Hometown Hero: Mikey Smith Triumphant in home track victory at Penn Can
COLUMN BY: Marty Czekala / CRSA SPRINTS – SUSQUEHANNA, PA – Bathed in the glow of the Penn Can lights and the cheers of a hometown crowd, Scranton’s Mikey Smith delivered a Friday night victory that sent the grandstands into celebration at Penn Can Speedway.
Smith stormed past Dalton Herrick with a slide job, capping an emotional home-track triumph that meant far more than just a checkered flag. The popular win marked his second CRSA victory of the season and kicked off the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series in unforgettable fashion.
“Great fans, great friends, great family, what can we do?” said Smith in victory lane. “We’re at our hometown track and we put on a show for our hometown fans!”
Herrick, along with Nathan Pierce, brought the field to green for the 25-lap feature. Herrick took the lead early, while Nathan Pierce and Dustin Sehn battled for second. Starting fifth, Smith picked off cars one by one and moved to second by lap five.
The same lap, the race’s first yellow flew for Zach Virkler spinning in turn four.
On the double-file restart, Smith timed Herrick’s restart to stay even with him. But just as the No. 4ST took the lead, another caution waved for Bob Hamm Jr. spinning in turn one.
With the restart converting to single file, Smith timed it again well and threw the race-winning slider in one on Herrick to take the lead.
Kyle Pierce also began to move his way up through the field. The No. 9K, who started 10th, cracked the top five for the first time just after a restart past halfway, then moved to fourth the following lap. With seven to go, he cracked the podium past Bailey Boyd.
In lapped traffic, Kyle Pierce quickly caught Herrick and edged him for second by two hundredths with four to go. Pierce timed the pass perfectly before the yellow flew one final time for Dustin Sehn spinning in turn four, erasing Smith’s 2.5-second lead.
A final restart allowed Smith to hold serve and take the win by 1.3 seconds over Kyle Pierce and Herrick.
“I knew I had a great car and I’ve run this track many times,” said Smith, who has won here in a microsprint in the past. “I know how that top lane goes, Herrick left the door open, and I took it and went on.”
Kyle Pierce, the 2024 series champion, recorded his first podium since winning the championship two seasons ago with a runner-up spot. After a tough start to the night, a heat race finish put him in the Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble and Pierce adjusted his driving throughout the feature to take advantage.
“I had to drive as hard as you need to drive it,” said Kyle Pierce. “It came to life probably eight laps or so in. Night and day difference from start to finish. I didn’t launch well. It took me half the front stretch to get rolling again. But 10th to second, we live to fight another day!”
Herrick, now the points leader by 17 markers, scored his third straight podium in third Friday. It was a near-perfect night for the No. 29, with the best draw, a heat win and the pole redraw. In recent months, as Herrick came close to ending a long winless streak, Friday night left him pleased and focused on the positives.
“All the stars almost aligned and we didn’t quite finish it off,” said Herrick. “Considering last year we didn’t have any podiums and we’ve got four this year, I’m not going to complain. Fantastic points night. Penn Can is always fun; it’s one of my favorite places to come.”
A big thanks to Mountain Top Koi out of New Milford, Pennsylvania, giving all heat winners (Herrick, Johnny Scarborough and Dustin Sehn) a $33 bonus.
The Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash went to Maverick Coffey, picking up $100 courtesy of Elab.
Mikey’s older brother, Johnny Smith, earned the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger, starting 17th and finishing fourth, up 13 spots.
22 drivers checked in tonight.
CRSA now turns its attention to a doubleheader next weekend at Utica-Rome Speedway Friday for the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge and Woodhull Raceway Saturday for the Dandy Miniseries. Action Friday can be seen live on FloRacing.
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 4ST-Mikey Smith[5]; 2. 9K-Kyle Pierce[10]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[1]; 4. 4S-Johnny Smith[17]; 5. 3-Bailey Boyd[8]; 6. 33-Scott Landers[7]; 7. 10N-Nathan Pierce[2]; 8. 31C-Maverick Coffey[9]; 9. 25G-Tyler Graves[16]; 10. 27W-Nick Webb[3]; 11. 18-Timmy Lotz[12]; 12. 25W-Dana Wagner[21]; 13. 10SR-Paul Colagiovanni Sr[20]; 14. 61-Johnny Scarborough[6]; 15. 4-Cliff Pierce[11]; 16. 77H-Bob Hamm[18]; 17. D9-Dustin Sehn[4]; 18. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[15]; 19. 3V-Zach Virkler[14]; 20. 22S-Dane Hedlund[22]; 21. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[19]; 22. (DNF) 28-Ron Greek[13]
