The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship showcases the best drivers across the region to compete head-to-head. As a result, the Fulton Speedway SummerFAST crowd was treated to a side-by-side battle to the finish between all-time Series Feature winner Cody McPherson, from St. Catharines, ON, and Gavin Eisele, from LaFargeville, NY who won the previous Series race at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.
Gavin Eisele, still walking on air after his first career DIRTcar Sportsman Series win on Sunday, put it all together again to make it back-to-back visits to Victory Lane. This time it was on the SummerFAST stage at Fulton Speedway after an intense duel with Cody McPherson.
Eisele grabbed the lead early but found himself locked in battle with Cody McPherson after a restart. McPherson made the pass for the lead and it appeared he had the car to beat.
“I started overdriving a little bit and just had to calm myself down and hit my marks a little better,” said Eisele. “But I noticed I was a little better coming out of four. I had to make sure I was there though at the checkered flag.”
It wasn’t meant to be for McPherson as Eisle found just enough traction out of Turn 4 to beat McPherson to the finish line after an incredible side-by-side duel.
“When you are racing against Cody [McPherson] that tight it’s always difficult,” said Eisele. “That was an awesome race. This thing has been a rocket lately.”
That rocket has pocketed Eisele back-to-back DIRTcar Sportsman Series wins.
Canadian driver Cody McPherson was smiling widely getting out of the car despite coming up short against one of the North Country’s best young talents.
“I needed a little bit more gear to run the bottom,” noted McPherson. “This was only my second time here. Now I know. I could run the top and roll the middle. It was good but I knew I needed to be on the bottom of three and four. I just couldn’t clear him. I had to pinch him as much as I could but he was just hitting his marks.”
“He raced him clean and he raced me clean. Hats off to Gavin [Eisele] and the whole team. It was a fun race and I hope the fans enjoyed it.”
The race for the final step on the podium was no less exciting. Zach Sobotka, from Parish, NY, started sixteenth before picking off 13 cars in 30 laps at Fulton.
“We got off to a pretty bad start in Time Trials and our Heat Race. So that made us start pretty far back there in the Feature,” said Sobotka.
Fortunately, Fulton was in prime condition with racing lanes available from top to bottom.
“The track was racy and you could go where you wanted,” he noted. “My car would work for a few laps on top and I’d have to cool the right rear on the bottom. I assume the tire cooled down and I could go back up there and run guys down.”
“Sixteenth to third? I can’t complain about that.”
The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship heads to Ransomville Speedway in Ransomville, NY for the Mike Bonesky Memorial on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
Sportsman Championship (30 Laps): 1. 18E-Gavin Eisele[3]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson[5]; 3. 38-Zach Sobotka[16]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 5. 4-Emmett Waldron[18]; 6. 5-Kyle Devendorf[6]; 7. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck[8]; 8. R1-Riley Rogala[12]; 9. 410-Mike Fowler[15]; 10. 01-Zachary Buff[17]; 11. 52-Jessica Power[4]; 12. 30-Nicholas Root[10]; 13. 15-Adam Leslie[11]; 14. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[14]; 15. 44C-Greg Carner[27]; 16. 10G-Austin Germinio[24]; 17. 21-Ryan Barrett[29]; 18. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[2]; 19. 284-Jamie Kamrowski[19]; 20. 18H-Brian Harber[26]; 21. 16X-Savannah Laflair[22]; 22. 55H-Austin Harmer[25]; 23. 43-Tavien Blowers[21]; 24. 71-Tim Falter[28]; 25. 23-David Dickey[23]; 26. 21J-Justin Liechti[20]; 27. 6-Cody Manitta[7]; 28. 92-Frank Sibley[30]; 29. (DNF) 0-Tony Finch II[13]; 30. (DNF) 7S-Torrey Stoughtenger[1]
Post-Race Tech: Checked coils, distributor module, and seals.
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Jessica Power (Free Tire)
