Evans Mills, NY – Evans Mills Raceway Park kicked off summer in grand fashion on Memorial Day Weekend. While it was a great night of racing, the team at EMRP would like to recognize all of our service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. Their selfless acts of courage will forever be remembered and will always be our heroes.
During intermission, Froggy 97 provided fans with a one of a kind experience. Country artist, Aaron Goodvin played a 30 minute acoustic concert in the midway, which included a personalized Happy Birthday song for a couple of fans. A special thank you goes out to Froggy 97 for bringing Aaron to our facility.
The Excess Storage Pro Late Models started the evenings features. Mark Barker (#77) and Josh Verne Jr. (#1V) brought the field to the green flag for their 15 lap feature. By lap 2, Sid Harmer Jr. 14R) had taken the lead exiting turn 2. Two cautions would slow the field on laps 6 and 9. On the second restart, Harmer and Rylee Gill (#57) would battle side by side for 2 laps. Harmer would clear Gill by lap 11 and go on to pick up his first win of the season. Gill would finish second and Chuck Meyer (#3) would finish third.
18 Sport Compacts and Thunderstocks would start the next feature of the night. Joe Pettinelli in his blue #5 and AJ St. Mary in the #111J would make up the front row. Pettinelli would be in control of the race until cautions flew on laps 6 and 7 which diminished his lead. Pettinelli would lead on the restart, but would find heavy pressure from newcomer Corey Copeland in his sharp #A1, Trevor Halladay in the #23T and the #17 of Chuck Powelczyk. The final 13 laps would be caution free and find some of the best racing of the night. Pettinelli would keep his lead as Copeland, Halladay and Powelczyk traded positions and raced side by side for several laps. On the final lap, Pettinelli worked through heavy lap traffic and was able to beat Halladay to the line by half a car, earning his first win of the year. Halladay was second and Copeland rounded out the top three. Mike Greenfield in the #1 7would be the first Thunderstock to cross the finish line, picking up the feature win.
Mike Ramos (#09) and Russ Brown (#16) lead the Caskinette Ford Modifieds to the green. Carrie Bolton (#6) would bring out an early caution on lap 1. Ramos was able to gain the lead on the restart over Brown. Heavy contact between Matt Caprara (#29) and Casey Sykes (#NY1) on the frontstretch bought out the second caution ending both drivers’ night. Ramos would get the jump on the restart but by lap 9 Brown would find room under him exiting turn 2 to take the lead. Kevin Timerman (#17) would follow Brown, dropping Ramos to third. The top three would run in that order until lap 28 of 30. As Brown worked to the outside of the lapped car of Scott Dinzler (#64) in turn 2, the two would touch, sending Brown around. Timerman found just enough room to get by the spinning car of Brown’s. Ramos slowed to an almost stop, but tagged Brown, ending his night and his streak of 3, top 5 finishes. Timerman would be able to lead the final two laps to pick up his first win. Mason Spencer (#30) earned his first top 3, with a second place finish. Taylor Caprara (#21) finished third, Geoff Sharkey (#66) came home in fourth and Chris Ridsdale rounded out the top 5.
The Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends were the next feature on the speedway. Zach Christman (#43) and Jason Christman (#92) made up the front row. On the start it was Dalton Rombough (#33) making the move of the night. Starting last, Rombough went to the high side of the track and passed the entire field before completing the first last lap. Two cautions would fly during the feature. However Rombough was too strong for the rest of the field, winning his third feature in a row. Coleby Felber (#14) finished second and Josh Marchese (#31) would be third.
The 4-Cylinder Trucks would be the final feature of the night. The #3 of Brandon Clemons and the #12 of Skylar Farney would be the pole sitters. By lap 3, the #01 of Pete Willsie would find his way to the front followed by the #33 of Bob Schroy. The two would race side by side for two laps, with Willsie gaining the advantage on the inside. Willsie would pick up his second win of the year, Schroy finished second and Dalton Lampson in the #6-11L would be third.
After the features, track personnel set up barriers for the first of three skid plate races this year. 16 cars and vans made their way onto the track for their standing start. Fans were greeted with action all over the track from sparks and spins. In the end, it was Adrain Bigelow in his #18B outlasting all the chaos and earning the win.
Next week, Saturday, June Sth, the racing action continues at EMRP. We will have our Caskinette Ford Modifieds, Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends, Excess Storage Pro Late Models, Sport Compacts/Thunderstocks/4-Cylinder Trucks. Pit Gates open at 3pm, General Admission at 5pm, Racing starts at 6:30pm. Pit Pass $30, General Admission $12, Military $10, Children 10-17 $6, Under 9 Free!