Larry Wight Comes From Deep In The Field For Fourth Fulton Speedway Modified Win; DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Showdown at Sundown 100 Thursday, June 27

Larry Wight Comes From Deep In The Field For Fourth Fulton Speedway Modified Win; DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Showdown at Sundown 100 Thursday, June 27

Story By: Dave Medler/Fulton Speedway

Photos By: Mike Johnson/RacersGuide.com

FULTON, NY – Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway Larry Wight from Phoenix, NY put win number four of the season in the record books and now will set his sights, with others on the Thursday, June 27th St. Lawrence Radiology ‘Showdown at Sundown’ 100-lap DIRTcar 358 Modified Series event on the ‘Highbanks’.

Wight would start 18th in the 35-lap Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified feature and would methodically work his way to the front, with his car working on every lane of the speedway, racing into the top-five. Wight then turned the pressure up, moving into third on lap 27, second on lap 28 and then on lap 29 he would make the winning pass driving by leader Dale Planck. Planck would fight back but Wight was too quick going under the checkers 0.885 of a second ahead Planck.

Other winners on Burdick Ford & McDonald’s® Restaurants Family Autograph night were, Austin Germinio & Matt Janczuk (DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman) Chad Homan & Bret Belden (Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Late Models) Richard Murtaugh III (E&V Energy Novice Sportsman).

Joe Shields and Jeff Sykes would lead the 25-car starting field down to the green with Sykes grabbing the early advantage in the 35-lap Modified feature.

Sykes would still be setting a fast pace out front at lap 10. Behind Sykes, Dale Planck, Nick Krause and Tim Sears Jr. ran under a blanket with Ron Davis III running fifth.

On lap 15 Planck erased Sykes’ advantage as they went under the starter’s stand side by side. One lap later, Planck drove under and by Sykes to be scored the new leader just short of halfway.

With 20-laps showing on the scoring tower, Planck, a 61-time Fulton feature winner opened about a ten-car length advantage over the tight battle behind him between Sykes, Sears and Davis.

The first caution of the race that would slow fast paced battles throughout the field came on lap 23.

With 10 laps to go everyone started showing their hand as Planck, Sears, Larry Wight, Krause, and Davis slugged it out, racing bumper-to-bumper and side-by-side as the final laps started clicking off the lap counter.

On lap 27 it was ‘Go time’ for Wight as he moved into third, then second on lap 28 and then set his sights squarely on Planck for the lead. It would take Wight just one more lap to drive into the top-spot.

Over the final laps, Dale Planck could keep pace with Larry Wight, but Wight was too quick as he went under the checkers 0.885 ahead of Planck. Tim Sears Jr., Nick Krause and Ron Davis III finished third through fifth.

The Sportsman impressed once again as 53-cars signed into the pits and set up two 25-lap features after the heat races.

In the first feature Brett Draper would take the lead bringing Austin Germinio with him as they were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field by lap 5 with Rick Miller, Jake Davis and Charlie Tibbitts showing in the top-five.

With 10 laps showing on the scoring tower, Draper still showed the way with Germinio, Miller, Wade Chrisman and Jake Davis still in contention at the front of the field.

On lap 13 Germinio saw an opening and was able to drive under and by Draper to be scored the new leader.

There would be a quick caution on lap 16 to slow the pace and give the field one last shot at the victory.

Over the remaining laps, Austin Germinio drove like a veteran and not a driver who was in the Novice Sportsman one season ago as he cruised to his first ever Fulton Speedway Sportsman win by 3.1 seconds over Zach Sobotka. Rick Miller, Wade Chrisman and Brett Draper finished third through fifth.

In the second 25-lap Sportsman feature Jeff Prentice would take the lead at the drop of the green and would be having a tight fight for the top-spot with Robert Gage by lap 5 with Rocky Grosso, Brandon Ford and Steve Marshall racing just behind the top-two.

The yellow flag would wave on lap 10 when Marshall spun in turn two collecting other cars who had nowhere to go.

With 10 laps to go Prentice still led but he had Ford all over his back bumper with Matt Janczuk joining the battle for the lead. Tyler Corcoran and Amy Holland were having strong races showing in fourth and fifth.

On lap 18 Janczuk took over second and then would need one more lap to take the lead.

Most figured Janczuk who already had two feature wins at the speedway would cruise to the win after taking the lead. Someone forgot to tell Brandon Ford.

Over the final laps Janczuk and Ford slugged it out running bumper-to-bumper and side by side that had the fans on the edge of their seats. Going into turns three and four on the final lap Brandon Ford executed a text book slide job on Matt Janczuk setting up a drag race out of turn four to the checkers. Janczuk was able to drive even with Ford going under the checkers in an almost photo finish for the win. Timing and scoring showed the difference was 0.016 of a second. Jeff Prentice, Amy Holland and Alan Fink finished third through fifth.

The Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models ran a pair of 20-lap features Saturday night.

In the June 1st holdover feature Kyle Sopaz took the lead at the drop of the green and would have a full straightaway lead by lap 5 with Chad Homan alone in second trying to chase down the leader. Kevan Cook and Jason Parkhurst battled side-by-side with Chris Fleming running third through fifth.

