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COFFEY MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW CANANDAIGUA, NY...Vic Coffey, from Leister, NY, won his fourth DIRT Modified feature of the season, second in a row, at the "Land of Legends", the Canandaigua Speedway. Both Todd Henderson (sportsman) and James Henry (Pro-Stocks) picked up their first features of the year at the speedway. In Street Stock action it was Blane Smith winning his second feature of the season. Also on hand were 26 of the popular Patriot Sprinters. Chuck Hebing overcame a penalty imposed on him for restarting under the starting cone and took a solid 20-lap A-Main victory. The 35-lap DIRT Modified main saw pole sitter Scott Boudinot sail out to an early lead over John Pfeffer and Mike Ward. Pfeffer was able to pass Boudinot for the lead on lap four. Three laps later the first of just three cautions flew when Ron Cartwright Jr. spun in the second turn. Pfeffer maintained his lead on the restart but finally fell victim to the hounding put on him by Karl Comfort. Comfort moved into the lead on lap nine. the yellow flew one lap later when Chuck Hebing came to a halt in just about the same place that Ron Cartwright Jr. had spun out. Comfort kept his lead with Randy Chrysler now in second followed by Pfeffer, Charlie Donk and Justin Haers. The final yellow came on lap 14 when Darryl Ruggles, who had started the race in the car slated for Dale Darling, came to a stop on the track. Haers was able to power by Chrysler for second and take off after Comfort on the restart. Comfort was able to maintain his 1.6 second lead. Coffey pulled into third and challenged Haers for the position. Once free from Haers, Coffey closed in on Comfort. Lap 23 saw Coffey duck low and pass Comfort for the lead. Coffey then began to stretch out his lead to nearly three seconds by the checkers. Haers finished in second followed by Gary Tomkins in third. Chad Brachmann and Donk rounded out the top five finishers. Randy Chrysler was again the first 358-Modified in the finish. The race averaged 73.593 mph. The 25-lap Sportsman feature saw Jon Miller step out to a huge lead over Rick Miller and Ricky VanNeil and the start of the race. Todd Henderson, passed Miller, then running in third, on lap eight and took off after VanNeil who held a five car advantage over him. Both VanNeil and Henderson were closing in on leader Miller, cutting his lead by .2 seconds every lap. Then on lap 13, VanNeil was close enough to drop low down the back stretch and challenge Miller to a side-by-side duel. Henderson took this opportunity to pass them both and take the lead on lap 14. The crowd's interest seemed to be on Eldon Payne Jr., who was using the high line around the speedway to advance from his last row starting spot. By lap 16 he was in second and trying to catch Henderson. The sole yellow of the race came on lap 22 when Lance Dusett came to a stop in the third turn, trying to get into the pits. Henderson took the win over Payne Jr., Scott Schrader, Paul Guererri and VanNeil. the race's average speed came in at 80.256 mph. "We have been working all season long on this car," stated Henderson from victory lane. "My son's (Justin) car has been better then ours all year and we were trying to just make mine as good." The 20-lap Pro-Stock main saw Jipp Ortiz trying to break a record of 27 Street(Pro) Stock victories established by Tom Barron between 1994 and present. Ortiz tied Barron's mark last week with a win. It was not to be as James Henry, flying two American flags from the rear window of his Chevrolet took the win forcing the Ortiz' crew to wait another week to see if then can beat the record. A real dog fight marked the first half of the event as Daryl Hilkert tried to hold off Kevin Smith, Bill Hallett and eventually