Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Recognized nationally by Racing Promotion Monthly as the ‘Outstanding Event of the Year’ in 2023, the 6th Annual Gerald Haers Memorial presented by Phelps Cement Products at Land Of Legends Raceway once again lived up to all its advance billing Saturday night with yet another stellar show capped off by star performances of winners Mat Williamson and Richard Murtaugh III.
Recently crowned LOLR Big-Block points king Williamson collected the $10,000 grand-prize following his third major victory of the season in the headline 100-lap Pepsi Modified main while Murtaugh earned $2,000 for his first-ever triumph at the Ontario Co. Fairgrounds in the companion GHM 40-lap Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Classic that was round #6 in the ‘24 DIRTcar Northeast Championship Series.
In addition, Land of Legends’ Stirling Lubricants Sportsman weekly runners officially closed out the track points chase with Nick Root dominating the 25-lap finale although it was Zach Sobotka who only needed to start the Sportsman nightcap to sew up a third straight track title at the fairgrounds.
“Man, we needed to win this race when we decided to come here instead of Fonda,” remarked the St. Catharines, Ont. standout Williamson, who earned an additional $2,600 in lap leader bonuses and contingency awards from an overall pot of nearly $64,000 amassed for the premier Modified teams. Over $13,000 in purse and raceday rewards were stockpiled for Sportsman qualifiers and Murtaugh padded his own account with $400 more in special bonuses before heading home to Fulton. Over 90 cars jammed the pits on a sun-drenched day in the Finger Lakes, including a GHM Sportsman race record 51, surpassing the 50 entries chronicled in 2020.
“Obviously … financial things had to do with it. A one day race that Paul (Cole, LOLR promoter) puts on here. This is a great race track, love these fans and it’s close to home. I don’t get cheered many times anymore, I get booed. It’s awesome here, it’s a new home,” smiled Williamson, following his fourth win of the season —including a pair of lucrative extra-distance Super DIRTcar Series victories— in Canandaigua which was his first in three attempts at the GHM trophy. “
Further highlighting the penultimate program of the 2024 season at LOLR, the Haers Family was honored prior to race time with their rightful place on the ever-growing fairgrounds Wall of Fame. Three-time LOLR Big-Block points champ Justin, older brother Jerry Jr., himself a 6-time Sportsman feature winner at Canandaigua in the 1990s, and younger sister Jillian, a long-time 50/50 raffle ticket seller now married to Vic Coffey and mother to Sportsman driver Kasey Coffey, were joined by their mom Joanne Haers along with numerous friends and family members in attendance to help celebrate the festive occasion.
The man himself, Gerald Haers, was a true racing patriarch, long-time mentor and supporter of Land of Legends, Vietnam War Veteran, as well as husband, father, grandfather and friend to so many more who passed away at age 74 on July 15, 2019. Continuing to pay tribute on this special night, drivers from both sides of the border signed in pitside to contend for bragging rights as well as once again honor Jerry’s lifetime of contributions made to the racing community.
Williamson charged from 12th to finish third in the second of three 20-lap qualifying heats, putting him seventh on the 27-car starting grid. Biding his time as outside pole-sitter Kevin Root paced the field from the outset, ‘Money Mat’ methodically maneuvered his way forward aboard the familiar #6 S&W Service Centre-Marin Drywall/Bicknell entry. When contact between fellow Canadian Gary Lindberg and hard-charging event host Justin Haers forced out a yellow flag due to Haers cut tire, Williamson found his way into the front-five in time for the lap 28 restart.
From there Williamson displaced the opposition one-by-one, overtaking defending race winner Erick Rudolph for third and getting around runner-up Darren Smith before forging the lone lead change with a decisive move past Root on lap 37. At that juncture only the race for second remained up in the air as two more caution periods were all that could keep Williamson in touch with his nearest challengers.
After oil pressure issues sidelined heat one winner Peter Britten’s primary Pepsi mount, the ‘24 LOLR points runner-up then suffered a broken driveshaft in his back-up car on lap 88 while running seventh to incur the final slowdown and reluctantly earn him the ‘Hard Luck’ award as a consolation. Back under green the final dozen circuits, Williamson was untouchable ahead of Rudolph and Smith while Tim Sears Jr. hung onto fourth.
“I heard them say through the 1-way (radio), the announcer said that I had a 6-second lead at that point (lap 87),” Williamson noted. “I didn’t know how good Erick was, obviously he’s a really good race car driver and keeps me on my toes. He stole a lot of them from me later in the race so I really had to hit my marks there at the end and be good for the last 13 laps.”
