Phil Vigneri Steals The Show At The Dirt Track At Genesee With Last-Lap Pass

Story By: JEREMY PERRY / THE DIRT TRACK AT GENESEE – BATAVIA, NY – A hot summer day in the 80s gave way to a beautiful night at The Dirt Track at Genesee, with a steady breeze blowing to the east and giving race fans a clear view of the action.

The event on the docket was Mid-Season Championship Night, and with double points on the line for all six divisions, the stakes were high. Lineups were set by point standings, making every lap of every race critical — whether to extend a points lead or cut into it.

The first feature of the night belonged to the Blue Diamond Racing Products Novice Division. The front row was led by Matt Radzio and Lucas Newton. When the green flag dropped, Radzio took control and led the opening lap. Newton never let him out of his sights, staying glued to his back bumper for the duration of the race. But with the event going green to checkered in just 5 minutes and 39 seconds, Newton never had a chance to make a serious move. Radzio picked up back-to-back feature wins in the Novice Division and celebrated in Victory Lane with a smile, joking, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut!”

Next up were the Weis Performance Mini Stocks, where the action quickly turned dramatic. The front row featured Seth Johnson and Eric Brumstead, but the story turned to point leader Robert Knapp II, who suffered a blown head gasket in his heat race. That appeared to end his night — until Dylan Strade offered up his own car for Knapp to keep racing and preserve his points. Knapp accepted but had to start at the tail of the field. Johnson led the opening lap before a yellow flag flew on lap 2 as Virgilio came to a stop on the frontstretch. On the restart, Seth and Brian Johnson battled for the lead, with Seth holding strong. Meanwhile, Knapp was slicing through the field. Lap after lap, he gained ground and ultimately ran down Johnson, taking the lead and finishing one of the biggest upsets of the season. In Victory Lane, Knapp shared, “I was really nervous about driving this car because I’ve never drove it. Dylan Strade was nice enough to let me run for my points and I really appreciate that.”

The Conte’s Auto Street Stocks followed, and it was Josh Pangrazio of Oakfield, NY on the front row with Byron DeWitt. Pangrazio jumped out to a commanding lead early before a lap 9 caution slowed things when Trent Chamberlain spun in turns one and two, collecting Bobby Lippa, who made hard contact that ended his night. DeWitt suffered a flat right rear under yellow and went pit-side, not returning. That opened the door for Damian Long, who started sixth but charged up to second after the restart. Despite the pressure and multiple yellows, Pangrazio never missed his marks, pulling away each time to pick up a special win on his birthday weekend. In Victory Lane, he said, “The car handled really well. There’s still a little miss on the right front there.”

The Radiators Plus 63 Bandits took to the track next, continuing the theme of familiar faces up front. Bradley Weis of Castile, NY and Carson Shetler renewed their rivalry, but this time Shetler suffered mechanical issues, leaving Weis to lead all 10 laps uncontested. It marked Weis’s third feature win of the season. After the race, he explained, “I was just feeling this car out tonight because my car got destroyed during the Mackenzie race. We’re just going to keep racing and having fun.”

Then came the most thrilling event of the night — and perhaps of the season — in the Dan Kolb Family Automotive Sportsman feature. Phil Vigneri III of Elba, NY lined up on the front row with Ricky Newton. Newton took the lead at the drop of the green, but an early caution for Joe Mickey, who hit the frontstretch wall, brought things to a halt. On the restart, Newton resumed control while Vigneri began to experiment with lines. Newton worked the middle groove while Vigneri started inching closer on the high side. With about 15 laps to go, the momentum began to shift. Vigneri stayed committed to the cushion, making small gains each lap. With five laps remaining, he was all over Newton, pressing him hard and searching for daylight on the top side. On the final lap, Vigneri let it all hang out — ripping the high side through turns three and four, he made it stick, found the bite he needed, and powered around Newton in the final corner to steal the win at the line in what can only be described as the race of the year so far. “I had to do something,” Vigneri said in Victory Lane. “The water changed things for sure — that middle groove really worked him. I had to try something here. The first time I went to the top I made a little ground. With two laps to go I knew — just regroup here — I know I can get him.”

