Story By: JOE GRABIANOWSKI / DIRTCAR – MALTA, NY – The Craniacs in the crowd rose to their feet as a pair of brothers swept the top two Friday at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Chris Crane, from Canaan, CT, crossed the finish line first ahead of brother Connor Crane after 35 straight laps of DIRTcar Sportsman Series Feature action on night one of Malta Massive Weekend.
Series points leader Cody McPherson settled for third as the brothers drove off in a heated battle.
“It is bittersweet because he [Connon Crane] is the one person I want to battle for the win with and the last person I want to pass for the win, “Chris Crane said. “It is bittersweet for sure.”
Overall Qualifying quick-timer Derrick McGrew, from nearby Ballston Spa, NY, led the 30-car Sportsman field in the early going racing side-by-side with Emmett Waldron, from Savannah, NY. Waldron bounced violently in Turn 1 and gave up the lead. McGrew’s time at the top was short-lived as Connor Crane dove under McGrew and took the point position out of Turn 4.
All-time Sportsman Series win leader Cody McPherson, from St. Catharines, ON, also passed McGrew and took second. However, he had no defense against the charging Chris Crane as he swept by on the backstretch on Lap 12.
Mid-race, Connor Crane closed in on lapped traffic with brother Chris on his tail. With the pressure on, Connor bobbled allowing Chris Crane to cruise by and maintain the lead until the checkered flag.
“I am just shocked,” said Chris Crane. “When I got by, I wanted to give him as much room as I could because ever since he got into the big car we talked about battling one-two on maybe a weekly night but to do it on Malta Massive Weekend with all the DIRTcar guys here says how good how program has been this year.”
Some pre-race film study helped prepare Crane for the 35-lap Feature.
“In the pits, I was sitting on the right front tire watching last year’s race,” Chris Crane said. “I saw Andrew Buff got to the front because he was pounding the outside. Starting on the outside I tried it, and everyone hit those holes in Turn 1. I went higher than everyone and it was there.”
Young Connor Crane was unphased by losing the lead to his brother. He is already planning his next trip.
“I can’t believe it,” Connor Crane exclaimed. “My dad said if either of us won we’re going to Super DIRT Week, so I guess we’re going to Super DIRT Week!”
It was a long tow from St. Catharines for Series points leader Cody McPherson.
“For our second time here, we ran really good,” McPherson said. “I didn’t know the race was so close to ending when it finished. We were definitely a third-place car. I was hoping for a yellow maybe. We’ll take the podium.”
Next up for the DIRTcar Sportsman Series is the highly anticipated Hurricane Harvey on Tuesday, October 8 as part of the 52nd running of Super DIRT Week. Tickets will be available at the gate.
DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (35 Laps): 1. 711-Chris Crane Jr[6]; 2. 711X-Connor Crane[3]; 3. 7M-Cody McPherson[5]; 4. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[1]; 5. 4-Emmett Waldron[2]; 6. 89-Dylan Madsen[4]; 7. 22-Tim Hartman Jr[7]; 8. 49-Chris Jakubiak[9]; 9. 38-Zach Sobotka[8]; 10. 01-Zach Buff[11]; 11. 5J-Patrick Jones[18]; 12. 410-Mike Fowler[12]; 13. 6-Cody Manitta[17]; 14. 07W-Taylor Wason[15]; 15. 18-Gavin Eisele[19]; 16. 30-Nicholas Root[22]; 17. 88W-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[10]; 18. 2B-Bryce Breault[13]; 19. 916-Nick Brundige[20]; 20. 98-Craig Wholey[26]; 21. 12-Jon Miller[21]; 22. 34-Dylan Grogan[24]; 23. T32-Taylor LaPlante[25]; 24. 06-Michael Coffey Jr[23]; 25. 52-Jessica Power[27]; 26. 21-Ryan Barrett[29]; 27. 25G-Matt Gebo[16]; 28. (DNF) 16X-Savannah Laflair[30]; 29. (DNF) FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[28]; 30. (DNF) 02-Brendan Gibbons[14]
Post-Race Tech: Fuel checked, MSD Box plus wires were checked. exhaust was pulled and exhaust ports were checked, mufflers were checked for anti-reversion.
