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Evans Mills, NY-Memorial Day Weekend at the Evans Mills Raceway Park for the last few years has been spectacular. The 2022 version was no exception. The evening started by honoring all the brave service men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the United States of America. These brave soldiers are our heroes and never will be forgotten. Turn four also paid a tribute to the 21 innocent brave souls who lost their lives in Uvalde, TX with 21 pinwheels and crosses. During intermission, race fans were treated to a Country Showcase Concert from Nashville Recording artists, Juna N Joey.
Before the heat races, 2 make up features were run for the Excess Storage Pro Late Models and the Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends. Both winners would double down on the evening and take home two feature wins in the evening. The Excess Storage Pro Late Models led off the evening. Rylee Gill jumped to the lead early on his customary outside lane of the track. However, by lap 3, Cole Perry had other plans. Perry would stick is #23 on the bottom of the track and take the lead from Gill. A caution flag was waved on lap 4 to slow the field. Perry would choose the bottom lane and Gill took the high side. The two would battle side by side for the remaining 11 laps. Gill couldn’t get the drive off the corners as Perry made the low lane work lap after lap. Perry would get the best of Gill on the final lap and beat Gill to the finish line by a car length, for his first feature win of the season and of the night. Gill would settle for second and Matt Larrivee finished third.
The make up for the Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends was next. Chris Malbeuf started on the outside pole and proved to be the class of the field. Malbeuf was on cruise control for the first nine laps before the first caution erased his lead. On the restart, Malbeuf was able to pull away and set sail from the rest of the field. Malbeuf picked up the feature win, Kyle Hart finished second and Brayton Malbeuf finished third.
After intermission, the Sport Compacts and Next Level Excavation Thunderstocks were next onto the speedway. David Liscum and David Paige were the pole sitters, but a series of cautions flew before completing a lap. Liscum was able to lead the first two scored laps, then Paige took the lead for the next two. Justin Coachman took over the top spot-on lap 5. The Sport Compacts were making their way to the front making passes 3 and 4 wide at times. The final caution came on lap 8. The restart found Joe Pettinelli taking over the lead on the outside and pulled away from second place, Coachman. That would be how they finished as Pettinelli won his first feature of the year, followed by Coachman and newcomer Russ Bulger Jr. in third. Joe Orvis continued his undefeated streak by winning the Next Level Excavation Thunderstocks feature.
The Caskinette Ford Modifieds were next as Brad Winters and John Ramsey made up the front row on the start. Winters would take the early and Joel Hargrave would follow up in the second spot as Ramsey struggled on the start. Winters would set the pace early and pull away. Kreig
Heroth and Bryan Sherwood would be on the move from their 6th and 7th place starting positions respectively. Heroth would find Winters on lap 12 and was able to take the lead on the outside by the next lap. Heroth was fast all night long and pulled away from the rest of the field. Sherwood made his way through the field and was able to get by Winters in the closing laps to take over the second position. Sherwood would run out of laps, allowing Heroth to take home his first checkered flag of the season. Sherwood would finish second, followed by Winters, Matt Capara and Joel Hargrave.
The Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends took to the track next, however produced similar results from their earlier make up feature. Chris Malebeuf quickly took the top spot on lap 2 and never looked back. The most intense racing was for second between Brayton Malbeuf and Devin Thornton. As the two battled, Chris Malbeuf extended his lead and took home his second feature win of the evening and third on the season. Thornton settled for second and Brayton Malbeuf crossed the finish line in third.
The night’s finale was the Excess Storage Pro Late Models. The results were a carbon copy of the earlier feature, but this race had the best racing of the evening producing the narrowest margin of victory. Rylee Gill took over first on the top lane on lap 1 from Matt Larrivee. Cole Perry would move into second by lap 2 and by lap 4 was side by side with Gill for the lead. The two would race the final 11 laps door to door, inches away from each other. As soon as Perry would take a half car advantage, Gill would fight back on the outside. The pair of drivers exchanged leads several times until the end of the race. On the final lap, Perry would exit turn 4 with a car full of momentum and cross the line 0.156 seconds ahead of Gill. Perry earned his second win of the season on the same night he earned his first feature win. Gill settled for second and Larrivee was third.
Next weekend, Evans Mills Raceway Park celebrates it’s Vintage Night. The Classic Asphalt Modified Series will make their first of two stops at the raceway. The Caskinette Ford Modifieds, Excess Storage Pro Late Models, Christman Fuel Service INEX Legends, Sport Compact/Next Level Excavation Thunderstocks will all be back in action. In addition to the great racing, there will be a classic and vintage car show in the midway. Pit gates open at 3pm, General Admission at 5pm and racing starts at 6:30pm. Pit pass $35, Adults $15, Military $13, Children 10-17 $10 and under 9 free with paid Adult
