Syracuse, NY – October 9, 2010 – By Dave Medler, DIRTcar Racing Northeast Series Correspondent
After seeing a Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series win slip away Friday night at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Ryan Susice from Ransomville, N.Y. collected the biggest win of his young career Saturday during Super DIRT Week XXXIX at the N.Y.S. Fairgrounds.
Susice overtook race long leader Shane Jablonka on lap 6 and never looked back. During the 30-lap SUNY Canton feature Susice built up leads of two seconds and never slowed down. On the last lap of the race when most cars were losing speed the Ransomville Speedway 2010 champion recorded the fastest lap time of the race.
“It’s a dream come true for me, I didn’t think we had enough to win it,” Susice said. “We came here with the intention just to make a lap unless we had a good time trial. We time-trialed third and were fastest today. We dialed the car in. I ended up getting a run on the outside for second and I did the same pass to get to the lead. I was always told you can’t pass high at the Mile, but I did it twice. So it’s awesome.”
Neal Williams and Shane Jablonka led down a hungry pack of DIRTcar Sportsman racers to starter Dave Farney’s green flag with Jablonka grabbing the early advantage. By lap 5 Jablonka, Susice and Williams broke away from the field setting a blistering pace around the Syracuse mile. One lap later, lap 6, Susice swung around Jablonka exiting turn two to be scored the new leader.
With 10 laps in the record books Susice was on rails as he was a full 2-mph faster than the rest of the field. Jablonka and Williams ran bumper to bumper for 2nd-place with Jesse Cotriss and Sportsman first-timer Dale Caswell showing the top-five.
At the halfway point Susice turned the wick up as he was rapidly putting cars a lap down. Williams moved back into 2nd with Jablonka, Cotriss and Caswell running third through fifth. On lap 17 Susice saw his big lead evaporate as a caution slowed the field down.
When the green came back out Susice took off as he looked to once again run away and hide from the field. Jablonka used the top of the speedway to retake second.
With 10 laps to go Susice was still out front setting a torrid pace making his car work high and low on the mile. Jablonka, Williams, Brandon Sweet who was now coming forward and Cotriss showed on the scoring tower.
The final caution flag flew on lap 27 for 2nd-place running Neal Williams. Last year’s ‘Futures’ winner got out of the groove in turn two collecting the wall and ending his run of a top finish.
The last slowdown set up a three-lap shootout to the finish between Susice and Sweet who made his run to 2nd-place using the top of the track. Over the final laps no one had anything for Susice as he pulled away for the memorable win. Sweet, Jablonka (Rookie of the race), Cotriss and Caswell rounded out the top five.
“I really have to thank my dad and my crew for setting up this car, I usually do it but I let them do it this time. And it paid off,” said the smiling winner after doing the roof dance in victory lane. Susice also thanked his girlfriend Michelle for putting up with what he does so he can go racing.
Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Race #11 – New York State Fairgrounds, Oct. 9, 2010 “SUNY Canton 30 Championship” Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 3 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY ($4,000)
2 5 24 Brandon Sweet/Watertown,NY
3 2 44x Shane Jablonka/Sanfordville,NY®
4 6 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
5 4 9-11 Dale Caswell/Central Square,NY®
6 19 67 James Henry/Niagara Falls,NY
7 12 220 John Ferrier/Middletown,NY
8 13 80 Steve Barber/Lansdowne,ONT®
9 24 23 John McAuliffe/Ballston Lake, NY
10 14 55 Matt Hulsizer/Bridgeport,NY
11 15 20 Jack Gentile/Ballston Lake,NY®
12 22 67g Eric Giguere/Waterloo,NY
13 10 18 Anthony Perrego/Montgomery,NY®
14 18 28 Jimmy Spellmon/Butler,NJ®
15 21 3 Erik Holmgren/Middletown,NY
16 20 42 Tim Paul/Stony Point,NY®
17 17 61s John Scarborough/Bomoseen,VT
18 28 7 Tom Benedict/Akwesasne,QUE®
19 16 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY
20 25 11j Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
21 29 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY®
22 31 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
23 27 44 Steve Hankle/Averill Park,NY®
24 1 0 Neal Williams/Pittsgrove,NJ
25 11 1 Sammy Reakes IV/Palermo,NY
26 8 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT®
27 9 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
28 7 3d Dean Patterson/Philadelphia,NY®
29 26 63 Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT®
30 23 m1 David Marcuccilli/Cayuga,NY
31 30 jvs1 Jim Spano/Skaneateles,NY
32 33 10m Nate Reynolds/Newfane,NY
33 32 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT®
LAP LEADERS: Jablonka (1-5), Susice (6-30).
CAUTIONS: 3 (lap 18, lap 24, lap 27).
ELAPSED TIME: 32 mins. 27 secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 55.465 mph.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.861 sec.
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Shane Jablonka.
