Joe Dgien Dominates For Outlaw Speedway Victory
Story By:STEVE OVENS / OUTLAW SPEEDWAY MEDIA Photos By:MARK RANALLETTA / RACERSGUIDE.COM
DUNDEE, NY –June 18, 2016- Joe Dgien won two races in quite exciting fashion in 2015- sweeping a double-feature event on 4th of July Fireworks weekend. Dgien wouldn’t have to wait until Independence Day 2016 to score his first victory of 2016, winning over Billy Van Pelt on Friday night in the thirty-lap Friendly Dodge & Ford Big Block/Small Block Modified feature event.
A pair of Woodhull residents, Lee Bills and Donnie Lawson, would lead the field to Steve Kellogg’s green flag. Bills would rocket off the green to lead the first four circuits, but Dgien was charging hard and using the outside lane that he loves to run very much.
Dgien blasted by Bills on the top shelf in turn four to grab the lead as the leaders put lap number five on the board. Once out front, Dgien would stretch the lead to four car lengths as Bills went under attack from Dundee, New York’s Brady Fultz and Westfield, Pennsylvania pilot Billy Van Pelt.
Fultz would get around Bills to move into the second spot on lap six and set sail for Dgien in the No. 3x. Van Pelt started in the fifth position and quickly worked up into the third spot around Bills as he trailed Dgien and Fultz.
A great battle would ensure between Fultz and Van Pelt with ‘BVP’ eventually working by the former Crate Sportsman champion to take over the second spot. From that point, Van Pelt took to the whip in his Grant Hilfiger Contracting, Mullen Carpet, Instant Heat Wood Pellets No. 78.
Dgien would only allow Van Pelt to get within one car length, before stretching the lead back out to three car lengths. Not even a lap twenty-three caution could stop Dgien on this night, as he went on to score the big win over Van Pelt, Fultz, Tyler Siri and Danny Johnson.
“It wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” said an excited and relieved Dgien. “I knew I had to hold my line and put the gas down.”
It had been a tumultuous season up until Friday night as Dgien had suffered tire troubles that had dashed so many great runs either leading or running in the top five.
“It’s been a real tough year. The first night the car was stumbling and then we had five flats in five races. Last week we didn’t run so well, so we went through the car all week and found some stuff and it really worked here tonight. It took a tough night to really make us look things over and found a couple things and got them fixed.”
Van Pelt was keeping Dgien honest throughout the closing laps. When asked how that affected him seeing Van Pelt on the leader board, Dgien smiled, “I tried not to look up at (the leaderboard) until that last caution and I saw who was up there. Just tried to put it out of my mind.”
Jared Zimbardi did what Zimbardi does at Outlaw Speedway- win 360 sprint car races. Zimbardi went on to score his fifth win in the last twelve 360 sprint car races at the ‘Fast Four-Tenths-Mile’ after drawing the pole for the starting lineup.
Zimbardi dominated the twenty-five-lap feature for the A-Verdi Storage Containers Patriot Sprint Tour American Series event. For more details and a complete breakdown of their feature, visit www.patriotsprinttour.com.
The Crate Sportsman division saw Stacey Jackson finally pull off a win for their recently lost father Steve. Friday night saw Steve’s other beloved son Mike put his Last Lap No. 19J in Outlaw Speedway victory lane, making it two weeks in a row for the Jackson boys.
Horseheads, NY driver Zach Ziegenhagen led the field to the green and had one of his best races of the season early, leading the first eleven laps. But charging hard from his fifth place starting spot was Jackson out of Addison.
Jackson would slip by Ziegenhagen for the lead before the field clicked of lap number twelve. He would start to walk away and stretch the lead out, but Chris Fisher worked his way into the runner-up spot with ten laps to go.
Fisher ran down Jackson for the lead and started to claw his way around the bottom trying to get by. Jackson would have the ponies down the front stretch to shut the door each time in turn one. Fisher even took a peek to the outside lane on a few occasions, but couldn’t make the outside work in one and two.
Jackson would survive two late cautions and restarts to hold on to the victory- the second week in a row a Jackson graced Victory Lane.
“With two laps to go, I was getting pretty nervous there,” said Jackson. “I knew dad was riding with me tonight and it was my turn, so thanks dad.”
The last several weeks have seen the Jackson boys win qualifying heat races, but not able to put it all together come feature time. Mike’s car has been fast all season, proving that it doesn’t take a brand new piece to get the job done.
“This is the same car my brother ran all year last year. We were going to pick up a new car over the winter, we just didn’t get everything together. Then when dad passed away, we put a body on this car so we could have it for the funeral. I like the car, so I think we are going to stick with it.”
Jackson returned to the seat of a racecar full-time after taking his turn as a promoter last season.
“I’ve got a lot of laps around this place. I learned a lot with the racetrack, I can tell what the clay is going to do. It gets a little dusty, but Tyler will get it figured out. They work hard on it every week.”
