By Marty Czekala
VERNON, N.Y. – 259 days ago was the last time the A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints ran at Utica-Rome when Zach Sobotka climbed on top of his 305 Sprint Car with a win.
It was a win that was taken away.
4 pounds short of his minimum weight stripped his victory away. What was the thrill of victory for the No. 38 camp turned into the agony of defeat.
There was no agony Friday night at the very same track.
Sobotka held off a late charging Dillon Paddock in the final laps to earn his first career CRSA Sprints win and become the 85th different winner in feature history.
“Feels good to go through the scales,” Sobotka said in victory lane. “Last year was a little bit of a bummer. I got a lot of modified experience and it was a good, racy track.”
Sobotka and Scott Landers brought the field to Tyler Groescup’s green for 25 laps. Sobotka started with the jump, putting up a big lead of up to three seconds on Darryl Ruggles.
The action developed on lap eight while Sobotka was in lapped traffic. Jordan Hutton and Dalton Herrick made contact racing for the fifth position, allowing drivers like Landers and Billy VanInwegen to take advantage. VanInwegen moved three spots up to fifth.
The first yellow flew on lap 18 for Vince Chicklets spinning in turn two, eliminating a 2.9-second lead Sobotka had.
On the restart, Sobotka held serve off turn two, but Dillon Paddock gathered a massive head of steam from fourth around the outside to take the lead, but the lap wouldn’t count due to Chicklets spinning into the woods in turn three.
The following restart, Sobotka held serve while Paddock regained his steam to move up to second with six to go and chip down on Sobotka’s lead by an average of two-tenths per lap. With three to go, Paddock was on the high side, Sobotka was in the middle and the gap was eight-tenths. At the white, the gap was four-tenths. Paddock threw a Hail Mary top shelf, but the one that got away returned to Zach Sobotka as he won by 0.7 seconds on Dillon Paddock.
“I could definitely hear him,” Sobotka said. “I could tell he was on top and I almost went up there going under the white. I led all 24 laps on the bottom down there, might as well try and get 25.”
For Dillon Paddock, it is his fourth straight podium and the third out of the last four races where he showed late-race speed. If it weren’t for the second caution, perhaps the No. 8 would’ve had the lead for the rest of the feature. Another charge is just not enough for “The Show Stopper.”
“I needed that [second] caution not to come out and I think we would have been good,” said Paddock. “This car is really good and I can’t wish for much more. We want to win, just can’t.”
After two straight wrecks, Darryl Ruggles rebounded with a third-place finish, his first podium since Land of Legends last July. From bruised ribs to a concussion, “The Motorized Madman” could be considered Ironman as he returned with his best season finish.
“Tonight, I drew a good number and we dragged the car out of the weeds and this thing ran good,” said Ruggles. “I haven’t driven this car since last year and it was pretty good. I thought I was done racing and I kept getting better.”
Dillon Paddock won the Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash, winning $100 thanks to Elab.
The Ruggles World of Autobody & Graphics hard luck award went to Kirsten Dombroski after the motor blew up in the B-Main.
Ron Greek was the biggest mover of the night, gaining nine spots and earning the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger award.
Swagger Factory Apparel upped the ante and gave away a free pair of gloves to the quickest in hot laps. Dillon Paddock was the fastest with a 17.714s.
29 drivers checked into Utica-Rome tonight.
Up next is a new venue for the A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints as “The Future Stars of Sprint Cars” head to Fulton Speedway Saturday for round three in the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge.
