RDIII Takes 358-Modified Glory At Fulton Speedway On Saturday Night

Story By: DAVE MEDLER / FULTON SPEEDWAY – FULTON, NY – During the 2018 season Memphis, NY’s Ron Davis III has looked nothing like a Modified rookie grabbing top finishes and an early season feature win to put him 3rd in the Fulton Speedway point standings.

Saturday night was race number two of the 50-lap, $2,000-to-win Unique eCigs 358 Modified Series. Ron Davis III battled up front all race long that also had heavy traffic that he would use to his advantage. Running third on lap 30 behind Billy Whittaker and Tom Sears Jr., Davis saw an opening driving by them both and into the lead on lap 31. Once out front he would hold off strong challenges from first Larry Wight and then Tom Sears Jr. for his second Modified victory in his rookie season.

Other winners on VP Small Engine Fuels night were, Scott Prentice & Greg Doust (SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman) Chris Fleming (Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models) Matt Becker (E&V Energy Novice Sportsman) Doug Williams (STARS Mod Lites National Qualifier).

After the redraw for starting positions Billy Whittaker and Ron Davis III would lead the field down to the green for the start of the Unique eCigs $2,000-to-win 50-lap feature with Whittaker grabbing the early advantage.

At lap 10 Whittaker and Tom Sears Jr. were in a two-car breakaway at the front of the field racing for the lead as they were already putting cars a lap down. Not far behind the top-two Davis, Jordan McCreadie and Larry Wight were locked in a tight battle of their own in the top five.

With 15 laps showing on the scoring tower Whittaker was able to get a few car lengths between himself and Sears as Davis, McCreadie and Wight started closing in on the top two.

Whittaker would open up a half a straightaway lead by lap 20 over Sears, Davis, McCreadie and Wight as the top five all ran the topside against the cushion.

When the race reached the halfway point, Whittaker would see his lead shrink because of lapped cars racing two-wide allowing Sears, Davis, McCreadie and Wight to close in.

On lap 30 Whittaker, Sears and Davis ran under a blanket right in the middle of lapped cars. One lap later Davis would take advantage of the traffic driving by both Whittaker and Sears to be scored the new leader.

The yellow flag would wave on lap 36 when Whittaker suddenly slowed on the back straight with mechanical issues while running second.

When the race went back green Davis would hold off heavy pressure from Larry Wight and then challenges from Tom Sears Jr. to drive away for his second career Modified win at the speedway. Tom Sears, Larry Wight, Jordan McCreadie and Pat Ward finished second through fifth.

Forty-five SUNY Canton Sportsman signed into the pits setting up two 25-lap features.

In the first feature Ryan Hatherill would out-run Joe Sobotka to lead the opening lap by a few car lengths while the racing behind him was two and three wide in the early going.

With 10 laps showing on the scoring tower and no yellows to slow the field down, Hatherill led by a full straightaway as Sobotka, Amy Holland, Kyle DeMetro and Scott Prentice battled for second through fifth. Cautions on lap 11 and lap 12 erased the advantage Hatherill built up.

After moving into second Prentice caught Hatherill and passed him for the lead on lap 21. One lap later Hatherill would fight back retaking the lead. The winning pass came on lap 23 when Hatherill bobbled in turn four allowing Scott Prentice to drive by for his first win after a decade away from racing. Ryan Hatherill, Jackson Gill, Anthony Rasmussen, Wade Chrisman finished second through fifth.

In the second 25-lap Sportsman feature Tyler Murray would lead the opening 3 laps until he hopped the cushion on a restart allowing Greg Doust, Tony Finch II and Willy Decker drive by and occupy the top three spots.

With 5 laps showing on the scoring tower Doust opened a five car length advantage while behind him you could have thrown a blanket over Decker, Zach Sobotka, Finch and Murray as they raced within inches of each other for second through fifth.

Doust maintained around a five-car length lead with 10 laps to go as Decker, Alan Fink, Sobotka and Finch chased the leader.

Over the final laps and no yellows to bunch up the field Greg Doust was never seriously challenged the rest of the way grabbing his first win since the mid-2000s. Alan Fink, Willy Decker Jr., Chris Mackey and Zach Sobotka finished second through fifth.

In the 20 lap Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Model feature Sean Beardsley would jump out to the early lead until lap 5 when Chris Fleming drove under Beardsley and into the top spot.

At the halfway point Fleming and Beardsley battled for the lead with Bret Belden, Jason Parkhurst and Kevan Cook having a race of their own for third, fourth and fifth.

