By RICH VLECK
BATAVIA, NY – Brady Wonderling might not have felt like he had the best car all night long, but as the laps in the ULMS Super Late Model Feature wore down, he put himself in a position to capitalize on his opportunity to score a popular victory.
Wonderling, of Scio, made his rare appearance in a super late model pay off, leading the final seven laps to win the 30-lap, $3,000-to-win feature. A man of few words, he simply stated his big win in Victory Lane.
“This is awesome,” he declared after getting out of his car. “We don’t make many super late starts, and every time we have been out this year we’ve been terrible, but we stumbled on something tonight.”
Local favorite Dave DuBois led the field to green and held command for the opening eight laps until he slipped over the banking in turn three, lost two spots, and handed over the lead to frontrunner Max Blair. Blair, who had run lap times as low as 15.75 earlier in the night, appeared poised to run away to the win, but just after halfway on a lap 16 restart Wonderling made a bid for the lead underneath Blair but was unable to complete the pass. Blair learned something and altered his line in turns one and two and began to pull away. The Centerville, PA driver was on cruise control when the right rear tire grenaded on the No. 111, forcing him pitside and handing the lead over to Wonderling.
In what would be the final restart of the event, Wonderling pulled back away from the pack and held a healthy lead to claim the $3,000 top prize. On the final lap, Charlie Powell would nip Greg Oakes at the line for second by inches. Series point leader Dave Hess would rally from a pit stop on lap two to finish fourth while Blair would climb back up to complete the top five.
Kyle Inman, of Darien, won the 20-lap, $1,000-to-win Sportsman Feature, but the defending track champion and current point leader was quick to recognize he got lucky making it to Victory Lane. Inman led the opening seven laps, but on a lap eight restart, Ricky Newton began to pester the No. 20k, taking the lead for a moment before taking it for good on a lap 11 restart. Newton appeared poised to claim the win, but on the final lap had trouble navigating a lapped car, resulting in contact and causing that car to spin, as well as knocked the shock tower off the Newton No. 11N. Newton attempted to hang on for the one-lap restart, but Inman dove to the bottom heading in to turn one and out-muscled the leader to take back the top spot to score his third win at Genesee in the last four events. In Victory Lane, Inman admitted that Newton caught a tough break with the lapped car as he deserved the win. Things only got worse for Newton after he got passed for the lead, as he drifted back to finish in fourth. Andrew Smith was one of the drivers to get by Newton, rebounding from an early-race trip to the pits to drive back up to finish in second. Ray Smith would also get by to finish in third. Newton and Greg Mrzywka completed the top five.
The Mini Stock Feature saw plenty of swapping for the lead early on with four different drivers taking the lead in the first six laps. Donald Newton, of E. Pembroke, with the fourth different leader and would not relinquish it as he lead the final 10 laps to win the $250 feature, his first in a long time in the division. Newton held a steady lead while Brad Shepard and Dante Mancuso duked it out for the second position. Shepard would hold off Mancuso at the line for second while Mike Taddonio and Lee Hicks completed the top five.
The Bandit Feature was not short on excitement either with five unofficial lead changes and a crash amongst the top three cars with five laps remaining; in the end, it was Bailey Logsdon claiming her first checkered flag. Logsdon, of LeRoy, had the lead for the opening three laps but lost it on the first restart of the race on lap four to point leader Jessica Traxler. Traxler would hand over the top spot briefly to Adam Jackson but when she went to take it back on lap eight the two came together in turn four, with Logsdon having no place to go and piling in and driving through the incident. Logsdon was steady on the restart to drive away from Olivia Coniber who challenged, but would settle for second, just ahead of Marcus Jackson. Traxler and Jessica Schleede completed the top five.
Genesee is right back to action this Saturday Night as Carquest presents a “Super 6 at 6:00” program. For more information, visit www.Genesee-Speedway.com.
Genesee Speedway Results: 7/6/2017-
S&S Limousine Night
ULMS Super Late Model Feature (30 Laps)- BRADY WONDERLING, Charlie Powell, Greg Oakes, Dave Hess, Max Blair, Brent Rhebergen, Dave DuBois, John Weaver, Mikey Wonderling, Billy DuBois, Breyton Santee, Doug Eck, Bob Dorman, Cody Egner, TJ Downs.
Lap Leaders- D. DuBois 1-8, Blair 9-23, B. Wonderling 24-30.
Heat Winners- Oakes, Blair.
Cornerstone Eye Associates Sportsman Feature (20 Laps)- KYLE INMAN, Andrew Smith, Ray Smith, Ricky Newton, Greg Mrzywka, Tony Muscato, Zach Sam, Sarah Johnson, Luke Carleton, Carl Inman, James Michael Friesen, Tony Pangrazio, Shane O’Grady, Ray Bliss Jr., Alan Bratek, Chuck Kuhn, Tim Downs, Brett Clarke, Dan Machaud, Jeff Sonnenberg, Ray Bliss, Matt Steffenhagen, T.J. Newton.
Lap Leader- K. Inman 1-7, R. Newton 8, K. Inman 9-10, R. Newton 11-19, K. Inman 20.
Heat Winners- A. Smith, R. Newton, Bliss.
Pellegrino Auto Sales Mini Stock Feature (15 Laps)- DONALD NEWTON, Brad Shepard, Dante Mancuso, Mike Taddonio, Lee Hicks, Eddie Kowalczyk, Leroy Bacomb, Ryan Allen, Chris Miller, Steven Krawczyk, Gary Hopkins, Doug Brown, Tony Kulesza, Jenn Galbo, Mike Jackson, Cole Hicks, James Gayton, Paul Monroe, Tom Urban (DNS), Eric Weis (DNS), 3 car (DNS), Ruben Coffey (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Brown 1, Jackson 2-3, Mancuso 4-5, Newton 6-15.
Heat Winners- Mancuso, Shepard.
DML Sealing Bandits (12 Laps)- BAILEY LOGSDON, Olivia Coniber, Marcus Jackson, Jessica Traxler, Jessica Schleede, Adam Jackson, Trinity Reynolds, Allison Dewitt, Ally Rider.
Lap Leaders- Logsdon 1-3. Traxler 4-5, A. Jackson 6-7, Logsdon 8-12.
Heat Winner- Logsdon
