Erick Rudolph Scores $3,000 King of Dirt 358-Modified Series Win for First Ever Utica-Rome Speedway Victory
VERNON, NY- This past Sunday, July 9, Erick Rudolph took his first ever Utica-Rome Speedway win over a solid 43-car King of Dirt 358-Modified Series field while Rocky Warner made a last lap pass to grab the Broedel Energy Sportsman win. Other winners on Marble Hill Inn and Wilber-Duck Chevrolet night were Mike Welch in the Pro Stocks and Joe Abass in Novice Sportsman.
Matt DeLorenzo and Ryan Susice led the 31 car King of Dirt 358-Modified Series Victoria starting field to the green flag to begin the 40-lap event, and it is was third place starter Jessey Mueller taking the point as the completed the opening lap. Fourth place starter Erick Rudolph made the pass of Susice on lap four and set after Mueller. A lap five caution slowed the pace and on the restart, Rudolph made his move to the lead and was scored the leader on lap six. Rudolph immediately began to pull away from the field, and with ten laps complete it Rudolph, Mueller, Susice, DeLorenzo, and Alan Johnson trailing. A lap 18 caution slowed the pace which brought Rudolph back the rest of the field, and on the restart, Rudolph again flexed his muscles as he again pulled away. The restart saw Alan Johnson launch from fourth to second and as the field completed lap 20, it was Rudolph and Johnson out front with Susice, Mueller, and Anthony Perrego in a dogfight for the rest of the top five spots.
As the field settled in for the second half of the race, Marc Johnson started to come to life after starting in the 11th spot. He was in sixth on lap 20, and then made his move into the top five a lap later as he passed both Susice and Perrego to take the fourth spot. After a lap 27 restart, Johnson slipped by Mueller to grab the third spot and set his sights on Alan Johnson. With 10 to go, it was Rudolph over Alan Johnson, Marc Johnson, Susice, and Perrego. A couple cautions slowed the pace on laps 33 and 34, and Marc Johnson used the final restart to grab second over Alan Johnson. Marc Johnson kept pace with the leader but could not reel him in as Rudolph raced off to the $3,000 win and his first ever Utica-Rome Speedway victory. Marc Johnson, Alan Johnson, Susice, Mueller, Perrego, Neil Stratton, Ryan Arbuthnot, Ronnie Davis III, and Bobby Varin.
Jason Rood grabbed the early lead in the 20-lap Broedel Energy Sportsman feature from pole sitter Stephen Denton, with third place starter AJ Filbeck slipping into the second spot at the completion of the opening lap. On lap three, Filbeck made his move to the lead with Rood slipping to second, and a circuit later, Rood’s bid for the win ended as he pulled into the pits. With Filbeck out front, the car on the move was Rocky Warner as he broke into the top five by lap four from his 14th place starting spot. By lap six, Warner went by second place running Dave Moyer and set off after Filbeck. It looked like Warner had nothing for Filbeck until the duo hit lapped traffic on lap 16 when Warner used a pair of slower cars as a pick to be scored the leader on lap 17. On lap 18, Filbeck charged back by Warner for the lead while they continued their battle in lapped traffic. On the final lap, Warner repeated his move for a couple circuits earlier as again used lapped cars as a pick. That proved to be the winner move as he took the win with Filbeck, Matt Janczuk, Kyle Inman, and Moyer chasing.
Jim Normoyle and Bill Knapp dueled for the lead in the 20-lap Pro Stock main event for the first six circuits until the caution lights slowed the field. The restart saw fourth place running Mike Welch drive into the runner-up spot as the field went into turns one and two, and as lap seven was scored, Welch seized control for the race. Welch would lead the rest of the race to score his second consecutive Pro Stock win at the speedway. Normoyle, Shane Henderson, Knapp, and Ernie Staelens rounded out the top five.
Skylar Greenfield and Jimmy Moyer swapped the lead at the beginning of the 10-lap Novice Sportsman nightcap with Greenfield seemingly grabbing the lead for good on lap three. On lap nine, Joe Abass made his move for the lead as he wrestled the point away from Greenfield. Abass would hold to score the win with Moyer, Greenfield, Pat Nolan, and Alexis Jacobs following.
Weekly racing continues next Sunday, July 16, when Lalonde Electric and VP Racing Fuels presents double Gates-Cole Auto Insurance Modified features (one from 6/18), the $1,000 to win Mike Martin Memorial for the Broedel Energy Sportsman, Pro Stocks, and Novice Sportsman. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. with racing starting at 7 p.m. For more information, please log on to www.uticaromespeedway.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
MARBLE HILL INN AND WILBER-DUCK CHEVROLET RACE SUMMARY
KING OF DIRT 358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (40 LAPS)-ERICK RUDOLPH, Marc Johnson, Alan Johnson, Ryan Susice, Jessey Mueller, Anthony Perrego, Neil Stratton, Ryan Arbuthnot, Ronnie Davis III, Bobby Varin, Matt DeLorenzo, Jeremy Wilder, Elmo Reckner, Jordan McCreadie, Mike Mahaney, Tyler Meeks, Chad Phelps, Brandon Sweet, Alan Barker, Jack Miller, Randy Shantel, Allison Ricci, Michael Sabia, Jason Herrington, Jack Lehner, Rob Pitcher, Brian Gleason, Demetrios Drellos, Randy Chrysler, Bobby Herrington, and Ronnie Johnson.
BROEDEL ENERGY SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)-ROCKY WARNER, AJ Filbeck, Matt Janczuk, Kyle Inman, Dave Moyer, Kyle Kiehn, Chris Mackey, AJ Miller, Brent Joy, Andrew Wren, Cody Hunt, Mark Effner, Nathan Peckham, Andrew Buff, Aaron Jacobs, Stephen Denton, Daryl Nutting, Kyle DeMetro, CJ Castelletti, Rick McCready, Jeremy Nestved, Allan Hodge, Charlie Tibbitts, Jeff Taylor, George Dyer, Tim Falter, and Jason Rood.
PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)-MIKE WELCH, Jim Normoyle, Shane Henderson, Bill Knapp, Ernie Staelens, Mike Kazlauskas, Dan Mattigan, Frank Hyatt, and Aaron Page. DNS-Jerry Streeter.
NOVICE SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH-JOE ABASS, Jimmy Moyer, Skylar Greenfield, Pat Nolan, Alexis Jacobs.
Sources: John Tiff/Utica-Rome Speedway PR