Lance Willix Doubles Down: Back-to-Back Summer Starter Wins At Can-Am Speedway

Story By: TIM BALTZ / CAN-AM SPEEDWAY – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – After a week off the stars at the Can Am Speedway were back for the 10th annual Summer Starter for the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modifieds plus a full show for all divisions.

One of the major events that everyone was looking forward to, was the first ever Mascot Showdown, which pitted well known mascots across the region and lucky fans for chance to win a major prize.

The night began with that epic Mascot Showdown after opening ceremonies and national anthems. Victims Assistance Center Jefferson County, Child Advocacy Center and the great fans were treated to this one-of-a-kind event. Whyatt Beanstalk from the popular kids show Super Why, was the honorary starter. Otto the Orange, The Cow from Chick-fil-A and the Carthage Comet were ready to do battle. In an epic tag team foot-race, the team of Otto the Orange from Syracuse University and lucky fan Robert Scott were the confirmed winners of this debut event. Scott claimed the top prize which was tickets for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at the Dover Motor Speedway.

The Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman 12 lap feature kicked off the stock car racing portion of the night with Eymarah Bowman claiming the early lead over Brianna Murtaugh and Mason Rogers. The race was stopped by several cautions on the night. Genavieve Bartlett was involved in a couple of yellow flags, which eventually led to her dropping out at the end of the event, ending her run at winning her fourth straight feature. Once the laps clicked off Bowman was the driver to beat holding off Caleb Howard on multiple restarts while behind them Murtaugh and Rogers had a spirited battle for the number three spot. As the laps wound down Eymarah Bowman continued to stretch out the lead leaving Howard in second, as she looked to be on her way to her first win. The final yellow flew on lap 10 setting up one last restart. When the green flew Bowman got a great start and would go unchallenged to score her first ever win. Caleb Howard, Mason Rogers, Brianna Murtaugh and Grayson Soper completed the top 5

In the 15 lap Sundance Leisure Thundercar feature it was 2021 track champion Tony Frezzo jumping out front early over Anthony St. Mary Jr. and Corey Valade. Frezzo had a fast car but was getting plenty of pressure from both St. Mary and Valade in the opening laps. By he halfway point the top three, Frezzo, St. Mary and Valade were having a great battle while Mike Greenfield was on the move taking the 4th spot and eventually ran down the top 3 drivers. On lap 8 the first of many yellows flew for minor spins, which allowed the field to get another shot at the leader. When the green flew it was Frezzo in front but Mike Greenfield charged forward taking second away from Valade, as he went after Frezzo for the lead. On lap 10 Mike Greenfield made the move in turn one using the bottom lane to take the lead as he began to pull away. Greenfield looked to be well on his way to the win until the final yellow flew on lap 12 for Anthony St. Mary Jr., who tagged the wall hard in turn 4. St. Mary was ok and the car was towed to the pits. On the final restart Mike Greenfield would pull away and end a long winless drought which dated back to May of 2021, to score his first win of 2025. Tony Frezzo, Corey Valade, Francis White and Timothy Greenfield rounded out the top 5.

The 10th annual Summer Starter for the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modifieds was up next and Lance Willix was looking for back to back wins in the event, but a tough field was trying to deny him that honor. Tyler Meeks charged to the lead in the early laps with Derek Webb and Lance Willix giving chase from 2nd and 3rd. Meeks had a strong race car on this night and pulled away from the field, looking for his second ever Can Am Modified win. Behind the leader Lance Willix was putting on a great battle with Derek Webb for the runner up spot, as he took 2nd away but still had nearly a straight away to make up on the race leader. On lap 13 Meeks showed the way but Willix was getting stronger every lap. With 9 laps to go the lead was down to a car length and Willix knew at this point it was time to go while behind them co-point leader Billy Dunn made his way to third and set his sights on the top two drivers. On lap 19 Lance Willix got the drive he wanted off turn two getting by Tyler Meeks for the lead, which he would keep until the end. On this night Lance Willix would put his name in the history books joining Hall of Famer Alan Johnson as the only other driver to win the Summer Starter twice and the first to win the event in back to back years, scoring his second win of the year. Billy Dunn crossed in second with Tyler Meeks, Derek Webb and Remington Hamm 5th, in a caution free race.

