7/4/2025
Utica-Rome Speedway
SWERNIK,TALBOT, HORNING, AND LUKAS CLAIM VICTORIES IN THE BILL SHEA MEMORIAL AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY - July 3, 2025
SWERNIK,TALBOT, HORNING, AND LUKAS CLAIM VICTORIES IN THE BILL SHEA MEMORIAL AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY
VERNON, NY.....Thursday night, Utica-Rome Speedway paid tribute to former track promoter, car owner, and sponsor Bill Shea with the running of the 3rd annual Bill Shea Memorial event, presented by Dirt Track Digest and Tom Cole's Lexi LLC.
Round 3 of the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modified Challenge Series began with Rocky Warner jetting out into the lead, but Teddy Starr's spin brought out a quick yellow on lap 2. On the restart, Warner again took the lead as Payton Talbot charged from his seventh starting spot into the top three and battled Neil Stratton for second. Matt Janczuk was on a charge, and he roared into second and ran down race leader Warner to battle him for the top spot. Marc Johnson caught Stratton to battle for the fifth spot as Talbot used a lapped car for a pick and roll on Janczuk to take the second spot. Talbot and Warner battled for the lead on lap 20, running side by side, with Talbot getting the top spot on lap 21. A quick caution bunched the field again, but Talbot was able to pull away from Warner and held him at bay to become the third different winner in the series. Warner finished second, followed by Janczuk, Johnson, and Stratton.
VP Racing Fuels 358 Modified Challenge Series heats were won by Addison Bowman, Willy Decker, and Payton Talbot.
In the 25-lap Empire Super Sprints 'A' Main, Chuck Hebing was the early leader as Jordan Poirier moved from fifth to second in the first two laps. Dylan Swernik slid into third as the leaders started catching traffic at the one third mark of the race. Swernik used the traffic to close in on Poirier and Hebing to make it a three-way race for the lead. Swernik made the move into second on lap 10 and set his sights on leader Hebing, with Poirier still in the mix. On lap 13, Swernik snuck past Hebing for the lead as Poirier slid over the bank in turn one, losing a couple of spots. Logan Chrisafulli took third, but Poirier roared back to take the spot. Paulie Colagiovanni and Dave Franek also battled for spots in the top five as Swernik extended his lead. Swernik pulled away for the win in the caution-free affair, with Hebing second, Poirier, Chrisafulli, and Colagiovanni completed the top five.
Empire Super Sprint heats were won by Billy VanInwegen, Jordan Poirier, and Chuck Hebing. Danny Varin captured the Dash event and Chase Moran was the winner of the 'B' Main.
The 25-lap Taylor's Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman feature saw Carson Rothwell take the early lead from Zack Welch. Payton Talbot, the 358 Modified winner, was a hard charger in the early going, coming from 12th 4th by lap 8. Talbot battled Ed Lukas for third as Rothwell continued to maintain a gap over Welch. Rothwell began to catch the back of the field at lap 17, which allowed the top four to close up. Welch slipped past Rothwell for the lead on lap 22, with Lukas moving into second. Lukas caught Welch on the final lap and slid under him in turn four coming to the checkers to snag the win by .139 over Talbot, who nipped Welch for second at the line. Josh Coonradt and Rothwell rounded out the top five.
Taylor's Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman heats were won by Josh Amodio, Josh Coonradt, and Tyler Peet. Paul Carey picked up the consolation race win.
In the 20-lap feature for the Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks, Gus Gould grabbed the early lead while Shane Playford battled with Hunter Keith. Playford had slight contact with Luke Horning and spun in turn one on lap 2, collecting AJ Walters. When racing resumed, Horning took the lead with Devon Camengea moving into second with Brett Belden in tow. Camengea took second on lap 4 and chased after Horning as Slater Baker passed Keith for fourth. Horning had built a lead, but it was negated by a caution for Eric Stumpf's spin on lap 10. Baker nipped past Camengea on the restart as Horning pulled away once again and at the checkers, Horning captured the feature victory. Baker held off Camengea for second, followed by Camengea, Belden, and George Cushman.
Next Generation Graphix Pro Stock heats were won by Shane Playford and Bret Belden.
Racing continues at Utica-Rome Speedway on Friday, July 11th when Puleo Landscape LLC presents a full program of racing with an appearance by the Slingshot by Tobias Tour. Racing begins at 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.uticaromespeedway.com .
RACE SUMMARY-DIRT TRACK DIGEST/TOM COLE'S LEXI LLC BILL SHEA MEMORIAL-UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY-JULY 3, 2025
VP RACING FUELS 358 MODIFIED CHALLENGE SERIES-PAYTON TALBOT, Rocky Warner, Matt Janczuk, Marc Johnson, Neil Stratton, Chris Mackey, Willy Decker, Sean Beardsley, Bobby Hackel IV, Lance Willix, Shaun Walker, Brandon Walters, Brian Calabrese, Addison Bowman, Noah Walker, Rusty Smith, Pat Ward, Gordon Smith, Nick Zielinski, Stephen Gray, Brendan Gibbons, Zack Welch, Aaron Jacobs, Alissa Cody, Tucker O'Connor, Mike Richmond, Teddy Starr.
EMPIRE SUPER SPRINTS 'A' MAIN-DYLAN SWERNIK, Chuck Hebing, Jordan Poirier, Logan Chrisafulli, Paulie Colagiovanni, Dave Franek, Jason Barney, Billy VanInwegen, Sammy Reakes IV, Chris Hile, Matt Tanner, Danny Varin, Ryan Turner, Alex Therrien, Chase Moran, Chad Phelps, Matt Farnham, Dalton Rombough, Joe Trenca, Nick Sheridan, Kyle Smith, Evan Reynolds, Parker Evans, Tyler Reynolds, Shawn Donath, Emily VanInwegen.
TAYLOR'S TRAILERS CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN-ED LUKAS, Payton Talbot, Zack Welch, Josh Coonradt, Carson Rothwell, Tyler Peet, Seth Martin, Connor Prokop, Mike Richmond, Buddy Leathley, Josh Amodio, Matt Richardson, Dave Richer, David Hackett, Stephen Denton, Garret Chillot, Jeremy Slosek, Jayden Wust, Sullivan Dickey, Josh Fellows, Jared Green, Andrew Eaton, Eymarah Bowman, Paul Carey, Brett Mortensen, Eric Jensen.
NEXT GENERATION GRAPHIX PRO STOCKS-LUKE HORNING, Slater Baker, Devon Camengea, Brett Belden, George Cushman, Micha Achzet, AJ Walters, Jim Normoyle, Hunter Keith, Shane Playford, Ken Gates, Justin Knight, Gus Gould, Toby Cooper, Ed Kotary, Ryan Denton, Mike Keith, Eric Stumpf, Ray Richer.
Article Media
