9/4/2021
Oswego Speedway
Steffenhagen Secures Fourth Dave London Memorial Win Worth $4,000
By COLLEEN AND MEGHAN D’HONDT
OSWEGO, NY (September 6, 2021) - Classic Weekend! The weather was perfect, the pits were full, and the fans were treated to a great show. It was the 13th running of the DLM, and there were 42 Super Stocks on hand to compete for the coveted title of the $4,000 to win Dave London Memorial.
With 42 cars ready to do battle, there were six heats with the top two going to the redraw and the top four qualifying for the A-Main.
The heat winners were Mike Pollack, Bill Frisbie, Lee Sharpsteen, Jacob Gustafson, Jimmy Steffenhagen and Jim Yamelski.
Additionally, two provisional positions were awarded to Dylan Bancroft and Amber VanOrden. That left 16 drivers to battle it out in the B-Main for the last four spots that everyone had their eye on.
The 15-lap Shirley Zacharias Shootout saw Joel Gleason and Robert Fink lead the pack to the green. Gleason would lead the first few laps until he crashed in turn three while battling for the lead with the Wooly Bully car of Johnny Bennett.
Bennett would be victorious and given the choice to take the winner's purse of $717 or transfer to the A-Main. He, Chris Riendieu, Robert Fink, and Mike Hyman all chose to transfer to the A-Main.
This meant that 5th place finisher Seth Zacharias, grandson of Shirley Zacharias, would be pronounced the winner of the B-Main.
Several members of the Zacharias family were in attendance, including Seth’s Dad, Chris, who was calling the races for the night. He had the chance to interview his son in victory lane. Upon arriving in victory lane, Seth and Chris embraced for a long moment to collect their emotions. It was a wonderful victory lane celebration.
Evan Rygielski and Lee Sharpsteen led the field to the green for the 75-lap DLM XIII. Evan is the youngest driver on the circuit at just 14 years old and would be the early leader.
The first caution flew on lap 2 when Griffin Miller spun on the front stretch heading into turn 1.
On the restart, Rygielski maintained his lead and the crowd was treated to several battles throughout the pack.
The red flag would fly on lap 28 when heat winner Gustafson was battling for a top five position and spun in the middle of turns three and four.
Yamelski, Cole Hicks, Nick Robinson, and Eric Brown would not be able to avoid the melee that ensued and were all collected.
The green would fly again on lap 33 and now Steffenhagen would take over the lead from Rygielski.
Two laps later, the red lights were put back on for another incident in turn three that had involved Riendieu, Hyman, Frank Chapman, and Josh Hunter.
This pair of incidents led to heavy attrition as the 30 car field had dwindled down to 20 cars.
The lap 41 restart saw Steffenhagen gain a substantial lead over the pack. He would remain in the lead through lap 57 when the third red was thrown for another turn three accident.
Turn three claimed many cars during this race. This time, Eric Hadley, Nate Peckham and Jason Duke Sr. would not be able to return to the race after the damage from the wreck.
The final restart on lap 61 saw Steffenhagen, Rygielski, Jake Wylie, Mike Pollack, and Zach Willis battle it out for the win.
Rygielski and Wylie had a hard fought battle for second, exchanging the position several times throughout the last 14 laps.
Ultimately, Steffenhagen would claim his fourth overall DLM and the third in a row over Rygielski in second and Wylie in third.
After post-race tech inspection, the 51 of Pollack and 75 of Willis were credited with the second and third positions, moving everyone in the field up two spots.
Jody London of GTR Promotions raised all of the lap money and contingency awards for the event, bringing the total prize money to exceed $20k.
RESULTS
Budweiser Classic Week 65
Classic Friday
Sunoco New York Super Stock Series Dave London Memorial XIII
Friday, September 3, 2021
Oswego Speedway
Oswego, NY
Dave London Memorial XIII (75-laps): 1. 3 JIMMY STEFFENHAGEN, 2. 51 Mikey Pollack, 3. 75 Zach Willis, 4. 71Z Garrett Zacharias, 5. 8 Lee Sharpsteen, 6. 2 Bill Frisbie, 7. X Johnny Bennett, 8. 89 Frank Chapman Jr, 9. 36 Brian Hallett, 10. 51 Barrett Schenk, 11. 34 Charlie Sharpsteen, 12. 29 Dylan Bancroft, 13. 94 Billy Coyle, 14. 18 Jason Duke Jr, 15. 54 Amber Van Orden, 16. 90 Nate Peckham, 17. 13 Jason Duke Sr, 18. 71 Eric Hadley, 19. 4 Chris Riendieu, 20. 7 Josh Hunter, 21. 87 Mike Hyman, 22. 48 Eric Brown, 23. 5 Jacob Gustafson, 24. 46 Cole Hicks, 25. 98 Jim Yamelski, 26.15 Nick Robinson, 27. 9 Griffin Miller, 28. 23 Rob Fink DQ - 27 Evan Rygielski, 44 Jake Wylie
Shirley Zacharias Shootout (15-laps, 5 qualify): 1. 15Z Seth Zacharias, 2. 4VT Chris Riendieu, 3. 23 Robert Fink, 4. 87 Mike Hyman, 5. 15 Nick Robinson, 6. 11 Terry Cheetham, 7. 48 Jacob Christman, 8. 93 Andy Cocilova, 9. 13X Cameron Rowe, 10. 410 Steve Tito, 11. 99 Tim Faro, 12. 13H Brandon Oltra, 13. 6 Joe Miller, 14. 74 Paul Godby, 15. 25 Joel Gleason, 16. 90 Nate Peckham, DNS 29 Dylan Brancroft, 98 Scott Wylie 54 Amber VanOrden
Heat 1 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 51 Mikey Pollack, 2. 75 Zack Willis, 3. 89 Frank Chapman Jr, 4. 34 Charlie Sharpsteen, 5. 25 Joel Gleason, 6. 93 Andy Cocilova, 7. 13X Cameron Rowe
Heat 2 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 2 Bill Frisbie, 2. 46 Cole Hicks, 3. 9 Griffin Miller, 4. 18 Jason Duke Jr, 5. 23 Rob Fink, 6. 99 Tim Faro, 7. 410 Steve Tito
Heat 3 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 8 Lee Sharpsteen, 2. 7 Josh Hunter, 3. 44 Jake Wylie, 4. 90 Nate Peckham, 5. 29 Dylan Bancroft, 6. 74 Paul Godby, 7. 98 Scott Wylie
Heat 4 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 5 Jacob Gustafson, 2. 13 Jason Duke, 3. 71E Eric Hadley, 4. 15 Nick Robinson, 5. 4VT Chris Riendieu, 6. 6 Joe Miller, 7. 11 Terry Cheetham, 8. 13H Brandon Oltra
Heat 5 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 3 Jimmy Steffenhagen, 2. 27 Evan Rygielski, 3. 36 Brian Hallett, 4. 94 Billy Coyle, 5. 87 Mike Hyman, 6. 15Z Seth Zacharias, 7. 48 Jacob Christman
Heat 6 (8-laps, 4 qualify): 1. 98Y Jim Yamelski, 2. 71Z Garrett Zacharias, 3. 51S Barrett Schenk, 4. X Johnny Bennett, 5. 13H Brandon Oltra, 6. 54 Amber VanOrden
Submitted By: CAMDEN PROUD