9/10/2022
Can-Am Speedway
TRACK CHAMPIONS SHOW DOMINANCE ON FINAL NIGHT AT CAN-AM 2022
LAFARGEVILLE, NY – Three of the four feature races Friday night at Can-Am Speedway in Lafargeville, New York, finished with 2022 track champions in first place. Tim Fuller, of Watertown, New York won the DIRTcart 358 Showdown in September series race feature, Tyler Corcoran, of Central Square, New York, claimed victory in the 4th annual John Burr Memorial DIRTcar Sportsman feature, and Joe Orvis took home the big payday in the Ron White Memorial ThunderCar feature. All three drivers had already solidified their track championships last week, and all three came back for the final night of racing at Can-Am Speedway to put the final punctuation on the 2022 season. Not to be left out, Tyler Bushey, of Heuvelton, New York, was the victor in the FABCO DIRTcar ProStock feature, while Bruno Richard, of Gatineau, Quebec, was crowned track champion in that class.
It was a hard-fought sixty-lap battle for Tim Fuller, of Watertown, New York. He proved why he was track champion at Can-Am Speedway over the last two years, with a little help from drawing the pole on the redraw.
“I didn’t want to screw it up with the pole. I never get the pole,” Fuller said, after the race while speaking with track announcer Tim Baltz. “When you’re in the lead you never know what the fast groove is. I got a lot of laps around here and the bottom was good all year in 3 and 4 so I went with that. At the beginning there, when number 7 came bombing in there on the first lap and I said not on my watch.”
Except for the first lap, when Shaun Shaw, of Philadelphia, New York powered into the lead for a brief moment, Fuller led the race. It was not without its challenges, however. Billy Dunn, of Watertown, New York, climbed up from a fifth-position start to challenge Fuller for the lead in the final laps. What can sometimes prove to be a lead racer’s undoing proved to be Fuller’s salvation, as the two lead cars moved into lapped traffic with just five laps remaining. Fuller was able to weave through the traffic effortlessly, extending his lead over Dunn and driving to his sixth victory of the season at Can-Am Speedway in 2022.
Dunn finished in second place and that was good enough to give him a boost up the leaderboard in the DIRTcar 358 points chase to first place.
In the John Burr Memorial DIRTcar Sportsman feature, Tyler Corcoran had to battle from a ninth-position start to take the lead in the final laps, snatching away a victory from Gavin Eisele, of LaFargeville, New York by barely a front bumper’s width. Eisele controlled the lead through the final laps, but as the white flag came out, Corcoran took the high line through turns three and four and powered out of the corner in a drag race to the finish line. Corcoran had just enough momentum and horsepower to nose past Eisele in what had to be the closest finish in the Sportsman class at Can-Am Speedway all year.
“I was on the edge of my seat for that one,” Corcoran said, from victory lane. “Certain nights you gotta go where they’re not. All season long I’ve been able to go into three and four and have it stick. So that’s what I did there on that last lap. This is definitely a huge confidence booster. Hats off to Gavin. That was a hell of a race. This thing’s getting tuned up for the big tracks just in time for Super Dirt Week.”
During the Sportsman feature, there was a scary moment when Ed Lukas, of Chittenango, New York, got into the back of Jamie Brown on a caution restart and launched into the air. Lukas’ number 77L rolled over side-over-side twice down the front straight away, right in front of the grandstands, while Brown was sent into the infield. Fortunately, both drivers weren’t seriously injured and were able to climb out of their vehicles under their own power.
Tyler Bushey claimed the victory in the FABCO DIRTcar Prostock Night of Champions feature, even as Bruno Richard was crowned track champion for the season after the race. In the last few laps it was a back and forth affair between Bushey and second place finisher, Eli Gilbert of Brasher Falls, New York.
“I honestly didn’t think I was going to win that. I was better in 3 and 4, he was better in 1 and 2. It was a tough race,” Bushey said in his post race interview.
In the Ron White Memorial ThunderCar race, there were fireworks at the end of the race, as Justin Pope, of Rome, New York, seemingly had the victory, but was penalized for a takeout maneuver on Dakota Bechler, of Sackets Harbor, New York on the final lap. With Bechler in the lead, Pope purposefully drove into the left rear panel of Bechler attempting to spin him out. Bechler was able to recover and continue racing, but the move cost Pope position. Though Pope crossed the finish line in first place, he was moved back to third for the move, giving Joe Orvis the victory and the $1,000 payday. Both Bechler and Pope had been warned earlier in the race during a caution after trading paint during green-flag racing.
