RPW Exclusive: Big Money Preview: High Limit Racing Comes To The Empire State This Week

Column By: MARTY CZEKALA & DYLAN TERRY / RPW – ROCHESTER, NY – Get ready to go all-in as the latest 410 Sprint Car series is set to ignite the Empire State this week.

Kubota High Limit Racing is set for its inaugural trip to New York this week at Outlaw Speedway Thursday and Utica-Rome Speedway Friday.

National 410 heroes Brad Sweet, Rico Abreu and Tyler Courtney compete against the locals of New York and a few members of the PA Posse for two nights.

Marty Czekala and Dylan Terry will be on-location for Race Pro Weekly and collaborated to provide a preview.

The full-time High Limit “high rollers” with the most experience in New York heading into the weekend have run the All-Star Circuit of Champions in the past. Tyler Courtney, Zeb Wise, Cory Eliason, and Chris Windom have made the most appearances at Outlaw and Utica-Rome.

Courtney has the advantage approaching the weekend. In three appearances at Outlaw, “Sunshine” bolsters an average finish of third in those three starts. Add on to his Midweek Money win at Kokomo Monday, Courtney must be the favorite approaching the week. Wise is behind him, tallying an average finish of fourth in his three appearances at the Dundee, NY oval. Eliason also features three appearances at Outlaw, having tallied a second-place finish in 2019, third in 2022, and ninth in 2023 for an average finish of fifth in those starts. In Windom’s three appearances, he also established a respectable average finish of 6.66.

Other full-time high rollers with appearances at Outlaw in the past are Brent Marks (won in 2022), Parker Price-Miller (runner-up in 2023) and Justin Peck (12th in 2022 after getting two flat tires during the feature after starting second.)

Peck leads the charge for the full-time “high rollers” at Utica-Rome. He finished third in his first appearance at the facility in 2019 and then dominated in his return in 2022. He set the current track record during time trials and won that night’s feature. Keeping pace with Peck, Tyler Courtney also bolsters an average finish of 2.0 in his two appearances at the half-mile, finishing runner-up in 2022 to Peck and last year to Danny Varin. Zeb Wise gathered finishes of seventh and third during his appearances while setting QuickTime during qualifying back in August. In his two starts at “The Home of Heroes,” Chris Windom has tallied fourth and seventh-place runs. Cory Eliason has a pair of fifth-place efforts at the facility, which are coming back in 2019 and 2022.

Other non-local drivers with experience at Utica-Rome expected to be in attendance include Brent Marks (third-place finish in 2022), Danny Dietrich (sixth in 2022), and Ryan Smith (14th in 2022).

With 410 series racing in New York in recent years, local drivers have become stronger contenders to shock the world. Paulie Colagiovanni started the trend in 2021 when he finished runner-up in a World of Outlaws event at Ransomville to Aaron Reutzel. The following year, he finished third in night one of the Empire State Challenge at Weedsport to David Gravel and Donny Schatz. Last year in All-Stars action at Weedsport, Matt Farnham led the opening 25 laps before losing the lead to eventual winner Cory Eliason.

While Colagiovanni has been the front-runner for New Yorkers, he is not on the entry list for Outlaw as of Wednesday night. Mark Smith will drive the No. 10. Many eyes now turn to Danny Varin. After winding up tangled in the trees beyond turns three and four in 2022, Varin shocked the sprint car racing world back in August, winning the All-Stars feature at Utica-Rome, leading all 30 laps. In addition, Varin started on the pole for the World of Outlaws feature at Weedsport last year after winning the dash race. Utica-Rome has become one of Danny’s favorite tracks in the entire state. It’s straightforward to see why, based on his performance last season, as well as his dominance at the facility in his 360 with the Empire Super Sprints. Look for Varin to lead the local charge to defeat the “high rollers.”

Other locals that look to upset the “High Rollers” include Denny Peebles, Davie Franek, Jordan Thomas, defending Empire Super Sprints champion Jordan Poirier and defending CRSA Sprints champion Jordan Hutton.

A few members of the Pennsylvania Posse plan to leave the porch for a quick trip to the Empire State this week as well. Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, Dylan Norris, Ryan Smith, Aaron Bollinger and Calum Williamson (Australian driver piloting the John Trone #39 car based out of Central Pennsylvania) all have the trip to New York on their schedules. While Macri has been at a torrid pace to start the season, he has yet to make a single appearance in the Empire State in his career. He’s always fast and enjoys the slick surfaces at Port Royal, so New York tracks will be right up his alley. Of the four Posse members mentioned Dietrich and Smith are the only ones who have had a previous start at Outlaw Speedway. During their appearance, Danny scored a second-place effort in August 2022, while Smith tallied a 21st-place finish in 2019 and a 16th-place effort in 2022.

Another name from PA who could make the trip to New York is Lucas Wolfe, who has made the venture up in the past. Wolfe has a ton of experience in New York during his 360 days. He has several victories at Outlaw with the Empire Super Sprints. He could be another Posse member making the trip up, having had success in the past.

Marty’s picks to win? For Outlaw, I like Tyler Courtney to grab an opportunity to go back-to-back here. He’s got all the momentum on his side for a chance to not just repeat as the last 410 winner at Outlaw but also chip down on Brad Sweet’s points lead. As for Utica-Rome, I think Brad Sweet gets it done on his maiden trip as he is known to adapt quickly to tracks well, which could seem like a track in his grasp.

Terry’s picks to win? I will go bold and say James McFadden does a shoey at Outlaw. He’s due for a win and is pretty good at tracks he goes to for the first time. He’s also good at conserving his equipment as well. Friday, give me Anthony Macri. Utica-Rome when slick is similar to Port Royal slick and Macri is the king there so I imagine he will be good at Utica as well.