Race Report By: Marty Czekala - May 5, 2024 - Photo By: Evan Canfield
CENTER LISLE, N.Y. – The inaugural Joe's Garage Southern Tier Series race not only featured some of the "Future Stars of Sprint Cars" but also Mother Nature taking on Thunder Mountain Speedway. In the end, the defending champ began his title reign successfully.
Jordan Hutton took the lead on lap seven from Johnny Smith and Billy VanInwegen and did not look back to record his ninth career CRSA Sprints win. This win ties him for eighth in the record books with Dalton Herrick and Mike Kiser.
Hutton ran the bottom throughout the entire feature, but the car came in near the halfway point.
"I saw Johnny and Billy both going for the same spot," said Hutton, whose win at Thunder Mountain was also his first top-five at the track. “I said,' Here's my chance. 'I missed the bottom for the first 10 laps, but man, did it come in after that.”
The race began with Hutton starting second and Dustin Sehn in pole position. Immediately off turn four, Billy VanInwegen threaded the needle, taking the lead while four-wide.
Smith was able to move up to second around the outside after Jeff Trombley hit a yuke tire, hindering Hutton's forward progress in battling for the runner-up spot.
Following a series of cautions, including a red flag, the race restarted on lap six with "Billy V" having a higher exit than normal off two, allowing Smith an opportunity to take the lead. Smith threw a slidejob into turn three to advance to the point while Hutton was on both the tail tanks of VanInwegen and Hutton.
That's when the bottom worked for Hutton. He gathered a run underneath Smith to lead lap seven and didn't look back to take the win by five seconds, leaving nine drivers on the lead lap at the end.
"This place and me have a rough relationship sometimes," Hutton says. "We finally hit our marks, and our crew guys came together. Couldn't have been more pleased. The thing that helped me was the red flag. I went into the bottom of the first corner [on the following restart], and the car stuck really well and got more speed."
Despite the tough restart for him, Billy VanInwegen finished runner-up after winning at Thunder Mountain last year and believed he had a race-winning car in the early laps.
"We started out really good on the top and then had no idea where I should be," VanInwegen commented. Had that gone green, the fans would've had a great show. We're going to have to do some homework and work on our tire program. I think we had a sealed right rear tire with the long cautions."
Jerry Sehn Jr. recorded his fourth podium in CRSA series history, finishing third. After Johnny Smith broke as the final yellow waved, the door was left wide-open, and Sehn Jr. took the final podium spot by passing Ron Greek on the bottom in the final laps.
"I kept my nose clean to pick the best lane," said Sehn Jr. This car doesn't like when it's slick, and the track was smooth. I thought it came out all right."
Twenty-five cars checked into Thunder Mountain this evening.
Smith was awarded the Maguire Family of Dealerships Magnificent Move of the Race after passing Billy VanInwegen for the race lead on lap six.
Kyle Pierce was the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger of the Race, gaining 16 spots to finish fifth.
The CRSA Sprints will now turn their attention to Land of Legends Raceway on May 11 to begin the DisBatch Brewing Company Challenge. Can't make it? The action can be seen for free on Land of Legends TV and simulcasted on DIRTVision.
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 66-Jordan Hutton[2]; 2. 56v Billy VanInwegen[6]; 3. 410 Jerry Sehn Jr[14]; 4. 29 Dalton Herrick[3]; 5. 9k Kyle Pierce[21]; 6. 21b Blake Warner[16]; 7. 28 Ron Greek[12]; 8. 1NY Mark Reynolds[15]; 9. 18 Timmy Lotz[22]; 10. 88c Chad Miller[10]; 11. 4 Cliff Pierce[23]; 12. 22 Tomy Moreau[9]; 13. 1q Thomas Radivoy[20]; 14. D9 Dustin Sehn [1]; 15. 22m Aaron Shelton[18]; 16. 4s Johnny Smith[4]; 17. 33 Scott Landers[8]; 18. 20k Ed Kelley[13]; 19. 99 Adam Depuy[25]; 20. 54 Fred Proctor[24]; 21. 3a Jeff Trombley[7]; 22. 77 Bob Hamm Jr.[19]; 23. J27 John Cunningham[17]; 24. 19em Emily VanInwegen[5]; 25. 10 Nathan Pierce[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 56V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[1]; 2. 33-Scott Landers[2]; 3. 66-Jordan Hutton[5]; 4. 22-Tomy Moreau[7]; 5. J27-John Cunningham[3]; 6. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[8]; 7. 1Q-Thomas Radivoy[6]; 8. 54-Fred Proctor[4]; 9. 99-Adam Depuy[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3A-Jeff Trombley[4]; 2. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[2]; 3. 4S-Johnny Smith[3]; 4. 28-Ron Greek[5]; 5. 20K-Ed Kelly[6]; 6. 77-Bob Hamm Jr.[1]; 7. 22M-Aaron Shelton[7]; 8. 18-Timmy Lotz[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88C-Chad Miller[2]; 2. 29-Dalton Herrick[6]; 3. D9-Dustin Sehn[1]; 4. 10-Nathan Pierce[8]; 5. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[4]; 6. 21B-Blake Warner[7]; 7. 9K-Kyle Pierce[3]; 8. 4-Cliff Pierce[5]
The A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints are powered by Super Gen Products. Associate sponsors for 2024 include Pit Stop Convenience Stores, DisBatch Brewing Company, Dandy, Joe's Garage, Westward Painting Company, the Maguire Family of Dealerships, Powdertech Powdercoating, PJC Sprayfoam, Profab Enterprises, 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 and points, please visit our website, www.crsa.myracepass.com.
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