Paine & Donk Split Mod 20s, Giguere Adds 1^st Canandaigua Sportsman Win

Canandaigua, NY – June 17, 2006 – By Gary M. Spaid, Canandaigua PR 

Waterloo, New York’s Steve Paine and Macedon’s Charlie Donk each took victories in the Father’s Day $20 a Car-Load Special DIRT Modified Twin 20-lappers at Canandaigua Speedway on Saturday night. For Paine it was his third feature win of the year, while it was Donk’s first with his last registered on August 6^th of 2005. 

During the second DIRT Modified twin a scary accident took place on lap 13 when Derrick Podsiadlo cut down a front tire. He was unable to steer his number 21 machine, while Vic Coffey tried to pass on the outside. Coffey hooked his right front wheel on the Podsiadlo car, tearing the wheel off and send it flying over the tire fence and into the first turn maintenance area. Chuck Bower then slid into the accident scene making contact with the Coffey machine. Just seconds later Sean Beardsley plowed into the accident scene, tearing the front end off his own car which sent him flipping down the track. Fortunately, all were uninjured. 

In the DIRT Sportsman main only two yellow flags slowed the action with Eric Giguere taking the 25-lap feature victory. The Street Stock features saw Ray Cooper claim his first ever Canandaigua feature win. Frank Burnell Jr., who had been running with questionable springs, had them changed this week and took his number 57B to an Expert division victory. “Legal, is the only way to run here at Canandaigua,” he stated in victory lane to the pleasure of the huge crowd on hand. 

The first DIRT Mod 20-lapper began with Shannon Whaley taking the lead trying to run away and hide from the rest of the field. Sean Beardsley broke free from the pack on lap five after passing Derrick Podsiadlo for second and began the process of whittling down Whaley’s lead. On lap nine Paine entered the picture as he too passed Podsiadlo for third. Dave Rauscher showed excellent driving skill when he looped on the front stretch in traffic, spinning and then slamming on the gas and returning immediately to the action. 

By lap 13 Paine had caught both Whaley and Beardsley and one lap later he ducked to the low side of the second turn and took the lead. Matt Sheppard then began the process of catching the leaders. By lap 19 he slid by Whaley for second but did not have enough time to catch winner Paine with Whaley, Beardsley and Chuck Bower completing the top-five in a race that went green-to-checkers, with an average speed of 90.642 MPH. In victory lane Paine drew a playing card from the deck to determine the number of cars to invert for the second feature. As luck would have it Paine drew the Jack and that meant 11 cars had to be inverted for round two. 

The start of the second 20-lapper found Podsiadlo and Phil Vigneri on the front row. Vigneri grabbed the lead but lost out to Donk on lap two by going too high in the second turn. Just as Donk took the lead the first yellow of the race flew when Chad Brachmann looped his number 3b mount on the front stretch. Donk led Podsiadlo until Gary Tomkins was able to get by for the runner-up position on lap nine, but then fell back allowing Podsiadlo to retake the spot. On lap 13, Podsiadlo rubbed the back bumper of the Donk car while exiting the fourth turn which resulted in the biggest accident (explained at the top) of the night. Both cars of Coffey and Beardsley were severely damaged after having their front-ends torn off. 

Following the red flag that ensued, Donk was able to hold off Tomkins and Todd Burley lap-after-lap-after-lap. Victory was finally in Donk’s hands although Burley was not to be denied as he used traffic on lap 19 to pass Tomkins for second. Sheppard and Brachmann filled out the front-five. 

The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman feature looked as if the cars were going to have yellow-after-yellow again, as they had for the last two weeks. Jim Hull looped out in the third turn on the first lap to bring out the yellow and on the restart Danielle Culverwall got hung up in second turn action after being hit from the rear and spinning to a stop. At the same time Tim Currier and Rob Richmond Jr. also came together. 

Yet once the green flag returned the drivers seemed to settle in and run the remainder of the race non-stop. Daryl Hilkert took the lead from Richmond Jr. on the second lap. He was able to hold the point on that restart for just one circuit before being passed by Eric Giguere, who then set sail with Hilkert on his rear bumper. 

The best battle of the evening was for third between Rob Bussey, Todd Henderson and Paul Guererri. At the finish it would be Giguere with the win followed by Hilkert, Henderson, Bussey, and Guererri. This race average speed of 44.299 MPH was much improved over the last two weeks. 

The Novice Street Stock 10-lap feature was slowed by cautions flags for the first time in weeks. On lap five Ted Sweeney spun in the second turn and two circuits later Mike Dandino made contact with the outside second turn wall, ending his race for the night. In the end Ray Cooper won his first-ever Canandaigua Street Stock feature followed by top-five runners Corey Hunt, Jamie Eldridge, Charles Vohs and Rod Comfort Jr. 

