10/11/2017
CRSA Sprint Cars
Bobby Hackel Invades and Conquers Afton with CRSA Sprint Tour Victory
By Edward Kochersberger (Afton, NY) - Dylan Friebel Photo | The Super Gen Products/Champion Power Equipment CRSA Sprint Tour were an entertaining part of Brett Deyo’s Short Track Supernationals weekend at Afton Motorsports Park on Friday evening. The theme of intense competition and passing opportunities were no different with the 305 Racesaver portion of the big racing event at the Afton Fairgrounds facility. It was East Greenbush New York’s Bobby Hackel who would once again prove that he can come out of the box in a sprint car on rare occasions and win races.
Twenty-two CRSA Sprint Tour competitors would roll by the main grandstand at Afton Motorsports Park in a traditional four-wide formation as a salute to the fans. Altamont New York’s Jeff Trombley, in the Warren’s Auto Body 3A, and Bobby Hackel would pace the field to the green flag for the thirty lap main event. Hackel would assume the lead early in his Full Throttle RC Raceway 24 car.
The field was slowed on a few different occasions. One was for the 56 Pro Fab Enterprises car of Port Jervis’s Billy VanInwegen. His Mike Vandusen-owned ride would suffer from a stuck-throttle. He would have to take evasive measures with his car and lock it down to a stop to prevent further serious issues. Another yellow would be brought out by Billy’s sister, Emily VanInwegen. Her 19EM Johnson and Conroy Insurance, Escape RV car would be involved in a tangle on the front straightaway. All other cars near her during the incident were able to get away with some incredible heads-up driving.
The various cautions would bring restart tests for Bobby Hackel. His biggest challenger would be Schenectedy’s Josh Pieniazek in the JGS Hauling and Recycling number 9. Josh would make some valiant runs down the back straightaway on the restarts. But it was not enough to overtake the 24 car of Bobby Hackel as he would go on to win his first CRSA feature of 2017.
“The race was awesome. We had a great car under us ever since we ran it on Tuesday at Utica Rome. Just out of the box we learned a lot of things this offseason. It took us a little longer to get out than we wanted to. But it was worth the wait. We learned a lot. And it showed. The race was great. The car was kind of under me the whole time. The yellows worked out really good for me. We started to lose some air on the wing in lapped traffic during longer runs. We didn’t quite have the forward drive that we needed. But we were figuring it out.”
Josh Pieniazek would be crowned the Champion of the Algonkin Motel Challenge Series for Afton Motorsports Park in 2017. He locked up the title with the help of a second-place finish in the A-Main event. The CRSA Tour would like to send special thanks to Jamie and Denise Page for supporting the 2017 CRSA Sprint Tour with this Challenge Series.
There was plenty of passing opportunities at Afton Motorsports part during the evening. Ronnie Ford, Leon Andrus and the track staff at Afton did a phenomenal job at making it a very race-worthy surface on their busy evening of competition.
Other notable drivers that would make their way forward in the field were Dalton Herrick, Jerry Sehn and Dustin Purdy. Herrick, from McDonough New York in the Kiser Sand and Gravel 29, would collect the Powdertech Coatings Hard Charger Award. He started from sixteenth position and would finish in the eighth spot. Jerry Sehn, an open wheeled veteran from Deansborough New York in the Walts Body Shop 410, fought his way to a tenth finishing position from an eighteenth starting spot. Dustin Purdy, from Walton New York in the Purdy’s Collision 83 car, would climb from ninth starting spot with a late charge to grab a third place podium finish. This was his best finish of the season.
The Super Gen Products/Champion Power Equipment CRSA Sprint Tour wraps up their season on October 21st as part of Eastern States Weekend at Orange County Fair Speedway. This will be another event that will pay one thousand dollars to the winner. Fans and teams can go to crsasprints.com to find out more about the final event of the 2017 CRSA Sprint Tour season.
Afton Motorsports Park Official Results – Algonkin Motel Challenge Final Event – 10/6/17
HEAT 1: Emily VanInwegen, Christian Rumsey, Sydney Price, Tyler Boniface, Rick Stone, Jerry Sehn, Leo Yeager, Link Pettit
HEAT 2: Billy VanInwegen, Kyle Smith, Brian Krummel, Josh Pieniazek, Dalton Herrick, Chuck Alessi, Johnny Scarborough
HEAT 3: Bobby Hackel, Jeff Trombley, Dana Wagner, Dustin Purdy, Thomas Radivoy, Peter Dance, Chloe Andreas
L & L Heavy Hauling & Mike Emhof Motorsports DASH: Peter Dance, Chuck Alessi, Thomas Radivoy, Dalton Herrick, Rick Stone, Jerry Sehn
A-MAIN: 1. BOBBY HACKEL (1), 2. Josh Pieniazek, 3. Dustin Purdy, 4. Dana Wagner, 5. Jeff Trombley, 6. Sydney Prince, 7. Brain Krummel, 8. Dalton Herrick, 9. Tyler Boniface, 10. Jerry Sehn, 11. Chuck Alessi, 12. Thomas Radivoy, 13. Christian Rumsey, 14. Kyle Smith, 15. Johnny Scarborough, 16. Chloe Andreas, 17. Peter Dance, 18. Emily VanInwegen, 19. Billy VanInwegen, 20. Link Pettit, 21. Leo Yeager, 22. Rick Stone
Algonkin Motel Challenge Mini Series Points Champion: Josh Pieniazek
BONUSES: Shuttleworth Sealing Bonus: Chuck Alessi. Powdertech Coatings Hard Charger: Dalton Herrick 16th – 8th (+8)
Article Credit: Edward Kochersberger
Submitted By: Nicholas Fultz