Lance Willix Wins DIRTcar 358-Modified Feature Friday Night At Can-Am Speedway

Story By: TIM BALTZ / CAN-AM SPEEDWAY – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – A great crowd saw another action-packed night at the Can Am Speedway in Lafargeville New York during Five Dollar Fridays.

All five divisions put on a fantastic show for the fans and representatives from Fort Drum MWR, with more close finishes and some familiar faces going to victory lane once again.

In the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modifieds Tyler Meeks took the lead at the start of the 25 lap feature event and looked to have the car to beat as he drove away to a big lead over Andy Howard and Larry Welling Jr. The track was very quick on this night and Meeks was on a mission to drive away, however on lap 6 that was short lived, as he broke on the back stretch and pulled to the infield for the night. Larry Welling Jr. was able to jump into the lead getting around Andy Howard on the restart with a very fast Lance Willix now third. Welling has not won at the track since the 2002 season and was looking to break a long drought. Willix showed his muscle getting by Howard for second and began his pursuit of Welling. The top two put on a great show for the fans, as they were separated by no less than a car length in the closing laps, with Matt Caprara, Addison Bowman and Billy Dunn completing the top 5. With five laps to go Willix made the move off turn two to take over the lead and it proved to be the winning move, as Lance Willix would go unchallenged in the final laps to score his first win of 2025 and 6th of his Can Am Modified career. Matt Caprara had a solid night coming from 10th to finish 2nd with Billy Dunn going from 15th to 3rd, while Larry Welling Jr. and Addison Bowman completed the top 5.

It was another classic battle in the 20 lap Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTcar Sportsman feature and last weeks winner Tyler Corcoran wasted no time jumping to the front of the field over Richard Murtaugh and Tyler Stevenson. The top three showed early on that they would be the drivers to beat as they pulled away from the field in the early laps. However, the story of the night would once again be Tyler Corcoran and Richard Murtaugh, as they staged another classic battle during the caution free event. On lap 6 Murtaugh would flex his muscle and take over the lead and drive away from the field. It looked like Murtaugh was finally going to break through for a Can Am win, while Corcoran and Stevenson tried their best to keep pace. As the laps clicked off Corcoran changed his line and driving style and it paid off as he started to catch Murtaugh. The leaders started to enter traffic as Corcoran drew closer. Murtaugh began to navigate traffic but Tyler Corcoran got a great run off turn two with only two laps remaining. On lap 18 Corcoran made a daring three wide pass in traffic to get by Murtaugh and it proved to be the winning move as Tyler Corcoran marched to his second straight in and 18th of his Can Am career. Murtaugh once again settled for second, with Tyler Stevenson, Bobby Herrington and Brady Howard completing the top 5.

The Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman treated the fans to some great racing and yet another thrilling finish, which involved another driver from the Murtaugh Racing Team. Brianna Murtaugh would lead the early laps in the 12 lap event. Several cautions slowed the race but Murtaugh was not phased as she held the bottom lane perfectly, with Mike Durham and Mason Rogers right there to challenge. Behind them last week’s winner Genavieve Bartlett was on the move, taking third from Rogers then moving to second around Durham, but still had a long way to go to catch the leader. Murtaugh looked to be on her way to her first Can Am win, but the yellow flew on lap 10, setting up another great finish. On the restart Murtaugh once again used the bottom lane but Bartlett made the charge on the high lane and took over the lead off turn two. From there Genavieve Bartlett was not to be denied as she scored her second win in a row and third of her young career. Murtaugh drove a great race to finish second, with Mike Durham, Mason Rogers and Brayden Bullock finishing the out the top 5.

Anthony St. Mary Jr. led early on in the 15 lap Sundance Leisure Thundercar event with former track champions Tony Frezzo and Francis White giving chase. Frezzo would take over the lead briefly with White moving into second, but it was short lived for Frezzo, who slowed on lap 4 with a problem. On the restart White showed the way but the driver on the move was Corey Valade, who made his way from near the tail of the field to challenge for the top spot. Both White and Valade put on a fantastic side by side battle all race long, trading the lead on multiple occasions, with neither driver gaining a big advantage. On the final lap Corey Valade would edge in front of White and it proved to but just enough to hold on as Corey Valade would score two in a row to start the year and third win ever at Can Am. White crossed a close second with Nathan Powers, Michael Greenfield and defending track champion Damien Bechler 5th.

