By Marty Czekala
AFTON, N.Y. – “The Flyin’ School Teacher” Kyle Pierce received an A+ as he took the twin checkers at Afton Fairgrounds Speedway Friday in round two of the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series.
The win is Pierce’s first of the season and fifth of his career. The No. 9k took the lead with seven to go over Jeff Trombley when the No. 3a blew up.
“I was okay, but Jeff was really good running the top,” said an excited Pierce in victory lane. “Unfortunately, our fortune was his misfortune.”
The one that got away came back to Pierce. The last time the series was at Afton in Oct. 2022, Pierce was leading in the final laps when he ran out of fuel. Coming back to I-88 to take the win means a lot to the fourth grade teacher at Spencer-Van Etten Elementary.
“Anytime we can win, or even in the top 10, that’s a great day for us,” said Pierce. “To finally get a win is a way to start the summer months. Snack time Monday is going to be fun.”
Ron Greek and Jeff Trombley brought the field to Tyler Groescup’s green for 25 laps. Greek would lead early, but in the opening laps, Trombley took a peek underneath Greek and the top two tangled, sending Trombley into a sideways frenzy but found a way to save it and keep the race green.
Trombley would reel in the No. 28 again and take the lead, entering turn three.
The race would begin on a 15-lap green flag run until a red flag flew for Cliff Pierce, flipping in turn two. The No. 4 driver would climb out unscathed.
Restarting the race, Trombley held serve over Kyle Pierce and Mike Kiser. With Trombley pulling away, it seemed likely that the No. 3a would tie Danny Varin, Scott Goodrich, and Josh Pieniazek on the all-time CRSA wins list with 14 apiece. But with seven to go, the chances ended when the engine expired, giving Kyle Pierce the top spot.
The final caution flew for Mark Reynolds, stacking the field again. Pierce got a good jump over Kiser and kept the lead to score the checkered and bank $1,000.
“For the last couple of weeks and the work we’ve put in, from rebuilding after flipping hard at Land of Legends to chasing stuff at Weedsport,” said Pierce. “Feels good to finally get the pressure off things not going right, and the money will help restock stuff we’ve wrecked already.”
Kiser’s last podium came two years ago at this same track. The No. 99k takes away a bunch of positives with a great racecar making moves late.
“Once the red flag came out and the second caution, it didn’t help me,” said Kiser. “Once we got rolling, Pierce had us covered. It’s in one piece, and put it in the trailer. On to Utica.”
Dalton Herrick won the previous race at Afton in Oct. 2022, en route to his series championship. The No. 29 came back with a solid third-place finish.
“We were a little behind, but I felt really good for the feature,” said Herrick. “The track was really smooth and was racey. I had a little bite off four and two. You could move around.”
With a sixth place finish, Jordan Hutton holds a 16 point lead over Tomy Moreau in the overall standings while Billy VanInwegen has a four points lead over Dalton Herrick in the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series standings with the top four (Hutton, Kyle Pierce) separated by six points.
The Maguire Family of Dealerships Move of the Race belonged to Jeff Trombley for his spectacular save after touching with Ron Greek, then rebounding to take the lead.
Billy VanInwegen was awarded the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger Award for the second straight race, picking up seven spots to finish fourth.
26 drivers checked in to the Afton Fairgrounds Speedway.
CRSA heads to Utica-Rome Speedway next Friday to continue the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge. Can’t attend to watch “The Future Stars of Sprint Cars?” Catch the action live on FloRacing.
A Feature 25 Laps
1. 9K-Kyle Pierce[3]; 2. 99K-Mike Kiser[7]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[6]; 4. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[11]; 5. 12-Tyler Chartrand[8]; 6. 66-Jordan Hutton[12]; 7. 22-Tomy Moreau[10]; 8. 21B-Blake Warner[5]; 9. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[16]; 10. 28-Ron Greek[1]; 11. 18-Timmy Lotz[9]; 12. 99-Adam Depuy[17]; 13. J27-John Cunningham[14]; 14. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[13]; 15. 18C-Dan Craun[4]; 16. 77-Bob Hamm[20]; 17. 54-Fred Proctor[22]; 18. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[21]; 19. (DNF) 3A-Jeff Trombley[2]; 20. (DNF) 4-Cliff Pierce[19]; 21. (DNF) 33-Scott Landers[18]; 22. (DNF) 22M-Aaron Shelton[15]
B Feature 1 8 Laps
1. 4-Cliff Pierce[1]; 2. 77-Bob Hamm[2]; 3. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[3]; 4. 54-Fred Proctor[5]; 5. 56D-Peter Dance[4]; 6. (DNS) D9-Dustin Sehn; 7. (DNS) 48C-Mark Connoly; 8. (DNS) 30-Kirsten Dombroski
Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 3A-Jeff Trombley[1]; 2. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[5]; 3. 18C-Dan Craun[2]; 4. J27-John Cunningham[4]; 5. 66-Jordan Hutton[8]; 6. 33-Scott Landers[3]; 7. 77-Bob Hamm[6]; 8. (DNF) D9-Dustin Sehn[7]; 9. (DNS) 30-Kirsten Dombroski
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 18-Timmy Lotz[2]; 2. 28-Ron Greek[3]; 3. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[1]; 4. 9K-Kyle Pierce[5]; 5. 99K-Mike Kiser[8]; 6. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[6]; 7. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[4]; 8. 54-Fred Proctor[7]; 9. (DNF) 48C-Mark Connoly[9]
Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 22-Tomy Moreau[2]; 2. 21B-Blake Warner[1]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[3]; 4. 12-Tyler Chartrand[5]; 5. 22M-Aaron Shelton[4]; 6. 99-Adam Depuy[6]; 7. 4-Cliff Pierce[7]; 8. 56D-Peter Dance[8]
The A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints are powered by Super Gen Products. Associate sponsors for 2024 include Pit Stop Convenience Stores, DisBatch Brewing Company, Dandy, Joe’s Garage, Westward Painting Company, the Maguire Family of Dealerships, Powdertech Powdercoating, PJC Sprayfoam, Profab Enterprises, Magsarus Ignitions, Hoosier Racing Tire, Insinger Performance with their Stinger Race Fuel, My Race Pass and is owned and operated by Mike Emhof Motorsports.
For more information on the series, results and points, please visit our website, www.crsa.myracepass.com.