Jeremiah Fish Photo
Rouse Does the Rooftop Two-Step at Brewerton
Battles from sixth to claim career win No. 104
CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. – Oct. 6, 2016 – Brad Rouse dominated the field Thursday night, winning the concluding feature of the 24th Annual Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux Hurricane 100 presented by SUNY Canton Racing. The DIRTcar Racing Sportsman class was set for 30 laps, and Rouse made a strong run to the top.
“The guys put a good car underneath me,” said Rouse, his family and crew crowding his car. “[My crew] really worked hard to do this. We had a rough night last night, but we just need to keep plugging away here.”
The “D-Shaped Dirt Demon,” a 1/3-mile clay oval, made for closed-quartered battles throughout the 30-car field. But the Sportsman division’s second-consecutive show during the 45th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week had the packed-house focusing on some of the race’s hardest chargers. Rouse was one of them.
Rouse started the feature from outside of the top five in sixth. Rouse, looking to build on his heat win from earlier in the program, was also seeking to add career win No. 104 to his tally. Rouse is the most seasoned driver in the class, having raced in the class for 23 years.
The feature abruptly began with a red flag exiting turn one. On the restart, Rouse joined third and fourth position to break into the podium. The three drivers were three-wide through the bullring, but Rouse’s No. 18r car prevailed. Rouse climbed three spots within the first five laps. He had his sights toward second.
Though the fight for a podium spot ultimately widened the gap between him and second place, Rouse found his groove at the top of the track. Rouse began to gain a few tenths of a second each lap until he was within a half-second. On lap 15, Rouse carried more momentum out of turn two, capturing second position.
The second-half of the feature was Rouse closing the gap. Tyler Trump, leading the race from the start, had as much as a 2.480-second advantage over the field. With ten laps remaining, Rouse shaved his lead to less than one second. All the while, Rouse extended his separation from third position to more than one second. This isolated Trump and Rouse for an impending battle to the checkers.
It did not take Rouse long to make his move. The very next lap, Rouse took advantage of dense lapped traffic. Trump lost momentum on the backstretch while Rouse was able to side-step the congestion. Rouse took the lead entering turn three, and won the feature by a 0.614-second margin. Notably, Trump was not the second driver to finish the race.
Another hard charger was Rocky Warner. Warner’s No. 1J car finished second in heats earlier and started 10th in the feature event. Trump, losing the top spot to Rouse in the final laps, faded enough for Warner to capitalize. Warner finished second, while Trump rounded out the podium in his No. 9x machine.
“This [win] means a lot,” Rouse said. “This is a great facility. I think [Trump] was gone in lapped traffic a little bit, but he was quick too. We just had to keep plugging away, changing lines. The lapped cars helped us.”
Last season, Rouse finished second to Warner in the event while Trump improved from a 15th place finish.
Brewerton Speedway Notebook
RACE NOTES: Brad Rouse bided his time late in the race, turning a sixth place start into his 104th career win in the Sportsman division. Using lapped traffic in the closing laps, Rouse made his way passed pole-sitter Taylor Trump. Rocky Warner, who also charged to the front from outside of the top five, recorded a runner-up finish at the short track.
