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Friesen First At Fairgrounds; Wiesner, Ortiz & DePuy Join Big-Block CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (August 13) – Saturday evening Stewart Friesen from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, became the first Canadian to win a DIRT Modified feature at Canandaigua Speedway since Joe Plazek won back on June 6, 1998. For Friesen, this was just his second DIRT Modified career victory, having won earlier this year at Cayuga County Fair Speedway. “This was one heck of a race! Oh Boy,” commented Friesen following what might well have been one of the most exciting features ever run at the “Land of Legends”. In the open-wheel support division, Dan Wiesner picked up his third DIRT Sportsman feature win of the year. And in full-fender Pro Stock action, Jipp Ortiz stretched out his latest win streak to two straight while Adam DePuy led the entire 15-lap Street Stock main to beat out 25 other competitors. A special Ladies Race was held at the end of the evening with Leslie LaVare battling Vicky Martin for the win, after three cars caused a red flag in a turn two accident when one of the cars sail over the wall. The 84-Lumber/Harley Davidson of Geneva 35-lap DIRT Modified feature opened with outside pole-sitter Shannon Whaley taking off to establish a three car advantage over Eldon Payne Jr., Mike Bliss and Mike Ward. Sailing quickly towards the front of the field was Jeff Brownell Jr., aboard his ultra-fast Advance Lubricants Specialties no. 29B entry. Not only did Brownell move into second, he quickly began to close the gap on Whaley and by lap 11 ran side-by-side at the line and was actually scored as the race leader by mere inches. Also coming on fast was Justin Haers, who got by Whaley on Brownell’s shirt-tails. Haers then took to the high side of the “fast track” and began an assault on the lead. On lap 18 Brownell drifted extremely high in the first turn to open the door for Haers to take the lead. As the lap was being completed the yellow flew for the first time in the race when Karl Comfort slowed on the track with a flat tire. Up to this point, the pace of the race was in the low 90-mph range. During this yellow, Brownell headed pit-side with a broken shock mount, explaining the move he had made in the first turn to allow Haers to easily take the lead. On the ensuing restart Haers battled Chuck Bower for the front spot. As if on a pace lap, side-by-side, the top eight cars all battled at the front of the field. In front were Haers and Bower followed by Steve Paine and third-generation chauffeur Friesen. Then came Gary Tomkins and Charlie Donk. Finally it was Vic Coffey and Chad Brachmann. The yellow flew for the second time in the race on lap 25 when Eldon Payne Jr. slowed in the fourth turn and on the final restart Haers led the field with Friesen passing Bower. Friesen then went to the top of the track and made a move exiting the fourth turn to take the lead. Tomkins made his presence known as he passed Haers for second and took off after Friesen. The young Canadian pilot easily stretched out his lead, winning his first-ever DIRT Modified feature at Canandaigua Speedway. Tomkins came home in second followed by Coffey and Paine, who both passed Haers on the final lap. The race speed average in the end was 66.059 mph. “We were up high at first and then the top seemed to go away for us,” stated Friesen after taking a “Polish Victory Lap around the track. “We were low and then I tried back up high and the high groove had come back. It’s great to have a group like the Madsen team stick behind me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes this year, but I've stayed with it and they've stuck with me.” In Paine Motorsports Sportsman action, pole-sitter Roger Chrysler out-dragged outside pole man Gus Hurlburt by inches to be recorded as the leader on lap one. But Hurlburt came alive soonafter and took solid command of the lead, pulling away from Chrysler. Moving through the field was Dan Wiesner, who took fourth on lap four behind Rob Bussey. On lap nine, Wiesner was able to pass Bussey following a side-by-side duel. Lapped car traffic then played into Wiesner’s hands as he caught Chrysler and passed him with Chrysler boxed in by a lapped car. The real help for Wiesner came on lap 13 as the yellow flag flew when Loren Lincoln was forced low into the inside wall in the second turn. This caution period evaporated Hurlburt’s seven car lead and allowed Wiesner to pull up onto Hurlburt's tail. Hurlburt was able to stretch out a slight advantage on the restart over Wiesner and looked to maintain his strong lead but a rash of yellows followed. On lap 18, Mike Murphy coasted to a stop in the second turn with a badly smoking car. On the restart Eric Giguere, who had maneuvered into second, was tapped in the back end and sent spinning in the second turn. Both Giguere and Paul Guererri were sent to the rear of the field for their involvement. Hurlburt looked to have control of the race with Wiesner running in second. On the final lap of the race Wiesner took one last desperate move, ducking low exiting the second turn. He was