LAST-LAP THRILLER! MIKEY SMITH STEALS THE SHOW IN RON FAISON MEMORIAL AT BRIDGEPORT!
SWEDESBORO, NJ — When the laps get longer and the pressure gets higher, Mikey Smith knows how to rise to the occasion.
Earlier this season, Smith captured the prestigious Joe Kay Memorial. On Saturday night at Bridgeport Motorsports Park, he added another major victory to his résumé — and this one came in spectacular fashion.
With the white flag waving and longtime leader Eddie Wagner just ahead, Smith made his move. He charged to the inside, wrestled away the top spot and won the drag race out of turn four to capture the 50-lap Ron Faison Memorial 305 Sprint Car Nationals and its $4,000 payday!
It was a thrilling conclusion to a huge weekend of racing on the High Banks.
Joining Smith in Victory Lane were Billy Osmun III, who collected his third Danny’s Pizza Pizzazz Modified victory of the season; Charley Cossaboone, who scored an emotional first career Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman win; John Scarpati, winner of the Sportsman Non-Qualifiers event; Richie Page, who raced to his fourth Straight Up Construction Street Stock victory; and Jim Backowski, who picked up his first Insta Sign Plus Four Cylinder triumph.
Eddie Wagner and Cody West led the field to the green for the 50-lap Ron Faison Memorial, with Wagner immediately taking command.
Wagner paced West, George Loux, Johnny Smith and Tim Iulg in the opening laps, but it didn’t take long for the Smith brothers to make their presence known. Johnny and Mikey Smith worked their way forward, moving into second and third while West dropped to fourth and Shelby Kelly advanced to fifth.
Following the halfway fuel stop, Wagner remained in command with West, Johnny Smith, Mikey Smith and Kelly giving chase. But as the laps began to wind down, the intensity picked up. The Smith brothers went to battle for second, with Mikey eventually securing the position. Once clear, there was only one car left in his sights, Wagner.
Wagner had controlled the race from the opening green, but his race car began to get tight during the closing laps. Smith continued to close, then came the white flag.
One lap, One final opportunity, Smith dove to the inside of Wagner and challenged for the lead. The two raced toward the finish, and as they powered out of turn four toward the checkered flag, it was Mikey Smith surging ahead to steal the victory on the final circuit!
Wagner settled for a hard-fought second with Johnny Smith third. Rick Lafferty finished fourth with Dave Brown completing the top five. West, Loux, Kelly, Cole Dewease and Chris Dolan rounded out the top ten.
For Smith, the dramatic victory was worth $4,000 and another major memorial race trophy in what has already been an impressive season.
Osmun holds off Krachun in one lap shoot out. Billy Osmun III took command immediately of the Danny’s Pizza Pizzazz Modified feature.
Osmun led Neal Williams, Brian Papiez, Stan Frankenfield Jr. and Coleby Frye during the early going, while Ryan Krachun began charging toward from his eleventh place starting position.
Krachun worked past Frye and Frankenfield to reach fourth before disposing of Papiez for third. He then went after Williams for the runner-up position as Osmun continued to show the way, but drama began to appear as the 81-machine started showing smoke with only four laps remaining.
Just when it appeared Osmun might have things under control, the caution flew with one lap remaining, setting the stage for a one-lap dash to the checkered.
Osmun was up to the challenge but was his race car. Osmun would win the sprint to the finish over Krachun to secure his third Modified victory of the season. Osmun would state in victory lane, the smoke appears to be a fitting that came loose during the race.
Osmun took the checkered over Krachun, Williams, H.J. Bunting and Papiez. Dominick Buffalino was battling among the leaders before spinning while coming to the checkered.
Davey Sammons finished sixth followed by Frye, Frankenfield, Dillon Steuer and Modified point leader Ryan Godown.
A vicious accident occurred during heat race competition when it appeared Godown’s throttle stuck sending him straight into the turn two wall. Godown miraculously appeared from the wreckage, took the mandatory trip to the pit side care center. After being released, hopped in the back up car and started the feature from last. Godown would navigate his way to an impressive 10th place finish.
There are few moments in racing better than a driver earning that first trip to Victory Lane, and Saturday night belonged to Charley Cossaboone in the Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman.
Rookie Tyler Lilick led the field to green and set the pace over Walter MacIntyre, Cossaboone, Mike Hughes Jr. and Kris Lilick.
Tyler Lilick remained out front through lap 18 before becoming involved in an incident in turn four, handing the lead to MacIntyre for the restart.
Cossaboone saw his opportunity and took it. With five laps remaining, Cossaboone powered past MacIntyre for the lead and never looked back, racing to his first career Sportsman feature victory!
Steve Kemery (started 8th) and Ryan Simmons (started 11th) also worked past MacIntyre during the closing laps to finish second and third. MacIntyre crossed the line fourth with Ronnie Solomon III (started 13th) completing the top five. Kris Lilick, Adam White, P.J. Bozowski, Billy Chester and Matt Peck rounded out the top ten.
Scarpati Family goes 1 – 2 in second Sportsman Feature. John Scarpati made it a family affair in the 15-lap Demers Heating & Cooling Sportsman second feature event.
Scarpati raced to the victory with his daughter, Melissa Scarpati, crossing the line directly behind him in second.
Tim Borror finished third with Drew Ziegler fourth and Sarah Lynn completing the top five.
