YORK HAVEN, PA: You have to go back to last season to figure out why Russ Mitten is having such a successful 2022 campaign in the BAPS Super Sportsman division.
It started with a huge September victory in the Gary Wolford Super Sportsman 100. And despite not visiting Victory Lane after that at BAPS Motor Speedway, he entered the offseason feeling pretty good about his program.
That’s led to more wins this year and division supremacy so far. It showed again Saturday night, when Mitten passed Tony Jackson late in the 30-Lap Hessiron.com Summer Sizzle to earn his fourth win of the season and a $2,000 payday.
“I’m pretty focused on what I’m down there to do, which is win races,” Mitten said. “We changed a couple of things — shock package and some other stuff — at the end of last year and got going pretty good. I found a balance on the racecar that I’ve been missing for a little bit.
“I got going pretty good and carried it into this year. I think 80 to 90 percent of any racing is the confidence level you carry. You go there every week and if you have it in your mind that you are the car to beat, that helps. Confidence goes a long way, and there are cars that are fast. If you want to beat them, you have to be faster.”
When the main event kicked off, Scott Dellinger had more speed off the front row. He started on the pole and beat Mitten through the first and second corner and cruised back to the stripe to lead Lap 1.
Not much changed at the top of the board in the main event. Dellinger was in control for most of the race, before Jackson, who started fifth, slipped by Mitten and started to chase down the leader in traffic.
Jackson made his move on Lap 27, wrestling the lead away from Dellinger. Mitten followed, and started to make up ground on the leader when the caution was displayed for Jay Fannasy in Turn 2 on Lap 28.
Mitten made the restart count. The 53-year-old Newville, Pa., ace ducked to the inside of Jackson on the restart and won the battle through the first and second corner to take the lead for the first time in the main event.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be good at the beginning of that race because of how I had the car for the last 10 laps,” Mitten said. “That is what I was focused on, and I was content just to ride and see how it unfolded.
“I was getting better and catching those guys, so it was about watching what they were doing and where they were running. I got around lapped cars and was reeling them in, and the caution came out, which played into my hand.”
Continued Mitten, “Coming off of four on the restart, Tony took the inside and when he took off, he drifted up enough to where I had enough room underneath him and got beside him at the flagstand. I had the inside going in there in one and had the lead coming off of two, and I was able to hold on the rest of the race.”
Mitten led the 28th circuit and never looked back. He went unchallenged over the final three circuits and earned another hard-fought victory.
Jackson settled for a disappointing second-place finish. John Edkin stormed from 11th to third, with Kenny Edkin and Dellinger completing the top five.
“The track was really nice,” Mitten said. “These tracks take a lot of abuse because of track conditions, but there is a lot to be said when you have multiple lanes to race in.
“The track wasn’t just top dominant or bottom dominant. The bottom was good, so it evened it out with the momentum up top, so that was definitely a plus. Saturday was a good racing surface with multiple lanes to run in, and that makes for good racing.”
In the Auto Core Recycling 602 Modified main event, Logan Watt led all 25 circuits to take the win in his second start of the season at the speedway.
Watt was on the charge early in this won, carving his way to the lead after starting third. Once out front, he was the class of the field in taking the victory.
Steve Davis made his way to a second-place finish after starting 10th. Rick Wagner Jr., Joseph Brown, and Kevin Olenick completed the top five.
Stan Wanner started fifth on the grid and claimed the victory in the 20-Lap Street Stock feature. It was his second win of the season.
Bailey Tolsen led the first 10 circuits before Kody Sites took over the top spot for six laps. He gave it up on Lap 17, when Brian Walls took over. Wanner led the final two circuits to take the win over Ryan Bloom and Tolsen.
In the Superior Homes Extreme Stock feature, Chase Rehbein passed pole-sitter Patrick McClane on Lap 9 and led the rest of the way in the 20-Lap affair. McClane settled for second, with Sam Rial completing the podium.
