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9/24/2022
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: Russ Mitten went through a gamut of mixed emotions in the aftermath of Saturday’s Super Sportsman main event at BAPS Motor Speedway.
On one hand, Mitten just polished off a dominating performance in the 25-Lap feature on Herr’s Chips Night at the speedway, earning his sixth win of the season. The downside was that it wasn’t enough to win the championship.
Still, you couldn’t argue with the speed. The Newville, Pa., ace had it early and often in an impressive romp from 10th to the front to secure the victory.
“We had a really good year, and I’m pretty happy,” Mitten said. “Obviously, I’m really disappointed about having a year like that and not winning the championship. I said some things [afterward] you shouldn’t and let my emotions take over. It caused a little bit of a raucous there that I’m not really proud of.
“I think we actually won by six seconds. What Kolten [Gouse] did with the track at intermission, coming out with the grater, it widened it out that you could race. It was heavy and wet and narrow, and he came out with the grater, and it really helped.”
Scott Dellinger finished second, with 12th-place starter Kenny Edkin completing the podium. The finish by Edkin was good enough to lock up the Super Sportsman championship.
Edkin finished the title march with four wins in 15 events. He also polished off an impressive 14 top five and 14 top-10 finishes.
“I’m definitely proud of the accomplishment,” Edkin said. “This season was a little different than past seasons. In 2019 and 2020, we came out of the gate swinging hard and won a lot of races. We won nine races in 2019 and seven in 2020, so we were dominant, and I don’t think you can argue with our stats.
“This year was more like a Frankie Herr-style championship run. I made noise when I needed to make noise, and we were just consistent. I would win a bunch of races and then junk a car trying to make something happen, or the wrong place at the wrong time. We didn’t have that this season.”
Edkin was consistent again, but Mitten was better on this night. And it didn’t take long for the Sportsman 100 champ to get to the front.
Mitten got an incredible start and was sixth after the first lap. He continued to pound the top and drove into second by the end of the fourth circuit.
“I was afraid at first, like, ‘Man, it’s going to be hard to get up through there and race,’” Mitten said. “Coming out with the grater really widened things out so you could race.
“The car ... it was just on point. The motor, the car, everything, it was just perfect, and I was able to drive up through those guys pretty easy. When I got to second, I knew I had the fastest car and was more patient than getting to that point. I knew I had the car to win, and I didn’t want to do something dumb.”
Mitten didn’t wait too long. He followed Steve Fannasy, who grabbed the top spot on Lap 2, for the next four
circuits before pulling the trigger on the high side of Turn 4 to wrestle the lead away on Lap 9.
Once out front, Mitten distanced himself from the field. His car was balanced and worked in all grooves, which allowed him to take the win by 5.761 seconds at the finish.
“I was rolling around there pretty much wide open in three and four and moving around in one and two,” Mitten said. “I was running the top and then ran the bottom some, just feeling it out to see if something was changing.
“Obviously, when you are out front, you don’t know who is close to you. I was around the top in three and four the whole race, but one and two, I moved to the bottom because it felt faster down there. It started to go away, and I went back to the top and used momentum the rest of the race.”
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 77-Russ Mitten[10]; 2. 30-Scott Dellinger[9]; 3. 75-Kenny Edkin[12]; 4. 383-Steve Fannasy[3]; 5. 00-Troy Rhome[5]; 6. 7-Timmie Barrick[11]; 7. 3B-Mike Enders[6]; 8. 222-Jay Fannasy[8]; 9. 360-George Riden III[2]; 10. 2M-Matt Ondek[16]; 11. 71K-Tyler Wolford[15]; 12. 21R-Jamie Rickert[17]; 13. 32-Gene Eppley[13]; 14. (DNF) 14-Nate Young[4]; 15. (DNF) 318-Davey Walsh[1]; 16. (DNF) 5D-Luke Deatrick[14]; 17. (DNF) 91-Lanny Hake[18]; 18. (DNF) 35-John Edkin[7]; 19. (DNF) 6S-Shane McConnell[19].
Lap Leaders: Davey Walsh (1), Steve Fannasy (2-8), Russ Mitten (9-25)
Super Sportsman Heat #1 (8 Laps): 1. 3B-Mike Enders[6]; 2. 383-Steve Fannasy[4]; 3. 222-Jay Fannasy[8]; 4. 35-John Edkin[7]; 5. 77-Russ Mitten[9]; 6. 318-Davey Walsh[2]; 7. 32-Gene Eppley[1]; 8. 71K-Tyler Wolford[5]; 9. 21R-Jamie Rickert[10]; 10. 91-Lanny Hake[3].
Super Sportsman Heat #2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Timmie Barrick[1]; 2. 14-Nate Young[4]; 3. 00-Troy Rhome[5]; 4. 30-Scott Dellinger[8]; 5. 360-George Riden III[3]; 6. 75-Kenny Edkin[9]; 7. 5D-Luke Deatrick[6]; 8. 2M-Matt Ondek[7]; 9. (DNF) 6S-Shane McConnell[2].
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