Season underway at Ransomville Speedway

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·4 min read

May 18—It had been 608 days since the last time Ransomville Speedway hosted a racing event. Under picture-perfect weather conditions, the gates reopened for the 63rd season of racing at the "Big R" on Friday night.

Brad Whiteside from Caledonia, N.Y., won the inaugural Mackenzie Kulesza Memorial for the Sunflowers of Sanborn Mini Stocks. Third-generation driver Erick Rudolph, from Ransomville, won the Krown Undercoating Modified feature. Newfane's Scott Kerwin won in the Investor's Service Sportsman. Pete Stefanski, from Wheatfield, won the main event for the KiPo Motors Street Stocks. Dylan Duhow, also from Newfane, took the main event for the Kevin's Carpet Cleaning Novice Sportsman.

Curtis Rung and Tim Durfy were on the front row for the Kulesza Memorial and it was Rung in the lead with Whiteside racing in second. Whiteside would take the lead on lap three with Chris Leone, Ryan Plante and James Gayton racing in the top five. Brian Melcher hit the turn one wall off the lap three restart to immediately bring out the caution.

On the restart, Leone would take over second place with Gayton moving into third. Leone and Gayton would battle for second as Whiteside started to pull away. Rung spun and hit the turn three wall to bring out the caution on lap seven. Leone would take the lead off the restart with Whiteside, Plante, Cole Susice and Ashley Harbison racing in the top five.

Susice would move into third at the halfway mark with Plante going to the pits, ending his top-five run. Leone and Whiteside would battle for the lead with Whiteside regaining it on lap 16. The leaders would encounter lap traffic on lap 18. Rick Neamon brought out the caution on lap 18 after laying fluid on the track. Harbison would move into third on the restart, but the caution would come back out as Adam Filer spun in turn three.

The late-race restart would see Leone in the lead with Whiteside, Susice, Harbison, and Chris Miller racing in the top five. Leone and Whiteside would duel for the lead and Whiteside would regain the lead with three laps remaining. Susice would charge after Whiteside, but Whiteside would pick up the win.

Rudolph and Mat Williamson set the front row for the Krown Undercoating Modified feature with Rudolph showing the way. Ryan Susice and Chad Brachmann battled for third as Greg Martin passed Kyle Inman to enter the top five. Brachmann would regain the third position away from Susice on lap 15, just as Rudolph started to work on lap traffic.

Kerwin and Noah Walker brought the Investor's Service Sportsman to the green flag with Kerwin quickly taking the lead as Brett Senek and Cameron Tuttle battled for third. A mid-race restart would see Kerwin out front over Senek, Brett Martin, Walker and Derek Wagner racing in the top five. Zack Sam would battle with Walker, Wagner and Tuttle for fifth place as the leaders pulled away from the field. Kerwin would go on to score the win over Senek, Martin, Walker and Wagner.

Jaren Israel and Anthony Guthrie set the pace in the KiPo Motors Street Stock feature and the caution came out as Mark Loveland spun on his own in turn two. Israel would head into the lead on the green flag with Stefanski quickly moving into second place with Mike Kramarz racing in third. Stefanski would battle with Israel for the lead and Stefanski would take over the lead on lap five. Israel would keep Stefanski in his sights, but Stefanski would pull away in the waning laps to pick up the win.

Sam Junkin and Duhow shared the front row for the Kevin's Carpet Cleaning Novice Sportsman with Duhow taking over the lead at the end of lap one. Duhow would open his lead over Junkin with qualifying heat winner Ken Washburn, Jake Bansmer and Greenley George racing in the top five. Washburn would spin in turn three on lap 10 to bring out the race's first caution. Duhow would take off back into the lead with Junkin, George and Bansmer racing in the top four. Duhow would pull away from the field to pick up the win.

The season began at the Little R a day earlier with the SANY New York Go-Karts. Jeff Anstett swept the main events for the Finish Line Auto Detail Senior Heavy and won the Fisher's Automotive Senior Lites feature. Anthony Pollow won the feature event for the Fitzgibbon Contracting and Construction Junior 3. Jacob Schulz won the SJE Shocks Junior 2. Giovanni Paonessa won the Slack Karts Junior 1. Rhys Porter, Luke Holmes and Raelyn Just scored the wins in the Just Signs & Designs Novice.

Action at the Big R is back Friday as SANY New York presents a full card of Krown Undercoating Modifieds, Investor's Service Sportsman, KiPo Motors Street Stocks, Sunflowers of Sanborn Mini Stocks and Kevin's Carpet Cleaning Novice Sportsman. Pit gates will open at 5 p.m. with grandstands opening at 6 and racing set to begin at 7:15.

Thursday, the Little R hosts another full card, with free grandstand admission.