By Joe Grabianowski
After holding off all-time winningest DIRTcar Sportsman Series driver Cody McPherson and swapping the lead with Emmett Waldron, Gavin Eisele, from Lafargeville, NY, stood atop Weedsport Speedway’s Victory Hill trophy in hand, claiming the opening round of the DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region.
Eisele, a young driver making his name in the North Country, quelled a high-quality DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central Region field featuring some of the best Sportsman drivers from the Northeast. Despite starting from the pole position, Eisele went wheel-to-wheel with third-place finisher Waldron and veteran McPherson in the closing stages.
“Emmett [Waldron] rolled me on the top on one of the restarts,” said Eisele. “I saw that and was waiting for a caution. Once we got the caution, I knew I had to back up for the restart. I entered way wide, and once I saw him put some wheel input into it, I drove up and dragged him on the straightaway. I don’t know if I chopped him or not, but I had to get to the bottom of Turn Four and break his momentum.”
Eisele drove with confidence on a technical Weedsport Speedway.
“When you see who the guys are behind you, you just gotta go,” noted Eisele. “I finished second here multiple times at the Classic. I’ve always been at the bottom of the hill. It’s great to be on top!”
The new faces of the Sportsman Series will need to contend with defending Champion Cody McPherson, from St. Catharines, Ontario, wherever he unloads. A looming black No. 7 in your rearview mirror is not something to take lightly.
After Eisele finished dicing with Waldron, the 30-lap Feature still needed settling, and McPherson came charging late as he often does in Series races.
“The track had character,” McPherson noted. “Nothing massive. Just lots of little holes and some rumble strips. At first, I was trying to avoid them, but then I found it was faster to drive through them. I got really good at the end but screwed up. I got close to Gavin [Eisele], got tight, and it put me into the inside wall. That was my chance there.”
Emmett Waldron, another young up-and-coming Sportsman driver, rounded out the Weedsport podium. The Savannah, NY driver started third and made it up into the lead, but after 30 laps, settled for a third-place finish.
“I was rolling the middle and top,” said Waldron. “I had a restart on the top and passed him there. It was pretty good, but we got another yellow, and I made a mistake and went to the bottom on the restart. He got me.”
Waldron faded from the top two but maintained his podium position.
“I broke the Schrader valve off the right rear shock, so that kind of hurt us a little bit,” Waldron said. “Solid run. I haven’t finished outside the Top 5 all year. I thought the car was good, but we just couldn’t get rolling in clean air. It’s a good start to the year and a good start to the Series.”
The next DIRTcar Sportsman Series Central region race is Friday, June 27, at Brewerton Speedway. For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18-Gavin Eisele[1]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson[5]; 3. 4-Emmett Waldron[3]; 4. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck[4]; 5. 33-Richard Murtaugh[10]; 6. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 7. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[8]; 8. 10G-Austin Germinio[6]; 9. 410-Mike Fowler[11]; 10. 6-Cody Manitta[24]; 11. 33JR-Clayton Brewer III[27]; 12. 113JR-Frank Guererri[17]; 13. 35B-Brennan Moore[19]; 14. 25-Evan Nugent[2]; 15. 0-Tony Finch II[21]; 16. 111-Brett Senek[7]; 17. 7G-Tyler Guzzardi[23]; 18. 16X-Savannah Laflair[26]; 19. 711-Nick Ventura[22]; 20. 44-Ryan Barrett[29]; 21. 37-TJ Frost[28]; 22. 10J-Josh Livingston[16]; 23. R1-Riley Rogala[18]; 24. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[15]; 25. 8-Kevin Chaffee[12]; 26. 99-Brett Martin[13]; 27. 92-Frank Sibley[25]; 28. 20K-Kyle Perry[20]; 29. 99M-Jordan Millard[14]; 30. 28-Jordan Moden[30]
