Dunn Pulls Out Last Minute Heroics For Can-Am Victory

Story By: ADAM CORNELL / CAN-AM MOTORSPORTS PARK – LAFARGEVILLE, NY – It was a heart-pounding, nail-biting finish in the 358 Modified feature, as Billy Dunn moved into the lead with a single lap remaining, to take another victory at the “Nasty track of the North” Caprara’s Can-Am Motorsports Park, in Lafargeville, NY. Dunn faced stiff competition from second place finisher, Ryan Arbuthnot, as the two sparred and parried throughout the final laps.

“The last five laps, the track finally came to us, and it felt good,” Dunn said from victory lane. “We had to be patient and wait for our opportunity. Luckily we had an extra five laps tonight. The last few weeks have been kind of hectic for me, so it’s been good to have all the support.”

With more than fifteen cars entering the 358 Modified feature, the race was extended from twenty-five to thirty laps. Without those extra laps, Dunn would have finished behind Arbuthnot.
Dunn had announced earlier in the week that he was splitting from his family-run racing team, where he had run a Big-Block Modified at other tracks. He said in a statement on his Facebook page, that he would continue to run the number 9 at Can-Am as well as continue his commitment to race at Mohawk Speedway.

Lance Willix finished third while Rylee Gill took fourth and Jordan McCreadie finished fifth, after starting sixteenth.

Other winners on the night included Jack Meeks in the Sportsman Modified class, Sid Harmer Sr. in the Pro Stocks, Justin Pope in Thunderstocks and Matt Brown in Novice Sportsman.

Vintage Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour was also on hand Saturday night at Caprara’s Can-Am, with Matt Barbour beating out Paul Billings for the victory.

Racing resumes at Caprara’s Can-Am Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 29th.

Visit racecanam.com for more details.

FULL RACE DETAILS

HEAT RACES

VINTAGE DIRT MODIFIED NOSTALGIA TOUR:
The Vintage DIRT Modified Nostalgia Tour took to the track first with multiple heats. Starting in first and second positions of heat one, were 2 John Stanley and 37 Matt Barbour. Barbour took over the lead by turn two and was able to stave off an assault from B10 Paul Billings by during lap three, as a caution flew over the track when x22 Denzil Billings Jr. experienced mechanical issues and rolled to a stop in turn two. The x22 left on a hook and racing resumed. B10 Paul Billings wasted no time leaping ahead of Barbour as the green flag dropped. 81 Tyler Reynolds moved into third by lap four, but gave up the position to 99 David Charczuk just one lap later. At the checkered flag, it was B10 Billings, 37 Barbour and 99 Charczuk in the top three positions.

In the second heat for the vintage modifieds, it was 00 Darrell Wilson and 42 Pat Charland in the top two starting positions. Wilson vaulted to the lead immediately, while 4 Tim Hegarty moved up from a fourth starting position to the lead by lap two. Hegarty never relented, never giving Wilson a sniff at the lead. At the flag it was 4 Tim Hegarty with the win, 00 Darrell Wilson in second and 42 Pat Charland in third.

THUNDERSTOCKS:
Four-cylinder-fury took over the track next, with a Thunderstock heat race. 111j AJ St. Mary and 32 Chuck Monica started in the top two positions. St. Mary faded quickly, and Monica catapulted into the lead. Charging up from the field was 60 Justin Pope, moving into second by lap two. By lap three, it was Pope in the lead, leaving Monica to battle 42 Lyle Robinson for second. At the checkered flag, it was 60 Pope, 32 Monica and 42 Robinson in the top three positions.

In heat two, 4 Jesse Bender and 50 Zach Stone started in the top two positions. 4 Bender launched some fireworks, trying to snipe 28M Phil Desormeau III, nearly taking Desormeau out of the race by attempting to spin out the 28M in front of the flag stand. Desormeau recovered, dodging the assassination attempt, and proceeded to leave Bender in the dust, putting ten car lengths between 28M and the rest of the field. In lap four, 21 Tyler Bates and 50 Zach Stone needed assistance with a push to the pits with separate mechanical issues. With Bates and Stone out, just four cars remained. 28M Desormeau took the checkered flag with the win, 11 Burns took second and 17B Mike Greenfield finished third.

