RPW Column: Kerwin Wanted It More; Comes Home First In DIRTcar Sportsman West Opener At Ransomville

Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – RANSOMVILLE, NY – The DIRTCar Sportsman West Series began its 2021 campaign at the Ransomville Speedway. Fans were given a treat between Austin Susice and Scott Kerwin.

Adam Hilton and DIRTCar Hoosier Mr. Sportsman contender Zach Sobotka brought the field to green for the 30 lap feature. Side by side through the entire first lap, Sobotka would come out front to lead lap one and just after the first yellow flag flew for a five-car accident. Involved were Ricky Thompson, Derek Wagner, Clayton Kay, Justin McKay, and Mike McCarthy.

Sobotka held serve on the initial restart as there was a three-wide battle for second behind him before the second yellow came out for Cain. Sobotka again got a good jump on the restart. Austin Susice would become a contender in this on lap six when he passed Hilton outside the final set of corners. Scott Kerwin would follow suit a lap later as the yellow came out for McCarthy.

On the restart, Susice knew he was a contender for this win, as he was deadlocked with Sobotka for two laps, yet the latter came out as the clear leader. Susice tried to make a move on lap 12 on the inside that didn’t come to fruition. Susice switched to the outer groove but opened the door for Kerwin to go for the runner-up spot, which didn’t work.

After a caution past halfway for Brian Ferris, Sobotka surprisingly chose the inside. Susice got the run to take the lead for the first time in the race on the restart. It would cost Sobotka more as Kerwin would move up to second with an inside pass in three.

The final restart provided a ten-lap shootout between Susice and Kerwin. Susice chose the outside and worked in his favor, but as Austin was having fun going the shorter way around, Kerwin took a peek up high and didn’t work. He then tried inside twice, and it didn’t work. On the outside, with five to go, Kerwin set up a pass and edged Susice for the lead change. Both leaned on each other with four laps left, panel to panel; Susice came out on top. Coming to the white flag, Kerwin had a run on Susice and was upon his door to begin the final lap.

Kerwin drove in turns one and two deep to make a move stick on Susice. On the back chute, it got close as Kerwin ran Susice out of real estate, Susice temporarily racing in the moat. In the final turn, Susice sent it in three and four with a Hail Mary, and as he came up the truck, the top two touched nerf bars, sending Susice around and out of it. Scott Kerwin would go on to win the DIRTCar Sportsman West season opener.

While it was a hard-fought war, Kerwin wasn’t happy with the way Susice raced him.

“You try to pass a guy; he runs you off the straightaway every lap and cuts you down in the corners. Then he runs you off the back straightaway, runs you off the front straightaway on restarts. I don’t drive like that, but he left a hole open the last lap, and I took it, and then he tried to wreck me in the end. It is what it is; we won, I guess we’ll move on,” Kerwin told RPW post-race.

Austin Susice finished in 4th position. While he declined to talk with RPW post-race, he publicly posted (now deleted) on Facebook, “Guess tonight just wasn’t meant to be,” and claimed it was the best race car he ever drove. Susice also believed he was not respected by the way Kerwin raced him on track.

The next Western Region race for the DIRTCar Sportsman Series is at Genesee Speedway on July 31st.

Sportsman (30 Laps)
1K Scott Kerwin, 2. 111 Brett Senek (0.826s), 3. 99 Brett Martin (1.861s), 4. 81 Austin Susice (4.562s), 5. 38S Zach Sobotka (5.187s), 6. 14D Dylan Duhow (7.166s), 7. 70a Alex Payne (7.573s), 8. 1HR Adam Hilton (8.449s), 9. 1s Andy Smith (9.425s), 10. 28 Jordan Moden (10.315s), 11. 22x Noah Walker (10.899s), 12. 68 Dave Dipietro (11.032s), 13. 35T Cam Tuttle (11.483s), 14. 25 Derek Borkenhagan (12.488s), 15. 1R Ricky Thompson (13.268s), 16. 07 Brian Harris (13.424s), 17. 61 Derek Wagner (14.043s), 18. 3JM Justin McKay (15.949s), 19. 86N Tim Nies (18.119s), 20. 18g Cliff Gregg (-2L), 21. 22M Mike McCarthy (-17L), 22. 36M Zach George (-24L), 23. 5 Clayton Cain (-25L), 24. 18w Jim Harbison (-22L), 25. 34M Tyler Murray (-22L)
Heat Winners: 1K Kerwin, 111 Senek, 36M George
Fastest Lap: 1K Kerwin 19.477s