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[9]; 3. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[4]; 4. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[11]; 5. 80-Bobby Parrow[8]; 6. 48A-Alysha Bay[10]; 7. 4S-Johnny Smith[7]; 8. 29-Dalton Herrick[5]; 9. 21B-Blake Warner[6]; 10. X-Dan Bennett[14]; 11. 18-Timmy Lotz[17]; 12. 15B-Spencer Burley[13]; 13. 22-Tomy Moreau[12]; 14. 66-Jordan Hutton[3]; 15. 28-Ron Greek[24]; 16. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[19]; 17. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[20]; 18. 121-Steve Glover[15]; 19. 77-Matt Rotz[18]; 20. 99-Adam Depuy[21]; 21. 4ST-Mikey Smith[23]; 22. 3-Bailey Boyd[25]; 23. D9-Dustin Sehn[22]; 24. (DNF) 10VC-Vince Chicklets[16]; 25. (DQ) 33-Scott Landers[2]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[1]; 2. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[2]; 3. 99-Adam Depuy[3]; 4. D9-Dustin Sehn[4]; 5. 4ST-Mikey Smith[7]; 6. 28-Ron Greek[9]; 7. 20K-Ed Kelley[6]; 8. 3-Bailey Boyd[5]; 9. 55-Michael Hart[11]; 10. (DNF) 30-Kirsten Dombroski[10]; 11. (DNS) 22M-Aaron Shelton
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 Laps): 1. 8-Dillon Paddock[1]; 2. 48A-Alysha Bay[5]; 3. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[2]; 4. 22-Tomy Moreau[3]; 5. 15B-Spencer Burley[4]; 6. X-Dan Bennett[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21B-Blake Warner[1]; 2. 22-Tomy Moreau[2]; 3. 15B-Spencer Burley[3]; 4. 8-Dillon Paddock[7]; 5. X-Dan Bennett[4]; 6. 18-Timmy Lotz[5]; 7. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[6]; 8. 99-Adam Depuy[9]; 9. 4ST-Mikey Smith[8]; 10. 28-Ron Greek[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[2]; 2. 80-Bobby Parrow[5]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[9]; 4. 38-Zach Sobotka[8]; 5. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[1]; 6. 77-Matt Rotz[3]; 7. 3-Bailey Boyd[4]; 8. 20K-Ed Kelley[6]; 9. 22M-Aaron Shelton[7]; 10. (DNF) 55-Michael Hart[10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Scott Landers[1]; 2. 4S-Johnny Smith[4]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[5]; 4. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[7]; 5. 121-Steve Glover[2]; 6. 48A-Alysha Bay[8]; 7. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[6]; 8. D9-Dustin Sehn[9]; 9. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[3]
Hot Laps: 1. 8-Dillon Paddock, 00:17.714[17]; 2. 18-Timmy Lotz, 00:17.898[15]; 3. 22-Tomy Moreau, 00:17.930[16]; 4. 3-Bailey Boyd, 00:17.991[3]; 5. 4ST-Mikey Smith, 00:18.043[25]; 6. 15B-Spencer Burley, 00:18.086[4]; 7. 21B-Blake Warner, 00:18.117[29]; 8. 38-Zach Sobotka, 00:18.120[26]; 9. 80-Bobby Parrow, 00:18.155[18]; 10. X-Dan Bennett, 00:18.170[2]; 11. 99-Adam Depuy, 00:18.192[6]; 12. 28-Ron Greek, 00:18.217[9]; 13. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles, 00:18.217[20]; 14. 29-Dalton Herrick, 00:18.381[11]; 15. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen, 00:18.411[28]; 16. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 00:18.435[27]; 17. 4S-Johnny Smith, 00:18.467[24]; 18. 10VC-Vince Chicklets, 00:18.493[5]; 19. 77-Matt Rotz, 00:18.710[19]; 20. 20K-Ed Kelley, 00:18.806[13]; 21. 33-Scott Landers, 00:18.857[14]; 22. 66-Jordan Hutton, 00:18.935[12]; 23. 22M-Aaron Shelton, 00:18.994[23]; 24. 48A-Alysha Bay, 00:18.994[1]; 25. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr, 00:19.144[22]; 26. 55-Michael Hart, 00:19.468[10]; 27. D9-Dustin Sehn, 00:19.478[21]; 28. 121-Steve Glover, 00:19.690[8]; 29. 30-Kirsten Dombroski, 00:20.057[7]
The CRSA Sprints are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2025 and are brought to you by A-Verdi Storage Containers. Associate sponsors include Pit Stop Convenience Stores, DisBatch Brewing Company, Dandy, Joe’s Garage, Westward Painting Company, Elab Smokers Boutique, iFreeze Storage & Distribution Center, Maguire Automotive Group, Powdertech Powdercoating, Ruggles World of Auto Body, PJC Business Ventures, Profab Enterprises, Magsarus Ignitions, Highside Racewear, Hoosier Racing Tire, Insinger Performance with their Stinger Race Fuel, My Race Pass and is owned and operated by Mike Emhof Motorsports.