Summer Starter Success: Caprara Returns to Can-Am Victory Lane

COLUMN BY: Tim Baltz / CAN AM SPEEDWAY – LA FARGEVILLE, NY  – Rain, hail, high winds and even a brief power issue were not enough to stop the Can Am Speedway this past Friday night. After a week off, all five divisions returned to action with the Victims Assistance Center of Jefferson County/Child Advocacy Center on hand with plenty of giveaways for the kids. Also over 70 bikes and scooters were handed out from the teams and drivers on the night.

Stephen Bushey has been a regular visitor to Can Am in 2026 and on this night would grab the lead early in the 15 lap Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman event with Cayden Grahan and Mason Rogers trying to close the gap. Bushey had a great night going, dominating his heat and showed no signs of slowing up on the fast surface. Winner from May 15th, Mike Durham had problems early and was not in contention for the victory. Graham and Rogers had a great battle for second and closed in on the leader, but it was not enough as Stephen Bushey scored his first ever Can Am win. Cayden Graham, Mason Rogers, Hayden Howard and Preston Trautschold completed the top 5.

It was a wild first lap in the Sundance Leisure Thundercar event. Despite cars getting crossed up which included Kevin Greenfield, Tony Frezzo and a few others, Jared Gilson would lead lap 1 as Greenfield and Frezzo tried to keep pace. Gilson was in control but Greenfield and points leader Jock Symonds were on the move to the front. A quick yellow bunched up the field allowing Greenfield and Symonds to get a clear shot at the race leader. On the restart Gilson was able to stay in front but Greenfield was able to work his way to the front and grab the lead on lap 7. Jock Symonds was able to charge to second setting up a great battle for the lead. On lap 10 Symonds was able to get by with Greenfield trying to stay close. On the final lap in turn 1 Greenfield nearly spun and collected third place Jared Gilson sidelining both drivers for the night. On the final restart Jock Symonds was able to get away from David Rasmussen for win number 4 of 2026. Rounding out the top five ahead of Rasmussen were Francis White, Colin Bauter and Noah Williams.

It was the 11th Summer Starter for the Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTCar 358 Modifieds and Jordan McCreadie made it clear he wanted to add his name to the list of winners, as he took the lead at the start of the 25 lap event and drove away from Lucas Fuller and Ryan Bartlett early on. McCreadie led the opening 4 laps before Matt Janczuk slowed to bring out the yellow. When the green flew it was McCreadie in front but on the move was Matt Caprara as he moved into the top 3. On lap 9 Caprara charged to the front, getting by McCreadie for the lead and began to turn in a dominant performance. After building up a full straight away lead by lap 18, Caprara entered into lapped traffic as McCreadie, Lucas Fuller, Jackson Gill and Lance Willix all tried to stay close. McCreadie was able to move in on the leader as Caprara still had a tough time getting by some slower traffic. On lap 21 Caprara was able to get through and find clear race track to pull away once again. On this night Matt Caprara would make his Summer Starter debut a memorable one and end a near three year drought at Can Am, with his first win of the year. Jordan McCreadie, Jackson Gill, Lucas Fuller and Lance Willix filled out the top 5.

Logan Brown was determined to get his first career Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTCar Sportsman win as he took the lead over Camdin Cook and Justin Gadbaw in the 20 lap event. Brown was setting a strong pace but a yellow flew early as Brady Howard and Paul DeRuyter spun in turn 4 to bunch up the field. On the restart it was Brown in control and pulling away but on the move was defending track champion Gavin Eisele. The Lafargeville driver charged to the top three by lap 12 and was running the top side of the speedway in an effort to catch the top 2. Eisele got by Cook with 7 laps remaining and was charging hard to try and catch Brown. With 4 laps to go Logan Brown was running a strong pace but Eisele had moved to the back bumper and was looking to make his move. With 3 laps left Eisele charged by off turn 4 to take over the lead. From there the defending champ would drive on to become the first two-time winner of 2026. Logan Brown settled for second with Camdin Cook third. Tyler Corcoran came from deep in the field to take 4th, while Justin Gadbaw held off Jessica Power for the 5th spot.

The Panther Frameworx Crate Sprints rolled off next for their 20 lap feature event and Tiger Champman was in control from the start over Kody Graham and Andrew Hennessy. Chapman had a great car and was pulling away from the field, until Patrick Nolan spun to bring out the first yellow, which was a big help for Andrew Hennessy. On the restart Hennessy used the top side to grab the lead from Chapman while Kody Graham continued to hold on to third. Wind on this night was a major factor on the handling of the cars but Hennessy remained in control trough it all as Chapman tried to keep pace. Winner from two weeks ago Ken Klinkowsky had another solid performance as he moved in on Chapman to try for second. At the Finish, Andrew Hennessy was not to be denied scoring his first win of the year and 8th in the division at the speedway. Tiger Chapman held off Ken Klinkowsky for the runner up spot, with Tucker Donath 4th and Nick Webb 5th.

