Column By: TOBY LAGRANGE / RPW – FULTONVILLE, NY – After nearly a two month wait, the full fender stars of the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series returned to action with the second round of the ten-event series.
The series kicked off at the Can-Am Speedway back in the month of May with Tyler Bushey picking up the win.
Bushey and his counterparts headed to the small, Mohawk Valley town of Glen, New York and the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park for round number two. In all, 20 drivers made their way to The Ridge on Sunday afternoon. Three timed hot lap sessions, three heat races and a draw set the lineup for the 30-lap feature event.
The race looked to be four-time Glen Ridge Track Champion Luke Horning’s. The Gloversville driver battled with second place runner Bruno Richard for most of the race, eventually taking the lead not long before the lap that changed the race – lap 26.
On lap 26, Horning attempted to pass a pair a lapped cars that were running side by side in front of him. He looked low under Lebanon Valley Speedway regular Nick Hilt and contact was made, resulting in Horning suffering a flat tire.
This gave the lead to Quebec’s Richard, who held on for his first DIRTcar Pro Stock Series win. Horning returned for a sixth-place finish.
“This means so much, I’m doing a lot of traveling and wanted to do the Series this year,” Richard, the 2020 DIRTcar Pro Stock Rookie of the Year, said proudly. “Now to get a Series win with such a small team. This is special.”
Richard would continue.
“I’ve learned to slow down and take my finishes as I get them,” he said. “If I finish second, third, 10th it doesn’t matter as long as the car goes on the trailer. But I think with me thinking that way it’s also making me win. We will keep going and hope for more good races.”
Second generation driver Kevin Fetterly, Jr., finished a strong second at the end of the 30-lap grind despite starting in the 17th position.
“Wow! What a race and man this place is so much fun!” an excited Fetterly said. “My car was awesome, and I was just getting better and better each lap. I don’t think I had anything for them (Richard and Horning) but I know I was getting faster.”
Coming into Sunday nights action Scott Towslee sat fifth in the Albany-Saratoga Speedway DIRTcar Pro Stock standings. The second-generation driver out of Vermont represented The Great Race Place well with a hard fought third place finish.
“I enjoy the traveling and seeing different tracks,” Towslee said. “Yeah, there’s a bunch of travel and all of them are far away but we like going to them. We want to run for the championship so getting as many points is a big key for us. I’m happy, we had a good run.”
North country regulars Justin White and Tyler Bushey rounded out the top five finishers. Behind Horning, the remainder of the top ten would see track regulars Jay Fitzgerald and Chuck McSpirit occupy the seventh and eighth spots with Lebanon Valley regulars Dave Stickles and Hilt completing the top ten.
The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series heads back to the Capital District on Saturday August 27th for round number three at the Lebanon Valley Speedway.
Chad Jeseo currently sits on top of the 2022 Hoosier Racing Tire DIRTcar Pro Stock Weekly Championship point standings. Following this past weekends racing action, Jeseo has a 50-point lead over Luke Horning. Jeseo and Horning are the only drivers to have more than 16 starts this season in DIRTcar Pro Stock weekly action. The weekly championship only counts a driver’s best 16 finishes (excluding DIRTcar Pro Stock Series events).
Bruno Richard is third with Roby Yetman fourth and Jason Casey fifth. Jay Casey, Scott Towslee, Steven LaRochelle, Chuck Dumblewski and Nick Hilt round out the top ten.
A look at the weekly DIRTcar Pro Stock track point standings show Jason Casey leading Yetman by three points at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway. Jeseo, Horning and Towslee round out the top five.
At the Can-Am Speedway Bruno Richard leads second place Eli Gilbert by 14 points. Tyler Bushey, Kevin Fetterly, Jr., and Blayne Nichols round out the top five.
Pascal Payeur is the current points leader at Autodrome Drummond. He holds a 17-point advantage over Bruno Cyr. Yves Hamel, Marc Lalonde and Bruno Richard round out the top five.
Horning sits on top of the standings at Glen Ridge. He holds a 22-point lead over Andy Graves. Slater Baker, Richard Spencer and Jay Fitzgerald round out the top five.
Jeseo holds down the points lead at Lebanon Valley. He holds a 36-point lead over Steven LaRochelle. Zach Seyerlein, Nick Hilt and Zach Sorrentino complete the top five.
Bruno Richard has a commanding 82-point lead over Eli Gilbert at the Mohawk Int’l Raceway. Dennis Gauvreau, Kevin Fetterly, Jr. and Zach Daniels round out the top five. The margin between second place Gilbert and fifth place Daniels is a mere 11 points.