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Dave Hess Jr. Steals the Show in Wild Stars & Stripes Showdown Finish at Genesee

BATAVIA, NY — The biggest event in the history of the Dirt Track at Genesee lived up to every bit of the hype Saturday night as Night #2 of the Stars & Stripes Showdown delivered edge-of-your-seat action, a massive crowd, and one of the most dramatic Super Late Model finishes the track has ever seen.

With a $6,000 payday on the line and perfect July weather, teams from across the region—stretching from Penfield, NY to Oakland, MD—rolled into Genesee County for a race night that won’t soon be forgotten. The event marked the highly anticipated return of Super Late Models sanctioned by the United Late Model Series (ULMS)—the first time they’ve graced the Genesee clay since 2021—and they did not disappoint.

Fans were treated early to blistering time trials where Logan Zarin of Hookstown, PA set quick time with a lap of 16.895 seconds. “I knew once we pulled that 4 we’d be pretty good,” Zarin said. “I raced a crate here about seven years ago—I’m just trying to re-learn it quickly.” Meanwhile, notable drivers Dave Hess Jr. (Waterford, PA) and Ryan Montgomery (Fairmont, WV) found themselves deeper in the field after qualifying 12th and 13th, respectively.

But the story changed quickly in the heats. Montgomery clawed from 5th to 2nd in his qualifier to get into the redraw. Zarin, Mason Zeigler, and Jon Lee each claimed heat race wins, while Hess missed the redraw by one position, placing him 9th on the starting grid for the 30-lap A-Main.

The opening lap of the feature saw chaos, as Jon Lee clipped the infield berm, spun out, and triggered a multi-car pile-up. Fortunately, all cars returned to action, and with ULMS rules requiring a full restart due to the incomplete lap, the field reset. Zeigler, out of Chalk Hill, PA, jumped to the lead on the restart—but it wasn’t smooth sailing. Cautions flew again early for incidents involving Michael Smith and Danny Snyder, then Dylan Cecce and Dave Stamm, and again on lap 11 for Chad Homan in turn four.

But the final 19 laps went green—and what a green-flag run it was. At the lap-11 restart, the top five ran Zeigler, Zarin, Brock Pinkerous, Michael Lake, and Hess. Pinkerous and Hess each gained ground, with Hess pulling off a slide job to get by Pinkerous in turns 3 and 4 with just two laps remaining. Zeigler, out front and trying to manage lapped traffic, was suddenly in danger.

Coming to the white flag, Zeigler chose the high side behind lap car Stamm. But on the final trip through turns three and four, Stamm also committed to the top—blocking Zeigler’s lane. That opened the door just enough, and Dave Hess Jr. didn’t hesitate—diving low and powering off turn four to steal the win at the line.

“I didn’t think we had a shot,” Hess said in Victory Lane. “It’s hard to pass these guys. Once I got to second I still didn’t think it’d happen, but Mason didn’t know where to go with the lapper and it all just worked out.”

Zeigler, who finished second, reflected on the heartbreak: “Yeah, it’s the way it goes sometimes. We went soft on tires and it was really starting to mess me up. I bobbed when I should’ve weaved.”

The Conte’s Auto Street Stocks saw Byron DeWitt and Mike Kelly lead the field to green, with DeWitt taking the early advantage. A lap-5 caution reset the field after a multi-car tangle in turns 1 and 2. On the restart, DeWitt briefly tangled with Brandon Sherwood, opening the door for Josh Pangrazio of Oakfield, NY to pounce. Pangrazio took over the lead and never looked back, claiming his fifth win of the season at Genesee. “Sometimes you just have to be opportunistic,” Pangrazio said. “Be patient, hit your marks, and let it come to you.”

In the Weis Performance Mini Stocks, it was all about Dylan Strade. After a tough start to the season full of mechanical gremlins, including loaning out his car the previous week only to see it win, Strade of Olean, NY, finally broke through. He led early from the pole, but with two laps to go, a yellow for Cody Wise nearly derailed the run. Strade’s car appeared to be leaking fluid, and officials temporarily halted the race to check. It turned out to be gasoline, and he was allowed to continue. With nerves high and two laps to survive, Strade held it together to score his first career feature win. “This means a lot,” said a visibly emotional Strade. “I couldn’t even crack a top 10 back in the day… then I got a top 3. It’s nice to finally be parked here.”

The Dan Kolb Family Automotive Sportsman feature capped the night with a caution-free thriller. John Venuto and Trevor Catalano led the field to green, and Venuto quickly set the tone. With cars spread across the fairgrounds, Venuto from East Bethany, NY built up a commanding lead, but Ray Bliss began closing in late. As Venuto got held up in lap traffic, Bliss gained time with each lap but ultimately ran out of track, finishing just 0.738 seconds behind. It was Venuto’s second win of the season. “I was just trying to pace myself,” Venuto said. “Didn’t hear anyone behind me, so I wasn’t trying to push too hard. This is fun, I’m glad to be back here with win number two.”

One of the biggest victories of the night wasn’t just in the pits—it was under the surface. Not a single feature car left the track on the hook, and across four main events, only five cautions were recorded. The track conditions were widely praised by drivers and fans alike—a testament to the dedication and expertise of the Genesee prep crew.

