News Director 
Story By: MARTY CZEKALA / CRSA – WOODHULL, NY – 13 years ago to the weekend, Tyler Chartrand debuted at Woodhull Raceway in a 305 sprint car.
It had been 14 years since he last found victory lane in a different car/series, until Sept. 14, 2024.
Chartrand took the lead on lap six from Nathan Pierce and did not look back for his first career CRSA victory in the final race of the Dandy Triple Play.
The win makes Chartrand the 82nd different winner in CRSA action and the fifth first-time winner this season, joining Matt Rotz, Dillon Paddock, Adam DePuy and Dan Craun.
“I’m gonna celebrate this for a month,” said a happy Chartrand in victory lane. “This is the biggest win of my career. This is absolutely amazing.”
It’s been a season in which the driver of the No. 12 has had bad luck. From good finishes to good finishes turned upside down in the final laps, with two top-5s and a trio of finishes outside the top 10, all the bad luck doesn’t represent the season.
“It shows several years of my crew putting my best foot forward behind us,” Chartrand said. “This X-1 chassis came to life tonight.”
Nathan Pierce and Tyler Chartrand brought the field to green for the 25-lap feature. Pierce led the opening five laps until Chartrand looked low for the lead in turn four to gather enough bite and lead.
Pierce stayed on the tail tank of Chartrand, with the biggest gap of a second. While the driver of the No. 10 kept fighting, another driver was looking for the runner-up spot.
On a track mostly set for the bottom, Dillon Paddock tested the top all night and almost found his way past Nathan, but he fell two tenths short.
In a race plagued with six yellows, Paddock, Pierce and Tyler Graves were close to the leader in the final eight laps. In the end, Chartrand took the win by 0.7 seconds.
“I was hoping we could end the race soon,” said Chartrand. “We ran those first 7-8 laps caution-free and made the move on Nathan. Every lap it was about driving the thing as hard as I could. We made the right adjustments and get the right laps in.”
Chartrand bettered a second place finish he scored May 18, 2014 at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.
Despite falling a spot short, Nathan Pierce recorded a career-high second at Woodhull, besting a third at Genesee in Sep. 2023. After a Friday night at Penn Can he wanted to forget, Pierce made setup changes that greatly improved.
“We regrouped,” Pierce said. “My dad threw some stuff at it and it didn’t work too bad. Sometimes stuff works out, sometimes it doesn’t.
As for Dillon Paddock, it was his second podium of the season and first since winning at Land of Legends Raceway July 4. Paddock looked for traction in lines where his adversaries weren’t going, but it didn’t work in the end.
“I always do better when I have a little more wing speed and keep the momentum up,” said Paddock. “Can’t really follow these guys. Have to go where they’re not and I was trying everything to pass cars.”
A big shake-up with the overall points standings as points leader Tomy Moreau spun with nine laps to go after hitting a yuke tire into turn four, fading back to 15th in the end. What was an 18-point lead for Moreau has turned into Kyle Pierce taking the points lead by six as he finished sixth with three races remaining.
Kyle Pierce also took home the Dandy Triple Play championship by one point on Dalton Herrick.
Tyler Graves was awarded the Maguire Family of Dealerships Magnificent Move of the Race for his move on Dalton Herrick to finish fourth.
Adam DePuy was tonight’s Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger, starting 16th and finishing eighth.
22 drivers checked into Woodhull Raceway.
CRSA will now turn its attention to Skyline Raceway Motorsports Park Friday for the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series finale.
KYLE PIERCE WINS DANDY TRIPLE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP BY 1 POINT, TAKES OVERALL POINTS LEAD
Coming from 10th on the starting lineup Saturday night, Kyle Pierce made numerous moves in the final laps at Woodhull Raceway to finish sixth. The performance was good enough to win the inaugural Dandy Triple Play by one point on 2022 series champion Dalton Herrick.
“We got lucky with barely missing Tomy [Moreau],” said Pierce in a post-race interview. “He went around and my dad was behind and punted me to keep me going. Two really good races, finished third and tonight I thought we would be better. This race was crazy.”
