Champions honored at Ransomville Speedway awards banquet

Ransomville Speedway honored its 2021 track champions Saturday night at the annual awards banquet at the Lewiston Fire Co. No. 2 firehall. Breakaway provided music for the evening, and Donna Eick catered the meal. Rick Mooney and Steven Petty served as the masters of ceremonies.

Mat Williamson (St. Catharines, Ontario) and Erick Rudolph (Ransomville) were honored as the 2021 Krown Undercoating Modified track champions. Williamson won six times and Rudolph scored four wins. Ryan Susice won twice, while James Sweeting, Jonathan Reid and Chad Brachmann each won once. Eight-time Super DIRTcar Series Champion Matt Sheppard won the 36th Summer Nationals for the Super DIRTcar Series. The Best Appearing Modified went to Susice. Sweeting was named the division’s Most Improved Driver. Reid was named Rookie of the Year.

Brett Senek (Ransomville) won his third straight Investor’s Service Sportsman title. He won three times and had 16 top-five finishes en route to the title. Scott Kerwin scored a division-high six victories. Cameron Tuttle and Derek Wagner each won three times. Dave DiPietro won twice. The Best Appearing award went to Kerwin. Tuttle was named the Most Improved Driver and Dylan Duhow was named the division’s Rookie of the Year.

“Showtime” Jaren Israel (Wilson) won his first KiPo Chevrolet Street Stock championship. The champ visited victory lane 11 times in route to the divisional crown. “That Guy” Mike Kramarz scored one victory and Pete Stefanski won twice. Chris Dziomba had the Best Appearing Street Stock for the second consecutive season. Kramarz was awarded the division’s Most Improved Driver award. Tommy Bowen was named Rookie of the Year.

Chris Miller (Olcott) won his first Sunflowers of Sanborn Mini Stocks track title. Miller used consistency to win the title with 11 top fives and 14 top-10 finishes. Cole Susice won three times. Ryan Plante won twice. Dante Mancuso won six times to lead the division. Matt Hornquist, Chris Leone, Brad Whiteside, Rich Conte and Bill Weller Jr. each won once. Jeffery Wynes had the Best Appearing Mini Stock. Brian Melcher was the Most Improved Driver and Mike Becker was the Rookie of the Year for the Mini Stock division.

Jake Bansmer from East Aurora won the Kevin’s Carpet Cleaning Novice Sportsman track championship. Bansmer won six times in his rookie season at the “Big R.” Sam Junkin won three times in 2021. Colby Adamczak, Brandon Close and Andrew Joy each won once. Duhow won twice before moving up to the Investor’s Service Sportsman division. Twenty-two different drivers competed in the entry-level division this past season, the most for any Novice Sportsman division in the region.

The Driver of the Year went to three-time Sportsman champion Senek. Matthew Spangenberg was named Owner of the Year. Spangenberg owns the Snow Slayer Mini Stock entries for several drivers, including divisional champion Miller. Mike Seefeldt and Chris Murphy were named the Pat Spina Mechanics of the Year. Both Seefeldt and Murphy have been longtime crewmembers and tire guys for Modified champions Williamson and Rudolph respectively. The Hard Luck Award recipient was Darrell Borkenhagen.

The Dedication to Racing Award went to the “Voice of the Ransomville Speedway,” Rick Mooney. He has announced at Ransomville for over 20 seasons and is stepping back from the weekly announcing following the 2021 season. Kerwin was named the 2021 Trevor Wilkins Hard Charger Award. Steve Lewis Jr. was the recipient of the Ray MacIver Sportsmanship Award.

Look for the 2022 schedule and rules to be released in the coming weeks. Fans can follow Ransomville Speedway on social media for all updates as well as the speedway website, www.ransomvillespeedway.com.

Ransomville Speedway is located on Braley Road in the hamlet of Ransomville. “The Big R” is a 3/8th-mile DIRTcar-sanctioned facility that is the “Home of the Summer Nationals.” Ransomville also features a 1/16th-mile go-kart track for action on the “Little R” on Thursday nights. For more information, visit www.ransomvillespeedway.com or call 716-791-3602 or 716-791-3611.