19 entries
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED

A Feature 1: 1. 8-John Venuto[1]; 2. 27Z-Ray Bliss[4]; 3. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[5]; 4. 00-Sam Hoxie[6]; 5. 11N-Ricky Newton[8]; 6. 41-Tony Pangrazio[10]; 7. 74-Taylor Vanderzanden[9]; 8. 45-Timmy Catalano[11]; 9. 28-Jordan Moden[7]; 10. 06-Tim Guild[14]; 11. 54N-Lucas Newton[12]; 12. 35-Joe Mickey[13]; 13. 25-Chris Hawkins[17]; 14. 1H-Rob Richmond[16]; 15. 36-Noah Pangrazio[18]; 16. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr[3]; 17. (DNF) 56-Trevor Catalano[2]; 18. (DNF) 04-Greg Mrzywka[15]; 19. (DNF) 3-Paul Marshall[19]
Heat 1: 1. 56-Trevor Catalano[5]; 2. 00-Sam Hoxie[2]; 3. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr[1]; 4. 28-Jordan Moden[8]; 5. 74-Taylor Vanderzanden[9]; 6. 45-Timmy Catalano[7]; 7. 35-Joe Mickey[4]; 8. 04-Greg Mrzywka[3]; 9. (DNS) 3-Paul Marshall
Heat 2: 1. 27Z-Ray Bliss[1]; 2. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[5]; 3. 8-John Venuto[3]; 4. 11N-Ricky Newton[6]; 5. 41-Tony Pangrazio[2]; 6. 54N-Lucas Newton[8]; 7. 06-Tim Guild[4]; 8. 1H-Rob Richmond; 9. 25-Chris Hawkins; 10. 36-Noah Pangrazio[7]

17 entries
STREET STOCKS

A Feature 1: 1. 7-Josh Pangrazio[6]; 2. 87-Brandon Sherwood[4]; 3. 34-byron dewitt[1]; 4. 0Z-John Zimmerman[7]; 5. 00-Damian Long[5]; 6. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[9]; 7. 84M-Mike Kelly[2]; 8. 717-Rich Conte[13]; 9. 17-Chuck Mogavero[11]; 10. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[15]; 11. 28-Trent Chamberlain[12]; 12. 2-Dale Rissinger[3]; 13. 1S-Dave Stolzenberg[8]; 14. 58-Carl Shetler Sr[17]; 15. 63-Mike Fellows[14]; 16. 0-Butch Zimmerman[10]; 17. 52-Nate Tabor[16]
Heat 1: 1. 34-byron dewitt[4]; 2. 2-Dale Rissinger[6]; 3. 7-Josh Pangrazio[7]; 4. 0Z-John Zimmerman[3]; 5. 2Q-Jesse Qutermous[8]; 6. 17-Chuck Mogavero[2]; 7. 717-Rich Conte[9]; 8. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[5]; 9. (DNF) 58-Carl Shetler Sr[1]
Heat 2: 1. 87-Brandon Sherwood[2]; 2. 84M-Mike Kelly[3]; 3. 00-Damian Long[6]; 4. 1S-Dave Stolzenberg[1]; 5. 0-Butch Zimmerman[4]; 6. 28-Trent Chamberlain[7]; 7. 63-Mike Fellows[8]; 8. 52-Nate Tabor[5]

15 entries
MINI STOCKS

A Feature 1: 1. 217-Dylan Strade[2]; 2. 16K-Robert Knapp[4]; 3. XXX-Eric Weis[8]; 4. 85-Seth Johnson[3]; 5. 58-Brian Johnson[5]; 6. 11-Eric Brumstead[1]; 7. 17-Racelyn Lippa[12]; 8. 7-Mike Becker[14]; 9. 10JR-Paige Gayton[9]; 10. 8W-Cody Wise[6]; 11. 02-Kevin Napier[11]; 12. 1-Kevin Bacon[7]; 13. 78S-Carson Shetler[13]; 14. XXXJR-Bradly Weis[10]; 15. (DNS) 85D-Brayden Davis
Heat 1: 1. 217-Dylan Strade[7]; 2. 8W-Cody Wise[1]; 3. 11-Eric Brumstead[3]; 4. 1-Kevin Bacon[5]; 5. 10JR-Paige Gayton[6]; 6. 02-Kevin Napier[4]; 7. 78S-Carson Shetler[2]; 8. (DNS) 85D-Brayden Davis
Heat 2: 1. 16K-Robert Knapp[2]; 2. 58-Brian Johnson[5]; 3. 85-Seth Johnson[3]; 4. XXX-Eric Weis[6]; 5. XXXJR-Bradly Weis[1]; 6. 17-Racelyn Lippa[4]; 7. 7-Mike Becker[7]

18 entries
DIRT SUPER LATE MODELS

TNT Pressure Washing ULMS - A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 44-Dave Hess Jr[9]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 3. 555-Brock Pinkerous[5]; 4. 27-Michael Lake[7]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 6. 2D-Dan Stone[4]; 7. 5L-Jon Lee[3]; 8. 12-Ryan Montgomery[6]; 9. 118-Matt Cochran[12]; 10. 22-Greg Oakes[11]; 11. 97-Kevin Smith[8]; 12. 44L-Dylan Lewis[15]; 13. 91-Chad Homan[13]; 14. 10S-Dave Stamm[17]; 15. 75-Jason Dobson[18]; 16. (DNF) 4S-Danny Snyder[16]; 17. (DNF) 96-Mike Smith[14]; 18. (DNF) 18-Dylan Cecce[10]
ULMS Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1Z-Logan Zarin[1]; 2. 12-Ryan Montgomery[5]; 3. 27-Michael Lake[3]; 4. 18-Dylan Cecce[2]; 5. 91-Chad Homan[4]; 6. 4S-Danny Snyder[6]
ULMS Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 2D-Dan Stone[3]; 3. 97-Kevin Smith[2]; 4. 22-Greg Oakes[4]; 5. 96-Mike Smith[5]; 6. 10S-Dave Stamm[6]
ULMS Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5L-Jon Lee[1]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[2]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[4]; 4. 118-Matt Cochran[3]; 5. 44L-Dylan Lewis[6]; 6. 75-Jason Dobson[5]

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