It was a spectacular night of racing to finish off the season at Can-Am Speedway. With the close of racing Friday night, the lights go out and the gates are locked until 2023.
For a full breakdown of all the heat race and feature race results, visit: racecanam.com
FEATURE RESULTS:
DIRTCAR 358 MODIFIED:
DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Race Feature - (60 Laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller[1]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[5]; 3. 32R-Ronnie Davis[16]; 4. JS98-Rocky Warner[7]; 5. 21C-Taylor Caprara[8]; 6. M1-David Marcuccilli[4]; 7. 9-Tyler Meeks[9]; 8. 31-Lance Willix[20]; 9. 28-Jordan McCreadie[10]; 10. 7S-Shaun Shaw[2]; 11. 60-Jackson Gill[14]; 12. 39-Ryan Bartlett[13]; 13. 7Z-Zachary Payne[17]; 14. 18W-Scott Webb[21]; 15. 29-Preston Forbes[11]; 16. 21H-Bob Henry Jr[22]; 17. 15X-Justin Stone[23]; 18. 27W-Nick Webb[12]; 19. 11S-Steve Lewis[30]; 20. 58-Marshall Hurd[19]; 21. 1NY-Greg Atkins[28]; 22. 21AH-Andrew Howard[29]; 23. 29C-Matt Caprara[6]; 24. 74-Lucas Fuller[24]; 25. 31B-Corey Barker[25]; 26. 24-Jordan Kelly[3]; 27. 66W-Derek Webb[15]; 28. 21R-RJ Tresidder[18]; 29. 20K-Kyle Inman[27]; 30. 23-Cameron Black[26].
JOHN BURR DIRTCAR SPORTSMAN:
John Burr Memorial DIRTcar Sportsman Series Race Feature - (30 Laps): 1. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 2. 18E-Gavin Eisele[3]; 3. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[5]; 4. 34-Eric Nier[4]; 5. 44-David Rogers[10]; 6. 410-Mike Fowler[8]; 7. 38-Zach Sobotka[6]; 8. 52-Jessica Power[12]; 9. 3-Chris Mackey[14]; 10. 22C-Cederic Gauvreau[21]; 11. 57H-Remington Hamm[24]; 12. 10X-Cory Castell[13]; 13. 83D-Dustin Bradley[1]; 14. 63M-Franklin Mackin[16]; 15. 31B-Ryan Dolbear[28]; 16. 2-Taylor Doxtater[27]; 17. 707-Greg Brinklow[26]; 18. 03-Joshua Jock[30]; 19. 21W-Quinn Wallis[25]; 20. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[17]; 21. 35B-Brennan Moore[11]; 22. 1R-Ricky Thompson[19]; 23. 5-Kyle Devendorf[7]; 24. 91-Josh Reome[22]; 25. 10B-Jamie Brown[23]; 26. 77L-Ed Lukas[15]; 27. 1-Paul DeRuyter[2]; 28. 42-Darryl Nutting[18]; 29. 04-Dj Gonyo[29]; 30. 92-Frank Sibley[20].
FABCO DIRTCAR PROSTOCK:
Night of Champions Feature (15 Laps): 1. X15-Tyler Bushey[1]; 2. 75-Eli Gilbert[5]; 3. 72-Bruno Richard[3]; 4. 12S-Dakota Sharp[4]; 5. 57K-Kevin Fetterly Jr[2]; 6. 00C-Michael Clark[6].
THUNDERCAR:
Ron White Memorial ThunderCar Feature (20 Laps): 1. 11A-Joe Orvis[5]; 2. 26-Dakota Bechler[8]; 3. 27-Justin Pope[6]; 4. 13Z-Zak Petrie[11]; 5. 60-Francis White[7]; 6. 5M-Damien Bechler[12]; 7. 22J-Jared Gilson[3]; 8. 16B-Chris Bonoffski[10]; 9. 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[13]; 10. 100-Josh Verne Sr[24]; 11. 198-Jeffrey Putnam[14]; 12. 31-Austin Smith[16]; 13. 71-Jeff Trapp[19]; 14. 60R-Ron White[25]; 15. 94-OJ White[18]; 16. 22-Daniel Valade[2]; 17. 46-William Sherman[21]; 18. 111-Aj Stmary Sr[22]; 19. 8D-Kevin Greenfield[4]; 20. 97-David Liscum[17]; 21. XXX-Donald Kimball[15]; 22. 22X-Tony Frezzo[1]; 23. 67K-Clayton Koch[20]; 24. 11J-Justin Burns[9]; 25. 5-Don Woodworth[23].