The night concluded with a 20 lap contest for the Panther Frameworx Crate Sprint Cars and it was a battle between the top two in the points from 2024. Andrew Hennessy would lead the way while Josh Verne Jr. was on the move taking the number two spot away. Hennessy was flying around the speedway, as he built up a big lead over the rest if the field with Verne all alone in second and Nick Webb holding down third. With a fast race track, no issues in lapped traffic and no caution flags, Andrew Hennessy was the driver to beat on this night as he drove away from a quality field of Crate Sprint Car drivers to dominate the 20 lap event, his first of the year and 5th ever at Can Am, moving him into a tie for second on the Crate Sprint Car all time win list. Josh Verne Jr. settled for second with Tucker Donath, Nick Webb and last week’s winner Bruno Richard taking 5th.

Next week it’s the annual Mother’s Day Special with plenty of great things in store for all the mothers this coming Friday night. All five divisions will be on hand once again, with the Watertown Vet Center on hand as the week’s featured Non-Profit. Gates open at 5pm with the first green flag of the night at 7pm.

DIRTcar 358 Modified

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 31-Lance Willix[11]; 2. 29-Matt Caprara[10]; 3. 49-Billy Dunn[15]; 4. 21LW-Larry Welling[4]; 5. 12-Addison Bowman[7]; 6. 21R-RJ Tresidder[5]; 7. 21-Andrew Howard[2]; 8. 19-Tim Fuller[12]; 9. 18W-Scott Webb[20]; 10. 7S-Shaun Shaw[17]; 11. 66W-Derek Webb[9]; 12. 3M-Franklin Mackin[8]; 13. 9X-Willy Decker Jr[13]; 14. 74-Lucas Fuller[19]; 15. 57H-Remington Hamm[16]; 16. 23-Cameron Black[6]; 17. 26-Michael Mandigo[21]; 18. 63-Adam Roberts[3]; 19. (DNF) 28-Jordan McCreadie[18]; 20. (DNF) 39-Ryan Bartlett[14]; 21. (DNF) 9-Tyler Meeks[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Lance Willix[7]; 2. 29-Matt Caprara[6]; 3. 63-Adam Roberts[2]; 4. 3M-Franklin Mackin[4]; 5. 9X-Willy Decker Jr[3]; 6. 57H-Remington Hamm[1]; 7. (DNF) 74-Lucas Fuller[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Tyler Meeks[1]; 2. 21LW-Larry Welling[2]; 3. 23-Cameron Black[3]; 4. 19-Tim Fuller[7]; 5. 39-Ryan Bartlett[5]; 6. 7S-Shaun Shaw[6]; 7. 18W-Scott Webb[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Andrew Howard[1]; 2. 12-Addison Bowman[3]; 3. 21R-RJ Tresidder[2]; 4. 66W-Derek Webb[5]; 5. 49-Billy Dunn[7]; 6. 28-Jordan McCreadie[6]; 7. 26-Michael Mandigo[4]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 9X-Willy Decker Jr, 00:19.175[4]; 2. 23-Cameron Black, 00:19.207[2]; 3. 28-Jordan McCreadie, 00:19.208[11]; 4. 21R-RJ Tresidder, 00:19.256[15]; 5. 66W-Derek Webb, 00:19.324[16]; 6. 49-Billy Dunn, 00:19.345[5]; 7. 9-Tyler Meeks, 00:19.346[12]; 8. 7S-Shaun Shaw, 00:19.349[14]; 9. 21LW-Larry Welling, 00:19.509[18]; 10. 18W-Scott Webb, 00:19.591[17]; 11. 3M-Franklin Mackin, 00:19.593[9]; 12. 74-Lucas Fuller, 00:19.595[6]; 13. 63-Adam Roberts, 00:19.891[13]; 14. 12-Addison Bowman, 00:19.926[3]; 15. (DNS) 39-Ryan Bartlett; 16. (DNS) 19-Tim Fuller; 17. (DNS) 21-Andrew Howard; 18. (DNS) 26-Michael Mandigo; 19. (DNS) 31-Lance Willix; 20. (DNS) 29-Matt Caprara

