LAFARGEVILLE, N.Y. — Veteran Can-Am Speedway master Tim Fuller was not to be denied a trip to victory lane in the 60-lap DIRTcar 358 Modified Series lid lifter Wednesday night at Can-Am Speedway.
The crowd was treated to an incredible duel between Billy Dunn and the race winner. Erick Rudolph, who started ninth, worked his way up through the field to finish in second. Meanwhile, Mat Williamson, rounded out the podium with another third.
Tim Fuller had not won a feature since last year and be picked the perfect time to shake the bad luck off. Fuller noted, “It’s been a struggle all spring and here in the summer.”
A $4,000 check will chase away anyone’s blues and Fuller had some important people to thank. “First and foremost thanks to St. Lawrence Radiology, Mike and Lauren Maresca,” Fuller said. “They fund this whole project here and they sponsored the race tonight. They are big DIRTcar supporters.”
Billy Dunn lead the race late in the tilt but a rear end failure ended his night on the backstretch with the caution flags unfurled. Just before that, Dunn and Fuller had a battle going that every race fan in attendance will remember.
Fuller and Dunn were wheel to wheel for at least five laps consecutively. Neither would give an inch, they raced hard and with serious professionalism. For the duel to end as it did, with a smoking, broken Dunn machine, was a shame.
Fuller described his tactics, “Machine Gun Billy Dunn had the fastest car. He found the bottom before I did. He was the car to beat before he blew up. I thought I could have a run at him on those long greens because I knew he had a little bit softer tire.”
With the No. 49 behind the wall, Erick Rudolph and Mat Williamson could smell blood.
Rudolph stayed consistent for the whole 60 laps and made passes when the opportunity arose. He wanted to take a run at the No. 19 but Rudolph read the play well.
“I thought I had something for Fuller but then on that last restart, he proved me wrong. He just took off like he put it in another gear. He checked out. I’ll settle for second. Not a bad night for us,” said Rudolph.
Williamson finished third for the second night in a row.
“It was challenging,” he said. “The track is nice when it gets black like this. Early in the feature, it started to take rubber. We tightened up too much but we were really good on restarts.”
The finish:
Feature (60 laps) 1. Tim Fuller 2. Erick Rudolph 3. Mat Williamson 4. Michael Parent 5. Mike Mahaney 6. Ryan Arbuthnot 7. Bobby Herrington 8. Jordan McCreadie 9. Dave Marcuccilli 10. Ronnie Davis 11. Corey Wheeler 12. Danny Johnson 13. Chris Raabe 14. Ryan Bartlett 15. Carey Terrance 16. Steve Bernier 17. Yan Bussiere 18. Kyle Dingwall 19. Jeff Sykes 20. Tyler Meeks 21. Scott Webb 22. Billy Dunn 23. Nick Webb 24. Lance Willix 25. Tim Sears Jr. 26. Mike Maresca 27. Pat Ward. 28. Tom Conklin 29. Chad Brachmann 30. Todd Root 31. Robbie Bellinger