10/20/2024
Georgetown Speedway
PERREGO WINS THE $12K FOR THE 12K IN A DRAG RACE SPRINT OFF THE FINAL CORNER; WATT CAPTURES THE 602 MAIN EVENT
By Chad Cathell
It was a beautiful fall night in Sussex County, Delaware, and the $12K for the 12K event was set to be a night to remember. The event was held to honor the renowned dirt racing car owner Gary Simpson, who tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2021. Along with commemorating Simpson, who fielded many cars for racers in Delaware and beyond over the years, the night also marked the loss of another legend of Delaware Modified racing, Bobby Wilkins. Wilkins lost his life on Friday after battling health issues over the last few years. A moment of silence was held before the start of racing activities to honor both Simpson and Wilkins.
A stellar field of over 115 racers signed into the pits, Jamie Friesen provided another spectacular racing surface, and Georgetown Speedway owners Ken Adams and Jim Parker provided fans and racers with a fantastic night at the races. Twenty-nine entries signed in for Millman’s NAPA Auto Parts Modifieds division and set their sights on the $12,000 payday. The action started hot in the heats, with Carson Wright, Alex Yankowski, Stewart Friesen, and Jordan Watson finding the checkered flag first in their respective heats.
As the field came together and the green flag was displayed for the 32-lap feature event, it was an all-Delaware starting grid led by Milford’s Joseph and Jordan Watson. New to the facility in late 2024, the "Delaware Start" brought the field to the green. As the field worked around for lap one, it was the 2023 winner of the $12K for the 12K, Alex Yankowski, who quickly jumped into the lead from his third starting position and began to set the pace for the field. The night's first caution flew on lap ten when Norman Short stopped on the front stretch, causing the field to tighten back up. Anthony Perrego had worked his way up to third and would fill out the top three on the restart behind Yankowski and Friesen.
On the very first lap, Stewart Friesen and Jordan Watson made accidental contact, setting off a chain of events that would ultimately lead to Friesen's dramatic exit from the $12,000 main event. That exit would come as the race was temporarily halted for the second time when Friesen was forced to stop due to a flat right rear tire on lap 14. Meanwhile, on the restart, Yankowski surged ahead, setting the stage for an electrifying battle for second place between Perrego and Jordan Watson. Just as the action was heating up, Louden Reimert was on a thrilling charge into the top 5 when disaster struck—the left rear tire of the #58 Don Grebe Construction car went flat, triggering the third caution of the night.
Yankowski roared off with another sensational restart, aiming to extend his lead and secure a back-to-back victory in the prestigious memorial race honoring Gary Simpson. With just five laps to go, the race intensified as lap traffic came into play. Anthony Perrego seized the opportunity and made a bold move to gain ground on the high side. As the white flag waved, Yankowski hugged the inside line while Perrego continued to power through on the high side. Neck and neck down the back straight, they headed into the final corners. Yankowski stuck to the low line, but Perrego went all in on the high groove. In a thrilling showdown to the finish line, Perrego surged ahead to claim the $12,000 prize at the iconic Georgetown Speedway!
- 4-Anthony Perrego[6]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[3]; 3. 1J-Jordan Watson[2]; 4. 26-Ryan Godown[17]; 5. 51-Ryan Krachun[9]; 6. 14W-Ryan Watt[16]; 7. 6S-Matt Stangle[15]; 8. 30-HJ Bunting[13]; 9. 21W-Joseph Watson[1]; 10. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[21]; 11. 6B-Danny Bouc[12]; 12. 43-Jimmy Horton[10]; 13. 7M-Paul Mancini[4]; 14. 91W-Carson Wright[7]; 15. 31- Ryan Riddle[20]; 16. 33-Louden Reimert[11]; 17. J24-Justin Grosso[23]; 18. 20C-Cole Stangle[19]; 19. 0-Neal Williams[8]; 20. 74W-John Willman[22]; 21. 28-Thomas Solderich[26]; 22. 888-Robert Dutton[24]; 23. 44-Stewart Friesen[5]; 24. 24W- Sean Weiss[18]; 25. 8M-Norman Short Jr[25]; 26. 09-Howard Oneal[14]
The always intense Blue Hen Dispose-All 602 Sportsman division saw points leader and Chalfont, PA native Greg Humlhanz lead the pack for the 22-lap, $1,012-to-win main event. The night kicked off with high drama, as caution flags flew multiple times, and a red flag was waved when Greg Reed and Zac Weller had a heart-stopping moment in turn three; both drivers were okay. After enduring numerous delays, newly appointed race director Chad Cathell took charge and boldly called to start the race in a single-file formation to get the action going.
The drivers roared in a single file formation, the chaos of cautions tamed, and the on-track intensity surged. Humlhanz wasted no time on the restart, pulling away from the pack. Starting from seventh, Logan Watt faced an uphill battle after dominating his heat race. With 14 laps in, the leaders encountered lap traffic, intensifying the showdown between Humlhanz and Watt. Watt made a daring move on the inside line as they charged into turn one, pulling alongside Humlhanz and seizing the lead as they exited turn two.
