RDIII Was The Man To Beat; Ron Davis III Takes First Of 2018 At Fulton
Information By: DAVE MEDLER / FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – When it was announced last season that in 2018 the Fulton Speedway would be switching to the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds as the headline division, Brewerton Speedway and Fulton Speedway SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman track champion Ron Davis III plus Todd Root, Glenn Forward and Tyler Trump all announced they would move up to the Small Block Modifieds.
Saturday night in the 35-lap Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar 358 Modified feature, Ron Davis III from Memphis, NY represented the rookie class by parking his Joe Abbass owned/Xtreme Auto Recovery/ No.32R/Bicknell in victory lane for the first time.
Other winners on Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus night were Jackson Gill & Kevin Root (SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman) Chad Homan (Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models) Tyler Murray & Jake Holmes (E&V Energy Novice Sportsman).
Larry Welling would out-run Tyler Meeks off the front row to lead the opening lap of the 35-lap 358 Modified feature while behind him racing was two- and three-wide.
On lap-3 Meeks got a great run on the top of the speedway to drive by Welling to be scored the new leader.
With 10-laps complete, Meeks and Mike Bowman were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field, racing for the lead. Rookies Ron Davis III and Todd Root were in a close fight for third and fourth with Phil Vigneri showing fifth.
On lap-15 Meeks and Bowman ran the top of the speedway as Davis started gaining ground on the top-two using the bottom groove with Root and Vigneri still in the top-five.
Lap-17 the caution light would blink for the first time slowing the pace. On the restart Davis moved into second and set his sights on leader Meeks.
With 20-laps showing on the scoring tower, Meeks and Davis were putting on a side-by-side race for the lead with Bowman right there with the top-two and still in contention for the win.
With 10-laps to go Meeks was able to lengthen his lead to around 10 cars over Davis and Bowman. Root, Jordan McCreadie, Billy Whittaker and Larry Wight were in a tight battle for fourth through seventh.
With 6-laps left, Davis was able to run down and pass Tyler Meeks by a bumper at the flag stand to be shown as the new leader. Over the final laps Meeks threw everything he had at Davis, but Davis was too quick, picking up the popular win with the fans. Mike Bowman, Larry Wight, and Jordan McCreadie finished third through fifth.
Once again over 50 SUNY Canton Sportsman signed into the pits setting up two 25-lap features after their qualifying heats.
In the first feature Kyle Perry would grab the lead from Dorian Wahdan after a lap-1 quick yellow and restart.
With 10-laps complete Scott Prentice and Perry were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field with Nick Krause, Brandon Carvey and Jackson Gill showing in third through fifth just before another yellow slowed the pace.
Prentice would hold a slim lead with 10-laps to go while Carvey, Gill and Perry battled for second, third and fourth with Tony Finch II fifth.
With laps running out, Gill would make the winning pass with a slide job with 6-laps to go with Prentice holding on for second at the finish. The drive of the race came from Wade Chrisman. Chrisman overcame heat race issues and a 25th starting spot for an impressive third place finish. Brandon Carvey and Tony Finch II finished fourth and fifth.
In the second 25-lap feature Richie Riggs would grab the early lead and bolt out to a half-a-straightaway lead by lap-5.
With 10-laps complete, Riggs was on rails leading by 2 seconds running the top of the speedway. Tye-Scott Rood and DJ Forbes tried cutting into the lead running the bottom with Kevin Root and Amy Holland in fourth and fifth.
A caution on lap-11 and lap-13 would erase Riggs’ lead, setting up a dash to the checkers over the remaining laps.
Over the final 10-laps Riggs, Rood and Root put on a close battle with Kevin Root grabbing the win. Richie Riggs, Tye-Scott Rood, Kyle DeMetro and DJ Forbes finished second through fifth.
Chris Fleming would jump out to the early lead in the 20-lap Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Model feature.
At lap-5 Fleming still showed the way out front with Max Hill and Chad Homan in a close battle for second and third with Kevan Cook and AJ Kingsley in the top-five.
On lap-6 the yellow flag would wave when Hill spun in turns one and two.
When the race reached the halfway point, Fleming held a slim two-car advantage over Homan. Bret Belden and Cook were in a tight fight for third and fourth with Kingsley showing in fifth.
Race leader Fleming would see his right rear go flat on lap-11 ending his run for the win.
When the green came back out and to the finish nobody had anything for Chad Homan as he cruised under the checkers for his first Fulton win of 2018. Bret Belden and Kevan Cook battled side-by-side to finish second and third. Jason Parkhurst and Sean Beardsley came home fourth and fifth.
A pair of 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman features were run Saturday night.
In feature number one, Keith Stevenson and Matt Becker would lead laps until Tyler Murray made the winning pass on lap-5 and would go on to win his second feature of 2018. Stevenson, Becker, Wesley Hayes and Robert Gage finished second through fifth.