Hoosier Racing Tire Award (Free Tire): Bryce Breault
LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 5J-Patrick Jones[1]; 2. 12-Jon Miller[2]; 3. 34-Dylan Grogan[3]; 4. 33-Richard Murtaugh[7]; 5. 7-Brady Cordova[11]; 6. 116-Ron Delease Jr[9]; 7. 16X-Savannah Laflair[10]; 8. 3-Ryan Behrent[12]; 9. 2A-Tyler Rapp[4]; 10. 52P-Ron Proctor[13]; 11. 23-Chad Gregory[8]; 12. 88-Fire Swamp[14]; 13. 42-Daryl Nutting[5]; 14. 42D-Daniel Gignon[6]
LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Gavin Eisele[2]; 2. 30-Nicholas Root[6]; 3. T32-Taylor LaPlante[3]; 4. 7L-Josh Leclaire[5]; 5. 10X-Cory Castell[7]; 6. 112-David Baranowski[8]; 7. 92-Tanner Coon[1]; 8. 12B-Tyler Bobar[10]; 9. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[11]; 10. 143-Scott Zehnacker[13]; 11. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[12]; 12. (DNS) 27-Michael Ballestero; 13. (DNS) 39-Ryan Larkin; 14. (DNS) 79-Kyle Swart
LCS 3 (10 Laps): 1. 916-Nick Brundige[1]; 2. 06-Michael Coffey Jr[2]; 3. 98-Craig Wholey[3]; 4. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer[4]; 5. T69-Travis Green[5]; 6. 12L-Elliot Lussier[7]; 7. 52-Jessica Power[8]; 8. 15-Chase Zimmer[9]; 9. 667-Andrew Cormie[11]; 10. 1B-Scott Bennett Jr[12]; 11. 307-Karl Barnes[10]; 12. 00X-Josh Coonradt[13]; 13. 21-Ryan Barrett[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Emmett Waldron[2]; 2. 22-Tim Hartman Jr[1]; 3. 2B-Bryce Breault[5]; 4. 5J-Patrick Jones[3]; 5. 34-Dylan Grogan[6]; 6. 42-Daryl Nutting[4]; 7. 33-Richard Murtaugh[7]; 8. 116-Ron Delease Jr[9]; 9. 7-Brady Cordova[8]; 10. 52P-Ron Proctor[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 711-Chris Crane Jr[1]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 3. 02-Brendan Gibbons[4]; 4. 92-Tanner Coon[3]; 5. T32-Taylor LaPlante[8]; 6. 7L-Josh Leclaire[5]; 7. 10X-Cory Castell[7]; 8. 39-Ryan Larkin[9]; 9. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[6]; 10. 143-Scott Zehnacker[10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[1]; 2. 49-Chris Jakubiak[2]; 3. 07W-Taylor Wason[3]; 4. 916-Nick Brundige[4]; 5. 98-Craig Wholey[6]; 6. T69-Travis Green[8]; 7. 12L-Elliot Lussier[7]; 8. 15-Chase Zimmer[9]; 9. 667-Andrew Cormie[10]; 10. 00X-Josh Coonradt[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 711X-Connor Crane[1]; 2. 88W-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[2]; 3. 25G-Matt Gebo[3]; 4. 12-Jon Miller[4]; 5. 2A-Tyler Rapp[10]; 6. 42D-Daniel Gignon[7]; 7. 23-Chad Gregory[5]; 8. 16X-Savannah Laflair[6]; 9. 3-Ryan Behrent[8]; 10. 88-Fire Swamp[9]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 7M-Cody McPherson[1]; 2. 01-Zach Buff[3]; 3. 6-Cody Manitta[5]; 4. 18-Gavin Eisele[6]; 5. 27-Michael Ballestero[2]; 6. 30-Nicholas Root[4]; 7. 112-David Baranowski[7]; 8. 12B-Tyler Bobar[9]; 9. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[8]; 10. (DNF) 79-Kyle Swart[10]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Dylan Madsen[1]; 2. 410-Mike Fowler[2]; 3. 33B-Michael Benson[4]; 4. 06-Michael Coffey Jr[3]; 5. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer[9]; 6. 21-Ryan Barrett[5]; 7. 52-Jessica Power[6]; 8. 307-Karl Barnes[8]; 9. 1B-Scott Bennett Jr[7]
