By kyohnson 
KIRKWOOD, NY – Despite the lingering presence of snow banks in certain areas of the speedway property, Five Mile Point Speedway held its 67th consecutive season opener on Sunday. The victorious driver of the GRIT Crate Sportsman Series “Coldcracker” event, which carried a prize of $1,000, was Tom Collins, Jr. Saturday’s “testing and tuning” session was washed out, but a special Modified Dash was added for the teams that showed up in pursuit of some practice. Nick Rochinski emerged as the winner of the 12-lap “Big Dog” Modified Dash.
The 30-lap GRIT Crate Sportsman feature event witnessed Collins and Dustin Jordan occupying the front row of the 24-car starting grid. Collins, a second-generation FMP driver, seized the lead promptly as the green flag dropped. A constellation of stars was present, as some of the premier Crate Sportsman drivers in the racing world were engaged in fierce battles, two and three wide on the quarter-mile track. The perennial northeast Crate Sportsman star, Rocky Warner, began in tenth position but got embroiled in a lap one skirmish, causing him to plummet to 24th on the very first lap. Nevertheless, Warner persevered and initiated his comeback from the rear of the field.
2016 Five Mile Point Speedway Track Champion Kyle Rohner started seventh and rapidly advanced to the front during the early stages. Back-to-back cautions on laps 4 and 5 reshuffled the deck, with Collins leading, Jordan in second, and Rohner climbing to third. David Marcuccilli held the fourth slot, while past opening day winner Kenny Hammond moved up to fifth. As the race resumed, Collins pulled away, while an intense battle unfolded among the top five.
The final caution of the race fluttered on lap 26 when Jimmy Zacharias clipped an implement tire in turn four, damaging the front end of the Lawrence racing vehicle. Zacharias had ascended to eighth place prior to this incident. When the green flag waved for the final time, Collins capitalized on the situation, widening his lead by five car lengths. Rohner made an attempt to chase him down in the final laps but was unable to mount a serious challenge for the lead. Collins ultimately emerged victorious over Rohner. Dustin Jordan, Marcuccilli, Hammond, Pat Jordan, Lawson, Cormier, Warner, and Nick Nye completed the top ten.
For both Collins and Rohner, the new season bore a striking resemblance to the conclusion of 2016. Collins claimed victory in the penultimate event of the season, worth $2,000 in an Open vs. Crate Sportsman event, while Rohner was the winner of the season-ending “Great Crate Race” worth $3,000.
GRIT SERIES CRATE SPORTSMAN OFFICIAL FEATURE FINISH (30): TOM COLLINS JR. ($1,000), Kyle Rohner, Dustin Jordan, Dave Marcuccilli, Kenny Hammond, Pat Jordan, Donnie Lawson, Cory Cormier, Rocky Warner, Nick Nye, Josh Keesey, Garret Rushlow, Randy Fox, Dale Welty, Lem Atkins, Tyler Thompson, Jimmy Zacharias, Moose Gulley, Pat LaPage, Tim Guild, Nick Plumstead, T.J. Frost, Mike Jackson, Ray Bliss.
BIG DOG CHALLENGE MODIFIED DASH: NICK ROCHINSKI, Mike Colsten, Ken Titus, Brian Nelson, Brett Barrett.