‘The Flying Squirrel’ Rocky Warner Victorious in Weedsport Napa Auto Parts Sportsman Shootout Feature Event; Claims Third Career Win at the Historic Facility
Story and Photos By: MATT NOLES / RACERSGUIDE.COM
SPRAKERS, NY- June 22, 2016- There are weeks where nothing seems to go right and at the same time there are weeks where you can seemingly do no wrong.
After coming off of a win Sunday night at the Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York, Rocky Warner headed back to the Weedsport Speedway Tuesday night in search of his second straight triumph in as many starts and his third career victory at the Cayuga County facility; as they say, ask and you shall receive.
After holding off a late-race charge by young gun, and fellow Fonda Speedway sportsman competitor Connor Cleveland, Warner stood atop the podium in front of a full grandstand and added to his already impressive career win total. As the 2016 season hits the midway point, Warner is now just hitting his stride.
“What really helped us tonight was the timed hot lap session instead of the draw,” stated Warner after his victory Tuesday night. “It gets all the fast guys up front so you know that if you’re quick, odds are you’re going to have an easy heat.”
In typical Warner fashion, his Jake Spraker owned sportsman was fast from the onset of the evening. Though he drove to the lead early on in his qualifying event, the Gloversville, New York native wasted no time on staying within the confines of his comfort zone.
“Once I got out front in the heat race I started searching for different lines,” continued Warner. “A lot of drivers will just run their line and win the heat race but if you start somewhere towards the back in the feature, you want to know what your car will do so I started to search around and tonight, this car would run anywhere. It was like driving a Cadillac.”
Though his No. 1J was undoubtedly in superb form, Warner was quick to acknowledge how important his third place starting position was for the 25-lap main event. “This class is tough and you can’t take anything for granted,” stated Warner. “The last time we were here we started 17th and finished second. Could we have come up through the field tonight and won? Possibly, but if you put someone like Connor [Cleveland] on the pole and me starting 12th, probably not.”
What Warner learned by searching for different lines during his qualifier very well might have been what made victory possible for the veteran driver at the conclusion of the event. On the final restart, Cleveland dove to the inside of Warner and if it weren’t for the experience of the former, the latter may have been atop Victory Hill on Tuesday night.
“I saw him on the inside of me after that last restart and I knew at that point that I had to go to the bottom,” Warner said. “I felt comfortable on the top and it was easy to run up there but I was getting right rear tight and as soon as I knew I was clear of him I drove to the bottom to protect the win. I couldn’t give a win away.”
Warner, who is coming off of a 29-win season in 2015, has been consistently fast every week in 2016 but regardless of his efforts, he seems to be coming up just short more often than not as of late. “I don’t expect to duplicate last year by any means,” Warner continued. “But I want to win some races and it’s been tough with rainouts and other factors.”
His lack of victories this season certainly aren’t due to a lack of effort on both his part and that of his crew and sponsors; simply enough, that’s just the nature of racing.
“We’re always searching for more speed,” stated Warner. “If you’re not and you settle in then the guys that used to finish behind you start beating you. We’re always working on the car, always putting in the time and probably more than most teams and sometimes it shows and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve had a lot of second place finishes and it seemed to be the norm there for about a month but now it feels like we’re starting to hit our stride.”
Warner’s success from the previous season isn’t the only thing that has carried over into 2016; his sponsors have as well. “You know, Jake Spraker gives me the best stuff and he gives me choices when it comes to which car we race and when,” said Warner. “Between him, Fox Racing Shocks, Fastline Performance, Wendy’s and Rick Eignor, they keep me going and keep me competitive. I’m living the dream where racing is concerned.”
All in all, especially with his victory Tuesday night, Warner is both upbeat and happy thus far in the season and as always, ready to get back behind the wheel as soon as possible. “I couldn’t be happier right now honestly,” concluded Warner. “I mean I wish we’ve won a few more races than we have at this point in the year but we’re definitely happy.”
Matt Noles is a contributing writer for Racers Guide, Speedway Illustrated and Dirt Track Digest. He currently resides in Sprakers, New York.
