JOE DGIEN TAKES HOME WOODHULL RACEWAY MODIFIED CASH AFTER FIRST FEATURE WIN OF 2022
Terry Pierce Photo
JOE DGIEN TAKES HOME WOODHULL RACEWAY MODIFIED CASH AFTER FIRST FEATURE WIN OF 2022
Big payday for the Addison, NY native as he wins both the Modified King of the Bull Ring along with the regular feature event. AJ Costley (Crate Sportsman), Travis Webster (Street Stocks), Wes Houghtaling (FWD), Bradly Morseman (Warriors) and Kaiden Dgien (Hobby Stocks) continue to rack up wins as Austin Allen (RUSH Late Models), and Dillon Morseman (Mini Stocks) are first time winners in 2022.
Story by Kenny Shupp Jr. Promotions and Consulting LLC.
(Woodhull, NY) Joe Dgien has been on top of the Insinger Performance Modified point battle since week two of the season and without even leading as much as a single lap thus far in any of the previous fourteen feature events, he was able to put things all together in posting his first feature win of the 2022 season and he did it in convincing style. Brian Doolittle and Eric Grice would lead the seventeen- car field to the opening green flag with Doolittle taking control for the first two circuits before Brayden Bills would power around the outside to take over the top spot. However, Bills lead would be short lived as he hit the cushion hard entering turn one and did a one- time snap flip ending his drive for the night. On the ensuing restart Doolittle would once again hold court at the front until fifth row starter, Joe Dgien would sweep by and assume the lead on lap six. From there Dgien would extend his advantage, however a torrid battle was raging for second on back as Russ Morseman, who began the event in row four along with ninth and tenth place starters Jake Dgien and Brady Fultz were all moving towards the front. By the halfway mark Morseman had moved into second with Fultz and Jake Dgien in tow and by lap fifteen the trio where it a slugfest for the runner up spot. With Joe Dgien checked out all eyes were on the tremendous fight for second as Morseman had his hands full with Fultz who was now in third with Jake Dgien trailing. Lap after lap the trio sliced and diced with Morseman and Fultz working the lower half of the high banks and Dgien wounding the cushion on the top. With five to go there was still a blanket over second thru fourth with Jake Dgien now gaining momentum on the high side as he worked past Fultz who was still glued to Morseman’s back bumper. With the white flag waving Jake Dgien was finally able to clear a determined Morseman and that is how they would take the checkered flag with Joe Dgien winning his first event of 2022 by a wide margin with cousin, Jake Dgien following in second. Morseman crossed the line in third with Fultz taking home fourth place money while early event leader, Brian Doolittle could round the top five finishers. Morseman’s third place finish makes it two weeks in a row that his big block machine would race within the lead pack in a field dominated by small block power with Morseman’s the only big block car that races weekly at Woodhull with the Morseman operation gaining momentum heading into the final stretch run. For The Dgien cousins it was a huge night as Dgien Trucking sponsored the night of activity including the traditional Modified King of the Bull Ring one on one elimination event held earlier in the show. In that event, Joe Dgien was able to defeat perennial King of the Ring Champion, Billy VanPelt in the final round of competition and claimed the $1,000 top prize with BVP taking home $400 for the runner up spot. Dgien Trucking, the Holden Family and Woodhull Raceway put up the $1,400 for the top two spots.
AJ Costley and Stacy Jackson would lead the NAPA Crate Sportsman twenty-five lap feature to the opening green with Costley immediately taking control and never looking back through a barrage of caution flags that kept the pace slowed and the field bunched. After every restart, Costley was able to keep safe distance between his machine and those of Cayden Lawson and Isabel Barron who began the event inside rows two and three. After the halfway mark and the top three beginning to distance themselves, all eyes were on last weeks winner, Kenny Peoples Jr. who had gone to the back on no less that two or three occasions after being caught up in many of the numerous yellow flags. Peoples had found plenty of traction on the cushion and was making time in mowing the field down and with a long green flag run to complete the event had worked his way sixth place but that is where his performance would end. Costley would go on to his second feature win of the season backing up his May 28 win with two -time 2022 feature winner, Cayden Lawson holding on for second place. Lady racer and June 11 feature winner, Isabel Barron would put on another solid effort to claim the final podium spot as Stacy Jackson would run within the top five the entire distance to take home fourth place while Blake Lawson would rally back from an earlier event set back to round out the top five finishers. With Jackson’s fourth place finish coupled with a rare off night by current point leader, Josh Nobriga the battle at the top has tightened up with the top six in the points only separated by less than seventy points heading into the final month of points battles.