able to move alongside Hurlburt and inch ahead out of turn four of the speedway. As the lead pair came down the front stretch it was Wiesner scoring the dramatic by .329 seconds over Hurlburt. Bussey, Justin Henderson and Chrysler rounded out the top-five. The fastest race average speed came in the Big Mike's Auto Repair Pro Stock feature in which Ortiz averaged 83.665 mph on his way to a 15-lap victory in a race that went green-to-checkers. A mad scramble at the front of the field ended with early leader James Henry turning over the point to Chad Homan on lap four. Ortiz, using a high line, then passed Henry for second, then waited two more laps before ducking under Homan for the lead on lap seven. During the remainder of the race Ortiz stretched out his lead over Homan and Henry. At the finish line Ortiz held a 1.682 second lead over Homan. Henry, Daryl Hilkert and Bill Hallett rounded out the top-five finishers. The 15-lap Parts Plus Auto Stores Street Stock feature began with DePuy taking the lead at the drop of the green. The lone yellow of the race came on lap three when the hood of the Frank Burnell car flew off in turn three. On the restart Mike Minutolo was on DePuy’s back bumper and these two drew away from the rest of the field for two laps, before the yellow flew again. Ted Sweeney had looped his stocker in the second turn. This time DePuy was able to break free from Minutolo, with Mike Welch running in third. For the next seven circuits the green remained out with the real battle in the race taking place for fourth between Blane Smith and Steve Faulkner. The yellow flew on lap 13 when the cars of Don Whiteside, Wayne Ellison and Tim Burnell got together in the second turn. Ellison’s car was badly damaged and had to be cradled off the track by two tow trucks. The final mishap set up a two-lap dash to the checkers and DePuy was able to hang on to take his first win of the year at Canandaigua. Minutolo, Welch, Blane Smith and Mike Schultz rounded out the top-five finishers. Maryann Minutolo won the shortened Ladies Race after three of the six starters crashed on the opening lap. Jody Fredenburg, who has been singing the National Anthem at the track as of late, suffered the worst in the accident taking the Vance Vanderwall machine over the second turn wall. Also involved in the accident were former street stock feature winner Tanya Lovejoy and Deb Diane. Minutolo then fought off Vicky Martin for three laps before moving solely into the lead. Martin finished second followed by Gail Jones, who was one lap down to the leaders. This coming Saturday will be autograph night at the speedway with pit gates opening earlier then normal, at 3 p.m. Autographs will be available from drivers in all four classes before the racing starts. Race time is set for 7 p.m., with warm-ups hitting the speedway at 6:15 p.m. Another reminder that the 358-Modified/Pro Stock Super DIRT Series doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday, August 24th, will now be held one day earlier, Tuesday, August 23. Race time on that day remains 7 o'clock sharp with small-block time trials starting at 6:30 p.m. 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, Zippo Lighters and F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the contingency sponsors are DART Machinery, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries. 84 LUMBER-HARLEY DAVIDSON OF GENEVA NIGHT SUMMARY PARTS PLUS AUTO STORES STREET STOCK HEAT 1: C. Sealy, W. Ellison, S. Faulkner, M. Minutolo, M. Welch. FEATURE (15-laps): ADAM DEPUY, Mike Minutolo, Mike Welch, Blane Smith, Mike Schultz, Steve Faulkner, Nat Peckham, Brad Steinruck, Jim Burba, Vance Vanderwall, Kevin Collins, Leroy Lewis, Jason Whipple, Don Jones, Nick Rizzo, Ted Sweeney, Frank Burnell, Jason Quigley, Don Whiteside, Tim Burnell, Wayne Ellison, Scott Smith, Mike Rasbeck, George LaVare, Chris Sealy, Chris Jacobs. LADIES RACE (5-laps): LESLIE LaVARE, Vicky Martin, Gail Jones, Tanya Lovejoy, Deb Diane, Jody Fredenburg. BIG MIKE'S AUTO REPAIR PRO STOCK HEAT: C. Homan, J. Henry, J. Ortiz, B. Hallett, M. Grubbe, D. Hilkert FEATURE (15-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, Chad Homan, James Henry, Daryl Hilkert, Bill Hallett, Doug Smith, Matt Grubbe, John Rutkowski, Jon Kuleszo. PAINE MOTORSPORTS SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: G. Hurlburt, R. Chrysler, J. Henderson, S. Schrader, M. Murphy, P. Guererri. FEATURE (20-laps): DAN WIESNER, Gus Hurlburt, Rob Bussey, Justin Henderson, Roger Chrysler, Scott Schrader, Loren Lincoln, Paul Guererri, Eric Giguere, Eric Heffernan, Ricky Newton, Mike Murphy, Dave Just, Russ Hefti, Rick Miller, Scott Just, Dale Kissel, James Bronschidle, DNS: Tim Johnson, Tom Jansch. ADVANCE AUTO PARTS DIRT MODIFIEDS HEAT 1: V. Coffey, M. Bliss, E. Payne Jr., S. Paine, J. Pfeffer. FEATURE (35-laps): STEWART FRIESEN, Gary Tomkins, Vic Coffey, Steve Paine, Justin Haers, Chuck Bower, Charlie Donk, Chad Brachmann, Todd Burley, Derrick Podsiadlo, Jeff Brownell Jr., Karl Comfort, Ray Bliss, Mike Ward, Shannon Whaley, Randy Chrysler, Scott George, Eldon Payne Jr., John Pfeffer, Roger Chrysler, Mike Bliss, Fran Hilton, Steve Pesarek. |