CANADIAN DALTON SLACK INVADES SHARON FOR BIG-BLOCK MOD WIN OVER 36-CAR FIELD ON NIGHT 1 OF “APPLE FESTIVAL NATIONALS”; DUSTIN DEMATTIA (UMP MODS) & ERIC GABANY (RUSH MODS) END WINLESS DROUGHTS
By Mike Leone

September 11, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Hartford, OH)… A beautiful early autumn evening on Friday kicked off the opening night of the “Apple Festival Nationals” at Sharon Speedway. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Victory Lane with their first wins of the 97th anniversary season were Dalton Slack (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Big-Block Modifieds), Dustin DeMattia (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Mods presented by A&MP Electric), and Eric Gabany (RUSH Sportsman Modifieds). A total of 165 cars were in the pit area amongst the eight-division show as heat races were contested for the Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks, Alcon Mechanical Econo Mods, “305” Sprint Cars, Alcon Mechanical Crown Vics, and the Mini Stocks. It was A&MP Electric and Holbrook Sewer & Excavating Night.

Making just his second visit of the 2026 season, Canadian Dalton Slack charged from the ninth starting spot to pass race-long leader Rex King, Jr. with two laps to go to capture the 25-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Big-Block Modified feature victory. Slack earned $1,800 in the event presented by King Bros. Ready Mix Concrete, King’s Sanitary Services, Russ King Racing, and Thermo Supply.

“I got lucky with that lost caution- I think he had it won,” acknowledged the 22-year-old Welland, Ontario racer. “I was watching Russ (King) give him signals on the backstretch and I think that’s silly. I just watched what he said and he said to run my line in three and four so I had to beat him into (turn) one. He gave him the elbows up before the green so I figured if we’re going to wreck some shit, we’re going to wreck some shit. It’s cool to win here, we have awesome support, and I can’t thank everyone enough.”

King raced out to the early lead over veterans Jim Rasey, Will Thomas III, Brad Rapp, and Jeremiah Shingledecker. After a caution on the opening lap, fourth starting Thomas was halfway to the front at the conclusion of lap two. Following a restart on lap nine, 12th starting Garrett Krummert entered contention as he raced into the fourth spot. Two laps later, Krummert passed Rapp for third. King had opened up a comfortable lead on Thomas before Rasey slowed to bring out the caution with 12 laps scored. Rasey was chosen as the Warren Performance Diesel “JC Boyer Crap Luck” Award and received $200.

When green replaced yellow on lap 13, Slack got an excellent restart shooting from fourth into second, while Krummert passed Thomas for third. Slack cut into King’s lead as the laps ticked off and closed in on the leader on lap 20. The event’s final caution was displayed with three laps to go for Jeremy Paup.

King chose the inside for the double-file restart and when racing resumed on lap 23, Slack drove around King for the winning pass. Slack, who won the 2025 BRP Tour “Lou Blaney Memorial”, crossed the finish line first by 0.872 for his second career Sharon win in his Transport Sales & Service/Bicknell Racing Products/Swift Springs/Integra Shocks-sponsored #3RS.

After leading the first 22 circuits, King was a disappointing second. Thomas got back by Krummert on the final lap for third. Krummert was fourth. Ayden Cipriano charged from 16th to 5th. Rapp dropped to sixth over Shingledecker. Chas Wolbert went 23rd to 8th. Canadian Tyler Willard was 9th after starting 17th. Dave Murdick completed the top 10. King, Preston Cope, Rasey, and Thomas won the heat races over the 36-car field, while Todd English won the last chance B main.

Twelfth starting Dustin DeMattia emerged victorious in a wild 20-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Mod feature presented by A&MP Electric. In a race that featured four different leaders, DeMattia led only the final lap after early leaders Joel Watson, Coleton Longwell, and Bud Watson all got into the fence at different junctures in the race. DeMattia earned $1,000 for his first Sharon win in well over three years as his last victory came on May 13, 2023 in an Econo Mod.

“To be honest I didn’t think there was a snowballs chance down yonder I was going to come from 12th and win it,” acknowledged the 28-year-old Montville, Ohio racer. “I was not very comfortable in the car. Those guys were rocking the top and beating them up. I tried the top and restarted the top a couple times and hit it pretty hard, but just didn’t feel comfortable up there. To be honest I wasn’t even very comfortable on the bottom in (turns) three and four. We made it work though; there was a little bit of misfortune for the guys leading, but that’s part of the deal running the top.”

