RANSOMVILLE, N.Y. — Brett Senek scored the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series victory at Ransomville on Tuesday evening in the 30-lap, $2,000-to-win, showcase event.
Starting on the outside of the front row with pole sitter Dave DiPietro, Senek passed him for the lead in turn four on lap two. Senek continued with his momentum, until the caution flag fell on lap nine. DiPietro came to a rolling stop going into turn two on the caution, and did not return to compete.
Six laps later at the half-way point, Senek still led the field, followed by Sobotka, Buff, Mason, and Root. Senek continued to hold his lead out in front, waiting for someone to challenge him. Back-to-back cautions caused a break in the momentum of the race, giving the competition a chance to catch the leader on a restart.
On the Lap 24 restart, Senek’s lead was hotly contested by Sobotka looking to pass him with an aggressive move, but to no avail.
Senek survived both of the restarts, scoring his first win of the Championship Series. He led 29 of the 30 laps.
“I figured (the track) was going to rubber up. It was going to get abrasive. So, I just kinda had to go with what I had. But starting outside pole definitely helped. (Sobotka) had a good restart (on lap 24). He was there and I had to get into turn one pretty straight, and hope that I could get back around him.
Sobotka acknowledged track positioning as the main factor that impeded him from passing Senek on one of the several restarts.
“I was trying everything,” Sobotka said. “I haven’t been here too many times. I think this is my third time ever. All I’ve learned is you want to pick the outside on a restart. (Senek) kept doing that, I would stick with him and I tried to throw some stuff at him, but the outside on a restart is just too good.”
Nelson Mason made a move on the outside on Lap 25 to pass two time championship series winner Andrew Buff.
“It was important to get on the podium, we’ve had a pretty long week since (Land of Legends). We basically had to rebuild the car…to come out and be competitive is just a testament to everyone in the shop. But we spaced out on the restarts. Everyone was kind of the same pace. I was having to pick up spots on the restart. That was my only game plan.”
Andrew Buff finished the night in fourth and Cody McPherson finished the night in fifth to round out the top-five finishers.
Feature Finish (30 Laps)
1. 111S-Brett Senek[2]; 2. 38-Zach Sobotka[3]; 3. 35-Nelson Mason[7]; 4. 92-Andrew Buff[5]; 5. 7-Cody McPherson[10]; 6. 18W-James Harbison[16]; 7. 26-Kyle Richner[13]; 8. 30-Nicholas Root[6]; 9. 64-Tyler Corcoran[23]; 10. 75-AJ Custodi[11]; 11. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[4]; 12. 35T-Cameron Tuttle[8]; 13. 15-Adam Leslie[22]; 14. 52-Jessica Power[14]; 15. 2-Taylor Doxtater[24]; 16. 63-Jessica Kriegisch[19]; 17. 3M-Justin McKay[20]; 18. 28D-Mitch Dumont[21]; 19. 410-Mike Fowler[17]; 20. 95-Kearra Backus[30]; 21. 28-Jordan Moden[18]; 22. 2V-Larry Vick[25]; 23. 3N-Noah Mamo[27]; 24. 23N-Nathan Peattie[29]; 25. 54-Timmy Catalano[28]; 26. (DNF) 42-Colby Adamczak[15]; 27. (DNF) 21J-Justin Liechti[26]; 28. (DNF) 32C-Kasey Coffey[12]; 29. (DNF) 27Z-Dave DiPietro[1]; 30. (DNF) 61-Derek Wagner[9]