EVANS MILLS, NY – The 5th Annual John Burr Classic was again a two day event on the hill at the Evans Mills Raceway Park. The campground doubles in numbers for an unusual September weekend of sunny weather in the 80s. The weekend was all brought together with help from trusted partners TJ Toyota of Potsdam, Waite Toyota in Watertown, Ken Tibbles Roofing, NAPA Auto Parts, Old World Industries products BlueDef Platinum, BlueDef, and PEAK, and the U.S. Army.
Friday, September 13th would kick off the weekend with racing from the ISMA MSS Supermodifieds, Jake’s Automotive Small Block Supers Championship Series, Excess Storage Pro Late Models, and the FENIX U-Pull U-Save Syracuse Thunderstocks. During the evening, 2024 track champions were crowned due to the final points race night being rained out on August 31st. Justin Burns would be honored after his heat race as the 2024 FENIX U-Pull U-Save Syracuse Thunderstocks track champion. Burns would also go on to claim the John Burr Classic title for the same division later that night.
FENIX U-Pull U-Save Syracuse Thunderstocks Feature Results (20 Laps): 1) Justin Burns, 2) Jared Gilson, 3) Colby Goodale, 4) Blake Giglio, 5) David Paige, 6) Tim Greenfield, 7) Mike Marcinko, 8) Angela Pettinelli, 9) Bill Gardner, 10) Tyler Bates, 11) Kyle Hart
The Excess Storage Pro Late Models track champion Rylee Gill would be honored on the track after his heat race and later in the night it would be a tight battle between the top four cars for the JBC championship. Terry Gardner after finding a way around James Kiah earlier would hold on to take the win!
Excess Storage Pro Late Models Feature Results (20 Laps): 1) Terry Gardner, 2) Dylan Bancroft, 3) James Kiah, 4) Rylee Gill, 5) Tyler Papin, 6) Chuck Meyer, 7) Matt Larrivee, 8) Justin Coachman, 9) Jeff Kirkby, Eli Petzoldt
The Jake’s Automotive Small Block Supers Championship Series would embark on their final race of the season to decide the series champion. The race would include a return from Russ Brown to drive the #29. Danny Kapuscinski, Brown, and Greg O’Connor would be the class of the field all night. Cameron Row would show glimpses of speed throughout the race but ran out of time to catch the front. Greg O’Connor would hold off the field to take home the victory. The series championship top three would be the reverse of the feature finish. Dan Kapuscinski would claim his second SBSCS title and the #29 team of (Lou LeVea Jr., Shaun Gosselin, Russ Brown) would finish second with Greg O’Connor finishing in third on points.
Jake’s Automotive Small Block Supers Championship Series Feature Results (30 Laps): 1) Greg O’Connor, 2) Russ Brown, 3) Danny Kapuscinski, 4) Cameron Rowe, 5) Tim Proud, 6) Drew Pascuzzi, 7) Tony DeStevens, 8) Matt Matteson, 9) Vern Lafave, 10) AJ Larkin, 11) Cameron Rowe Jr., 12) James Babcock, 13) Ryan Gunther, 14) Tessa Crawford, 15) Griffin Miller, 16) DJ Shuman, 17) Mike Bruce, 18) Noah Ratcliff
The ISMA MSS Supermodifieds would take on their first ever Friday Fast 40 at the Evans Mills Raceway Park. Mike Bruce would hold onto the lead for most of the race until Otto Sitterly worked his way up to take advantage on the outside and shoot to the lead. Sitterly would lead the rest of the race while Josh Sokolic, driving the Jason Simmons owned #98T would try every lap to find a way under Bruce for the second spot but would run out of time. Sitterly would make his way to victory lane narrowing his deficit from series point leader Trent Stephens heading into the final points race the next night.
ISMA MSS Supermodifieds Feature Results (40 Laps): 1) Otto Sitterly, 2) Mike Bruce, 3) Josh Sokolic, 4) Mike McVetta, 5) Tyler Shullick, 6) Trent Stephens, 7) Moe Lilje, 8) Dan Connors Jr., 9) Kyle Edwards, 10) Mark Sammut, 11) AJ Lesiecki, 12) Joe Gosek, 13) Brandon Bellinger, 14) Nick Snyder, 15) Aric Iosue, 16) Dave Shullick Jr., 17) Mike Ordway Jr., 18) Rich Reid, 19) Eric Lewis, 20) Jeff Abold
On Saturday September 14th, the events would start earlier under the warm sun. Saturday’s events would include the ISMA MSS Supermodifieds 100-lap championship race, the Kinney Drugs Modifieds John Burr Memorial, a National Qualifier for the Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends, the Stewart’s Shops Sport Compacts, and the Classic Asphalt Modified Series.
The Classic Asphalt Modified Series would bring their best car count of the year and put on a thrilling show! Mark Tychoniewicz would edge out the field for the win.
