Dave DiPietro & Pete Stefanski Win Sean Letts Memorial King Of The Hill Events At Ransomville

Story By: STEVE PETTY / RANSOMVILLE SPEEDWAY – RANSOMVILLE, NY – North Tonawanda, NY pilot Dave DiPietro lead all 40-laps to earn the victory for the BEI Lightning Series event for the Investor’s Service Sportsman as Investor’s Service, Bailey Brothers Landscaping, and Firth Jewelers presented the Sean Letts Memorial King of the Hill at the Ransomville Speedway on Friday night. Wheatfield, NY’s Pete Stefanski won his seventh KiPo Chevrolet Street Stock feature of the season, by commanding the field in the King of the Hill 100. Chad Desso from Wilson, NY won his sixth Gippsters Collision 4 Bangers feature of the season and clinched the track championship.

The #SL40 for the Bellinger Electric Inc (BEI) Lightning Series for the Investors Service Sportsman was brought to the green flag by 2018 Ransomville Speedway track champion Brett Senek and Dave DiPietro with DiPietro taking the lead. With DiPietro in the lead, 2017 BEI Lightning Series Champion and current Series points leader Chad Chevalier worked into second place. DiPietro and Chevalier battled for the lead and quickly would start to pull away from the field early on. Canadian driver Ryan Ferri barrel-rolled several times in turn one and two to bring out the red flag on lap 14. Ferri was alert and climbed out of the car under his own power. Once the field was back under the green flag, Chris Burek would move into second place and would start to go after DiPietro for the lead. At the halfway point, DiPietro and Burek would pull away from Chevalier, Brad Rouse, and polesitter Senek. After a multi-car incident on lap 21 bunched the field back together, Brad Rouse would move into third place as DiPietro and Burek continued to set the pace up front. The second half of the race saw James Michael Friesen and Kyle Inman on the move and challenging for the top five. Another car on the move was “The Lockport Lazer” Andrew Smith. DiPietro and Burek would battle all over the track throughout the event and in the end, it was DiPietro scoring the victory, his second Ransomville checkered flag of the season. Burek would settle for second with Andrew Smith, Brad Rouse and Chad Chevalier completed the top five. Runner-up finisher Chris Burek and third place finisher Andrew Smith were given the guaranteed starting spots for the 602 Winter Nationals at the North Florida Speedway in February 2019.

Pete and Jake Stefanski were on the front row for the KiPo Chevrolet Street Stock King of the Hill 100 as the Stefanski family swapped the lead several times early on as Jake took the lead off turn two on lap eight. Pete would regain the lead off a lap 14 restart as Pat Dell, Dave Small, and Pat O’Keefe raced in the top five. Pete Stefanski would continue to show the way at the races ¼ mark as Jake Stefanski was being pressured for second by Pat Dell. The races’ first half of the race was dominated by the Stefanski family as Pete was pulling away from the field. At the competition caution at the halfway break, it was Pete Stefanski leading Jake Stefanski, Pat Dell, Dave Small, and Pat O’Keefe in the top five. The second half of the race started out just like the first half finished, with Pete Stefanski showing the way over Jake Stefanski. Dave Small would take third place away from Pat Dell with Fontaine racing in fifth place. Fontaine would then go after Dave Small for third place as Pete Stefanski led his nephew by a full straightaway with 35-laps remaining. As Pete Stefanski dominated the event, Jason Fontaine caught Jake Stefanski and battled for second place. Jake would be able to hold off Fontaine as Dave Small caught Fontaine and tried to move back into the top three. Pete Stefanski dominated the event as he would go on to score the win, his seventh of the season, and go back-to-back in the Street Stock portion of the King of the Hill.

Chuck Cala and Chad Desso brought the Gippster’s Collision 4 Bangers to the green flag for their 2018 season finale with Cala showing the way early on as Ashley Blech battled with Desso for second early on. The top four of Cala, Desso, Blech, and Ryan Plante started to pull away from the field. Plante would get around Blech to take over third on lap eight. Desso would reel in Cala for the lead as Plante reeled in the lead duo on lap 12, setting up a three-car battle for the lead. Desso would take the lead away on lap 15. Desso would lead the final five circuits to score his sixth win of the season and clinch the track title.

NEWS AND NOTES: The BEI Lightning Series donated $600 in Sean Letts’s name to the NYS DEC Youth Summer Camp.

The Ransomville Speedway Awards Banquet will take place on Saturday, November 10th at the Lewiston #2 Fire Company. Jonsie will be the musical entertainment and the banquet will be catered by Donna Eick. Tickets are now on sale for the banquet by calling the Speedway Office at (716) 791-3602.

Now on sale as well is 2019 Season Passes. Contact the Speedway Office for more information and pricing. More news regarding 2019 Season Passes will be announced in the coming weeks.

RACE RESULTS –Investors Service, Bailey Brothers Landscaping, Firth Jewelers NIGHT SUMMARY

BEI Lightning Series: DAVE DIPIETRO, Chris Burek, Andy Smith, Brad Rouse, Chad Chevalier, James Michael Friesen, Kyle Inman, Dave Conant, Noah Walker, Jonathan Reid, James Henry, Robbie Johnston, Jim Harbison, Derrick Borkenhagen, Garrison Krentz, Kevin Wills, Brett Martin, Derek Wagner, Brett Senek, Cody McPherson, Cameron Tuttle, Adam Leslie, Ryan Ferri, Rob Knapp

Qualifying Winners: Dave DiPietro, Brett Senek, Chad Chevalier, Chris Burek

Low Cash Dash: Justin Sharp, Brian Harris, Orval Harris, Trevor Wright Did Not Start: Dustin Gorhan, AJ Custodi

KiPo Chevrolet Street Stocks: PETE STEFANSKI, Jake Stefanski, Jason Fontaine, Dave Small Pat Dell, Pat O’Keefe, Chris Dziomba, Mike Short, Anthony Guthrie, Jim Coble, Pete Reid, Dan Korpanty, Casey Jonathan, Jaren Israel, Joey Zimmerman, James Thompson

Qualifying Winners: Jason Fontaine, Pete Stefanski

Gippsters Collision 4 Bangers: CHAD DESSO, Ryan Plante, Steve Matson, Chad Lederhouse, Nick Tarnowski, Kenny Hejna, Chris Leone, Anthony Hermanson, Brandon Close, Matt Hornquist, Ashley Blech, Chuck Cala, Jason Harris, Cole Susice

Qualifying Winners: Ryan Plante, Ashley Blech

Track Champion: Chad Desso