Matt Janczuk Scores 358-Modified Challenge Race Win Friday At Utica-Rome Speedway

Story By: UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY – VERNON, NY – After a long winter, warmer and drier weather arrived for the opening night of the 2025 season at Utica-Rome Speedway on Brodel Fuel Group Night featuring the first leg of the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modified Series.

The VP Racing Fuels 358 Modified Series 30-lap feature began with Dave Marcuccilli and Bobby Hackel IV battling for the lead through some early restarts as Matt Caprara and Jeff Taylor battled for third. A yellow for Brian Murphy’s slowing car on lap 11 saw the race take a turn as Marcuccilli lost power and was pushed to the pits, handing the lead to Hackel IV and moving Matt Janczuk to second. Janczuk was able to grab the lead on the restart and pulled away as Willy Decker battled with Lance Willix and Caprara. Willix moved into third at halfway as Decker slid back. Janczuk extended his lead over Hackel IV in the second half of the race and cruised to the win. Hackel IV was second, with Willix third, followed by a late charging Billy Dunn in fourth and Willy Decker in fifth.

In the Taylor’s Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman 25 lapper, Josh Coonradt outran Zach Welch for the lead at the start as John Dumond grabbed third. On a lap 6 restart, Payton Talbot launched his way into the top five as Coonradt continued to set the pace. Tyler Peet moved into the second spot and was able to drive past Coonraddt on lap 14 to take the lead. Talbot had a very fast car, taking second two laps later and one lap after that he made the move to grab the top spot. Peet’s run came to an end on lap 23 as he slowed, setting up a two lap shootout. Talbot was not to be denied, taking the win over Coonradt, as Dumond came back late in the race to take third. Welch and Tanner Warner rounded out the top five.

The Next Generation Graphix Pro Stock 20-lap main event saw Ed Kotary jump from the pole into the race lead with Luke Horning moving into second. Shane Playford came up into the mix and battled with Bret Belden for fourth till a yellow on lap 7 bunched the field. Playford took the lead from Horning on the restart as George Cushman battled with Belden and Jim Normoyle. Playford built a lead and carried it to the checkers over Horning, Cush,an, Normoyle, and Belden.

The Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman ran a 20-lap feature event that saw Hayden Coons build a big lead till a lap 7 yellow bunched the field. A great battle with Andrew Eaton and Jayden Wust for third was interrupted by Garrett Chillot, who made some fast moves to slot into second. Chillot took the lead on the restart and built a big lead while Wust got past Coons, who slid back in the field, eventually slowing and bringing out a caution on lap 17 as Jeff Boblin moved into third. Chillot carried it the rest of the way to take the win.

In the JB’s Sewer and Welding Four Cylinders, Jacob Kimball got out in front early, building a good lead and then withstood challenges over the final few laps to get the overall win and the top spot for the Dual Overhead Cam cars. Wayne Russell Jr. was the top finishing Single Overhead Cam entry.

In Slingshot competition on the inner oval, Brayden Ketchum held off Justin House for the win in the Ted’s Body Shop All Star division, while the Diaz Aviation Junior Slingshot feature was won by Preston Trautschold, who held off Blake Banek on a late race restart.

Racing continues at Utica-Rome Speedway this Friday, April 25th as the 3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds return for their season opener, joined by the regular divisions and the first appearance of the M2 Metals RUSH Crate Late Models. Race time is 7:00 p.m.

358 Modified

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[7]; 2. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 3. 31-Lance Willix[19]; 4. 49-Billy Dunn[23]; 5. 10CC-Willy Decker[8]; 6. 11-Matthew Capara[6]; 7. 5H-Amy Holland[16]; 8. ONE-David Herbert[21]; 9. 3-Chris Mackey[5]; 10. $18-Sean Beardsley[12]; 11. 44-Gordon Smith[20]; 12. 3B-Chad Brachmann[30]; 13. 11Z-Nick Zielinski[13]; 14. K38-Jared Herbison[24]; 15. 67W-Zack Welch[14]; 16. 42-Tucker O’Connor[18]; 17. 52-Jessica Power[26]; 18. 13-Teddy Starr[27]; 19. 11T-Jeff Taylor[3]; 20. 23-David Dickey[15]; 21. 63-Adam Roberts[1]; 22. 22-Noah Walker[10]; 23. M1-Dave Marcuccilli[2]; 24. 12-Addison Bowman[11]; 25. B24-Brendan Gibbons[9]; 26. 42M-Brian Murphy[25]; 27. 16-Aaron Jacobs[29]; 28. 160-Max Hill[17]; 29. 23B-Cameron Black[22]; 30. (DNS) 34-Andrew Ferguson

