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Corcoran Outduels Dominant Murtaugh in Thrilling Sportsman Series Opener at Can-Am

Thrilling finishes and exciting racing action were all part of the 51st season opener at the Nasty Track of the North, the Can Am Speedway this past Friday night. Nearly 100 cars packed the pit area for a big card of racing which featured the kick off for the DIRTcar Sportsman North Regional Series.

Fulton New York’s Richard Murtaugh and track regular Gavin Eisele brought the field of 30 starters to Mike LaClair’s green flag for the start of the 30 lap event and Murtaugh wasted not time showing how dominant he would be in the early laps. Murtaugh stretched his advantage out early by over three seconds with Eisele, Bobby Herrington, Savannah Laflair and Tyler Corcoran completing the top five early on. Murtaugh was cutting through lapped cars with no issue while behind him Tyler Corcoran was using the extreme outside lane to pick up spots, moving to the runner up position just past the halfway point, but had a long way to go to catch the leader. On lap 18 Corcoran got the break he wanted as Owen Nier slowed to a stop in turn four, bringing out the yellow. When the green flew Corcoran and Murtaugh put on a spectacular side by side battle, with each driver taking turns on the outside and inside lanes while Gavin Eisele, Bobby Herrington and Shane Pecore battled for the remaining positions in the top 5. Coming to the white flag, Corcoran was able to slip by Murtaugh in turn 4 and finally was able to pull away to record back to back season openers in the Bob Johnson Auto Group DIRTcar Sportsman division. Murtaugh once again was shut out of Can am victory lane coming home second with Gavin Eisele, defending North Region Champion Shane Pecore and Bobby Herrington completing the top 5.

The 25 lap Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modifieds were set to go green and it was a battle of youth versus experience on this night. Jackson Gill was shaking down his small block and was running well as he took the lead at the drop of the green flag with Chris Raabe and Billy Dunn just behind him. Gill had a fast car and was able to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field in the early going. On lap 2 Remington Hamm caught the turn three wall ending his night early. On the restart Gill took the lead from the bottom but Billy Dunn was right there to challenge as he cleared Raabe for the runner up spot. As the top two drivers marched away from the field defending track champion Tim Fuller was on the move from 9th start spot. Fuller quickly got to third as he pursued the top two drivers. On lap 18 traffic started to become a factor which tested Gill many times as Dunn and Fuller started to put the pressure on. Gill did not back down from the veterans, who totaled over 110 Can Am Modified wins, as he was looking for his first. As the laps clicked off Dunn was able to draw alongside of Gill on multiple occasions, but couldn’t get by for the top spot while Fuller watched from third with Chris Raabe and Lance Willix making up the top 5. On the final lap Gill was able to get away from Dunn and marched on to score his first Can Am 358 Modified win. Dunn crossed in second with Tim Fuller, Lance Willix and Chris Raabe the top 5.

The Panther Frameworx Crate Sprints were ready to go with one of the biggest fields in the history of the division taking the green flag. Bruno Richard was strong on this night as he charged to the lead and started to pull away, with last years opening day winner Tucker Donath in second and Andrew Hennessy third. Richard had a fast car and was looking for his first Sprint Car win since he won the season finale in 2023. Behind him Donath and Hennessy staged their battle for the runner up spot while Josh Verne Jr. was on the move from the back of the field in a back up car and Nick Webb was making his Sprint Car debut and running a strong 5th. Rachel Zacharias was also making her debut but broke in turn 4 bringing out the only yellow in the event. On the final restart Richard did everything right as he broke away from Tucker Donath and the rest of the field to grab the popular win and made it clear to the fans that he would be chasing the track title in 2025. Tucker Donath and Andrew Hennessy crossed 2nd and 3rd while Josh Verne Jr. came from the back to finish 4th in a back up car and Nick Webb’s Sprint Car debut resulted in a 5th place finish.

