Can Am Track Regulars See Success On The Road With Summer Starter Around The Corner

Story By: TIM BALTZ / CAN-AM SPEEDWAY – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – For the 10th time in the history of Can Am Speedway the annual Summer Starter for the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modifieds will take center stage with many looking to add their name to the list of past winners.

Last season Lance Willix took his ride to the front of the field and held on for his first Summer Starter win in his first ever try in the event, joining Northeast Modified Hall of Famer Danny Johnson, who also won in his first try in 1991.

Since 1990 when the late Bob McCreadie took the first Summer Starter win, in what was a Big Block/Small Block event, 4 other Northeast Modified Hall of Famers took checkered flags. Danny Johnson in 1991, Brett Hearn in 1992, Alan Johnson in 1994 and 1996 with the great Buzzie Reutimann in 1995. The 1993 event fell to weather. Other winners included an upset by crowd favorite Bill Gill in 1997 and a 24 year old rising star named Tim McCreadie in 1998. The win for both drivers was their first ever DIRTcar Big Block Modified win.

There will be plenty for the fans to see and do also, with a lot happening for our young fans at Can Am. The first 100 youth through the general admission gate this coming Friday night, will receive a free bike helmet courtesy of Victims Assistance Center of Jefferson County, the evening’s featured Non-Profit.

So what have our drivers been up to since we last competed at Can Am? Well with the amount of rain, surprisingly some drivers managed to turn some laps in some big events. Gavin Eisele, a regular in our Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTcar Sportsman division claimed his 3rd career Sportsman series win at Weedsport this past Sunday. Other divers from Can Am that made the show included Richard Murtaugh 5th, defending track champion Mike Fowler 9th, Brennan Moore 13th and Frank Sibley 27th. Other drivers who made the trip to “The Port” for the Sportsman race included Logan Brown, Dylan Moore, Patrick Kudrinko and Camdin Cook.

Also on the evening, some of our own Panther Frameworx Crate Sprint Car drivers raced at Weedsport last Sunday. Ken Klinkowsky, Rachel Zacharias, Andrew Hennessy, Cam McKinnon and Marc Surprenant all made the trip for the CRSA 305 Sprint Car event, with great showings against a tough field of cars.

Corey Valade who won our first two races of the season in the Sundance Leisure Thundercars, took his talents to the Brookfield Speedway on Monday night, but struggled in the 4 cylinder feature finishing 14th.

Monday a few of our own Whitesboro Plowshop DIRTcar 358 Modified drivers had great success at the Thunder Mountain Speedway in “The Natural 77” Super DIRTcar Series event in honor of the late Dale Planck. Watertown’s Jordan McCreadie had a big block under the hood finishing a strong 4th while Lance Willix took his small block to battle at The Mountain. Willix started 11th and finished a strong 9th, the top running 358 Modified on the evening. Richard Murtaugh won the companion DIRTcar Sportsman feature, besting his rival Tyler Corcoran for the win Monday night.

McCreadie, Willix and all the top stars in all five classes will be back in action this Friday night and looking for more wins and trophies to add to their impressive collections. Gates open at 5pm with the first green flag flying at 7pm.