Sixteenth starting Billy Dunn continued his drive to the front, grabbing fourth from Sears while veteran Alan Johnson was even quicker in the closing stages as LOLR’s all-time feature winner stole fifth from Sears on lap 98 after beginning 23rd to earn ‘Hard Charger’ accolades. At the line however it was still Williamson authoring a commanding ¾-straightaway victory margin under the double-checkers unfurled by head flagman Scott Hixson.
“Obviously it’s a great race in honor of a great man,” added Williamson, who placed third (2019) and ninth (2021) in his previous two GHM stops. “The Haers family does a great job honoring Gerald, he’d be smiling down. This is a pretty cool event to be a part of and I’m not just saying that because I won. If we would’ve ran fifth I probably would’ve made enough ($$) that we would’ve left happy and that’s what Justin and Gerald and the whole Haers family try to show.”
Root and Smith accompanied Britten in victory lane following a trio of $500-to-win 20-lap heat races while Smith out-distanced Root in the Cash Dash to share front row starting assignments. Open-wheel veterans Tim Fuller and Pat Ward claimed last chance showdowns while Dalton Martin accepted a provisional spot to begin the 50-mile GHM main that paid the first 26 qualifiers no less than $1,000.
“Think we were just a second-place car tonight,” stated runner-up Rudolph from Ransomville, a three-time and inaugural GHM race winner. “Don’t even know how far (Mat) was ahead. He was way out ahead so I really didn’t think I had anything for him, just kinda settled in for second. Really proud of my car. Last time we were here ran really bad and to come back and have a strong run feels pretty good.”
Sporting a brand new C.C. Performance-powered Bicknell ride, Super DIRTcar Series stalwart Smith settled for third in his best-ever finish at the fairgrounds.
“Very happy, all the boys worked really hard this week,” concluded Binghamton traveler Smith who finished 11th (2022) in his only other GHM event. “Don’t know if we could’ve been any better car-wise. Our (right rear) tire is torn right down. But have to thank the whole Haers family for putting this race on and all the fans out here at Land of Legends. This is a pretty prestigious place to do well at so that makes me real happy.”
The GHM Sportsman Classic is quickly emerging as one of the most prestigious events around the entire Northeast for this division. Devising his own specials-only formula this season, third-generation wheelman Murtaugh made sure a rare stop in Canandaigua was a key ingredient.
“This year we looked at limiting our schedule, run the big events mostly without having any real hometrack,” said Murtaugh, 22, whose DIRT roots still run deep as grandfather Dick Murtaugh contended on the Great American Truck Racing circuit when DIRT Motorsports founder Glenn Donnelly purchased the GATR big rig series in 1986. “Only been to Land of Legends 5-6 times so we really had no good notes to go on. We just started out with our baseline set-up, kept changing everything from practice through qualifying just trying to get the car better.”
Come feature time his no. 33 180 Flood Dry Properties-Predator Race Cars-VP Racing Fuels/Bicknell mount was hitting on all cylinders. With 13 of Top-15 tour point getters entered, after clocking fifth fastest in his timed hot lap group Murtaugh chased winner Dave Conant Jr. across the line in the first of five qualifying heats before redrawing #2 to join pole-sitter Cody Manitta on the front row of the 40-lap finale.
Murtaugh took off at the drop of the initial green flag yet after provisional starter Tyler Stevenson slowed to require the first yellow on lap four, Manitta chose the high line and returned to the point on the ensuing restart. Murtaugh shadowed the leader without missing a beat, ducking under Manitta exiting turn four to facilitate the final exchange up front with nine laps complete.
LOLR regular James Henry stopped in turn four to require the last slowdown on lap 15, bringing the field back together just in time for ninth starting Sobotka to grab second on the next restart. At the halfway mark it was Murtaugh out front by a comfortable margin followed by Sobotka, Emmett Waldron, defending race winner Gavin Eisele and NE Sportsman Series points leader Cody McPherson.
As the remaining laps clicked off non-stop, Murtaugh kept his foot down, finally reaching traffic with 10 to go. Lapped cars took their toll when Sobotka got bottled up on the homestretch and relinquished second to Eisele on lap 35. Nick Cooper was the man on the move in the late stages, however, advancing from sixth to fourth the last 10 circuits and challenging for third when the checkers finally waved.
Mirroring the top-three finishers from the prior tour race Sunday at Weedsport Speedway, at the line it was Murtaugh by eight car-lengths over Eisele and Sobotka followed by Cooper, Waldron, rookie of the race McPherson and race hard charger Kasey Coffey.