The excitement for the Jackson family wasn’t over yet though. Jackson and his girlfriend Holly were in victory lane together when Jackson pointed out a bet that the two had made together.
“I asked her to marry me a month or two ago and she said that if I won a race, she would. So Holly, will you marry me?”
As the crew celebrated, Holly gave an emphatic ‘Yes’. Congratulations to both Mike and Holly on their front stretch engagement.
The Crate Late Model feature-only event was dominated by Brian Knowles, driving the Doug Gross Construction No. 7. Knowles started on the pole for the feature event and pulled away on the start.
Bob Buono had a great race in his No. 64, battling early with Jason Knowles for the second spot, with Jason eventually getting by to move into second behind brother Brian. ‘Pork Chop’ would never surrender the lead, stretching the lead over the second half of the event.
Brian Knowles got the win over Jason Knowles, Buono, John Waters and Adam Depuy rounding out the top five finishers.
“We did a lot of homework after last Friday night because we decided we had to do something different,” said Knowles in Outlaw Victory Lane. “We needed to be faster in the corners and we were tonight. I was wide open in three and four for most of the race.”
Rich Karlnoski would pick up the victory in the Farmers Insurance IMCA Modifieds on Friday night, his second victory of 2016. This race was rough and tumble all throughout the event, with some great racing squeezed in between numerous caution periods.
Todd Stone led the race early from his outside pole starting position. Stone and Shawn Bruce had a great battle for the lead, but again caution flags and rough racing were the story from third on back.
Stone would run into some terrible luck as Jeff Austin went through the spin cycle on the front stretch exiting turn number four. While Austin slid his car around to get going in the right direction, Austin’s car made significant contact with Stone’s ride. This would essentially end Stone’s night under caution, dashing what could have been his first win of 2016.
This handed the lead over to ‘Dick in the Dirt’ Rich Karlnoski. Karlnoski would lead and the field would have several more caution periods, with the last coming out on lap fifteen. With five laps remaining and the clock striking 11:28p.m., race official waved the checkered flag on the IMCA feature.
“Well, the car wasn’t as good as it should have probably been,” said Karlnoski. “I think Todd (Stone) had us all covered tonight, that was a terrible break for him over there. But tonight was our night, and every time we have a shorted race I seem to win. Maybe we should shorten our feature to fifteen laps every week.”
The Creekside Entertainment Street Stock feature was first on the night’s schedule as they along with the Crate Late Models and Four Cylinders would run features only with the Patriot Sprint Tour being added to the night’s card. James Kreidler III won last week in his four cylinder and now has a Street Stock victory to boot.
Jeremy Trank and ‘JB’ John Burritt led the field to the green flag and it was Trank who had a great race in his new No. 15k, leading the race up until lap thirteen. Chuck Winslow brought out the caution on lap thirteen with a flat tire, slowing the field. While parading the field around under yellow, the bad luck bug bit Trank again, as he came up with a flat tire as well.
That handed the lead over to Kreidler who would do yeoman’s work to hold off Nate Daggett in the Daggett’s Garage No. 3D. Even a one-lap dash at the end of the race, with a car that was very tight late in the race for Kreidler, could keep the No. 79k out of victory lane. Kreidler got the win over Daggett, CJ Guererri, LaVerne Knickerbocker and Jeremy Potrzebowski the top five.
“I saw that Jeremy got a flat, I was just praying that my tires would stay up,” said Kreidler. “It got tight as the race went on. I knew I had to protect the bottom, I was going to make (Daggett) work to get around me.”
The Four Cylinder feature event also saw a lot of caution flags and torn up racecars to start out the racing program, running right after the Street Stock Feature. Ray Hyer drove his way through the accidents and moved up from his twenty-second starting position to find himself in the top five on lap two.
Hyer and Codie Baker would find themselves locked into a fierce battle for the victory again, as Hyer would be the best getting through slower traffic. Hyer went on to the win, Baker crossed the line in second, Brian Grant Jr third, Brad Rathbun Jr. fourth and Erica Bell the top five.
A lengthy post-race tech inspection resulted in the disqualification of Baker’s No. 14 for undisclosed reasons.
“The car is great, I’m not sure how I went from twenty-second to fifth in two laps,” said Hyer in Outlaw Victory Lane. “I just put it on the outside and went. It’s kind of hard when they’re (lap cars) are running three-wide, you just have to be patient and get by them.”
Austin Labar made it three-in-a-row in the Winners Circle Deli Bandits, beating Steven Perkins III and Joey Clark to the line for the win. It was almost disaster for Labar on lap eight, with only two circuits remaining. Labar got too high in turn two and stalled the car to a stop on the backstretch.
Labar would have to start behind Perkins on the restart, but got a great start and made contact with Perkins as he slid by for the lead. The driver out of Prattsburgh, NY drove his family-owned No. 42 to the checkered flag over Perkins and Clark.
