---

Perfect Weather, Backpack Giveaway, and $1 Hot Dogs Highlight Saturday Night at The Dirt Track at Genesee

BATAVIA, NY – Race fans couldn’t have asked for a better night this past Saturday at The Dirt Track at Genesee with mid-70’s temperatures and cloud cover making for perfect racing weather. 65 backpacks were also handed out to Primary and Intermediate students in attendance, and fans enjoyed $1.00 Sahlen’s Hot Dog Night while watching a full night of racing action.

Steffen Breaks Through in Novice Sportsman
All season long, Guy Steffen has been knocking on the door in the Blue Diamond Racing Products Novice Sportsman division with two runner-up finishes, a third, and three heat wins to his credit. But the elusive feature win had slipped away—until Saturday night. Starting in the third position, the Albion, NY driver quickly moved into second and then worked his way past Cole Susice for the lead. Point leader Matt Radzio clawed his way back to second and put the pressure on, but Steffen held strong to score his first win of the season.

Pangrazio Wins on His Own Night in Street Stocks
The Conte’s Auto Street Stocks took center stage next with Mike Kelly and Jesse Qutermous leading the field to green. Qutermous led early until Carl Shetler took command on lap four, but a bobble just two laps later allowed Josh Pangrazio of Oakfield, NY and Byron DeWitt to slip by. Pangrazio built up a 1.659-second advantage by lap 10, but DeWitt wasn’t going away. The two battled side-by-side on lap 16, with Pangrazio holding the lead by just 0.221 seconds. A late caution with two laps remaining gave DeWitt one more chance, but Pangrazio nailed the restart and captured his sixth win of the season at the speedway—fittingly on Josh Pangrazio Racing Night.

Weis Charges From 11th to Victory in Mini Stocks
In the Weis Performance Mini Stocks, point leader Robert Knapp and Seth Johnson started on the front row, but the story was Eric Weis of Castile, NY. After starting deep in 11th, Weis charged through the field and was already in second by lap two. When Knapp suffered a flat tire on lap five, Weis inherited the lead and never looked back, leading the final 10 laps to score his third win in the last four weeks. In Victory Lane, Weis shared, “It’s been a rough week after the wreck last week, we had a lot of help with this car. I can’t do it without any of our guys helping.”

Conant Patiently Claims Sportsman Feature
The Kolb Family Automotive Sportsman main event saw Gordy Hermanson and Brandon Michaud lead the field early, but Dave Conant of Lockport wasted no time charging forward. After moving past Michaud, Conant pressured Hermanson and made the winning pass on lap three. From there, Conant controlled the remaining 22 laps to pick up his second win of the season. “We have a really good car here,” Conant said in Victory Lane. “I just had to be patient and hope I didn’t miss an opportunity.”

Shetler Scores Again in Bandits
In the Radiators Plus Bandits, Brayden Bronschidle and Carson Shetler started on the front row. Mechanical trouble sidelined both Bradley Weis and Bronschidle in the early going, leaving Shetler in control. The Oakfield, NY driver went on to capture his third win of the season.

Holmes Smooth in RUSH Late Models
The Callahan Towing RUSH Late Model feature closed out the night with Paul Grigsby and Doug Ricotta starting up front. Grigsby grabbed the early lead but spun in turn three on lap three, handing the top spot to Bill Holmes of East Concord, NY. From there, Holmes never faltered, cruising to his second win of the season in his Longhorn Chassis. “I was just trying to keep as smooth as I could,” Holmes said. “Winning is huge—it takes a lot. There are a lot of good guys racing here.”

Championship Night Next Week
This coming Saturday will be Championship Night with double points on the line, presented by BW’s Restaurant & Banquet Facility. The night will also feature the Gene DeWitt Memorial for the Street Stocks with extra money up for grabs. Point battles remain tight in several divisions, with Dave DuBois holding an 18-point lead over Doug Ricotta in the RUSH Late Models, Robert Knapp II ahead of Seth Johnson by just 7 points in the Mini Stocks, and Matt Radzio leading Lucas Newton by 28 in the Novice Sportsman. Phil Vigneri III (Sportsman) and Josh Pangrazio (Street Stocks) simply need to take the green to clinch their titles, while Carson Shetler has already locked up the Bandits championship.

Photo Credit: Evie Fanton (Woah Nellie Productions)

8 entries
Novice Sportsman
A Feature 1: 1. 2-Ernest Steffen[3]; 2. 04-Matt Radzio[2]; 3. 117-Jonathan Almekinder[4]; 4. 54N-Lucas Newton[5]; 5. 198-Cole Susice[1]; 6. 3-Paul Marshall[6]; 7. X-Jericho Gurney[8]; 8. 518-Garrett Williams[7]

17 entries
Street Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 7-Josh Pangrazio[3]; 2. 34-byron dewitt[5]; 3. 00-Damian Long[8]; 4. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[4]; 5. 717-Rich Conte[9]; 6. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[2]; 7. 84M-Mike Kelly[1]; 8. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[15]; 9. 2-Dale Rissinger[6]; 10. 63-Mike Fellows[14]; 11. 05-Jeff Almekinder[13]; 12. 17-Chuck Mogavero[11]; 13. 71-Donald Almekinder[10]; 14. Z15-Zachary Walsh[7]; 15. 52-Nate Tabor[12]; 16. 10-Russell Nash[17]; 17. 5-Joey Zimmerman[16]

11 entries
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. XXX-Eric Weis[11]; 2. 17-Racelyn Lippa[3]; 3. 16K-Robert Knapp[2]; 4. 58-Brian Johnson[6]; 5. 85-Seth Johnson[1]; 6. 10JR-Paige Gayton[4]; 7. 29-Chris Skobjak[7]; 8. 7-Mike Becker[5]; 9. 55S-Joey Swick[10]; 10. 02-Kevin Napier[9]; 11. (DNS) 26-Amber Lang

18 entries
Sportsman Modified
A Feature 1: 1. 44-Dave Conant[3]; 2. 132-Brandon Michaud[2]; 3. 00-Sam Hoxie[8]; 4. 27Z-Ray Bliss[9]; 5. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr[1]; 6. 8-John Venuto[13]; 7. 36-Noah Pangrazio[7]; 8. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[16]; 9. 69V-Tony Velez[4]; 10. 35-Joe Mickey[10]; 11. 41-Tony Pangrazio[15]; 12. 1H-Rob Richmond[12]; 13. 25-Chris Hawkins[11]; 14. 04-Greg Mrzywka[14]; 15. 11N-Ricky Newton[5]; 16. 42-Colby Adamczak[6]; 17. 518-John Williams[17]; 18. (DNS) 55-Dillon Adamczak

3 entries
Bandits
A Feature 1: 1. 78S-Carson Shetler[2]; 2. 44-Bradly Weis[1]; 3. 64-Brayden Bronschidle[3]

10 entries
RUSH Late Model
A Feature 1: 1. 8-Bill Holmes[3]; 2. 01-Doug Ricotta[2]; 3. 24-Paul Grigsby[1]; 4. 1-Bill Taylor[5]; 5. 21B-Billy DuBois[7]; 6. 78H-Micheal Hetzel[9]; 7. 22-Jimmy Button[10]; 8. 85-Jon Rivers[4]; 9. 91-Chad Homan[6]; 10. 012-Dave DuBois[8]

---

Back to News