Austin Allen is a popular guy among his fellow competitors in the Armstrong RUSH Crate Late Model Division. He picked up one lone feature event in his rookie season in 2021, but he has struggled mightily throughout 2022 trying to find the right balance. However, on this night Austin would take control of the twenty-lap feature event right off the drop of the green flag and never look back to claim his first win of the season. Rookie of the year contender, Brett Marlatt would follow Allen from his second row starting position, however Brett the Jet was not able to mount any real threat to Allen’s advantage as the lead duo began to distance themselves from current high point man, Brian Knowles who had worked into third from his third row starting spot and that is how they would finish at the end with Austin Allen taking home the big check and hardware with Marlatt placing second with Pork Chop Knowles in third. The drive of the night came from Jason Knowles who began the event along side of brother Brian, got caught up in a lap one skirmish, went to the back and drove back to challenge his brother for position but had to settle for fourth at the completion. Opening night feature winner, Steve LaBarron would put on another one of his patented runs using the extreme outside of the speedway keeping the fans on their feet in coming from seventh to round the top five. A very popular and humble Austin Allen was quick to credit several of his fellow racers all working together in making their machines more compatible and competitive as he was met by a massive crowd in Woodhull’s Pepsi Victory Lane.
The Joe Willcox Performance Street Stocks got off to a rough start in their twenty-lap feature with a couple of cautions early on slowing the pace. Pole position starter, Mike Williams would lead the first six trips around the high banked one-third of a mile clay oval before second row starter, Travis Webster would power by, take control and from there extend his advantage and go on to his fourth feature win of the season. For the third consecutive week, Ted Morseman would put in another solid effort beginning the event in the sixth slot and ride home for second place as he was chased across the line by Josh Webster. Brett Crawford and Dan Gardner would get caught in an early race turn three wreck and rally back to finish fourth and fifth respectively. It was feature win number four on the season for sophomore driver Travis Webster and with his win and the fourth place run by Crawford he was able to cut into Crawford’s point lead, however in his post-race interview Webster was quick to give a lot of credit to Brett Crawford for helping him put some tweaks into his potent F7 machine. It should also be noted that the chassis of Webster, Crawford and Gardner are all Dylan Potter creations.
To put it mildly the Hobby Stocks had a night they would as soon forget about. Double digit caution flags for everything from minor spins to multi car tangles would keep the drivers from gaining any momentum. However, when under green flag conditions the competition was as good as we’ve come to expect from the division and in keeping with the tradition of earlier evening heroics of other Dgien family members, Kaiden Dgien was able to nail his fifth win of the season and second in a row. Dillon Philip and Brandon Conklin would lead the seventeen- car field to the opening green, however it was Kaiden Dgien taking command early on from his second row starting position. With Dgien comfortably out front a battle was brewing for second on back as lots of paint swapping was going on throughout the field. Fifth place starter, Mike Spencer would break free of traffic early on and dog Dgien the entire distance but the two- time 2022 feature winner and second place point getter would have to settle for the runner-up spot as he was followed across the line by Brandon Conklin who would race within the top three all race long and claim third at the finish. Jeredd Dennis and Paul Dgien, father of the feature winner would begin the grind outside rows three and four and follow behind Conklin in taking home fourth and fifth. Although having prior experience in a Crate Sportsman, Kaiden Dgien still finds the transformation of moving into a totally different division a challenge with the stiff competition that the Hobby Stock Class provides.
Earlier in the evening the Wicked Tee’s Youth Warrior Division took to the speedway for their fifteen-lap feature and it was second verse same as the first with Bradly Morseman completely dominating the six-car field and in doing so made it an even dozen trips to the Pepsi Victory Lane thus far in 2022. With his number one nemesis and two -time feature winner, Marshall O’Brian off for the night it left the playing field wide open as Jaden Stone was able to finish in second place with Kayleigh Morseman in third. Izzabella Morseman followed in tow finishing fourth as Courtney Thomas would find Morseman family members taking four of the first five finishing positions. Desaray Miles would complete the field as the youngsters to show steady improvement in moving their racing careers along.
Wesley Houghtaling continues his assault on the Front Wheel Drive Division as he would take advantage of the misfortune of current high point man and seven time “22” feature winner, Ryan Austin to go onto his seventh win and sixth victory in a row in a row. Veteran class competitor, Nate Freeland is back competing regularly in the division and came home for his best run since returning by claiming second place at the finish. Another consistent drive by fourth place point getter, Kayley Bacon would find her starting the event third and that is where she would finish with front row starter and third place point man, Kevin Doud taking home fourth at the finish. Ryan Austin and Nick Brown would go on to round out the field. In victory lane Houghtaling stated how hard he and others in the division are working to promote the class in hopes of gaining more cars as the season begins to wind down. “Those of us that run in this division love the class and we know there are a lot of cars just sitting. We hope that they will turnout in the coming weeks so we can gain momentum heading into the off season.”
