Erick Rudolph Captures Ninth Annual Pete Cosco Memorial At Humberstone Speedway Sunday

Story By: JONATHON HOWE / HUMBERSTONE SPEEDWAY – PORT COLBORNE, ONT – Humberstone Speedway held its 9th edition of the Pete Cosco Memorial Sunday Night.

Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, New York won his third feature in the 50 lap S&W Service Centre 358 Modifieds.

St. Catharines, Ontario native Jordan Cosco, Pete’s Grandson, scored the win in the ROC Sportsman feature. The GR Enviro Rail Street Stocks feature was won by Justin Ramsay of Bellville, Ontario. Joe Isabell took home the win in the Tender Cuts Meats Mod Lites while St. Catharines driver Alex Riley scored the win in the Bosch Car Services Mini Stocks.

Mat Williamson and Todd Gordon brought the Modifieds to the green flag, with Williamson showing the way. Williamson would pull into the infield on lap three, with Gordon taking the lead. Todd Gordon would take off in the lead, but the field would slow down once again as Tom Neale, Justin Sharp, and Dylan Davidson got together on the front straightaway. Erick Rudolph would move into third and Gary Lindberg would race in fourth place. Rudy would move into second on lap six. The third-generation driver from Ransomville, NY would catch Gordon and would take over the lead on lap 12 after passing Gordon on the outside of turns three and four. Gary Lindberg would take second away on lap 17, as Rudolph started to pull away from the field. Rudolph would have a near three-second lead over the field, but it was erased on lap 27 as Brad Rouse spun in turn one. The restart would see Rudolph back in the lead ahead of Lindberg. Rudolph would drive away from the field to score his third Pete Cosco Memorial victory. Lindberg, Todd Gordon, Brad Rouse, and Dylan Davidson would complete the top five.

Matteo Panunte and Jordan Cosco were on the front row for the Race of Champions Dirt 602 Sportsman Series Pete Cosco Memorial, with Cosco jumping into the lead ahead of Panunte, Nelson Mason, Jay Mallory, and Cody McPherson. Brad Rouse hopped the cushion in turn three and went over the edge of the track to bring out the race’s first caution on lap one. The restart would see Cosco jump back into the lead, with Mason taking over second place, with McPherson moving into third place. Jordan Denobriga came to a stop on the back straightway to bring out the caution on lap six. Nelson Mason would take the lead away from Cosco on lap seven. A lap seven restart would see Mason not firing, setting up a chain reaction pileup collecting a total of seven cars. Cosco would regain the lead with Jay Mallory, Billy Bleich Jr, Terry Smith, and Panunte racing in the top five, with Cody McPherson and Adam Leslie racing their way back through the field after being involved in the lap seven crash in turn four. James Michael Friesen would move into the top five on lap 11 after passing Panunte, and then on lap 15, would pass Smith to move into fourth place. McPherson would enter the top five once again on lap 18 after passing Terry Smith. Jordan Cosco would earn his first career Humberstone victory, and first in the race that is named after his grandfather.

After battling with Kyle Pelrine for the beginning of the Street Stock feature, it was Justin Ramsay getting the lead away on lap seven. Following a Jim Lampman spin on lap 10, Ramsay would regain the lead ahead of Pelrine, Dave Bailey, Brock Gregory, and Pete Reid raced inside the top five. Ramsay would start to pull away at the halfway mark, as Dave Bailey raced around Kyle Pelrine to take over second place on lap 14. Cameron Thomson slowed on the front stretch to bring out the caution on lap 15. Ramsay would continue to lead the race, as Bailey and Pelrine battled for several laps for second place. A late-race caution would set up a two-lap shootout to decide the race and it would be Ramsay scoring his second Pete Cosco Memorial win in three years.

On All Canadian night a few weeks back at Humberstone Speedway, Joe Isabell had win slip away in the dying laps. On this night, the Tender Cuts Meats Mod Lites ran caution free, and Isabell quickly chased down Josh Sliter to take the lead. Isabell would build a comfortable margin and win for the second night in a row in Southern Ontario after the previous night’s victory at Merrittville Speedway. Sliter came home second with Tyler Winger third, Brent Begolo fourth and R.J. Pietz. Was fifth.

The Bosch Car Services Mini Stocks began with Alex Riley and Tyler Lafantaisie on the front row. That’s also how they finished, after battling for most of the race side by side. Their side-by-side battle nearly came to a halt when both cars bounced off lap car Roger Winfield who eventually spun on the white flag lap setting up green, white checkered finish. On the dingle file restart, Riley drove off to score his second win at Humberstone this season.

