By Marty Czekala
The A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints powered by Super Gen Products get ready to conclude the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series miniseries Friday at Brad Smith’s Skyline Raceway Motorsports Park.
While all drivers look to grab the checkered flag, five are mathematically eligible for the inaugural Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series championship.
It is just the third time CRSA has visited the 3/8 mile racetrack in Virgil, New York. Last year was scheduled to be on the calendar, but Mother Nature won the event.
The last CRSA ran at Skyline was Sept. 10, 2022, when Kyle Pierce took the checkered flag.
Here’s a look at the news and notes going into the weekend.
Last Weekend: CRSA’s first doubleheader weekend of the season produced a repeat King and a first-time winner.
Last Friday, after two losses to rain, “The Future Stars of Sprint Cars” finally made a trip below the New York border to Penn Can Speedway in Susquehanna for their King of the Can in the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series
After three second-place finishes on the season, Billy VanInwegen was crowned “King Billy V” for the second time.
VanInwegen took the lead on the opening lap from polesitter Jordan Hutton and didn’t look back to take his seventh career CRSA win.
VanInwegen would open a big lead until the final 10 laps when the No. 56V was in heavy lapped traffic, allowing Kevin Nagy to cut the gap down to as little as a car length.
A caution set up a green-white-checkered finish, allowing VanInwegen to pull away to sit on the Golden Can.
“What a racecar,” said VanInwegen. “Tip of the hat to Mike VanDusen [car owner] for turning the motor around. We’ve been second so many times and got this thing to take off on starts and it ripped.”
Kevin Nagy finished second, while Jordan Hutton rounded out the podium.
The series then went to Woodhull Raceway Saturday for the final race of the Dandy Triple Play.
It was 13 years ago to the weekend that Tyler Chartrand debuted in a 305 sprint car at Woodhull Raceway.
Fast forward to Sept. 14 and Chartrand scored his first race win in 14 years after taking the lead on lap six from Nathan Pierce. Chartrand became the 82nd different winner in series history and the fifth first-time winner this season, joining Matt Rotz, Dillon Paddock, Adam DePuy and Dan Craun.
“I’m gonna celebrate this for a month,” said a happy Chartrand in victory lane. “This is the biggest win of my career. This is absolutely amazing. It shows several years of my crew putting my best foot forward behind us.”
Nathan Pierce recorded his best finish in second, while Dillon Paddock finished third.
In the points for the Dandy Triple Play, Dan Craun led by six on Kyle Pierce with Dalton Herrick seven back.
In lap nine of the feature, Craun, the provisional points leader, was involved in the race’s second yellow when John Cunningham spun in turn one. Craun, trying to avoid it low, was barely caught up in it.
That moved Dalton Herrick into a chance to win it while running fourth. Under 10 to go, Tyler Graves moved up into fourth, putting Herrick up three points in second.
A yellow flew with eight go as overall points leader Tomy Moreau hit a yuke tire and spun in front of Kyle Pierce, allowing the No. 9K to pass.
With five to go, “The Flying School Teacher” made his way past Cliff Pierce for sixth, good enough to win the Dandy Triple Play by one point.
“In the drivers meeting, they said anybody can do it,” said Pierce. “I try really hard not to worry about points, but really cool to get the first one with Dandy here.”
New Points Leader: With Moreau’s accident that put him 15th in the end, there is a new series points leader with three championship events left to go.
Kyle Pierce had a phenomenal performance last weekend, leading over “The Canadian Kid” by six points. Entering Penn Can, Pierce was 31 back while going into Woodhull was behind 18. Dalton Herrick has returned to the championship from 34 points in third.
After a weekend he’d like to forget, Ron Greek remains in fourth, but 12 points ahead of Blake Warner. John Cunningham now looks for an opportunity to move up in the standings, 33 behind Greek.
The rest of the top 10 are Cliff Pierce, Adam DePuy, Jerry Sehn Jr. and Timmy Lotz.
In the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series, Billy VanInwegen leads over Kyle Pierce by 12 points, while Dalton Herrick is third, 29 behind. Should the gap remain the same after heat races, a top-five finish for Billy VanInwegen is good enough to win the championship. Should “Billy V” finish sixth and Kyle Pierce win the race, the points are tied with Pierce clinching the tiebreaker due to Southern Tier Series wins, 2-1 at the moment (Pierce won at Afton and Thunder Mountain).
Should Dalton Herrick win the race, he would take the championship if Billy VanInwegen is 15th or worse and the No. 56V finishes ahead of Kyle Pierce. If he doesn’t, Herrick would have to finish 15 spots ahead of both VanInwegen and Pierce.
Jordan Hutton is fourth, 42 points behind, with a win at Thunder Mountain, while Tomy Moreau is fifth, 58 behind. Both drivers look for valuable heat points Friday to have some chance at the miniseries championship.
Last Time at Skyline: It’s been a little while since CRSA invaded Cortland County. The last time the series was at Skyline was Sept. 10, 2022, when Kyle Pierce had his third career win at the time over Dalton Herrick, Tomy Moreau, Mike VanPelt and Thomas Radivoy.
A notebook has been created for some drivers, but with one race under the belts for many, drivers have yet to have the best idea of how to tackle Skyline.
By The Numbers: In two races, 10 different drivers have finished in the top five. Scott Goodrich and Kyle Pierce have each won at Skyline. Active drivers who have finished in the top five include Tyler Chartrand, Kyle Pierce, Dalton Herrick, Tomy Moreau and Thomas Radivoy. The average car count is just over 15 cars.
From the Frontman: “A great race is anticipated after a successful weekend at Penn Can and Woodhull. We had a very tight battle for our Dandy Triple Play championship come down to the wire and I think we’ll see that happen once again.” ~ Mike Emhof
Up Next: CRSA concludes the championship with a pair of races next week. The series heads to Utica-Rome Speedway Friday as part of Short Track SuperNationals 15 weekend, which will determine the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge champion. Action can be seen live on FloRacing.
After that, it’s a trip to Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua Saturday to determine the DisBatch Brewing Company Challenge champion and our 2024 series champion. Tune into Land of Legends TV and DIRTVision for all the action.
Standings
1. 9K Kyle Pierce 1872 pts
2. 22 Tomy Moreau -6
3. 29 Dalton Herrick -34
4. 28 Ron Greek -152
5. 21B Blake Warner -164
6. J27 John Cunningham -185
7. 4 Cliff Pierce -255
8. 99 Adam DePuy -348
9. 410 Jerry Sehn Jr. -383
10. 18 Timmy Lotz -436
Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series Standings
1. 56V Billy VanInwegen 670 pts
2. 9K Kyle Pierce -12
3. 29 Dalton Herrick -29
4. 66 Jordan Hutton -42
5. 22 Tomy Moreau -58
6. 21B Blake Warner -83
7. 410 Jerry Sehn Jr. -86
8. 28 Ron Greek -90
9. J27 John Cunningham -95
10. 77 Bob Hamm -99