CLICK-CLICK: PADDOCK EDGES SOBOTKA IN A WEEDSPORT THRILLER; SOBOTKA SCORES ADVANTAGE WITH SHOW-UP POINTS REMAINING
Race Report By: Marty Czekala – September 28, 2025 – Photo By: Erika Bye
WEEDSPORT, N.Y. – Saturday’s A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints feature at Weedsport really deserved an encore after the photo finish fans were treated to.
Dillon Paddock, using the low side, nipped Zach Sobotka at the line to score his fifth win of the season.
Despite the second-place finish, Sobotka scored the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge Championship and secured the overall championship advantage with a show-up points race remaining.
Paddock took the lead from teammate Timmy Lotz on the bottom on lap eight and didn’t look back while dealing with the challenge of Zach Sobotka not just all race, but all season long.
“Racing Zach has been great all year,” said Paddock post-race. “I feel like we don’t really race side-by-side that much. He’s a really good racecar driver. When things get strung out, it’s hard to get racing, but he was rolling really good there.”
“We don’t ever touch each other, don’t hit off each other, we’ve been racing side-by-side for 18 to 19 races. I can’t really ask for another better person to race or against,” Sobotka said.
Combined, both drivers entered the night having won half the 18 completed races in 2025. In the overall championship, Sobotka went into the night needing a 13th-place finish to score the advantage.
With the lineup already set from July 26, Scott Landers and Timmy Lotz brought the field to green. Landers paced the field early before the race’s lone yellow for Mikey Smith spinning in turn three.
On the restart, Landers held serve temporarily, but Lotz powered around the outside to take the top spot.
Immediately after, Paddock started charging his way up the leaderboard from fifth using the bottom to pick cars off one-by-one.
Racing his Papa’s Place Racing teammate wing-to-wing for numerous laps on the fresh clay of Weedsport, Paddock gathered grip to take the lead.
Throughout the long run, Sobotka started from seventh and passed Lotz for second with 11 to go. Because of the heavy-lapped traffic, it allowed Sobotka to stay within striking distance of the lead while Johnny Smith started to close in on both.
Coming to the white flag, Paddock got squirrelly in three and four to allow Sobotka to challenge on the outside. Staying side-by-side, giving it everything they got, Paddock powered across the line first over Sobotka by just under a tenth of a second.
“I had to make sure I hit my marks,” said Paddock. “Wasn’t gonna change anything I was doing. We ran second here a lot of times and to check that off the list is really special and to do it close to home.”
“It’s a lot tougher to get through lap traffic here,” said Sobotka. “Everything’s a lot tighter.”
Sobotka can now taste the championship. With a show-up to Outlaw, he’ll be only the second rookie champion in the 20-year history of CRSA (John Virgilio in 2011).
“We’re going to go into Outlaw just trying to win. It’ll be a fun one. Awesome,” said Sobotka.
Sobotka also received the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger award for gaining five spots to finish second.
Rounding out the podium was Johnny Smith, scoring his first third since Brewerton last month. In the final laps, Smith was the fastest car in the end, but not enough.
“I was hoping that we weren’t running out of laps and I saw they were slicing through that traffic and wanted to get into the action, but we just ran out. I like to run the wall and it seemed like I couldn’t make it work over in one and two.”
The Ruggles World of Autobody & Graphics Hard Luck award went to Spencer Burley after suffering mechanical issues during the night.
CRSA takes a couple of weeks off before closing the 2025 season at Outlaw Speedway for the $4000 to win New York 305 Nationals. Can’t make it? Action can be seen live on The Cushion.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 8 Dillon Paddock, 2. 38 Zach Sobotka, 3. 4S Johnny Smith, 4. 18 Timmy Lotz, 5. 33 Scott Landers, 6. 66 Jordan Hutton, 7. 10X Vince Chicklets, 8. 3A Jeff Trombley, 9. 48A Alysha Bay, 10. 80 Bobby Parrow, 11. 61 Johnny Scarborough, 12. 3 Bailey Boyd, 13. 81K Dalton Martin, 14. 30K Ken Klinkowsky, 15. 77 Matt Rotz, 16. 48JR Darryl Ruggles, 17. 29 Dalton Herrick, 18. 121 Steve Glover, 19. 410 Jerry Sehn Jr., 20. 4ST Mikey Smith, 21. 121X Spencer Burley
DNS: 22M Aaron Shelton, 21B Blake Warner, 28 Ron Greek, 8B Blake Breen
The CRSA Sprints are celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2025 and are brought to you by A-Verdi Storage Containers. Associate sponsors include Pit Stop Convenience Stores, DisBatch Brewing Company, Dandy, Joe's Garage, Westward Painting Company, Elab Smokers Boutique, iFreeze Storage & Distribution Center, Maguire Automotive Group, Powdertech Powdercoating, Ruggles World of Auto Body, PJC Business Ventures, Profab Enterprises, Magsarus Ignitions, Highside Racewear, Hoosier Racing Tire, Insinger Performance with their Stinger Race Fuel, My Race Pass and is owned and operated by Mike Emhof Motorsports.
For more information on the series, results and points, please visit our website, www.crsa.myracepass.com.
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- Marty Czekala on Sep 29, 2025
- Article Date: 9/28/2025 by Marty Czekala