For the third time in four years, Cody McPherson showed his competitors that the road to a DIRTcar Sportsman Series West Region title goes through him.
The St. Catharines, ON driver passed Stephen Miller on a Lap 11 restart and cruised to win his sixth career DIRTcar Sportsman Series Feature at Ransomville Speedway.
Tyler Foster and Stephen Miller, who won last week’s Feature at the track, led the field to the green in the 30-lap Feature. However, that was quickly slowed as the caution came out before a lap was completed.
On the restart, Foster used his momentum on the inside lane to take the lead as they completed Lap 1. Another caution followed on Lap 3, though, as Same Hoxie and Daryl Barrett came together in Turns 1 and 2.
When the race resumed, the first lead change of the Feature followed. Miller, who started on the outside line, powered around the outside of Fosters No. 53 to grab the position as they raced down the backstretch on Lap 3.
Behind Miller, McPherson was moving forward, using the inside lane to sneak past Foster on Lap 10, and setting his sights on Miller for the lead. The break McPherson needed came one lap later, when a caution for Matthew Jessome lined him up next to Miller.
That restart was all the three-time DIRTcar Sportsman Series champion needed, as he rolled past Miller on the bottom to take the lead on Lap 11.
From there, McPherson went untouched to score his 25th career DIRTcar Sportsman Series victory, taking $1,000 for his efforts.
The Canadian competitor said once he got to the lead, he was just trying to hit his marks.
“I got a bit of a lead at the end there, so I was just trying to take it easy and protect the right rear,” McPherson said. “The track was really fast, but it was slick in the middle. I was abusing [the tire] early, so I wanted to make sure I was taking care of it and brought it home at the end.”
Brett Senek crossed the line second in his quest to earn back-to-back West Region wins at Ransomville. The defending region champion, from Ransomville, NY, said he was happy with his finish and can’t wait to race against McPherson again on Saturday at Merrittville Speedway.
“I feel like I was getting better as the race went on,” Senek said. “But who knows. The car was good. We’re definitely going in the right direction in the last couple of weeks.
“But congratulations to Cody and the crew. They’re always tough to beat.”
Cam Tuttle finished third after starting in ninth. It’s the Wilson, NY driver’s best Series finish since 2024, when he also finished third in the West Region opener.
“The track was really good,” Tuttle said. “I didn’t really know where I was going to run at the beginning. Once everything got filtered out, I found a good line on the top. The car was really good.
“We tried a few things, and it worked really well. I’m proud to be here.”
Tyler Foster finished fourth, and Jacob Bansmer rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Sportsman Series West Region returns to action on Saturday, May 30, for a stop at Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, ON. Drivers will battle for 30 laps with $1,300 (Canadian) on the line.
DIRTcar Sportsman Series West Region Feature: 1. 1-Cody McPherson[3]; 2. 111-Brett Senek[4]; 3. 35T-Cameron Tuttle[9]; 4. 53-Tyler Foster[1]; 5. 71-Jacob Bansmer[5]; 6. 10-Karl Comfort[6]; 7. 99PJR-Matteo Panunte[7]; 8. 61-Derek Wagner[13]; 9. 44C-Abby Castile[8]; 10. 185-Tyler Puchalski[11]; 11. 4B-Brad Overbeeke[14]; 12. 00-Sam Hoxie[17]; 13. 99S-Stephen Miller[2]; 14. 14-Brendan Zimmerman[19]; 15. 18R-Madyson Rouse[21]; 16. 17T-Kyle Teeter[18]; 17. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[15]; 18. 60-Daryl Barrett[22]; 19. 24M-Tyler Moore[23]; 20. (DNF) 212-Martin Polhill[24]; 21. (DNF) 29J-Matthew Jessome[12]; 22. (DNF) 7-Tyler Guzzardi[16]; 23. (DNF) 116-Jessie Truax[20]; 24. (DNS) 68F-Curtis Friesen
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Sam Hoxie (Free Tire)
Post-Race Tech: MSD Boxes, Valve Springs, and Tow in Rear End were checked on top three. All cars passed.
This article was republished with the permission of DIRTcar. The original article can be found here: https://dirtcar.com/recap/cody-mcpherson-opens-dirtcar-sportsman-series-west-region-with-ransomville-win/
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