David Rogers moves from third to first on inside groove after restart to drive himself to Victory Lane
It was a night for hometown heroes at Can-Am Speedway as La Fargeville, NY native David Rogers took home the checkers in the DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region matchup for his fifth career Series win.
Pole sitter Eric Nier shot out in the lead at the drop of the green flag for the 30-lap, $1,000-to-win, Feature with La Fargeville, NY native Gavin Eisele following behind in second. Rogers moved his way through early traffic after starting eighth on the grid, making his way into third place by Lap 3.
After a string of cautions tested Nier’s ability to hold his lead, one last restart delivered a different result than the rest. Rogers eased into the inside groove without hesitation once the green flag dropped on Lap 17 as Nier attempted to fend off Eisele charging on the outside. Rogers had a wide-open space to pass both competitors on the inside, taking the lead away from the Carthage, NY driver.
Once in clean air, he extended his lead out in front, using his track experience to maintain his position. Behind him, several position changes took place with Mike Fowler moving into third and former leader Nier dissipating into eighth place.
Rogers continued his charge to the finish, taking lap after lap off the counter. He held steady for the remaining laps, unchallenged by his competition behind him, scoring his fifth career DIRTcar Sportsman Series win and his second at Can-Am Speedway. It was his second Feature win of the season overall.
“We have five starts and have two wins,” Rogers said.” “So, that’s pretty good. I got around on the bottom (on the Lap 17 restart) and I got beside Eric (Nier) and I, of course, was three cars away, and he moved over and gave me a lane,” Rogers said. “So, I appreciate that.”
Gavin Eisele held on to finish in the runner-up position behind Rogers.
“Overall, we were pretty good,” Eisele said. “David (Rogers) was just a little better. Overall, we had a great car. I thought we had a winning car, but he was obviously a little better.”
Fowler finished in third place to round out the podium.
“We were good tonight,” Fowler said. “Obviously, Dave (Rogers) was the class of the field, so hats off to that team. They really put in the work. He runs you clean but he runs you hard. Hats off to them. They were the fastest car all night, and the fastest car won.”
Tyler Corcoran finished in fourth and Jessica Power finished in fifth. Nier finished the night in seventh.
DIRTcar Sportsman Series North Region Feature (30 Laps): 1. 44-David Rogers[8]; 2. 18-Gavin Eisele[2]; 3. 410-Mike Fowler[6]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran[7]; 5. 52-Jessica Power[10]; 6. 35B-Brennan Moore[13]; 7. 34-Eric Nier[1]; 8. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[11]; 9. 57H-Remington Hamm[12]; 10. 91-Josh Reome[18]; 11. 17-Owen Nier[5]; 12. 88-Fire Swamp[3]; 13. 92-Frank Sibley[17]; 14. 5-Kyle Devendorf[4]; 15. 63M-Franklin Mackin[21]; 16. 6-Brian Hudson[19]; 17. 62-Jonathan Murphy[14]; 18. 18G-Justin Gadbaw[22]; 19. 12S-Kyle Sharp[30]; 20. 98-Domonick Merkley[23]; 21. 25-George Sanford[27]; 22. 7D-Dustin Hutton[16]; 23. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[25]; 24. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[26]; 25. 03-Joshua Jock[24]; 26. 1W-Brad reif[29]; 27. 10X-Cory Castell[28]; 28. 2-Taylor Doxtater[9]; 29. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[15]; 30. (DNF) 5R-Steve Roberts[20]