Classic Asphalt Modified Series Feature Results (20 Laps): 1) Mark Tychoniewicz, 2) Andy Fera, 3) Tim Janes, 4) Norm Gervais, 5) Tim Byrnes, 6) Rip Ripley, 7) Erik Gall, 8) Dave Shay, 9) Lucky7 Denis Gervais, 10) Jocelyn Laiberte, 11) Jim Chamberlain
The Stewart’s Shops Sport Compacts would put in a bid for the best race of the weekend. Half the field entered with a race winning car but only Chuck Powelczyk would take home the win after holding off two Greenfield cars on his bumper in the final laps.
Stewart’s Shops Sport Compacts Feature Results (20 Laps): 1) Chuck Powelczyk, 2) Mike Greenfield, 3) Kevin Greenfield, 4) Tony Pettinelli, 5) Mike Cole, 6) Bridget Austin, 7) Sam Curcie, 8) Ethan Halsey, 9) Mike Durham, 10) Blake Giglio, 11) Trevor Halladay
The Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends would now embark on their first National Qualifier in years at The Mills. INEX Legends are divided into four groups on the national level (Young Lions, Semi-Pro, Pro, and Masters). Each driver that finished this races first in their group of registered INEX members would earn a provisional to the A-Main at the Asphalt Nationals at Dominion Raceway in Virginia later in the year. The 35 lap feature saw drivers (Rombough and Cuthbertson) sent to the rear and work their way back up through the field giving the fans a great show. Matt Haufe would continue his 2024 undefeated streak and take the overall win.
Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends National Qualifier (35 Laps): 1) Matt Haufe (NQ-PRO), 2) Wes Cuthbertson (NQ-SEMI-PRO), 3) Coleby Felber, 4) Chris Piasecki (NQ-MASTERS), 5) Joel Hall, 6) Trevor Halladay, 7) Quillon Dann, 8) Aaron Wilmot, 9) Jayden Hall (NQ-YOUNG LION), 10) Zach Christman, 11) Josh Oomen, 12) Carrie Ann Carr, 13) Dalton Rombough, 14) Devin Thornton, 15) Brayton Malbeuf, 16) Breanne Gilligan, 17) Kyle Hart
The Kinney Drugs Modifieds would start the most cars ever for an A-main under the Gill ownership. The re-draw kept a lot of good cars towards the front of the field to start the race and the best cars would find their way to the front quickly including Joe Papin, Taylor Caprara, and Dale Ogburn, Dylan Bancroft, Dale Ogburn, and Jeff Pringle would squeeze their way into the top five throughout the night. Joe Papin looked to be the class of the field and crossed the finish line first. Following technical inspection it would be declared that second pace finisher Taylor Caprara would be the official winner of the race.
Kinney Drugs Modifieds Feature Results (75 Laps): 1) Taylor Caprara, 2) Dylan Bancroft, 3) Dale Ogburn, 4) Jeff Pringle, 5) Eddie Hawkins, 6) Matt Caprara, 7) Brian Rygielski, 8) Jesse Bearup, 9) Bryan Sherwood, 10) Steven Sherwood, 11) Rick Brunelle, 12) Tony Pettinelli, 13) Joey Clark, 14) Geoff Sharkey, 15) Scott Dinzler, 16) Josh Sokolic, 17) Kevin Warren, 18) Joey VanLare, 19) Madison Knapp, 20) Jacob Gustafson, 21) Andre Roggie, 22) Joel Hargrave, 23) John Ramsey, 24) Corey Trombley, 25) Matt Sharkey, 26) Kyle Hart, 27) Joe Papin
The ISMA MSS Supermodifieds would once again cap off the weekend racing for 100 laps. Otto Sitterly would find the front and hold steady from there. Some familiar names from the night before would be Sitterly’s contenders including Sokolic, Kyle Edwards, and Tyler Shullick. Sitterly would hold onto the lead and share a podium with the new youth revival of supermodified racing Josh Sokolic and Tyler Shullick. Sitterly and car owner John Nictora would also pass Trent Stephens in the point standings to claim their third ISMA MSS Supermodifieds Championship.
ISMA MSS Supermodifieds Feature Results (100 Laps): 1) Otto Sitterly, 2) Josh Sokolic, 3) Tyler Shullick, 4) Kyle Edwards, 5) Mike Ordway Jr., 6) Dave Shullick Jr., 7) Moe Lilje, 8) Mark Sammut, 9) Joe Gosek, 10) Dan Connors Jr. 11) Trent Stephens, 12) Rich Reid, 13) Camden Proud, 14) Aric Iosue, 15) Brandon Bellinger, 16) AJ Lesiecki, 17) Nick Snyder, 18) Mike Bruce, 19) Mike McVetta