{"id":27344,"date":"2020-09-20T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=27344"},"modified":"2020-09-20T13:01:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T17:01:15","slug":"justin-comes-officially-named-2020-king-of-dirt-racing-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2020\/09\/justin-comes-officially-named-2020-king-of-dirt-racing-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Comes Officially Named 2020 King of Dirt Racing Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Justin Comes Officially Named 2020 King of Dirt Racing Champion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule cut short by pandemic-related cancellations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 There is a new King of Dirt Racing: Justin Comes. The Middlebury, Vt., driver has officially been named the champion for the 2020 King of Dirt Racing (KOD) Crate Modified Series, following a season that saw the tour\u2019s schedule drastically abbreviated by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original KOD schedule contained five dates, though only two events at Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway were completed. Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., has announced that it will not be holding its event planned for September 25 due to ongoing pandemic restrictions in New York State; that event was scheduled to be the final KOD race. Other events planned for The Flat Track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and New York\u2019s Fonda Speedway had previously been cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Comes finished fourth in both races that were completed at his home track, Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vermont. In each case, he was the second-highest finishing driver who was eligible to earn KOD championship points; drivers who also compete regularly in Big Block or Small Block Modified events do not earn points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proving his strength, Comes was one of only two drivers to finish inside the top five in both events, joining Demetrios Drellos, who is ineligible for points. Comes ran from sixth starting position to finish fourth in the first KOD event, the \u201cLeon Gonyo Memorial\u201d 40-lap race on August 9, finishing just behind Kevin Root, Drellos, and Kenny Tremont Jr., and ahead of Jack Speshock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second event, the 11th<\/sup> Annual \u201cNortheast Crate Nationals\u201d 50-lapper on September 12 \u2013 which was originally planned for Fonda Speedway \u2013 Comes started seventh and made his way into a thrilling battle for the win with Drellos, Adam Pierson, and Tanner Siemons, leading 15 laps in the process. He was shuffled back on some late restarts, finishing behind Drellos, Pierson, and Siemons, with David Schilling behind him in fifth place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comes is the first Vermonter to win a King of Dirt Racing championship, joining New York racers Rocky Warner, Connor Cleveland, and Bobby Hackel as a KOD Crate Modified Series titlist. Known as \u201cThe Highside Hustler\u201d for his tendency to use the far outside lane on the racetrack, Comes has competed occasionally with KOD since 2015 and has seven career wins in weekly Sportsman Modified competition at Devil\u2019s Bowl and Bear Ridge Speedway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are proud to call Justin Comes the King of Dirt Racing champion for 2020,\u201d KOD president Mike Bruno said. \u201cWe obviously wish that the schedule had played out differently, but Justin Comes earned his title and he raced hard for the win at the Northeast Crate Nationals last week. He is an outstanding racer with a small, family team, and that is what KOD was built on. It\u2019s good to have a driver like Justin Comes on the list of KOD champions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bristol, Vt., rookie Josh Masterson is the runner-up in the KOD standings for 2020, and he will also take home \u201cNewcomer of the Year\u201d honors. Masterson was strong in his first season on dirt, with finishes of 11th<\/sup> and 8th<\/sup> in the two KOD races. Johnstown, N.Y.\u2019s Brian Calabrese finished third in KOD points for the second straight year, followed by Tim LaDuc and Siemons. Even with only two events run, 54 different drivers competed with KOD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing features the popular Sportsman-type dirt Modified stock car and the economical General Motors \u201c602\u201d crate engine package. KOD events offer some of the best-paying Sportsman-level purses in the Northeast, and the schedule is kept short by design to offer an affordable touring alternative for grassroots racers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing is online at www.KingofDirtRacing.com<\/a> and can also be found on Facebook, Twitter,  and Instagram.  For more information, call (802) 265-3112 or email kodracingseries@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Final Championship Point Standings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown-Points<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.       (51) Justin Comes, Middlebury, Vt. \u2013 158<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.       (11X) Josh Masterson, Bristol, Vt. \u2013 131<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.       (21C) Brian Calabrese, Johnstown, N.Y. \u2013 129<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.       (54) Tim LaDuc, Orwell, Vt. \u2013 127<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.       (5) Tanner Siemons, Orford, N.H. \u2013 117<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.       (24J) John St. Germain Jr., West Sand Lake, N.Y. \u2013 105<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.       (1X) Justin Stone, Middlebury, Vt. \u2013 99<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.       (60) Jimmy Ryan, Whiting, Vt. \u2013 95<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.       (13) Frank Hoard III, Manchester Center, Vt. \u2013 93<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10.   (36) Brian Whittemore, Pittsford, Vt. \u2013 85<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Final Newcomer of the Year Standings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown-Points<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.       (11X) Josh Masterson, Bristol, Vt. \u2013 131<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.       (1X) Justin Stone, Middlebury, Vt. \u2013 99<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.       (514) James Hanson, Orwell, Vt. \u2013 81<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.       (7) Chris Murray, Fair Haven, Vt. \u2013 73<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.       (17) Bruce Loomis, Queensbury, N.Y. \u2013 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Race Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sun., Aug. 9 \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway \u2013 Leon Gonyo Memorial (40 laps) \u2013 Kevin Root, Geneva, N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sat., Sept. 12 \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway \u2013 Northeast Crate Nationals (50 laps) \u2013 Demetrios Drellos, Queensbury, N.Y.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Comes Officially Named 2020 King of Dirt Racing Champion Schedule cut short by pandemic-related cancellations RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 There is a new King of Dirt Racing: Justin Comes. The Middlebury, Vt., driver has officially been named the champion for the 2020 King of Dirt Racing (KOD) Crate Modified Series, following a season that saw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devils-bowl","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27345,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27344\/revisions\/27345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}