DIRTcar Sportsman Class Statistical Report; Brewerton Speedway; Central Square, N.Y.; Oct. 6, 2016
Feature – (30 Laps) – 1. 18r- Brad Rouse [6]; 2. 1J- Rocky Warner [10]; 3. 9x- Taylor Trump [1]; 4. 21T- Taylor Caprara [3]; 5. 31- Corey Barker [16]; 6. 60- Jackson Gill [2]; 7. 34- Kevin Root [4]; 8. 38- Zach Sobotka [5]; 9. m1- Dave Marcuccilli [14]; 10. 0- Shane Pecore [8]; 11. 15b- Brianna Ladouceur [11]; 12. 15- Todd Root [9]; 13. 32r- Ron Davis III [21]; 14. 7c- Glenn Forward [7]; 15. 87- Roco Leone [13]; 16. p15- Adam Pierson [17]; 17. 73d- Dylan Davidson [12]; 18. 51- Rich Townsend [15]; 19. 52- Jessica Power [25]; 20. 29k- Chris Cunningham [30]; 21. 73- Kevin Chaffee [27]; 22. 11F- Dan Ferguson [19]; 23. 18J- Louie Jackson Jr. [28]; 24. 0F- Tony Finch II [20]; 25. 99- Billy Clark Jr. [23]; 26. 92p- Martin Pelletier [26]; 27. 20H- Tom Collins Jr. [22]; 28. 33- Alex LaJoie [29]; 29. 926- Jordan Kernbske [18]; 30. 7s- Michael Sabia [24] Lap Leaders: Taylor Trump 1-21, Brad Rouse 22-30
Consi 1 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-Feature) – 1. 11F- Dan Ferguson; 2. 20H- Tom Collins Jr.; 3. 52- Jessica Power; 4. 29k- Chris Cunningham; 5. 04- Zack Sam; 6. 33- Alex LaJoie; 7. 7m- Cody McPherson; 8. H88- Mike Jackson; 9. 18J- Louie Jackson Jr.; 10. 352- Fred Proctor; 11. 21g- Adam Gage; 12. 96b- Luke Carleton; 13. 43- Martin Hebert; 14. 06w- Dorian Wahdan
Consi 2 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-Feature) – 1. 0F- Tony Finch II; 2. 99- Billy Clark Jr.; 3. 92p- Martin Pelletier; 4. 81- Austin Susice; 5. 74- Dave Flannigan; 6. 17- Tristan Draper; 7. 11L- Alissa Cody; 8. 21x- Eric Williams; 9. 24k- Nick Krause; 10. 17J- Brent Joy; 11. 9- Brett Draper
Consi 3 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-Feature) – 1. 32r- Ron Davis III; 2. 7s- Michael Sabia; 3. 73- Kevin Chaffee; 4. F16- Earl Rudy; 5. 1- Robert Delormier; 6. 22J- Mike Jackson; 7. 35- Thomas Cook; 8. 8- Alan Fink; 9. 555- Leo Fotopoulos; 10. H88- Chris Hulziser; 11. 17c- Cloby Herzog; 12. 621- Brian Hudson; 13. 16- Jean-Pierre Labelle
Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 87- Roco Leone, 15.041; 2. 7c- Glenn Forward, 15.129; 3. 52- Jessica Power, 15.156; 4. 18r- Brad Rouse, 15.193; 5. 04- Zack Sam, 15.268; 6. 11F- Dan Ferguson, 15.299; 7. 20H- Tom Collins Jr., 15.309; 8. 352- Fred Proctor, 15.779; 9. 062w- Dorian Wahdan, 15.922; 10. 96b- Luke Carleton, 15.931
Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 15- Todd Root, 14.906; 2. m1- Dave Marcuccilli, 14.957; 3. 1J- Rocky Warner, 15.009; 4. 7m- Cody McPherson, 15.166; 5. 29k- Chris Cunningham, 15.184; 6. 18J- Louie Jackson Jr., 15.369; 7. 33- Alex LaJoie, 15.473; 8. 21g- Adam Gage, 15.549; 9. 43- Martin Hebert, 15.636; 10. 88H- Mike Jackson, 15.746
Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 34- Kevin Root, 14.985; 2. 0- Shane Pecore, 15.278; 3. 74- Dave Flannigan, 15.323; 4. 17J- Brent Joy, 15.530; 5. 51- Rich Townsend, 15.543; 6. 81- Austin Susice, 15. 571; 7. 21x- Eric Williams, 15.577; 8. 7x- Joe Sobotka, 15652; 9. 4T- Tony Komuda, 15.745; 10. 0F- Tony Finch II, 15.817
