Kenny Edkin Takes Super Sportsman Season Opener At BAPS Motor Speedway

Story By: KALI LANDIS / BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – YORK HAVEN, PA – Kenny Edkin indicated that he was getting used to staying home on the weekends and didn’t know if he wanted to come race.

It didn’t look like that way during Saturday’s BAPS Super Sportsman Season Opener at BAPS Motor Speedway. In fact, it looked like Edkin was in mid-season form and didn’t miss a beat from last season.

Edkin beat Frankie Herr to the front in the 25-lap main event and sped away to the victory by a healthy 3.198 seconds over the field. The win comes on the heels of a nine-win season and track championship.

“We didn’t quite finish 2019 the way we wanted to,” Edkin said. “I feel like we gave a win away the last race of the year in the Dirty 30, and I really dwelled on it a lot this Winter.

“We did a lot of testing at the beginning of the season before even going to race. Who though we would be having a season opener at the end of May? I was enjoying my semi-retirement, but we are back now, and it’s game on 110 percent.”

A fierce battle between pole-sitter Craig Morrow and Mike Enders developed over the first few circuits. Morrow got the early advantage, with Enders taking the lead on Lap 2 and opening a .356-second lead.

The first caution came on Lap 5. Matt Ondek, who started third and was running fourth, rolled to a stop on the speedway.

Edkin, who started fifth and struggled early, took advantage of the restart. He disposed of ninth-place starting Frankie Herr and Morrow to take second at the completion of Lap 6.

But, Enders was setting a pretty good pace. He held a .543-second lead with 10 laps to go before Edkins closed.

Edkin made the winning pass on the 16th circuit. The defending speedway champion got a good run through the third and fourth corner and blasted around the leader at the flagstand.

“I wasn’t really sure what was going on with the car the first five laps,” Edkin said. “I just couldn’t roll very well. I couldn’t get the right rear under me, and because the right rear wasn’t under me, the left rear wasn’t underneath me.

“It took a while to figure out what the car needed. Frank rolled by me, there, and showed me the middle. So, I started rolling the middle, and the car started getting really good.”

And it kept getting better.

Edkin dominated the last nine laps of the event and was never challenged. Herr took second from Enders on Lap 20, but he was forced to settle for second. Russ Mitten charged from 16th to fourth, with Scott Dellinger completing the top five.

“Once I got to clean air, I was able to roll the bottom like I did the middle and run where I needed to,” Edkin said. “Sometimes, I questioned if I was still shape enough to do it. I think I blew through the corner and missed the bottom only once, so I’m pretty pleased.”

Herr, Chase Gutshall, and Dellinger were heat winners for the 23-car field.

Troy Miller started on the outside pole and collected the victory in the 20-lap Creekside Auto Sales Limited Late Model main.

D.J. Mease got the jump on Miller at the start and led the first five laps. Miller stalked the leader and took the top spot away on Lap 6.

From there, Miller led the rest of the way. Chase Billet got around Mease for second and stayed there. Mease, Joey Hoffer, and D.J. Groff completed the top five. Billet, Miller, and Mease were heat winners for the 24-car field.

In the Mike’s Towing and Recovery and Frankie’s Used Auto Parts Street Stock division, Jasen Geesaman took the season opener.

Greg Diehl jumped out front to start the 20-lap event. Geesaman, who started fifth made his way toward the front in short order and took the lead on Lap 7.

Geesaman never wavered and took the win. Will Walls, Ryan Smith, Diehl, and Brian Walls completed the top five. Kody Sites, Diehl, and Chris Derr were heat winners for the 21-car Street Stock field.

Former 410 Sprint Car driver Austin Hogue earned the win in the Superior Homes Extreme Stock feature event.

Hogue started on the outside pole and survived multiple restarts to hold off Donnie Broderick for the 20-lap score. Michael Goodwin, Patrick McClane, and Scott Arnold completed the top five in the 15-car field. Broderick and McClane were heat winners on the evening.

