Haers Pays Homage To Dad, Captures ‘The Gerald’ Memorial At Land of Legends

Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Boasting a total prize package in excess of $73,000 for this late summer ‘Saturday Spectacular,’ Justin Haers and Cody McPherson collected the lion’s share in the 7th Annual Gerald Haers Memorial presented by Phelps Cement Products at Land Of Legends Raceway.

Attracting a stellar field of title contenders for this lucrative single-day two-division show held in honor of the late Gerald Haers, Racing Promotion Monthly’s ‘2023 Outstanding Event of the Year’ was the highlight of the season for both open-wheel chauffeurs parking their sleek red machines in the winner’s circle.

Three-time LOLR points king Haers collected the $10,000 grand-prize following for his second straight victory to close out the Big-Block season in the headline 100-lap Pepsi Modified main paying tribute to his father while all-time traveling tour winner McPherson earned $2,000 for his first-ever triumph at the Ontario County clay oval in the companion GHM 40-lap Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Classic that was round #5 in the ‘25 DIRTcar Northeast Championship Series.

“This is a dream come true, my Super DIRT Week to win, and we got it done, I’m speechless,” beamed an emotional Haers, 45, with his voice cracking among a sea of celebrants that surrounded him in the once elusive winner’s circle. “Obviously, this race means so much to me and my family. To put my name on that trophy and have all these people here, it’s unbelievable. We got thousands of people that are fans. Every one of these guys that are on the frontstretch I saluted on the way by. Thanks to them all, what a way to close out the year at Canandaigua.”

Haers pocketed another $1,900 in lap leader bonuses and contingency awards from a collective pot of over $61,000 that was shared by the area’s top Modified teams. Nearly $12,000 in purse and raceday rewards rolled in for Sportsman qualifiers with McPherson taking in no less than $400 more in special bonuses before crossing the border back home. Forty-two Modifieds filled the pits while a GHM Sportsman race record 53 cars signed in, surpassing the mark of 51 entries set just last year.

Now in its seventh year running, Gerald’s wife Joanne Haers was once again joined by numerous friends and family members to help celebrate on this most festive occasion. Haers was a true racing patriarch, long-time mentor and supporter of Land of Legends, Vietnam War Veteran, as well as husband, father, grandfather and friend to so many more who passed away at age 74 on July 15, 2019. Continuing to pay due respect on this special night, nearly 100 drivers entered to contend for bragging rights while commemorating Jerry’s lifetime of contributions made to area racing.

Saturday night turned into the ultimate family affair for Haers. After waiting three years to score his 21st Big-Block win at LOLR in the regular season finale on Aug. 30, ‘T-Bone’ returned to DAV Victory Lane just two weeks later to claim the coveted GHM crown in convincing fashion.

“Got some breaks and thought this just might be the year (to win), will cherish this one forever,” remarked Haers, who garnered LOLR Big-Block season championships from 2021 to 2023, settling for a pair of runner-up tallies in the GHM in ‘22 and ‘23. “We got into lapped traffic and the dirty air was kinda making me move around but I thought my car was good enough to still get through and be good.”

“As the race went on (car) was starting to get tight down there in (turns) one and two, but the harder I drove the better my car was. But I wanted to save the tires in case I had some challengers there at the end of the race. After that (last) yellow came out with 7 (laps) to go, I said ‘let’s let her eat’ and see what happens,” noted Haers, savoring all the victory lane laurels posing alongside his potent Pat Morrison engine-powered #3 Honeoye Auto Parts-Phelps Cement Products-CX Electric-FLX Home Solutions/Bicknell mount.

After his own Bicknell machine suffered a broken bolt in the rear-end yoke to relinquish the lead held since lap two, recently crowned LOLR points champ Mat Williamson was not one of them. Starting third on the 27-car grid after finishing behind Williamson in the first of the triple 20-lap qualifying heats, Haers inherited the top spot on lap 29 while ‘Money Mat’ limped pitside for the remainder.

“The car was good all night,” Haers said. “Started 7th in that qualifier and got up to second. Once I saw how far Williamson was ahead of me I just kinda rode there. And I told the (crew) guys in the dash I think I could’ve passed him if I didn’t jump the cushion. This car has been great for me all year.

Williamson won the 6-car, 4-lap Fratto Curbing Dash-4-Cash that included the top two heat race qualifiers, followed by division rookie Nick Root and Haers, with the final finishing order setting the front three rows of the feature line-up. Root led his front row partner under Chief Starter Scott Hixson’s initial green flag yet could only hold off pole-sitter Williamson for one lap. And that came after fifth-place starter Kasey Coffey broke exiting turn two to collect Gary Lindberg, who slammed in with no place to go resulting in a complete restart minus two.

