Rain Can’t Stop The Action At The Dirt Track At Genesee, But It Did Cut Things Short

Story By: JEREMY PERRY / GENESEE SPEEDWAY – BATAVIA, NY –  A late-afternoon rain shower tried to put a damper on the night, but the track crew at the Dirt Track at Genesee sprang into action just after 5:00 PM, working quickly to ensure racing could go on.

With 61 cars entered across four divisions, the show ran without an intermission and at a fast pace — but ultimately, only three divisions saw a checkered flag before the weather returned. The Callahan Towing RUSH Late Models feature was postponed due to rain.

The first feature to hit the track was the Kolb Family Automotive Sportsman division, with Noah Mamo and Greg Mrzywka leading the field to green. Mamo grabbed the early lead before a lap 7 caution for Colby Adamczak slowed the field. On the restart, tempers flared — Joe Mickey and Doug Walsh Jr. tangled on the front stretch. Walsh confronted Mickey under yellow and was parked for the night without pay for the infraction.

The caution drama continued in turn two, where Mrzywka, Tony Pangrazio, and John Venuto tangled. Mrzywka’s night ended early due to a brake failure. When racing resumed, Mamo and Phil Vigneri III of Elba, NY battled side-by-side for two thrilling laps before Vigneri pulled ahead. A broken rear end on Billy Bleich Jr.’s car brought out the final caution, but Vigneri nailed the restart and cruised to his fourth feature win of the year — each following a heat race victory.

“That was one of the funniest races I’ve had here in a while,” said Vigneri in Victory Lane. “Noah did a great job. I just needed one good lap on the outside to try and get by him, and it was smooth sailing from there.”

Next up was the Empire Street Stock Series main event, a 30-lap showdown paying $1,000 to win. Mike Welch of Stanley, NY drew the pole and led every lap to earn the top prize. The first yellow didn’t fly until lap 9, when Damian Long suffered a flat tire, triggering a chain reaction spin from Byron DeWitt and Anthony Muscato. Meanwhile, all eyes turned to Josh Pangrazio, who started 16th and charged through the field to reach 4th by lap 19.

However, contact between Pangrazio and Brandon Sherwood in turn 1 led to retaliation in turn 3, sending Pangrazio back to 7th. Sherwood moved into second, but it was too little, too late. Welch’s lead had ballooned to 4.7 seconds, and he never looked back.

“I picked the right spot tonight to draw the pole,” Welch said. “We hit the setup pretty good, and the tacky track definitely helped us out.”

The Weis Performance Mini Stocks took the track next, with Eric Brumstead and Brian Johnson of Castile, NY on the front row. Johnson led from the drop of the green and had built a 3.3-second lead when a lap 4 caution for Eric Weis bunched up the field. But it didn’t matter — Johnson pulled away again and was in control when the yellow and checkered flew simultaneously on lap 9 due to rain. The win marked Johnson’s first-ever feature victory on dirt.

“This feels great — it’s very exciting to me,” said an emotional Johnson. “This car’s been called ‘The Dud’ because it didn’t make horsepower on the dyno. To come out here and do this with junkyard parts… I just have to thank Eric Weis for putting it all together. This is really exciting.”

The Callahan Towing RUSH Late Models will be rescheduled at a later date that works for most teams.

The Dirt Track at Genesee will be silent this coming weekend but returns on Saturday, June 28th with all six divisions back in action. Then, all eyes turn to the most anticipated event of the season — the Stars & Stripes Showdown, July 3rd and 4th. The ULMS Super Late Models headline both nights with $6,000 on the line Thursday and a record-setting $10,004 on Friday — the richest purse in the track’s history.

21 entries
Sportsman Modified
A Feature 1: 1. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[4]; 2. 3N-Noah Mamo[1]; 3. 56-Trevor Catalano[10]; 4. 27Z-Ray Bliss[11]; 5. 45-Timmy Catalano[12]; 6. 00-Sam Hoxie[17]; 7. 11N-Ricky Newton[7]; 8. 41-Tony Pangrazio[3]; 9. 25-Chris Hawkins[20]; 10. 35-Joe Mickey[6]; 11. 1H-Henry Maier[5]; 12. 0-Billy Bleich Jr[8]; 13. 04-Greg Mrzywka[2]; 14. 8-John Venuto[9]; 15. 36-Noah Pangrazio[15]; 16. 54N-Lucas Newton[18]; 17. 7G-Tyler Guzzardi[19]; 18. 42-Colby Adamczak[14]; 19. 2-Ernest Steffen[16]; 20. 3-Paul Marshall[21]; 21. (DQ) 24-Doug Walsh Jr[13]

