East Smethport, PA (July 14, 2016):
Corporal Jason Dunham, a native of Scio, NY, the son of Daniel and Debra Dunham, died as a result of combat wounds incurred in Iraq as a result of heroic action to save other’s lives. He threw himself on a live grenade, saving the lives of several other marines. For his actions Dunham was posthumously awarded the “Congressional Medal of Honor” by President George W Bush in a ceremony on January 11, 2007. Dunham’s family received the medal. Dunham was a life-long race fan and the son of a racer.
Every summer McKean County Raceway celebrates the life of Corporal Dunham with a race for the Zimmer Service Center ULMS Late Models in his honor. This year’s event was held July 14 and was won by Dave Hess Jr after a wild event that featured close competition and a mechanical issue with only two laps remaining eliminating the race-long leader. Coincidently Hess’s second win of the season in the Terry Suppa-owned 44s came on Hess’s 32nd birthday.
Charles Powell Jr and Rob Blair brought the Super Late Model field to green with Dave Hess Jr and Bobby Rohrer in row two. Notable by his absence was Max Blair, whose car was torn up when a tire exploded while leading his heat. Rob Blair jumped to the lead as soon as green was shown with Powell second. At five laps in Blair had a half straight lead over Hess, just a nose in front of Powell. John Volpe and Greg Oakes filled out the top five at this point. Yellow flew at lap nine when Powell spun through the infield on turn four. Blair brought Hess, Volpe, Oakes, and Damian Bidwell back to green with Volpe getting by Hess on the first lap under green while Blair scooted out to a lead once more. At eleven complete Doug Eck had moved to fifth. At halfway the order was still Blair, Volpe, Hess, Oakes, and Eck. Using a lapped car as a pick Hess was able to get back by Volpe with five to go but Blair was running a very strong race, looking for yet another win. Another caution at lap 27 of the thirty lap affair slowed the event for the second time. The top five for the restart were Blair, Hess, Volpe, Damian Bidwell, and Eck. The restart didn’t last a lap when several cars got sideways, causing the starter to again slow the event. During the caution Breyton Santee came to a halt on the back straight and needed towed from the racing surface. At the end of the first lap back to green Bob Dorman, Brent Rhebergen, Josh Jacoby, and Mike Robinson all crashed in turn four coming to the two lap to go signal. With the leaders by the starter, the lap was deemed compete and the race was restarted with two to go. Under this caution the race took an unexpected turn as Rob Blair, the leader since the drop of the first green flag, pulled to the pits, leaving Dave Hess Jr the leader. Hess went on to the win on his 32nd birthday while Eck and Volpe raced side by side with Eck gaining the advantage on the final lap for second over Volpe, then Damian Bidwell, in his second start in the “back-up’ Oakes Super Late Model, and Greg Oakes fifth.
Zimmer’s Service Center ULMS Late Models:
Heat 1: Greg Oakes, Bobby Rohrer, Nathan Hill, Brent Rhebergen, Ted Gallagher, Mike Robinson
Heat 2: Dave Hess Jr, Doug Eck, John Volpe, Bob Dorman, Jason Dobson, Max Blair
Heat 3: Rob Blair, Damian Bidwell, Charles Powell Jr, Josh Jacoby, Joe Layfield, Breyton Santee
Feature: Dave Hess Jr, Doug Eck, John Volpe, Damian Bidwell, Greg Oakes, Nathan Hill, Rob Blair, Brent Rhebergen, Bob Dorman, Josh jacoby, Breyton Santee, Ted Gallagher, Mike Robinson, Joe Layfield, Jason Dobson, Charles Powell Jr, Bobby Rohrer, Max Blair (DNS)