Coming up next Friday night at Outlaw Speedway, it’s graduation night in Dundee as all divisions will be in competition for a regular weekly racing program. The Friendly Dodge & Ford Big Block/Small Block Modifieds, Crate Sportsman, Crate Late Models, Farmers Insurance IMCA Modifieds, Creekside Entertainment Street Stocks, Four Cylinders and Winners Circle Deli Bandits will all be in competition.
The Winners Circle Deli Bandits will begin at their customary 6:45PM race time. Qualifyinf heat races will roll off at 7:00PM with the grandstands opening up at 5:00PM sharp. The Pit area will open at 4PM.
For more information race over to www.outlawspeedwayllc.com follow Outlaw Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OutlawSpeedwayLLC or follow us on Twitter @OutlawSpeedPR and Instagram @OutlawSpeedway
Outlaw Speedway is located at 82 Main St in Dundee, NY and holds dirt track racing weekly on Friday nights from mid-April through Labor Day Weekend in September. The speedway also hosts special events on the grounds with special races run during the fall months of September and October. A new era is being ushered in for 2016 as Tyler Siri takes over ownership of the Yates County oval nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes.
Outlaw Speedway Quick Results 6/17/2016:
Start Time: 7:05PM
End Time: 11:28PM
FRIENDLY DODGE & FORD MODIFIEDS, 19 cars (30 Laps): JOE DGIEN (1), Billy Van Pelt, Brady Fultz, Tyler Siri, Danny Johnson, Steve Paine, Justin Wright, Alan Johnson, Gary Tomkins, Ron Cartwright Jr., Cory Costa, Daryl Hilkert, Derrick Podsiadlo, Jordan Siri, Jim LaRock, Dave Rauscher, Donnie Lawson, Lee Bills, Marcus Dinkins
Heat Race Winners: Daryl Hilkert, Joe Dgien, Donnie Lawson
Lap Leaders: Lee Bills 1-4, Joe Dgien 5-30
CRATE SPORTSMAN, 20 cars (25 Laps): MIKE JACKSON (1), Chris Fisher, Tommy Collins Jr., Loren Lincoln, Bob Johnson, Ross Vleck, AJ Lloyd, Doug Smith, Garrett Rushlow, Brent Ayers, Todd Hayward, Mike Buchanan, Stacey Jackson, Tim Guild, Chris Fisher, Zach Ziegenhagen, Dale Welty, Eric Williams, Lance Irwin, Bret Buono
Heat Race Winners: Mike Jackson, Brett Buono, Tim Guild
Lap Leaders: Zach Ziegenhagen 1-11, Mike Jackson 12-25
RUSH CRATE LATE MODELS 6 cars (20 Laps): BRIAN KNOWLES (1), Jason Knowles, Bob Buono, John Waters, Adam Depuy, Frank Guererri Jr.
Lap Leaders: Brian Knowles 1-20
FARMERS INSURANCE IMCA MODIFIEDS, 12 cars (15 Laps): RICH KARLNOSKI (2), Tony Harris, Phil Yaw, Shawn Bruce, Scott Sebring, Brandon Smith, Jake Maynard, Brad Smith, Todd Stone, Jeff Austin, Rodney Morgan DNS: Dave Scouten Jr.
Heat Winner: Todd Stone
CREEKSIDE ENTERTAINMENT STREET STOCKS, 15 cars (20 Laps): JAMES KREIDLER III (1), Nate Daggett, CJ Guererri, LaVerne Knickerbocker, Jeremy Potrzebowski, Chuck Winslow, Jeremy Trank, Carl Cleveland, John Burritt, Tony Harris, Ryan Krause, Jared Hill, Jake Karlnoski, Frank Putnam DNS: Jayson Smart
Lap Leaders: Jeremy Trank 1-13, James Kreidler III 14-20
FOUR CYLINDERS, 28 cars (20 Laps): RAY HYER (2), Brian Grant Jr., Brad Rathbun Jr., Erica Bell, Chris Mashewske, Dave Whetham, Chad Ayers, Dan Smart, ShiAnn Labar, Chris Percy, Desi Force, Steven Perkins Sr., Corky Grant, Jordan Keefer, Pat Toupin, Scott Bradley, Zach Teed, Billy Bowers, Brandon Kinner, Del Cummings, Craig Mahrt, Timmy Borden, Timmy VanEtten, Bruce Kinner, Rich Sharpsteen, Jarod Brown, Bryan Thompson
WINNERS CIRCLE DELI BANDITS, 3 cars (10 Laps): AUSTIN LABAR (3), Steven Perkins III, Joey Clark
PATRIOT SPRINT TOUR, 17 cars (25 Laps): JARED ZIMBARDI, Steve Glover, Parker Evans, Paul Habeck, Dane Lorenc, Steve Collins, Derrick Juliano, Dan Bennett, Darryl Ruggles, Dan Kuhn, Jonathan Preston, George Suprick, Dave Just, Scott Just, Pete Richardson, Tyler Graves, Josh Azzi