Heat 1: 1. 41-Tony Pangrazio[1]; 2. 0-Billy Bleich Jr[5]; 3. 1H-Henry Maier[2]; 4. 56-Trevor Catalano[3]; 5. 2-Ernest Steffen[6]; 6. (DNS) 7G-Tyler Guzzardi; 7. (DQ) 24-Doug Walsh Jr[4]

Heat 2: 1. 11N-Ricky Newton[2]; 2. 04-Greg Mrzywka[1]; 3. 8-John Venuto[6]; 4. 27Z-Ray Bliss[3]; 5. 42-Colby Adamczak[5]; 6. (DNF) 00-Sam Hoxie[4]; 7. (DNF) 7G-Tyler Guzzardi[7]

Heat 3: 1. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[2]; 2. 3N-Noah Mamo[1]; 3. 35-Joe Mickey[4]; 4. 45-Timmy Catalano[5]; 5. 36-Noah Pangrazio[3]; 6. 54N-Lucas Newton[6]

16 entries
Street Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 00-Mike Welch[1]; 2. 28-Trent Chamberlain[2]; 3. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[5]; 4. 87-Brandon Sherwood[3]; 5. 7-Josh Pangrazio[15]; 6. 717-Rich Conte[10]; 7. 84M-Mike Kelly[6]; 8. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[11]; 9. 94M-Anthony Muscato[8]; 10. B00M-Luke Boom[12]; 11. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[4]; 12. 00D-Damian Long[7]; 13. (DNF) 63-Mike Fellows[14]; 14. (DNF) 06-Mike Wilbur[13]; 15. (DNF) 34-byron dewitt[16]; 16. (DNF) 2-Dale Rissinger[9]

Heat 1: 1. 87-Brandon Sherwood[4]; 2. 28-Trent Chamberlain[2]; 3. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[6]; 4. 00D-Damian Long[3]; 5. 2-Dale Rissinger[5]; 6. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[7]; 7. 06-Mike Wilbur[1]; 8. (DNF) 7-Josh Pangrazio[8]

Heat 2: 1. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[1]; 2. 00-Mike Welch[4]; 3. 84M-Mike Kelly[3]; 4. 94M-Anthony Muscato[2]; 5. 717-Rich Conte[5]; 6. B00M-Luke Boom[8]; 7. 63-Mike Fellows[6]; 8. (DNS) 34-byron dewitt

12 entries
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 58-Brian Johnson[2]; 2. 8W-Cody Wise[6]; 3. 85-Seth Johnson[7]; 4. 16K-Robert Knapp[12]; 5. 1-Kevin Bacon[4]; 6. 10JR-Paige Gayton[3]; 7. 02-Kevin Napier[10]; 8. 78S-Carson Shetler[8]; 9. 11-Eric Brumstead[1]; 10. XXX-Eric Weis[11]; 11. 217-Dylan Strade[9]; 12. 17-Racelyn Lippa[5]

Heat 1: 1. 58-Brian Johnson[2]; 2. 1-Kevin Bacon[3]; 3. 17-Racelyn Lippa[6]; 4. 85-Seth Johnson[5]; 5. 217-Dylan Strade[1]; 6. XXX-Eric Weis[4]

Heat 2: 1. 11-Eric Brumstead[6]; 2. 10JR-Paige Gayton[3]; 3. 8W-Cody Wise[1]; 4. 78S-Carson Shetler[2]; 5. 02-Kevin Napier[5]; 6. (DNF) 16K-Robert Knapp[4]

11 entries
RUSH Late Model
Heat 1: 1. 97-Kevin Smith[2]; 2. 4S-Jake Wilber[5]; 3. 01-Doug Ricotta[4]; 4. 24-Paul Grigsby[6]; 5. 012-Dave DuBois[3]; 6. (DNF) 21B-Billy DuBois[1]

Heat 2: 1. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[2]; 2. 136-David Pangrazio[3]; 3. 85-Jon Rivers[5]; 4. 78H-Micheal Hetzel[1]; 5. (DNF) 03-TJ Downs[4]