358 MODIFIEDS
The first heat for the 358 Mods had 24 Brandon Sweet and 39 Tyler Bartlett started in the top two positions. Sweet launched out into the lead, hooked up and locked down, leaving the rest of the field a half a track away by lap three. 28 Tyler Meeks moved into second by lap two, while the 18 of Webb took over third by lap five. At the checkered flag it was 24 Sweet with the win, 28 Meeks in second and 18 Webb in third.

For the second heat it was 51 Brady Gill and 57 Rylee Gill in the top two starting positions. Rylee took the lead out of turn one. 9 Billy Dunn moved up from a third row start to fourth position by the lap three caution, with 19 Luke Stewart holding a tenuous grasp on third. Dunn and the Gills went three wide through turn four during lap four, with Dunn threading the needle and coming up aces, taking over the lead. At the checkered flag, it was 9 Dunn, 51 Brady Gill and 57 Rylee Gill in the top three positions.

SPORTSMAN MODIFIEDS
18 Justin Gadbaw and 2 Chris Thurston started in first and second positions. Thurston shot out ahead by a half dozen car-lengths by the close of lap one. Gadbaw settled into second, while 57 Anthony Stockman staked out the third position by the half way point. 21 Taylor Caprara moved up from a back-of-the-field start to challenge Stockman for third with two laps remaining. Stockman held fast, and instead moved past 18 Gadbaw with a lap remaining. At the checkered flag, it was 2 Thurston with the win, 57 Stockman in second and 21 Caprara in third.

Heat number two had 26 Mike Mandigo and 45r Preston Forbes starting in the top two positions. Mandigo took advantage of his starting position to leap out ahead of the field, with Forbes settling into second by the close of lap one. 415 Andrew Wren was charging hard from the very drop of the green flag, challenging Forbes for second position almost immediately. Wren continued to push for position, finally succeeding by lap five. But it was short lived. Wren lost his left rear wheel, through turn three of lap six, the wheel bounding out into the trees of turn three. After the caution, Mandigo retained the lead, with Forbes in second. 31 Tom Jock Jr. moved into third with a lap remaining. At the checkered flag, that’s how it would remain, 26 Mandigo with Forbes in second and Jock in third.

For heat three, it was 60 and 34 in the top two starting positions. 621 Brian Hudson moved up from the second row immediately, taking over second, while 60 Jackson Gill shot out into the lead. 34 Eric Nier dropped into fourth when 29NY Joel Hardgrave took over third in lap three. At the checkered flag it was 60 Gill with the win, 621 Hudson in second and 29NY Hardgrave finishing in third.
Heat number four had 29J Joel Hall and 71 Delbert Legrow starting out in the top two positions. Legrow had a taste of the lead for a moment during lap one, but 1 Jack Meeks was hard charging from the rear of the field, and pulled off the pass through turn four to be the true owner of the lead as lap one concluded. Meeks put distance between himself and the field by lap three, putting any lead change out of reach for the rest of the competitors. 24k Krause took over third by the half way point. At the finishline, it was 1 Meeks by half a track, with 71 Legrow in second and 24k Krause in third.

PRO STREET STOCKS
62 Johnathan Murphy and 32 Ryan Shanahan started in the top two positions, with Shanahan getting the hole shot out of turn one for the lead. 1x Mike White took over second place by the close of lap one, with 83D Dustin Bradley in third. By lap four, Shanahan got a little loose, and White dove in for a pass, but White drifted high out of turn two, allowing Shanahan to muscle back into the lead. At the checkered flag, it was 32 Shanahan, 1x White and 83D Bradley in the top three positions.

Heat race number two had 55 Kenny Clark and 4 Mike Durham starting in the top two positions. At the drop of the green it was four-wide racing, with 3 Rick Dusckas and 3k Shawn Kirby making a Durham-Clark sandwich. Kirby grabbed the lead out of the melee, with Durham settling into second and Duskas in third. Duskas made a move for second position and was nearly successful, but was thwarted by a caution flag when the 7x spun out in turn four. On the restart, 55 Kenny Clark spun out of turn four by 14R Sid Harmer Jr. The 14R was sent to the back of the pack for contact and racing resumed after a caution lap. On the restart Dusckas tried a dosey-do to go high and then low for the pass on Kirby, but 3k Kirby wasn’t having it, and powered out of turn two for sole possession of the lead. Another caution gave Dusckas yet another opportunity for a pass, but Kirby retained the lead. At the checkered flag, it was 3k Kirby with the win, 3 Dusckas in second and 4 Durham in third.

