Brachmann, Friesen Split Mod Wins While Giguere Doubles Up Sportsman; Ortiz And Rizzo Capture Full-Fender Features At Canandaigua Speedway
By Gary M. Spaid, DIRT MotorSports PR

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (August 27) – It was a night where the strong southern winds were blowing up a storm. On the track Stewart Friesen won the rain-delayed DIRT Modified main held over from the previous week, his second win at the “Land of Legends” in just two weeks. Eric Giguere came home with the win in the held over Sportsman 25-lapper.

Following the make up features the regular night of racing was staged. Chad Brachmann took the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature while Giguere won the Sportsman main to sweep the twin-bill. Jipp Ortiz survived a post-race protest and took home his seventh win in the Pro Stock ranks. In the Street Stocks, Frank Burnell was not so lucky. Following his victory lane interview his car was found to have an illegal spring configuration and not having brakes on all four wheels. He was disqualified from his win and Nick Rizzo received victory spoils.

The first DIRT Modified feature began with Mike Ward jumping out into the lead at the drop of the green. On lap seven Ward was passed on the low side by Steve Paine, who moved to the point. A slowing Charlie Donk on the back stretch caused the first yellow flag to fly on lap seven. On the restart the yellow lights flahed for a second time following a spin by Jeff Brownell Jr. in the second turn.

On the second restart Stewart Friesen drove to the high side of Paine and out-dragged him for the lead. Once in front Friesen began to stretch his advantage over Paine while Chuck Bower moved into third after a torrid battle with Justin Haers. On lap 15, Eldon Payne Jr. slowed in the second turn to bring out the yellow for the third time in the race. Two laps later John Pfeffer spun exiting the second turn and collected the team 28 cars driven by Eldon Payne Jr. and Phil LaVare. All three exited into the pits.

Chuck Bower now made a charge at Friesen, actually taking the lead briefly on lap 18, yet Friesen shot right back and regained the top spot. A final yellow flew on lap 27 when Roger Chrysler exited the track off the third turn and Donk again slowed in the turn two. Friesen brought the field to the checkers holding off Gary Tomkins, Bower, Paine and Brachmann.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified nightcap opened with Donk holding off Ray Bliss and Justin Haers to start the main. Brachmann found the low grove while Brownell seemed to work the best in the high line. On lap six, Brachmann ducked to the low side and took the lead from Donk.

Meanwhile Brownell was sailing forward through the field, making his way up to fourth. On lap nine his high line around the track proved to become his downfall. Brownell drifted high over the berm in the first turn and then returned to the racing surface just in time to be tagged by Karl Comfort and sent spinning into the outside turn two barrier to bring out the first yellow of the race.

Vic Coffey tried the high grove around Brachmann on the restart but fell short. Coffey continued to work that lane throughout the rest of the race. Stewart Friesen had worked his way up to third and found himself in a real battle for position between himself and point leaders Tomkins and Paine. The results of this battle would be affected by lapped traffic. Friesen remained in third with Paine falling back to fifth.

The green remained out for the remainder of the 35-lap race. During this long green flag period Brachmann maintained a safe lead over Coffey, stretching his advantage every time Coffey went too high through the turns. At the checkers it was Brachmann with his first Canandaigua big-block feature win followed by Coffey, Friesen, Tomkins and Paine. Brachmann averaged 62.607 mph in winning this race.

The rain delayed Paine Motorsports Sportsman 25-lap feature looked like it might possibly go green-to-checkers as Roger Chrysler pulled away from Giguere at the drop of the green. Third-place runner Scott Just dropped from the race on lap 10, as did his brother Dave, both with smoking cars.

As Giguere seemed to close the gap on the 10-car advantage held by Chrysler, the yellow finally flew when Loren Lincoln came to a stop in the fourth turn. The restart showed Giguere easily within striking distance of Chrysler, who was still able to maintain the lead.

The yellow flag waved again on lap 23 when Justin Henderson slowed on the track. This time on the restart Giguere challenged Chrysler, moving beneath him in the fourth turn. The move allowed Giguere to take the lead with just two laps remaining, and there he remained for the win finishing ahead of Chrysler, Paul Guererri, Gus Hurlburt and Scott Schrader.

The regular Sportsman 25-lapper produced much of the same type of action. Scott Just handed over the lead on lap five to Guererri, who proceed to build up an advantage over Just, Dave Just and Giguere. By lap 17 Guererri had opened up a full straight away margin between the Justs and Giguere. Lapped traffic came into play, shaking up the second through fourth positions. Giguere got around the Justs in this traffic, just in time for the yellow to fly on lap 21, when Curtis Friesen spun in the second turn.

Guererri held off Giguere to remain the leader on the restart but the yellow lights reappeared for the last time on lap 23 when Mike Murphy sailed straight off the first turn into the grass. This time Giguere was able to get around Guererri for the lead. Guererri’s car seemed to be slow and with one lap to go he exited the track off the back stretch, out of the race. Giguere drove home for his second win of the night in front of Schrader, Dan Wiesner, Lincoln and Dave Just rounded out the top five.

The 15-lap Big Mike's Auto Repair Pro Stock began with Daryl Hilkert taking the lead over Ortiz. On lap five Ortiz made quick work of Hilkert and drove to the point. The only yellow of the race came on lap 11 when John Rutkowski went off the speedway in the first turn. The race was all Ortiz, with Chad Homan passing Hilkert for second on the restart. Also getting by Hilkert for third was last week’s winner James Henry.

Following the race a protest against the no. 0 Ortiz car motor was filed. Following post-race inspection of the engine, which included lifting the engine up out of the car, the Ortiz car was declared legal by DIRT tech officials and the second-generation driver remained the official winner of the race.