Capping off the night were the Callahan Towing RUSH Late Models. Dave Dubois and Doug Ricotta started on the front row, and Dubois quickly grabbed the lead. After struggling with an ill-handling car for weeks and only completing one lap in his heat race, Dubois and his team thrashed all day just to get the car ready — finishing their prep just 20 minutes before the feature. He led every lap of the main event, holding strong through a caution on lap 18 for Jon Rivers and a frightening red flag incident on the ensuing restart. Kevin Smith got into the front stretch wall, flipped, and slid on his roof before coming to a stop. Thankfully, Smith was okay, though oil covered the speedway and delayed the race. On the restart, Jimmy Johnson pushed hard to get around Ricotta on the high side but couldn’t complete the move. Dubois stayed strong to the finish, earning a dominant and emotional win. “I can’t even tell ya what we went through the last two weeks to get this car back on track,” Dubois said. “We literally just got this car ready 20 minutes before the feature.”

With Mid-Season Championship night in the books, all eyes now turn to the biggest week of the year at The Dirt Track at Genesee. The inaugural Stars and Stripes Showdown kicks off Wednesday, July 2nd, with Go Karts and Open Practice, and Thursday, July 3rd, with $6,000 on the line and a full fireworks display. The action continues Friday, July 4th, with a $10,004-to-win special event.

12 entries
RUSH Late Model
A Feature 1: 1. 012-Dave DuBois[1]; 2. 01-Doug Ricotta[2]; 3. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[4]; 4. 8-Bill Holmes[6]; 5. 24-Paul Grigsby[7]; 6. 21B-Billy DuBois[5]; 7. 95-Ron Watson[11]; 8. 78H-Micheal Hetzel[8]; 9. 97-Kevin Smith[10]; 10. 85-Jon Rivers[3]; 11. 03-TJ Downs[9]; 12. 113-Matt Tracey[12]

Heat 1: 1. 01-Doug Ricotta[1]; 2. 8-Bill Holmes[5]; 3. 03-TJ Downs[6]; 4. 21B-Billy DuBois[2]; 5. 78H-Micheal Hetzel[3]; 6. 012-Dave DuBois[4]

Heat 2: 1. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[1]; 2. 24-Paul Grigsby[3]; 3. 85-Jon Rivers[4]; 4. 97-Kevin Smith[5]; 5. 95-Ron Watson[6]; 6. 113-Matt Tracey[2]

15 entries
Sportsman Modified
A Feature 1: 1. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[1]; 2. 11N-Ricky Newton[2]; 3. 27Z-Ray Bliss[3]; 4. 8-John Venuto[4]; 5. 00-Sam Hoxie[5]; 6. 41-Tony Pangrazio[6]; 7. 04-Greg Mrzywka[7]; 8. 36-Noah Pangrazio[8]; 9. 25-Chris Hawkins[9]; 10. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr[11]; 11. 44K-Dan Kolb[12]; 12. 1H-Rob Richmond[13]; 13. 1JL-Clayton Cain[14]; 14. 3-Paul Marshall[15]; 15. 35-Joe Mickey[10]

Heat 1: 1. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[4]; 2. 11N-Ricky Newton[6]; 3. 41-Tony Pangrazio[2]; 4. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr[7]; 5. 3-Paul Marshall[8]; 6. 44K-Dan Kolb[5]; 7. 36-Noah Pangrazio[3]; 8. 04-Greg Mrzywka[1]

Heat 2: 1. 27Z-Ray Bliss[1]; 2. 00-Sam Hoxie[4]; 3. 1JL-Clayton Cain[3]; 4. 25-Chris Hawkins[7]; 5. 35-Joe Mickey[5]; 6. 1H-Rob Richmond[6]; 7. 8-John Venuto[2]

