After finishing second twice in DIRTcar Sportsman Series Features this season, Gavin Eisele finally broke through Sunday at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.
The LaFargeville, NY driver led the final 27 laps to score his first career Series win in the DIRTcar Sportsman Series championship season.
“This means a ton,” Eisele said. “We’ve been close so many times, and we finally did everything right to finish it off.”
Tyler Bobar and Zach Sobotka led the field to green in the 40-lap Feature, with Bobar pulling ahead of Sobotka in Turn 2.
Bobar led the race’s first two laps before the caution came out on Lap 3 for Tony Farone.
When the race resumed, Bobar and Sobotka raced side-by-side until Sobotka slid in front of Bobar in Turn 3 to take the lead. The Parish, NY driver drove away from the No. 12B until he reached the tail of the field on Lap 11. Bobar then used lap traffic to his advantage, closing in on Sobotka as they raced into Turn 1 on Lap 12.
Bobar kept his momentum going as they ran side-by-side down the backstretch. By the time they exited Turn 4, Bobar nosed ahead of Sobotka, reclaiming the lead as they completed the lap.
However, Bobar’s lead was short-lived. As the top two drove around Turn 4 on Lap 13, D.J. Robinson and Ron Delease Jr. tangled on the front stretch, blocking the track in front of the leaders. Bobar and Sobotka had nowhere to go, colliding with the two cars in front of them and ending their chance for Victory.
That handed the lead to Eisele, who drove away from Nick Root when the green flag came back out on Lap 13.
Like the race between Bobar and Sobotka, Root reeled Eisele in as the No. 18E caught the back of the field. But every time Root tried to go around Eisele on the top, Eisele snuck past lap cars on the inside lane to pull away.
Gavin Eisele and Nick Root battle for the lead at Glen Ridge/Joe Grabianowski
Root had one more shot at Eisele after a red flag for a hard crash involving Ryan Barrett, Greg Brinklow, and Taylor Wason on Lap 37. But with clean air, Eisele was too strong, holding on to score the $1,500 prize.
Before the red flag, Eisele said he needed to be aggressive in lap traffic to stay ahead of Root.
“The track is so narrow,” Eisele said. “You had to be where they weren’t, and where they weren’t wasn’t very fast. So, you kind of had to pressure lap cars out of the way, and luckily, we got through without too many challenges and stayed in clean air as long as we could.”
Root settled for second, his second consecutive DIRTcar Sportsman Series runner-up at Glen Ridge. The Geneva, NY driver said he couldn’t make the top work like he hoped while chasing Eisele for the lead.
“This track is top dominant, and if you can start on the top, it’s definitely a plus,” Root said. “I got really close to him in lap traffic, but I couldn’t really make it because he was under lap cars, and I tried to go around them.
“We just got to go forward into Fulton, and maybe we can win a championship.”
Derrick McGrew Jr. finished third after getting by Western Region champion Cody McPherson on the final restart. The Ballston Spa, NY driver said he knew he had to go once the red flag came out with four laps left.
“I knew we had to try something to pick up a few more positions,” McGrew said. “I tried going up with that little bit of brown that was up there on the top, and it worked. I think starting position was crucial.”
Cody McPherson finished fourth, and Glen Ridge regular Cody Ochs rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Series turns its attention to Fulton Speedway on Wednesday, Aug. 14 as part of SummerFAST along with the Super DIRTcar Series. For Tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Super DIRTcar Series action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series (40 Laps): 1. 18E-Gavin Eisele[3]; 2. 30-Nicholas Root[4]; 3. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[7]; 4. 7-Cody McPherson[6]; 5. 33-Cody Ochs[12]; 6. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[8]; 7. 4W-Emmett Waldron[10]; 8. 6-Cody Manitta[14]; 9. 410-Mike Fowler[18]; 10. 15-Adam Leslie[13]; 11. 52P-Jessica Power[15]; 12. 42H-Kadon Hohensheldt[19]; 13. 38-Zach Sobotka[2]; 14. 67W-Zack Welch[27]; 15. 4-Dale Robinson[26]; 16. 43-Tavien Blowers[16]; 17. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[9]; 18. 16XX-Savannah Laflair[25]; 19. (DNF) 07-Taylor Wason[11]; 20. (DNF) 25G-Stephen Gray[17]; 21. (DNF) RB21-Ryan Barrett[21]; 22. (DNF) 707-Greg Brinklow[24]; 23. (DNF) 01-Zach Buff[5]; 24. (DNF) 12B-Tyler Bobar[1]; 25. (DNF) 116-Ron Delease Jr[20]; 26. (DNF) 69-Travis Green[22]; 27. (DNF) 18-Tony Farone[23]
Post-Race Tech: Valve Springs were checked on the top five.
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Kadon Hohensheldt (Free Tire)
