By Marty Czekala
After taking their first weekend of August off, the A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints are set for their first doubleheader of the season at Outlaw Speedway and Woodhull Raceway that will determine our first champion of the year Saturday in the Dandy Miniseries.
It’s the second of three trips this season to both tracks. Last April, the series premiered its 20th anniversary season at Dundee and saw Jeff Trombley become the all-time leader in wins and his first of two victories this season. Last May, CRSA made its first appearance of the year at Woodhull Raceway as Dillon Paddock recorded his first of two wins of 2025.
Both tracks are hosting a pair of New York 305 Nationals two-day shows later this year, each paying $4000 to win. Pre-registration for the Woodhull Nationals will open soon. Drivers can register for $100 and should they register by Aug. 31 will include a free two-day pit pass. The format will also be announced soon.
Here’s a look at the top stores.
Tune In Friday: Action can be seen live on The Cushion 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: Things looked promising for CRSA at Weedsport with Mother Nature in the area. The series rushed to get their 25-lap feature started before the skies opened, forcing cars into the trailers, leading to a rainout.
25 drivers will take the green at Weedsport Sept. 6 with hot laps and the feature. This will be the final race, where full points are given out toward the overall championship, before show-up points are awarded for the rest of the year. Points will still be awarded to miniseries championships in the year.
Aaron Shelton, Timmy Lotz, Johnny Smith and Scott Landers won heat races. Mikey Smith scored the Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash while the B-Main went to Bailey Boyd.
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 Woodhull, Paddock has a win and a third-place finish in the last two races. As for Sobotka, he finished fourth in his first sprint car appearance at Woodhull.
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 points behind him.
The rest of the top 12 features Tomy Moreau 10th, Vince Chicklets 11th and Bailey Boyd 12th.
Dandy Miniseries Points: With the Dandy Miniseries concluding this weekend, the top 20 are mathematically eligible to win the title.
Entering Saturday’s feature at Woodhull, drivers must be within 52 points to have an opportunity to win the championship. The top 10 drivers are within 47 points.
Jordan Hutton currently leads Zach Sobotka by 19 points. While we won’t know all the championship implications until Saturday’s feature, should the gap stay at 19, Hutton would have to finish ninth or better at Woodhull to clinch. Should Hutton finish 10th, Sobotka would have to win.
A Dream Come True: One CRSA driver did get to run a feature two weeks ago at Weedsport and that was Zach Sobotka.
One of Sobotka’s goals in racing was to make a World of Outlaws feature one day and he did it easily in the Empire State Challenge, finishing third in his heat race with his 360 Sprint Car.
But Sobotka went another level. Not only did he start ninth, he finished ninth as the highest New Yorker in the field, getting roars from the crowd every time he was mentioned.
“It was all I ever dreamed of,” said Sobotka. “Did a lot better than I thought I would do. We know it would be tough against the 410s. The car handled well and made up with the motor on the short track.”
Sobotka defeated drivers from Garet Williamson, Bill Balog, Donny Schatz, Cory Eliason, among others.
Two Seconds: Jordan Hutton’s best finish in CRSA competition this year is second, both at Outlaw and Woodhull.
At Outlaw in the spring, Hutton started ninth with his dash win and was the fastest car on track in the final laps, but ran out of time as Jeff Trombley took the win.
At Woodhull, Jordan Hutton led the most laps in the feature and was very good on restarts before Dillon Paddock threw a slider to take the lead and not look back for the win.
Ones that got away from Hutton as he wants to gain them back this weekend for his first win of the season.
Grumpy Turns Happy: Despite no tour racing last weekend, some drivers made the trip to Land of Legends Raceway for weekly action and one driver took significant advantage.
Steve Glover in his No. 121 led flag-to-flag and scored his first career 305 Sprint Car victory. It was Glover’s first win at Land of Legends in 38 years.
The win came 14 months after his horrific crash in a heat race that left Glover with a concussion, back and neck fractures and a broken rib.
Loyalty Giveaways: Our first giveaway of the season will take place Friday at Outlaw. 16 drivers are eligible to win a Sweet ½ Box, Power Steering Pump, Wing Cylinder and Wing Valve. The steering package has an estimated value of $4500.
It is one of four giveaways we are awarding this season. The drawing will be done immediately after the feature.
Our second giveaway will take place Saturday at Woodhull. 26 drivers are eligible to win a 30 gallon Saldana fuel cell plus Kinsler 400 tough fuel pump, adjustable high and low speed, main pill holder, a King AN12 filter with shut off and AN6 fuel shut off.
Whoever wins the giveaway at Outlaw will not be eligible to win any giveaways the rest of the season.
By the Numbers: Seven different drivers have won a CRSA feature at Outlaw. Darryl Ruggles is the only repeat winner, back in 2014 and 2016. The last first-time winner was Dan Craun last August. 40 different drivers have finished in the top five at Outlaw. Dalton Herrick and Tomy Moreau each have three.
From the Frontman: “Two incredible tracks that provide excellent racing. This is a great opportunity for drivers to get tuned up for the big paying shows this fall. Come on out to our shows this weekend! You won’t be disappointed.”
Up Next: CRSA heads eastbound to Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta for its first race there in two years. Can’t make it? Action can be seen live on Dirt Track Digest TV.
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