Once out front, Williamson stretched his lead to a comfortable margin, reaching traffic after only a dozen circuits. When Peter Britten’s mount went up in smoke on lap 15 to incur a second caution period, Mat wasted little time regaining a commanding advantage back under green. Yet less than 10 laps later his bid for an eighth feature win and 14th Top-2 finish in 15 starts suddenly came to an abrupt halt as the #6 S&W Service Centre-Marin Drywall-Becker Bros. Trucking/BRP ride coasted across the line for an unexpected finish of 22nd in his LOLR season-finale.

Jimmy Phelps lined up alongside Haers on the ensuing lap 32 restart followed by eventual ‘Buzz Chew Chevrolet Rookie of the Race’ award recipient Matt Caprara, Root, Darren Smith, Michael Maresca, Dalton Slack and ‘Farmington Service Hard Charger’ Zach Payne, who filled in 26th to start the 50-mile main.

Race-long front-five runner Root suffered mechanical woes to end his night 70 laps in and with 25 to go Haers was still chased by Phelps while Smith, Slack and Payne were seeking a miscue by the leaders to improve their chances. Good fortune for the field arrived on lap 94 when a flat right-rear tire by three-time GHM winner Erick Rudolph suddenly slowed the action for a fifth and final time, leaving the highly partisan Haers clan holding their breath and Phelps fans eyeing a glimmer of hope.

Yet Haers never flinched, pulling away for a decisive 15 car-length victory over Phelps while Smith held on for third as Dalton Slack and Tim Sears Jr. figured into front-five positions at the finish. Of the 18 drivers seeing the checkered flag, Payne, Maresca, Dylan Zacharias and Caprara were the last to complete the century grind.

“To win two weeks ago and then to win this race, just unbelievable,” added Haers, who closed out his ‘25 Canandaigua campaign second in points with 12 Top-5 feature finishes in 15 starts. “I can end it all right now and be happy but we got some more left to do and have some good runs at the end of the year. I’m just speechless. What a way to celebrate, this is gonna be a heckuva night for us I can tell you that!”

Joining Haers and 14th-place finisher Pat Ward as the only drivers to qualify for all seven Haers Memorial events staged, runner-up Phelps matched his second-place showing in the 2020 edition with the other five finishes out of the Top-10.

“Justin was the class of the field there, just needed a little bit more stick from the middle off,” said Phelps, himself a seven-time race winner at the fairgrounds. “I felt really good, he was just really really good, excellent. Man, what a cool win. I guess if we couldn’t win, to see this is a pretty neat deal so congratulations to the Haers Family. Jerry was a great guy and they do an unbelievable job, proud to support it.”

“Feeling good to finally get this thing up front and on the podium. Had some really good runs in this race, yet fallen out of it more than we finished it. Good to race for the win there,” added the veteran Big-Blocker from Baldwinsville most familiar aboard his no. 98H J&B Installations-Mohawk Northeast-HBR/Bicknell entry.

Hauling in from Binghamton, 10-place starter Smith secured the show position for a second straight September steering his black #12 FX Caprara Harley Davidson-Smith Site Development/Bicknell entry.

“Don’t know what really needed more of (to win), will talk it over and go from there,” said Super DIRTcar Series follower Smith. “This is awesome, Justin winning this race, I mean he deserves it. We’re just happy to be here at Land of Legends. We love coming to this place, it was a great night.”

The companion GHM Sportsman Classic turned into an all-Canadian contest with St. Catharines, Ontario standout McPherson staving off a late-race rally to edge Cornwall, Ont. star Shane Pecore under the checkers while Jessica Power from Kingston, Ont. charged past the boys to sew up third in the final rundown.

“We’ve always struggled here, struggled just to run fifth,” admitted McPherson, 33, after becoming the fourth first-time Sportsman winner at LOLR this season and 137th different driver to take a first-place trophy since the division’s 1987 debut. “We changed all four shocks after the heat and just took my way off the bottom after that.”

Competition was keen just to make the 30-car starting line-up and McPherson did just that, time trialing second quickest in the fourth of five sessions before placing second in his qualifying heat; on both occasions in the shadow of defending GHM race winner Richard Murtaugh III on the scoresheet.

