Crawson’s Awesome In Bethel’s Asphalt Mod Feature; Yannone Tough To Beat In 602 Sportsman

Story By: BETHEL MOTOR SPEEDWAY – WHITE LAKE, NY – Beautiful Indian Summer weather greeted attendees for Bethel’s autumn afternoon of racing. Championships intensified in several divisions and tempers flared in other classes, but it was short track racing at its finest as many finishes came down to mere inches at the finish line.

Mac Crawson led every lap en route to a shocking first feature win of the season in a dominant performance coming from a car that he has limited seat time with. While Crawson led with a comfortable margin the racing was intense as John Cote, Mike Dutka, and Ed Dachenhausen put on some fierce side by side racing as they competed for the lucrative track title. Fred Nees Jr also authored in a strong run holding second place until lap 13 when Cote capitalized as Nees slipper ever slightly. The final two laps found Dachenhausen burning the wick advancing several important positions into third position as the race came to the checkers. Unofficially Dutka goes into the final weekend two points ahead of Cote, with Dachenhausen still a title contender twenty points back.

602 Sportsman found an all rookie front row with Chris Peloso and Kyle Dunham coming to green. Veteren hotshoe Bill Deckelman quickly minced the rookies to take the lead with Jamie Yannone and Ed Dachenhausen quickly getting through traffic. The caution free event found Deckelman leading until lap 7 when Yannone took full advantage running the extreme low side coming out of turn two with his signature pass as Deckelman slid up just slightly yielding the lane to Yannone. Lap 12 found Dachenhausen doing a similar pass on the inside of turn two to take second from Deckelman. Yannone then rode to new heights as he recorded his seventh 602 Sportsman win of the season in his Yannone Enterprises # 21.

The speedway’s street stock class always proves to be one of the most exciting each week. Ray Tarantino led the field to the green but Joel Murns and Curt Ayers split Tarantino going down the backstretch to move into the two top positions. Murns and Ayers continued to lead battling door handle to door handle with Murns maintaining a slight edge over Ayers. Walt Henry then got by Ayers to take second position on lap 7 and began to close in on Murns as they began to encounter lapped traffic. Murns continued to fend off Henry for many laps but with two laps to go Murns left open the inside lane coming off turn 4. Henry stormed into the opening and performed a bull charge down the front chute to take command of the lead over Murns. The final lap saw championship contenders closing in on Murns while Henry picked up his first feature win of the season. Morris nipped Murns by mere inches at the finish line to take second with Welsch finishing fourth. The championship battle is a close one as unofficially Morris goes into the final points night with only an eight point lead over Welsch.

Pro Stock feature racing found Joel Murns shuffling to take the early lead with Walt Henry and Gary Ronk chasing him. A restart on lap 5 found Ronk making a pass on the leader Murns. Ronk continued to lead until the halfway point when seventh position starting Butler moved into contention and began to pressure Ronk for the lead. One lap later Butler worked into first and cruised to victory for his seventh of the season while Ronk and current point leader Joe Barnes put on a multi-lap battle for second but Ronk defended well and held on to second place at the checkers.

Former track champion Tasha Travis avoided some early race skirmishes and held off Mike Travis and Tisha Curry in the second half of the race to pick up her second feature win of the season over M. Travis and Curry.

Bethel top gun Ed Butler dominated the full fender frenzy as he easily beat Gene Morton and Kyle Welsch in the special 50 lap race.

Enduro racing was fast and furious but it was enduro stalwart Mike Travis taking home the victory over formidable challengers Jerry Kingeter and Joe Smith.

Novice Pure Stocks found Marcus Small put on a race long duel with Alberto LaLane before picking up his first career win over LaLane and Brandon Kinner.

10/10/20 Results:

Asphalt Modified Feature: 1. Mac Crawson, Long Eddy, NY 2. John Cote 3. Ed Dachenhausen 4. Mike Dutka 5. Dan Archiere 6. Skip LaPolt 7. Fred Nees Jr. 8. Stephen Kammer 9. Rick Bradley 10. John Hager 11. Larry O’Donnell

602 Sportsman Feature: 1. Jamie Yannone, Newburgh, NY 2. Ed Dachenhausen 3. Bill Deckelman 4. Kyle Dunham 5. Chris Peloso 6. Joe Knoth 7. Shawn Johannessen

Street Stock Feature: 1. Walt Henry, Walden, NY 2. JB Morris 3. Joel Murns 4. Kyle Welsch 5. Curtis Ayers 6. Gene Morton 7. Dave White 8. Scott Sepe 9. Keith Henry 10. Ray Tarantino 11. Phil Funcheon 12. Dan VanAken 13. Don Rosinski DNS. Ernie Millon

Pro Stock Feature: 1. Ed Butler, Bethel, NY 2. Gary Ronk 3. Joe Barnes 4. Joel Murns 5. Brandon Decker 6. Walt Henry 7. Phil Funcheon 8. Jenn Bradley 9. Dave White DNS. Bill VanAken

Four Cylinder Feature: 1. Tasha Travis, Neversink, NY 2. Mike Travis 3. Tisha Curry 4. Dan Houghtaling 5. Nicole Nelson 6. Richard Smith 7. Harold Kinner 8. Joe Smith 9. Robert Beach 10. Vinny DeGraw 11. Jerry Kingeter

Full Fender Frenzy Feature; 1. Ed Butler, Bethel, NY 2. Gene Morton 3. Kyle Welsch 4. Joe Smith 5. Walt Henry 6. Joel Murns 7. Mike Travis DNS. Dave White DNS. Dan VanAken DNS. Gary Bell

Enduro Feature: 1. Mike Travis, Liberty, NY 2. Jerry Kingeter 3. Joe Smith 4. Richard Smith 5. Ernie Millon 6. Walt Henry 7. Dan Knoth 8. Gene Morton 9. Dennis Hummel 10. Marvin Depuy

Novice Pure Stock Feature 1. Marcus Small, Rock Hill, NY 2. Albert LaLane 3. Brandon Kinner 4. Fawn Card