Front row starters Ty Rhoades and Joel Watson battled side-by-side the first three laps with Watson officially leading each lap, before Watson broke free. On lap five, Bud Watson and fifth starting Longwell both passed Rhoades for second and third respectively. On lap 11, Longwell put a slider on Bud Watson in turns three and four for second. One lap later, Longwell performed a similar move on Joel Watson as the two made contact with Longwell becoming the new leader.

Following a caution with 12 laps scored, it was three-wide for the lead on the restart between Longwell, Joel Watson, and Bud Watson with Longwell maintaining the lead. One lap later, Joel Watson got into the fence allowing Bud Watson to overtake second with DeMattia entering the picture in third. Joel Watson slowed to bring out the event’s final caution with 17 laps completed.

Just before the caution, Longwell got into the fence hard in turns one and two. The damage was too much as when racing resumed, Longwell slowed allowing Bud Watson to take over the top spot with DeMattia advancing to second. Bud Watson would also succumb to the fence as he made contact on the last lap, which allowed bottom running DeMattia and ninth starting Dennis Lunger, Jr. to move by. DeMattia would fend off Lunger on their last lap battle by just 0.100 to capture just his second career UMP Mod win and sixth overall at Sharon in his #77D! DeMattia last won in the division on June 18, 2022.

Rhoades was third. Vinnie DePizzo went 14th to fourth over Josh McDonald. Bud Watson managed to cross the finish in sixth. Jeremy Holbrook was 7th after starting 14th as Chris Schneider, Dan McDonald, and Mitchell Lam completed the top 10. Heat winners over the 25-car field were Josh McDonald, Longwell, and Bud Watson.

Seventh starting Eric Gabany won what may have been one of the best RUSH Sportsman Modified races of all-time as he ended a winless drought of nearly seven years at Sharon! Gabany out-dueled Kole Holden as the two battled side-by-side for much of the race and won the drag race to the checkered flag by just 0.087 seconds! Gabany earned $1,000 for his first win since the 2019 “Apple Festival Nationals”. Thanks to sponsorship from RKR Racing, Simply Nurture & Lactation and Central PA Logistics that made the event possible.

“After the heat race, I knew it was going to be fast up there,” stated the 41-year-old Mercer, Pa. racer. “Towards the end, (turns) one and two were actually a little slower and he (Holden) was coming. I have to thank everyone that helps out and we’ll try and do this again tomorrow.”

Holden and Nolan Burns led the field to green with Holden jumping into the lead, while Darin Gallagher went fourth to second. Gabany was already up four spots to third in the first two laps. Holden and Gallagher were racing side-by-side for the lead when Troy Pinch spun with three laps scored. When racing resumed on lap four, it was three-wide for the lead between Holden, Gallagher, and Gabany with Gabany moving into runner-up.

Gabany pulled even with Holden and would make what would be the winning move on the sixth circuit driving around Holden. Gabany ran the top, while Holden ran the bottom. Gabany though was unable to get away from Holden, who moved to the middle and tried the top as the race progressed. The two ran side-by-side for different junctures as the laps ticked off. On the final lap, the duo were side-by-side in turns three and four, but it was Gabany having just enough momentum off the top as Holden gave him a lane to win just his second career Sharon feature in his Cornerstone Gymnastics/Atlantic Timberframes/Eric Gabany Racing Bodies-sponsored #3E!

Todd English, who started third and slipped back to fifth early on, was able to reclaim the third spot for good on lap 11 after finishing 15th in the Big-Block Modified feature. New York racer, Trevor Catalano, was fourth in his first ever Sharon and RUSH start. Jim Rasey, who was doing double duty as well, was fifth subbing for Doug Rutana.

After challenging for the lead early, Gallagher faded to sixth at the finish. Karston King, another driver doing double duty, went 14th to 7th and earned the $100 Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger gift card. Kyle Hanshaw, who typically serves as the assistant flagman, was eighth as Dalton Gabriel and 17th starting Ryan Riffe completed the top 10. Heat winners over the 20-car field were Bill Adams and Catalano. Adams was unable to start the feature and was selected as the Warren Performance Diesel “JC Boyer Crap Luck” Award and received $200.

The remainder of the five divisions ran heat races only to set up their feature lineups for Saturday night’s program. The Penn-Ohio Pro Stock Series heats were won by Brandon Connor and Longwell over their 17-car field. The Econo Mod heats were won by Jacob Eucker and Arianna Samuelson over their 18-car field. The “305” Sprint Car heats were won by Aaron Marano and Jacob Gomola over their 11-car field. The Crown Vic heats were captured by Jeff Detwiler and Ray Gregory over their 18-car field. The Mini Stocks rounded out the program and their heats went to Greg Kiehl and Jacob Wheeler over their 20-car field.

