EVANS MILLS, NY – The 2025 season at the Evans Mills Raceway Park is underway! Opening Night presented by STOP DWI New York was filled with action and the perfect spring weather to take in the night. EMRP saw newcomers in almost all divisions and the pits were joined by the Jake’s Automotive Small Block Supermodifieds for their annual spring trip to the Mills.
Some early season woes struck drivers during hot laps including defending Pro Late Model champion Rylee Gill.
The first race of 2025 would be the Excess Storage Pro Late Models heat race which did not disappoint coming down to a photo finish with Chuck Meyer holding off a strong run to the inside from Dylan Bancroft.
Handicapping doesn’t take place until the fourth race week of the season. In the mean time, the Kinney Drugs Modifieds field had the chance to compete for their starting spot in the feature. Eight qualifiers were paired with teammates in a water balloon toss competition to determine starting positions. The team of Kaden Rogers and Dylan Bancroft won the tournament claiming the front row and Rogers would beat Bancroft in rock, paper, scissors to start on the pole.
The Excess Storage Pro Late Models feature would be up first which saw Chuck Meyer the victory from pole position. Jeff Kirkby would take a hard lick exiting turn four essentially destroying #76 ride. Kirkby would feel some soreness in the coming days but is thankfully healthy. Results: 1) Chuck Meyer, 2) Dylan Bancroft, 3) Tyler Papin, 4) Matt Larrivee, 5) Jeff Kirkby, 6) Rylee Gill DNS
The Stewart’s Shops Sport Compacts and Thunderstocks put together a strong field of 18 cars. Sam Curcie and Billy Matteson would bring the field to green as the Sport Compact competitors on American Racer tires would start ahead of the Thunderstock division on DOT tires. Billy Matteson would take a commanding lead in his Sport Compact until a tangle with Christopher Wilson would set him back. As Jared Gilson tried to set up a pass on Justin Burns for the Thunderstock lead they approached rookie Blake Briggs, and in that time Bridget Austin took a hard charge around the outside of Sam Curcie for second in the Sport Compacts. The pack of action would be followed by Angela Pettinelli and Cory Mayer sailing off into the turn four grass bringing out the caution. As the race restarted, Mike Cole would hold onto the lead keeping Justin Burns between him and the charging Austin. Cole and Burns would claim the first victory of the season. This was Mike Cole first career feature win. Results SC: 1) Mike Cole, 2) Bridget Austin, 3) Sam Curcie, 4) Angela Pettinelli, 5) 171 Cory Mayer, 6) Billy Matteson, 7) Amy Seeley
Results TS: 1) Justin Burns, 2) Jared Gilson, 3) Mike Marcinko, 4) Colby Goodale, 5) Jerry Rogers, 6) Levi Goodale, 7) David Paige, 8) Blake Briggs, 9) Christopher Wilson, 10) Jake Whitney, 11) Bill Gardner Jr.
Jake’s Automotive Small Block Supers would be up next with Mike Bruce starting on the pole with Cameron Rowe. Greg O’Connor would find his way to the inside of Rowe to take second and hold on to it for a majority of the race. A late race restart allowed Rowe to choose the inside of row two where he kept O’Connor to the outside the rest of the way. Bruce would go on to claim his sixth Small Block Super feature win at Evans Mills. Results: 1) Mike Bruce, 2) Cameron Rowe, 3) Greg O’Connor, 4) Dan Kapuscinski, 5) Griffin Miller, 6) Robbie Wirth, 7) Brad Haynes, 8) Darrick Hilton, 9) Tony Pisa, 10) AJ Larkin, 11) Noah Ratcliffe, 12) Vern Lafave, 13) Matt Matteson
The Kinney Drugs Modifieds kicked off a smooth feature race with Rogers and Bancroft leading the charge. Joe Papin would methodically pick his way through the field from the fourth row. Andre Roggie would also find himself moving forward through the field. Papin would eventually land behind Bancroft on a restart when Geoff Sharkey exited to the pits. Papin would bide his time behind Bancroft and finally work his way under to score the first win of the season. Results: 1) Joe Papin, 2) Dylan Bancroft, 3) Kaden Rogers, 4) Taylor Caprara, 5) Tony Pettinelli, 6) Eddie Hawkins, 7) Andre Roggie, 8) Jeff Pringle, 9) Joey Clark, 10) Kyle Hart, 11) Kevin Warren, 12) Scott Dinzler, 13) Jake Brown, 14) Eli Petzoldt, 15) Geoff Sharkey, 16) Terry Gardner
The Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends would cap the night off. Brayton Malbeuf was busy celebrating his uncle Chris Malbeuf’s wedding earlier in the day and arrived to the track just in time to start his heat race and find a good position for the feature. Dalton Rombough and Joel Hall would battle for the lead in the early stages until the two made contact entering turn one sending both to the rear. This left the front row open to Malbeuf and Landen Herring. Malbeuf would control the race almost until the finish, but Rombough would work his way back through the field and apply pressure on Malbeuf. Rounding the final two turns, the two approached Brianna Berry and Malbeuf on the inside of Rombough tried to make room for himself. In doing that, they touched wheels and spun. Joel Hall and Landen Herring saw an opening and had a drag race to the TI Bait Store Start Fishin’ Line while weaving through Berry, Rombough, and Malbeuf. Joel Hall would just cross ahead of Herring taking the first win. Results: 1) Joel Hall, 2) Landen Herring, 3) Jayden Hall, 4) Josh Oomen, 5) Breanne Gilligan, 6) Devin Thornton, 7) Damon Bush, 8) Dalton Rombough, 9) Aaron Wilmot, 10) Damian Goodnough, 11) Carrie Carr, 12) Brayton Malbeuf, 13) Quillon Dann, 14) Brianna Berry, 15) Fred Siebert, 16) George Sanford DNS
The Evans Mills Raceway Park returns to racing next Saturday May 17th with Spectator Drag racing presented by Thomas Trash Service and Excavation.