DIRTcar Sportsman

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 64-Tyler Corcoran[2]; 2. 33-Richard Murtaugh[3]; 3. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[6]; 4. 88H-Bobby Herrington[7]; 5. 54-Brady Howard[8]; 6. 52-Jessica Power[4]; 7. 44-David Rogers[10]; 8. 18-Gavin Eisele[13]; 9. 35B-Brennan Moore[9]; 10. 17-Owen Nier[1]; 11. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[11]; 12. 410-Mike Fowler[16]; 13. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[5]; 14. 91-Josh Reome[22]; 15. 14-Camdin Cook[12]; 16. 34K-Keegan Nier[15]; 17. 34-Eric Nier[19]; 18. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[20]; 19. 22G-Gorden Clair[17]; 20. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[21]; 21. 62-Jonathan Murphy[18]; 22. 9-Logan Brown[27]; 23. 5R-Steve Roberts[23]; 24. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[25]; 25. 35D-Dylan Moore[14]; 26. 79-Chris Hale[24]; 27. (DNS) 92-Frank Sibley

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Owen Nier[2]; 2. 52-Jessica Power[1]; 3. 88H-Bobby Herrington[4]; 4. 44-David Rogers[3]; 5. 18-Gavin Eisele[9]; 6. 410-Mike Fowler[8]; 7. 34-Eric Nier[6]; 8. 91-Josh Reome[7]; 9. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 64-Tyler Corcoran[1]; 2. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[2]; 3. 54-Brady Howard[3]; 4. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[8]; 5. 35D-Dylan Moore[5]; 6. 22G-Gorden Clair[6]; 7. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[7]; 8. 5R-Steve Roberts[9]; 9. 92-Frank Sibley[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh[1]; 2. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[3]; 3. 35B-Brennan Moore[2]; 4. 14-Camdin Cook[5]; 5. 34K-Keegan Nier[4]; 6. 62-Jonathan Murphy[6]; 7. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[7]; 8. 79-Chris Hale[9]; 9. 9-Logan Brown[8]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 410-Mike Fowler, 00:19.964[8]; 2. 18-Gavin Eisele, 00:20.005[7]; 3. 44-David Rogers, 00:20.073[24]; 4. 88H-Bobby Herrington, 00:20.074[12]; 5. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan, 00:20.108[25]; 6. 14-Camdin Cook, 00:20.245[4]; 7. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson, 00:20.310[27]; 8. 34K-Keegan Nier, 00:20.330[19]; 9. 91-Josh Reome, 00:20.334[22]; 10. 35B-Brennan Moore, 00:20.339[14]; 11. 34-Eric Nier, 00:20.349[18]; 12. 5R-Steve Roberts, 00:20.362[23]; 13. 52-Jessica Power, 00:20.368[21]; 14. 54-Brady Howard, 00:20.375[13]; 15. 17-Owen Nier, 00:20.394[20]; 16. 7O7-Greg Brinklow, 00:20.572[1]; 17. 1D-Paul DeRuyter, 00:20.609[6]; 18. 621G-Trevor Gibbons, 00:20.725[10]; 19. 62-Jonathan Murphy, 00:20.837[16]; 20. 22G-Gorden Clair, 00:20.864[3]; 21. 35D-Dylan Moore, 00:20.967[15]; 22. 79-Chris Hale, 00:20.989[11]; 23. (DNS) 9-Logan Brown; 24. (DNS) 64-Tyler Corcoran; 25. (DNS) 18G-Justin Gadbaw; 26. (DNS) 33-Richard Murtaugh; 27. (DNS) 92-Frank Sibley