Racing resumes on Saturday night (September 11) for night two of the “Apple Festival Nationals”. It’ll be complete shows for the BRP Mod Tour paying $3,100 to-win/$500 to-start in the “Weller Family Memorial”, UMP Mods ($1,000 to-win) and RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. In addition, feature events for the Penn-Ohio Pro Stock Series ($2,000 to-win), Econo Mods ($1,500 to-win), “305” Sprints ($1,000 to-win), Crown Vics ($1,000 to-win) and Mini Stocks ($600 to-win). Pit pass sales will begin at 4 p.m., while general admission opens at 5 and heat races will be at 7.

Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Big-Block Modifieds (25 laps, $1,800 to-win): 1. 3RS-DALTON SLACK[9]; 2. 165-Rex King Jr[1]; 3. 9-Will Thomas[4]; 4. 29-Garrett Krummert[12]; 5. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[16]; 6. 11R-Brad Rapp[5]; 7. 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[6]; 8. C3-Chas Wolbert[23]; 9. 777-Tyler Willard[17]; 10. 61-Dave Murdick[11]; 11. 13-Rick Regalski Jr[22]; 12. 77-Preston Cope[2]; 13. 165K-Karston King[24]; 14. 26-Kyle Richner[8]; 15. 711-Todd English[21]; 16. 60-Tom Holden[10]; 17. 0055-Rob Kristyak[18]; 18. X-Jeremy Paup[19]; 19. 10-Darin Gallagher[15]; 20. 8M-Macey Adamik[7]; 21. 32-Jim Rasey[3]; 22. 45-Steve Feder[13]; 23. 73MD-Travis Shingledecker[14]; 24. 5A-Austin Eyler[20].

DNQ for the feature: 9M-Cameron Miller, 132-Jessica Kriegisch, 4-Will Schaffer, 19-Lenny Bullis, 00K-Jackson Kristyak, 20P-Mike Kinney, 29*-Eric Beggs, 64-Rodney Beltz, 96-Brayden Beatty, 15S-Nate Shook, 17M-Kyle Fink & 86R-Rob Curtis.

Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Mods presented by A&MP Electric (20 laps, $1,000 to-win): 1. 77D-DUSTIN DEMATTIA[12]; 2. 71L-Dennis Lunger Jr[9]; 3. 12R-Ty Rhoades[1]; 4. 1-Vinnie DePizzo[14]; 5. 37-Josh McDonald[6]; 6. 225-Bud Watson[4]; 7. 151-Jeremy Holbrook[15]; 8. 64-Chris Schneider[10]; 9. 39-Dan McDonald[11]; 10. 12-Mitchell Lam[8]; 11. C02-Jonathan Davis[21]; 12. 62-Jacob Wheeler[17]; 13. 10T-Derek Tessean[18]; 14. 9R-Garrett Rons[7]; 15. 11J-Ryan Johnston[19]; 16. 62B-Benny Zimmer[20]; 17. 20-Alex Siekkinen[13]; 18. 51-Brian Lacey[16]; 19. 71A-Don Watson[23]; 20. 17X-Justin Cutshall[22]; 21. 7-Coleton Longwell[5]; 22. 77-Matthew Alexander[3]; 23. 92-Joel Watson[2]; 24. 05-Ed Bolyard II[24]; 25. 22G-Jesse Griffitts[25].

RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (20 laps, $1,000 to-win): 1. 3E-ERIC GABANY[7]; 2. 2-Kole Holden[1]; 3. 711-Todd English[3]; 4. 56-Trevor Catalano[5]; 5. 46R-Jim Rasey[8]; 6. 23-Darin Gallagher[4]; 7. 165K-Karston King[14]; 8. 22-Kyle Hanshaw[10]; 9. 333G-Dalton Gabriel[9]; 10. 21X-Ryan Riffe[17]; 11. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[15]; 12. 57R-Jacob Rutana[11]; 13. 70B-Nolan Burns[2]; 14. 10S-Trevn Schaffer[18]; 15. 12*-Troy Pinch[16]; 16. 71-Gage Priester[13]; 17. 22P-Madilynn Pinch[20]; 18. 33G-Todd Gabriel[12]. DNS: 717-Bill Adams & 8-Kyle Martell.

Sharon Speedway is owned by the Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney, and Will Thomas III and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at http://www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @sharonspdwy.

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