HALFWAY LEADER: Ryan Susice
TURNER AUTOMOTIVE HARD CHARGER: John McAuliffe.
GATER RACING NEWS BEST APPEARING CAR & CREW: #61s – John Scarborough.
NYSSCA ‘TOP MEMBER’ AWARD: John McAuliffe.
KENWORTH OF BUFFALO POLE WINNER: Neal Williams (34.510 sec/104.318 mph).
MOTORSPORTS SAFETY SYSTEMS OUTSIDE POLE WINNER: Shane Jablonka (34.568 sec/104.143 mph).
LAST CHANCE QUALIFIERS: Justin Wright, Chris Herbison.
RACE ROOKIES®: 14.
CARS ENTERED: 56.
SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXIX SPORTSMAN NON-QUALIFIERS RACES
Consolation #1 (8 Laps)
FIN CAR# DRIVER
1 11j Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
2 44 Steve Hankle/Averill Park,NY
3 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
4 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
5 10 Josh VanBrocklin/Watertown,NY
6 14 Paul Kline/Reading,PA
7 17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY
8 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
9 32 Andy Durie/Stillwater,NY
10 92ny Brad Winters/Lison,NY
DSQ 19 Rob Bublak Jr./Ballston Spa,NY
DNS 42p Jason Occhino/Fulton,NY
*Top-3 advance to championship starting grid.
Consolation #2 (8 Laps)
FIN CAR# DRIVER
1 63 Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT
2 7 Tom Benedict/Akwesasne,QUE
3 jvs1 Jim Spano/Skaneateles,NY
4 21b John Wilber/Fulton,NY
5 30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT
6 1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY
7 28w Sandy Pembleton/Lewiston,NY
8 60 Henry Desormeau/Weedsport,NY
9 117 Richard Eggers/Walden,NY
10 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
11 9s Kristian Smoke/Akwesasne,NY
12 30t Thunder Anderson/Hogansburg,NY
13 5 Tom Keyes/Fairport,NY
DNS 9 Paul Gaboury/Welland,ONT
DNS 62 Jeff Leslie/Fly Creek,NY
DNS 10m Brett Martin/Burt,NY
DNS 6r Nate Reynolds/Newfane,NY
*Top-3 advance to championship starting grid.
FINAL EVENT
On the heels of the Super DIRT Week specials at the New York State Fairgrounds and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, just one more event remains before the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman champion is crowned for a 21st consecutive season. Teams travel across the border next weekend for the 2nd annual DIRTcar Northeast Fall Nationals at Brockville Ontario Speedway on Oct. 16.
2010 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/LOCATION
Sat-Apr 10 Black Rock Speedway Steve Gray
Sun-Jun 13 Cornwall Motor Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Jul 17 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Dave Marcuccilli
Fri-Sep 10 Ransomville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Sep 11 Merrittville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sun-Sep 12 Humberstone Speedway Chris Raabe
Fri-Sep 17 Mohawk International Raceway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Sep 25 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Tim Sears Jr.
Fri-Oct 1 Fulton Speedway Dave Marcuccilli
Wed-Oct 6 Can-Am Motorsports Park -cancelled-
Fri-Oct 8 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Chris Raabe
Sat-Oct 9 New York State Fairgrounds Ryan Susice
Sat-Oct 16 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT
SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXIX EVENTS SCHEDULE: Oct. 10, 2010
*All tmes and events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TIME EVENT
Sun-10/10 8am Pit Gates Open
9:15am Pro Stock Driver’s Meeting (in pit building)
9:30am Modified Driver and Crew Chief Meeting (in pit building)
10am Grandstands Open, Track Open for Pro Stock Final Practice
10:20am Modified Final practice
10:45am Pro Stock Last Chance Qualifier
11:15am Dig Safely NY Modified Last Chance Qualifier
11:45am Modified Top-30 Autograph Signing under grandstand (Top 30 in Thursday Time Trials)
12noon BNC Motorsports Pro Stock Championship (25 laps)
12:45-1:45pm Cold Pit Tour of Pit Row
1:30pm SEF Small Engine Fuels 200 Presented by Ferris/Snapper/Simplicity Pre-Race ceremonies
2:00pm SEF Small Engine Fuels 200 Presented by Ferris/Snapper/Simplicity Championship (200 laps)
Mon-10/11 -TBA- Rain Date for Saturday or Sunday events
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds, home of DIRTcar All-Star Weekend in July. DIRTcar Northeast’s crown jewel event —Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse runs annually in October featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions. Ticket and schedule information is available by contacting the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during the day or logging into www.allstar100weekend.com and www.superdirtweekonline.com anytime.
The Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Hoosier Racing Tire www.hoosiertire.com, VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com and GM Performance Parts www.gmperformanceparts.com. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and Chizmark & Larson Insurance www.chizmarklarson.com, and contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, MSD Ignition www.msdignition.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Vicci Racing Apparel www.vicci.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.