3/20/2021
BAPS Motor Speedway
Herr Bests Super Sportsman Field to Claim Season Opening Win at BAPS
York Haven, Pa.: Frankie Herr wasn’t about to take it slow or ease into the Super Sportsman opener at BAPS Motor Speedway.
Instead, Herr was going after the win. And by the time the checkered flag fell on the 25-Lap Season Opener at the speedway, he looked in mid-season form.
The Carlisle driver was the class of the field, driving past the best in the division, including two-time defending champion Kenny Edkin. The end result was Herr standing in Victory Lane with his 25th career win at the facility.
“What a hot-rod, man,” Herr said in Victory Lane. “We feel pretty good. I have to thank my team ... I could put it anywhere I wanted to. The car was awesome.
“Thanks to Donny and the whole Devine Racing Team. Bill Devine and the Dirty Deeds guys, they are awesome. They give me everything it takes, and that makes a lot of difference. It felt really good today, and I hope we can carry this on.”
Chase Billet took the win in the Creekside Auto Sales 358 Late Model main event, with invader Billy Workman Jr. making the tow from North Carolina and topping the field in the Central PA Legends feature.
But Herr was the story in the headliner. He started fifth on the grid and ran fourth in the early stages, trailing heavy hitters Kenny Edkin, Scott Dellinger, and Russ Mitten.
The leaders started to encounter lapped traffic on the 12th circuit, which meant it was go-time for Herr. He slipped past Mitten for third and chased down Dellinger for the second position by the time Lap 15 was scored.
Meanwhile, Edkin had built a half-straightaway lead. That was wiped out when Rich Eichelberger had a flat tire on the 17th circuit. Another delay occurred on the restart when Steve Fannasy rolled to a stop in the fourth corner.
Herr took advantage of the next restart and shot to the bottom of Turns 1 and 2 to take second. Mitten followed and also got past Dellinger for third.
One lap later, Herr duplicated the move on Edkin. The pass was wiped out when Jay Fannasy slowed and brought out another caution period.
It was a minor hiccup in Herr’s night. After another caution on the restart, Herr stalked Edkin for a couple of circuits before getting a run off the second corner and taking the lead with a low move down the backstretch on Lap 22.
“When I started to come up through there, I was looking ahead,” Herr said. “I was like, ‘Looks to me like those guys are coming around a little bit.’ I was driving it straight. The thing was hooked up and on a rail.”
Once out front, Herr was in a race of his own and pulled away. Edkin had to settle for second, with Mitten, Dellinger, and 12th-place starter Chase Gutshall completing the top five.
“It’s remarkable,” Herr said of his 33 years in racing. “It’s how many great people you meet in racing. I’ve driven for a whole bunch of people, I’ve had a lot of fun, and met a lot of great people. I have a lot of dedicated people who stand behind me and help me all of the time.”
Daniel John was the Hard Charger in the event. Tom Wychoff, Herr, and Tony Jackson were heat winners for the 23-car field.
In the 20-Lap Late Model main, Chase Billet started sixth and made his way to second in short order to put himself in position for the win.
Billet got his chance when early leader Bobby Beard, who started on the pole, slowed on Lap 8. That put Billet out front and in a good spot for another triumph.
From there, it was all Billet. He survived two late caution flags and held off defending Late Model champion Troy Miller for the win. Sean Merkel, Randy Stoudt, and Ben Whitaker completed the top five. Miller and Chad Smith were heat winners in the 20-car field.
Stephen Wurtzer led the Central PA Legends field to the green flag in the 20-Lap affair, but his reign at the top lasted a mere six laps, as Workman was lurking.
Workman, who started third on the grid, took the top spot on Lap 7, but he couldn’t get away from the field. Specifically, he had to hold off a hard-charging Jeremy Ott, who won the series opener at Lincoln Speedway the previous week.
Ott started 10th and diced with Scott Houdeshell and Wurtzer. Once he won that battle, he closed on Workman and pressured the leader.
It just wasn’t enough. Workman made all of the right moves over the final two laps to take the win over Ott, Wurtzer, Houdeshell, and Landon Lewis.
Jorjie Sweger, Workman, Joe Ryan Osborne, and Lewis were heat winners for the 39-car field. Quinn Trimmer and Choya Young won the consolations.
BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 70D-Frankie Herr[5]; 2. 75-Kenny Edkin[1]; 3. 77-Russ Mitten[3]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger[4]; 5. 1A-Chase Gutshall[12]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders[16]; 7. 7-Timmie Barrick[10]; 8. 25-Tyler Wolford[14]; 9. 8-Rich Eichelberger[13]; 10. 69J-Tony Jackson[9]; 11. 22-Daniel John[23]; 12. (DNF) 00-Troy Rhome[15]; 13. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[17]; 14. (DNF) 360-Jay Fannasy[6]; 15. (DNF) 10H-Dave Hollar[19]; 16. (DNF) 383-Steve Fannasy[20]; 17. (DNF) 2M-Matt Ondek[7]; 18. (DNF) 0Z-Devin Beidel[18]; 19. (DNF) 77W-Tom Wyckoff[8]; 20. (DNF) 2H-Levi Hippensteel[21]; 21. (DNS) 8M-Chris Meleason; 22. (DNS) 5D-Luke Deatrick; 23. (DQ) 35-John Edkin[11].
Lap Leaders: Kenny Edkin (1-21), Frankie Herr (22-25)
Super Sportsman Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 77W-Tom Wyckoff[1]; 2. 77-Russ Mitten[5]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin[4]; 4. 8M-Chris Meleason[6]; 5. 8-Rich Eichelberger[3]; 6. 3B-Mike Enders[8]; 7. 0Z-Devin Beidel[2]; 8. 383-Steve Fannasy[7].
Super Sportsman Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 70D-Frankie Herr[3]; 2. 35-John Edkin[2]; 3. 360-Jay Fannasy[4]; 4. 7-Timmie Barrick[5]; 5. 25-Tyler Wolford[7]; 6. 14-Nate Young[6]; 7. 10H-Dave Hollar[1]; 8. 2H-Levi Hippensteel[8].
Super Sportsman Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 69J-Tony Jackson[2]; 2. 1A-Chase Gutshall[3]; 3. 2M-Matt Ondek[4]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger[7]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[6]; 6. 5D-Luke Deatrick[5]; 7. 22-Daniel John[1].
CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22-Chase Billet[6]; 2. 115-Troy Miller[5]; 3. 118-Sean Merkel[8]; 4. NINE-Randy Stoudt[9]; 5. 13X-Ben Whitaker[15]; 6. ONE-Chuck Schutz[13]; 7. 21M-Matt Murphy[14]; 8. 21-Joey Hoffer[11]; 9. 58-Randy Burkholder[10]; 10. 88C-Chuck Cox III[2]; 11. 51N-Nick Palmerino[17]; 12. (DNF) 20-Colin Knaub[3]; 13. (DNF) 72-Wayne Pfeil[7]; 14. (DNF) 97-Devin Frey[12]; 15. (DNF) 115S-Shaun Miller[19]; 16. (DNF) 12-Bobby Beard[1]; 17. (DNF) NINEX-Ross Leinbach[16]; 18. (DNF) 99-Chad Smith[4]; 19. (DNF) 48-Kyle Nicholas[18].
Lap Leaders: Bobby Beard (1-7), Chase Billet (8-20)
Late Model Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 115-Troy Miller[1]; 2. NINE-Randy Stoudt[7]; 3. 88C-Chuck Cox III[2]; 4. 72-Wayne Pfeil[8]; 5. 20-Colin Knaub[3]; 6. 21-Joey Hoffer[6]; 7. ONE-Chuck Schutz[4]; 8. 13X-Ben Whitaker[9]; 9. 51N-Nick Palmerino[5]; 10. (DNF) 48-Kyle Nicholas[10].
Late Model Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 99-Chad Smith[2]; 2. 118-Sean Merkel[3]; 3. 22-Chase Billet[5]; 4. 12-Bobby Beard[9]; 5. 58-Randy Burkholder[4]; 6. 97-Devin Frey[10]; 7. 21M-Matt Murphy[1]; 8. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[8]; 9. (DNS) 37B-Brandon Eveler; 10. (DNS) 115S-Shaun Miller.