“This (car) was just on another level,” beamed Murtaugh, owner of Premier Racing Setups, a major set-up shop for virtual iRacing established in 2016. He became the sixth different winner in as many GHM Sportsman Classics run since 2019. “Before we got here I told the guys I’ll try some stuff with the shocks. We’re either gonna be lights-out fast or we’re gonna suck, there’s no in between. Just gotta give a shout-out to Brandon Planck (Dig Shocks), Fast Line Performance and Dig Racing Products, this thing was just phenomenal. Probably the best car I’ve ever had here and I finally got a win.”
“I lost a race last Friday on a yellow (flag). It was hard (tonight), once I got to lapped traffic it felt like I slowed down a lot but this car was just phenomenal. Felt like if we can get away on a restart we’d be good in clean air but lapped traffic was slowing me down quite a bit,” figured Murtaugh, who was scored 7th (2022) and 11th (2021) in his two prior GHM starts.
For the second straight year Eisele crossed the line second after the 20-mile affair. While apparent ‘23 winner Austin Germinio was deemed underweight to turn over victory laurels to Eisele, this time around the original finishing order remained intact.
“I was just trying to choose which lane was best,” noted seventh starting Eisele from LaFargeville. “We started getting better at the end when I think some guys were starting to fall off. I was hoping for a caution at the end or maybe possibly catch (Murtaugh) in traffic but it never happened.”
Third-place finisher Sobotka also hoped for a late-race reprieve yet still settled for his fourth Top-5 finish in the past five GHM events.
“Knew I needed a caution, soon as we got spread out here it’s hard to catch up,” stated the popular Parish pilot. “Towards the end I got into second, got into lapped traffic and one of the cars crossed up. Had to slam on the brakes and Gavin snuck under me. Had a good car, just hard to start so far back. Felt like you needed a good starting position to get up there.”
Round number seven of the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series is slated for Fri., Sept. 20 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, part of Malta Massive Weekend in New York State’s Capital Region. Heading into the event McPherson tops the points chart with 2,332 followed by Eisele (2,327), Sobotka (2,298), Nick Root (2,265) and Waldron (2,263).
Sportsman returned trackside to close out the terrific DIRTcar tripleheader and as soon as Sobotka took the opening green flag to start the 25-lap feature the 2024 coveted track championship was his.
“It’s good that we got to race against all these great guys here, there’s some really good competition here,” stated Sobotka, as he posed beside his disabled no. 38 Stirling Lubricants-O.L.T. Logging-Under Or Above Construction/Bicknell entry for an unusual post-race interview as the curtain dropped. “There were a couple little holes there on the bottom but I didn’t really expect this.”
Before race winner Root could even make his way into victory lane for his own celebration, Sobotka had to have his car towed as a snapped shock on the final lap set down the entire back end providing him a free ride into the pits.
“Thought I could’ve had Matt (Guererri) there coming around for the checkers. Kinda drove it in deep and (car) definitely laid right over. To win (title) three years in a row, it really means something to me and my whole crew,” added the low-key driver, once again ranked among the best Sportsman chauffeurs in the region.
On the flipside of Sobotka’s last-lap mishap that dropped him from a possible top-5 tally to seventh-place on the final scoresheet, an ailing Root had his no. 30 FX Caprara Honda-Mohawk Northeast-Fratto Curbing-JP’s Custom & Cycle-SJP/Bicknell on rails from the start. Tim Baker led his first laps of the season before Root nipped him at the line to complete lap 12 and from there the Geneva driver rolled on uncontested for his third win of the ‘24 campaign in Canandaigua.
“Must’ve ate something bad today, before I got in my car was laying on my trailer door and felt like I was gonna pass out,” divulged Root, who finished second to Sobotka, 602-571, in the track point standings followed by Matt Guererri (564), Frank Guererri Jr. (543) and James Henry (487). “We got out there and this car didn’t feel any good in the first feature (finished 17th) so we changed everything we could on it.”
“Got up to 4th pretty quickly (2nd race), then up to second on that restart and followed (Baker) a little. Tried a different line and ran the guard rail. Could hug the bottom a lot better than he could so we got a good run and after (got lead) kinda checked out a little bit,” Root noted.
Enroute to his first front-five finish of the year, Baker held off Frank Guererri Jr. for second while Kasey Coffey performing double duty, Matt Guererri and rookie Nick Ventura placed ahead of track champ Sobotka in a race that was slowed just once for a minor incident.
2024 LOLR SEASON-FINALE
Following another weekend off in Canandaigua, action returns to Land Of Legends Raceway for the ‘24 season-finale on Sat. Sept. 28. The 13th Les Whyte Top Gun Shootout headlines the ‘Saturday Spectacular’ with iFreeze Storage & Distribution Center bolstering the 40-lap Empire Street Stock Series winner’s total to a record $2,000. CRSA 305 Sprinters join the evening program in their own tour finale with a 20-lap $750-to-win Hobby Stock feature plus Sportsman Special filling out the four-star show.