19 entries
Street Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 7-Josh Pangrazio[1]; 2. 00-Damian Long[6]; 3. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[3]; 4. 0Z-John Zimmerman[16]; 5. 63-Mike Fellows[10]; 6. 84M-Mike Kelly[9]; 7. 0-Butch Zimmerman[12]; 8. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[14]; 9. 61-Brian Mohawk[17]; 10. 717-Rich Conte[4]; 11. 17-Chuck Mogavero[13]; 12. 52-Nate Tabor[18]; 13. 5-Matt Grigsby[19]; 14. 05-Jeff Almekinder[11]; 15. 28-Trent Chamberlain[5]; 16. 11-Kenny Begnouche[15]; 17. 2-Dale Rissinger[7]; 18. 34-byron dewitt[2]; 19. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[8]

Heat 1: 1. 61-Brian Mohawk[1]; 2. 7-Josh Pangrazio[5]; 3. 63-Mike Fellows[4]; 4. 0-Butch Zimmerman[6]; 5. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[2]; 6. 05-Jeff Almekinder[3]; 7. 52-Nate Tabor[7]

Heat 2: 1. 0Z-John Zimmerman[2]; 2. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[1]; 3. 84M-Mike Kelly[3]; 4. 11-Kenny Begnouche[4]; 5. 00-Damian Long[6]; 6. 34-byron dewitt[5]

Heat 3: 1. 2-Dale Rissinger[1]; 2. 717-Rich Conte[3]; 3. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[4]; 4. 17-Chuck Mogavero[5]; 5. 28-Trent Chamberlain[2]; 6. 5-Matt Grigsby[6]

18 entries
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 16K-Robert Knapp[1]; 2. XXX-Eric Weis[6]; 3. 58-Brian Johnson[4]; 4. 17-Racelyn Lippa[5]; 5. 11-Eric Brumstead[3]; 6. 85-Seth Johnson[2]; 7. 7-Mike Becker[13]; 8. 8W-Cody Wise[7]; 9. 24D-Raymond Dinehart[11]; 10. 26-Amber Lang[16]; 11. 10JR-Paige Gayton[8]; 12. 6-Wesley Hughes[17]; 13. 02-Kevin Napier[9]; 14. 29-Chris Skobjak[12]; 15. 50-Zachery Virgilio[14]; 16. (DNS) 8X-Chris McGuire; 17. (DNS) 217-Dylan Strade

Heat 1: 1. 85-Seth Johnson[3]; 2. 11-Eric Brumstead[4]; 3. 8X-Chris McGuire[5]; 4. 24D-Raymond Dinehart[1]; 5. 29-Chris Skobjak[2]; 6. (DNS) 217-Dylan Strade

Heat 2: 1. 58-Brian Johnson[6]; 2. 8W-Cody Wise[1]; 3. 10JR-Paige Gayton[2]; 4. 02-Kevin Napier[5]; 5. 50-Zachery Virgilio[3]; 6. 717-Rocco Conte[4]

Heat 3: 1. XXX-Eric Weis[1]; 2. 16K-Robert Knapp[4]; 3. 17-Racelyn Lippa[3]; 4. 6-Wesley Hughes[2]; 5. 26-Amber Lang[5]; 6. 7-Mike Becker[6]

7 entries
Novice Sportsman
A Feature 1: 1. 04-Matt Radzio[1]; 2. 54N-Lucas Newton[2]; 3. 198-Cole Susice[3]; 4. 1JL-George Curtis[6]; 5. 2-Ernest Steffen[5]; 6. 25-John McKenney[7]; 7. 3-Paul Marshall[4]

Heat 1: 1. 198-Cole Susice[1]; 2. 2-Ernest Steffen[3]; 3. 54N-Lucas Newton[5]; 4. 04-Matt Radzio[4]; 5. 1JL-George Curtis[6]; 6. 3-Paul Marshall[2]

2 entries
Bandits
A Feature 1: 1. 44-Bradly Weis[1]; 2. 78S-Carson Shetler[2]

Heat 1: 1. 78S-Carson Shetler[2]; 2. 44-Bradly Weis[1]