YORK HAVEN, Pa.: When the Wingless Super Sportsman circuit rolls into BAPS Motor Speedway, Tony Jackson is one of the favorites to sit in Victory Lane.
Jackson has plenty of experience in the wingless ranks. It also doesn’t hurt that he has now moved on to the winged Super Sportsman class and competes at the York Haven, Pa., facility on a regular basis.
Those benefits were on display Saturday night during the Fourth annual Britton Finkenbinder Memorial. Jackson carved his way through the field and claimed the 40-Lap victory by a hefty 6.11 seconds at the finish.
“We’ve been looking for that one for four years,” said Jackson, who pocketed $3,500 for his efforts. “It’s cool to finally do it.
“I had an awesome car. Scott [Hess] and these guys had the car perfect all night. I feel like I have an advantage racing wingless here, because I ran wingless for a long time and this is my home track now. So, I feel like I shouldn’t get beat here in this division.”
The rest of the field must feel the same way, because Jackson got saddled with the 11th-place starting spot in the revenge draw. That didn’t stop him from dicing through the field and entering the top five on the third circuit.
Meanwhile, Troy Rhome set the pace for the first 10 laps. Jackson wasted no time getting to the front, taking second from Kevin Gutshall on Lap 6 and catching Rhome to take the lead by the time the 11th circuit was complete.
“When Tripp called me this week, he said, ‘I think we will do a revenge draw, but that probably won’t help you,’” Jackson said. “I said, ‘That’s alright, I don’t like winning from the front row.’
“When we got up there, 12 guys were drawing, and I thought there was only going to be eight. I drew that 12, and I was planning on giving that to Billy [Brian], Steve [Wilbur], or Kevin [Gutshall], but it all worked out. Thank you to the crowd for coming out, and I hope we can make this bigger and better every year.”
Initially, this wasn’t an easy march for Jackson. Rhome fought back but ran out of room battling with Jackson and had his car come to a stop on the backstretch.
Bill Brian Jr., who started 12th, also made things a bit difficult. He slipped into the lead on the 18th lap, but Jackson came storming back to retake the spot on Lap 19.
“I just feel bad for Troy,” Jackson said. “I don’t know what happened up there. I thought I gave him plenty of room. He was having a hell of a race, and I know he was planning to run tomorrow, so I hope he didn’t tear up his car too bad. I thought he had room, and I don’t know if he tried to thread the needle there, and it didn’t work.”
The final stoppage came on Lap 21, when Rhome flipped in Turn 2. He was OK. When the race went back to green, it was all Jackson. He pulled away from the field and won by a healthy margin.
Kevin Gutshall passed Brian for second on Lap 35. Cliff Brian Jr., who started 13th, and Matt Ondek completed the top five.
“I have to thank Tripp and Missy,” Jackson said. “They put this race on for Britt, and we finally won it. So, it feels good.
“I have to thank my wife, Bentley, the whole crew, and all of the sponsors. When you have this many sponsors ... you need all of them to race. Gary Hammaker builds an awesome motor. We changed motors from last week and put one back in that won two races. We have RPM Chassis; everything is just working great.”
Jackson tried to sweep the night by winning the BAPS Super Sportsman main event, but he came up short. Russ Mitten got to the front first from his ninth-place starting spot and took top honors in the 25-Lap affair.
Scott Grace started on the pole and led the first four laps. Mike Enders started second and took his turn at the front on Lap 5.
Mitten, the division point leader, shot into the lead on Lap 9. Once out front, the Newville, Pa., driver controlled the race and earned his third win of the season.
Jackson started 10th and made his way up to second. Kenny Edkin advanced from 11th to third in the final rundown, with Enders and John Edkin completing the top five.
In FXG Sign and Label 602 Modified competition, Brandon Edgar topped the field in the 25-Lap main event.
Adam White led the first six laps before Joe Toth made his move to the front on Lap 7. He held the top spot until Edgar, who started 12th, blasted to the front and led the final five circuits to punch his ticket to Victory Lane.
Mike Schane, Logan Watt, Jonathan Swift, and Jimmy Avery completed the top five. There were three caution flags in the main event.
Sam Rial captured the Superior Homes Extreme Stock feature. He took the lead from Brian Rehbein on Lap 6 of 20 and led the rest of the way.
Rehbein finished second. He was followed by Johnny Palm, ninth-place starter Patrick McClane, and Justin Yohn.
Wingless Sportsman - 4th Annual Britton Finkenbinder Memorial
Feature (40 Laps) - 1. Tony Jackson ($3,500); 2. Kevin Gutshall; 3. Billy Brian Jr.; 4. Cliff Brian Jr.; 5. Matt Ondek; 6. Trent Yoder; 7. Jason Failor; 8. Steve Wilbur; 9. Tom Savage; 10. Sam Leonard Jr.; 11. Luke Lenker; 12. Gene Eppley; 13. Jay Fannasy; 14. Brad Shenk; 15. Ricky Rutt; 16. Rohan Beasley; 17. Troy Rhône; 18. Jack Liddick; 19. Joe Gabner; 20. Brian Nace; 21. Bob Gutshall; 22. George Riden III; 23. Eric Rutz; 24. Scott Dellinger.
BAPS Super Sportsman
Feature (25 Laps) - 1. Russ Mitten; 2. Tony Jackson; 3. Kenny Edkin; 4. Mike Enders; 5. John Edkin; 6. Scott Dellinger; 7. Chris Meleason; 8. Luke Deatrick; 9. Jay Fannasy; 10. Tyler Wolford; 11. Chase Gutshall; 12. Matt Ondek; 13. Troy Rhome; 14. Scott Grace; 15. Daniel John; 16. Nate Young; 17. Lanny Hake; 18. Jamie Rickert; 19. George Riden III; 20. Eric Rutz.
FXG Sign & Label 602 Modifieds
Feature (25 Laps) - 1. Brandon Edgar; 2. Mike Schane; 3. Logan Watt; 4. Jonathan Swift; 5. Jimmy Avery; 6. Ryan Simmons; 7. Kevin Brady; 8. Tom Princiotta; 9. Joseph Brown; 10. Steve Davis; 11. Kolyn Schane; 12. Joe Toth; 13. Kevin Olenick; 14. John McGeoy; 15. Bobby Kupp; 16. Dalyton Strohl; 17. Kris Ney; 18. Wesley Brady; 19. Adam White; 20. Ray Woodall; 21. Greg Reed; 22. Michael White; 23. Tim Vidal; 24. Kaitlyn Bailey. DNS: Justin Newhard.
Superior Homes Extreme Stocks
Feature (20 Lap) - 1. Sam Rial; 2. Brian Rehbein; 3. Johnny Palm; 4. Patrick McClane; 5. Justin Yohn; 6. Ty Huntsberger; 7. Gordie Marshall; 8. John Wright; 9. Mike Potts; 10. Will Long; 11. Doug Hoffman; 12. Richard Daughtrey; 13. Tyler Frye; 14. Bob Scott; 15. Hunter Fulton; 16. Jordan Fulton. DNS: Donnie Broderick, Ernie Posey.
- administrator on May 31, 2022
- Article Date: 5/28/2022 by BAPS Motor Speedway