Frank Sibley was looking to put his name in the record books as a Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTcar Sportsman winner as he took the lead early on in the 20 lap event, over Greg Brinklow and Logan Brown. Sibley got out front and was running away from the field but it was a mad scramble behind him for position, with defending track champion Mike Fowler charging to the front taking third from Greg Brinklow, as he tried to run down Ryan Shanahan for second and race leader Frank Sibley. As the laps clicked off Mike Fowler got faster as he took second from Shanahan and ran down Frank Sibley for the lead. On lap 12 Mike Fowler made the move on the high side of the race track off turn 4, to take control of the race while Sibley was left to battle with Ryan Shanahan for the runner up spot with Tyler Stevenson 4th and May 16th winner Josh Reome running 5th. As the laps clicked off Mike Fowler was getting faster and without the help of a yellow flag, Frank Sibley and rest of the field would have to wait another week as Mike Fowler scored the popular win, his first of the year. Frank Sibley held off Ryan Shanahan for second with Tyler Stevenson and Josh Reome rounding out the top 5.

Two weeks ago in the 20 lap Panter Frameworx Crate Sprint Car event, we found out who Jon Liberty was. This week, we really got to know who Jon Liberty is as he took the lead at the drop of the green flag over George Sanford and Tucker Donath. Liberty was strong in the early laps as Sanford was trying to keep pace as they both were in search of their first ever Sprint Car win. The race was slowed by a pair of spins by Patrick Nolan but it didn’t phase the race leader or the rest of the drivers chasing him. Liberty had a fast car and pulled away to a big lead, however Sanford was staying within striking distance and patiently ran down the leader. With 5 laps to go the handling appeared to go away on Jon Liberty’s car allowing Sanford to close the gap with Josh Verne Jr. watching the battle from the third spot. Over the final laps Jon Liberty stayed in control and would not lose the lead as he went on to score his first career win in only his 4th ever start in a race car of any kind. Sanford crossed in second, with Josh Verne Jr, Bruno Richard and Tucker Donath the top 5.

Next week the mechanics take center stage for the annual Mechanics Race at Can Am with all five classes in action once again. Gates open at 5pm with the first green flag flying at 7pm.

DIRTcar 358 Modified

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 31-Lance Willix[7]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[6]; 3. 9-Tyler Meeks[1]; 4. 66W-Derek Webb[2]; 5. 57H-Remington Hamm[5]; 6. 19-Tim Fuller[8]; 7. 21R-RJ Tresidder[3]; 8. 18W-Scott Webb[4]; 9. 39-Ryan Bartlett[13]; 10. 17-Tristan Draper[10]; 11. 12-Addison Bowman[17]; 12. 18-Kalen Draper[9]; 13. 63-Adam Roberts[12]; 14. 621-Zach Aubertine[11]; 15. 7S-Shaun Shaw[15]; 16. (DNS) 21-Andrew Howard; 17. (DNS) 23-Cameron Black

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Tyler Meeks[1]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[6]; 3. 66W-Derek Webb[3]; 4. 31-Lance Willix[7]; 5. 18-Kalen Draper[8]; 6. 621-Zach Aubertine[9]; 7. (DNF) 39-Ryan Bartlett[2]; 8. (DNF) 7S-Shaun Shaw[5]; 9. (DNF) 12-Addison Bowman[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18W-Scott Webb[4]; 2. 19-Tim Fuller[7]; 3. 17-Tristan Draper[8]; 4. 21R-RJ Tresidder[3]; 5. 57H-Remington Hamm[5]; 6. 63-Adam Roberts[1]; 7. (DNS) 21-Andrew Howard; 8. (DNS) 23-Cameron Black

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 7S-Shaun Shaw, 00:19.633[12]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn, 00:19.812[7]; 3. 18W-Scott Webb, 00:19.951[15]; 4. 31-Lance Willix, 00:20.009[16]; 5. 57H-Remington Hamm, 00:20.229[8]; 6. 23-Cameron Black, 00:20.265[3]; 7. 9-Tyler Meeks, 00:20.408[10]; 8. 66W-Derek Webb, 00:20.414[14]; 9. 12-Addison Bowman, 00:20.531[4]; 10. 63-Adam Roberts, 00:20.532[11]; 11. 21R-RJ Tresidder, 00:20.563[13]; 12. 39-Ryan Bartlett, 00:20.573[2]; 13. 17-Tristan Draper, 00:20.618[6]; 14. 18-Kalen Draper, 00:20.815[5]; 15. 621-Zach Aubertine, 00:21.022[1]; 16. (DNS) 21-Andrew Howard

