RPW Exclusive: Good Crop Of Super DIRT Week Sportsman Ran Capital Region Weekly In ’19

Column By: TOBY LAGRANGE / RPW – OSWEGO, NY – More than 40 DIRTcar Sportsman and Pro Stock drivers who call the Capital Region of New York State home during the season made the tow to the track known (for a week anyway) as the Clay Palace.

The fourth Super DIRT Week held along the shores of Lake Ontario would see record car counts and a huge crowd take over the City of Oswego. The final tally would see 103 DIRTcar Sportsman and 40 DIRTcar Pro Stocks take part in what is arguably still the biggest stage in all of the Northeast Dirt Modified racing.

Nearly a fifth of the DIRTcar Sportsman drivers roster at Super DIRT Week 48 call the Capital Region home during the season. Of those drivers five would make Sunday afternoon’s Chevrolet Performance 75.

2019 Albany-Saratoga Speedway Track Champion Connor Cleveland fared the best of Team Capital Region. The Corinth rising star finished seventh in the 75-lap event, this after timing 13th quick on Friday afternoon and finishing third in the first of four qualifying events Friday night.

Missing the Fonda Speedway track championship by a mere 24 points, Broadalbin’s Adam McAuliffe was the only other Capital Region driver to finish in the top ten. He would finish tenth after locking himself into the show following a sixth-place performance in time trials Friday afternoon.

Latham’s Andrew Buff finished the 75-lap event in the 28th position but that does not tell the story of his Super DIRT Week outing. Buff was inside the top five when he spun between turns one and two late in the event. His 28th place finish followed an eighth-place time trial effort and a win in the fourth qualifying event.

Jack Speshock and David Manchester both made the show. Speshock finished 25th after timing 23rd quick and finishing third in qualifying event number three. A regular at the Utica-Rome Speedway, but a resident of Oppenheim, New York (Capital Region), David Manchester finished 32nd in Sunday’s event. He timed 25th quick on Friday and then finished seventh in qualifying event number one. He would qualify third in the third and final last chance qualifier Saturday afternoon.

Other drivers attempting to qualify for the Chevrolet Performance 75 were Derrick McGrew, Jr., Mike Coffey, Jr., Tucker O’Connor, Kale Groff, Robert Bublak, Darryl Nutting, John Virgilio, David Boisclair, Justin Buff, Brendan Gibbons, Fred Proctor, Scott Duell and Griffen Mansmith.

With the running of Super DIRT Week now nestled into the record book on page 48, the stars and cars of the Capital Region will reload for Super DIRT Week 2020. When Columbus Day Weekend 2020 comes around next year, those listed above and others will be looking to conquer all and be listed at the top of page 49 in the large and prestigious record book.