The Hurricane 50 drew a stellar field of 69 DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds Thursday night at the Brewerton Speedway.
Tyler Trump and Rocky Warner shared the front row for the 50-lap Feature with Warner taking command from the outset. Trump battled hard with Martin Pelletier and Rick Yelle for the runner-up spot, allowing Warner to extend his advantage.
By lap 13, seveth-starting Dave Marcuccilli had worked his way into the third position behind Warner and Trump.
A yellow on the following lap erased Warner’s lead and put Trump and Marcuccilli on his tail. Marcuccilli quickly disposed of Trump and set his sights on Warner.
Marcuccilli was closing in ever so slightly on Warner and by the halfway point, the two were separated by no more than two car-lengths. The duo stayed that distance for upwards of ten laps before a lap 35 yellow lined Warner and Marcuccilli side by side.
Marcuccilli, who was strong on restarts on all evening, pounced on Warner setting up a big slide job in turn two on the 37th circuit. Marcuccilli slid across the track halting the momentum of Warner, allowing 11th-starting Glenn Forward to move by Warner as well.
Forward, who won Tuesday’s satellite show at Utica-Rome, stayed pace with Marcuccilli momentarily but was unable to mount a threatening challenge as the latter went on to capture the Hurricane 50 in convincing fashion over the final 15 laps.
Marcuccilli, who was celebrating his 41st birthday, thrilled his fans with a burnout in turn four before parking his No. M1 in Victory Lane.
“Going into that Feature, I didn’t think we were going to be as good as we were in the slick stuff,” a relieved Marcuccilli said.
When asked about his pass for the lead on Warner, Marcuccilli cited, “I could get a run on him and get on his back bumper, but getting by him was a different story. That caution helped us. I was able to get good drive off the middle.”
“This is pretty awesome. A great way to start DIRT week. Hopefully, we can carry this speed into Oswego tomorrow,” Marcuccilli added.
Forward settled for second and was strong in short bursts. “Those late cautions really helped us. The longer the race went Green, the looser we got,” Forward said.
“Coming from 11th, I can’t complain,” Forward said with a smile. “We finally got this thing going.”
Trump settled for third and mentioned his weakness on the night was the restarts that the other podium finishers cited as a strong suit.
HURRICANE 50 Feature Top 20: 1. M1 – Marcuccilli; 2. 7C – Forward; 3. 9X – Trump; 4. 1J – Warner; 5. 5 – Holland; 6. 7 – McPherson; 7. 32R – Davis III; 8. 82 – Shields; 9. 92P – Pelletier; 10. 52 – Power; 11. 20 – Schilling; 12. 3 – Mackey; 13. 87 – Leone; 14. 31 – Barker; 15. 5Y – Yelle; 16. 20K – Inman; 17. 98M – Thompson; 18. 77E – Stabler; 19. 33XL – LaJoie; 20. 15 – Pierson.
Sportsman Modified Timed Hot Laps Results:
Group 1: 1. 9X – Tyler Trump (14.834); 2. 33XL – Alex Lajoie; 3. 3 – Chris Mackey; 4. 18R – Brad Rouse; 5. 60 – Jackson Gill; 6. 7S – Michael Sabia; 7. 7 – Cody McPherson; 8. 555 – Leo Fotupoulous; 9. 29J – Joel Hall; 10. 24K – Nick Krause; 11. 29 – Nick Heywood; 12. 16 – Aaron Jacobs
Group 2: 1. 15 – Todd Root (15.150); 2. 73 – Dylan Davidson; 3. 92P – Martin Pelletier; 4. 99 – Billy Clark, Jr.; 5. 713 – Tom Collins, Jr.; 6. 16 – Earl Rudy; 7. 8 – Alan Fink; 8. 20K – Kyle Inman; 9. 9 – Bobby Flood; 10. 11 – Alissa Cody; 11. 3C – Colby Herzog; 12. 11F – Dan Ferguson
Group 3: 1. M1 – Dave Marcuccilli (15.103); 2. 5Y – Rick Yelle; 3. 31 – Corey Barker; 4. 98T – Tyler Thompson; 5. 15 – Adam Pierson; 6. 20 – David Schilling; 7. 19L – Joe Williams; 8. 27 – Jeremy Pitts; 9. 73 – Kevin Chaffee; 10. 1 – Jim Spano; 11. 42 – Darryl Nutting; 12. 173 – Cody Bleau
Group 4: 1. 87 – Rocco Leone (15.259); 2. 1J – Rocky Warner; 3. 5 – Amy Holland; 4. 15B – Brianna Ladouceur; 5. 22C – Cedric Gavreau; 6. 75 – Tommy Wickham; 7. 9R – Tom Razhau, Jr.; 8. 06W – Dorian Wahdan; 9. 54 – Fred Proctor; 10. 1L – Jeff Lawrence; 11. 21 – Richard Paige
Group 5: 1. 72 – James M. Friesen (15.335); 2. 32R – Ron Davis III; 3. 34R – Kevin Root; 4. 20X – Kevin Ridley; 5. 00 – Jeff Dessier; 6. 17J – Brent Joy; 7. 52 – Jessica Power; 8. 11T – Jeff Taylor; 9. 771 – Joe Sobotka; 10. 17 – Bobby Gage; 11. 68 – Bill Megnin
Group 6: 1. 18 – Tyler Singleton (15.210); 2. 99W – Ben Wheeler; 3. 82 – Will Shields; 4. 38 – Zach Sobotka; 5. 77E – Ryan Stabler; 6. 7C – Glenn Forward; 7. 104 – Zack Sam; 8. 35 – Thomas Cook; 9. 8R – Rich Ragala; 10. 42B – Dylan Zacharias; 11. 3H – Cole Hentchel; 12. 29K – Chris Cunningham
Heat Race Results: 8 laps, Top 3 Transfer, Top 2 Redraw
Heat 1: 1. 9X – Trump; 2. 18R – Rouse; 3. 7 – McPherson // 33XL: Lajjoie; 3 – Mackey, 7S – Sabia, 60 – Gill, 29 – Heywood, 555 – Fotupoulous, 24K – Krause, 29J – Hall, 16 – Jacobs
Heat 2: 1. 15 – Root; 2. 92P – Pelletier; 3. 99 Clark, Jr // 713: Collins, Jr; 8 – Fink; 20K – Inman; 16 – Rudy; 11F – Ferguson; 73 – Davidson; 91 – Flood; 3C – Herzog; 11 – Cody
Heat 3: 1. M1 – Marcuccilli; 2. 5Y – Yelle; 31 – Barker; // 98T – Thompsoni; 15 – Pierson; 20 – Schilling; 27 – Pitts; 19L – Williams; 73 – Chaffee; 1 – Spano; 42 – Nutting
Heat 4: 1. 1J Warner; 2. 5 – Holland; 3. 87 – Leone // 15B – Ladouceur; 22C – Gavreau; 9R – Razhau, Jr; 54 – Proctor; 75 – Wickham; 1L – Lawrence; 06W – Wadhan
Heat 5: 1. 32R – Davis III; 2. 17J – Joy; 20X – Ridley // 00 – Dessier; 52 – Power; 34R – Root; 72 – Friesen; 17 – Gage; 771 – Sobotka; 11T – Taylor; 21 – Paige; 68 – Megnin
Heat 6: 1. 99W – Wheeler; 2. 7C – Forward; 82 – Shields // 38 – Sobotka; 35 – Cook; 77E – Stabler; 42B – Zacharias; 8R – Ragala; 104 – Sam; Hentchel; 29K – Cunningham; 18S – Singleton
LCS (4) Results: 10 laps, Top 2 Transfer
Last Chance Showdown 1: 1. 33XL – Lajoie; 2. 15 – Pierson // 34R – Root, 29 – Heywood, 7S – Sabia; 73C – Chaffee; 24K – Krause; 54 – Proctor; 11T – Taylor; 72 – Friesen; 21 – Paige; 00 – Dessier; 68 – Megnin
Last Chance Showdown 2: 1. 713 – Collins, Jr; 2. 77E – Stabler // 38 – Sobotka; 20K – Inman; 19L – Williams; 8R – Ragala; 3H – Hentchel; 22C – Gavreau; 3C – Herzog; 91 – Flood; 17 – Gage; 16 – Jacobs
Last Chance Showdown 3: 1. 3 – Mackey; 2. 98T – Thompson // 52 – Power; 20 – Schilling; 555 – Fotupoulous; 60 – Gill; 06W – Wahdan; 16 – Rudy; 771 – Sobotka; 29J – Hall
Last Chance Showdown 4: 1. 8 – Fink; 2. 11F – Ferguson // 15B – Ladoucuer; 73 – Davidson; 42B – Zacharias; 27 – Pitts; 104 – Sam; 11 – Cody; 9R – Razhau, Jr.; 35 – Cook.