Over the second half of the race and no yellows to slow the pace, Chris Fleming erased a season of bad luck as he was first under the checkers for his first win on the “Highbanks” in 2018. Sean Beardsley, Bret Belden, Jason Parkhurst (after rolling his car in his heat race) and Kevan Cook finished second through fifth.

Matt Becker took the lead at the drop of the green in the 15-lap E&V Energy Novice Sportsman feature leading the opening 4 laps before Kearra Backus, using the topside of the speedway, drove into the top spot. Backus lead was short lived as one lap later she jumped the cushion allowing Becker and Pat Nolan by.

Once out-front Matt Becker would lead the rest of the way for his second win of the year. Kearra Backus, Jake Davis, Pat Nolan and Ryan Gustin finished second through fifth.

The STARS Mod Lites had a 20 lap National Qualifier Saturday night. Doug Williams made a statement leading every lap and winning by almost 4 seconds. Zack Babcock, Justin Williams, Mike Mullen, Tyler Winger finished second through fifth.

This Saturday, August 4 Willmes Law will present a night of fast, family affordable, fun racing featuring the Tracey Road Equipment DIRTcar Modifieds, SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman, Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models and the E&V Energy Novice Sportsman.

Have you always wanted to get on the “Highbanks” and go fast? Truck owners, Saturday, August 4th is your chance in the One-on-One Spectator Truck Races. All you need is an insured and street legal truck, valid driver’s license and a helmet. After buying your general admission ticket just go to the track office to sign up.

Adult general admission is $12 with everyone 18 years old and younger free. Pit admission is $27 Member, $30 Non-Member. Grandstands open at 5:00 pm with racing at 7:00 pm.

Any questions you might have about the 2018 racing season and for marketing opportunities, please contact Cory Reed at 315-593-6531 or cory@fultonspeedway.com . For all the latest news go to www.fultonspeedway.com and like the track Facebook page www.facebook.com/FultonSpeedway for weekly and race day updates.

July 28 VP Small Engine Fuels Night Results.

(Unique eCigs 358 Modified Series 50 Laps) – RON DAVIS III, Tom Sears Jr., Larry Wight, Jordan McCreadie, Pat Ward, Tyler Trump, Mark D’Ilario , Jeff McGinnis, Tyler Meeks, Mike Bowman, Glenn Forward, Matt Farnham, Joe Shields, Andy Noto, Tim Sears Jr., Bobby Herrington, Billy Whittaker, Larry Welling, Randy Green, Jim Walsh, Todd Root, DNS – Rylee Gill.

(SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman #1 25 Laps) – SCOTT PRENTICE, Ryan Hatherill, Jackson Gill, Anthony Rasmussen, Wade Chrisman, Joe Sobotka, Amy Holland, Nate Higgins, Mike Button, Mike Fowler, Dylan Zacharias, Mark Effner, AJ Miller, Jimmy Moyer, Kyle Perry, Brett Draper, Tony Komuda, Rachel Zacharias, Billy Sauve, Kyle DeMetro, Chris Cunningham, Chris Bonoffski, Rocky Grosso.

(SUNY Canton DIRTcar Sportsman #2 25 Laps) – GREG DOUST, Alan Fink, Willy Decker Jr., Chris Mackey, Zach Sobotka, Nick Krause, Tyler Murray, Tony Finch II, Jessica Power, Corey Barker, Tyler Corcoran, Chris Corbett, Steve Marshall, Dorian Wahdan, Chris Hulsizer, Richie Riggs, Tye-Scott Rood, Austin Germinio, Tom Juno, Casey Cunningham, Torrey Stoughtenger, Brandon Carvey.

(Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux RUSH Late Models 20 Laps) – CHRIS FLEMING, Sean Beardsley, Bret Belden, Jason Parkhurst, Kevan Cook, Tim Sears Jr., Max Hill, Dane Keller Jr. Jason Occhino.

(E&V Energy Novice Sportsman 15 Laps) – MATT BECKER, Kearra Backus, Jake Davis, Pat Nolan, Ryan Gustin, Robert Gage, Dana Camenga, Skylar Greenfield, Riley Rogala, Josh Pete, Erica Bowman.

(STARS Mod Lites National Qualifier 20 Laps) – DOUG WILLIAMS, Zack Babcock, Justin Williams, Mike Mullen, Tyler Winger, Nick Graziano, Tucker Halliday, Tom Perkins, Dave Brown, Hunter Lawton, Shawn Hort, Jim Dunham, Matt Fregoe, DNS – Sam Usborne.