Sopaz still showed the way at the halfway point but Homan at that point was quickly cutting into the lead. Parkhurst, Cook and Fleming still showed in the top-five on the scoring tower.

The difference of the race was a caution on lap 18 setting up a green, white, checkers finish. On the restart Homan was able to drive under and by Sopaz and go on to the win by 1.098 at the checkers. Jason Parkhurst, Chris Fleming and Kevan Cook finished third through fifth.

The regularly schedule 20-lap Late Model feature is being called quite possibly the race of the year.

Lap after lap using every inch of the speedway racing just inches apart Bret Belden and Kyle Sopaz had everyone in attendance on the edge of their seat. The entire race came down to a drag race out of turn-four to the checkers that would see Belden grab the narrow win of just 0.031 of a second at the finish. Chad Homan, Jason Parkhurst and Chris Fleming finished third through fifth.

After the 20-lap battle royal Kyle Sopaz stopped in victory lane, got out of his car to congratulate Belden on his victory.

In the 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature Brandon Chretien would lead the opening 11 laps before Richard Murtaugh III took over the top-spot as he looked to run away and hide from the rest of the field.

In the closing laps Mike DeFreitas, who started last, put pressure on leader Murtaugh setting up a dash to the checkers. On the final lap exiting turn four, DeFreitas pulled even with Murtaugh in turn four setting up a drag race down the front straight that would see Murtaugh take the win by inches. Timing and scoring showed the difference was 0.047. Cody Manitta, Josh VanTassell and Riley Rogala finished third through fifth.

One of the must-see events on the Fulton Schedule takes place this Thursday, June 27 when the DIRTcar 358 Modified series invades the ‘Highbanks’ for the St Lawrence Radiology ‘Showdown at Sundown’ 100. The DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman will also be in action. The Sportsman will draw for heat race line-ups, every Sportsman will run a feature and it will be a show-up point event.

Adult grandstand admission is $22 with everyone 18 years old and younger admitted free. Pit admission is $40.

Pit gate will open at 3:00 pm, Grandstands 5:00 pm, Hot Laps 6:00 pm, 6:20 pm Time Trials, 7:00 pm Heat Races.

There will be no racing on Saturday, June 29 so fans and race teams can enjoy school graduations.

Any questions you might have about the 2019 racing season and for marketing opportunities, please contact Cory Reed at 315-593-6531 or cory@fultonspeedway.com .

For all the latest news go to www.fultonspeedway.com and like the track Facebook & Twitter pages.

McDonald’s® Restaurants & Burdick Ford Family Autograph Night June 22 Results
(Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds 35 Laps) – LARRY WIGHT, Dale Planck, Tim Sears Jr., Nick Krause, Ron Davis III, Jeff Sykes, Billy Whittaker, Tom Sears Jr., Rob Bellinger, Bobby Herrington, Tyler Trump, Jeremy Dygert, Pat Ward, Todd Root, Glenn Forward, AJ Kingsley, Joe Shields, Ben Bushaw, Billy Shantel, DJ Forbes, Brent Cross, Chris Hulsizer, Jeff McGinnis, Dave Marcuccilli, Jim Walsh.

(Larkin Mowing $50 Hard Charger) – Larry Wight

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #1 – 25 Laps) – AUSTIN GERMINIO, Zach Sobotka, Rick Miller, Wade Chrisman, Brett Draper, Jake Davis, Corey Barker, Bob Henry Jr., Charlie Tibbitts, Dylan Zacharias, Mike Button, Brandon Carvey, Addison Bowman, AJ Miller, Gavin Eisele, Willy Decker Jr., JJ Courcy, Isaiah Forward, Kyle Perry, AJ Filbeck, Rachel Zacharias, Kearra Backus, Ryan Dolbear, Michelle Courcy, Gregg Carner, Chuck Miller.

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #2 – 25 Laps) – MATT JANCZUK, Brandon Ford, Jeff Prentice, Amy Holland, Alan Fink, Tyler Corcoran, Tyler Murray, Chris Mackey, Rocky Grosso, Jessica Power, Robert Gage, Jackson Gill, Tom Juno, Mike Richmond, Jimmy Moyer, Casey Williams, Dorian Wahdan, Frank Sobotka, Chris Bonoffski, Joe Kline, Josh Amodio, Steve Marshall, Joe Sobotka, Torrey Stoughtenger, Mike Phelps, Ryan Gustin, Billy Sauve.

(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models 20 Laps) – BRET BELDEN, Kyle Sopaz, Chad Homan, Jason Parkhurst, Chris Fleming, Max Hill, Dale Caswell, Sean Beardsley, Matt Kitts, DNS Kevan Cook.

(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models June 1 Holdover 20 Laps) – CHAD HOMAN, Kyle Sopaz, Jason Parkhurst, Chris Fleming, Kevan Cook, Max Hill, Bret Belden, DNS Harry Halliday, Austin Hauser, Darin Horton.

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman 15 Laps) – RICHARD MURTAUGH III, Mike DeFreitas, Cody Manitta , Josh VanTassell, Riley Rogala, Justin Pier, Pat Nolan, Payton Talbot, Andrew Stadelmann, Larry Taylor, Mikey Wight, Joe Scrimale, Brandon Chretien.