DIRTcar Sportsman

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 410-Mike Fowler[10]; 2. 92-Frank Sibley[2]; 3. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[7]; 4. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[9]; 5. 91-Josh Reome[12]; 6. 9-Logan Brown[5]; 7. 34K-Keegan Nier[6]; 8. 52-Jessica Power[15]; 9. 33-Richard Murtaugh[11]; 10. 18-Gavin Eisele[13]; 11. 34-Eric Nier[14]; 12. 17-Owen Nier[8]; 13. 44-Taylor Doxtater[18]; 14. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[1]; 15. 62-Jonathan Murphy[3]; 16. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[16]; 17. 10J-Josh Livingston[19]; 18. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[23]; 19. 1-Jack Meeks[20]; 20. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[21]; 21. 54-Brady Howard[25]; 22. 25-George Sanford[22]; 23. 5R-Steve Roberts[17]; 24. (DNF) 88-Dave Kingsley[26]; 25. (DNF) 9B-Gregory Gould[24]; 26. (DNF) 14-Camdin Cook[4]; 27. (DNF) 7D-Dustin Hutton[27]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[4]; 2. 91-Josh Reome[7]; 3. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[1]; 4. 14-Camdin Cook[3]; 5. 18-Gavin Eisele[6]; 6. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[2]; 7. 10J-Josh Livingston[9]; 8. 25-George Sanford[8]; 9. 54-Brady Howard[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Frank Sibley[1]; 2. 410-Mike Fowler[5]; 3. 9-Logan Brown[3]; 4. 17-Owen Nier[4]; 5. 34-Eric Nier[6]; 6. 5R-Steve Roberts[2]; 7. 1-Jack Meeks[9]; 8. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[8]; 9. 88-Dave Kingsley[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[4]; 2. 34K-Keegan Nier[3]; 3. 62-Jonathan Murphy[1]; 4. 33-Richard Murtaugh[6]; 5. 52-Jessica Power[5]; 6. 44-Taylor Doxtater[8]; 7. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[2]; 8. 9B-Gregory Gould[7]

602 Crate Sprint Cars

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 6-Jon Liberty[1]; 2. 25-George Sanford[2]; 3. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[6]; 4. 72-Bruno Richard[5]; 5. Z28-Tucker Donath[4]; 6. 27W-Nick Webb[3]; 7. 87-Andrew Hennessy[10]; 8. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[11]; 9. 271-Tiger Chapman[7]; 10. 93-Guy Gosselin[8]; 11. 71-Jason Breezee[12]; 12. 89X-Chris Nethers[14]; 13. 08-James Kiah[15]; 14. 0-Patrick Nolan[9]; 15. 89N-Chad Kramer[13]; 16. (DNF) 74-Will Fisher[16]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 25-George Sanford[2]; 2. Z28-Tucker Donath[3]; 3. 271-Tiger Chapman[6]; 4. 93-Guy Gosselin[8]; 5. 0-Patrick Nolan[4]; 6. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[1]; 7. 89N-Chad Kramer[5]; 8. (DNF) 08-James Kiah[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 6-Jon Liberty[1]; 2. 27W-Nick Webb[2]; 3. 72-Bruno Richard[3]; 4. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[5]; 5. 87-Andrew Hennessy[4]; 6. 71-Jason Breezee[8]; 7. 89X-Chris Nethers[6]; 8. 74-Will Fisher[7]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard, 00:19.141[13]; 2. 1V-Josh Verne Jr, 00:19.646[15]; 3. 27W-Nick Webb, 00:19.648[16]; 4. Z28-Tucker Donath, 00:19.896[3]; 5. 6-Jon Liberty, 00:20.038[10]; 6. 25-George Sanford, 00:20.062[14]; 7. 93-Guy Gosselin, 00:20.123[5]; 8. 71-Jason Breezee, 00:20.217[1]; 9. 89X-Chris Nethers, 00:20.220[11]; 10. 271-Tiger Chapman, 00:20.325[2]; 11. 89N-Chad Kramer, 00:20.524[9]; 12. 30-Ken Klinkowsky, 00:20.759[8]; 13. 74-Will Fisher, 00:21.061[4]; 14. 08-James Kiah, 00:21.126[7]; 15. (DNS) 87-Andrew Hennessy; 16. (DNS) 0-Patrick Nolan