James Henry. Hilkert, Smith and Hallett battled, each trying an outside move down the back stretch to take the lead. On lap 11, Hallett was able to maintain his momentum and pass Hilkert for the front spot. Henry was able to get by both Smith and Hallett, taking the lead on lap 14. Ortiz was now in third and tried an outside challenge down the back stretch. The best he could do was to pull even with Hilkert, finally taking second a lap later. This race went green-to-checkers, averaging 76.543 mph. Henry, whose car showed a shower of sparks from under the hood, on lap 15, was able to keep his lead over Ortiz and claim the win. This shower of sparks proved to be the transmission and Henry's car needed to be towed from victory lane. Twenty-five cars started the Street Stock main. Immediately the yellow flew when Mike Murphy and Nick Dandino came together in the second turn. On the restart Blane Smith passed Steve Faulkner, the leader of the first lap. With Mike Welch hot on his tail, Smith kept the lead for the remainder of the 15-lap event. Three more yellows slowed the race. The worst accident came on lap six, when Mike Ventra lost control of his car exiting the fourth turn and slammed head on into the concrete retaining wall. He emerged uninjured from his car. Welch seed to start falling back late in the race, allowing Rocco Conte by for second. Adam Depuy, running in fourth most of the race saw his finish erased by a flat tire on the final turn of the final lap. He was sent spinning, but crossed the finish line in tenth. "I kept waiting for Adam (Depuy) to come up on my outside," stated Smith. "I had a tire going soft and thought that Adam The full night of racing came to an end with a large fireworks display. It will be Kid's Night this Saturday, July 10, with Sherwin Williams Paint as the main sponsor for the evening. On track will be the Four Star program of DIRT Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro-Stocks and Street Stocks. Race time will be at 7 p.m. sharp. For more information go to canandaiguaspeedway.com. THE COMFORT ZONE-GEVO'S REARS & GEARS INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND NIGHT SUMMARY STREET STOCKS HEAT 1: L. Lewis, M. Murphy, N. Peckham, N. Dandino, C. Hunt. FEATURE (15-laps): BLANE SMITH, Rocco Conte, Mike Welch, Nick Rizzo, Tim Burnell, Leroy lewis, Daryl Barrett, Jason Whipple, Nat peckham, Adam Depuy, Mike Murphy, Mike Minutolo, Don Jones, Kevin Collins, Chris Jacobs, Steve Faulkner, Corey Hunt, George LaVare, Charles Vohs, Rod Comfort Jr., Mike Ventra, Dave Buscemi, Darren Phippen, Jason Quigley, Nick Dandino, DNS: Frank Burnell. PRO-STOCK HEAT 1: K. Smith, D. Hilkert, C. Homan, F. Guererri Jr., B. Brown. FEATURE (20-laps): JAMES HENRY, Jipp Ortiz, Frank Guererri Jr., Kevin Smith, Daryl Hilkert, Bill Hallett, Billy Brown, Roger Chrysler, Matt Grubbe, Chad Homan, Dan Mayer, Dave Schulz, DNS: Doug Smith. SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: L. Lincoln, R. VanNeil, P. LaVare, L. Dusett, R. Miller, J. Plumb, S. Schrader. FEATURE (25-laps): TODD HENDERSON, Eldon Payne Jr., Scott Schrader, Paul Guererri, Ricky VanNeil, Gus Hurlburt, Jon Miller, Dan Weisner, Phil LaVare, John Plumb, Justin Henderson, Loren Lincoln, Dick Park Jr., Rob Bussey, Rick Miller, Mike Johnson, Amy Pfeffer, Lance Dusett, Dale Kissel. DIRT MODIFIED HEAT 1: J. Haers, G. Tomkins, J. Pfeffer, J. Brownell Jr., D. Ruggles, C. Bower. FEATURE (35-laps): VIC COFFEY, Justin Haers, Gary Tomkins, Chad Brachmann, Charlie Donk, Karl Comfort, Randy Chrysler, Steve Paine, Chuck Bower, Ron Smoker, Chuck Hebing, John Pfeffer, Chuck Graham, Jeff Brownell Jr., Scott Boudinot, Ron Cartwright Jr., Brian Michels, Ray Bliss, Ron White, Darryl Ruggles, Derrick Podsiadlo, Mike Bliss, Mike Ward, Don Slover, Mike Payne, DNS: Dale Darling. |