Consi 1 (8 Laps): 1. ONE-David Herbert[2]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[5]; 3. 42M-Brian Murphy[1]; 4. 13-Teddy Starr[6]; 5. 16-Aaron Jacobs[3]; 6. 7G-Brad Godshalk[4]; 7. (DNS) 78-Rocky Warner; 8. (DNS) 14T-Payton Talbot

Consi 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23B-Cameron Black[3]; 2. K38-Jared Herbison[1]; 3. 52-Jessica Power[5]; 4. 34-Andrew Ferguson[4]; 5. 3B-Chad Brachmann[7]; 6. (DNS) 369-Jim Walsh; 7. (DNS) 28G-Jim Gould

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[1]; 2. M1-Dave Marcuccilli[2]; 3. 63-Adam Roberts[4]; 4. 11Z-Nick Zielinski[6]; 5. 160-Max Hill[7]; 6. 42M-Brian Murphy[8]; 7. 16-Aaron Jacobs[9]; 8. 49-Billy Dunn[5]; 9. 78-Rocky Warner[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. B24-Brendan Gibbons[2]; 2. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[7]; 3. 3-Chris Mackey[4]; 4. 67W-Zack Welch[1]; 5. 42-Tucker O’Connor[6]; 6. K38-Jared Herbison[8]; 7. 23B-Cameron Black[9]; 8. 52-Jessica Power[3]; 9. 3B-Chad Brachmann[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10CC-Willy Decker[2]; 2. 11-Matthew Capara[1]; 3. 11T-Jeff Taylor[3]; 4. 23-David Dickey[7]; 5. 31-Lance Willix[8]; 6. ONE-David Herbert[6]; 7. 7G-Brad Godshalk[4]; 8. 13-Teddy Starr[5]; 9. 14T-Payton Talbot[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. $18-Sean Beardsley[2]; 2. 22-Noah Walker[8]; 3. 12-Addison Bowman[7]; 4. 5H-Amy Holland[5]; 5. 44-Gordon Smith[3]; 6. 369-Jim Walsh[1]; 7. 34-Andrew Ferguson[6]; 8. (DNS) 28G-Jim Gould

Sportsman

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot[11]; 2. 00X-Josh Coonradt[2]; 3. 31J-John Dumond[4]; 4. 67W-Zack Welch[1]; 5. 78-Tanner Warner[8]; 6. 82H-David Hackett[5]; 7. 22X-Mike Richmond[26]; 8. 25-Stephen Gray[10]; 9. 9K-Blaine Klinger[12]; 10. 4-Carson Rothwell[16]; 11. 1B-Brett Mortensen[6]; 12. 2K-Josh Amodio[7]; 13. 12P-Connor Prokop[17]; 14. 37X-Buddy Leathley[13]; 15. 57-Eric Jensen[27]; 16. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[9]; 17. 621-Seth Martin[23]; 18. 69-Blake Sarpriacone[19]; 19. 44C-Stephen Denton[14]; 20. 1C-Paul Carey[20]; 21. 9G-Tyler Peet[3]; 22. 77L-Ed Lukas[15]; 23. 58-Jonny Feagles[18]; 24. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[21]; 25. 12B-Tyler Bobar[24]; 26. 262-Matthew Richardson[22]; 27. 314-Clayton Dumond[25]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Tanner Warner[2]; 2. 9K-Blaine Klinger[5]; 3. 9G-Tyler Peet[8]; 4. 00X-Josh Coonradt[4]; 5. 37X-Buddy Leathley[9]; 6. 4-Carson Rothwell[1]; 7. 69-Blake Sarpriacone[3]; 8. 262-Matthew Richardson[7]; 9. 314-Clayton Dumond[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Josh Amodio[1]; 2. 1B-Brett Mortensen[3]; 3. 31J-John Dumond[4]; 4. 67W-Zack Welch[8]; 5. 44C-Stephen Denton[5]; 6. 12P-Connor Prokop[9]; 7. 1C-Paul Carey[2]; 8. 621-Seth Martin[6]; 9. 22X-Mike Richmond[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[2]; 2. 25-Stephen Gray[4]; 3. 14T-Payton Talbot[7]; 4. 82H-David Hackett[3]; 5. 77L-Ed Lukas[5]; 6. 58-Jonny Feagles[1]; 7. 5EJ-EJ Gallup[6]; 8. 12B-Tyler Bobar[8]; 9. 57-Eric Jensen[9]

Pro Stocks

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 6-Shane Playford[7]; 2. 2H-Luke Horning[4]; 3. 13-George Cushman[9]; 4. 74N-Jim Normoyle[10]; 5. 81-Bret Belden[6]; 6. 101-Ed Kotary[1]; 7. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 8. 94-Ryan Denton[15]; 9. 14H-Hunter Keith[16]; 10. 4C-Toby Cooper[11]; 11. 14K-Mike Keith[13]; 12. 44-Ray Richer[14]; 13. 22-Tim Wood[2]; 14. 25Y-Ken Griffin[12]; 15. 110-Devon Camenga[3]; 16. 22W-AJ Walters[8]; 17. (DNS) 28G-Gus Gould

