Canandaigua 2005 Lid-Lifter Shut Down By 'Mother Nature' On Saturday
By Gary M. Spaid, DIRT MotorSports PR

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – The expected season opener at Canandaigua Speedway will have to wait one more week as “Mother Nature” forced race officials to cancel due to heavy all day rains. The last time the season opener was lost to rain was in 2001.

According to track historian Gary Spaid, this will be the twelfth time since the modern era, dating back to 1972, that the opener has been rained out.

The season opener will now be Saturday, April 30, with gates opening at 2 p.m. and racing starting at 4 p.m.

“We hate to lose the opener to weather, but it would be best to get the year off right under better weather conditions,” stated track general manager Jeff Farney. “The parking lots were just full of water, as were the track and pits.”

The 50-lap DIRT Modified opener, along with a full program of Sportsman, Pro Stock and Street Stock racing will take to the speedway on the 30th. New this year is a complete payoff for the Street Stocks, which raced the past seasons with only the top-five receiving any prize money.

Over the winter the “new” DIRT MotorSports™ management team signed a new lease for the speedway rights. Drivers and car owners at Canandaigua are expected to have a DIRT MotorSports™ License. Crew members can also purchase a license, allowing them additional savings at the back gate.

Also new at Canandaigua will be the use of the one-way RACEceiver radio system. “This system should really help us in running off a quicker program each week,” stated Farney. “I am looking forward to see just how effective this will be. I have heard a number of stories about it’s success.”

Canandaigua Speedway is located just minutes from the NYS Thruway using either exit 43 or 44. The track can also be easily accessed by Routes 5&20. The track is located at the Ontario County Fairgrounds on County Road 10 just east of the village of Canandaigua. This half-mile racing oval history dates back to 1953.

The DIRT MotorSports™ Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Dynomax Performance Exhaust, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional Partners include Stacker 2®, AMB i.t., RACEceiver and Zippo Lighters and the contingency sponsors are DART Machinery, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.