Story By: FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – Defending Fulton Speedway modified points king, Tim Sears Jr, picked up where he left off in 2023 by racing to victory in Saturday’s Tracey Road DIRTcar Modified main on Compass Credit Union night.
Emmett Waldron took home the win in Dot Foods DIRTcar Sportsman action. John Pietrowicz conquered the Billy Whittaker Cars and Trux Hobby Stock feature with Sam Groom taking home a popular win in E & V Energy Novice Sportsman action.
By virtue of his heat race two win, Sears started from the outside pole in the 35-lap Modified main event and jumped out to a quick lead after a lap one restart. Out front, Sears set a torrid pace, digging the bottom in what has been Sears calling card at Fulton.
DIRT Modified Hall of Famer Tim Fuller, and lapped traffic, would be the only challenges Sears would face. After getting by eventual fourth place finisher Alan Fink for the runner-up spot on lap 7, Fuller gave chase to Sears keeping him within sight. When Sears entered heavy lapped traffic during the mid-portion of the race, Fuller was able to get within a couple of car lengths of the multi-time track champion.
Sears patiently worked the lapped cars until finally clearing the heaviest pack of slower cars on lap 22 leaving Fuller with the task of navigating them. With clear track ahead, Sears stretched his lead out to a half straightaway which would be the margin of victory when the checkered fell on lap 35. Fuller settled for second with fifth starting Billy Dunn earning the final podium position. Fink had a strong run about his self-owned #28 earning a career best fourth place finish with Matt Caprara rounding out the top-5.
Savannah’s Emmett Waldron was able to take the lead from Teddy Clayton Jr. on a lap 3 restart in the Dot Foods DIRTcar Sportsman and lead the remaining 22 laps enroute to his second career Fulton Speedway Sportsman win. Clayton, from Hannibal, raced to a very strong runner-up finish aboard his family owned #63, holding off a determined Dave Moyer who crossed the line third. Kyle Devendorf worked his way from his tenth place starting spot to cross the line fourth with Brett Sears rounding out the top-5.
John Pietrowicz continued his stranglehold on the Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby stock class with his second win on the season but it was not without a challenge. Adam Hunt chased Pietrowicz throughout the 20-lap feature but was forced to settle for second. Ron Hawker, Shawn Doucette and Brennan Fitzgibbons rounded out the top-5.
Sam Groom took home a very popular win in the 15-lap E & V Energy Novice Sportsman feature. The youngster from Elbridge steadily worked his way from his ninth place starting position with then used an inside move on race-long leader, Matt Jordon, to take the lead and the win. Jordon would settle for a solid second, with Brian Harber, Dave Kingsley and Cale Gareau rounding out the top-5. The win was Groom’s second career Fulton triumph.
Fulton Pit Notes:
A strong 36 Tracey Road DIRTcar Modifieds lined the pit area. Caprara, Sears, Fink and Fuller took home heat wins with Derek Webb taking home the consolation win. By virtue of being the highest non-qualifiers from the 2023 track points, Andrew Ferguson and Brent Joy were provisional starters.
Rich Keller, Andrew Buff, Brandon Carvey, Remington Hamm and Willy Decker, Jr. represented a strong Tracey Road DIRTcar Modified rookie class.
Next up at Fulton Speedway:
Saturday, May 11 – Ehrlich Pest Control Night
Tracey Road DIRTcar Modifieds
Dot Foods DIRTcar Sportsman
E & V Energy Novice Sportsman
Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby Stocks
Tracey Road DIRTcar Modified Feature (35 Laps): 1. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[2]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[4]; 3. 49-Billy Dunn[5]; 4. 28-Alan Fink[3]; 5. 11-Matt Caprara[1]; 6. 31-Lance Willix[6]; 7. 58M-Marshall Hurd[9]; 8. M1-David Marcuccilli[12]; 9. 5H-Amy Holland[7]; 10. 38-Jason Parkhurst[10]; 11. 92-Andrew Buff[8]; 12. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[15]; 13. 27Z-Dylan Zacharias[19]; 14. 19C-Brandon Carvey[16]; 15. 32R-Ronald Davis III[18]; 16. 66W-Derek Webb[21]; 17. 29K-Chris Cunningham[14]; 18. 3RS-Dalton Slack[13]; 19. 31B-Corey Barker[23]; 20. 3-Chris Mackey[22]; 21. 57H-Remington Hamm[20]; 22. 13-Robert Gage[24]; 23. 17J-Brent Joy[26]; 24. 160-Max Hill[17]; 25. 34-Andrew Ferguson[25]; 26. 27W-Nick Webb[11]
Dot Foods DIRTcar Sportsman (25 Laps): 1. 4-Emmett Waldron[1]; 2. 63-Teddy Clayton Jr[2]; 3. 51X-David Moyer[3]; 4. 5-Kyle Devendorf[10]; 5. 83X-Brett Sears[6]; 6. 410-Mike Fowler[9]; 7. 88H-Chris Hulsizer[17]; 8. 51-Jimmy Moyer[4]; 9. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[12]; 10. 01-Zachary Buff[7]; 11. 3-Colby Herzog[13]; 12. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck[8]; 13. 39S-Josh Fellows[14]; 14. 20K-Kyle Perry[21]; 15. R1-Riley Rogala[19]; 16. 6-Cody Manitta[22]; 17. 00W-Wade Chrisman[5]; 18. 33JR-Clayton Brewer III[24]; 19. 11-Nick Zielinski[27]; 20. 16X-Savannah Laflair[18]; 21. 52-Jessica Power[16]; 22. 77L-Buddy Leathley[15]; 23. 11C-Austin Cooper[23]; 24. 08-Dalton Doyle[25]; 25. 19J-Joe Kline[11]; 26. 06W-Dorian Wahdan[20]; 27. (DNS) 557-Patrick Nolan
Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby Stock Feature (20 Laps): 1. 17-John Pietrowicz[1]; 2. 13-Adam Hunt[3]; 3. 14JR-Ronald Hawker[2]; 4. Z4-Shawn Doucette[6]; 5. 14-Brennan Fitzgibbons[9]; 6. OV1-Andy Kieffer[5]; 7. 28-Brandon Barron[4]; 8. 88X-Chuck Thomas[7]; 9. (DNS) 11-George Wright Jr
E & V Energy Novice Sportsman Feature (15 Laps): 1. 14-Samuel Groom[9]; 2. 5MJ-Matt Jordon[2]; 3. 18-Brian Harber[3]; 4. 42K-Dave Kingsley[4]; 5. 5G-Cale Gareau[1]; 6. 80X-Rick Kinney[6]; 7. 98S-Savannah Simmons[8]; 8. 17A-Danny Allen[10]; 9. 55H-Austin Harmer[5]; 10. 55-Andrew Eaton[11]; 11. 89-Belle Hogan[7]; 12. (DNS) 40X-Tim Halsey