After passing Humlhanz in the final laps, Watt and his Ronnie’s Auto Repair team surged ahead of the pack, leaving the newly appointed second-place driver, James Hill, behind as he, too, got past Humlhanz in lap traffic. Watt triumphantly drove into victory lane as the checkered flag waved, cementing his dominance in the Northeast 602 Modified division. The heat wins were secured by Colin Cox, Jason Musser, Watt, and Jeff Marker.
- 4M-Logan Watt[7]; 2. 1H-James Hill[3]; 3. 02-Greg Humlhanz[1]; 4. 59-Colin Cox[5]; 5. 257-Thomas Sherby[8]; 6. 15H- Scott Hitchens[6]; 7. 2-Mike Schneck[9]; 8. 43-Michael White[11]; 9. 91-Luke Bunting[12]; 10. 11-Bryan Brobst[14]; 11. 5B- Bryce Bashore[17]; 12. 94J-Jacob King[22]; 13. 18-Jeff Marker[2]; 14. 10-Adam White[25]; 15. 7M-Jarod Millman[26]; 16. 23-Devin Dodson[15]; 17. 25-Ashley Metz[19]; 18. 37-Chris Martinez[16]; 19. 17T-Kris Thompson[20]; 20. 74-Jax Yohn[24]; 21. 9J-Joe Toth[21]; 22. 05-Sean Metz[18]; 23. 52M-Jason Musser[4]; 24. 1*-Zac Weller[13]; 25. 21-Greg Reed[23]; 26. 13D-Evan Dennis[10]
The First State Chevrolet Crate Late Models were led to the green by Delmar, Delaware’s, Ben Scott. Scott’s machine was fast out of the gate, holding off a strong challenge Matt Hill and Nick Davis. The Crate Late Models wouldn’t go without issue on their night either, as the red flag came out for their feature event when Georgetown, Delaware’s Derek Magee flipped multiple times in turn two before Magee would walk from his machine under his own power and was okay. With the race back to green flag action, Matt Hill’s consistent pressure finally broke the first-place ice for Scott, and Hill slid into the lead. Once out front, there was no looking back for Hill as he easily cruised to another victory. Nick Davis won the lone heat.
- 84-Matt Hill[2]; 2. 11-Joey Warren[4]; 3. 72-Trevor Collins[5]; 4. 80-Ben Scott[1]; 5. 92-Nick Davis[3]; 6. 15-Mike
Parsons[7]; 7. 27-Donnie Tingle[8]; 8. 96-Derek Magee[6]; 9. 47-David Smith[9]
Dylan Betts won the $212-to-win Little Lincoln feature over Eric Reed and Scott Calhoun.
- 65-Dylan Betts[6]; 2. E1-Eric Reed[11]; 3. 6-Scott Calhoun[4]; 4. 49-Mel Joseph Jr[8]; 5. 47-Jordan Herbert[7]; 6. 3W- Wayne White[2]; 7. 5-Eric Bodenweiser[10]; 8. 42-Andy Olenik[3]; 9. 53J-James Harmon[9]; 10. 9W-John Wothers[1]; 11. 14A-Nathan Austin[5]
David Pettyjohn returned from “retirement” to capture the Southern Delaware Vintage Late Model division, and Sean Metz took the win for the Modified division.
- 1-David Pettyjohn[7]; 2. 71P-Sean Metz[9]; 3. 15-Jamie Schirmer[4]; 4. 3S-Nathan Austin[6]; 5. 71-Garrit Reagan[2]; 6. 20- Roscoe Clough[3]; 7. 32-Maddy Jefferson[1]; 8. 0M-Richie Pratt[8]; 9. 24-Luke Dill[5]; 10. 18-Dave Dill[11]; 11. 51-Jordan Long[13]; 12. 23-CJ Schirmer[10]; 13. 24S-Dave Schamp[12]; 14. (DNS) 15T-Tanner Severe
Robert Smith made the right move on the last lap to win the Delaware Super Truck feature over TJ Williams.
- 01-Robert Smith[7]; 2. 84-TJ Williams[2]; 3. 89-Thomas Jackson[8]; 4. 94-LJ Walbert[1]; 5. 00-Mackenzie Williams[6]; 6. 29-Cameron Benson[4]; 7. 34-Scott Trice[9]; 8. 357-Chase Carter[5]; 9. 23-Troy Hopkins[10]; 10. 4-Carl Walker[3]
Wyatt Cummings came home victorious in the Feebs Distilling Delmarva Chargers division.
- 27W-Wyatt Cummings[2]; 2. 2A-Jay Lowman[5]; 3. 67-Ron Falkner[3]; 4. 48-Jeff Merryman[1]; 5. 37-Josh Dahling[4]; 6. 72-Billy Cummings[7]; 7. 12-John Healy[6]; 8. 74K-Roger Kummerer[9]; 9. 18X-Eddie Ashwell[8]; 10. 5G-Garren Morris[14]; 11. 15G-Tami Collier[11]; 12. P38-Rob Weil[10]; 13. 31-Rachel Truitt[12]; 14. 62-Randy Merritt[13]; 15. 92-Robbie Strain[15]
Colton Watson picked up the win in the Juicebox division.
Submitted By: Brett Deyo