By Marty Czekala
RANSOMVILLE, N.Y. – For decades, the Burleys have been synonymous with victory at Ransomville Speedway thanks to Todd Burley’s four 358 Modified track championships in the 2000s.
Friday night, it was Todd’s son Spencer Burley’s turn to carry on the legacy, this time in sprint car racing, building his own path on the clay his father once conquered, picking up an A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints victory at Ransomville to kick off the DisBatch Brewing Company/Stirling Lubricants Challenge, his second career series win.
“This feels good,” said Spencer in victory lane. “I grew up watching him race here and we know a lot of old sponsors here, just family and friends. It’s nice to be able to get it done in front of all of them.”
Darryl Ruggles and Nolan Groves led the field to green, with Spencer Burley starting fifth. Ruggles led early, but Burley quickly moved to second within a lap.
Burley chased Ruggles through the feature as Zach Sobotka, starting sixth, moved up on the outside into the top five.
On lap nine, Ruggles approached lapped traffic and got through with no issues. However, so did Burley.
Burley kept challenging high through turns three and four, nearly overtaking Ruggles, who maintained a narrow lead. Sobotka and Tyler Graves closed in, creating a close race for the lead.
With 11 laps left, Burley surged off turn two to pass Ruggles on the outside. He maintained the lead and won under caution after Adam DePuy flipped following the finish but walked away unhurt.
This is Burley’s first win since the Twin 20 at Woodhull Raceway last September during the New York 305 Nationals. Per the CRSA record books, it is considered an A-Main win.
Despite the Twin 20 win, Burley wanted a 25-lap feature victory, especially after his first weekly win at Land of Legends Raceway last week.
“It just means that much more,” said Burley. “It’s nice to know that all the hitters are here and we can hang with them. Last week was a good confidence boost. Now we know what we got with the new car. Nice that it’s paying off.”
Sobotka passed Ruggles for second on the outside with eight laps left but said he needed a caution to challenge Burley.
“We definitely needed one,” said Sobotka. “Halfway through the race, my water gauge was higher than it should be. I could’ve used the caution to cool it right down and give Spencer a good run at it. Spencer showed me the top up there. I didn’t think it would be there, but it was a rocket ship off the top.”
Ruggles took third, his first podium since Utica-Rome last June. Despite a devastating shop fire in March, his family and supporters rebuilt their 305 Sprint Car team. In just its second race, Ruggles drove to a P3 finish.
Last week, after a blown motor at Land of Legends, Ruggles doubted making it this weekend until Paulie Colagiovanni loaned him an engine.
“After what we went through the last three months, that was like winning the Daytona 500 for me,” said Ruggles. “Spencer is really good this year and Zach is on top of his game. I got to thank Paulie Colagiovanni because if it wasn’t for him, I’m sitting home on the couch.”
A big thank you to iFreeze Storage and Distribution Center, increasing the winning payout to $1500 tonight.
David Ferguson earned the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger award, advancing 12 places to finish fourth.
After three events, Tyler Graves leads the points by 13 over Nick Webb.
A track-record 28 cars entered Ransomville this evening.
CRSA visits Land of Legends Raceway Saturday for part two of the doubleheader—another DisBatch Brewing Company/Stirling Lubricants Challenge event. Watch live, free on Land of Legends TV and simulcast on DIRTVision.
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 15B-Spencer Burley[5]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[6]; 3. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[1]; 4. 45-David Ferguson[16]; 5. 25G-Tyler Graves[4]; 6. 48A-Alysha Bay[7]; 7. 25NG-Nolan Groves[2]; 8. 27G-Dillon Paddock[15]; 9. 10SR-Paul Colagiovanni Sr[3]; 10. 27W-Nick Webb[12]; 11. 99-Adam Depuy[9]; 12. 61-Johnny Scarborough[8]; 13. 29-Dalton Herrick[18]; 14. 18C-Dan Craun[17]; 15. X-Dan Bennett[20]; 16. 31C-Maverick Coffey[11]; 17. 21K-Scott Kreutter[10]; 18. 121-Steve Glover[13]; 19. 18-Timmy Lotz[21]; 20. 81K-Dalton Martin[14]; 21. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[19]; 22. 10-Vito Chicklets[24]; 23. 21B-Blake Warner[23]; 24. 9Z-Zach Bobbett[22]
B Main (8 Laps): 1. 29-Dalton Herrick[2]; 2. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[1]; 3. X-Dan Bennett[4]; 4. 18-Timmy Lotz[3]; 5. 9Z-Zach Bobbett[5]; 6. 21B-Blake Warner[6]; 7. 3V-Zach Virkler[8]; 8. 22S-Dane Hedlund[7]
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 Laps): 1. 99-Adam Depuy[2]; 2. 21K-Scott Kreutter[1]; 3. 31C-Maverick Coffey[3]; 4. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 5. 121-Steve Glover[5]; 6. 10-Vito Chicklets[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 61-Johnny Scarborough[1]; 2. 10SR-Paul Colagiovanni Sr[5]; 3. 99-Adam Depuy[2]; 4. 48JR-Darryl Ruggles[8]; 5. 81K-Dalton Martin[6]; 6. 10-Vito Chicklets[10]; 7. D9-Dustin Sehn[7]; 8. 29-Dalton Herrick[9]; 9. 3V-Zach Virkler[4]; 10. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 48A-Alysha Bay[2]; 2. 15B-Spencer Burley[5]; 3. 31C-Maverick Coffey[1]; 4. 121-Steve Glover[3]; 5. 45-David Ferguson[4]; 6. 27G-Dillon Paddock[8]; 7. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[6]; 8. X-Dan Bennett[7]; 9. 21B-Blake Warner[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 2. 25G-Tyler Graves[1]; 3. 25NG-Nolan Groves[7]; 4. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 5. 21K-Scott Kreutter[8]; 6. 18C-Dan Craun[6]; 7. 18-Timmy Lotz[2]; 8. 9Z-Zach Bobbett[5]; 9. 22S-Dane Hedlund[9]
The CRSA Sprints are brought to you by A-Verdi Storage Containers. Associate sponsors include Pit Stop Convenience Stores, DisBatch Brewing Company, Stirling Lubricants, 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, Magsarus Ignitions, Hoosier Racing Tire, Bicknell Racing Products, Insinger Performance with their Stinger Race Fuel, My Race Pass and is owned and operated by Mike Emhof Motorsports.
For more information on the series, results and points, please visit our website at www.crsa.myracepass.com.