ThunderCar

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 17-Michael Greenfield[5]; 2. 22-Tony Frezzo[4]; 3. 21V-Corey Valade[8]; 4. 60-Francis White[7]; 5. 73T-Timothy Greenfield[1]; 6. 9-Colby Goodale[10]; 7. 3R-David Rasmussen[9]; 8. 28-Colby Hibbard[3]; 9. 94-OJ White[2]; 10. 60R-Ron White[13]; 11. 53-Anthony Stevens[14]; 12. (DNF) 22J-Jared Gilson[11]; 13. (DNF) 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[6]; 14. (DNF) 19-Collin Bauter[12]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade[6]; 2. 60-Francis White[5]; 3. 73T-Timothy Greenfield[1]; 4. (DNF) 28-Colby Hibbard[2]; 5. (DNF) 3R-David Rasmussen[3]; 6. (DNS) 22J-Jared Gilson; 7. (DNS) 60R-Ron White

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 17-Michael Greenfield[3]; 2. 22-Tony Frezzo[2]; 3. 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[4]; 4. 94-OJ White[1]; 5. 9-Colby Goodale[7]; 6. 19-Collin Bauter[5]; 7. (DNF) 53-Anthony Stevens[6]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade, 00:23.548[10]; 2. 17-Michael Greenfield, 00:23.984[4]; 3. 28-Colby Hibbard, 00:26.718[6]; 4. (DNS) 19-Collin Bauter; 5. (DNS) 22-Tony Frezzo; 6. (DNS) 22J-Jared Gilson; 7. (DNS) 73T-Timothy Greenfield; 8. (DNS) 3R-David Rasmussen; 9. (DNS) 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr; 10. (DNS) 53-Anthony Stevens; 11. (DNS) 60-Francis White; 12. (DNS) 94-OJ White; 13. (DNS) 60R-Ron White

Limited Sportsman

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 5-Eymarah Bowman[1]; 2. 90-Caleb Howard[14]; 3. 44-Mason Rogers[3]; 4. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[2]; 5. 76-Grayson Soper[12]; 6. 401K-Joseph Fargo[11]; 7. 6-Mike Durham[4]; 8. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[13]; 9. (DNF) 747-Haily Brownell[10]; 10. (DNF) 11-Genavieve Bartlett[7]; 11. (DNF) 40X-Tim Halsey[8]; 12. (DNF) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[6]; 13. (DNF) 4-Jason Rarick[9]; 14. (DNF) 21-Hayden Howard[5]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[2]; 2. 6-Mike Durham[3]; 3. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[5]; 4. 40X-Tim Halsey[8]; 5. 4-Jason Rarick[1]; 6. 401K-Joseph Fargo[7]; 7. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[6]; 8. (DNS) 90-Caleb Howard

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 44-Mason Rogers[2]; 2. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[6]; 3. 5-Eymarah Bowman[1]; 4. 21-Hayden Howard[4]; 5. 747-Haily Brownell[3]; 6. (DNF) 76-Grayson Soper[5]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh, 00:20.774[10]; 2. 90-Caleb Howard, 00:20.987[7]; 3. 44-Mason Rogers, 00:21.034[13]; 4. 40X-Tim Halsey, 00:21.212[6]; 5. 11-Genavieve Bartlett, 00:21.247[1]; 6. 6-Mike Durham, 00:21.291[4]; 7. 747-Haily Brownell, 00:21.542[3]; 8. 5-Eymarah Bowman, 00:21.557[2]; 9. 76-Grayson Soper, 00:21.811[14]; 10. 401K-Joseph Fargo, 00:21.979[5]; 11. 4-Jason Rarick, 00:22.265[11]; 12. 07T-Tessa Riemersma, 00:23.225[12]; 13. 21-Hayden Howard, 00:23.806[8]; 14. (DNS) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko