By Joe Grabianowski
JJ Courcy claimed an emotional first career DIRTcar Pro Stock Series victory during SummerFAST by passing pole sitter Jason Casey and holding off a charging Tyler Bushey at Brewerton Speedway.
Starting third, the Mexico, NY driver set his sights on leader Jason Casey, from Ashley Falls, MA, who initially brought the 21-car field to the green flag. Casey rolled the low side of the “D-Shaped Dirt Demon” in the early going, but Courcy found a way beneath him coming off Turn 2 on Lap 3.
Courcy charged by Casey and led the rest of the way cleanly until 13th-place starter Tyler Bushey, from Heuvelton, NY, found himself on Courcy’s rear bumper with five laps to go. Bushey dug hard for the lead, but Courcy led at the terminal 30-lap mark when the checkered flag fell.
“Crazy,” Courcy said. “If you had told me I would win my first race in a one-off here at Brewerton – I mean, this is as big to me as a win at Super DIRT Week. I grew up coming here for 38-plus years. I love it. I wish they ran them [DIRTcar Pro Stocks] here [weekly]. The track surface is great. I don’t know what else to say.”
Courcy explained why the win meant so much to him and his family in Victory Lane.
“My wife absolutely busted her butt getting this car turned around,” Coucy said. “I was sleeping in bed, and she was out working on the race car. This is her car. We have “mast cell” on the side because she has health issues and couldn’t race it. She told me to go and drive it. My goal was to win a race for her. This is for her. I can’t believe I won a Series race at Brewerton!”
Tyler Bushey was determined not to let Courcy waltz away with the win. The No. X15 showed speed and tracked down the leader in the late stages.
“It really came alive there,” Bushy said. “It felt like Fulton running the inside tires. The car felt really good. At the end I was hoping he would make a mistake and he didn’t. Settled for a second, but it was awesome back there.”
Pole-sitter Jason Casey, who’s second in the Series standings, held off the rest of the field to keep his podium position.
“I left the bottom early, and JJ [Courcy] got me,” Casey noted. “I went to the top and couldn’t find it. That’s when Bushey got me. I had to go try to see if I could find something.”
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series will head to the Capital Region for a doubleheader featuring stops at Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 22, and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park on Sunday, Aug. 23.
DIRTcar Prostock Feature (30 Laps): 1. 4-JJ Courcy[3]; 2. X15-Tyler Bushey[13]; 3. 324-Jason Casey[1]; 4. 73-Bastien Caron[5]; 5. 12S-Dakota Sharp[12]; 6. 2E-Brandon Emigh[11]; 7. 177-Chris Stalker[16]; 8. 110-Devon Camenga[10]; 9. 2-Pete Stefanski[8]; 10. 8-Sean Corr[18]; 11. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[15]; 12. 9-Eric Jean Louis[17]; 13. (DNF) 28D-Phillip Defiglio[21]; 14. (DNF) 463-Daniel Sanchez[7]; 15. (DNF) 14R-Sid Harmer Jr[20]; 16. (DNF) 711-Rich Crane[2]; 17. (DNF) 2H-Luke Horning[6]; 18. (DNF) 2Z-Hugh Page[9]; 19. (DNF) 48-Jocelyn Roy[14]; 20. (DNF) 6-Shane Playford[19]; 21. (DNF) 777-Tommy Lizotte[4]
