VERNON, NY – A beautiful night greeted fans and drivers alike this past Sunday evening, July 21, when the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series invaded the Utica-Rome Speedway.  Erick Rudolph made a late race pass on rival Mat Williamson on a restart to take the $4,000 win in the St. Lawrence Radiology 100.  It was redemption for Rudolph, who lost the lead to Williamson at Fulton Speedway a few weeks ago after dominating most of the event.  The roles were reversed this time as Williamson led most the event until a lap 75 restart, when Rudolph took over.  In other action on Marble Hill Inn and Bill Herrig’s Auto Part Night, Matt Janczuk took another win in the Broedel Fuel Group Sportsman with Luke Horning making it two in a row in the Ted’s Body Shop Pro Stocks.  Jason Lopes was declared the winner in the Bernie’s Extreme Performance Parts Rookie Sportsman.

Todd Root and Mat Williamson led the starting field of the St. Lawrence Radiology 100-lap main event for the 358-Modified Series to the green flag with Williamson and Root swapping the lead on every circuit until Williamson took over the lead for good on lap five.  Root would fall into the clutches of fourth place starter Erick Rudolph, who was seeking his third consecutive Utica-Rome Speedway win.  Root and Rudolph were soon joined by Billy Dunn and Dave Marcuccilli was an intense battle for second was raging for the next handful of laps.

While the runner-up spot was being contested, Williamson was beginning to pull away as he looked to continue his 358-Modified Series dominance.  Dunn finally wrestled the second spot away on lap 12 and set off after Williamson.  With 25 laps complete, the leaderboard showed Williamson leading over Dunn, Rudolph, Marcuccilli, and Corey Wheeler.

The second caution of the race slowed the pace on lap 29 which allowed the field a shot at the leader Williamson but the ensuing restart, the leader was up to the task as he remained in control.  Dunn stayed with Williamson however, as he was being challenged for the first time since the opening laps.  A couple more cautions flew but on each restart, Williamson was able to maintain the point.

On lap 45, Rudolph took over the second spot as Dunn slowed, bringing out the yellow flag on lap 47.  As the field took the halfway point under caution, Williamson was still leading with Rudolph, Mike Mahaney (who was rebounding from an early race pit stop), Pat Ward, and Wheeler in the top five with Jordan McCreadie, Billy Whittaker, Marcuccilli, Glenn Forward, and 22nd place starter Danny Johnson rounding out the top ten spots.

When the green lights came back on, Williamson again powered away with the lead with Rudolph in tow while a crowd pleasing three-way battle for third raged on between Mahaney, Ward, Wheeler, and McCreadie. Another yellow slowed the pace again with two thirds of the of the 100 lap race in the books, it was Williamson, Rudolph, McCreadie, Ward, and Wheeler in the first five positions.

The restart saw Rudolph pounce on the opportunity as he took over the lead and slowly begin to pull away, only to have his advantage erased on lap 83 when the yellow lights flickered on for the final time in the main event.  The ensuing restart saw Rudolph launch to a good start and again slowly pull away from the rest of the field.  When the checkered flag flew, it was Rudolph scoring his first 358-Modified Series win of the season with Williamson finishing in the runner-up spot.  Ward would nip Wheeler at the line for the final podium spot with Dunn rallying to a top five finish.  Mahaney, Whittaker, Johnson, Marcuccilli, and Forward rounded out the top 10 finishers.

The Broedel Energy Fuel Group DIRTcar Sportsman 20-lap feature started with second place starter Mark Effner taking the initial lead.  Effner would lead until lap three when pole sitter Mike Richmond slipped by to take command of the 29 car field.  All eyes were on point leader Matt Janczuk at this point as the 18thplace starter was slicing through the field, breaking into the top five by the fifth circuit.  On lap 10, Richmond was still out front but Janczuk was still on the move as he got by second place running Jeff Taylor as the field took the halfway signal.  Janczuk completed his charge to the lead on lap 13 as he slid underneath Richmond for the lead would never be challenged for the remainder of the race, scoring his third win in four races.  Richmond held on for second over AJ Filbeck, Charlie Tibbitts, and Kyle Inman.

Mike Kazlauskas led the opening two laps of the Ted’s Body Shop DIRTcar Pro Stock 20-lap main event from his outside front row starting spot, only to relinquish the lead to seventh place starter Nick Stone on lap three.  Stone’s turn at the front of the field was short-lived as 10th place Luke Horning would charge by to lead lap five.  Point leader Josh Coonradt moved into the second spot on lap 10 but by that time, Horning had an insurmountable lead as raced to his second consecutive victory.  Coonradt would finish in second followed by Stone, Mike Welch, and Pete Stefanski.

Jason Lopes was declared the winner in the Bernie’s Extreme Performance Parts Rookie Sportsman as the three cars that finished in front of him failed post-race technical inspection.

Utica-Rome Speedway will be back in action on Sunday, July 28, with a special Monster Trucks Monster Jam along with an All-Star Pro Stock Spectacular and Bernie’s Extreme Performance Parts Rookie Sportsman.  For more information on this exciting event, log on to www.uticaromespeedway.com or visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

MARBLE HILL INN & BILL HERRIG AUTO PARTS RACE SUMMARY

DIRTTRACKDIGEST.COM 358-MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH ST. LAWRENCE RADIOLOGY (100 LAPS)-ERICK RUDOLPH, Mat Williamson, Pat Ward, Corey Wheeler, Billy Dunn, Mike Mahaney, Billy Whittaker, Danny Johnson, Dave Marcuccilli, Glenn Forward, Ronnie Davis III, Claude Hutchings Jr., Kyle Dingwall, Billy Shantel Jr., Anthony Cardamone, Randy Shantel, Joel Hall, Jordan McCreadie, Lucas Heintz, David Rogers, Dave Doig, Lance Willix, Todd Root, Ryan Bartlett, and Tyler Bartlett.

BROEDEL FUEL GROUP SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)-MATT JANCZUK, Mike Richmond, AJ Filbeck, Charlie Tibbitts, Kyle Inman, Dave Moyer, Jeff Taylor, Tyler Corcoran, Chris Mackey, AJ Miller, Dylan Zacharias, Mark Effner, Alan Fink, Rocco Leone, Tim Falter, Isiah Forward, Jack Miller, Payton Talbot, Casey Williams, Mike Button, Casey Cunningham, Colby Herzog, Ed Lukas, Steve Marshall, George Dyer, CJ Castelletti, Travis Welch, Dave Manchester, and Brent Joy.

TED’S BODY SHOP PRO STOCK FEATURE FINISH (20 LAPS)-LUKE HORNING, Josh Coonradt, Nick Stone, Mike Welch, Pete Stefanski, Jim Normoyle, Aaron Page, Frank Hyatt, Jerry Streeter, Ernie Staelens, Bobby Newman, Shane Henderson, Mike Kazlauskas, and Jay Fitzgerald.

BERNIE’S EXTREME PERFORMANCE PARTS ROOKIE SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (15 LAPS)-JASON LOPES DQ-Bobby Heintz, Mike Grover, and Ernie Staelens.