By Marty Czekala
An epic weekend of sprint car racing is set at Weedsport Speedway.
The night before the World of Outlaws invade New York, the A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints heads to “The Port” for round four of the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge. The series will be part of the undercard to the Super DIRTcar Series’ Hall of Fame 100.
It’s the seventh time the series has visited Weedsport. Last May on Memorial Day weekend, Bobby Parrow took the checkered flag for his first win of the season and ended a four-year series winless streak.
Additionally, this marks the first time Weedsport has hosted a second CRSA event in a single season. Last year, the series was scheduled to run during Cavalcade weekend before it was washed out.
Here’s a look at the top stories.
Tune In: Action can be seen live on DIRTVision with Marty Czekala on the call. For $5.99 a month, you can expand your race night experience at the track or online through the MyRacePass app or at www.myracepass.com, which features live timing, entry lists, fantasy and results.
Last Time Out: CRSA headed to Thunder Mountain Speedway for the second time this season and the second round of the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series.
The prior time the series was in Center Lisle, Johnny Smith scored his first career CRSA victory.
Fast forward a month, and his brother Mikey Smith took the victory in his sixth career CRSA start.
“The Music Man” ran second for a majority of the race before a restart with nine to go as he threw a slider on Billy VanInwegen for the win to become the 86th different winner in series history.
Following the win, Johnny came sprinting from the trailer to victory lane to celebrate with the team and family.
“I didn’t believe it at first, but we’re here and I’m beyond happy and blessed that we’re here,” said Mikey. “From the last race [at Thunder Mountain] of Johnny winning and now we’re here, I can’t be blessed to have this happen this way.”
VanInwegen finished second, Dillon Paddock third, Jordan Hutton fourth and Johnny Smith recovered from a flip in his heat race to fifth.
Mano y Mano: At around the provisional halfway point in the 2025 season, Zach Sobotka and Dillon Paddock have pulled away from the field in points.
The gap between the top two? None. Sobotka and Paddock are tied.
After recording back-to-back victories, Sobotka opened up his lead to 27 points over Jordan Hutton and Paddock. Still, in the last four races, “The Show Stopper” has put up four straight podiums and outpointed Sobotka.
Approaching Weedsport, both drivers ran near the front and challenged Bobby Parrow for the win at points. Paddock, though, was the better man, finishing second that race.
With Paddock besting the points leader in all three races, “The Show Stopper” was able to cut it down to 16 through nine races.
Both drivers have two wins on the season, with Sobotka achieving the best results in top fives, nine to seven and top tens, nine to eight.
Last race, Paddock finished third while Sobotka finished ninth, his toughest performance of the season.
Rest of Standings: It remains a battle for third in points.
With his first top five since he visited Thunder Mountain the first time, Jordan Hutton jumped up a pair of spots to third in the standings. Dalton Herrick and Timmy Lotz each dropped down to fourth and fifth, eight and 12 points behind Hutton, respectively.
Behind Lotz, Scott Landers and Alysha Bay try to regain a top-five spot. Landers is nine points back on Lotz, while “The Queen of Speed” is 10 behind Landers.
Spencer Burley now has company for eighth in points, with Darryl Ruggles trailing six behind him.
The rest of the top 12 features Tomy Moreau 10th, Vince Chicklets 11th and Bailey Boyd 12th.
Double Duty: As of Wednesday morning, two series regulars plan to run double duty with CRSA and the World of Outlaws and that’s Jordan Hutton and Zach Sobotka.
The No. 66 is a past winner with CRSA at Weedsport and is hoping to make his first Outlaws features.
In his last two appearances with “The Greatest Show On Dirt” at Weedsport, Hutton’s best finish is an eighth in the B-Main.
However, some positivity and confidence have developed in the No. 66 camp, as “J-Hutt” is coming off a great run with the Empire Super Sprints, finishing seventh in a 360 after starting runner-up.
As for Sobotka, he is prepared to make his World of Outlaws debut. The No. 38 has a lot of experience at Weedsport, whether it’s in a Sportsman mod or a Sprint Car. Last May in the 305, Sobotka finished fifth.
This is a dream come true for Sobotka, as he has wanted to run against the Outlaws one night. That will come Sunday.
Who could be the next first-time winner? Through 10 races in 2025, the series has had three first-time winners, already matching half the first-timers we had last year.
Johnny Smith took his first CRSA checkered flag June 7 at Thunder Mountain. After finishing second to “The Firecracker Kid,” Zach Sobotka answered back with his first win six days later at Utica-Rome. Now, last Saturday, Mikey Smith.
Looking at names throughout the field, Scott Landers could be considered one of those names. Last year, Landers piloted his No. 33 to a third place run, his best finish of 2024. Last May though was a tough outing for Landers, finishing 20th.
Timmy Lotz is another name to consider, as he is the highest in standings without a CRSA feature, but he knows his way to Victory Hill. July 6, running a 600 micro sprint in the NY6A Tour, Lotz took the checkered flag for his first win of 2025.
Loyalty Giveaways: 31 drivers remain eligible for the Triple X chassis giveaway. Any of the 31 drivers who entered our shows at Weedsport and Fulton and race Saturday, plus Brewerton August 22, will be entered into a giveaway for a new Triple X chassis.
By the Numbers: For the last two and a half years, Weedsport has broken the record for most cars in a CRSA event. Last May’s race drew 48 cars, surpassing the previous record of 42 set in May 2024.
Two repeat winners at The Port, Billy VanInwegen parked it on victory hill in 2022 and 2023. Bobby Parrow is the most recent winner, having won in 2021 and again last May. Parrow, Darryl Ruggles, and Jeff Trombley lead in top fives with four apiece.
From the Frontman: “Weedsport has always been a phenomenal track to host a race, and it just gets better this weekend as the 305 Sprints get to build up to the World of Outlaws Sunday. It’s the biggest weekend of the year for sprint car racing in New York and we hope fans get a sneak peek of what to expect Sunday.” ~ Mike Emhof
From the General Manager: “We’re super excited about having a midsummer two-night show. We feel that we have a variety of the best programs coming into our facility. There’s nothing better than the one-two punch of the winged sprint cars with the big block modifieds.” ~ Jimmy Phelps
Up Next: CRSA takes the first weekend in August off, then hosts its first doubleheader of the year at Outlaw Speedway and Woodhull Raceway Aug. 8 and 9 for races in the Dandy Miniseries. Racing at Outlaw Friday can be seen on The Cushion.
Standings
1. 38 Zach Sobotka, 1619 pts
2. 8 Dillon Paddock, 1619 pts
3. 66 Jordan Hutton -125
4. 29 Dalton Herrick -133
5. 18 Timmy Lotz -137
6. 33 Scott Landers -146
7. 48a Alysha Bay -156
8. 15B Spencer Burley -184
9. 48JR Darryl Ruggles -190
10. 22 Tomy Moreau -222
11. 10VC Vince Chicklets -310
12. 3 Bailey Boyd -366