A late change in the schedule for a family visit allowed me to make the trip north to Farley Thursday for the opening night of the 42nd Annual Yankee Dirt Classic at the 300 Raceway. A larger than expected field of cars were on hand and despite a racing surface that locked down during the Late Model heat races there was still plenty of action to enjoy come feature time.
The Sport Mods would be the first of four divisions come feature time with Tony Olson drawing the pole position for the twenty-lap distance. Brayton Carter started fourth, but he quickly moved up to challenge Olson for the lead working one line higher than the favored groove and having to be careful to not break traction. Carter was able to pull even with Olson on a couple of occasions, but Tony did not flinch and was able to maintain the lead.
Meanwhile Tyler Soppe had worked his way up from the eight starting spot and when Carter could see Soppe trying to fill the hole that he was leaving while still trying to work the second line, Brayton settled in behind Olson and held on for second as Olson secured the $750 victory. Soppe was third, Joe Docekal was fourth and Mitch Manternach completed the top five.
For the Stock Cars the big money was on the line tonight as Thursday's feature paid $2,000 to win while Friday's finale offers up a lesser purse so that drivers can return to their home track for point races should they choose to do. A classy move by the Yankee promoters! And, as usual the Stock Cars thrilled the crowd with the race of the night as drivers raced in tight quarters throughout the twenty-lap distance on the narrow surface.
Dick Steadman would lead the pack after starting from the pole position and he would be under constant pressure from David Brandies. Toss in the fifth starting Phil Holtz, his fellow third row starter Johnny Spaw and steadily gaining Damon Murty who had started the race from tenth and you soon had a five car pack racing within three car lengths of each other lap after lap after lap.
Brandies was committed to the bottom and patiently waited for Steadman to leave him an opening while Spaw, Holtz and Murty were swapping lines as needed as they tried to get to the front. On several occasions Brandies would get a nose under Steadman exiting turn four, but when the veteran leader would go to shut the door into turn three Brandies would "play nice" and wait for his next opportunity. Just as Murty had worked his way to third, Spaw and Holtz would make contact with each other sending Holtz for a spin exiting turn four and putting the rest of the field in scramble mode as the caution waved with three laps remaining.
Following the restart Brandies finally got the opening that he had waited for as Steadman got a bit too wide out of turn two and Brandies would be the first to take the white flag as Murty followed him into second. Damon was set to try to make a run on the final lap, but before the leaders made it to the back stretch the caution waved for Chase Zaruba who had spun in turn three.
The rules would call for a green-white-checkers two lap finish with Murty and Spaw ready to give Brandies everything they could muster for the $2,000 winner's check. On the first lap Murty could not quite make the pass on the second line up, but having watched this guy win so many races over the years I could tell that he had figured something out so it was not surprise on the final lap when he was able to again work just to the outside of Brandies and nose ahead by inches at the line to take the win in a thriller. Brandies would take second with Spaw right there in third as Cory Brown and Brayton Boyer followed close behind.
The Late Models were up next for twenty-five laps and you had to be impressed with the entry list tonight as forty-nine drivers signed in with twenty-six of them making Thursday's $5,000-to-win preliminary feature. Jeff Aikey and Tyler Bruening would start from the front row and with track conditions as they were it was a good bet that one of them would get the win. Unlike the Sport Mods and the Stock Cars, the Late Models were not able to get that second line to work, so this one was a high speed chase around the bottom with the deciding factor being the decision made by the leader once he reached the back of the field.
Aikey would be the leader from the drop of the green and when he encountered the last place car of Brian Kosiski on lap nine he made an attempt to pass him on the outside. This left the door open for Bruening who tucked in behind Kosiski and as the trio came out of turn four to score lap ten, Bruening was ahead by a nose as the transponders tripped the loop. Aikey came charging right back though and was able to pass Kosiski in turns one and two to regain the lead, but when the caution waved for a stalled Jason O'Brien the restart lineup reverted to lap ten with Bruening now the leader.
Seven laps later, same scenario but reversed roles for the leaders, Bruening went to the middle line to try to go around Kosiski a move that really cut his momentum and allowed Aikey to drive back into the lead. A veteran driver with a Hall of Fame worthy resume', Aikey learned his lesson from there and stayed in the groove behind the slower car until he was able to drive under him with two laps to go to secure the win. Bruening finished second, Jason Rauen was third, Ricky Thornton Jr. driving Todd Cooney's #30 finished fourth and Justin Kay was fifth.
The Modifieds would wrap up the night, but with a two hour drive and an early day at work ahead of me we headed for home with our friend Gary Lee texting us the results just a few minutes later that Justin Kay was the winner. For more coverage of this event make sure that you check out Racin' Down The Road with Danny Rosencrans.
It was an absolutely beautiful night for racing at a first class facility and you can bet that they will do everything possible to provide a better track for tonight's finale of the Yankee Dirt Classic!
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