BAPS Motor Speedway
Saturday, May 30, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAPS SUPER SPORTSMAN

Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 75-Kenny Edkin[5]; 2. 70D-Frankie Herr[9]; 3. 3B-Mike Enders[2]; 4. 77-Russ Mitten[16]; 5. 30-Scott Dellinger[7]; 6. 35-John Edkin[11]; 7. 6M-Craig Morrow[1]; 8. 8-Rich Eichelberger[10]; 9. 25-Bobby Hockenberry[17]; 10. 318-Steve Fannasy[14]; 11. 71K-Tyler Wolford[15]; 12. 360-Jay Fannasy[6]; 13. 7-Timmie Barrick[13]; 14. 5D-Luke Deatrick[4]; 15. 00-Troy Rhome[12]; 16. 10H-Dave Hollar[18]; 17. 38-Allan Hallman[21]; 18. 22-Daniel John[19]; 19. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[22]; 20. (DNF) 2M-Matt Ondek[3]; 21. (DNF) 1A-Chase Gutshall[8]; 22. (DNS) 19R-Eric Rutz; 23. (DNS) 6-Chris Meleason.

Lap Leaders – Craig Morrow (1), Mike Enders (2-15), Kenny Edkin (16-25)

Heat 1 (10 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 70D-Frankie Herr[2]; 2. 360-Jay Fannasy[4]; 3. 2M-Matt Ondek[8]; 4. 8-Rich Eichelberger[3]; 5. 7-Timmie Barrick[6]; 6. 77-Russ Mitten[7]; 7. 22-Daniel John[5]; 8. 38-Allan Hallman[1].

Heat 2 (10 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 1A-Chase Gutshall[2]; 2. 75-Kenny Edkin[7]; 3. 3B-Mike Enders[1]; 4. 35-John Edkin[4]; 5. 318-Steve Fannasy[3]; 6. 25-Bobby Hockenberry[5]; 7. 19R-Eric Rutz[8]; 8. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[6].

Heat 3 (10 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 30-Scott Dellinger[3]; 2. 5D-Luke Deatrick[4]; 3. 6M-Craig Morrow[7]; 4. 00-Troy Rhome[2]; 5. 71K-Tyler Wolford[5]; 6. 10H-Dave Hollar[6]; 7. (DNF) 6-Chris Meleason[1].

CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 115-Troy Miller[2]; 2. 22-Chase Billet[3]; 3. 18-Derrick Mease[1]; 4. 21-Joey Hoffer[4]; 5. 68-DJ Groft[9]; 6. 13X-Ben Whitaker[7]; 7. 88C-Chuck Cox III[6]; 8. 2T-Jon Lee[8]; 9. X4-Lou Egrie[12]; 10. 115S-Shaun Miller[14]; 11. 41-Jake Moser[18]; 12. 62-Devin Frey[16]; 13. 5-Charles Potts[13]; 14. 72-Wayne Pfeil[17]; 15. 5H-Dustin Hollinger[5]; 16. 112-Brandon Little[20]; 17. 21M-Matt Murphy[15]; 18. 79-Chase Bowsman[23]; 19. 9-Matt Adams[19]; 20. 77-Scott Dunham Jr[21]; 21. 12-Bobby Beard[11]; 22. (DNF) 85-Chad Earnst[10]; 23. (DNF) 711-Jennifer Hartz[22]; 24. (DNS) 116-Travis Mease.

Lap Leaders – Derrick Mease (1-5), Troy Miller (6-20)

Heat 1 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 22-Chase Billet[4]; 2. 21-Joey Hoffer[3]; 3. 13X-Ben Whitaker[8]; 4. 85-Chad Earnst[5]; 5. 5-Charles Potts[7]; 6. 62-Devin Frey[6]; 7. 9-Matt Adams[2]; 8. (DNF) 116-Travis Mease[1].

Heat 2 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 115-Troy Miller[1]; 2. 5H-Dustin Hollinger[3]; 3. 2T-Jon Lee[2]; 4. 12-Bobby Beard[5]; 5. 115S-Shaun Miller[6]; 6. 72-Wayne Pfeil[4]; 7. 112-Brandon Little[8]; 8. 711-Jennifer Hartz[7].