NOVICE SPORTSMAN
The novice class took to the track next for a pair of heat races, with 621 Trevor Gibbons and 15 Jamie Brown starting in the top two positions. 76G Skylar Greenfield staked a claim for third position, but made a move on second position by lap two. Greenfield went high through lap three, however, and Brown held position. 25 Tom Juno took advantage of the Greenfield miscue to grab onto third position. A lap five caution brought the field back together for a restart. At the checkered flag, it was 621 Gibbons with the win, 15 Brown in second and 25 Juno in third.

Heat number two had 57H Remington Hamm and 18 Gavin Eisele starting in the top two positions. At the drop of the green flag, it was three-wide racing, with Hamm emerging as the leader through lap one. Eisele claimed second position while 6 Matt Brown moved up into third by lap two. One lap later, 6 Brown took over second, setting sights on Hamm for the lead position. Brown tried a high-low move through lap four in turns three and four, but Hamm was able to power away with the lead once again. At the checkered flag, it was 57H Hamm with the win, slamming the door on 6 Brown through turn four on the final lap, relegating Brown to second, with 18 Eisele taking third.

FEATURE RACES

VINTAGE DIRT MODIFIED NOSTALGIA TOUR FEATURE:
The first feature on the night was the Vintage Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour with B10 Paul Billings and 37 Matt Barbour starting in the top two positions. Row two had 99 David Charczuk and 81 Tyler Reynolds in positions three and four respectively. At the drop of the green Billings and Barbour were side by side around the track, neither able to gain advantage. It took the full length of lap two for Barbour to snag sole possession of the lead, with Paul Billings in second and 99 Charczuk in third. 2 John Stanley moved up through the field to give the 99 something to think about in the rearview. By lap seven, Stanley owned the third position, while Billings was trying all the tricks to get past Barbour for the lead, but to no avail. Billings could gain slightly on the straightaways but would lose ground out of the corners as Barbour powered away from him again and again. By lap twelve, Billings and Barbour were navigating through lapped traffic, when 19 Megan Ciglich took a hard spin in turn four and nosed into the wall. She had to leave on the hook, her night of racing over. After the caution, it was Barbour back in the lead, taking the high line around the track, while Billings continued to hunt for a chance to pass. 2 John Stanley remained in third by lap fourteen. With one lap remaining, 22 Matt Larrivee spun through turn three, triggering a green-white drag race to the finish line. On the restart Barbour went high again with Billings trying to stick his nose in low but it wasn’t enough. At the checkered flag, it was 37 Matt Barbour with the victory, B10 Paul Billings in second, 2 John Stanley in third, 99 David Charczuk took third and 81 Tyler Reynolds finished fifth.
“This is about my third or fourth time here [at Can-Am],” Barbour said from victory lane. “I’m a bit speechless right now, truthfully.”

THUNDERSTOCK FEATURE:
Next up, it was a full field of four-cylinder ferocity flooding forward for full-force feature thunderstock racing. 17B Mike Greenfield and 4 Jesse Bender started in the top two positions, with 50 Kurt Stone and 94 OJ White in positions three and four. Three-wide racing kicked off in turn two of lap one and it escalated to four-wide by turn three. It didn’t last, as several cars spun out, pulling 32 Chuck Monica out of competition for the night as well as 11J Justin Burns. On the restart, 60 Justin Pope pulled into the lead, with 26M Phil Desormeau III taking over second. 17B Mike Greenfield held onto third position, but 50 Kurt Stone was giving him everything he had. In Lap five, 26M Phil Desormeau went off the back berm, along the straightaway, with, what appeared to be, mechanical issues. On the restart Pope leaped out into the lead once again, with Greenfield settling into second. OJ White in the 94 owned third position through laps six and seven, but 50 Kurt Stone passed him up by lap eight. By lap eleven, Stone was moving up on Greenfield, looking to wrest away control of second position. It took until lap twelve for Stone to successfully complete the pass and move up to second, with Pope half a track ahead. In lap thirteen a caution came out when 69 Sean Berry spun out 4 Jesse Bender in turn four, thus erasing the extensive lead Pope had established. On the restart, Pope blitzed out ahead, with 50 Stone in second. At the checkered flag, it was 60 Justin Pope with the victory. In second, it was 50 Kurt Stone, with 17B Mike Greenfield in third, 94 OJ White in fourth, and 5 Don Woodworth in a hard fought fifth finish.