With only one race complete in the two-race miniseries, 24 drivers were mathematically eligible for the season’s first championship. Outlaw Speedway winner Dan Craun opened up with a six-point advantage on Kyle Pierce. Dalton Herrick was seven back, Tomy Moreau nine behind and Tyler Graves 10 back.
Running sixth after lap eight, Craun, leading the points at the time, was involved in the race’s second yellow when John Cunningham spun in turn one. Craun, trying to avoid it low, was barely caught up in it.
Herrick running fourth, moved up into the provisional championship position, while Kyle Pierce was stuck in ninth.
With under 10 to go, Herrick lost the fourth position to Graves, putting the gap at around three points between Herrick and Pierce/Graves/Tyler Chartrand.
That’s when the No. 9K of Pierce started to make the most of his work. With eight to go, overall points leader Tomy Moreau spun in front of “The Flyin’ School Teacher,” creating a big turnaround to both Dandy Triple Play and overall points.
All Kyle Pierce needed to pass was one car. His father, Cliff Pierce.
With five laps to go, Kyle makes his way past to take the championship by a single marker on Dalton Herrick.
“In the drivers meeting, they said anybody can do it,” said Pierce. “I try really hard not to worry about points, but really cool to get the first one with Dandy here.”
With three point races remaining on the 2024 calendar, Pierce’s sixth to Moreau’s 15th place finish was good enough to take the lead in the overall standings. What was an 18-point lead for Moreau headed into Saturday has turned into Pierce leading the championship by six points, while Dalton Herrick rejoins the dance 34 behind.
“Numbers-wise, it helps a lot,” Pierce said. “A lot can happen in those three shows. Utica-Rome has been hit or miss. We’ve had speed at Canandaigua but went over hard at the beginning of the year. Just need two solid races and fall where they fall.”
The next title to be crowned is the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series Friday at Skyline Raceway Motorsports Park.
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12-Tyler Chartrand[2]; 2. 10-Nathan Pierce[1]; 3. 8-Dillon Paddock[3]; 4. 25G-Tyler Graves[7]; 5. 29-Dalton Herrick[6]; 6. 9K-Kyle Pierce[10]; 7. 4-Cliff Pierce[12]; 8. 99-Adam Depuy[16]; 9. 33-Scott Landers[17]; 10. 18C-Dan Craun[5]; 11. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[4]; 12. 48A-Alysha Bay[20]; 13. 18-Timmy Lotz[19]; 14. 21B-Blake Warner[8]; 15. 22-Tomy Moreau[18]; 16. D9-Dustin Sehn[14]; 17. (DNF) 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[11]; 18. (DNF) J27-John Cunningham[9]; 19. (DNF) 23-John Smith[21]; 20. (DNF) 28-Ron Greek[13]; 21. (DNF) 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[15]; 22. (DNS) 30-Kirsten Dombroski
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kyle Pierce[4]; 2. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[1]; 3. 21B-Blake Warner[3]; 4. 28-Ron Greek[5]; 5. 25G-Tyler Graves[8]; 6. 99-Adam Depuy[6]; 7. 22-Tomy Moreau[7]; 8. 48A-Alysha Bay[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[4]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[2]; 4. 18C-Dan Craun[6]; 5. D9-Dustin Sehn[3]; 6. 23-John Smith[5]; 7. 18-Timmy Lotz[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. J27-John Cunningham[4]; 2. 4-Cliff Pierce[2]; 3. 12-Tyler Chartrand[5]; 4. 10-Nathan Pierce[6]; 5. 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[1]; 6. 33-Scott Landers[3]; 7. (DNF) 30-Kirsten Dombroski[7]
Dandy Triple Play Points Top 10
1. 9K Kyle Pierce, 326 pts
2. 29 Dalton Herrick, -1
3. 12 Tyler Chartrand, -4
4. 25G Tyler Graves, -4
5. 18C Dan Craun, -5
6. 8 Dillon Paddock, -18
7. 22 Tomy Moreau, -27
8. 4 Cliff Pierce, -32
9. 18 Timmy Lotz, -34
10. 99 Adam DePuy, -35
Overall Points Top 5
1. 9K Kyle Pierce, 1872 pts
2. 22 Tomy Moreau, -6
3. 29 Dalton Herrick, -34
4. 28 Ron Greek, -152
5. 21B Blake Warner, -164
