Brian Malcolm Earns $2,555 With Great Crate Race Win; Crowned Fall Series Champ At Five Mile Point
News Director 
Story By: FIVE MILE POINT SPEEDWAY – KIRKWOOD, NY – Brian Malcolm bested a stellar field of the northeast’s top Crate Sportsman drivers to win the Bobcat of Binghamton “Great Crate Race” at Five Mile Point Speedway on Saturday. The win netted the 2021 Fall Championship Series Title and $2,555 for the victory in the 55 lap race. Matt Roberts took the top honors in the Street Stock division over an impressive field of drivers.
By virtue of the re-draw Brian Malcolm and Jimmy Zacharias sat on the front row for the start of the 55 lap Insinger Performance Crate Sportsman feature. Zacharias utilized the racy outside of the speedway to immediately jump out to the race lead at the start. Three wide battles took shape right from the start all over the speedway and to the credit of the drivers the racing was clean and smooth. As Zacharias led Malcolm stayed within distance as Tim Guild, Ted Morseman and Massachusetts driver Jeff Gallup ran in fifth. Several drivers were on the move from deep in the field as the race remained green. Tommy Collins, Mike Nagel, Seth Zacharias, Rusty Smith, Travis Green and Bobby Hackel were all slicing their way through the pack.
On lap 7 Malcolm worked past Zacharias for the race lead. By lap 15 the top five had remained unchanged but Seth Zacharias was now sixth after starting twelfth. Collins was seventh, Alex Konopka was eighth after starting eighteenth. Nagel and Jeff Higham were ninth and tenth. On lap 16 Craig Whitmoyer became the first retiree from the event as he headed to the pits. The racing remained green as the leaders began to enter lapped traffic. On lap 21 eighth place starter Scott Landers pulled pit side as the racing still remained caution free. Ray Swinehart dropped to the infield on lap 26 and Adam Gilbert pitted on lap 27. At the halfway point twenty of the original twenty-four starters were on the track as the race was still caution free.
Out front Malcolm was engaged in heavier lapped traffic as Jimmy Zacharias hoped to take advantage of it. The first caution of the race flew on lap 31 as Jared Labagh slowed with a flat tire. The top five now consisted of Malcolm, Jimmy Zacharias, Gallup, Guild and Seth Zacharias. At this juncture Rusty Smith was still sitting outside of the top ten but he would use the final 14 laps to make a charge forward. When racing resumed Malcolm checked out from Zacharias as Gallup settled in to third place and Seth Zacharias began to battle with Guild for the fourth slot. On lap 33 Smith broke into the top ten as he found his groove on the quarter mile. The deck was shuffled as the caution flew again on lap 41. Bobby Hackel had advanced from the twenty-second starting spot to seventh when contact from Nagel sent him spinning in turn three. The balance of the race would go caution free. Attrition began to take its toll as Blaine Klinger and Konopka dropped out on laps 47 and 48 respectively.
During the final green flag laps Malcolm continued to lead but Zacharias looked to be closing the gap slightly as battles continued all over the quarter mile. On lap 43 Seth Zacharias took over fourth position from Guild and one lap later Smith followed suite breaking into the top five. At the finish it was Malcolm earning his second Fall Championship Series win in the Konopka Racing machine. Jimmy Zacharias had another solid run in second with Gallup finishing third in his first ever visit to the speedway. Seth Zacharias and Rusty Smith completed the top five. Guild, Collins, Morseman, Travis Green and Leo McGurrin completed the top ten. Malcolm was crowned the 2021 Fall Series Champion.
Alan Komar won the MJR Grafix Last Chance Qualifier for Sportsman. He had the choice of taking $200 or entering the 55 lap feature. Komar opted to take the money after the victory in the 12 lap event. Marty Kelly III and Brian Calabrese finished second and third.
Abe Romanik and Bill Nichols led the twenty-car starting field to the green in the 25 lap Street Stock Fall Series Finale. At the drop of the green Bill Nichols raced out to the lead but the race was quickly slowed for a caution. Jerry Lobdell, who entered the night undefeated in the Fall Series races was involved in the jingle and went to the pits with front end damage. Lobdell did return prior to the drop of the green. When racing resumed Rich Green charged to the race lead using the outer limits of the speedway. Green was on rails as he quickly opened his advantage over Nichols. On lap 5 Matt Roberts made his way past Nichols for the second position and quickly began to close in on the race leader. It would only take a lap and a half and Roberts worked underneath Green for the race lead. Just two laps later Green would slow on the speedway with mechanical issues. This put Doug Stack, Sr. up to second place after starting sixth. When the green flew again Roberts pulled away from the field. Lobdell had worked his back up to third place by lap 12 after pitting and had a great battle with Stack for second. Gene Sharpsteen ran fourth waiting for any errors. On lap 17 Lobdell took over second place with the hopes of sweeping the Fall Series. Roberts had other ideas driving a flawless balance of the feature event which went caution free for the final 13 laps. Roberts would take the win with Lobdell finishing second. Stack claimed third at the wire with Gene Sharpsteen and Nick Robinson completing the top five. Lobdell was crowned the 2021 Fall Series Champion.
