By Marty Czekala
WOODHULL, N.Y. – The one that got away last September at Woodhull Raceway came back to Mikey Smith in triumph as “Steeze” powered his No. 4ST past Nathan Pierce with nine laps remaining to claim his third win of the season and a second Dandy Miniseries victory.
The win comes after he finished runner-up last September in the New York 305 Nationals, where he led the most laps, but finished second.
“I was hungry to win that one and were in a position to win it,” said Smith in victory lane. “We come back with some notes and some setup changes and here we are in victory lane getting it done.”
Cliff Pierce and Nathan Pierce brought the field to green for 25 laps. Nathan Pierce led the opening laps over Cliff Pierce and Cameron Moss.
Lap five saw returning driver Thomas Radivoy pass Moss for third, but the two brought out the lone yellow on lap seven as Radivoy suffered a flat left rear tire, spinning in front of Moss and the No. 25 with nowhere to go.
On the restart, Nathan Pierce held serve. Meanwhile, Smith, who restarted fourth, immediately moved up to second and started attacking Nathan Pierce for the lead.
Patience was the name of the game for Smith and he stayed that way, hoping for Nathan Pierce to make a mistake.
With nine to go, approaching lapped traffic, Nathan Pierce got tight exiting turn two, allowing Smith to get a run and take the lead.
In a wad of traffic, Nathan Pierce tried to get a run on Smith, but it didn’t work as “The Music Man” took his fourth career CRSA victory by 1.9 seconds over Nathan Pierce and Kyle Pierce.
“[Nathan] was fast the whole night and when we’re up to second and I’m pacing them, just keep running the same line and wait until they mess up,” said Smith. “Find the line to take it away from them and sneak by; that’s all we needed to do.”
In addition to the win, Smith picked up the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger award, picking up seven spots after starting eighth.
Just like two seasons ago at the same facility, Nathan Pierce finished second, coming nine laps shy of his first career CRSA victory. A fast ride for the No. 10N, from winning his heat to starting on the front row, to fall a spot short.
“I was hoping lapped traffic would play in my favor, but just came up short,” said Nathan Pierce. “This place suits my driving style. I like a track where I can set the car, work the gas and brake.”
Rounding out the podium was Kyle Pierce. “The Flyin’ School Teacher” started from sixth to finish third, keeping the car on the bottom step of the podium from the restart onward.
“We were able to move forward and changes from hot laps to heat to feature worked,” said Kyle Pierce. “I lost most of the brakes on lap 12 and ran 13 laps pumping it down the whole straightaway just to slow it down enough. Two weeks in a row, two good runs.”
John Smith won the Elab Smokers Boutique Scramble Dash, picking up $100 courtesy of Elab.
After nine races, Dalton Herrick now leads by eight points on Tyler Graves after Graves scored a fifth-place finish to Herrick’s 10th. As for the Dandy Mini Series, Mikey Smith now leads by 21 on Kyle Pierce.
19 drivers signed in Saturday night.
CRSA turns its attention Friday to Outlaw Speedway for a $2011-to-win show that will feature CRSA and the Empire Super Sprints. Any driver who wins both the CRSA and ESS features will receive a $5000 bonus, bringing an opportunity at an over $11000 payday. CRSA’s event will also crown a Dandy Miniseries champion.
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 4ST-Mikey Smith[8]; 2. 10N-Nathan Pierce[2]; 3. 9K-Kyle Pierce[6]; 4. D9-Dustin Sehn[10]; 5. 25G-Tyler Graves[12]; 6. 4-Cliff Pierce[1]; 7. 23-John Smith[9]; 8. 31C-Maverick Coffey[13]; 9. 61-Johnny Scarborough[7]; 10. 29-Dalton Herrick[11]; 11. X-Dan Bennett[16]; 12. 18-Timmy Lotz[14]; 13. 28-Ron Greek[19]; 14. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[18]; 15. 121-Steve Glover[15]; 16. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 17. 3V-Zach Virkler[17]; 18. (DNF) 25-Cameron Moss[3]; 19. (DNF) 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[5]
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 Laps): 1. 23-John Smith[1]; 2. D9-Dustin Sehn[4]; 3. 29-Dalton Herrick[2]; 4. 25G-Tyler Graves[3]; 5. 31C-Maverick Coffey[5]; 6. 18-Timmy Lotz[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[2]; 2. 4ST-Mikey Smith[6]; 3. 25-Cameron Moss[5]; 4. 25G-Tyler Graves[4]; 5. 29-Dalton Herrick[7]; 6. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[1]; 7. 28-Ron Greek[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10N-Nathan Pierce[2]; 2. 9K-Kyle Pierce[1]; 3. 23-John Smith[4]; 4. D9-Dustin Sehn[3]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[5]; 6. X-Dan Bennett[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 61-Johnny Scarborough[1]; 2. 4-Cliff Pierce[2]; 3. 27W-Nick Webb[5]; 4. 31C-Maverick Coffey[3]; 5. 121-Steve Glover[4]; 6. 3V-Zach Virkler[6]
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.
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