TT Hot Lap G1 (3 Laps): 1. 22-Tim Hartman Jr, 00:16.474[3]; 2. 4-Emmett Waldron, 00:16.558[1]; 3. 5J-Patrick Jones, 00:16.583[2]; 4. 42-Daryl Nutting, 00:16.599[10]; 5. 2B-Bryce Breault, 00:16.610[9]; 6. 34-Dylan Grogan, 00:16.648[4]; 7. 33-Richard Murtaugh, 00:16.817[6]; 8. 7-Brady Cordova, 00:16.932[5]; 9. 116-Ron Delease Jr, 00:17.144[8]; 10. 52P-Ron Proctor, 00:17.237[7]
TT Hot Lap G2 (3 Laps): 1. 711-Chris Crane Jr, 00:16.518[9]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka, 00:16.586[4]; 3. 92-Tanner Coon, 00:16.652[7]; 4. 02-Brendan Gibbons, 00:16.723[10]; 5. 7L-Josh Leclaire, 00:16.800[8]; 6. 1D-Paul DeRuyter, 00:16.808[1]; 7. 10X-Cory Castell, 00:16.855[3]; 8. T32-Taylor LaPlante, 00:16.862[2]; 9. 39-Ryan Larkin, 00:16.940[5]; 10. (DQ) 143-Scott Zehnacker, 00:16.940[6]
TT Hot Lap G3 (3 Laps): 1. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr, 00:16.471[3]; 2. 49-Chris Jakubiak, 00:16.472[7]; 3. 07W-Taylor Wason, 00:16.680[4]; 4. 916-Nick Brundige, 00:16.729[5]; 5. 00X-Josh Coonradt, 00:16.765[8]; 6. 98-Craig Wholey, 00:16.821[1]; 7. 12L-Elliot Lussier, 00:16.862[6]; 8. T69-Travis Green, 00:16.936[2]; 9. 15-Chase Zimmer, 00:16.958[9]; 10. 667-Andrew Cormie, 00:17.014[10]
TT Hot Lap G4 (3 Laps): 1. 711X-Connor Crane, 00:16.550[9]; 2. 88W-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, 00:16.711[8]; 3. 25G-Matt Gebo, 00:16.763[1]; 4. 12-Jon Miller, 00:16.844[2]; 5. 23-Chad Gregory, 00:16.845[10]; 6. 16X-Savannah Laflair, 00:16.849[4]; 7. 42D-Daniel Gignon, 00:16.855[7]; 8. 3-Ryan Behrent, 00:16.945[6]; 9. 88-Fire Swamp, 00:16.955[3]; 10. (DQ) 2A-Tyler Rapp, 00:16.619[5]
TT Hot Lap G5 (3 Laps): 1. 7M-Cody McPherson, 00:16.613[8]; 2. 27-Michael Ballestero, 00:16.644[3]; 3. 01-Zach Buff, 00:16.654[6]; 4. 30-Nicholas Root, 00:16.702[4]; 5. 6-Cody Manitta, 00:16.702[9]; 6. 18-Gavin Eisele, 00:16.713[7]; 7. 112-David Baranowski, 00:17.111[5]; 8. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson, 00:17.180[2]; 9. 12B-Tyler Bobar, 00:17.250[1]; 10. 79-Kyle Swart, 00:17.305[10]
TT Hot Lap G6 (3 Laps): 1. 89-Dylan Madsen, 00:16.569[6]; 2. 410-Mike Fowler, 00:16.658[7]; 3. 06-Michael Coffey Jr, 00:16.732[9]; 4. 33B-Michael Benson, 00:16.732[8]; 5. 21-Ryan Barrett, 00:16.901[3]; 6. 52-Jessica Power, 00:17.145[2]; 7. 1B-Scott Bennett Jr, 00:17.219[1]; 8. 307-Karl Barnes, 00:17.733[5]; 9. (DQ) 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer, 00:17.043[4]