Ransomville Speedway honors 2021 track champions
Dec. 7—Ransomville Speedway honored their 2021 track champions Saturday night at the annual Awards Banquet at the Lewiston Fire Company #2 Hall. Breakaway provided music for the evening and Donna Eick catered the meal. Rick Mooney and Steven Petty served as the Masters of Ceremonies.
Mat Williamson from St. Catharines, Ontario, and Erick Rudolph from Ransomville were honored as the 2021 Krown Undercoating Modified track champions. Williamson won six times and Rudolph scored four wins. Ryan Susice won twice, while James Sweeting, Jonathan Reid and Chad Brachmann each won once. Eight-time Super DIRTcar Series Champion Matt Sheppard won the 36th Summer Nationals for the Super DIRTcar Series. The Best Appearing Modified went to Susice. James Sweeting was named the division's Most Improved Driver. Jonathan Reid was named Rookie of the Year.
Brett Senek from Ransomville won his third straight Investor's Service Sportsman title. Senek won three times and had 16 top-five finishes en route to the title. Scott Kerwin scored a division-high six victories. Cameron Tuttle and Derek Wagner each won three times. Dave DiPietro won twice. The Best Appearing award went to Kerwin. Tuttle was named the Most Improved Driver and Dylan Duhow was named the division's Rookie of the Year.
"Showtime" Jaren Israel from Wilson won his first KiPo Chevrolet Street Stock championship. The champ visited victory lane 11 times in route to the divisional crown. Mike Kramarz scored one victory and Pete Stefanski won twice. Chris Dziomba had the Best Appearing Street Stock for the second consecutive season. Kramarz was awarded the division's Most Improved Driver award. Tommy Bowen was named Rookie of the Year.
Chris Miller from Olcott won his first Sunflowers of Sanborn Mini Stocks track title. Miller used consistency to win the title with 11 top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes. Cole Susice won three times. Ryan Plante won twice. Dante Mancuso won six times to lead the division. Matt Hornquist, Chris Leone, Brad Whiteside, Rich Conte and Bill Weller Jr. each won once. Jeffery Wynes had the Best Appearing Mini Stock. Brian Melcher was the Most Improved Driver and Mike Becker was the Rookie of the Year.
Jake Bansmer from East Aurora won the Kevin's Carpet Cleaning Novice Sportsman track championship. Bansmer won six times in his rookie season at the Big R. Sam Junkin won three times in 2021. Colby Adamczak, Brandon Close and Andrew Joy each won once. Dylan Duhow won twice before moving up to the Investor's Service Sportsman division. Twenty-two different drivers competed in the entry-level division this past season, the most for any Novice Sportsman division in the region.
The Driver of the Year went to three-time Sportsman champion Brett Senek. Matthew Spangenberg was named Owner of the Year. Spangenberg owns the Snow Slayer Mini Stock entries for several drivers, including divisional champion Miller. Mike Seefeldt and Chris Murphy were named the Pat Spina Mechanics of the Year. Both Seefeldt and Murphy have been longtime crew members and tire guys for Modified champions Williamson and Rudolph, respectively. The Hard Luck Award recipient was Darrell Borkenhagen.
The Dedication to Racing Award went to the "Voice of the Ransomville Speedway," Mooney. Mooney has announced at Ransomville for over 20 seasons and is stepping back from the weekly announcing following the 2021 season. Kerwin was named the 2021 Trevor Wilkins Hard Charger Award. Steve Lewis Jr. was the recipient of the Ray MacIver Sportsmanship Award.
