5/7/2023
Fulton Speedway
Larry Wight Beats Tim Sears Jr. By Inches For Fulton Speedway Modified Win
By Dave Medler
FULTON, NY - (May 6, 2023) - The finish of the Tracey Road DIRTcar Modified feature Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway pitted two of the best in the division that came down to a drag race out of turn four to the checkers between Larry Wight and defending track champion Tim Sears Jr. with Wight winning by 0.011 of a second.
Other winners on Compass Credit Union Opening night were, Andrew Buff and Brandon Carvey (DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman) John Pietrowicz (Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby Stocks) Hunter Hollenbeck (E & V Energy Novice Sportsman)
Billy Dunn and Andrew Ferguson brought the star-studded Modified field down to the green with Ferguson grabbing the narrow advantage in the 35-Lap feature with the racing two and three-wide behind him.
With five laps showing on the scoring tower, Ferguson held a few cars lengths advantage with Larry Wight, Dunn, modified rookie Amy Holland, and Tim Sears Jr. within striking distance of the leader.
On lap eight, Wight would reel in Ferguson and would be scored the new leader at the line. Dunn, Sears, and Holland still raced in the top-five.
Lap fifteen would see Wight bolt out to a straightaway lead as he started putting cars down a lap, leaving Ferguson, Dunn, Sears, and Holland to battle for second through fifth.
With twenty laps showing on the scoring tower, Wight built up a 3.9 second lead while still in heavy traffic putting cars down a lap. Sears had raced into second with Ferguson, Dunn, and Holland also in traffic in the top-five.
Just when it looked like Wight would cruise to the win, leading by 4.7 seconds, the whole race changed with yellows on lap thirty and lap thirty-one giving the field one last shot at Wight and the win.
When the green came back out Tim Sears Jr. threw everything he had at Larry Wight.
With Wight running the middle to the top of the speedway, that allowed Sears on the final lap to drive it in hard on the bottom in three and four pulling even with Wight exiting four and the drag race to the finish. Wight won by inches or 0.011 of a second.
Billy Dunn, Dave Marcuccilli, and Amy Holland in her first Modified feature finished third through fifth. Tyler Meeks, Chris Mackey, Tommy Collins, Corey Barker, and Derek Webb completed the top ten.
In the first 25-Lap Sportsman feature track champion Andrew Buff grabbed the lead and by lap five he was in a two-car breakaway with Wade Chrisman. Cody Manitta, Kyle Devendorf, and Ryan Dolbear battled for third through fifth.
On lap ten Buff held a slim lead over Manitta with Chrisman, Zach Buff and Devendorf racing in the top-five.
With ten laps to go Buff and Dolbear were in a tight race for the lead. Manitta, Zach Buff, and Chrisman raced for top-five spots.
Over the final laps Dolbear could keep pace with Andrew Buff but the defending track champion hit his marks and drove to victory lane. Ryan Dolbear, Zach Buff, Cody Manitta, and Tony Finch finished second through fifth.
The second 25-Lap Sportsman feature would see Emmett Waldon lead the opening five laps just before a yellow slowed the pace. At the restart Brandon Carvey went to the outside of Waldron and drove into the lead.
Carvey still led on lap ten but now Matt Janczuk was pressuring Carvey for the lead. Waldron, Clayton Brewer, and Richard Murtaugh were battling for third through fifth.
With ten laps remaining Carvey was on rails on the bottom of the speedway and Janczuk was using multiple grooves on the speedway looking for a way by.
On the final lap a back marker slowed Brandon Carvey’s momentum giving Matt Janczuk one last shot at the win. Carvey held his line and beat Janczuk to the checkers by a car length. Emmett Waldron, Clayton Brewer, and Richard Murtaugh completed the top-five.
John Pietrowicz dominated the 20-Lap Hobby Stock feature. Pietrowicz took the lead from Adam Hunt on lap four and then drove away from the field for his second straight win to start the season. Adam Hunt, Jim Evans, Brennan Ftizgibbons, and Edward Stevens completed the top-five.
Hunter Hollenbeck was the class of the field leading every lap of the 15-Lap Novice Sportsman feature. Owen Bird, Nathan Novak, Dave Kingsley, and Danny Allen finished second through fifth.
Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway Heather Parkhurst organized a helmet drive to benefit the families of Rylee Bartlett and Brady Niver, who were involved in a tragic accident last Sunday. Through the generosity of Fulton's fans and teams, $2810 was raised for the families. A special thanks goes out to drivers LJ Parkhurst, Amy Holland, Ryan Dolbear, TJ Clayton, Josh Fellows, Austin Cooper, and Savannah LaFlair who donated their time during intermission to collect from our generous contingent.
On behalf of Fulton Speedway, thank you to everyone that supported the drive. We are Fulton strong.
This Saturday, May 13 Ferris Mowers and Regional Truck & Trailer will present an exciting night of racing on the ‘Highbanks.’
Come out and see Stewart Friesen’s Ferris Mowers, #52, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Toyota Tundra on display in the midway.
Racing will feature the Tracey Road DIRTcar Modifieds, DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby Stocks, and the E & V Energy Novice Sportsman, AmeriCU Credit Union Mod Lites.
Adult G/A: $15
18 Years & Under: Free.
Pits: DIRTcar Member: $35
Non-Member: $40.
Pits Open: 4:00 PM.
Grandstands: 5:00 PM.
Hot Laps: 6:00 PM
Racing Starts: 7:00 PM.
Any questions you might have about the 2023 racing season, plus marketing and sponsorship opportunities, contact Cory Reed at cory@fultonspeedway.com or (315) 593-6531.
For all the latest news go to www.fultonspeedway.com and like the speedway social media pages.
Compass Credit Union May 6 Opening Night Results
Tracey Road DIRTcar Modifieds - (35 Laps): 1-Wight.L 2-Sears.T(Jr) 3-Dunn.B 4-Marcuccilli.D 5-Holland.A 6-Meeks.T 7-Mackey.C 8-Collins.T 9-Barker.C 10-Webb.D 11-Phelps.C 12-Hurd.M 13-Gill.J 14-Fink.A 15-Meeks.J 16-Castelletti.C 17-Harris.T 18-Thompson.T 19-Kingsley.A 20-Davis III.R 21-Fuller.L 22-Gage.R 23-Krause.N 24-Ferguson.A
Tracey Road DIRTcar Modifieds B Main – 4Q -( 12 Laps): (Results): 1-Krause.N 2-Fuller.L 3-Thompson.T 4-Kingsley.A 5-Joy.B 6-Crisafulli.J 7-Herbison.J 8-Sykes.J 9-Richardson.R 10-Cunningham.C 11-Starr.T 12-Murphy.B 13-Beardsley.S
DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #1 - (25 Laps): 1-Buff.A 2-Dolbear.R 3-Buff.Z 4-Manitta.C 5-Finch.T(II) 6-Chrisman.W 7-Hamm.R 8-Devendorf.K 9-Hulsizer.C 10-Cook.K 11-Parkhurst Jr..J 12-Kline.J 13-Clayton.T(Jr) 14-Button.M 15-Root.M 16-Hutton.D 17-Greenfield.S 18-Wahdan.D 19-Donaldson.J 20-Leathley.B
DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman #2 - (25 Laps): 1-Carvey.B 2-Janczuk.M 3-Waldron.E 4-Brewer.C(III) 5-Murtaugh.R 6-Rogers.D 7-Miller.A 8-Moyer.D 9-Marshall.S 10-Moyer.J 11-Sears.B 12-Fellows.J 13-Cooper.A 14-Laflair.S 15-Dupra.J 16-Herrington.B 17-Corcoran.T 18-Gareau.T 19-Germinio.A
A to Z Contracting $100 Heat Race Winners Bonus: Cody Manitta, Kyle Devendorf, Bobby Herrington, Zach Buff.
Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hobby Stocks - (20 Laps): 1-Pietrowicz.J 2-Hunt.A 3-Evans.J 4-Fitzgibbons.B 5-Stevens.E 6-Doucette.S 7-Watkins.M 8-Cunningham.C 9-Hawker.R 10-Barron.B
E&V Energy Novice Sportsman - (15 Laps): 1-Hollenbeck.H 2-Novak.N 3-Kingsley.D 4-Simmons.S 5-Groom.S 6-Wilcox.J 7-Hogan.B 8-Murtaugh.B 9-Hughto.J 10-Bird.O 11-Allen.D
Submitted By: David Medler