602 Crate Sprint Cars

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[6]; 2. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[5]; 3. Z28-Tucker Donath[7]; 4. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 5. 72-Bruno Richard[8]; 6. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[2]; 7. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[3]; 8. 25-George Sanford[9]; 9. 89N-Chad Kramer[13]; 10. 6-Jon Liberty[10]; 11. 0-Patrick Nolan[11]; 12. (DNF) 71R-Rachel Zacharias[1]; 13. (DNF) 4K-Jamie Kay[12]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard[6]; 2. 87-Andrew Hennessy[5]; 3. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[1]; 4. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 5. 25-George Sanford[3]; 6. 0-Patrick Nolan[7]; 7. 89N-Chad Kramer[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[4]; 2. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[3]; 3. Z28-Tucker Donath[5]; 4. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[2]; 5. 6-Jon Liberty[1]; 6. (DNF) 4K-Jamie Kay[6]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard, 00:18.149[8]; 2. 25-George Sanford, 00:18.492[9]; 3. 1V-Josh Verne Jr, 00:18.628[10]; 4. 71R-Rachel Zacharias, 00:18.989[12]; 5. 87-Andrew Hennessy, 00:19.051[2]; 6. 27W-Nick Webb, 00:19.110[11]; 7. 30-Ken Klinkowsky, 00:19.377[4]; 8. 0-Patrick Nolan, 00:19.431[7]; 9. 85C-Cam MacKinnon, 00:19.474[6]; 10. 4K-Jamie Kay, 00:21.556[3]; 11. (DNS) Z28-Tucker Donath; 12. (DNS) 89N-Chad Kramer

ThunderCar

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade[12]; 2. 60-Francis White[3]; 3. 22-Tony Frezzo[1]; 4. 113-Nathan Powers[8]; 5. 17-Michael Greenfield[6]; 6. 5M-Damien Bechler[4]; 7. 3R-David Rasmussen[10]; 8. 28-Colby Hibbard[13]; 9. 94-OJ White[7]; 10. (DNF) 22J-Jared Gilson[5]; 11. (DNF) 19-Collin Bauter[9]; 12. (DNF) 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[2]; 13. (DNS) 73T-Timothy Greenfield

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[1]; 2. 17-Michael Greenfield[5]; 3. 5M-Damien Bechler[4]; 4. 94-OJ White[3]; 5. 19-Collin Bauter[6]; 6. 73T-Timothy Greenfield[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Tony Frezzo[6]; 2. 22J-Jared Gilson[4]; 3. 60-Francis White[3]; 4. 113-Nathan Powers[7]; 5. 3R-David Rasmussen[2]; 6. 21V-Corey Valade[5]; 7. 28-Colby Hibbard[1]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade, 00:23.539[9]; 2. 22J-Jared Gilson, 00:24.027[3]; 3. 73T-Timothy Greenfield, 00:24.815[5]; 4. 19-Collin Bauter, 00:25.204[1]; 5. 28-Colby Hibbard, 00:26.484[6]; 6. (DNS) 5M-Damien Bechler; 7. (DNS) 17-Michael Greenfield; 8. (DNS) 3R-David Rasmussen; 9. (DNS) 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr; 10. (DNS) 60-Francis White; 11. (DNS) 94-OJ White

Limited Sportsman

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[5]; 2. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[2]; 3. 6-Mike Durham[1]; 4. 44-Mason Rogers[4]; 5. 20-Brayden Bullock[8]; 6. 90-Caleb Howard[7]; 7. 747-Haily Brownell[6]; 8. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[11]; 9. (DNF) 5-Eymarah Bowman[3]; 10. (DNF) 76-Grayson Soper[13]; 11. (DNF) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[12]; 12. (DNF) 21-Hayden Howard[10]; 13. (DNS) 4-Jason Rarick

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 44-Mason Rogers[2]; 2. 6-Mike Durham[1]; 3. 5-Eymarah Bowman[3]; 4. 90-Caleb Howard[5]; 5. 20-Brayden Bullock[7]; 6. 21-Hayden Howard[4]; 7. (DNF) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[6]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[2]; 2. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[1]; 3. 747-Haily Brownell[3]; 4. 4-Jason Rarick[4]; 5. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[6]; 6. (DQ) 76-Grayson Soper[5]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 5-Eymarah Bowman, 00:20.696[13]; 2. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh, 00:20.991[8]; 3. 11-Genavieve Bartlett, 00:21.200[1]; 4. 76-Grayson Soper, 00:21.294[12]; 5. 20-Brayden Bullock, 00:21.312[3]; 6. 44-Mason Rogers, 00:21.474[11]; 7. 90-Caleb Howard, 00:22.086[5]; 8. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko, 00:23.372[7]; 9. 4-Jason Rarick, 00:23.411[9]; 10. 07T-Tessa Riemersma, 00:25.559[10]; 11. 21-Hayden Howard, 00:26.060[6]; 12. (DNS) 747-Haily Brownell; 13. (DNS) 6-Mike Durham