Tom Sears Jr. & Larry Wight Big Winners Friday At Brewerton Speedway

Story By: DAVE MEDLER / BREWERTON SPEEDWAY – BREWERTON, NY – Brewerton Speedway beat Mother Nature Friday night and Tom Sears Jr. from Clay, NY beat the Modified competition to kick off the month of July.

In the 35-lap Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modified feature Tom Sears Jr. in his Mullen Industrial Handling Corp. No. 62s started 13th and steadily worked his way forward into the top-two on lap 18 and then set his sights on leader Chris Hile.

After moving into second, Sears would chip away at Hile’s lead finally getting by and into the lead on lap 29. The rest of the way Sears would survive a late yellow and restart to become the first repeat winner in the division in 2019.

Other winners on A-Verdi Storage Containers night were Larry Wight (Empire Super Sprints) Mark Yorker and JJ Courcy (DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman).

Katelyn Hile and Tim Harris would bring the Modifieds down to the green with Hile grabbing the early lead in the 35-lap main until Chris Hile, running the top groove, would drive into the top-spot on lap 3.

By lap 10 Hile running the top-side and Jimmy Phelps the bottom were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field while Katelyn Hile, Tom Sears Jr., Joe August and Andrew Ferguson were in a tight battle for third through sixth.

With 15 laps showing on the lap counter Hile was still quick out-front leading Phelps by 10-car lengths with Tom Sears quickly gaining on the top-two.

With 10 laps to go Hile was able to put a couple lapped cars between himself and Sears as Phelps, Tim Sears Jr. who started 15th and Billy Decker showed in the top-five.

Sears started putting pressure on Hile as they raced each other while putting cars down a lap when Sears drove under Hile and into the lead on lap 29.

On lap 33 the yellow flag would wave for the final time when Hile would spin in turns three and four when a slower car slowed his momentum while still in contention for the win.

When the green came back out, Tom Sears would outrun Tim Sears Jr. and the rest of the field to claim his second win in 2019. Billy Decker, Jimmy Phelps and Chad Phelps finished third through fifth.

Thirty cars signed into the pits for race number three in the five race Donath Motor Worx Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Speedweek.

Jeff Cook and Larry Wight would lead the 25 car, 25-lap A-Main down to the green with Wight grabbing the early advantage.

Wight would bolt out to a full straightaway lead by lap 5 leaving Denny Peebles, Cook, Danny Varin and Matt Tanner to battle it out for top-five positions.

With 10 laps showing on the scoring tower Wight was on rails extending his lead over Peebles to over 3 seconds as he ran alone in second with Tanner, Varin and Jason Barney, who started deep in the field, racing for third through fifth.

Wight, with 10 laps to go and no yellows to slow the pace, was in his own zip code way out front and putting cars down a lap. Behind Wight, Tanner, Jordan Poirier, Peebles and Barney showed in the top-five on the scoring tower.

Over the final laps there was no stopping Larry Wight from parking his FX Caprara Honda, Gypsum Express, LJL Kevlar Racing Engines, No.99L in victory lane. Matt Tanner, Jordan Poirier, Denny Peebles and Jason Barney finished second through fifth.

With another large field of Sportsman, two 25-lap features were run.

In the first feature Tyler Murray would jump out to the early lead with racing behind him two and three wide throughout the field in battles for positions.

At lap 10 Murray opened up a ten-car cushion between himself and Mark Yorker who was in a tight fight with John Strickler for second and third, with Chris Mackey and Alan Fink racing for fourth and fifth.

With 10 laps to go Murray still led but now had Yorker all over his back bumper. A few car lengths back, Mackey and Fink raced side-by-by with Strickler in fifth.

On lap 17 Yorker saw the opening he needed when Murray slid up the track enough to let him drive under Murray and into the lead.

Once out front and no yellows the rest of the way, Mark Yorker cruised to the win. Tyler Murray held on to second with Alan Fink, Chris Mackey and John Strickler completing the top-five.

In the second 25-lap feature Torrey Stoughtenger would bolt out to the early lead until JJ Courcy drove into the lead on lap 4.

The race would have a restart on lap 10 and would see Courcy, Colby Herzog, Stephen Denton, Mike Prentice and Stoughtenger still in contention for the win.

With 10 laps remaining, Courcy was still in control of the race a half-a-straightaway ahead of Herzog who ran alone in second. Behind the top-two you could have thrown a blanket over Denton, Prentice and Zach Sobotka fighting for third through fifth as the final laps started clicking off the lap counter.

