve Fannasy[4]; 5. 30-Scott Dellinger[6]; 6. 222-Jay Fannasy[11]; 7. 7-Timmie Barrick[12]; 8. 2M-Matt Ondek[3]; 9. 1A-Chase Gutshall[13]; 10. 35-John Edkin[8]; 11. 25-Tyler Wolford[15]; 12. 318-Davey Walsh[17]; 13. 19R-Eric Rutz[20]; 14. 14-Nate Young[9]; 15. 6S-Shane McConnell[21]; 16. 91-Lanny Hake[19]; 17. (DNF) 360-George Riden III[1]; 18. (DNF) 0Z-Devin Beidel[16]; 19. (DNF) 88X-Fred Shipley[22]; 20. (DNF) 38H-Allan Hallman[18]; 21. (DNF) 5D-Luke Deatrick[7]; 22. (DNF) 00-Troy Rhome[14].
Lap Leaders: Tony Jackson (1), George Riden III (2), Jackson (3-22), Russ Mitten (23), Jackson (24-25)
Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 7-Timmie Barrick[3]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[2]; 3. 30-Scott Dellinger[4]; 4. 88-Tony Jackson[6]; 5. 1A-Chase Gutshall[5]; 6. 0Z-Devin Beidel[7]; 7. 91-Lanny Hake[8]; 8. (DNS) 88X-Fred Shipley.
Super Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 75-Kenny Edkin[2]; 2. 360-George Riden III[4]; 3. 383-Steve Fannasy[6]; 4. 14-Nate Young[1]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[7]; 6. 318-Davey Walsh[5]; 7. 19R-Eric Rutz[3].
Super Sportsman Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 5D-Luke Deatrick[2]; 2. 2M-Matt Ondek[5]; 3. 35-John Edkin[4]; 4. 222-Jay Fannasy[3]; 5. 25-Tyler Wolford[6]; 6. 38H-Allan Hallman[1]; 7. 6S-Shane McConnell[7].
SUPERIOR HOMES EXTREME STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Rial[9]; 2. 7F-Hunter Fulton[1]; 3. 54-Brian Rehbein[3]; 4. 79-Patrick McClane[6]; 5. 7JR-Johnny Palm[5]; 6. 7X-Bill Powell[7]; 7. 97-Donnie Broderick[2]; 8. 47-Bob Scott[8]; 9. 65H-Ty Huntsberger[12]; 10. LAZY8-John Wright[11]; 11. 6G-Gordie Marshall[14]; 12. 23-Taylor Bear[17]; 13. 91-Will Long[16]; 14. 98-Richard Daughtrey[15]; 15. 11G-Dave Goode[19]; 16. (DNF) 7-Jordan Fulton[18]; 17. (DNF) 27-Doug Hoffman[4]; 18. (DNF) 12-Bryan Hare[13]; 19. (DNF) 95-Mike Potts[10].
Lap Leaders: Hunter Fulton (1-7), Sammy Rial (8-20)
Extreme Stock Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 7JR-Johnny Palm[3]; 2. 11-Sam Rial[8]; 3. 7F-Hunter Fulton[7]; 4. 97-Donnie Broderick[6]; 5. 95-Mike Potts[9]; 6. LAZY8-John Wright[4]; 7. 12-Bryan Hare[2]; 8. 98-Richard Daughtrey[1]; 9. (DNF) 7-Jordan Fulton[5]; 10. (DNS) 11G-Dave Goode.
Extreme Stock Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps); 1. 79-Patrick McClane[5]; 2. 27-Doug Hoffman[2]; 3. 54-Brian Rehbein[9]; 4. 7X-Bill Powell[3]; 5. 47-Bob Scott[4]; 6. 65H-Ty Huntsberger[6]; 7. 6G-Gordie Marshall[1]; 8. 91-Will Long[8]; 9. 23-Taylor Bear[7].
WINGLESS SPORTSMAN
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 88-Tony Jackson[6]; 2. 30-Scott Dellinger[3]; 3. 59-Steve Wilbur[2]; 4. 88W-Eric Walker[8]; 5. 93-Matt Ondek[7]; 6. 65-Bob Gutshall[9]; 7. 66-Trent Yoder[10]; 8. 00-Troy Rhome[14]; 9. 7-Sam Leonard Jr[15]; 10. 1-Paul Kline[13]; 11. 2J-Jason Failor[4]; 12. 38DD-Luke Lenker[1]; 13. 24-Jack Liddick[18]; 14. 44-Dexter Ehrenzeller[23]; 15. (DNF) 14-Rohan Beasley[16]; 16. (DNF) 63-Kevin Gutshall[11]; 17. (DNF) 19R-Eric Rutz[5]; 18. (DNF) 28-Brian Nace[17]; 19. (DNF) 39-Adam Meier[19]; 20. (DNF) 360-George Riden III[21]; 21. (DNF) 57-Ricky Rutt[20]; 22. (DNF) 318-Davey Walsh[22]; 23. (DNS) 0Z-Devin Beidel.
Lap Leaders: Scott Dellinger (1-7), Tony Jackson (8-25)
Wingless Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 0Z-Devin Beidel[6]; 2. 19R-Eric Rutz[1]; 3. 66-Trent Yoder[5]; 4. 38DD-Luke Lenker[2]; 5. 1-Paul Kline[4]; 6. 14-Rohan Beasley[7]; 7. 24-Jack Liddick[3]; 8. 57-Ricky Rutt[8].
Wingless Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[5]; 2. 93-Matt Ondek[1]; 3. 63-Kevin Gutshall[3]; 4. 59-Steve Wilbur[4]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[6]; 6. 28-Brian Nace[2]; 7. 39-Adam Meier[8]; 8. (DNS) 44-Dexter Ehrenzeller.
Wingless Sportsman Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps): 1. 88W-Eric Walker[2]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson[6]; 3. 65-Bob Gutshall[7]; 4. 2J-Jason Failor[1]; 5. 7-Sam Leonard Jr[5]; 6. (DNF) 360-George Riden III[3]; 7. (DNF) 318-Davey Walsh[4].
- administrator on Apr 25, 2022
- Article Date: 4/23/2022 by BAPS Motor Speedway