With the event held in tribute to the late LOLR Pro Stock champion and driver of the sleek Top Gun #1 machine, Grant beat out Pennsylvania invader Shane Wolf Jr. last year while Western New York racer Dave Schulz captured the inaugural title race in 1999. Not to be outdone, Minutolo fended off the son/father duo of Tyler and Frank ‘Bubba’ Burnell Jr. to claim the companion Hobby Stock main a year ago.
Through eight ESSS events, defending tour champion Shane Wolf (406 pts) leads Canandaigua season titlist Jimmy Grant (389), all-time LOLR winner Mike Welch (308), Justin Neff (284) and Damien Long (262).
DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds
A Feature 1 (100 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[7]; 2. 25R-Erick Rudolph[6]; 3. 12-Darren Smith[1]; 4. 49-Billy Dunn[16]; 5. 14J-Alan Johnson[23]; 6. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[8]; 7. 34-Kevin Root[2]; 8. 37S-Gary Lindberg[4]; 9. 19-Tim Fuller[18]; 10. 27J-Danny Johnson[14]; 11. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[11]; 12. 7MM-Mike Maresca[21]; 13. 91D-Billy Decker[12]; 14. 3RS-Dalton Slack[13]; 15. 27Z-Dylan Zacharias[17]; 16. 07-Gary Tomkins[9]; 17. 3-Justin Haers[10]; 18. 8-Rich Scagliotta[25]; 19. 39C-Kasey Coffey[5]; 20. 42P-Pat Ward[19]; 21. 18K-Dalton Martin[27]; 22. 21A-Peter Britten[26]; 23. 19W-Justin Wright[24]; 24. 17-Marcus Dinkins[20]; 25. 7Z-Zachary Payne[3]; 26. 15-Todd Root[15]; 27. 70A-Alex Payne[22]
Northeast Pool & Spa Provisional $500: Dalton Martin.
F.X. Caprara Honda Hard Charger Award $300: Alan Johnson.
Hard Luck Award (In Loving Memory of Arthur & Cynthia MacMillan) $300: Peter Britten (motor issue after winning heat, then driveshaft broke after charging from last to 7th in back-up car).
Big Dog Country 103.5 Lucky Dog Award $200 (Last Car On Lead Lap): Billy Decker.
OPP Excavating & Construction/Dave Lathrop Fastest Feature Lap Bonus $250: Kevin Root (19.677sec/91 477mph).
Competition Carburetors Fastest Feature Lap Bonus $100: Kevin Root (19.677sec/91. 477mph).
Bicknell Racing Products Hometown Finisher Award $150 (highest LOLR finisher): Mat Williamson.
Move of the Race Award (In Memory of Stu & Brad Ovens) $150: Justin Haers.
Steve Riddle Hardscapes Most Laps Led Bonus $150: Mat Williamson.
Shawn Greene Photos Halfway Leader Bonus $400: Mat Williamson.
Fulton Speedway Small-Block Bonus: 1. Dave Marcuccilli $300, 2. Brandon Carvey $200.
Buzz Chew Racing Rookie Of The Race Award $150: Mike Maresca.
Sunrise Insulation 3rd-Place Heat Finish Bonus $300: H1-Rudolph $100, H2-Williamson $100, H3-Sears $100.
Rock Solid Services 4th-Place Heat Finish Bonus $300: H1-Tomkins $100, H2-Haers $100, H3-Phelps $100.
Tradition Chevrolet Group Pole Award $300: Darren Smith.
Behrent’s Performance Warehouse Outside-Pole Award $200 (gift card): Kevin Root
Ralphie D 1st Non-Qualifier Prize $100: Larry Wight.
IndyKart Raceway Sportsmanship Award $200: Zach Payne.
R.M. Tree Service Best Appearing Car Award $200: #49 Billy Dunn.
Coleman & Associates Ageless Wonder Award $150: Dave Rauscher.
Coleman & Associates Youngest Driver Of The Race Award $150: Kasey Coffey.
Bicknell Racing Products Worst Number Draw (at gate) Prize $150: Dalton Martin.
Buzz Chew Racing Crew Chief Award $100: #17 Marshall Dinkins.
Bicknell Racing Products Underdog Of The Race Prize $100: Darren Smith.
Guaranteed Start ‘Outlaw 200’ (@Fulton Speedway-Oct. 5) Highest Finishing DIRT-Legal 358-Modified: Dave Marcuccilli.