In feature two, Chris Bonoffski would lead the opening 7-laps before Jake Holmes took over the top-spot on lap 8. Once out-front Holmes was never headed the rest of the way for his trip to victory lane. Quinn Wallis, Bonoffski, Kearra Backus and Jake Davis came home second through fifth.
A pair of demo-derbies were run with Alan Fink taking the $750-To-Win Small Truck & Mini Van Junk Run. In the $1,000-To-Win 4 & 6 Cylinder Chain & Bang, Paul Owen was the lone survivor.
A big thank you goes out to the night’s presenting sponsor Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus for the heat race winner’s bonuses in all divisions. Larkin Mowing out of Oswego, NY for the hard charger bonus in the 358 Modified feature.
This coming Saturday, June 2nd the Patriot Sprint Tour invades the Fulton Speedway with their methanol breathing 360 Sprint Cars. Also, on the race card presented by Penn Power Group will be the Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models and E&V Energy Novice Sportsman.
Adult grandstand admission will be $22 , Youth 18 Years & Under $5. Pit admission is $35. Grandstands will open at 5:00 pm with racing at 7:00 pm.
Any questions you might have about the 2018 racing season and for marketing opportunities, please contact Cory Reed at 315-593-6531 or cory@fultonspeedway.com . For all the latest news go to www.fultonspeedway.com and like the track Facebook page www.facebook.com/
Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus Night May 26 Results.
(Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar 358 Modifieds 35 Laps) – RON DAVIS III, Tyler Meeks, Mike Bowman, Larry Wight, Jordan McCreadie, Todd Root, Billy Whittaker, Tom Sears Jr., Pat Ward, Bobby Herrington, Tyler Trump, Chad Phelps, Jeff McGinnis, Ryan Jordan, Phil Vigneri, Glenn Forward, Tim Sears Jr., Rich Richner, Larry Welling, Brent Cross, Scott Boudinot, Andy Noto, Nick Joy.
(Larkin Mowing of Oswego, NY $50 Hard Charger) – Larry Wight.
(Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus $50 Heat Winners Bonus) – Mike Bowman, Todd Root, Ron Davis III.
(SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman #1 – 25 Laps) – JACKSON GILL, Scott Prentice, Wade Chrisman, Brandon Carvey, Tony Finch II, Mark Yorker, Matt Janczuk, Nick Krause, Brandon Ford, Chris Mackey, Billy Clark Jr., Dylan Zacharias, Colby Herzog, AJ Miller, Joey Bounagurio, Dorian Wahdan, George Sanford, Torrey Stoughtenger, John Strickler, Jim Spano, Steve Marshall, Kyle Perry, Garett Rushlow, Rachel Zacharias, Tom Juno, Nate Higgins, DNS – Frank Sobotka.
(SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman #2 – 25 Laps) – KEVIN ROOT, Richie Riggs, Tye-Scott Rood, Kyle DeMetro, DJ Forbes, Zach Sobotka, Alan Fink, Jessica Power, Amy Holland, David Moyer, Joel Hall, Joe Sobotka, Tyler Corcoran, Isaiah Forward, Bill Megnin, Bill Sauve, Josh Blackwell, Tim Abate, Corey Barker, Rick Rogala, Casey Cunningham, Greg Doust, Will Shields, Mike Button, Willy Decker, DNS – Jake Petit, Ryan Hatherill.
(Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus $50 Heat Winners Bonus) – Will Shields, Mark Yorker, Jim Spano, Joe Sobotka, Kyle DeMetro, Nick Krause.
(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models 20 Laps) – CHAD HOMAN, Bret Belden, Kevan Cook, Jason Parkhurst, Sean Beardsley, AJ Kingsley, Jason Occhino, Steve Coit, Bill Eisele, Dane Keller Jr., Chris Fleming, Max Hill, Mike Kazmierczyk.
(Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus $50 Heat Winners Bonus) – Chris Fleming, AJ Kingsley.
(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #1 – 15 Laps) – TYLER MURRAY, Keith Stevenson, Matt Becker, Wesley Hayes, Robert Gage, Teddy Starr, Ryan Gustin, Brandon Thompson.
(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman #2 – 15 Laps) – JAKE HOLMES, Quinn Wallis, Chris Bonoffski, Kearra Backus, Jake Davis, Erica Bowman, Addison Bowman, Mike Wight.
(Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus $25 Heat Winners Bonus) – Keith Stevenson, Chris Bonoffski.
Demolition Derbies.
($1,000-To-Win-4 & 6 Cylinder) – Paul Owen- North Brookfield, NY.
($ 750-To-Win-Light Truck & Mini-Van) – Alan Fink – Brewerton, NY.
