By Joe Grabianowski
Tony Finch II started SummerFAST with a Feature win at Weedsport Speedway and closed it out with the biggest win of his career at Utica-Rome Speedway. Young gun Bodie Marks and Utica-Rome first-timer Cody Manitta finished on the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series podium.
Finch, from Pennellville, NY, started outside of second-place finisher Bodie Marks on the front row. The pair swapped positions after a multi-lap, side-by-side battle at the front of the 30-car field on lap 4. He built on his lead throughout the remainder of the 30-lap Feature, and despite a few late-race restarts, held on to win the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series tour stop.
“I can’t say this car has been really good,” Finch said. “The first time we took it out was at Brewerton Friday night, and we broke in the Feature. Then we took it to SummerFAST Weedsport and won. We’ve never won at Weedsport, so we figured we’d bring it here. We checked another one off the bucket list.”
Not only was it a career win for Finch, but it was also a hometown win.
“This place is awesome. I’ve always loved it. I’ve been coming here for fifteen years, and I really love it. I live ten minutes down the road, but my shop is an hour away. We come here whenever we can. The track crew killed it as they always do.”
Second-place Bodie Marks, from Scotia, NY, struggled with his tires. “I just needed to find the line faster,” Marks said. “Once Tony got to the front, I couldn’t catch him. I found a line mid-race, but after the caution I think my tires sealed over and it just wasn’t the same after that.”
It was third-place finisher Cody Manitta’s first time at Utica-Rome Speedway, but the Cato, NY driver took to the track immediately.
“We had my girlfriend come out here in the Novice Sportsman and get some notes,” Manitta said. We kind of knew what we were getting into. I threw the Oswego setup in it and tuned it from that. It was a really good car.”
Manitta advanced to third from eighth, finding speed through the center of the corner, which allowed him to make authoritative passes against an elite Sportsman field.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series rolls into Ransomville Speedway on Tuesday, Aug. 25, joining the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series. Both series purses include substantial bonuses.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Northeast Facebook page.
DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (30 Laps): 1. 0-Tony Finch II[2]; 2. 33M-Bodie Marks[1]; 3. 6M-Cody Manitta[8]; 4. 120-Will Eastman[4]; 5. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[6]; 6. 26-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[10]; 7. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 8. 82-David Hackett[13]; 9. 07W-Taylor Wason[3]; 10. 711C-Chris Crane Jr[5]; 11. 54-Sullivan Dickey[7]; 12. 916-Nick Brundige[15]; 13. 12G-Matt Guererri[24]; 14. 262-Matthew Richardson[12]; 15. 20K-Kyle Perry[14]; 16. 33-Richard Murtaugh[21]; 17. 2K-Josh Amodio[22]; 18. 69-Blake Sarpriacone[11]; 19. 51-Bryan Preville[18]; 20. 6-Josh Sokolic[23]; 21. 92-Tanner Coon[16]; 22. 714-Chris Darling[20]; 23. 52-Jessica Power[27]; 24. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[28]; 25. 16-Matt Barbour[29]; 26. 14-Samuel Groom[26]; 27. 2-Greg Henry[30]; 28. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[17]; 29. 00X-Josh Coonradt[19]; 30. (DNF) 43J-Jayden Wust[25]
