In early August, Erick Rudolph seemed well on his way to a dominating win in the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified feature. However, victory was snatched away from Rudolph on the final lap by Gary Tomkins. This time around, Rudolph would not be denied victory, as he captured his first Weedsport victory in the Super DIRT Week Kickoff Party.
Michael Parent and Brett Hearn brought the field to the green flag for 75 laps of 358-Modified action, with Hearn jumping out to the early lead. After a couple early cautions, Hearn began to build up a sizable, straightaway lead over Parent, Ryan Susice, and ninth-starting Erick Rudolph. Susice and Rudolph worked around Parent and began to work towards Hearn. On lap 20, Brett Hearn abruptly pulled into the pits with a mechanical failure, handing the lead to Ryan Susice. Susice’s lead would be short lived, as Erick Rudolph would take command the following lap and began to pull away. By lap 25, Rudolph led Susice, Gary Lindberg, Mike Mahaney, and Chad Brachmann.
On lap 31, third place runner Gary Lindberg found himself facing backwards in the middle of turns 1 and 2, and off the ensuing restart, Chad Brachmann worked around the Mahaney and Susice machines to claim the runner up position. While the trio of Brachmann, Susice, and Mahaney battled for the final podium positions, Rudolph was leading the pack and running away. By lap 45, Mike Mahaney had secured the third spot from Ryan Susice, despite smoke coming from the rear of his car. Larry Wight had also made his way into the top 5 by lap 50.
While Brachmann put up a respectable fight, Erick Rudolph would not be denied again as he picked up the win in the 75 lap Super DIRTcar Series 358-Modified feature. Following Rudolph and Brachmann were Mike Mahaney, Ryan Susice, and Larry Wight. David Hebert, Pat Ward, Alan Johnson, Matt Sheppard, and Chris Raabe rounded out the top 10.
The DIRTcar Sportsman Series also joined the card, with Todd Root picking up the win over brother Kevin Root, Shane Pecore, Alan Fink, and Glenn Forward. Shane Pecore jumped out to the early lead over Kevin Root, and maintained the lead throughout the early portions of the 30 lap feature. Kevin Root began to close on Pecore as the laps wound down, but Todd was charging on the top side of the speedway. On lap 26, Todd Root blasted around the outside of Kevin out of turn 4, and drove around leader Shane Pecore as the three drivers exited turn 2. Kevin would follow in Todd’s tracks, working around Pecore the following lap. Kevin Root ultimately fall two car lengths short to Todd at the finish.
In the second sportsman feature, the 50 lap holdover NAPA Sportsman Shootout Series event from September 18th, Kevin Root dominated en route to his first Weedsport win of the year. Ronnie Davis III and Rocky Warner entered the event separated by a mere 4 points, with the winner being crowned Weedsport Speedway Champion. Davis charged up to second by the end of the race, with Warner following him in third in a backup car, while Dave Marcuccilli and Zack Sobotka completed the top 5. Warner’s run was good enough to score him the NAPA Sportsman Shootout Series title by just a couple markers over Davis.
In the other holdover event, Micky Ciliberto took the checkers in the NY6A Micro Sprint Feature.