BATAVIA, NY – On Thursday night, the Big Block/Small Block modifieds made their second and final visit to Genesee Speedway, capping off an exciting night at the fairgrounds. As the checkered flag waved, it became clear that familiarity breeds success – five out of the six feature wins this season went to drivers who had already claimed victory at Genesee earlier in the year.
The Pinnacle of Power Modifieds was the main event, and Phil Vigneri seized the lead from the start, taking control on lap 1, while Andrew Smith quickly moved into second by passing David Flanigan on lap 2. Meanwhile, Erik Rudolph of Ransomville, NY, starting eighth, methodically worked his way up to 5th by lap 8. As Vigneri navigated lap traffic, a yellow flag on lap 11 for Andy Jankowiak’s incident reset the field. On the restart, Justin Wright surged to third, challenging the top two, but Rudolph soon followed suit, executing a precision slide job to claim third. Rudolph continued his charge, passing Smith for second on lap 19 and setting his sights on Vigneri. Capitalizing on Vigneri’s struggles in lap traffic, Rudolph pounced on lap 31, taking the lead and never relinquishing it. He dominated the final nine laps, securing a hard-fought victory. In Victory Lane, Rudolph humbly stated, “We’ll take them how we can get them. More importantly, there are a lot of big races coming up, and this is a good momentum builder for those. Vigneri, who led the majority of the race, was gracious in defeat, saying, “He’s (Rudolph) almost impossible to beat, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little heartbroken. I really wanted to win that one.” Andrew Smith rounded out the top three and was pleased with his finish, commenting, “To have a good finish and be on the podium with good guys feels really good.”
Pinnacle of Power Modifieds feature (40 laps) – ERICK RUDOLPH, Phil Vigneri III, Andrew Smith, Justin Wright, Brad Rouse, Kyle Richner, Tyler Willard, Jay Mallory, Will Shields, Dave Flannigan, Shannon Whaley, James Sweeting, Ricky Newton, Luke Carlerton, Brandon Michaud, Jessica Kriegisch, Dalton Slack, John Smith, Andy Jankowiak, Ray Bliss
Heat race winners – Andrew Smith & Justin Wright