BAPS Motor Speedway
York Haven, PA
Saturday, July 23, 2022
For Immediate Release
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN – HESSIRON.COM SUMMER SIZZLE
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 77-Russ Mitten[2]; 2. 88-Tony Jackson[5]; 3. 35-John Edkin[11]; 4. 75-Kenny Edkin[8]; 5. 30-Scott Dellinger[1]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders[16]; 7. 8M-Chris Meleason[3]; 8. 25-Tyler Wolford[9]; 9. 5D-Luke Deatrick[19]; 10. 2M-Matt Ondek[6]; 11. 00-Troy Rhome[13]; 12. 19R-Eric Rutz[17]; 13. 21R-Jamie Rickert[15]; 14. 91-Lanny Hake[12]; 15. (DNF) 7-Timmie Barrick[7]; 16. (DNF) 222-Jay Fannasy[10]; 17. (DNF) 7L-Sam Leonard Jr[14]; 18. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[18]; 19. (DNF) 88X-Fred Shipley[20]; 20. (DNF) 1A-Chase Gutshall[4]; 21. (DNS) 360-George Riden III.
Lap Leaders: Scott Dellinger (1-26), Tony Jackson (27), Russ Mitten (28-30)
Super Sportsman Qualifying #1: 1. 8M-Chris Meleason, 00:17.675[7]; 2. 2M-Matt Ondek, 00:17.954[2]; 3. 7-Timmie Barrick, 00:18.034[1]; 4. 5D-Luke Deatrick, 00:18.071[6]; 5. 222-Jay Fannasy, 00:18.183[4]; 6. 00-Troy Rhome, 00:18.342[3]; 7. 3B-Mike Enders, 00:18.425[5].
Super Sportsman Qualifying #2: 1. 1A-Chase Gutshall, 00:17.944[7]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten, 00:18.077[1]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin, 00:18.184[4]; 4. 7L-Sam Leonard Jr, 00:18.951[2]; 5. 19R-Eric Rutz, 00:18.970[6]; 6. 88X-Fred Shipley, 00:19.499[5]; 7. 35-John Edkin[3].
Super Sportsman Qualifying #3: 1. 88-Tony Jackson, 00:17.825[6]; 2. 30-Scott Dellinger, 00:18.098[5]; 3. 14-Nate Young, 00:18.249[4]; 4. 360-George Riden III, 00:18.623[2]; 5. 25-Tyler Wolford, 00:18.738[3]; 6. 91-Lanny Hake, 00:19.012[7]; 7. 21R-Jamie Rickert, 00:19.056[1].
Super Sportsman Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 8M-Chris Meleason[1]; 2. 2M-Matt Ondek[2]; 3. 7-Timmie Barrick[3]; 4. 222-Jay Fannasy[5]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[6]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders[7]; 7. 5D-Luke Deatrick[4].
Super Sportsman Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 1A-Chase Gutshall[1]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[2]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin[3]; 4. 35-John Edkin[7]; 5. 7L-Sam Leonard Jr[4]; 6. 19R-Eric Rutz[5]; 7. 88X-Fred Shipley[6].
Super Sportsman Heat #3 (8 Laps); 1. 88-Tony Jackson[1]; 2. 30-Scott Dellinger[2]; 3. 25-Tyler Wolford[5]; 4. 91-Lanny Hake[6]; 5. 21R-Jamie Rickert[7]; 6. 14-Nate Young[3]; 7. (DNF) 360-George Riden III[4].
Super Sportsman Dash (6 Laps): 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[1]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[4]; 3. 8M-Chris Meleason[2]; 4. 1A-Chase Gutshall[5]; 5. 88-Tony Jackson[3]; 6. 2M-Matt Ondek[6].
AUTO CORE RECYCLING 602 MODIFIEDS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 4M-Logan Watt[3]; 2. 13-Steve Davis[10]; 3. 22-Rick Wegner Jr[5]; 4. 5J-Joseph Brown[4]; 5. 450-Kevin Olenick[2]; 6. M16-Mike Schane[9]; 7. 7J-Ryan Mckinney[8]; 8. 63-Tajae Adams[13]; 9. 72-Ray Woodall[18]; 10. 99-Jonathan Swift[11]; 11. 12-Eric Kocher[1]; 12. 55-Brian Rehbein[6]; 13. 74-Brian Hughes JR[7]; 14. 14N-Justin Newhard[14]; 15. 0-Wesley Brady[12]; 16. (DNF) 10K-Kolyn Schane[15]; 17. (DNF) 17-Bobby Kupp[17]; 18. (DNF) 28X-Zachery Cook[20]; 19. (DNF) 10KB-Kaitlyn Bailey[16]; 20. (DNF) 25M-Layne Berzowski[19].
