---

CAN-AM KING: Kevin Root Records Sportsman Win On OktoberFAST Night #4 At Can-Am

Story By: BRIAN WALKER / DIRTCAR - LAFARGEVILLE, NY - There was simply no stopping Kevin Root on Friday night.

Root, from Geneva, N.Y., delivered a pitch perfect performance at Can-Am Motorsports Park to take down the Racing Electronics Sportsman Modified feature win in round four of DIRTcar OktoberFAST presented by DIRTVision.

Each and every time Root hit the Lafargeville, N.Y. 3/8th-mile, he left as top dog. From clocking a time of 21.193 seconds for St. Lawrence Radiology Pole Award, to dominating his heat race by 3.639 seconds, to leading every circuit of the 30-lap feature; there were no miscues to be found for the No. 34.

His first win of the week on the DIRTcar OktoberFAST trail pushed his season total to 12 overall wins in 2020 with eight of those coming at Can-Am Motorsports Park, where he reigned supreme again on Friday night.

“This place is just so good to me,� Root noted on his success at the track. “We love it here. This is a hell of a race car we’ve got right now too. Our car works amazing here. It sucks we don’t have any fans in the stands here, but I know everyone is at home watching on DIRTVision. I wanna send a big thanks to DIRTcar and everyone for putting this deal together; it’s a pretty cool week. I know it’s not Super DIRT Week, but the long hours and late nights sure feel like it.�

While Root commanded the top spot from the drop of the green flag, the battle for second was hot from the get go. Matt Janczuk, Thursday’s winner at Fulton, bolted by outside polesitter Kyle Inman at the start, but a lap three caution saw Inman of Darien, N.Y. sneak right back by Janczuk for the runner-up spot.

Leading by 3+ seconds at one time, Root’s run into lap traffic was halted when the second and final caution of the race flew on lap 13. Janczuk of Oneida, N.Y. starred on the restart as he overtook Inman and began his quest to track down Root for the lead. Chopping more than a second off the advantage, Janczuk narrowed the lead down to a few car lengths and set the stage for an epic conclusion until lap traffic derailed all of his progress.

Catching his breaks at just the right time, Root pulled away over the closing laps and drove off to a 2.090-second win at the stripe.

“It was all about picking your poison in lap traffic,� Root explained on his decision-making. “I would watch them for a lap or two and then figure out where to go. I seemed to come off turn two better than most of them and I wanted to take my time to get them down the backstretch. When you’ve got Kyle Inman and Matt Janczuk behind you, you’re beating some of the best in the business.�

Stealing a runner-up finish coming to the white flag, Inman capitalized on Janczuk’s struggles through lap traffic to move into P2 at the end. For Janczuk, he slipped back to finish in third, his second podium appearance of the week on the DIRTcar OktoberFAST trail.

“He got racing with this lappers and got out of the groove and when I saw him drift up high, I just stuck the bottom and got underneath him,� Inman commented on his pass. “The last bit of this season has been a struggle. We’ve been working really hard. We’ll take this finish.�

“I thought I had something for Kevin there, but lap traffic just didn’t play our way,� Janczuk mentioned afterwards. “I started gaining ground those last few laps, but I tried to go to the top too soon. Both of these guys are great competitors to run behind you and this whole division is really competitive right now.�

Following Root, Inman and Janczuk to the line with top five finishes in the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified feature was Tyler Corcoran of Central Square, N.Y. in fourth and Dylan Zachariasof Central Square, N.Y. in fifth.

Closing out the top ten at Can-Am Motorsports Park was Payton Talbot, Jamy Begor, Addison Bowman, Jack Meeks, and Nick Heywood.

DIRTcar OktoberFAST continues tomorrow – Saturday, October 10 – with Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, N.Y. taking center stage with the Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds presented Racing Electronics sharing the lime light.

On Sunday night, OktoberFAST wraps up with an evening of racing at Weedsport Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y. for the Super DIRTcar Series, DIRTcar Pro Stocks, and DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds presented by Racing Electronics.

The participant-only event, held without fans due to COVID-19 restrictions, can be seen around the world LIVE on DIRTVision.

Feature Results (30 Laps) – 1. 34-Kevin Root [1][$1,000]; 2. 20K-Kyle Inman [2][$600]; 3. 33X-Matt Janczuk [3][$450]; 4. 64-Tyler Corcoran [4][$325]; 5. 27Z-Dylan Zacharias [8][$275]; 6. 14T-Payton Talbot [13][$225]; 7. 19-Jamy Begor [5][$200]; 8. 12-Addison Bowman [23][$180]; 9. 1JM-Jack Meeks [6][$160]; 10. 29-Nick Heywood [14][$140]; 11. 1SX-Justin Stone [18][$120]; 12. 6B-Brian Hudson [7][$110]; 13. 5-Brian Krummel [15][$100]; 14. 92-Andrew Buff [10][$100]; 15. 19L-Joe Williams [16][$100]; 16. 21R-RJ Tresidder [32][$100]; 17. 34N-Eric Nier [19][$100]; 18. 410-Mike Fowler [22][$100]; 19. 57H-Remington Hamm [17][$100]; 20. 5H-Amy Holland [24][$100]; 21. 38S-Zach Sobotka [26][$100]; 22. 132-Dalton Martin [31][$100]; 23. 33-Richard Murtaugh [28][$100]; 24. 82S-Will Shields [20][$100]; 25. 2X-Mike Amell [11][$100]; 26. 80W-Cody Wolfe [27][$100]; 27. 01R-Robert Gage [30][$100]; 28. 56-Garrison Krentz [29][$100]; 29. 8-Alan Fink [12][$100]; 30. 3-Christopher Mackey [21][$100]; 31. 10G-Austin Germinio [25][$100]; 32. 31B-Ryan Dolbear [9][$100]. Lap Leader(s): Root 1-30. Hard Charger Award: 21R-RJ Tresidder[+16]

Back to News