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[4]; 2. 101-Ed Kotary[1]; 3. 22W-AJ Walters[5]; 4. 110-Devon Camenga[3]; 5. 13-George Cushman[9]; 6. 4C-Toby Cooper[7]; 7. 14K-Mike Keith[2]; 8. 94-Ryan Denton[6]; 9. 28G-Gus Gould[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Shane Playford[4]; 2. 81-Bret Belden[3]; 3. 22-Tim Wood[2]; 4. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[6]; 5. 74N-Jim Normoyle[8]; 6. 25Y-Ken Griffin[5]; 7. 44-Ray Richer[7]; 8. 14H-Hunter Keith[1]

Limited Sportsman

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 349-Garrett Chillot[8]; 2. 43J-Jayden Wust[5]; 3. 1B-Jeff Bobilin[11]; 4. 55-Andrew Eaton[2]; 5. 54-Sullivan Dickey[6]; 6. 5C-Randy Cosselman[4]; 7. 17S-Ernie Staelens[7]; 8. 24-Kirsten Swartz[12]; 9. 36-Matt Bukovan[10]; 10. 44D-Kadyn Depasquale[3]; 11. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[15]; 12. 0-Kyle Coley[14]; 13. 4-Scott Jennings[13]; 14. 56-Ayden Goodier[17]; 15. 12E-Mike Evans[16]; 16. 12-Hayden Coons[1]; 17. (DNS) 5-Eymarah Bowman; 18. (DNS) 60-Brad Poppleton

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 349-Garrett Chillot[6]; 2. 43J-Jayden Wust[3]; 3. 44D-Kadyn Depasquale[1]; 4. 55-Andrew Eaton[7]; 5. 5-Eymarah Bowman[5]; 6. 1B-Jeff Bobilin[9]; 7. 4-Scott Jennings[8]; 8. 7J-Nicholas Jenkins[2]; 9. 56-Ayden Goodier[4]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 12-Hayden Coons[3]; 2. 54-Sullivan Dickey[7]; 3. 17S-Ernie Staelens[4]; 4. 5C-Randy Cosselman[1]; 5. 36-Matt Bukovan[5]; 6. 24-Kirsten Swartz[8]; 7. 0-Kyle Coley[2]; 8. 12E-Mike Evans[9]; 9. (DNS) 60-Brad Poppleton

Four Cylinders

Feature (17 Laps): 1. 78D-Jacob Kimball[7]; 2. 21VD-Corey Valade[12]; 3. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[11]; 4. 736S-David DeNova[3]; 5. 31D-Jeff Connolly[2]; 6. 13D-Kyle Simmons[10]; 7. 8S-Steven Burka[6]; 8. 17RD-Joseph Bouck[5]; 9. 68D-Mike Matthews[4]; 10. 212S-TJ Marlitt[9]; 11. 666D-Rudy King Jr[1]; 12. (DNS) K1S-William Liberatore

All Star Slingshots

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 15-Brayden Ketchum[1]; 2. 33Z-Justin House[3]; 3. 6B-Brett Putnam[2]; 4. 8-Tadd Granger[5]; 5. 42-Kevin Loveless[6]; 6. 29-Billy Richardson[4]; 7. 16-Andrew Millard[9]; 8. (DNS) 6-Devin Pierce; 9. (DNS) 10-Scott Sprague

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Brayden Ketchum[1]; 2. 6B-Brett Putnam[5]; 3. 33Z-Justin House[7]; 4. 29-Billy Richardson[4]; 5. 8-Tadd Granger[2]; 6. 42-Kevin Loveless[3]; 7. (DNS) 6-Devin Pierce; 8. (DNS) 10-Scott Sprague; 9. (DNS) 16-Andrew Millard

Junior Slingshots

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 20-Preston Trautschold[2]; 2. 27-Blake Banek[1]; 3. 67X-Jaxx Welch[5]; 4. 33X-Brody Janczuk[6]; 5. 2K-Thomas Kimble[4]; 6. 23-Mark Cioffi[3]; 7. 711-Wyatt Wilmot[7]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 27-Blake Banek[1]; 2. 20-Preston Trautschold[4]; 3. 23-Mark Cioffi[2]; 4. 2K-Thomas Kimble[6]; 5. 67X-Jaxx Welch[7]; 6. 33X-Brody Janczuk[5]; 7. 711-Wyatt Wilmot[3]