Seven Winners In Seven Races As Dalton Herrick Wins CRSA A-Main At Penn Can
Race Report by Steven Ovens – July 9th, 2022 – CRSA Sprints photo
(SUSQUEHANNA, PA) – The theme of the 2022 season for the CRSA Sprints presented by Super Gen Products has been parity. In six prior events there had been six different faces visiting Victory Lane.
Following round seven at Penn Can Speedway Friday night, Dalton Herrick pushed that number up to seven different winners in as many races.
Jordan Hutton and Herrick entered the night as the top two in the points and found themselves on the front row for the 25-lap A-Main after the redraw. Herrick blasted the top of the track to take the lead on the opening circuit but the yellow quickly came out with no laps scored in what turned into a rather rough and tumble event.
Mike Van Pelt and James Layton got together and spun toward the infield. Van Pelt’s night was done with a flat tire and no work area and no guaranteed time to work on the car. Layton continued on and drove his way back into the Top 5 by race’s end before finding trouble again in the closing laps.
The race would get three more laps in before the first red flag of the night was displayed. John Cunningham got too high exiting turn four, sending his car down the track and into the No. 410 of Jerry Sehn Jr. and the No. 13T of Trevor Years. Cunningham did one full rotation in a flip and landed facing 180 degrees in the opposite direction with traffic bearing down on him at the fastest point of the racetrack. No further contact was made, with Cunningham and Years’ nights ending on Lap 3. Sehn Jr. returned just as the green flag was ready to fly.
Four more laps would click off before Ronnie Greek sent his No. 28 into Turn 3 a little too deep and collected Dana Wagner’s No. 25W in Turn 4. Greek continued on but Wagner’s streak of four-straight Top 5 finishes at “The Can” came to an end.
Other incidents late in the going involved Aaron Shelton and John Smith making contact in Turn 1 with less than five laps to go. Shelton got both rear tires in the air but was able to continue on. Smith suffered a flat tire and had to pull out of the racing groove and stop in Turn 4 to go off on the hook.
The aforementioned James Layton drove his way back into the Top 5 after going tail, but got on the accelerator too quick in Turn 2 causing the Tripodi Contracting No. 14 to spin drawing the race’s final yellow flag.
While all of the calamity slowed the race down several times, there was a great race going on inside the Top 5. Herrick controlled the pace in the lead and was able to keep Hutton a fair distance back to prevent any big moves or slidejob attempts.
The story inside the Top 5 though was nearby Kirkwood, NY resident Scott Landers. Landers and his Binghamton Truck and Tire Center No. 33 helped sponsor the night’s action at Penn Can and the driver of the DH Stone machine did not disappoint his supporters in the VIP Tower! Starting from the eighth position, Landers quickly worked his way into the Top 5 and found a line he liked on the bottom lane to elevate his ride into the third spot to bag his first podium in his short CRSA Sprints career.
With all the yellow flags throughout the event that brought the need for many restarts, which seemed to be a hot button issue post-race. Herrick consistently waited until the last chalk line to fire on restarts, which he has the prerogative to do. It made it challenging for the drivers behind him who tried anticipating the starts to get a run on the leader- Herrick had none of it on this night.
“Anybody that knows me knows I don’t like running the bottom and tonight I had to,” remarked Herrick.
“When you’ve got guys like Jordan (Hutton) behind you, you can’t mess up on those restarts.”
Hutton was visibly upset about the restarts during post-race Victory Lane and didn’t mince words about not only the restarts but what more he needed to get the top spot on the podium.
“Probably just better restarts. Going into the green everyone was bunching up and I had people slamming into the rear of me. (Herrick) would pull me by four car-lengths going into Turn 1. Just happy to leave here with the points lead.”
Hutton came into the night with a 14-point advantage over Herrick and pushed it to 15 points after the heat races. With the Herrick win and Hutton second place, Herrick now trims the lead down to 10 points. Something Herrick admitted is going to be a good, strong battle all the way to the end.
“It’s going to be tooth and nail right until the end. It’s been a good gentlemanly battle so far and that’s all you can ask for.”