The 15-lap Parts Plus Auto Stores Street Stock main looked like a crash-fest at first as the initial three laps required three yellow flags. On lap four the teams finally seemed to settle in with Frank Burnell the early leader. Burnell stretched his advantage to a full straight away over runner-up Rizzo and remained out front when the checkers waved to record his second feature win in a row. However, his joy was short-lived as post-race inspection showed a number of issues that had officials disqualify him from the victory. Rizzo inherited the win while Leroy Lewis, Blane Smith, Mike Minutolo and Tony Pangrazio became the official top-five finishers.

Saturday, Sept. 3 will be Championship night at the “Land of Legends” featuring extended lap features. The DIRT Modified points title will be settled by a 50-lap feature. The DIRT Sportsman, Pro Stock and Street Stock divisions will have champions crowned. Race time this Saturday will be 7 p.m. sharp.

Canandaigua Speedway will then remain dark until Saturday, September 24, when the Castle Car Care Products Finger Lakes Championships will feature 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock teams in Super DIRT Series action. The 358’s will be running a 75-lapper, Pro Stocks will be contending in the 7th annual Top Gun One Shootout, a combined 25-lap Stacker 2® Championship race while the Sportsman will end with a 50-lap Combined Championship event. Race time is listed for 3 p.m., however officials expect to start somewhat later to allow the speedway surface to be the best for both the racers and their fans should. Expect to see 358-Modified time trials take to the track around 4 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.

PARTS PLUS/CANANDAIGUA CHRYSLER-DOGE-JEEP NIGHT SUMMARY

PARTS PLUS AUTO STORES STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: F. Burnell, T. Pangrazio, K. Collins, S. Smith, N. Rizzo, M. Minutolo.
HEAT 2: N. Peckham, L. Lewis, M. Welch, D. Whiteside, B. Smith, B. Steinruck.

FEATURE (15-laps): NICK RIZZO, Leroy Lewis, Blane Smith, Mike Minutolo, Tony Pangrazio, Mike Welch, Mike Rasbeck, Scott Smith, Steve Faulkner, Jim Burba, Kevin Collins, Chris Jacobs, Nat Peckham, Mike Schultz, Corey Hunt, Adam DePuy, Don Whiteside, Charles Vohs, Brad Steinruck, DQ’ed: Frank Burnell

BIG MIKE'S AUTO REPAIR PRO STOCKS

HEAT: D. Hilkert, C. Homan, B. Hallett, J. Ortiz.

FEATURE (15-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, Chad Homan, James Henry, Daryl Hilkert, Bill Hallett, Matt Grube, John Rutkowski, John Kuluzuso.

PAINE MOTORSPORTS SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: P. Guererri, R. Chrysler, R. Miller, J. Henderson, E. Heffernan
HEAT 2: D. Wiesner, S. Just, L. Lincoln, M. Murphy, G. Hurlburt, C. Friesen
HEAT 3: S. Schrader, E. Giguere, D. Just, C. Parmelee, K. Ridley, S. Doell.

FEATURE (25-laps): ERIC GIGUERE, Scott Schrader, Dan Wiesner, Loren Lincoln, Dave Just, Roger Chrysler, Scott Just, Tony Purgarich, Clay Parmelee, Kevin Ridley, Gus Hurlburt, James Bronschilde, Mike Murphy, Paul Guererri, Mark Chiddy, Justin Henderson, Rick Miller, Rob Bussey, Ricky Newton, Frank Wadsworth, Steve Doell, Tom Jansch, Eric Heffernan.

DELAYED FEATURE (25-laps): ERIC GIGUERE, Roger Chrysler, Paul Guererri, Gus Hurlburt, Scott Schrader, Steve Doell, Dan Wiesner, Rob Bussey, Loren Lincoln, Tony Purgarich, Curtis Friesen, Rick Miller, Ricky Newton, Mark Chiddy, Justin Henderson, Scott Just, Kevin Ridley, Mike Murphy, Dave Just, Tom Jansch, DNS: Eric Heffernan, Dale Kissel.

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED

HEAT 1: C. Brachmann, S. Paine, M. Ward, S. Pesarek, M. Payne, D. Slover.
HEAT 2: K. Comfort, R. Bliss, C. Bower, S. Friesen, S. Whaley, R. Cartwright Jr.
HEAT 3: J. Brownell Jr., G. Tomkins, V. Coffey, J. Haers, T. Henderson, C. Donk.
CONSI: G. Tegg Jr., B. Michael, J. Pfeffer, E. Payne Jr., R. Chrysler, D. Schrader.

FEATURE (35-laps): CHAD BRACHMANN, Vic Coffey, Stewart Friesen, Gary Tomkins, Steve Paine, Chuck Bower, Justin Haers, Charlie Donk, Roger Chrysler, Jeff Brownell Jr., Ron Cartwright Jr., John Pfeffer, Ray Bliss, Brian Michaels, Gil Tegg Jr., Dave Schrader, Todd Henderson, Eldon Payne Jr., Mike Ward, Mike Payne, Karl Comfort, Don Slover, Steve Pesarek, Shannon Whaley.

DELAYED FEATURE (35-laps): STEWART FRIESEN, Gary Tomkins, Chuck Bower, Steve Paine, Chad Brachmann, Karl Comfort, Justin Haers, Vic Coffey, Todd Henderson, Ron Cartwright Jr., Gil Tegg Jr., Mike Ward, Jeff Brownell Jr., Shannon Whaley, Ray Bliss, Roger Chrysler, Charlie Donk, Fran Hilton, John Pfeffer, Eldon Payne Jr., Phil LaVare, Junior Green, Steve Pesarek, Don Slover, DNS: Mike Bliss, Todd Burley, Randy Chrysler.