RPW Column: Can-Am Speedway’s Sportsman Points Race Heats Up As Summer Stretches On

Column By: CAN-AM SPEEDWAY – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – When midsummer arrives in northern New York, it’s time to start paying attention to the points competitions for the track championships. In the Sportsman division at Can-Am Speedway, a battle for supremacy has gotten even more interesting in the last week.

Going into Friday night’s race, David Rogers was sitting atop the leaderboard in the points standings. Coming off a victory the previous week, Tyler Corcoran was close behind in second.

Not only did Rogers have to worry about Corcoran, but the top five drivers in the Sportsmen division were all within 50 points. Close behind the leaders were Mike Fowler, Dalton Rombough and Ryan Shanahan.

The weather has played a factor in the points competition this season. Just how many races will there be in total this year? Several competitions have had to cancel so far this racing season due to rain. The forecast doesn’t look like it is going to dry out much in the next few weeks either. The value of each position in each race goes up substantially with every feature that gets cancelled.

So as the drivers entered the fray Friday night, they understood that even if they didn’t win, laying off the throttle and coasting to the finish wasn’t an option with precious points on the line.

As Friday night’s race unfolded, Dustin Hutton had the pole and looked strong. Though Hutton isn’t currently in the mix for points leader, by taking up that coveted winning position, the rest of the field was forced to battle fiercely for position behind him. Each of the other drivers in the points chase knows that finishing just a few positions ahead or behind could be the difference this year.

The lot of drivers battling for the points lead started the feature back in the field. Eric Nier started 6th, David Rogers was 9th, Dalton Rombough 10th, Ryan Shanahan 11th and Tyler Corcoran 14th. Whoever could make the move through the pack could flip the script on the others and end up on top.

A pair of early cautions in the feature benefited drivers like Rogers and Corcoran, who were able to improve their positions on restarts. When racing resumed after a lap 8 caution, Corcoran had improved the most, moving from his 14th position up to 6th.

There was heavy racing throughout the night. Several three wide situations as drivers maneuvered for advantage. Turn three grew rumble strips on the low side, so passing through turns three and four become almost impossible, but drivers still attempted it.

As the race flattened out and passing became more and more difficult, only Eric Nier and Tyler Corcoran were able to break into the top five at the checkered flag. Dustin Hutton won the race and moved up to 11th in the overall standings. The points gained from the finish moved Nier up into 6th place in points and catapulted Corcoran past Rogers into the current lead position.

That lead is only a hair’s breadth at best. Just two points separate new leader Corcoran and second place David Rogers.

Though there is week to week excitement over who wins each feature, the points race rewards consistently good driving and finishes. It levels out the one-week bad breaks and the out-of-nowhere freak victories. This season, in the Sportsman division at Can-Am, there are so many excellent drivers that the points race has become one of the most exciting in years.

Who will emerge victorious come the end of the year? It is impossible to make a prediction. One thing is certain, you don’t want to miss seeing it with your own eyes. Whether you’re in attendance at the track, or watching on DTDTV, you do not want to miss how this season wraps up in the Sportsman division at Can-Am Speedway. This is what racing is all about.