“I want to thank Ike Stone, we couldn’t have done it without his help. He gave us the motor. We blew one up at Adirondack,” Pope said in victory lane. “The track was just how I like it.”

358-MODIFIED:
358-Mods rolled onto the half-mile oval track next, with 24 Brandon Sweet and 51 Brady Gill starting in the top two positions. Row two had 57 Rylee Gill and 28 Tyler Meeks in third and fourth positions. Track points leader 9 Billy Dunn started in ninth position. 51 Gill hopped out to the lead through lap one, with 24 Sweet sliding back into second and 28 Meeks in third. 93 Ryan Bartlett moved up to fourth position by lap three, with R70 Ryan Arbuthnot in fifth. By lap ten, Sweet had closed the gap on 51 Gill, and got by him as Gill got loose in turn three. A caution flag came out, even thought Gill was able to prevent a spin and get off the track to the pits without further incident. The new leader on the restart was 24 Sweet, with 28 Meeks right on his door for the restart. 51 Gill attempted to come back onto the track after going to the pits, but was unable to continue racing and took it back pitside. It was a heart pounding restart when the racers went four wide by the flag stand. 93 Bartlett got together with 9 Dunn and 28 Meeks, and fell back through the field with mechanical issues. This brought out a caution as Bartlett took it to the pits. The new leaders were 28 Tyler Meeks and R70 Ryan Arbuthnot in the top two positions with 9 Billy Dunn and 25 Brandon Sweet in third and fourth positions. It was a messy restart, with a few cars spinning out in turn two, including 24 Sweet and 39 Tyler Bartlett. Sweet took the car pitside while 39 Bartlett was able to stay in the race after a quick dip into the pits under caution. 28 Meeks was now the leader, with R70 Arbuthnot still occupying second. 9 Billy Dunn owned third while 57 Rylee Gill was in fourth for the restart. Just as the green flag flew, 24 Sweet came back onto the track, continuing on the lead lap. R70 Arbuthnot emerged from the restart with the lead, while 28 Meeks occupied second, doing all he could to keep 9 Dunn behind him. Dunn and Meeks battled for several laps, with Dunn diving low in turn four of lap eighteen, to take over second position. Arbuthnot had a sizeable lead over second position, however, so Dunn had a long way to go to even challenge for the lead, with only ten laps remaining. Merely one lap later, yellow cloth was unfurled over the track, when 73 Kevin Poitras went around in turn three. The caution destroyed Arbuthnot’s lead and put Dunn right on his rear bumper for the single-file restart. Arbuthnot got the jump at the green and retained the lead, while a battle for fourth broke out between 57 Gill and 31 Lance Willix. Leap frogging 28 Meeks, Willix moved past Gill and Meeks to take over third position. With just three laps remaining, Dunn moved to within a car length of Arbuthnot. Dunn slipped by Arbuthnot with one lap remaining and powered away to yet another victory at Can-Am. At the checkered flag, it was 9 Billy Dunn, R70 Ryan Arbuthnot, 31 Lance Willix, 57 Rylee Gill and 9J Jordan McCreadie.

