By: Steven Petty
LAFARGEVILLE, NY – Former track champion and standout Tim Fuller returned to victory lane at “The Nasty Track of the North” Friday night by winning the Bicknell Racing Products 358 Small-Block Modified event as part of DIRTcar Racing’s OktoberFAST at the Can-Am Speedway.
Track regular Jackson Gill and Tim Fuller led the field to the green flag for their 40-lap event with Mike Maresca taking the lead before the end of the first scored lap. Larry Wight raced his way into fourth place on lap five, with Erick Rudolph racing his way into the sixth position on the same circuit. The leaders would hit lap traffic on lap 13 and as a result, the lead trio of Fuller, Maresca, and Anthony Perrego would close in on each other. Fuller would continue to lead as Perrego would pass Maresca on lap 21 to move into the second position.
Just past the halfway mark, third-generation driver Erick Rudolph would take his BBL Racing #25 into third place after passing Maresca on the inside of turn two. The races’ lone caution came out on lap 34 as Stewart Friesen slowed between turns one and two. The following restart would see a three-wide battle for second as Fuller pulled away.
Fuller would go on to score the win over Rudolph, with Perrego, Maresca, and Billy Dunn completing the top five. The Edwards, NY driver earned three victories before tonight’s triumph.
“This was a pretty stacked field” Fuller said in victory lane. “I cannot thank the Maresca’s and St. Lawrence Radiology enough for their support over the past three seasons”, Fuller added.
“The car was good tonight, and it is good momentum to carry into the Big Block race after running this event”, stated runner-up finisher Erick Rudolph.
Anthony Perrego “Tonight was pretty good with the third in the small block race” Perrego said. “The only time I was here when we tested the Graham Racing car last year in similar conditions.
68 Small-Block Modifieds attempted to take time on Friday night at “The Nasty Track of the North”, with Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario’s Stewart Friesen setting the overall quick time with a 20.064-second lap. Qualifying heats were won by Mat Williamson, Tim Fuller, Stewart Friesen, Jimmy Phelps, Larry Wight, and Billy Dunn. The trio of Last Chance Showdown races were won by Roy Bresnahan, David Schilling, and Marc Johnson.
DIRTcar OktoberFAST 358 Modified Quick Results:
Heat 1: Mat Williamson, Jackson Gill, Mike Mahaney, Ronnie Davis, Bob Henry Jr, Andrew Ferguson, Jessey Mueller, James Sweeting, Collin Dubois, Jeff Taylor, Randy Green
Heat 2: Tim Fuller, Pat Ward, Matt Sheppard, Roy Bresnahan, Justin Haers, Ryan Bartlett, Andy Bachetti, Lucas Fuller, Greg Martin, Joel Hall, Ryan Darcy
Heat 3: Stewart Friesen, Michael Maresca, Rocky Warner, Todd Root, Willy Decker, Nick Krause, Ricky Richner, Rex King, Cory Cormier, Michael Mandigo, Greg Atkins (DNS)
Heat 4: Jimmy Phelps, Erick Rudolph, Jordan McCreadie, David Schilling, Tyler Boniface, Michael Stanton JR, George Foley, Matt Steffenhagen, Justin Wright, Richard Smith, Ryan Macartney
Heat 5: Larry Wight, Anthony Perrego, David Marcuccilli, Tyler Meeks, Preston Forbes, Nick Webb, Shaun Shaw, Dylan Zacharias, David Constantino, Kevin Root, Bobby Flood, Randy Shantel
Heat 6: Billy Dunn, Tim Sears Jr, Billy Decker, Marc Johnson, Adam Pierson, Billy VanInwegen, Colton Wilson, Matt Woodruff, Ben Bushaw, Chris Stevens, Cameron Black, Roddy Watts
Last Chance Showdown 1: Roy Bresnahan, Bob Henry Jr, Justin Haers, Ryan Bartlett, Jessey Mueller, Andrew Ferguson, Andy Bachetti, James Sweeting, Lucas Fuller, Ronnie Davis, Collin Dubois, Joel Hall, Greg Martin, Jeff Taylor, Ryan Darcy
Last Chance Showdown 2: David Schilling, Todd Root, Willy Decker, Matt Steffenhagen, Corey Cormier, Nick Krause, Rex King, Michael Stanton, Jr, Richard Smith, Ricky Richner, Tyler Boniface, George Foley, Justin Wright, Michael Mandigo, Ryan Macartney,
Last Chance Showdown 3: Marc Johnson, Tyler Meeks, Preston Forbes, Adam Pierson, Billy VanInwegen, Shaun Shaw, Nick Webb, Ben Bushaw, Matt Woodruff, David Constantino, Cameron Black, Colton Wilson, Chris Stevens, Kevin Root, Randy Shantel, Roddy Watts, Dylan Zacharias, Bobby Flood (DNS)
DIRTcar 358 Modified Feature (40 Laps): TIM FULLER, Erick Rudolph, Anthony Perrego, Michael Maresca, Billy Dunn, Larry Wight, Jimmy Phelps, Mike Mahaney, Jackson Gill, Mat Williamson, Tim Sears Jr, Rocky Warner, Pat Ward, Jordan McCreadie, Billy Decker, David Schilling, David Marcuccilli, Willy Decker, Adam Pierson, Roy Bresnahan, Marc Johnson, Preston Forbes, Stewart Friesen, Bob Henry Jr, Matt Steffenhagen, Todd Root, Justin Haers, Ryan Bartlett, Tyler Meeks, Matt Sheppard.