Next week the mechanics take center stage in the annual Mechanics Race, along with a full show in all 5 divisions, with racing starting at 7pm. 

To keep up with what is happening at Can Am Speedway in 2026 stay tuned to our website at racecanam.com. Also give us a follow on our Facebook page and be sure to follow us on My Race Pass for the live timing and scoring at all events. Can Am events will be broadcast weekly on Dirt Track Digest TV. 

Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modified

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 11C-Matt Caprara[5]; 2. 28-Jordan McCreadie[1]; 3. 60-Jackson Gill[4]; 4. 74-Lucas Fuller[3]; 5. 31-Lance Willix[10]; 6. 49-Billy Dunn[12]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[13]; 8. 39-Ryan Bartlett[2]; 9. 7S-Shaun Shaw[9]; 10. 57H-Remington Hamm[7]; 11. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[15]; 12. 18W-Scott Webb[6]; 13. 23-Cameron Black[8]; 14. 72-Ajay Potrzebowski II[18]; 15. 66W-Derek Webb[11]; 16. 3M-Franklin Mackin[21]; 17. 83D-Dustin Bradley[24]; 18. 21-Andrew Howard[16]; 19. 21JR-Jackson Welling[14]; 20. 91-Josh Reome[19]; 21. 11X-Matt Janczuk[17]; 22. 45R-Preston Forbes[20]; 23. (DNS) 93-Gavin Eisele; 24. (DNS) 36B-Dan Beachard; 25. (DNS) 24-Jordan Kelly

Bob Johnson DIRTcar Sportsman

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 18-Gavin Eisele[9]; 2. 9-Logan Brown[2]; 3. 14-Camdin Cook[4]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran[12]; 5. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[3]; 6. 52-Jessica Power[8]; 7. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[10]; 8. 34K-Keegan Nier[6]; 9. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[5]; 10. 54X-Sullivan Dickey[23]; 11. 17-Owen Nier[17]; 12. 34-Eric Nier[14]; 13. 35B-Brennan Moore[13]; 14. 960-Taylor Doxtater[20]; 15. 90-Caleb Howard[1]; 16. 35D-Dylan Moore[11]; 17. 33-Richard Murtaugh[21]; 18. 92-Frank Sibley[16]; 19. 21-Gage Howard[22]; 20. 62-Jonathan Murphy[18]; 21. 54-Brady Howard[7]; 22. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[15]; 23. (DNS) 2-Ryan Shanahan

Panther Frameworx 602 Crate Sprint Cars

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[4]; 2. 271-Tiger Chapman[2]; 3. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[8]; 4. Z28-Tucker Donath[3]; 5. 36C-Nick Webb[10]; 6. 89X-Josh Vanbrocklin[7]; 7. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[12]; 8. 92-Adam Turner[5]; 9. 24-Kody Graham[1]; 10. M52-Marc Surprenant[15]; 11. 93L-Guy Gosselin[13]; 12. 16-Anthony Fiorentino[14]; 13. 74-Will Fisher[18]; 14. 25-George Sanford[6]; 15. 89N-Chris Nethers[9]; 16. 2X-Mike Amell[19]; 17. 21L-Eric Laurendeau[17]; 18. 557-Patrick Nolan[16]; 19. 4-Emma Donath[11]

Sundance Leisure ThunderCar

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 8X-Jock Symonds[6]; 2. 3R-David Rasmussen[11]; 3. 60T-Francis White[2]; 4. 19-Collin Bauter[1]; 5. 3W-Noah Williams[7]; 6. 710-Kyle Whalen[10]; 7. 428-Colby Hibbard[8]; 8. 22-Tony Frezzo[4]; 9. 11A-Kevin Greenfield[5]; 10. 22J-Jared Gilson[3]; 11. 94-OJ White[9]

Donath Motor Worx Limited Sportsman

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 3-Stephen Bushey[2]; 2. 31G-Cayden Graham[3]; 3. 44-Mason Rogers[5]; 4. 21-Hayden Howard[1]; 5. 20-Preston Trautschold[6]; 6. 61-Lyle Robinson[7]; 7. 33X-Brody Janczuk[11]; 8. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[9]; 9. 6-Mike Durham[4]; 10. 747-Haily Brownell[8]; 11. (DNS) 4-Jason Rarick