Column: Recapping Championship Night at Orange County Fair Speedway
Column By: JOE PHILLIPS / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – A topic of discussion that has always been well documented is the clay at the Orange County Fair Speedway. Yes, sometimes the clay is not the greatest, as it creates dust from time to time. But Brett Hearn, Doug Dulgarian and the entire OCFS crew are continuing to work hard to keep the track open. As Dulgarian stated, “without the surface, there would be no racing.”
This is very true. Many fans say they won’t attend races without a new surface, but they also need to realize that making improvements also costs money. If fans choose not to attend an event, that means less money earned for the track, making it much harder to be able to make the same improvements that they deem necessary. This is the catch, and many times people seem to forget about this. Brett and Doug have been making the OCFS work for the time being by leasing equipment and making do with the resources that they currently have on hand. Because of this, they deserve accolades, not grief.
Sunday night’s race saw 24 DIRTcar Modifieds, 24 Sportsman, 29 Street Stocks and 5 Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars take the green flag. The sportsman and modified classes each had enough entries that consolations were needed to whittle the field down for the features.
Due to rainouts earlier in the season, the point races for each division were very close. Dom Roselli Jr was the modified point leader, closely followed by Jack Lehner. OCFS Professor Emeritus John Snyder kept his pencil busy throughout the evening and was giving track announcer Tim Pitts the points scenarios throughout the entirety of the feature. Roselli Jr. unfortunately ended up dropping out of the feature with mechanical issues, thus gifting the season long point championship to the “The Ginja Ninja.”
All was not lost however for Roselli, as he did have a breakout and productive year having won the first two big series races at OCFS in 2025.
Another fan-favorite driver who had mechanical issues during the evening was Alex Yankowski.
Matt Sheppard was the feature winner in the #66S modified, which was a temporary ride during Sunday evening’s show. “Super Matt” started the feature in the 10th spot and worked his way forward to eventually take the lead. Cautions were few and far between, so moves to the front had to happen quickly.
Due to the low car count of sprint cars, their feature was only 10 laps in distance. Thomas Radivoy was the winner. The small car count was a shame, because these cars fly on the track and put on an excellent show. They even resemble the “Big Cars” that used to battle on the Hard Clay prior to World War II.
The street stock feature was ran very quickly. On Lap 12, there was a red flag for a multicar incident. One car got loose, and another car was collected resulting in a few hard hits. Both cars remained on their wheels thankfully, as neither driver was harmed in the incident.
The Solar Tire #4C car, driven by Tom Cilurso Jr was the feature winner followed by Jayden Sleight in second and Gary Ronk in third.
The Sportsman feature was marred by cautions and a couple of red flags. Cars were collected early in the race in Turn 4, which resulted in the first red flag. On Lap 16, cars stacked up again in Turn 1 bringing out the second red flag of the night. It was at this point that the race was deemed complete as the curfew was only 15 minutes away. Plus, the next day was a “school day” for both young and old.
Dylan Madsen in the #89M was declared the winner, followed by the #7s of Michael Sabia, and the 38SP of Jared Labagh. Labagh put on a clinic throughout the evening. He started in the back of the consolation and was able to qualify for the feature. He then started deep in the field in the feature but was able to work his way all the way up to the front to round out the podium.
All in all, this is what the Big Series races are about. Strong competition and strong racing amongst competitors. Yes, there are issues that can arise, but what is important is the group of people who are doing their best to make sure racing stays alive in Middletown. That includes the track crew and everyone else at the facility who continues to keep the legacy of the OCFS alive.
Orange County Fair Speedway deserves a better fate than Flemington, Nazareth, Reading, Bethel and many other venues in the northeast that have eventually had to close their doors.
Next up for OCFS is the 64th Eastern States Weekend, with the Short Track Super Series Hard Clay Open kicking off the action on Thursday evening, October 23. Come see the sail panels take to the clay! Friday through Sunday are the traditional weekend activities, with a few other special events.
Remember, it’s up to all of us who continue to support our local racetracks in order to ensure their survival!