Racing action will return to Humberstone Speedway on September 3rd for the Labour Day Late Model Open. In addition, The Sterling Lubricants DIRTcar Sportsman, Canadian vs. UMP. Modified’s, GR Enviro Rail Street Stocks, Bosch Car Services Mini Stocks and Vintage cars will join the Late Models on the card. Pit Gates open at 4:30pm, grandstand gates open at 5:00pm with racing starting at 6:30pm.

DIRTcar 358 Modifieds

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 25-Erick Rudolph[8]; 2. 37S-Gary Lindberg[11]; 3. 28-Todd Gordon[2]; 4. 18R-Brad Rouse[5]; 5. 73-Dylan Davidson[17]; 6. 96-Fred Carleton[16]; 7. 8S-Justin Sharp[13]; 8. 74-David Flannigan[7]; 9. 28X-Billy Bleich Jr[10]; 10. 09-Trevor Wright[9]; 11. 2COOL-Derek VanMil[18]; 12. 88-Shayne Pierce[4]; 13. 53-Darrell Farraway[12]; 14. 26C-Luke Carleton[6]; 15. 82-Ken Winfield[14]; 16. 3RS-Dalton Slack[15]; 17. 2X-Tom Neale[3]; 18. 6-Mat Williamson[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 28-Todd Gordon[4]; 3. 09-Trevor Wright[6]; 4. 28X-Billy Bleich Jr[3]; 5. 8S-Justin Sharp[2]; 6. 96-Fred Carleton[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Shayne Pierce[1]; 2. 74-David Flannigan[2]; 3. 26C-Luke Carleton[3]; 4. 37S-Gary Lindberg[5]; 5. 82-Ken Winfield[6]; 6. 73-Dylan Davidson[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18R-Brad Rouse[2]; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph[3]; 3. 2X-Tom Neale[1]; 4. 53-Darrell Farraway[4]; 5. 3RS-Dalton Slack[5]; 6. 2COOL-Derek VanMil[6]

Dirt Sportsman

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 17C-Jordan Cosco[2]; 2. 20-Jay Mallory[3]; 3. 108-Billy Bleich Jr[5]; 4. 72-James Friesen[14]; 5. 7-Cody McPherson[6]; 6. 22-Terry Smith[18]; 7. 99JR-Matteo Panunte[1]; 8. 35-Nelson Mason[4]; 9. 3N-Noah Mamo[13]; 10. 15-Adam Leslie[12]; 11. 66-Jeff Panunte[22]; 12. 21-Spencer Smolders[20]; 13. 23N-Nathan Peattie[17]; 14. 68-Curtis Friesen[19]; 15. 25-Chris Hawkins[16]; 16. 34-Gregg Raucher[23]; 17. 108T-Todd Gordon[15]; 18. 185-Brad Rouse[8]; 19. 12-Chad Chevalier[9]; 20. 69-Rob Pietz[7]; 21. 5S-Matt Sharpe[11]; 22. 7D-Jordan Denobriga[21]; 23. 74-Taylor Vanderzanden[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Jay Mallory[2]; 2. 35-Nelson Mason[4]; 3. 99JR-Matteo Panunte[6]; 4. 185-Brad Rouse[8]; 5. 3N-Noah Mamo[5]; 6. 25-Chris Hawkins[1]; 7. 68-Curtis Friesen[7]; 8. 66-Jeff Panunte[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17C-Jordan Cosco[2]; 2. 69-Rob Pietz[3]; 3. 7-Cody McPherson[6]; 4. 12-Chad Chevalier[4]; 5. 72-James Friesen[7]; 6. 23N-Nathan Peattie[1]; 7. 21-Spencer Smolders[5]; 8. 34-Gregg Raucher[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 108-Billy Bleich Jr[1]; 2. 74-Taylor Vanderzanden[3]; 3. 5S-Matt Sharpe[2]; 4. 15-Adam Leslie[6]; 5. 108T-Todd Gordon[4]; 6. 22-Terry Smith[5]; 7. 7D-Jordan Denobriga[7]

