By Marty Czekala
FULTON, N.Y. – The inaugural A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints did not disappoint with a late race pass the fans love to see.
Zach Sobotka took advantage of a restart with three to go to pass Bobby Parrow and win round three of the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge. With the win, Sobotka becomes the first repeat winner of the year and the first back-to-back winner since Jordan Hutton did it in 2023.
“I felt like I was trying to drive it into turn one different every time and on those last few restarts, I hit it just right,” said Sobotka in victory lane. “I entered up like three car lengths higher than I have been and was able to cut off the car. It’s my first full year with the 305 and to win two in a row? That feels good.”
At the halfway point, Sobotka, restarting fourth, went two-for-one around the outside to take second and close in on Parrow. The No. 80 was tough to pass, but Sobotka found his way on a restart with three to go, making the same move.
Parrow and Spencer Burley brought the field to Tyler Groescup’s green for 25 circuits on the high banks of Fulton. Parrow checked out early, putting massive gaps while Jordan Hutton, Tyler Graves, Dalton Herrick and Burley, amongst others, raced hard for second.
After a pair of yellows for Alysha Bay and Darryl Ruggles, Burley and Herrick traded the third, with the 15B taking the advantage. The following lap, Burley moved up to second. At the same time, Sobotka cracked the top five.
Just before the halfway point, when Parrow hit lapped traffic, caution was waved for Dustin Sehn and David Ferguson.
On the eventual restart in which Sobotka moved up to second, the No. 38 would close in on Parrow’s car. With 10 to go, the gap was at 0.6s, with lapped traffic becoming a factor. As Parrow started increasing the lead with under five laps remaining, a yellow with three to go for Jordan Hutton stopped with no power.
Following a flurry of yellows for Matt Rotz and Tyler Graves accidents, Sobotka pounced on Parrow around the outside to steal the victory and win by 2.1s while Bobby Parrow edged out Spencer Burley.
“With [Parrow] starting on the pole, I knew he was gonna be tough,” Sobotka said. “I don’t know if he missed the bottom a little bit, but he ran a great race.
In addition to winning, Sobotka also won the Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash and was awarded the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger, gaining 10 spots from 11th to first.
For Parrow, he records his second podium of the season. A dominant run just fell short after fading off restarts.
“I didn’t know when this race was going to end,” said Parrow. “I kept hitting the bottom and then the one that counted I missed. It frustrated me a little more and missed another one. Hats off to [Sobotka]; he ran a smooth race. The car was handling super and I messed up going into one.”
As for Spencer Burley, he records his first career podium with CRSA in third after starting second. A team that’s been struggling with heat races and draws, a heat win plus a good redraw set him up for an excellent finish.
“We just had a car that was gonna be bottom dominant,” said Burley after his best career finish. “I just got to hit my marks every lap and put it on the box. Shoutout to Steve [Glover] for loaning me this car and all my family.”
The Ruggles World of Autobody and Graphics Hard Luck Award belonged to Cameron Moss after hitting the wall hard in his heat race, ending his night.
34 cars checked in tonight.
Next is the inaugural CRSA Sprints Independence Day Triple Play at Land of Legends Raceway July 3. The series’ first trip to Ransomville Speedway will follow July 4, then return to Land of Legends July 5.
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[11]; 2. 80-Bobby Parrow[1]; 3. 15B-Spencer Burley[2]; 4. 4S-Johnny Smith[9]; 5. 33-Scott Landers[8]; 6. 29-Dalton Herrick[3]; 7. 28-Ron Greek[14]; 8. 8-Dillon Paddock[4]; 9. 4ST-Mikey Smith[15]; 10. 21B-Blake Warner[18]; 11. 18-Timmy Lotz[19]; 12. 48A-Alysha Bay[17]; 13. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[16]; 14. 121-Steve Glover[10]; 15. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[21]; 16. 66T-Tyler Emmons[23]; 17. 77-Matt Rotz[22]; 18. 22-Tomy Moreau[25]; 19. (DNF) 25G-Tyler Graves[5]; 20. (DNF) 66-Jordan Hutton[6]; 21. (DNF) 45-David Ferguson[24]; 22. (DNF) D9-Dustin Sehn[12]; 23. (DNF) 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[7]; 24. (DNF) 99-Adam Depuy[20]; 25. (DNF) 10-Nathan Pierce[13]; 26. (DNF) 3-Bailey Boyd[26]
B Main (10 Laps): 1. 77-Matt Rotz[4]; 2. 66T-Tyler Emmons[8]; 3. 45-David Ferguson[12]; 4. 99-Adam Depuy[2]; 5. X-Dan Bennett[7]; 6. 93-Guy Gosselin[6]; 7. 3-Bailey Boyd[5]; 8. 27W-Nick Webb[3]; 9. 18C-Dan Craun[9]; 10. 9-Jordan Freas[13]; 11. 30K-Ken Klinkowsky[11]; 12. (DNF) 22-Tomy Moreau[1]; 13. (DNS) 25-Cameron Moss; 14. (DNS) Z28-Tucker Donath
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 2. D9-Dustin Sehn[1]; 3. 10-Nathan Pierce[3]; 4. 28-Ron Greek[4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25G-Tyler Graves[7]; 2. 80-Bobby Parrow[5]; 3. 28-Ron Greek[3]; 4. 21B-Blake Warner[1]; 5. 10-Nathan Pierce[9]; 6. 22-Tomy Moreau[8]; 7. 93-Guy Gosselin[4]; 8. (DNF) 30K-Ken Klinkowsky[2]; 9. (DNF) 45-David Ferguson[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15B-Spencer Burley[1]; 2. 29-Dalton Herrick[6]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[8]; 4. 121-Steve Glover[9]; 5. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[7]; 6. 77-Matt Rotz[3]; 7. 66T-Tyler Emmons[2]; 8. (DNF) 25-Cameron Moss[4]; 9. (DNF) 9-Jordan Freas[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[6]; 3. 4ST-Mikey Smith[3]; 4. D9-Dustin Sehn[8]; 5. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[2]; 6. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 7. 3-Bailey Boyd[5]; 8. 18C-Dan Craun[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Scott Landers[2]; 2. 4S-Johnny Smith[4]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[5]; 4. 18-Timmy Lotz[1]; 5. 48A-Alysha Bay[6]; 6. 99-Adam Depuy[7]; 7. X-Dan Bennett[3]; 8. (DNS) Z28-Tucker Donath