WILLIAMSON, NY (June 15, 2024) - The Small Block Super Championship Series kicked off its season with a 20-lap feature at the Spencer Speedway on Friday night, replacing the originally scheduled opener at Evans Mills Raceway Park in May due to rain. Despite an accident-filled event at Oswego Speedway the week prior, a decent field of 12 cars was present for the first SBS race at Spencer since 2018, with many teams making repairs to support this event.
After a delay for track lighting and heat wins by Lou LeVea Jr. (29) and Dan Kapuscinski (23), the feature got underway with Kapuscinski redrawing the pole and Russ Brown, filling in for DJ Shuman in the No. 62, starting alongside him. Greg O’Connor and rookie Matt Matteson made up row 2, followed by LeVea Jr. and Robbie Wirth in row 3, Noah Ratcliff and AJ Larkin in row 4, and Ryan Gunther and Tessa Crawford in row 5. Griffin Miller, filling in for Drew Pascuzzi in the No. 72, and veteran Barry Kingsley in the Jeff Carson No. 10 rounded out the field in the last row.
On the original start, Matteson and Ratcliff came together, causing Ratcliff to spin. This moved Wirth up to fourth, LeVea Jr. to fifth, and Miller to sixth as Gunther and Larkin elected to start at the tail on the second original restart.
When the green flag flew again, Kapuscinski took the lead from the inside in turn 1, with Wirth passing O'Connor for third and Miller moving up to fourth, as they gave chase to Brown. LeVea Jr. took fifth from O'Connor, but that is when Kingsley and Matteson made major contact that resulted in Kingsley sliding into the grass in a shower of sparks, also involving O'Connor and Larkin, which resulted in another delay as the tow truck came out for Matteson and Kingsley.
Still with 0 laps complete, another restart saw Kapuscinski and Brown on the front row, this time with LeVea Jr. moving up to third, Wirth to fourth, and Miller to fifth. Brown got a better start this time, but brushed wheels with LeVea Jr. and spun between turns 1 and 2.
On the following restart, Wirth slowed from third with radio issues and went to the rear. The grid was now Kapuscinski and LeVea Jr. on the front row, teammates Miller and Ratcliff in row 2, and Gunther and Brown making up row 3. Another caution flew at the drop of the green as LeVea Jr. lost control battling Kapuscinski for the lead in turn 1.
Finally, a single-file restart saw Kapuscinski leading, with Miller second, Ratcliff third, Gunther fourth, and Brown fifth, followed by Larkin, Wirth, LeVea Jr., and Crawford. Kapuscinski pulled out in front with Miller close behind, but Ratcliff lost the handle of his No. 73 on lap 2, bringing out another caution.
On the restart, Brown and Larkin passed Gunther for third and fourth, respectively, and it was not long before the race was at the halfway mark, with Kapuscinski, Miller, and Brown having pulled away from the rest of the field.
Larkin, still running fourth, was challenged by Wirth, who made a late-race charge from the rear and with less than 10 laps to go, took fourth from Larkin as the leaders hit lapped traffic.
Back out front, Miller briefly closed the gap on Kapuscinski, but Kapuscinski managed to extend his lead and secure the feature win. It was his first career victory at Spencer Speedway and his 17th overall in an SBS (13 Oswego, 4 Small Block Super Championship Series).
"I haven’t been to Spencer in almost 20 years. The race track was great tonight," Kapuscinski said in victory lane. "Sorry we didn’t put on that great of a race there at the end. My team was really busy all day. We had the wing car here and I felt really good about how that was going, but the 61 car slid up a little bit, I just barely caught his right rear tire, and my car went up in the air. When it came down, everything in the front end broke, and I took a hard shot, so it’s good to get a win with this car. Having Griffin (Miller) behind me made me a little nervous; he has a ton of laps out here and knows this place like the back of his hand, but we were able to hang on and get it done. We’ll just have to go back to the homework board with the 350 now, but all in all, it was a good day. I have to thank Steve Flack, Dave Elen, Paul Stepien, Oley Johnson, Mike Bond, and all of the sponsors on the car: Billy Whittaker Cars & Trux, Premiere Landscaping, and Mohawk Northeast."
Kapuscinski, a two-time Oswego track champion, has now won SBS features at Oswego, Evans Mills Raceway Park, Lancaster Motorplex, and Spencer Speedway.
Danny K joins a prestigious list of SBS winners at Spencer Speedway that includes Brown, Daryl Nichols, Bob Bond, John Ketcham, Jay Andrews, Russell Bartlett, Steve Austin, Matt Wheeler, Lou LeVea Sr., Dave Gruel, and Dave Cliff.
The next show for the Small Block Super Championship Series will be the 35-lap, $1,500 to win Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS event at Oswego Speedway on August 10th.
RESULTS
‘Wings & Things’ 20
Friday, June 14, 2024
Small Block Super Championship Series
Spencer Speedway
Williamson, NY
Feature (20-laps): 1. 23 DAN KAPUSCINSKI, 2. 72 Griffin Miller, 3. 62 Russ Brown, 4. 04 Robbie Wirth, 5. 35 AJ Larkin, 6. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 7. 22 Ryan Gunther, 8. 29 Lou LeVea Jr, 9. 47 Matt Matteson, 10. 20 Tessa Crawford, 11. 90 Greg O’Connor, 12. 10 Barry Kingsley
Heat 1 (8-laps): 1. 29 Lou LeVea Jr, 2. 90 Greg O’Connor, 3. 62 Russ Brown, 4. 04 Robbie Wirth, 5. 73 Noah Ratcliff, 6. 72 Griffin Miller
Heat 2 (8-laps): 1. 23 Dan Kapuscinski, 2. 47 Matt Matteson, 3. 22 Ryan Gunther, 4. 35 AJ Larkin, 5. 20 Tessa Crawford, 6. 10 Barry Kingsley
- CAMDEN PROUD on Jun 15, 2024
- Article Date: 6/15/2024