Mason Zeigler Scores $10,004 Redemption In Stars & Stripes Showdown Finale At Genesee

Story By: JEREMY PERRY / THE DIRT TRACK AT GENESEE – BATAVIA, NY – It was a hot summer afternoon at the Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY on Friday, July 4th as race fans gathered for the highly anticipated finale of the Stars & Stripes Showdown, where $10,004 was on the line for the winner of the Super Late Model main event. Fans were treated to a pre-race autograph session featuring United Late Model Series drivers, along with up-close access to the race cars themselves on display behind the grandstand.

Just like the night before, Logan Zarin of Hookstown, PA laid down quick time in time trials for the Super Late Models, clocking in at 16.404 seconds to secure the pole for heat race #1. “Yeah we got a good car and it definitely helps going out first, but this car is pretty good,” Zarin said of his qualifying effort. Heat race victories went to Ryan Montgomery, Dave Hess Jr., and Michael Lake, while Zarin, Brock Pinkerous, and Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, PA grabbed second-place finishes to earn spots in the redraw.

Hess and Zeigler would draw the front row for the 50-lap A-Main, setting the stage for a dramatic head-to-head battle between two of the region’s top drivers. Zeigler jumped out to the early lead and despite Hess hanging right with him through the opening dozen laps, he couldn’t find a way around. The first caution flew on lap 12 for Dylan Cecce, followed by a second yellow on the restart when Michael Lake’s night ended due to stripped gears. “It ended our night pretty quick,” Lake said. “I’ve broken rearends before, but I’ve never stripped gears like that.”

The next restart shifted attention to a battle between Pinkerous and Montgomery, which ended in misfortune for Montgomery after hard racing resulted in a cut tire, forcing him to pit. That opened up the longest green-flag run of the night, with Zeigler maintaining control and Hess continuing to stalk him. By lap 30, Zeigler held his biggest lead of the race—just 1.081 seconds—but Hess methodically reeled him in. As they navigated lap traffic and with five laps to go, the lead had shrunk to just 0.584 seconds. On lap 48, Hess pulled alongside Zeigler out of turn four, just 0.238 seconds back, when a yellow flew for Kevin Smith’s mechanical failure.

What had built to a tense climax deflated with that caution for the fans, but for Zeigler, it was the moment he needed. On the final two-lap dash, Zeigler nailed the restart and hit his marks, finally sealing the deal and winning the inaugural Stars & Stripes Showdown feature main event at The Dirt Track at Genesee. “Dave Hess is nothing to mess with,” Zeigler said in Victory Lane. “The guy won like 28 races last year. Growing up I watched him up here—shows up in a little trailer and whips everyone’s butt. Last night I gave that one away. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.” Hess, who settled for second, remarked, “The longer we ran, the better we were getting. Traffic was starting to play a part. I finally found that top line on the long run and it was working—but then the caution came out.” Zarin, who finished third, added, “Our car was really good. We didn’t need that last caution to come out. I might’ve had a shot at them.”

In the Conte’s Auto Street Stocks, Pavilion’s Damian Long started from the pole alongside Trent Chamberlain. Long quickly built a 1.5-second lead before the first yellow on lap 13 when Chamberlain blew a motor in turn three. Jesse Qutermous spun to avoid, only to be collected by Mike Kelly in a hard hit. Qutermous’s night was done due to a damaged power steering line. That would be the race’s only caution. On the restart, Long drove away from the field and scored his first win at Genesee since July 13th of last season. “If we started up front, I knew we’d be real competitive,” Long said. “They were going to have to pass me. We needed this one for a confidence booster.”

The final feature of the three-day event was the Weis Performance Mini Stocks. High schoolers Brayden Davis and Bradley Weis led the field to green, with Davis leading his first career lap in the division. But by lap two, track promoter James Gayton took command of the race, followed closely by Dylan Strade, who started seventh. The race went caution-free, and the night belonged to Gayton, who picked up a memorable feature win as both promoter and driver. He ended the recent hot streak of the 217 machine and enjoyed every second. “The car still remembers how to get around this joint,” Gayton said. “It’s fun—I miss driving this thing.”