Corey Valade was the driver to beat in the 15 lap Sundance Leisure Thundercar division as he grabbed the top spot early on. Several early race cautions slowed the field, one for 2008 opening day winner J.R. Durham, who caught the turn three wall ending his night early and a shot at a second opening day win. As the laps clicked off Valade had checked out on the field but Michael Greenfield was on the move from his 5th starting spot taking away second from Justin Pope, but was running out of time for a chance at his second ever opening day win. In the end nobody was catching Corey Valade as he dominated the final laps to score his second ever Can Am win and first on opening day. Greenfield crossed in second with Justin Pope, Jared Gilson and defending track champion Damien Bechler the top 5.

In Donath Motorworx Limited Sportsman action, it was a battle of two karting stand outs as Genavieve Bartlett and Mason Rogers battled early on for the top spot. Bartlett was able to get away from Rogers early on in the 12 lap event. Rogers tired several times to run down the leader but on this night, Bartlett was too strong as she dominated the night claiming her first win of 2025 and second of her career in the class. Rogers claimed a career best runner up finish with Brianna Murtaugh, Eymarah Bowman and Mike Durham completing the field.

Next week it’s Five Dollar Friday’s at Can Am Speedway. In addition to it being $5 grandstand admission for ALL it is also School Spirit Night! Join us as we celebrate and honor our home town team, the 2025 New York State Class D Champions the Lafargeville Girls Basketball Team! Our fans are encouraged to wear red! In addition NOCOCON will be joining us in the midway with some really great displays! Stay tuned this week as we share more details. All five divisions will be on hand with local non-profit Fort Drum MWR joining us in the midway. Gates open at 5pm with racing beginning at 7pm. To keep up with what is happening at Can Am in 2025, be sure to visit our website at racecanam.com, follow us on Facebook and if you can’t make it to the track, be sure to favorite us on My Race Pass.

Whitesboro Plow Shop DIRTcar 358 Modified

• Feature (25 Laps): 1. 60-Jackson Gill[1]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[4]; 3. 19-Tim Fuller[9]; 4. 31-Lance Willix[7]; 5. 01-Chris Raabe[3]; 6. 28-Jordan McCreadie[5]; 7. 7S-Shaun Shaw[12]; 8. 11-Matt Caprara[11]; 9. 66W-Derek Webb[8]; 10. 39-Ryan Bartlett[6]; 11. 74-Lucas Fuller[10]; 12. 26-Michael Mandigo[2]; 13. 18W-Scott Webb[16]; 14. 3M-Franklin Mackin[19]; 15. 12-Addison Bowman[20]; 16. 23-Cameron Black[24]; 17. 9X-Willy Decker Jr[17]; 18. 21R-RJ Tresidder[13]; 19. 21JR-Larry Welling[21]; 20. 24-Jake Granacker[22]; 21. (DNF) 63-Adam Roberts[23]; 22. (DNF) 21-Andrew Howard[14]; 23. (DNF) 9-Tyler Meeks[18]; 24. (DNF) 57H-Remington Hamm[15]
• Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Jackson Gill[1]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[4]; 3. 31-Lance Willix[6]; 4. 74-Lucas Fuller[2]; 5. 21R-RJ Tresidder[5]; 6. 18W-Scott Webb[3]; 7. 3M-Franklin Mackin[7]; 8. 24-Jake Granacker[8]
• Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Michael Mandigo[1]; 2. 28-Jordan McCreadie[3]; 3. 66W-Derek Webb[4]; 4. 11-Matt Caprara[6]; 5. 21-Andrew Howard[5]; 6. 9X-Willy Decker Jr[8]; 7. 12-Addison Bowman[7]; 8. 63-Adam Roberts[2]
• Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Chris Raabe[3]; 2. 39-Ryan Bartlett[1]; 3. 19-Tim Fuller[6]; 4. 7S-Shaun Shaw[5]; 5. 57H-Remington Hamm[8]; 6. 9-Tyler Meeks[2]; 7. 21JR-Larry Welling[4]; 8. 23-Cameron Black[7]