SPORTSMAN MODIFIED
Thirty-one cars took to the track for the Sportsman Mod feature, a full field due to the fact, no doubt, that several other local tracks had rained out for the night. 18 Justin Gadbaw and 66W Derek Webb started in first and second positions, while 34 Eric Nier and 2 Chris Thurston started in third and fourth positions. Thurston threaded the needle through turn two on the opening lap to grab the lead, while Webb settled into second. 60 Jackson Gill had the heavy foot, powering from a sixth position start to second by lap five. Gadbaw slid into third, while 1 Jack Meeks was hot on his tail, having moved up from a twelfth position start. By lap eight, Meeks owned third position and looked to close the large gap on second place Gill. 2 Chris Thurston, the leader at that point, spun out in turn four, bringing out the caution and awarding Jackson Gill with the lead for the restart. Meeks steamrolled into the lead on the restart, with Gill settling back into second. 38 Zach Sabotka, who started fourteenth methodically moved up to fourth position by lap thirteen, when M1 Rick McCready spun out through turn two, eliciting a caution. Meeks retained the lead on the restart, while Sabotka took advantage of the restart to grab onto second place. Another caution merely one lap later pushed the field into a single-file restart, with just twelve laps remaining in the race. The top five at the midway point were 1 Meeks, 38 Sabotka, 60 Gill, 21 Taylor Caprara and 66W Webb. After the restart, it took one lap for Caprara to move up yet another position to third, after starting seventeenth. By lap seventeen, Caprara had supplanted Sabotka and started his quest for the leader, Meeks, who was a dozen car-lengths ahead. With just three laps remaining, Meeks started to encounter lapped traffic, but was able to navigate the slower cars nimbly, giving no ground to Caprara. Jackson Gill managed to slip past Sabotka for third position with two laps remaining. At the finish line, it was 1 Jack Meeks with the victory, with 21 Taylor Caprara in second. 60 Jackson Gill finished in third, with 38 Zach Sabotka in fourth. 57 Anthony Stockman finished fifth, after 66W Webb got loose and went sideways on the final lap, managing to avoid the wreck, but surrendering the fifth position to Stockman.

“It felt good tonight, it’s been a struggle the last couple of nights.” Meeks said. “I was hoping to have a slick track, but it had a little bite to it. I was hoping lapped traffic wasn’t going to stop me towards the end there, a lot of cars out there tonight,” Meeks said from victory lane.

PRO STREET STOCKS:
Starting on the pole it was 32 Ryan Shanahan, with 4 Mike Durham in second. Row two had 83D Dustin Bradley and 3 Rick Dusckas in third and fourth positions, respectively. Durham bolted into the lead at the drop of the green, but Shanahan was not about to relent without a fight, staying on his door around the track through the first few laps. Shanahan had to get on the breaks to avoid disaster through turn two of lap five, dropping him back through the pack. Moments later 3k Shawn Kirby and 1x Mike White came together in turn three, eliciting a caution over the race. Kirby headed to the pits under caution, his night done. On the restart Dusckas and Durham faced off at the head of the pack, with Dusckas emerging as the alpha dog. 14R Sid Harmer Jr. managed to thread his way through the field after starting eighth, moving into third by lap six, just as a caution emerged. Harmer took his 14R to the pits under caution, returning after racing had already resumed. Dusckas moved into the lead again on the restart, while Durham got high on the back straightaway berm and drifted back to the tail of the field. 32 Ryan Shanahan experienced mechanical issues in lap six and took it to the infield to avoid the caution. At the half way point, it was 3 Rick Dusckas with the lead, 690 Sid Harmer Sr. in second, 18 Remington Marquette in third, 7x Justin White in fourth and 1x Mike White in fifth position. In lap sixteen, Dusckas got a little loose and Sid Harmer Sr. took advantage, moving into the lead. Another caution brought the pack back together giving Duskas a shot at the lead, but Sid Harmer Sr. kept him back long enough to make it to victory lane. At the checkered flag, it was 690 Sid Harmer Sr., 3 Rick Dusckas, 4 Mike Durham, 83D Dustin Bradley, 55 Kenny Clark in the top five positions.