In Expert full-fender action early yellow flags slowed the race. Mike Schultz was the early leader of the event, when Steve Faulkner took command of the front spot on lap three. He stayed there for three more laps and two yellows before Burnell took over the race lead. The Experts provided plenty of racing action running three and four-wide at times and in the end it was Burnell with the win followed by Steve Smith, Faulkner, Nick Rizzo and Leroy Lewis. 

LEGENDS LEDGER: Tempers exploded in the Street Stock pits following the Novice heat race. “You can be sure penalties will be handed out for any physical actions taken in the pits tonight,” stated General Manager Jeff Farney….Charles Vohs (Street Stock) and Danielle Culverwall (Sportsman) were picked as Teams of the Week, each receiving three passes into the races next week…Jeff Brownell Jr. survived a broken drive shaft in his heat race and was picked to drive the Kids’ Club winner around the track during intermission. Brownell was not able to make the needed repairs to run the feature…Tim Cornell was on hand as he is each Father’s Day weekend to pay tribute to his father by running the family owned number 138. It is usually his only appearance during the season…Beardsley’s flip was in his new car that he built following his flip at Canandaigua two weeks ago. This car will need extensive repairs before it returns to the track. 

This Saturday, June 24 finds a regular four-star program including DIRT Modified and Sportsman racing plus two divisions of Street Stocks. Race time will be at 7 p.m. sharp. Come and be part of the real “Party Action” at the “Land of Legends”. The adult general admission ticket price is $10. Further schedule information is available throughout the season by logging into canandaiguaspeedway.com or by contacting the DIRT MotorSports NE office at 315/834-6606. 

CANANDAIGUA SPEEDWAY FATHER’S DAY SPECIAL NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCK

HEAT 1: M. Schultz, A. DePuy, S. Smith, M. Welch, W. Ellison, N. Peckham.
HEAT 2: S. Faulkner, M. Rasbeck, N. Rizzo, L. Lewis, F. Burnell, B. Lloyd.
HEAT 3:  C. Vohs, R. Cooper, B. Peters, C. Hunt, G. LaVare Jr., M. Dandino.

NOVICE FEATURE (10-laps): RAY COOPER, Corey Hunt, Jamie Eldridge, Charles Vohs, Rod Comfort Jr., Ross Lurcock, George LaVare Jr., Ted Sweeney, Mike Dandino.

EXPERT FEATURE (15-laps): FRANK BURNELL, Steve Smith, Steve Faulkner, Nick Rizzo, Leroy Lewis, Blane Smith, Nat Peckham, Wayne Ellison, Mike Welch, Mike Schultz, Mike Rasbeck, Chris Jacobs, Brian Lloyd, Matt Grubbe, Adam DePuy, Mike Minutolo, Robert Lloyd, Brad Steinruck (DNS), Nick Dandino (DNS). 

DIRT SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: T. Henderson, D. Just, E. Giguere, S. Schrader.
HEAT 2: D. Hilkert, R. Pratt, R. Richmond Jr., G. Hurlburt.
HEAT 3: J. Hull, R. Bussey, P. Guererri, K. Ridley.

FEATURE (25-laps): ERIC GIGUERE, Daryl Hilkert, Todd Henderson, Rob Bussey, Paul Guererri, Gus Hurlburt, Scott Schrader, Rob Pratt, Loren Lincoln, Tim Currier, Dave Just, Phil LaVare, Scott Just, Ricky Newton, Kevin Ridley, Rob Richmond Jr., Dan Wiesner, Bruce Dewick, Nick Guererri, Darryl Ruggles, Danielle Culverwall, Jim Hull. 

DIRT MODIFIED

HEAT 1: T. Burley, P. Vigneri, S. Paine, D. Podsiadlo, C. Brachmann, T. Harris.
HEAT 2: S. Beardsley, M. Sheppard, S. Whaley, R. Bliss, S. Gray, F. Hilton.
HEAT 3: V. Coffey, C. Bower, G. Tomkins, C. Donk, B. Tittle, M. Ward.

FEATURE #1 (20-laps): STEVE PAINE, Matt Sheppard, Shannon Whaley, Sean Beardsley, Chuck Bower, Todd Burley, Vic Coffey, Charlie Donk, Gary Tomkins, Phil Vigneri, Derrick Podsiadlo, Chad Brachmann, Ray Bliss, Butch Tittle, Steve Gray, Mike Ward, Chad Homan, Dave Rauscher, Dave Schrader, Roy Shields, Fran Hilton, Justin Gates, Greg Monica, Tim Harris, Tim Cornell, Don Slover.