Bob Johnson DIRTcar Sportsman

• DIRTcar SPT Series Race (30 Laps): 1. 64-Tyler Corcoran[7]; 2. 33-Richard Murtaugh[1]; 3. 18-Gavin Eisele[2]; 4. 0-Shane Pecore[6]; 5. 88H-Bobby Herrington[3]; 6. 410-Mike Fowler[10]; 7. 91-Josh Reome[5]; 8. 35B-Brennan Moore[13]; 9. 52-Jessica Power[9]; 10. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[8]; 11. 34K-Keegan Nier[11]; 12. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[18]; 13. ZERO-Xavier Andrews[16]; 14. 34-Eric Nier[14]; 15. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[12]; 16. 92-Frank Sibley[20]; 17. 20-Elliot Gamache[21]; 18. 16X-Savannah Laflair[4]; 19. 03-Joshua Jock[17]; 20. 54-Brady Howard[15]; 21. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[24]; 22. 338-Pascal Payeur[19]; 23. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[28]; 24. 14-Camdin Cook[27]; 25. 35D-Dylan Moore[22]; 26. 2-Taylor Doxtater[25]; 27. 7D-Dustin Hutton[26]; 28. 17-Owen Nier[23]; 29. 2X-Martin Lessard[30]; 30. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[29]
• LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 20-Elliot Gamache[2]; 2. 35D-Dylan Moore[1]; 3. 17-Owen Nier[3]; 4. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[4]; 5. 2-Taylor Doxtater[5]; 6. 7D-Dustin Hutton[6]; 7. 14-Camdin Cook[14]; 8. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[7]; 9. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[10]; 10. 1R-Ricky Thompson[8]; 11. 2X-Martin Lessard[15]; 12. 79-Chris Hale[11]; 13. (DNS) 62-Jonathan Murphy; 14. (DNS) 6-Cody Manitta; 15. (DNS) 5R-Steve Roberts; 16. (DNS) 9-Logan Brown
• Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[1]; 2. 64-Tyler Corcoran[2]; 3. 52-Jessica Power[4]; 4. 35B-Brennan Moore[3]; 5. 03-Joshua Jock[5]; 6. 35D-Dylan Moore[7]; 7. 2-Taylor Doxtater[8]; 8. 62-Jonathan Murphy[9]; 9. 5R-Steve Roberts[6]
• Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Shane Pecore[1]; 2. 18-Gavin Eisele[2]; 3. 410-Mike Fowler[3]; 4. 34-Eric Nier[4]; 5. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[9]; 6. 20-Elliot Gamache[8]; 7. 7D-Dustin Hutton[6]; 8. 1D-Paul DeRuyter[7]; 9. 14-Camdin Cook[5]
• Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh[1]; 2. 16X-Savannah Laflair[2]; 3. 34K-Keegan Nier[5]; 4. 54-Brady Howard[3]; 5. 338-Pascal Payeur[4]; 6. 17-Owen Nier[8]; 7. 7O7-Greg Brinklow[6]; 8. 79-Chris Hale[7]; 9. 2X-Martin Lessard[9]
• Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 88H-Bobby Herrington[1]; 2. 91-Josh Reome[5]; 3. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan[3]; 4. ZERO-Xavier Andrews[4]; 5. 92-Frank Sibley[7]; 6. 621G-Trevor Gibbons[6]; 7. 1R-Ricky Thompson[8]; 8. 6-Cody Manitta[9]; 9. 9-Logan Brown[2]
• Hot Lap TT G1 (3 Laps): 1. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson, 00:20.988[3]; 2. 64-Tyler Corcoran, 00:20.989[8]; 3. 35B-Brennan Moore, 00:21.134[2]; 4. 52-Jessica Power, 00:21.304[4]; 5. 03-Joshua Jock, 00:21.489[6]; 6. 5R-Steve Roberts, 00:21.616[1]; 7. 35D-Dylan Moore, 00:21.794[7]; 8. 2-Taylor Doxtater, 00:21.818[9]; 9. 62-Jonathan Murphy, 00:22.543[5]
• Hot Lap TT G2 (3 Laps): 1. 0-Shane Pecore, 00:20.815[1]; 2. 18-Gavin Eisele, 00:20.967[5]; 3. 410-Mike Fowler, 00:20.983[9]; 4. 34-Eric Nier, 00:21.107[8]; 5. 14-Camdin Cook, 00:21.114[6]; 6. 7D-Dustin Hutton, 00:21.144[7]; 7. 1D-Paul DeRuyter, 00:21.367[4]; 8. 20-Elliot Gamache, 00:21.513[3]; 9. (DNS) 92T-Tristan Ladouceur
• Hot Lap TT G3 (3 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh, 00:21.214[2]; 2. 16X-Savannah Laflair, 00:21.285[3]; 3. 54-Brady Howard, 00:21.490[1]; 4. 338-Pascal Payeur, 00:21.495[5]; 5. 34K-Keegan Nier, 00:21.496[6]; 6. 7O7-Greg Brinklow, 00:21.599[7]; 7. 79-Chris Hale, 00:21.725[4]; 8. 17-Owen Nier, 00:21.871[8]; 9. 2X-Martin Lessard, 00:22.395[9]
• Hot Lap TT G4 (3 Laps): 1. 88H-Bobby Herrington, 00:21.110[3]; 2. 9-Logan Brown, 00:21.284[6]; 3. 32RS-Ryan Shanahan, 00:21.389[1]; 4. ZERO-Xavier Andrews, 00:21.409[5]; 5. 91-Josh Reome, 00:21.412[7]; 6. 621G-Trevor Gibbons, 00:21.506[4]; 7. 92-Frank Sibley, 00:21.530[2]; 8. 1R-Ricky Thompson, 00:21.782[8]