GENE LATTA FORD CENTRAL PA LEGENDS PRESENTED BY BAKER DOOR COMPANY
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 64-Billy Workman Jr[3]; 2. 10-Jeremy Ott[10]; 3. 14W-Stephen Wurtzer[2]; 4. 5-Scott Houdeshell[1]; 5. 25L-Landen Lewis[6]; 6. 30K-Seth Kearchner[5]; 7. 13-Joe Osborne[8]; 8. 18-Chris Transeau[15]; 9. 53-Bill Diehl[11]; 10. 19-Travis Perry[13]; 11. 94-Greg Burd[4]; 12. 27-Logan Carbaugh[17]; 13. 77A-Aaron Updegraff[14]; 14. 1-Nikita Johnson[12]; 15. 56X-Chuck Dell Jr[19]; 16. 2A-Cody Altland[9]; 17. 2D-Owen Dimm[18]; 18. 26-Shaun Abney[16]; 19. 4J-Choya Young[21]; 20. 32-Quinn Trimmer[20]; 21. 1G-Shawn Groft[23]; 22. 48-Donald Stoudt[24]; 23. (DNF) 56B-Brandon Reiblich[22]; 24. (DNF) 18J-Jorjie Sweger[7].
Lap Leaders: Stephen Wurtzer (1-6), Billy Workman Jr. (7-20)
Legend Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/Top 5 Transfer to A Main): 1. 18J-Jorjie Sweger[1]; 2. 5-Scott Houdeshell[6]; 3. 30K-Seth Kearchner[7]; 4. 19-Travis Perry[3]; 5. 27-Logan Carbaugh[4]; 6. 00-eric McClane[8]; 7. 56B-Brandon Reiblich[5]; 8. 74-Joey Racine[10]; 9. 79S-Michael Stoppard[9]; 10. (DNF) 17-Cory Phillips[2].
Legend Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/Top 5 Transfer to A Main): 1. 64-Billy Workman Jr[2]; 2. 53-Bill Diehl[1]; 3. 10-Jeremy Ott[3]; 4. 18-Chris Transeau[6]; 5. 56X-Chuck Dell Jr[5]; 6. 2S-Shane Stambaugh[9]; 7. 32-Quinn Trimmer[4]; 8. 55X-Richie Dobson[7]; 9. 824-Brian Scott Rampmeyer Jr[8]; 10. (DNF) Z12-Randy Getz Jr[10].
Legend Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps/Top 5 Transfer to A Main): 1. 13-Joe Osborne[2]; 2. 14W-Stephen Wurtzer[6]; 3. 2A-Cody Altland[4]; 4. 77A-Aaron Updegraff[3]; 5. 2D-Owen Dimm[5]; 6. 4J-Choya Young[7]; 7. 9-Rick Hartwig[1]; 8. 3-Scott Montgomery[9]; 9. 27X-Michael Ohler[8]; 10. (DNF) Z13-Vincent Wenrich[10].
Legend Heat 4 Finish (8 Laps/Top 5 Transfer to A Main): 1. 25L-Landen Lewis[6]; 2. 1-Nikita Johnson[3]; 3. 94-Greg Burd[5]; 4. 26-Shaun Abney[4]; 5. 48-Donald Stoudt[8]; 6. 1G-Shawn Groft[1]; 7. 25-Eric Hurst[2]; 8. 56-Zach Baxter[7]; 9. 7-Preston Alleman[9].
Legend Consi 1 Finish (8 Laps/Top 2 Transfer to A Main): 1. 32-Quinn Trimmer[3]; 2. 56B-Brandon Reiblich[2]; 3. 17-Cory Phillips[5]; 4. 74-Joey Racine[7]; 5. 79S-Michael Stoppard[8]; 6. 55X-Richie Dobson[4]; 7. 824-Brian Scott Rampmeyer Jr[9]; 8. (DNF) 2S-Shane Stambaugh[6]; 9. (DNF) 00-eric McClane[1]; 10. (DNS) Z12-Randy Getz Jr.
Legend Consi 2 Finish (8 Laps/Top 2 Transfer to A Main): 1. 4J-Choya Young[1]; 2. 1G-Shawn Groft[2]; 3. 25-Eric Hurst[4]; 4. 9-Rick Hartwig[3]; 5. 56-Zach Baxter[5]; 6. 3-Scott Montgomery[6]; 7. 7-Preston Alleman[8]; 8. 27X-Michael Ohler[7]; 9. (DNS) Z13-Vincent Wenrich.
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