A former Oswego Speedway Small-Block Supermodified track champion, now turned 305 sprint car driver, Scott Landers, completed the podium. Landers felt like on this special night for his team and supporters it was more like a win in front of the hometown crowd.
“We appreciate Penn Can for letting us race down here,” said Landers.
“We hurt a motor Sunday at Thunder Mountain. I called Shawn Donath and he had one sitting on the floor, we put it in and here we are tonight. We’re pretty much self-funded here and we’re just here to have some fun. This is a great class and a great group of drivers to race with.”
The races Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger of the race went to rookie competitor Calvin Wheelock who started shotgun on the field and passed 10 cars to get to eighth. Landers took home an extra $25 as he also earned the Maguire Cars “Magnificent Move of the Race.” Van Pelt took home the award drivers appreciate but try to avoid receiving- the Midstate Basement Authorities “Out of the Basement” bonus award. Eagle Enterprises $25 Heat Wins went to Cunningham, Hutton and Smith.
The CRSA Sprints will now head to Utica-Rome Speedway on Friday July 15 in a highly anticipated return for the fourth round of the I-90 “Pit Stop” Challenge Series presented by Pit Stop Convenience Stores.
The CRSA 305 Sprints are powered by Super Gen Products with their Champion Power Equipment located in Newark, NY. Associate sponsors for 2022 include A-Verdi Storage Containers, Midstate Basement Authorities, CNY Farm Supply, the Maguire Family of Dealerships, Powdertech Powdercoating, Pit Stop Convenience Stores, PJC Sprayfoam, Profab Enterprises, Eagle Enterprises, Bonnell’s Rod Shop, DisBatch Brewing Company, Magsarus Ignitions, Hoosier Racing Tire, Insinger Performance with their Stinger Race Fuel, My Race Pass and is owned and operated by Mike Emhof Motorsports.
For more information on the series, results, points and 2022 schedule please visit our website www.crsasprints.com
Please visit the Super Gen Products with Champion Power Equipment CRSA Sprints on Facebook (@CRSAsprints) and on Twitter (@CRSAsprints).
SUPER GEN PRODUCTS CRSA SPRINTS @ PENN CAN SPEEDWAY OFFICIAL RESULTS- Friday July 8th, 2022:
A-MAIN RESULTS (25 Laps): 1. 29-Dalton Herrick[2]; 2. 66-Jordan Hutton[4]; 3. 33-Scott Landers[8]; 4. 9K-Kyle Pierce[1]; 5. 25H-Tyler Emmons[5]; 6. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[3]; 7. 22M-Aaron Shelton[10]; 8. 7W-Calvin Wheelock[18]; 9. 14-James Layton[15]; 10. 4-Cliff Pierce[14]; 11. 23-John Smith[9]; 12. 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[11]; 13. 28-Ron Greek[16]; 14. 4T-Ray Preston[17]; 15. 25W-Dana Wagner[12]; 16. J27-John Cunningham[6]; 17. 13T-Trevor Years[7]; 18. 112-Mike VanPelt[13]
Eagle Enterprises Heat Bonuses $25: J27 John Cunningham, 66 Jordan Hutton, 23 John Smith
Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger Bonus: 7W Calvin Wheelock +10 Spots
Maguire Family of Dealerships “Magnificent Move of the Race”: 33 Scott Landers
Midstate Basement Authorities “Out of the Basement” Bonus: 112 Mike Van Pelt
Heats (8 laps)
#1: 1. J27-John Cunningham[2]; 2. 9K-Kyle Pierce[1]; 3. 25H-Tyler Emmons[4]; 4. 22M-Aaron Shelton[6]; 5. 112-Mike VanPelt[3]; 6. 28-Ron Greek[5]
#2: 1. 66-Jordan Hutton[1]; 2. 29-Dalton Herrick[2]; 3. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[3]; 4. 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[6]; 5. 4-Cliff Pierce[4]; 6. 4T-Ray Preston[5]
#3: 1. 23-John Smith[1]; 2. 13T-Trevor Years[2]; 3. 33-Scott Landers[4]; 4. 25W-Dana Wagner[6]; 5. 14-James Layton[3]; 6. 7W-Calvin Wheelock[5]