Panther Frameworx 602 Crate Sprint Cars

• Feature (20 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard[1]; 2. Z28-Tucker Donath[3]; 3. 87-Andrew Hennessy[2]; 4. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[9]; 5. 27W-Nick Webb[4]; 6. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[6]; 7. 25-George Sanford[7]; 8. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[5]; 9. 89N-Chad Kramer[8]; 10. 6-Jon Liberty[11]; 11. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[10]; 12. (DQ) 100-Chris Hulsizer[12]
• Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 72-Bruno Richard[1]; 2. Z28-Tucker Donath[2]; 3. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[3]; 4. 25-George Sanford[4]; 5. 89N-Chad Kramer[6]; 6. 71R-Rachel Zacharias[5]
• Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[2]; 2. 27W-Nick Webb[1]; 3. 30-Ken Klinkowsky[4]; 4. (DNS) 100-Chris Hulsizer; 5. (DNS) 1V-Josh Verne Jr; 6. (DNS) 6-Jon Liberty

Sundance Leisure ThunderCar

• Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade[1]; 2. 17-Michael Greenfield[5]; 3. 21-Justin Pope[6]; 4. 22J-Jared Gilson[3]; 5. 26R-Damien Bechler[4]; 6. 60-Francis White[13]; 7. 94-OJ White[8]; 8. 3R-David Rasmussen[9]; 9. 73T-Timothy Greenfield[7]; 10. 28-Colby Hibbard[11]; 11. (DNF) 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[2]; 12. (DNF) 22-Tony Frezzo[10]; 13. (DNS) 02-Jr Durham
• Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21V-Corey Valade[1]; 2. 22J-Jared Gilson[4]; 3. 17-Michael Greenfield[5]; 4. 73T-Timothy Greenfield[2]; 5. 3R-David Rasmussen[6]; 6. 28-Colby Hibbard[3]
• Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 111J-Anthony St Mary Jr[4]; 2. 26R-Damien Bechler[3]; 3. 21-Justin Pope[5]; 4. 94-OJ White[6]; 5. 22-Tony Frezzo[7]; 6. 02-Jr Durham[2]; 7. 60-Francis White[1]

Donath Motor Worx Limited Sportsman

• Feature (12 Laps): 1. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[1]; 2. 44-Mason Rogers[2]; 3. 5-Eymarah Bowman[4]; 4. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[3]; 5. 6-Mike Durham[5]
• Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 11-Genavieve Bartlett[2]; 2. 44-Mason Rogers[1]; 3. 33B-Brianna Murtaugh[4]; 4. 5-Eymarah Bowman[3]; 5. 6-Mike Durham[5]

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