MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — At a place of self-proclaimed “ups-and-downs” in his career, Stewart Friesen closed the curtain on the season for the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco with a victory in the Hard Clay Finale.
Orange County Fair Speedway hosted the final race of the season for the STSS with a $10,500 payday up for grabs, and Friesen took it home to Sprakers, N.Y. with his 41st win in STSS history, the most all-time.
With the future of racing at OCFS uncertain, the Hard Clay Finale may have been the last event ever at the five-eighths-mile oval.
“I’m just proud to be here in (Bicknell Racing Products) Victory Lane,” Friesen stated. “This place is special to me; I’ve been racing here since I was 16 in a Sportsman car.
“If this was it, I’m glad I got the last one, but I sure hope like heck we’re back here in April,” Friesen continued.
As It Happened
Friesen fired from the inside of the second row following the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw, while Anthony Perrego and Matt Sheppard made up the front row for the River Valley Builders North Region finale.
Perrego quickly raced to the early lead, holding off Sheppard and allowing the duo behind him to battle for the runner-up position.
With Sheppard trying to make the outside groove work, Friesen drove underneath him at the completion of lap six to take the second spot away.
Four laps later, Perrego slipped wide off turn four, and Friesen slipped past the fellow No. 44 car to snatch the lead away.
With Friesen leading, attention turned to a hard-charging Mat Williamson who had come from 11th to sixth in the opening 10 laps.
The race’s first yellow came on lap 10 and Williamson seized the opportunity. The St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada native raced from sixth to fourth when the green flag flew and quickly began to apply pressure to Sheppard for third.
Following several mid-race slowdowns, the new runner-up driver would bring out his own caution flag as mechanical issues forced Williamson to retire from the event.
Racing got going again with 27 laps to go and the top five as Friesen, Perrego, Jack Lehner, Andy Bachetti and Alex Yankowski.
With 15 laps to go, Friesen found himself mired in lap traffic and Perrego was quickly closing in.
“I got to the 555 and the 4 racing side-by-side and I didn’t know what to do,” Friesen said with a laugh. “I saw Perrego’s nose but fortunately we were able to get away.”
Friesen withstood a final restart with three laps to go and hung on for the victory.
Perrego finished in the runner-up spot.
“We got a little lucky to get back to second,” Perrego laughed. “We made it interesting for a lap in traffic, but he (Friesen) was the class of the field.”
Sheffield, Mass., native Bachetti rounded out the podium.
“We would go forward and go back,” Bachetti stated of the up-and-down race. “Once the fuel burned off a little bit we got better.”
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
1. 44-STEWART FRIESEN[3]; 2. 44P-Anthony Perrego[1]; 3. 4B-Andy Bachetti[4]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[16]; 5. 49-Max McLaughlin[8]; 6. 9J-Marc Johnson[14]; 7. 97H-Cody Higbie[10]; 8. 16X-Danny Creeden[12]; 9. 88-Ryan Odasz[24]; 10. 2L-Jack Lehner[15]; 11. 10C-Tanner Van Doren[20]; 12. 4-Michael Trautschold[30]; 13. 35M-Mike Mahaney[21]; 14. 55-Allison Ricci[23]; 15. 27K-Brett Tonkin[9]; 16. 27J-Danny Johnson[6]; 17. 16S-Danny Varin[5]; 18. 6H-JR Hurlburt[29]; 19. 35C-Chris Curtis[18]; 20. 17Z-Dillon Steuer[7]; 21. 555-Leo Fotopolous[19]; 22. 3W-Mat Williamson[11]; 23. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[22]; 24. 9S-Matt Sheppard[2]; 25. 76-Frank Cozze Sr[13]; 26. 51-Jerry Higbie[17]; 27. 97T-Danny Tyler[25]; 28. 24-Chris Shultz[31]; 29. 93M-Craig Mitchell[27]; 30. 25-Steve Bernier[26]; 31. 82S-Will Shields[28]