Gary Tomkins of Clifton Springs, NY returned to Super DIRTcar Series victory lane in dramatic fashion with a last lap pass over race-long leader Erick Rudolph.
Erick Rudolph and Stewart Friesen brought the strong 30-car field to Dave Farney’s green flag. Off the initial green, Friesen settled in behind Rudolph, and the pair remained in that order for the majority of the event. While Friesen took multiple shots at Rudolph throughout the early and middle portions of the event, he was never able to clear the Rudolph machine. Just behind them, Gary Tomkins and Jimmy Phelps swapped the final podium spot a number of times during the first half of the event, with Tomkins eventually winning that battle at halfway.
While Rudolph and Friesen paced the field, a number of drivers were beginning to make noise from further back in the field. 7th place starter Matt Sheppard slowly picked his way towards the front, getting by the likes of Tomkins, Phelps, and Willy Decker to run as high as 3rd by lap 65. Around that time, Danny Johnson had cracked into the top 5 from the 15th slot on the grid. However, that was as far as either driver would get.
As the laps ticked off, Gary Tomkins was able to regain third from Matt Sheppard, and just a handful of laps later snatch second away from Stewart Friesen. From there, Tomkins went to work on the middle to top side of the speedway and chased after Erick Rudolph. The duo ran nose to tail over the course of the final 20 circuits, with Rudolph on the bottom and Tomkins on top. A lap 92 caution set up and 8 lap dash to the finish, with Rudolph getting a solid jump on Tomkins. Tomkins fought back, and pulled alongside Rudolph as the pair raced into turn 1 on the final lap. Off of turn 2, Gary Tomkins was able to nose ahead and keep Erick Rudolph at bay for his first Super DIRTcar Series victory since 2008. Just 0.172 seconds separated the drivers at the finish, with Stewart Friesen, Matt Sheppard, and Danny Johnson completing the top 5.
Gary Tomkins collected $10,000 in his first trip to Victory Hill, and he did so with a newly built car owned by the Kendrick family. The combination debuted at the Super DIRTcar Series event at the Eldora Speedway in July, where Tomkins drove to a top 5 finish.
The NAPA Sportsman Shootout Series 25-lap feature was hotly contested, as Adam Hilton came out on top of a four car battle for the checkered. Hilton and Connor Cleveland led the field to the initial green, with Hilton getting the original jump, but Connor Cleveland grabbed the top spot on the scoreboard off a lap 3 restart.
Cleveland would pace the field for the majority of the event, but surrendered the lead on lap 18 due to a flat left front tire. However, all would not be lost for Cleveland, as he would only fall to 4th in the final running order. Throughout Cleveland’s struggles, Adam Hilton would retake the lead, followed closely by Rocky Warner and Dave Marcuccilli. The top four would battle through lapped traffic, but Adam Hilton would hang on to grab his first Weedsport victory. Marcuccilli would grab 2nd from Warner with a pair of circuits remaining, while Cleveland and Ronnie Davis III completed the top five.
Results
Super DIRTcar Series Hall of Fame 100 Feature Finish:
GARY TOMKINS ($10,000), Erick Rudolph, Stewart Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Rob Bellinger, Billy Decker, Pat Ward, Chris Hile, Tim Fuller, Mat Williamson, Larry Wight, Ryan Phelps, Chad Phelps, Vince Vitale, Peter Britten, Frank Cozze, Mike Mahaney, Jimmy Phelps, Bobby Varin, Max McLaughlin, Keith Flach, Willy Decker, Alan Johnson, Brett Hearn, Rich Scagliotta, Dave Allen, Ryan Bartlett, Jimmy Horton, Mike Bowman.
NAPA Sportsman Shootout Series 25 Feature Finish:
ADAM HILTON, Dave Marcuccilli, Rocky Warner, Connor Cleveland, Ronnie Davis III, Will Shields, Tom Collins Jr., Rocco Leone, Matt Guererri, Kyle Inman, Ricky Newton, Jim Spano, Tyler Trump, Nick Krause, Tony Finch II, Jackson Gill, Robert Bublak, Taylor Caprara, Dylan Zacharias, Brianna Ladouceur, Corey Barker, Ben Wheeler, George Sanford, Casey Williams, Earl Rudy, Troy Fleming.