Next up at The Dirt Track at Genesee will be the Brian Ace Memorial on Saturday, July 12, headlined by the Street Stocks racing for $1,000 to win plus lap money. The Ace family will also be giving away bikes during the night, and fan-favorite Autograph Night will be on the card. Racing begins at 6:00 PM.

17 entries
Dirt Super Late Models
TNT Pressure Washing ULMS Stars & Stripes Showdown (50 Laps): 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 2. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[1]; 3. 1Z-Logan Zarin[3]; 4. 118-Matt Cochran[10]; 5. 555-Brock Pinkerous[6]; 6. 12-Ryan Montgomery[5]; 7. 18-Dylan Cecce[7]; 8. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 9. 5L-Jon Lee[9]; 10. 2D-Dan Stone[8]; 11. 91-Chad Homan[11]; 12. 10S-Dave Stamm[16]; 13. 75-Jason Dobson[17]; 14. 97-Kevin Smith[13]; 15. 44-Dylan Lewis[14]; 16. 27-Michael Lake[4]; 17. 96-Mike Smith[15]

ULMS Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Ryan Montgomery[2]; 2. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 3. 18-Dylan Cecce[3]; 4. 118-Matt Cochran[4]; 5. 97-Kevin Smith[5]; 6. (DNF) 10S-Dave Stamm[6]

ULMS Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[2]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[1]; 3. 2D-Dan Stone[3]; 4. 91-Chad Homan[4]; 5. 44-Dylan Lewis[5]; 6. 75-Jason Dobson[6]

ULMS Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Michael Lake[1]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 3. 5L-Jon Lee[3]; 4. 4S-Danny Snyder[4]; 5. 96-Mike Smith[5]

ULMS Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 1Z-Logan Zarin, 00:16.494[2]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous, 00:16.556[6]; 3. 27-Michael Lake, 00:16.558[15]; 4. 12-Ryan Montgomery, 00:16.696[8]; 5. 44H-Dave Hess Jr, 00:16.747[4]; 6. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 00:16.764[10]; 7. 18-Dylan Cecce, 00:16.777[11]; 8. 2D-Dan Stone, 00:16.932[3]; 9. 5L-Jon Lee, 00:17.013[17]; 10. 118-Matt Cochran, 00:17.098[12]; 11. 91-Chad Homan, 00:17.121[5]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder, 00:17.176[7]; 13. 97-Kevin Smith, 00:17.206[13]; 14. 44-Dylan Lewis, 00:17.515[1]; 15. 96-Mike Smith, 00:17.570[16]; 16. 10S-Dave Stamm, 00:17.715[9]; 17. 75-Jason Dobson, 00:17.782[14]

8 entries
Street Stocks
Heat 1: 1. 717-Rich Conte[2]; 2. 2-Dale Rissinger[1]; 3. 34-byron dewitt[5]; 4. 84M-Mike Kelly[6]; 5. 00-Damian Long[7]; 6. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[4]; 7. 28-Trent Chamberlain[3]; 8. (DNS) 10-Russell Nash

9 entries
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 10-James Gayton[5]; 2. 217-Dylan Strade[7]; 3. 757JR-Brayden Davis[2]; 4. 8W-Cody Wise[4]; 5. 7-Mike Becker[6]; 6. XXX-Eric Weis[8]; 7. XXXJR-Bradly Weis[1]; 8. 980-John Carlson[3]

Heat 1: 1. 217-Dylan Strade[3]; 2. 10-James Gayton[4]; 3. 757JR-Brayden Davis[1]; 4. 980-John Carlson[5]; 5. 02-Kevin Napier[2]

Heat 2: 1. XXX-Eric Weis[4]; 2. 7-Mike Becker[1]; 3. 8W-Cody Wise[3]; 4. (DNF) XXXJR-Bradly Weis[2]