By Marty Czekala
WOODHULL, N.Y. – Zach Sobotka may be the hottest name in New York sprint car racing.
From finishing ninth with the World of Outlaws to battling in his first season for a CRSA championship, Sobotka continued to show why he’s a contender in 2025.
Sobotka passed championship adversary Dillon Paddock on a restart with 10 to go for his third CRSA victory of 2025.
“As you’re coming to the frontstretch, it’s almost like the outside car has an advantage on you and it’s just hard when you’re the bottom car,” said Sobotka in victory lane.
Paddock and Kyle Pierce started on the front row for the Dandy Miniseries finale. Immediately, a four-car battle began between Paddock, Pierce, Sobotka,and Billy VanInwegen.
Sobotka challenged for second on lap six and passed Pierce around the outside on the following lap.
Paddock entered lap traffic with a second advantage, yet Sobotka wasn’t able to gain or lose time to the leader.
A red flag flew with 10 to go as Alysha Bay got on her side, with Steve Glover and Scott Landers also involved. All drivers were OK.
This gave Sobotka the chance to restart outside Paddock to grab the lead. On a dominant top, Sobotka found the grip off turn two to take the lead. Paddock would lose an additional spot to VanInwegen with eight to go on the bottom.
A second red flag flew with six to go for Kirsten Dombroski flipping in turn two. She was unscathed.
Followed by a series of cautions, Sobotka would be able to hold serve, despite challenges from VanInwegen, to win by 0.4 seconds.
“I saw [Billy] down there at the bottom. I thought I had a good line. We got slowed down so much on the bottom and the car loads up and stumbles there coming out of the corner.”
With the win, Sobotka cuts the gap on Paddock to one point in the overall championship.
Jordan Hutton came into the feature needing to finish 17th or better to win the Dandy Miniseries championship and earned it with a fourth-place run. It is the third straight year “J-Hutt” has won a miniseries title with CRSA.
“We’ve got a lot of speed for the [New York Nationals] four grand to win,” said Hutton. “We show excellent speed every time we come to Woodhull and Outlaw.”
Hutton recorded a win last Friday night at Outlaw in addition to two seconds to start the season.
Billy VanInwegen finished runner-up for the third straight race. VanInwegen had an opening with around five to go after Sobotka went wide, yet couldn’t steal the lead from Sobotka.
“Just a tough one,” said VanInwegen. “Everybody was really the same speed and it showed the last five to 10 laps. I think we were the fastest car on the racetrack. I think we were one adjustment away from winning either way, just restarts there at the end.”
For the sixth straight race, Dillon Paddock finished on the podium in third. A good start early, just not enough for the No. 8.
“Just been struggling all night with some motor issues,” Paddock said. “We haven’t been able to run the bottom all night. We’ve been working on it. Thanks to the Hutton family for lending some tools. Hats off to Zach and Billy, I think they had better cars than us, for sure.”
A shoutout to the New York State Stock Car Association for presenting the night for CRSA. Many drivers have signed up to become a NYSSCA member and in exchange, presented money bonuses and a hat to the two highest finishers who are NYSSCA members (VanInwegen and Paddock), plus a wild card, Dustin Sehn.
Our second loyalty giveaway went to Darryl Ruggles, taking home a Saldana fuel cell package estimated at $4500.
The Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash went to Nathan Pierce, taking his second $100 bonus of the year courtesy of Elab.
Kirsten Dombroski won the Ruggles World of Autobody & Graphics Hard Luck award after her flip.
The Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger award went to Spencer Burley, gaining 13 spots to finish eighth.
21 drivers checked in tonight.
CRSA returns to Albany-Saratoga Speedway next week for an I-90 Pit Stop Challenge event. Can’t make it? Action can be seen live on Dirt Track Digest TV.
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[4]; 2. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 3. 8-Dillon Paddock[1]; 4. 66-Jordan Hutton[8]; 5. 9K-Kyle Pierce[2]; 6. 3-Bailey Boyd[12]; 7. 29-Dalton Herrick[5]; 8. 121X-Spencer Burley[21]; 9. 4-Cliff Pierce[11]; 10. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[15]; 11. 28-Ron Greek[16]; 12. 18-Timmy Lotz[14]; 13. 121-Steve Glover[7]; 14. 33-Scott Landers[3]; 15. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[10]; 16. 10-Nathan Pierce[9]; 17. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[18]; 18. 77-Matt Rotz[19]; 19. D9-Dustin Sehn[17]; 20. (DNF) 30-Kirsten Dombroski[20]; 21. (DNF) 48A-Alysha Bay[13]
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 Laps): 1. 10-Nathan Pierce[1]; 2. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[4]; 3. 4-Cliff Pierce[2]; 4. 3-Bailey Boyd[3]; 5. 48A-Alysha Bay[5]; 6. 18-Timmy Lotz[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Dalton Herrick[1]; 2. 8-Dillon Paddock[7]; 3. 121-Steve Glover[4]; 4. 3-Bailey Boyd[5]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[2]; 6. 28-Ron Greek[6]; 7. 121X-Spencer Burley[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[2]; 2. 9K-Kyle Pierce[5]; 3. 10-Nathan Pierce[3]; 4. 33-Scott Landers[7]; 5. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[1]; 6. D9-Dustin Sehn[6]; 7. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Jordan Hutton[1]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[6]; 3. 4-Cliff Pierce[2]; 4. 10VC-Vince Chicklets[5]; 5. 48A-Alysha Bay[4]; 6. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[3]; 7. 77-Matt Rotz[7]