Crane Collects Brewerton DIRTcar Pro Stock Spoils

Rich Crane in victory lane at Brewerton Speedway Monday night. (Joe Grabianowski photo)

CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. – Rich Crane, from Canaan, Conn., triumphed in DIRTcar Pro Stock Series action Monday night at Brewerton Speedway.

It was a tight battle for the top positions, as Ashley Falls, Mass., driver Jason Casey drove up from fourth to capture the second step on the podium, while polesitter Devon Camenga was forced to settle for third.

The DIRTcar Pro Stock stop at Brewerton during the annual SummerFAST speedweek has been circled on the calendar for many of the region’s top drivers, but Crane had the facility on his bucket list.

“What a win,” said Crane. “This is awesome. We really wanted to come here. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this facility. This place is great, and the track is so unique. It’s a bucket list track, and to get to run on it with Pro Stocks is awesome. It was a treat.”

After firing from third on the grid, Crane kept the battling leaders in his sights. The veteran DIRTcar Pro Stock pilot began to press leader Camenga mid-race before making his decisive move for the win.

Not only did Crane battle his rivals, but he also battled a tricky racetrack.

“Turns three and four are like a lot of other tracks, but turns one and two aren’t like anything else,” noted Crane. “It makes it fun and challenging once you get the hang of it. One and two come up, and it’s really sharp. If you miss the corner entry and you get up in the slick stuff, it’s hard to get back down there. If you try to slow down too much, the [infield] tire comes up fast, and I clipped it a few times.”

Runner-up Casey battled hard for his SummerFAST second-place finish. Despite his success, this was also Casey's first time at Brewerton.

“It’s a great racetrack, and it’s our first time here,” noted Casey. “What an unbelievable place to drive. It was technical. You had to watch for guys checking up because everyone wanted the bottom. You really had to fight for it.”

Despite getting big runs on the leader, Casey came up short in his quest for the race win.

Camenga, from Troy, N.Y., drew the lucky No. 1 pill in the feature redraw and did everything in his power to hold on to the top spot before fading.

“You never want to go backwards when you start on the front row,” said Camenga. “But these guys are great at short track racing. They understand how the track changes and what they need to do. We were just a little off. We got a little bit better at the end. I am sure I was just driving a little smarter.

“A few mistakes with a lapped car cost me the lead. But we’ll take a third place and build on it.”

Marc Lalonde, from Plantagenet, Ontario, and Luke Horning, out of Gloversville, N.Y., rounded out the top five.

The wait is short for the next round of DIRTcar Pro Stock Series action. This weekend, the tour takes on a doubleheader, Aug. 23-24, at Lebanon Valley Speedway and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.

The finish:

DIRTcar Pro Stock Feature (30 laps): 1. 711-Rich Crane [3]; 2. 324-Jason Casey [6]; 3. 110-Devon Camenga [1]; 4. 8-Marc Lalonde [4]; 5. 2H-Luke Horning [11]; 6. 777-Tommy Lizotte [7]; 7. 48-Jocelyn Roy [15]; 8. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino [10]; 9. 12S-Dakota Sharp [13]; 10. 6C-Brian Carter [12]; 11. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr. [2]; 12. 58-Roxanne Roy [17]; 13. 177-Chris Stalker [5]; 14. 28D-Phillip Defiglio [14]; 15. 2-Pete Stefanski [8]; 16. 2Z-Hugh Page [16]; 17. 57-Chuck McSpirit [19]; 18. 15X-Tyler Bushey [9]; 19. 9-Eric Jean Louis [18].