Mod Lites

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 6J-Joe Isabell[5]; 2. 17-Josh Sliter[2]; 3. 4-Tyler Winger[4]; 4. 16-Brent Begolo[7]; 5. 26-RJ Pietz[3]; 6. 71-Leroy Buscumb[8]; 7. 44-Ryan Anderson[9]; 8. 6-Jamie Gilbert[1]; 9. 6Z-Greg Zack[6]; 10. 27-Sean Iftody[11]; 11. 291-Dave Cornish[12]; 12. 22-Craig Martin[15]; 13. 07-Chris Watson[10]; 14. 15-Ashton Anderson[14]; 15. 6S-Ryleigh Sliter[13]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 6J-Joe Isabell[2]; 2. 6-Jamie Gilbert[4]; 3. 6Z-Greg Zack[1]; 4. 16-Brent Begolo[6]; 5. 44-Ryan Anderson[5]; 6. 27-Sean Iftody[3]; 7. 6S-Ryleigh Sliter[8]; 8. 22-Craig Martin[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 17-Josh Sliter[2]; 2. 26-RJ Pietz[4]; 3. 4-Tyler Winger[6]; 4. 71-Leroy Buscumb[3]; 5. 07-Chris Watson[5]; 6. 291-Dave Cornish[1]; 7. 15-Ashton Anderson[7]

Street Stocks

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 03-Justin Ramsay[3]; 2. 49-Dave Bailey[12]; 3. 26-Brock Gregory[8]; 4. 47X-Kyle Pelrine[1]; 5. 05-Pete Reid[7]; 6. 108Z-Zach Bleich[9]; 7. 28-Jim Lampman[4]; 8. 28D-Donny Lampman[5]; 9. 8-Ryan Dinning[2]; 10. 37-Jeff Bean[13]; 11. 25-Ken Sargent[10]; 12. 65-John Dunn[16]; 13. 96O-John Overholt[18]; 14. 11-Gofast Teeple[17]; 15. 24-Cameron Thomson[6]; 16. 601-Jeffery Larment[14]; 17. 2EZ-Evan Curtis[19]; 18. 17-Robert Disher[15]; 19. 1J-Jason Fontaine[20]; 20. 41-Adam Plazek[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jim Lampman[2]; 2. 49-Dave Bailey[4]; 3. 25-Ken Sargent[3]; 4. 41-Adam Plazek[6]; 5. 37-Jeff Bean[7]; 6. 65-John Dunn[1]; 7. 2EZ-Evan Curtis[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28D-Donny Lampman[2]; 2. 05-Pete Reid[3]; 3. 8-Ryan Dinning[4]; 4. 24-Cameron Thomson[7]; 5. 601-Jeffery Larment[1]; 6. 11-Gofast Teeple[6]; 7. 1J-Jason Fontaine[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Justin Ramsay[1]; 2. 47X-Kyle Pelrine[4]; 3. 108Z-Zach Bleich[3]; 4. 26-Brock Gregory[5]; 5. 17-Robert Disher[6]; 6. 96O-John Overholt[2]

Dirt Mini Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 17-Alex Riley[1]; 2. 96-Tyler Lafantaise[2]; 3. 71C-Ray Cerenzia[16]; 4. 5K-Ken Hair[4]; 5. 2EZ-Vincent Pagnotta[10]; 6. 14L-John Lubeck[11]; 7. 4-Mason Anderson[21]; 8. 91-Olivier Larocque[6]; 9. 34M-Daniel McKay[14]; 10. 34-Dave Wininger[8]; 11. 17R-Blair Rousselle[15]; 12. 124-Steven Ellis[19]; 13. 67-Roger Winfield[22]; 14. 0-James Marshall[18]; 15. 215-Nick Bowman[13]; 16. 7B-Shawn Keus[3]; 17. 71W-Austyn Werstroh[5]; 18. 71-Rob Goulding[7]; 19. 27-Tina Ronning[20]; 20. 46-Kyle Rothwell[9]; 21. 4S-Rob Sauder[12]; 22. 20J-Nathan Joyner[17]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 96-Tyler Lafantaise[1]; 2. 46-Kyle Rothwell[7]; 3. 4S-Rob Sauder[4]; 4. 71-Rob Goulding[5]; 5. 215-Nick Bowman[3]; 6. 71C-Ray Cerenzia[6]; 7. 124-Steven Ellis[8]; 8. 67-Roger Winfield[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 7B-Shawn Keus[1]; 2. 17-Alex Riley[2]; 3. 5K-Ken Hair[4]; 4. 2EZ-Vincent Pagnotta[5]; 5. 34M-Daniel McKay[7]; 6. 20J-Nathan Joyner[6]; 7. 27-Tina Ronning[3]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 91-Olivier Larocque[1]; 2. 14L-John Lubeck[6]; 3. 71W-Austyn Werstroh[7]; 4. 34-Dave Wininger[5]; 5. 17R-Blair Rousselle[3]; 6. 0-James Marshall[2]; 7. (DQ) 4-Mason Anderson[4]