NOVICE SPORTSMAN:
The last feature on the night had 621 Trevor Gibbons and 57H Remington Hamm starting in the top two positions with 15 Jamie Brown and 18 Gavin Eisele starting in the third and fourth positions. Gibbons held tough through lap one, retaining the lead but barely by a bumper. Hamm took away the lead moments later in lap two, while 6 Matt Brown moved into second, after starting fifth. A battle for fifth emerged as 76G Skylar Greenfield and 25 Tom Juno sparred for position, with Greenfield coming out of the scrum with ownership of the position just as a caution flew in lap five. On the restart 6 Matt Brown took the lead from Hamm. 621 Gibbons and 76G Greenfield battled for fourth position by lap eleven, with Greenfield moving into fourth by lap twelve. Meanwhile 15 Jamie Brown took over second from Hamm in the same lap. Two laps later, Jamie Brown elicited a caution when he came to a stop in turn two, after losing his rear right wheel. Brown had to leave on the hook of the Can-Am tow truck, a disappointing end to the night after a good run. The caution with one lap remaining meant there would be a drag race to the finish line. 6 Matt Brown shot out into the lead on the restart, and rode it all the way to the win. 57H Remington Hamm took second, with 76G Skylar Greenfield in third, 25 Tom Juno in fourth and 31 Tom Jock in fifth position.

FULL FEATURE RESULTS:

NOVICE SPORTSMAN: 1) 6 Matt Brown, 2) 57H Remington Hamm, 4) 76G Skylar Greenfield, 5) 621 Trevor Gibbons, 6) 25 Tom Juno, 7) 31 Tom Jock, 8) 18 Gavin Eisele, 9) 7T John Traphagen, 10) 15 Jamie Brown, 11) 557 Pat Nolan, 12) 15X Greg Henry (DNS)

SPORTSMAN MODIFIED: 1) 1 Jack Meeks, 2) 21 Taylor Caprara, 3) 60 Jackson Gill, 4) 38 Zach Sobotka, 5) 57 Anthony Stockman, 6) 66W Derek Webb, 7) 45R Preston Forbes, 8) 34R Kevin Root, 9) 29NY Joel Hardgrave, 10) 24 Jordan Kelly, 11) 24K Nick Krause, 12) 18 Justin Gadbaw, 13) 7S Shaun Shaw, 14) 52 Jessica Power, 15) 415 Andrew Wren, 16) 26 Mike Mandigo, 17) 71 Delbert Legrow, 19) 22 Josh Verne, M-1 Rick McCready, 20) 29J Joel Hall, 21) 2 Chris Thurston, 22) 5 Amy Holland, 23) 34 Eric Nier, 24) 31 Thomas Cook, 25) 7X Chuck Miller, 26) 4X Mike Gadbaw, 28) 71X Tim Falter, 29) 621 Brian Hudson, 30) 91 Josh Reome, 31) M70 Billy Cook, 32) 25 George Sanford

358 MODIFIED: 1) 9 Billy Dunn, 2) R70 Ryan Arbuthnot, 3) 31 Lance Willix, 4) 57 Rylee Gill, 5) 9J Jordan McCreadie, 6) 16 Gage Morin, 7) 8) 28 Tyler Meeks, 9) 27W Nick Webb, 10) 18 Scott Webb, 11) 393 Dave Bartlett, 12) 47 Brent Cross, 13) 24 Brandon Sweet, 14) 19 Luke Stewart, 15) 73 Kevin Poitras, 16) 39 Tyler Bartlett, 17) 93 Ryan Bartlett, 18) 51 Brady Gill

PRO STREET STOCKS: 1) 690 Sid Harmer Sr., 2) 3 Rick Dusckas, 3) 4 Mike Durham, 4) 83D Dustin Bradley, 5) 55 Kenny Clark, 6) 1X Mike White, 7) 18 Remington Marquette, 8) 7X Justin White, 9) 62 Johnathan Murphy, 10) 14R Sid Harmer Jr., 11) 12) 102 Preston Mossow, 13) 32 Ryan Shanahan, 14) 3K Shawn Kirby, 15) 75 Kenny Hartshorn (DNS)

THUNDERSTOCKS: 1) 60 Justin Pope, 2) 50 Kurt Stone, 3) 17B Mike Greenfield, 4) 94 OJ White, 5) 5 Don Woodworth, 6) 521 George Savage, 7) 111J AJ St.Mary, 8) 4 Jesse Bender, 9) 69 Sean Berry, 10) 26M Phil Desormeau, 11) 61 Jerry Rogers, 12) 42 Lyle Robinson, 13) 32 Chuck Monica, 14) 11J Justin Burns, 15) 21 Tyler Bates (DNS), 16) 17 Pat Sullivan (DNS)

Racing resumes at Caprara’s Can-Am Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 29th.

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