Smoky Hot Lap Hero Award $75 (fastest lap in practice): Gary Lindberg (17.740sec/101.466mph).
TSR. Sugar. JT Racing Longest Tow Award $200: Rich Scagliotta.
ImageX Graphics Victory Lane Award Presentations.
$10,000 Lap Money.
DNQ (11): m1-Dave Marcuccilli(SB) , 11j-James Sweeting, 14b-Brendan Darrah, 19c-Brandon Carvey, 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 27jr-Daniel Johnson Jr., 48too-Dave Rauscher. 63-Adam Roberts, 82-Wally Wade, 99L-Larry Wight, 2024-Tyler Trump.
B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller[4]; 2. 17-Marcus Dinkins[1]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[7]; 4. 19W-Justin Wright[2]; 5. 99L-Larry Wight[3]; 6. M1-Dave Marcuccilli[6]; 7. 14B-Brendan Darrah[5]; 8. 19C-Brandon Carvey[8]; 9. 48T-Dave Rauscher[10]; 10. 27D-Daniel Johnson[9]
B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 42P-Pat Ward[2]; 2. 7MM-Mike Maresca[1]; 3. 14J-Alan Johnson[4]; 4. 8-Rich Scagliotta[3]; 5. 18K-Dalton Martin[5]; 6. 9X-Tyler Trump[7]; 7. 11J-James Sweeting[10]; 8. 21P-Derrick Podsiadlo[8]; 9. 63-Adam Roberts[6]; 10. 82-Wally Wade[9]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 12-Darren Smith[2]; 2. 34-Kevin Root[1]; 3. 7Z-Zachary Payne[3]; 4. 37S-Gary Lindberg[4]; 5. 25R-Erick Rudolph[6]; 6. 39C-Kasey Coffey[5]
Heat 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21A-Peter Britten[2]; 2. 7Z-Zachary Payne[1]; 3. 25R-Erick Rudolph[6]; 4. 07-Gary Tomkins[3]; 5. 91D-Billy Decker[7]; 6. 15-Todd Root[8]; 7. 17-Marcus Dinkins[5]; 8. 42P-Pat Ward[11]; 9. 19-Tim Fuller[12]; 10. 18K-Dalton Martin[13]; 11. 70A-Alex Payne[4]; 12. 21P-Derrick Podsiadlo[10]; 13. (DNS) 48T-Dave Rauscher
Heat 2 (20 Laps): 1. 34-Kevin Root[1]; 2. 37S-Gary Lindberg[4]; 3. 6-Mat Williamson[12]; 4. 3-Justin Haers[5]; 5. 3RS-Dalton Slack[3]; 6. 49-Billy Dunn[8]; 7. 7MM-Mike Maresca[7]; 8. 99L-Larry Wight[2]; 9. 14J-Alan Johnson[10]; 10. M1-Dave Marcuccilli[6]; 11. 9X-Tyler Trump[9]; 12. 27D-Daniel Johnson[11]; 13. 11J-James Sweeting[13]
Heat 3 (20 Laps): 1. 12-Darren Smith[2]; 2. 39C-Kasey Coffey[6]; 3. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[10]; 4. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[9]; 5. 27J-Danny Johnson[11]; 6. 27Z-Dylan Zacharias[3]; 7. 19W-Justin Wright[7]; 8. 8-Rich Scagliotta[12]; 9. 14B-Brendan Darrah[8]; 10. 63-Adam Roberts[1]; 11. 19C-Brandon Carvey[5]; 12. 82-Wally Wade[4]
DIRTcar Sportsman
Feature (25 laps / Make-Up from 8/24): 1. 30-Nick Root ($750), 2. 9-Tim Baker, 3. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr., 4. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 5. 12g-Matt Guererri, 6. 711-Nick Ventura, 7. 38-Zach Sobotka, 8. 44-Dave Conant Jr., 9. 51-Tim Lafler, 10. 21-James Henry, 11. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 12. 10-Karl Comfort, 13. 31k-Kennedy Payne, 14. 41s-Chase Spoor, 15. 7t-Tyler Guzzardi, 16. 18h-Justin Henderson, 17. 21j-Justin Liechti, 18. 7s-Torrey Stoughtenger, 19. 35-Nick Cooper, 20. 87-Brad Sawyer, 21. 57-Sydney Wetherbee, 22. 28j-Jordan Moden, 7-Paul Guererri(NS), 20x-Kevin Ridley(NS), 55-Blake Parsons(NS), 181-Justice Mayo(NS), 11-Dean Laughlin(NS), 11v-Olivia Vitale(NS).
2024 Track Champion: Zach Sobotka