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Coffey Kicks Off 2005 At The 'Land Of Legends' With 50-Lap Modified Win CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (May 7) – After two straight weeks of rain, the sun finally shone over Canandaigua Speedway and the start of the 2005 racing season is now in the record books. In victory lane, winning the Port Byron True Value 50 was Vic Coffey, from Leicester, NY. Coffey took over the lead on lap 22 and survived a number of late race cautions to take home the $3,000 winner’s check. In Sportsman action, Paul Guererri returned to his winning ways claiming the 25-lap victory. And on the full fender card it was Jipp Ortiz with the 20-lap Pro Stock victory with Blane Smith winning the 15-lap Street Stock main. “I’m just glad to finally have one under our belts,” commented race director and general manager Jeff Farney. “We did the whole opening show in just over four hours, including the 50-lapper for the Modifieds which was on the track for over a half-hour alone.” The start of the 50-lap DIRT Modified main saw Vic Coffey and Stewart Friesen pace the field down to the starting line. Friesen blasted into the lead leaving Coffey in his dust. The youngster from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, was able to pull out to a full two second lead over Coffey, using lap cars to his advantage. Justin Haers was running third followed by Ray Bliss and Jeff Brownell. By lap 16 traffic became a real problem for the leaders. Friesen was slowed by a lapped car which allowed Coffey to pull along side of the “Niagara Express.” On lap 21 Coffey ducked low in the fourth turn and was able to pass for the lead. By the time he was in the first turn, he was pinned by another lap car allowing Friesen back by for the lead. This lead was short lived as it was Coffey negotiating back into the lead by the start-finish line. Two laps later Haers joined the battle to make it three wide at the stripe. Gary Tomkins was now on the move, passing Bliss for fourth. On lap 27 Friesen drifted high in the second turn allowing Tomkins into third as now a full second separated Coffey in first and Haers in second. Tomkins moved into second soonafter and began to challenge Coffey for the lead. The first yellow flew on lap 35 when Friesen slowed on the front stretch. He went to the pits and quickly returned to the race at the back of the field. Cautions were about to become “matter of fact” as the yellow flew four more times within a ten lap period. On lap 37 a three car tangle in the second turn saw Mike Ward, Shannon Whaley and Allen Willoughby all involved. Two laps later in the third turn Darryl Ruggles and Eldon Payne Jr. hooked bumpers leaving Mike Ward no place to go and he slammed heavily into the Payne machine. Yellow came out for a fourth time on lap 43 when Jeff Brownell looped his machine in the second turn. The final yellow flag flew on lap 47 when Tomkins, who had dropped back to third when Haers passed on the high side the on lap 44 restart, now coasted to a stop on the back stretch out of gas. His crew placed enough fuel in his car to complete the race and Tomkins returned to the back of the field with three laps remaining. At the finish line it was Coffey first on a well worn out right rear tire. He was followed by Steve Paine, Haers, Friesen and Ron Cartwright Jr. in the top-five. In the Sportsman finale a 15 car starting field saw the yellow flag unfurl as the field completed the first lap. A six car accident in the first turn saw a number of cars unable to return to the race. Involved in the first turn melee were Gus Hulburt, Justin Henderson, Kevin Ridley, Rob Bussey, Josh Hefti and Rick Miller. The restart was not much better as the second yellow came out on lap two. This time Josh Hefti had spun out in the fourth turn. When the race went back under green it was Scott Schrader passing Paul Guererri for the lead. Guererri let Schrader keep the lead for just six circuits before he returned to the point with a high side pass in the second turn. Once in the lead