Heat 3 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 18-Derrick Mease[1]; 2. 88C-Chuck Cox III[2]; 3. 68-DJ Groft[7]; 4. X4-Lou Egrie[3]; 5. 21M-Matt Murphy[4]; 6. 41-Jake Moser[6]; 7. 77-Scott Dunham Jr[8]; 8. 79-Chase Bowsman[5].

MIKE’S TOWING & RECOVERY/FRANKIE’S USED AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 81-Jasen Geesaman[5]; 2. 21W-Will Walls[8]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith[11]; 4. 80D-Greg Diehl[1]; 5. 2W-Brian Walls[19]; 6. 64W-Stan Wanner[6]; 7. 7P-Jim Palm[4]; 8. 543-Eric Tripp[14]; 9. 94Z-Zachary Myers[12]; 10. 14-Kyle Saylor[9]; 11. 8-Sam Leonard Jr[18]; 12. 64-Brandon Wanner[7]; 13. 4J-Larry Hughes Jr[13]; 14. FOUR-Eddie Richards[15]; 15. 214-Kyle Sizemore[10]; 16. 72M-Russ Shoop[16]; 17. 18-Chris Derr[3]; 18. 14D-Justin Dashler[17]; 19. (DNF) 99K-Kody Sites[2]; 20. (DNF) 5W-Bud Witmer[20]; 21. (DNS) 5-Niklas Stoudt.

Lap Leaders – Greg Diehl (1-6), Jasen Geesaman (7-20)

Heat 1 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 99K-Kody Sites[3]; 2. 7P-Jim Palm[1]; 3. 64-Brandon Wanner[5]; 4. 214-Kyle Sizemore[7]; 5. 4J-Larry Hughes Jr[2]; 6. (DNF) 2W-Brian Walls[4]; 7. (DNF) 5W-Bud Witmer[6].

Heat 2 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 80D-Greg Diehl[2]; 2. 81-Jasen Geesaman[4]; 3. 21W-Will Walls[3]; 4. 59-Ryan Smith[7]; 5. 543-Eric Tripp[5]; 6. 72M-Russ Shoop[1]; 7. 8-Sam Leonard Jr[6].

Heat 3 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 18-Chris Derr[6]; 2. 64W-Stan Wanner[1]; 3. 14-Kyle Saylor[2]; 4. 94Z-Zachary Myers[3]; 5. FOUR-Eddie Richards[5]; 6. 14D-Justin Dashler[4]; 7. (DNF) 5-Niklas Stoudt[7].

SUPERIOR HOMES EXTREME STOCKS

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 25-Austin Hogue[2]; 2. 97-Donnie Broderick[4]; 3. 33-Michael Goodwin[5]; 4. 16-Patrick McClane[3]; 5. 1A-Scott Arnold[6]; 6. 357-Ronnie Buck[7]; 7. 97X-Paul Sylvester[8]; 8. 6G-Gordie Marshall[11]; 9. 7-Jordan Fulton[10]; 10. 98-Richard Daughtrey[9]; 11. (DNF) 91-Will Long[14]; 12. (DNF) 88-Justin Yohn[1]; 13. (DNS) 7F-Hunter Fulton; 14. (DNS) 25R-Roger Rhodes; 15. (DNS) 7JR-Johnny Palm; 16. (DNS) LAZY8-John Wright.

Lap Leaders – Austin Hogue (1-20)

Heat 1 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 97-Donnie Broderick[2]; 2. 25-Austin Hogue[7]; 3. 33-Michael Goodwin[6]; 4. 357-Ronnie Buck[4]; 5. 98-Richard Daughtrey[3]; 6. 7-Jordan Fulton[8]; 7. (DNF) 25R-Roger Rhodes[1]; 8. (DNS) LAZY8-John Wright.

Heat 2 (8 Laps/All Qualify to A Main) – 1. 16-Patrick McClane[4]; 2. 88-Justin Yohn[2]; 3. 1A-Scott Arnold[1]; 4. 97X-Paul Sylvester[6]; 5. (DNF) 6G-Gordie Marshall[3]; 6. (DNF) 7F-Hunter Fulton[5]; 7. (DNF) 91-Will Long[7]; 8. (DNF) 7JR-Johnny Palm[8].