COUNTER POINTS…150 race teams converged on the rescheduled season finale at Five Mile Point Speedway which included 43 Crate Sportsman teams…The November 6th event marked one of the latest held at the speedway over 71 seasons…A beautiful day turned into a very cold night but that did not slow the great racing on the track as the action took place virtually non-stop among the divisions…The fields were dotted with some great talent and interesting stories…Drivers came from six different states and included Modified drivers and a number of drivers with pavement racing experience…Four of the top five finishers in the Great Crate Race have asphalt racing backgrounds and experience…Nick Robinson who finished fifth in the Street Stock feature ran in a number of classes this year including 600 Modifieds on dirt, Asphalt Sportsman and Super Stocks…Seth Zacharias had the distinction of running at Oswego Speedway on both the pavement series this fall in the Super Stocks and on dirt in the Crate Sportsman class…Fall Series Championships were decided in all of the classes with the Small Car portion of the racing program occurring during the afternoon hours of the day…All of the racing was in the books at 9:30 p.m…
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON CRATE SPORTSMAN GREAT CRATE RACE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (55 LAPS): BRIAN MALCOLM ($2,555), Jimmy Zacharias, Jeff Gallup, Seth Zacharias, Rusty Smith, Tim Guild, Tommy Collins, Ted Morseman, Travis Green, Leo McGurrin, Jared Labagh, Will Shields, Jeff Higham, Rich Powell, Nick Mady, Alex Konopka, Blaine Klinger, Mike Nagel Jr., Bobby Hackel, Matt Brewer, Adam Gilbert, Ray Swinehart, Scott Landers, Craig Whitmoyer. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: BRIAN MALCOLM.
DNQ – Meckenzie Marsh, Alan Fink, Steve Schrader, Frank Frasco, Kasey Hufcut, Mikey Travis, John Bush, Jason Feinberg, Marty Kelly III, Randy Brokaw, Jeff Austin, Brian Calabrese, Eddie Owens, Tom Hampton, Michael Ballester, Alan Komar, Brandon Loucks, Dan Hineline, Ray Bliss.
MJR GRAFIX LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER: ALAN KOMAR ($200), Marty Kelly III, Brian Calabrese. American Racer Tire Draw Winners: Brian Calabrese, Brandon Loucks.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON STREET STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (25 LAPS): MATT ROBERTS, Jerry Lobdell, Doug Stack Sr., Gene Sharpsteen, Nick Robinson, Bill Nichols, Jakob Ingham, Shane Wolf, Abe Romanik, Mike Wilbur Jr., Lenny Miller, Don Russell, Brad Hurlburt, Bill Morrow, Tyler Stoddard, Mike Wilbur Sr., Rich Green, Doug Stack Jr. DNS – Mike Morse, Charlie Towner. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: JERRY LOBDELL.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON FACTORY STOCK OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): BOB MILLS, Rich Sharpsteen, Brandon Conklin, Casey McPherson, Kurtis Stickle, Kevin Welch, Rick Sinsabaugh, Bubba Peters, Glen Aumick, Josh Vanderpool, Blake Furman, Carter Bixby, Josh Sharpsteen, Jason Beebe, Sheldon Whitman, Buck Mills Sr. DNS – Rick Glover, Justin Slezak. $100 Bonus – Brandon Conklin. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: CASEY MCPHERSON.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON FUTURES CRATE SPORTSMAN (20 LAPS): CHUCK CULBERTSON, Luke Powell, Brad Cordova, Lance Hill, Michael Zuk, Gordon Smith, Cody Cordova, Hayden Coons, Matt Martino, Ned Fitch. DNS – Josh Fedo. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: CHUCK CULBERTSON.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON 600 C.C. MODIFIED OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): JARED GREEN, Jake Waibel, Tracy Oliver, Josh Towner, Dakota Anderson, Jeff Baldwin, Nick Kennedy, Jarrod Myers, Nick Johnson, T.J. Smith, Tyler Stoddard, Kenny Harris. DNS Larry Furman. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: JOSH TOWNER.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER EXPERT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): DAVE SIMMS ($500), Tim Vandermark, Jeff Degroat, Travis Hayes, John Baker, Doug Newbigging, Josh Torrence, Jason Bartsch, Shaun Furman, Chris Hall, Kevin Whitman, Dylan Strade, Rich Wagner, Audrey Kreamer, Billy Colwell. DNS – Kenny Underwood. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: DOUG NEWBIGGING – FANTASTIC FIVE CHAMPION: DAVE SIMMS.
BOBCAT OF BINGHAMTON FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOUR CYLINDER NOVICE OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS): SCOTT BEACH, Gregg Slater, Dakota Fuller, Austin Slater, Ethan Maynard, Gary Nixon. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: DAKOTA FULLER.
BOB CAT OF BINGHAMTON ALL-STAR SLINGSHOT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS): JOSH LANDERS, Kirsten Swartz, Tyler Holcomb, Ashton Dewitt. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: JOSHUA LANDERS.
JUNIOR SLINGSHOT OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS): AVERY DECKER, Kirsten Swartz, Josh Landers, Jakoby Thompson, Sullivan Dickey. 2021 FALL SERIES CHAMPION: AVERY DECKER.
HALLOWEEN CAR GRAFIX DESIGN CONTEST: TYLER HOLCOMB, Ned Fitch, Casey McPherson. Dakota Fuller, Gary Nixon, Ethan Maynard.