The Wicked Tee’s Mini Stocks would pull the curtain down on the Great 8 Show; however, their feature would be marred with numerous yellow flags and a pair of red flag stoppages. When the fifteen-lap affair was finally tucked into the record books it was another Morseman family member, this time Dillon Morseman taking home his first win of the season. However, his first trip to victory lane would not come easy as John Hand Jr. would keep Morseman on his toes throughout the entire distance. Ryan Stone and Danielle Thomas would lead the field to the opening green with the first red flag coming early in the going for a three- car incident in turn four requiring medical assistance to Danielle Thomas who was hit in the driver’s side door. She would be shaken but able to continue. Morseman and Hand would begin the event in row three and move thru traffic to take over the top two positions with another red flag stoppage coming at the half -way mark this time for the heavily damaged machines of current high point man, Jason Warner, Ryan Stone and Danielle Thomas who no matter how hard she tried was always at the wrong place at the wrong time in this event. After the cleanup there were still several laps remaining with Hand glued to the bumper of Morseman but was able to hold on for the win. Hand would come home second with former Woodhull Raceway Super Stock standout competitor, Brett Flint jumping into the Izzabella Morseman machine to ride home third. Jason Warner and last week’s feature winner, Travis Southard would limp home for fourth and fifth with Stone and Thomas completing the field.
Congratulations to all competitors.
Special thanks again to Dgien Trucking of Howard, NY for sponsoring the night of action including putting up a lot of extra loot for the Dgien Trucking Modified King of the Bull Ring Event. Also, kudos to the Holden Family of nearby Tuscarora. It was learned earlier in the day that Missy Peoples Holden had passed away at a relatively young age. With her loss the Holden Family put up $200 towards the Modified King of the Bull Ring as well as an extra $200 for the feature winning NAPA Crate Sportsman winning machine of AJ Costley.
Up next at Woodhull it will be the Honoring Alice Williams Great 8 Show featuring a special Insinger Performance Modified feature event paying a whomping $5,500 to the winner with $400 just to take the green flag. This will be the largest non-sanctioned Modified purse structure in the 57- year history of the historic Steuben County oval. Make plans to come early as fan attendance is expected to be higher than normal for this event. Also, on the card it will be a regular show of all the weekly divisions that compete at the track with BH Logging headlining a trio of great marketing sponsors for the show including Dave’s Custom Logging and Insinger Performance Racing Fuels.
For more details leading to the August 6 Honoring Alice event go to www.Facebook.com/WoodhullRaceway/.
The points are updated and can be found at www.woodhullraceway.com.
WOODHULL RACEWAY RESULTS. JULY 30, 2022. UNOFFICIAL
Dgien Trucking Night.
INSINGER PERFORMANCE MODIFIEDS. (17 cars)
King of the Bull Ring Winner. JOE DGIEN
25 lap feature. JOE DGIEN, Jake Dgien, Russ Morseman, Brady Fultz, Brian Doolittle, Eric Grice, Aiden Grover, Dayton Brewer, Cole Youse, Hunter Hess, Donnie Lawson, Larry Keegan, Gregg Turner, Brayden Bills, Steve Coots, Tony Harris, Billy VanPelt.
NAPA CRATE SPORTSMAN. (16 cars)
25 lap feature. AJ COSTLEY (2), Cayden Lawson, Isabel Barron, Stacy Jackson, Blake Lawson, Kenny Peoples Jr., Tim Guild, Levi Riley, Adam Taft, Matt Strauss, Kevin Decamp, Ted Morseman, Josh Nobriga, Richard Howard Jr., Kreg Crooker, Don Potter.
ARMSTRONG RUSH CRATE LATE MODELS. (11 cars)
20 lap feature. AUSTIN ALLEN, Brett Marlatt, Brian Knowles, Jason Knowles, Steve LaBarron, Aaron Miller, Jason McGregor, Jacob Tubbs, Rickie Loucks, Joe Layfield, Dennis Loucks.
JOE WILLCOX PERFORMANCE STREET STOCKS. (12 cars)
20 lap feature. TRAVIS WEBSTER (4), Ted Morseman, Josh Webster, Brett Crawford, Dan Gardner, Mick Seeley, Ray Hyer, Mike Williams, Luke Boom, Jesse Tuthill, Jim Buck, Branden Morseman.
HOBBY STOCKS. (15 cars)
20 lap feature. KAIDEN DGIEN (5), Mike Spencer, Brandon Conklin, Jeredd Dennis, Paul Dgien, Joe Birdsall, Scott Brown, Brandon Birdsall, Bill Williams, Dillon Philip, Adam Leubner, Meadow Dgien, Jason Ketrow, Scooter Brown, Keegan Smith.
WICKED TEE’S MINI STOCKS. (7 cars)
15 lap feature. DILLON MORSEMAN, John Hand Jr., Brett Flint, Jason Warner, Travis Southard, Ryan Stone, Danielle Thomas
FRONT WHEEL DRIVES. (6 cars)
15 lap feature. WESLEY HOUGHTALING (7), Nate Freeland, Kayley Bacon, Kevin Doud, Ryan Austin, Nick Brown.
WICKED TEE’S WARRIORS. (6 cars)
15 lap feature. BRADLY MORSEMAN (12), Jaden Stone, Kayleigh Morseman, Izzabella Morseman, Courtney Thomas, Desaray Miles.