Come feature time McPherson rolled a ‘lucky seven’ in the pre-race draw, falling into seventh behind the wheel of his no. 7 Willard Concrete & Trucking-Rick’s Delivery-C.McPherson Jr. Trucking/Bicknell car, while row four partner Murtaugh ironically began alongside to kick off the 20-mile main.

Pole-winner Mike Fowler set the early pace ahead of second-place starter Justin Liechti with rookie Chris Darling advancing to third past both Pecore and Power as McPherson was sandwiched between them among the top-five by lap five. Back-to-back yellow flags unfurled on lap 10, knocking out Dave Conant Jr. and Camdin Cook before Hunter Hollenbeck and Mitch Dumont also called it a night with nine laps scored.

McPherson throttled past Liechti for second on lap 11 then pulled even with Fowler crossing the line on lap 19. The next time around Cody clinched the $100 Halfway Leader Bonus posted by Shawn Greene Photos, followed by Fowler, Liechti, Darling and Murtaugh at the midway mark.

The leader reached traffic by lap 24, opening up a comfortable advantage while Liechti and Darling diced for second as Murtaugh moved into fourth and Pecore returned to the front-five with 10 laps still to go. Fresh off a pair of tour wins, Murtaugh suddenly slowed off the pace heading down the back chute on lap 32, his night over with only a 22nd-place finish to his credit.

Pecore remained on the move back under green, grabbing third from Darling on the lap 33 restart then overtaking Liechti for second the next time around. Dicing with 12th starting Emmett Waldron in the late stages, Darling slid high over the edge rounding turn one to bring out the final caution on lap 39.

Despite Pecore providing a tap from behind down the stretch, McPherson held on for a narrow car-length victory to increase his DIRTcar Northeast Series career-leading total to 27. Power blasted by both Waldron and Liechti over the final two green flag laps to secure third while Liechti dropped to fifth behind Waldron at the wire.

“I knew (track) was getting slow at the bottom of (turns) one and two, couldn’t hit that hole in the middle too hard and if you did it would upset the car,” pointed out McPherson, following his 20th win of the season, with 14 checkers alone coming at Merrittville (Ont.) Speedway where he notched another points title. “On that last restart I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go and I looked over (pits, outside turns 3 & 4) and seen Mat Williamson. I thought he was telling me to go to the top in turns one and two so I just kinda slid myself and made the race car as wide as possible those last three laps because Shane was definitely coming. Found out later Mat actually wanted me to stay low, especially exiting turn two, stay there and you’ll win.”

“Have to thank the Haers Family. I know it takes a lot of work to come up with all this bonus lap money and extra funds so thank everybody, guys like Nick Guererri, that had a hand in this race,” added McPherson, whose best prior finish of fifth at LOLR came in a Series show on July 19, 2023.

Despite Pecore placing second, on any other day it might have been good enough for the win as his lap times were among the best of the race by the end.

“Gave (Cody) a tap there coming out of (turn) four and then he kinda knew I was there so he was stealing the lane a little bit,” smiled Pecore, after a rare appearance in wine country rewarded him with the $1,000 runner-up check. “Hats off, he’s one of the best DIRTcar Sportsman drivers we’ve ever seen. So just to run in his caliber … but think we had a little better car there at the end for sure.”

“Its a track that we haven’t been to in probably 8-9-10 years so to come away with 2nd-place in the series with some 55 cars, we’re really happy,” said Pecore, who for the record last competed at LOLR in the inaugural 2019 GHM Sportsman Classic when he finished ninth in the 40-lap headliner.

The 2025 edition was the third for Power and her third-place was easily the best showing in wine country for this proven open-wheel pilot.

“Felt pretty good when we started the night,” remarked Power, who placed 15th in the first GHM then improved to 12th in her return trip last season. “Kinda a little off in the heat race so we made a few changes for the feature. The first 20 laps I wasn’t feeling too confident and fell back a little bit but (track) came to me at the end. Just so happy that we could be here on the front stretch (podium).”

Round number six of the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series is slated for Fri., Sept. 19 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, part of Malta Massive Weekend in New York State’s Capital Region. Heading into the event Pecore has climbed to the top of the points chart with 2,208, overtaking Tristant Ladouceur (2,203), followed by Gavin Eisele (2,180), Waldron (2,174), Power (2,155), and Canandaigua regulars Tyler Corcoran (2,154) and Murtaugh (2,134).

Eisele won the ‘Fall’ season-opener at Glen Ridge and McPherson also won at Ransomville in August extra-distance events while Murtaugh scored back-to-back tour triumphs at Can-Am and Mohawk to kick off the September Series slate.