Guererri started to stretch his advantage. At the halfway mark Guererri was followed by Schrader, Dan Wiesner, Russ Hefti and Loren Lincoln. On lap 13 young Josh Hefti slid high in the third turn, drifting high enough to hook a rear tire and flip, landing on his wheels. His father Russ slowed to check on his son's condition and then both father and son returned to the pits. Josh was later transported to the hospital to be checked over for pains in his neck. Guererri used the final laps of the race to secure his victory. Schrader held on for second finishing ahead of Wiesner, Eric Giguere and Hulburt. “We owe this win to our engine man,” added Guererri in victory lane. “We lost an engine last week at Rolling Wheels and our guys worked all week to get this car ready for tonight.” It would be pole-sitter Jipp Ortiz who would lead almost every lap in the 20-lap Pro Stock main. Ortiz lost the lead temporarily to James Henry, who was glued to the Ortiz rear bumper the entire first part of the race. On lap 14, after repeated efforts of going high in the fourth turn, Henry finally completed the pass, out-dragging Ortiz down the front stretch to be recorded as the leader. But Ortiz overpowered Henry using the same outside move on lap 16 to retake the front spot. Ortiz cruised home with the victory followed by Henry and Chad Homan while nearly a half lap back in fourth was Darryl Hilkert with John Rutkowski rounding out the top-five finishers. The 20-lap Street Stock main saw a few yellows in the early going yet on every restart it remained Mike Welch firmly in command of first place. On lap two, pre-race favorite Adam DePuy looped in the inside of the third turn. One lap later it was Nick Dandino side-swiping a left front wheel off his car after making contact with the back stretch concrete. Throughout the race Blane Smith stayed within striking distance of Welch. On lap 12, Smith made his move drifting high around the leader through the fourth turn. Shot like he came from a rocket, Smith then stretched out his lead. Smith easily scored the win followed by Welch, Nick Rizzo, Mike Minutolo and young Mike Schultz. After getting out of his car Smith noted a well worn right rear tire in victory lane. “That tire wouldn’t have lasted many more laps. The track was good and hopefully this will be a good year for everybody,” Smith said. This week racing returns to Canandaigua Speedway starting at 7 p.m. sharp. Pit gates open at 4:30 p.m. and on tap will be a complete program of DIRT Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stock and Street Stock racing. PORT BYRON TRUE VALUE HARDWARE NIGHT SUMMARY STREET STOCK HEAT 1: B. Smith, N. Rizzo, M. Minutolo, A. DePuy, S. Faulkner, D. Phippen. FEATURE (15-laps): BLANE SMITH, Mike Welch, Nick Rizzo, Mike Minutolo, Mike Schultz, Adam DePuy, Steve Faulkner, Nat Peckham, Mike Rasbeck, Chris Jacobs, Kevin Collins, Charles Vohs, Leroy Lewis, Scott Smith, Vance Vanderwall, Darren Phippen, Jason Whipple, Ralph Priest, Nick Dandino, Frank Burnell, DNS: Mike Shaw. PRO STOCK HEAT 1: J. Ortiz, B. Thompson, M Grubbe, J. Rutkowski FEATURE (20-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, James Henry, Chad Homan, Daryl Hilkert, John Rutkowski, Frank Guererri Jr., Mike Mangiarelli, Brian Thompson, Matt Grubbe SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: D. Wiesner, L. Lincoln, G. Hurlburt, J. Henderson, K. Ridley. FEATURE (25-laps): PAUL GUERERRI, Scott Schrader, Dan Wiesner, Eric Giguere, Gus Hulburt, Loren Lincoln, Kevin Ridley, Mike Murphy, Tom Jansch, Rob Bussey, Russ Hefti, Josh Hefti, Mike Johnson, Justin Henderson, Rick Miller. DIRT MODIFIED HEAT 1: V. Coffey, R. Bliss, D. Ruggles, R. Cartwright Jr., C. Bower. FEATURE (50-laps): VIC COFFEY, Steve Paine, Justin Haers, Stewart Friesen, Ron Cartwright Jr., Ray Bliss, Darryl Ruggles, Eldon Payne Jr., Gary Tomkins, Chad Brachmann, Charlie Donk, Chuck Bower, Karl Comfort, Derrick Podsiadlo, Mike Ward, Jeff Brownell Jr., Scott Boudinot, Shannon Whaley, Jim Hull, Allen Willoughby, Mike Bliss, Don Slover, Todd Henderson. |