Qualifying Group 4 – 1. 73d- Dylan Davidson, 15.234; 2. 15b- Brianna Ladouceur, 15.272; 3. 31- Cory Baker, 15.308; 4. 92p- Martin Pelletier, 15.312; 5. 24k- Nick Krause, 15.428; 6. 99- Billy Clark Jr. 15.446; 7. 9- Brett Draper, 15.446; 8. 17- Tristan Draper, 15.477; 9. 11L- Alissa Cody, 16.163
Qualifying Group 5 – 1. 60- Jackson Gill, 15.084; 2. 21T- Tony Caprara, 15.355; 3. F16- Earl Rudy, 15.502; 4. 1- Robert Delormier, 15.580; 5. 35- Thomas Cook, 15.604; 6. 621- Brian Hudson, 15.695; 7. 17c- Cloby Herzog, 16.021
Qualifying Group 6 – 1. H88- Chris Hulzier, 15.796; 2. 9x- Tyler Trump, 15.323; 3. 32r- Ron Davis III, 15.378; 4. 8- Alan Fink, 15.441 ; 5. 38- Zach Sobotka, 15.290; 6. 926- Jordan Kernske, 15.359; 7. 88- Mike Jackson, 15.547; 8. 555- Leo Fotopoulos, 15.716; 9. p15- Aaron Pierson, 15.603; 10. 16- Jean-Pierre LaBelle, 16.126; 11. 73- Kevin Chaffee, 15.786; 12. 7s- Michael Sabia, 15.448
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 18r- Brad Rouse; 2. 7c- Glenn Forward; 3. 87- Roco Leone; 4. 11F- Dan Ferguson; 5. 20H- Tom Collins Jr.; 6.04- Zack Sam; 7. 52- Jessica Power; 8. 352- Fred Proctor; 9. 96b- Luke Carleton; 10. 06w- Dorian Wahdan
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 15- Todd Root; 2. 1J- Rocky Warner; 3. m1- Dave Marcuccilli; 4. 29k- Chris Cunningham; 5. 7m- Cody McPherson; 6. 33- Alex LaJoie; 7. 18J- Louie Jackson Jr.; 8. H88- Mike Jackson; 9. 21g- Adam Gage; 10. 43- Martin Hebert
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 34- Kevin Root; 2. 0- Shane Pecore; 3. 51- Rich Townsend; 4. 0F- Tony Finch II; 5. 74- Dave Flannigan; 6. 81- Austin Susice; 7. 17J- Brent Joy; 8. 7x- Joe Sobotka; 9. 4T- Tony Komuda; 10. 21x- Eric Williams
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 15b- Brianna Ladouceur; 2. 73d- Dylan Davidson; 3. 31- Cory Baker; 4. 99- Billy Clark Jr.; 5. 92p- Martin Pelletier; 6. 24k- Nick Krause; 7. 17- Tristan Draper; 8. 11L- Alissa Cody; 9. 9- Brett Draper
Heat 5 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 60- Jackson Gill; 2. 21T- Taylor Caprara; 3. p15- Aaron Pierson; 4. F16- Earl Rudy; 5. 1- Robert Delormier; 6. 73- Kevin Chaffee; 7. 621- Brian Hudson; 8. 35- Thomas Cook; 9. 17c- Cloby Herzog
Heat 6 – (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 2 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 38- Zach Sobotka; 2. 9x- Tyler Trump; 3. 926- Jordan Kernske; 4. 32r- Ron Davis III; 5. 22J- Mike Jackson; 6. 7s- Michael Sabia; 7. 8- Alan Fink; 8. H88- Chris Hulziser; 9. 16- Jean-Pierre Labelle; 10. 555- Leo Fotopoulos
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts and NAPA Auto Parts; in addition to contingency sponsors, including: ASI Race Wear, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, Henry’s Exhaust Systems, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mike’s Racing Heads, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD, Pole Position Raceway, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.