A yellow on lap 20 would erase Courcy’s advantage and give the rest of the field one last shot to steal the win away.

Over the final laps nobody seriously challenged JJ Courcy as he drove to his first career Brewerton Speedway Sportsman win. Zach Sobotka, Colby Herzog, Stephen Denton and Quinn Wallis came home second through fifth.

Joe Garafolo would take the lead at the drop of the green in the 20-lap U.S Air Force Mod Lite feature.

Yellow fever struck the race in the early going but Garafolo still led at the halfway point with Tucker Halliday, Casey Sykes, Mike Mullen and Brian Meyers running right with the leader.

On lap 12 Sykes went to the top groove of the speedway to drive into the lead and then went on to his third straight Brewerton win. Joe Garafolo, Tucker Halliday, Mike Mullen and Hunter Lawton finished second through fifth.

This Friday, July 12 Syracuse Haulers and Collectibles Galore will present ‘Bonus Bucks Night.’

Racing will feature the Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds, DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman, U.S Air Force Mod Lites, Fleet Repairs Truck & Trailer Repair 4-Cylinders and the Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour will make their first ever visit to the Speedway.

Bonus Bucks Night:
Syracuse Haulers:
Mod Feature winner – $200
Sportsman Feature winners – $100
Mod Lite Winner – $50
4-Cylinder – $50

Syracuse Haulers will also will be holding a driver challenge at intermission that will pay $200 to the winner. The challenge will be for the three mod heat winners plus one wild card draw. We will draw a name out of the hat to give us four participants. What will happen is there will be an obstacle course set up with cones. The driver, in full dress and safety gear (suit, head and neck restraint, helmet, gloves, shoes) will have to navigate a right rear tire around the obstacle course.

Collectibles Galore:
Modified Heat Winners $100
Sportsman Heat Winners $50
Mod Lite Heat Winners $25
4-Cylinder Heat Winners $25

One Modified driver could win
$2000 purse
$200 driver challenge
$200 Hauler Bonus
$100 Collectibles Galore Bonus Bucks

Adult grandstand admission on July 12 is $12 with everyone 18 years old and younger free. Pit admission is $27 Participant, $30 Non-Participant. Grandstands will open at 5:30 pm with racing at 7:30 pm.

A-Verdi Storage Containers Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Speedweek July 5 Results
(Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds 35 Laps) – TOM SEARS JR., Tim Sears Jr., Billy Decker, Jimmy Phelps, Chad Phelps, Andrew Ferguson, Ron Davis III, Larry Wight, Pat Ward, Roy Bresnahan, Katelyn Hile, Dave Marcuccilli, Jim Witko, Chris Hile, Tyler Trump, Joe August, Jason Occhino, Andy Noto, Tim Harris, Nick Krause.

(Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints 25 Laps) – LARRY WIGHT, Matt Tanner, Jordan Poirier, Denny Peebles, Jason Barney, Danny Varin, Jeff Cook, Paulie Colagiovanni, Billy VanInwegen, Shawn Donath, Joe Trenca, Sam Reakes IV, Tommy Wickham, Davie Franek, Chuck Hebing, Jonathan Preston, Chad Miller, Emily VanInwegen, Kelly Hebing, Ryan Harrison, Scott Holcomb, Josh Pieniazek, Tyler Rand, Pete Richardson, Dave Axton.

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman # 1 – 25 Laps) – MARK YORKER, Tyler Murray, Alan Fink, Chris Mackey, John Strickler, Bob Henry Jr., Addison Bowman, Tim Devendorf, Mike Fowler, Corey Barker, Jeff Taylor, Brandon Carvey, Dalton Rombough, Bailey Groves, Rick Rogala, Kevin Root, Amy Holland, Jeff Prentice.

(DOT Foods DIRTcar Sportsman # 2 – 25 Laps) – JJ COURCY, Zach Sobotka, Colby Herzog, Stephen Denton, Quinn Wallis, Earl Rudy, Chris Hulsizer, Willy Decker Jr., Dylan Zacharias, Chris Cunningham, Charlie Tibbitts, Jim Spano, Torrey Stoughtenger, Joe Sobotka, Ryan Dolbear, Jake Petit, Mike Prentice, Riley Rogala.

(U.S Air Force Mod Lites 25 Laps) – CASEY SYKES, Joe Garafolo, Tucker Halliday, Mike Mullen, Hunter Lawton, Brian Meyers, Justin Williams, Doug Williams, Roger Olschewske, Kelly Skinner, Ben Reed, Tom Mackey, Jim Dunham, Kyle Demo, Zack Babcock.