Richie Page wasted little time making his intentions known in the Straight Up Construction Street Stock feature. Gary Bozowski grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, but Page was already up to second by the completion of lap two.
Two laps later, Page made his move. Page swept past Bozowski for the lead on lap four and checked out from the field, racing to his fourth A-Main victory of the season.
Bozowski finished second with Nick Sandone III third, Mike Walsh fourth and Scott Freed fifth. Spider Ensinger Jr., Mike Baldwin, Gary Klimeczak, Spider Ensinger Sr. and Shane Grosso completed the top ten.
Jim Backowski grabbed the early advantage in the Insta Sign Plus Four Cylinder feature, but there would be no cruising to the checkered flag. Joe Garey Sr. and Joe Garey Jr. were right there on Backowski’s back bumper as the trio raced toward the finish.
Backowski held his ground under heavy pressure and crossed the line first to earn his first Insta Sign Plus Four Cylinder victory! Joe Garey Sr. finished second with Joe Garey Jr. third. Robbie Steinmetz crossed the line fourth with Patrick McKnight rounding out the top five.
From Mikey Smith’s electrifying final-lap pass in the Ron Faison Memorial to Cossaboone’s first career victory, another action-packed Saturday night at Bridgeport Motorsports Park delivered exactly what race fans have come to expect from the Kingdom of Speed. Side-by-side battles, late-race drama and checkered flags that had to be earned!
Next up, Championship night for the Danny’s Pizza Pizzazz Modified’s and the Victory Fuel Wingless Sprint Cars Saturday September 12th. After Championship night there is only one more Modified event left at the Kingdom of Speed, the Danny Serrano Weekend, September 25 and 26.
RESULTS – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2026
RON FAISON MEMORIAL SPRINT CAR NATIONALS NIGHT #2
DCB PLUMBING & HEATING MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES A-MAIN (50 LAPS)
1. Mikey Smith, 2. Eddie Wagner, 3. Johnny Smith, 4. Rick Lafferty, 5. Dave Brown, 6. Cody West, 7. George Loux, 8. Shelby Kelly, 9. Cole Dewease, 10. Chris Dolan, 11. Robbie Stillwaggon, 12. Troy Betts, 13. D. J, Tanner, Jr., 14. Mark Bitner, 15. Bob Lilick, Jr., 16. Kurt Rainey, 17. Aidan Borden, 18. Jared Kreider, 19. Tim Iulg, 20. Michael Shea, 21. Dan Leaper, 22. Ryan Schultz, 23. Derrek Treece, 24. Adam Carberry, DNS – Matt McAnally, DNQ – Dustin Young, Dirk Rimrott, Andrew Turpin
DANNY’S PIZZA PIZZAZZ MODIFIED A-MAIN (30 LAPS)
1. Billy Osmun, III, 2. Ryan Krachun, 3. Neal Williams, 4. H. J. Bunting, 5. Brian Papiez,
6. Davey Sammons, 7. Coleby Frye, 8. Stan Frankenfield, Jr., 9. Dillon Steuer, 10. Ryan Godown, 11. Johhny Bangs, 12. Anthony Tramontana, 13. Luke Bunting, 14. Sammy Martz, Jr., 15. Dominick Buffalino, 16. Will Dupree, 17. Jeff Parker, 18. Mike Franz, 19. Frank Cozze, 20. Blaine Bracelin, 21. Cale Ross, DNS – Matt Ellery, Richie Pratt
DEMERS HEATING & COOLING SPORTSMAN A-MAIN (25 LAPS)
1. Charley Cossaboone, 2. Steve Kemery, 3. Ryan Simmons, 4. Walter McIntyre, 5. Ronnie Solomon, III, 6. Kris Lilick, 7. Adam White, 8. P. J. Bozowski, 9. Billy Chester, 10. Matt Peck, 11. Travis Hill, 12. Duncan Molesworth, 13. Jesse Hirthler, 14. Brayden Morrison, 15. Justin Lilick, 16. Chris Bergstrom, 17. Tyler Lilick, 18. Christopher Buffalino, 19. Mike Hughes, Jr., 20. Matt Ellery, 21. Dave Damiano, 22. Wayne Weaver, 23. Aiden Spencer, 24. Lexi Wilson
DEMERS HEATING & COOLING NON-QUALIFIERS (15 LAPS)
1. John Scarpati, 2. Melissa Scarpati, 3. Tim Borror, 4. Drew Ziegler, 5. Sarah Lynn, DNS – Ethan Young, Anthony Sisco, Bryan Rhoads
STRAIGHT UP CONSTRUCTION STREET STOCK A-MAIN (15 LAPS)
1. Richie Page, 2. Gary Bozowski, 3. Nick Sandone, III, 4. Mike Walsh, 5. Scott Freed, 6. Spider Ensinger, Jr., 7. Mike Baldwin, 8. Gary Klimeczak, 9. Spider Ensinger, Sr., 10. Shane Grosso, 11. Jeramy Doerr, 12. Cayja Darling, 13. Geoff Handel, 14. Tracey Appleby
INSTA SIGNS PLUS FOUR-CYLINDER A-MAIN (15 LAPS)
1. Jim Backowski, 2. Joe Garey, Sr., 3. Joe Garey, Jr., 4. Robbie Steinmetz, 5. Patrick McKnight, 6. Bri Stien, 7. Logan Mull, 8. Dale Mull, 9. John Parker, DNS – Lee Allen