By Marty Czekala
The A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints are set for another doubleheader Friday and Saturday night at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Center Lisle.
Friday night’s trip to Utica-Rome will be the second trip to “The Home of Heroes” in 2026 and the 23rd time CRSA runs there as part of the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge. Last month saw Mike Kiser end a long winless streak with CRSA to score his 10th career series win.
It won’t be the final trip this season to the half-mile facility, as CRSA recently announced a makeup date from the June rainout that will pay $3000-to-win, $300 to start Sept. 7. Anyone who wins that plus the $10000-to-win Cole Cup with the Empire Super Sprints the same night will win an extra $5000 next month.
Saturday at Thunder Mountain will be the first of two trips to Center Lisle in 2026 and the 19th 305 Sprint Car show there. Last year’s shows saw a pair of brothers win their first CRSA features in Johnny and Mikey Smith. Thunder Mountain will also host round two of the Joe’s Garage Southern Tier Series.
Here’s a look at the top stories.
Last Time Out: For the first time, CRSA headed North to Can-Am Speedway and understood why it was called the Nasty Track of the North.
The top two contenders in the championship faced adversity throughout the evening. Tyler Graves experienced a spin on lap three, which prematurely ended his night and resulted in his second consecutive last-place finish. Dalton Herrick, meanwhile, was caught up in an incident with a lapped car while defending the lead over Zach Sobotka, forcing him to restart from the back of the field.
But on the restart after that, it was Spencer Burley that took the lead from Sobotka to record his third victory of the season, tying Mikey Smith with the most this year.
“I knew as we kept up with the car throughout the night,” said Burley. “I got a little bit of racing luck with a couple of the competitors crashing out, but that wasn’t even in my control.”
Sobotka finished second while Johnny Scarborough scored his best finish in third.
Point Standings: Recovering to a sixth-place finish after his spin last Friday night, Dalton Herrick extended his points lead up to 68 over Tyler Graves.
Timmy Lotz stays third, 163 points back.
With his P3 run, Johnny Scarborough moved up to fourth in points, a marker ahead of Nick Webb.
34 behind Webb is the highest winner in points, Paul Colagiovanni Sr., currently sixth.
Jerry Sehn Jr. runs seventh in points, back 291.
The battle for eighth is starting to shape up as Maverick Coffey and Dustin Sehn are separated by 16 points.
The rest of the top 12: Zach Sobotka 10th (-712), Steve Glover 11th (-721) and Dan Craun 12th (-813).
Coming Close: The monkey will not get off the back for Dalton Herrick.
A huge improvement for the No. 29 team, leading the points and recording four top fives through 11 features.
But the 33-race winless streak for Herrick extended last Friday after leading with eight to go, trying to get past a lapped car; contact was made, spinning him out.
It is the third time that Herrick has led laps this season and has had a race-winning car. The No. 29 has led the second most laps this season with 36.
This weekend provides an opportunity for Herrick, as he’s won at Thunder Mountain four times in his career.
Down a Hole: If Tyler Graves wants to get out of second in points, it’s going to take consistent finishes plus more.
Last Friday, Graves finished last for the second race in a row, putting the deficit in points to over a full race at 68.
The season started strong for “TG,” recording five top sixes in the first six races. But since mid-July, Graves has only recorded one top five finish, which came at Woodhull.
If Graves wants to get back in the championship, it starts Friday at a track where he recorded his best career finish with a second.
Defending Their Ground: Going to Thunder Mountain, there’s no pair hotter than the Smith brothers.
Last year, Johnny and Mikey Smith traveled from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Center Lisle and both scored their first career win at the same track.
Since then, both have had a lot of positive momentum, especially for Mikey.
Through four starts, Mikey has three wins in 2026, with his worst finish being third at Fulton. No question about it, “The Music Man” will be a favorite.
While he has no wins this season, Johnny also has finished in the top five in all three races he’s run in 2026. His best finish is a fourth at Penn Can last month, while the rest are a pair of fifths.
Gaining Momentum: Returning to full-time competition with CRSA this year, Johnny Scarborough has shown his car to be very fast.
The Vermont driver who previously won championships such as Laurel Highlands and in Maryland leads in heat wins in 2026 with six, double what any other CRSA driver in series action this year and more than what any other driver had last season.
Finishes haven’t shown how fast “The Jet’s” No. 61 is, but last Friday at Can-Am, Scarborough piloted it to a third-place finish, his career best with CRSA and first top five with the series since 2019.
“We’ve struggled,” said Scarborough. “We can win heat races, put it together, and then we just stayed out of trouble and had good restarts. We finally had a car that was good! I’d like to think that I could keep this rolling. Heat races are great, but heat races don’t win championships and you’ve got to win races to win championships.”
By The Numbers: Utica-Rome has been known for its parity of winners, with 18 drivers winning an A-Main. Jeff Trombley, Danny Varin and Mike Kiser are the only repeat winners at the track, each with a pair. 51 different drivers have finished in the top five, with Jeff VanSteenburg and Trombley each with six.
At Thunder Mountain, 15 different drivers have won a CRSA feature. Only one driver has won multiple features at Center Lisle, Dalton Herrick, with four, but the last time was in 2021. Herrick has 10 top fives, followed by Billy VanInwegen with six.
Tune In: Action can be seen live Friday night on FloRacing and Saturday on Dirt Track Digest TV 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.
From the Frontman: “It’s another exciting doubleheader coming up at Utica-Rome and Thunder Mountain. The last race we had at Utica was an exciting one to watch with a unique podium. We’re finally looking forward to getting to Thunder Mountain this weekend as well. Mother Nature rained out our season opener set for there. The racing never disappoints, from restarts to long runs. We hope you spend your weekend with us!” ~ Mike Emhof
Up Next: CRSA takes a mini-summer break for the next two weeks, then returns to Utica-Rome and Thunder Mountain for Labor Day weekend Sept. 6 and 7, with the sixth paying $3000-to-win, $300-to-start. Action can be seen live on FloRacing and Dirt Track Digest TV on those respective days.
Standings
29 Dalton Herrick, 1692 pts
25G Tyler Graves -68
18 Timmy Lotz -163
61 Johnny Scarborough -205
27W Nick Webb -206
10SR Paul Colagiovanni Sr. -240
410 Jerry Sehn Jr. -291
31C Maverick Coffey -400
D9 Dustin Sehn -416
38 Zach Sobotka -712
121 Steve Glover -721
18C Dan Craun -813