Lap Leaders: Logan Watt (1-25)
602 Modified Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 450-Kevin Olenick[2]; 2. 5J-Joseph Brown[3]; 3. 4M-Logan Watt[9]; 4. M16-Mike Schane[8]; 5. 22-Rick Wegner Jr[6]; 6. 99-Jonathan Swift[4]; 7. 63-Tajae Adams[7]; 8. 10K-Kolyn Schane[1]; 9. 17-Bobby Kupp[5]; 10. 25M-Layne Berzowski[10].
602 Modified Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Steve Davis[6]; 2. 12-Eric Kocher[3]; 3. 74-Brian Hughes JR[8]; 4. 7J-Ryan Mckinney[4]; 5. 55-Brian Rehbein[9]; 6. 0-Wesley Brady[2]; 7. 14N-Justin Newhard[5]; 8. 10KB-Kaitlyn Bailey[1]; 9. 28X-Zachery Cook[10]; 10. (DNF) 72-Ray Woodall[7].
SUPERIOR HOMES EXTREME STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 54-Chase Rehbein[2]; 2. 79-Patrick McClane[1]; 3. 11-Sam Rial[8]; 4. 41-Jason Townsend[7]; 5. 47-Bob Scott[5]; 6. 65H-Ty Huntsberger[4]; 7. 27-Doug Hoffman[11]; 8. 55-Brian Rehbein[3]; 9. 7JR-Johnny Palm[10]; 10. 97-Donnie Broderick[6]; 11. 7-Jordan Fulton[12]; 12. 98-Richard Daughtrey[13]; 13. (DNF) 7F-Hunter Fulton[16]; 14. (DNF) LAZY8-John Wright[9]; 15. (DNF) 6G-Gordie Marshall[14]; 16. (DNS) 12-Bryan Hare; 17. (DNS) 91-Will Long; 18. (DNS) 17-Matt Adams.
Lap Leaders: Patrick McClane (1-8), Chase Rehbein (9-20)
Extreme Stock Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Rial[9]; 2. 54-Chase Rehbein[3]; 3. 65H-Ty Huntsberger[1]; 4. 97-Donnie Broderick[2]; 5. LAZY8-John Wright[5]; 6. 27-Doug Hoffman[8]; 7. 98-Richard Daughtrey[4]; 8. (DNF) 12-Bryan Hare[6]; 9. (DNS) 17-Matt Adams.
Extreme Stock Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 79-Patrick McClane[3]; 2. 55-Brian Rehbein[7]; 3. 47-Bob Scott[1]; 4. 41-Jason Townsend[4]; 5. 7JR-Johnny Palm[8]; 6. 7-Jordan Fulton[5]; 7. 6G-Gordie Marshall[9]; 8. (DNF) 7F-Hunter Fulton[2]; 9. (DNS) 91-Will Long.
STREET STOCKS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 64-Stan Wanner[5]; 2. 25JR-Ryan Bloom[6]; 3. 18-Bailey Tolson[1]; 4. 99K-Kody Sites[2]; 5. 28-Chris Derr[3]; 6. 11S-Russ Shoop[12]; 7. 60A-Aaron Beard[9]; 8. 15-Brian Boughter[4]; 9. (DNF) 6T-Jacob Toney[8]; 10. (DNF) 2W-Brian Walls[13]; 11. (DNF) 0-Bryan Bowersox[7]; 12. (DNF) 60-Danny Beard[10]; 13. (DNS) 99-John Remlein.
Lap Leaders: Bailey Tolson (1-10), Kody Sites (11-16), Brian Walls (17-18), Stan Wanner (19-20)
Street Stock Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 64-Stan Wanner[3]; 2. 28-Chris Derr[6]; 3. 18-Bailey Tolson[4]; 4. 0-Bryan Bowersox[5]; 5. (DNF) 99-John Remlein[1]; 6. (DNF) 11S-Russ Shoop[2]; 7. (DQ) 2W-Brian Walls[7].
Street Stock Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Brian Boughter[2]; 2. 99K-Kody Sites[3]; 3. 25JR-Ryan Bloom[5]; 4. 6T-Jacob Toney[1]; 5. 60A-Aaron Beard[6]; 6. 60-Danny Beard[4].
- administrator on Jul 25, 2022
- Article Date: 7/23/2022 by BAPS Motor Speedway