Tomkins Takes 4^th DIRT Modified Win At Canandaigua In 2006

Canandaigua, NY – June 10, 2006 – By Gary M. Spaid, Canandaigua PR 

One driver has dominated the action weekly at Canandaigua Speedway. Gary Tomkins, from Clifton Springs, NY picked up his fourth DIRT Modified feature victory in seven starts this season on Canandaigua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep night. In DIRT Sportsman action Paul Guererri earned his second feature win of the season following a 25-lap race that lasted some 41 minutes.  

In the DIRT Street Stock doubleheader it was Jamie Eldridge winning his first Novice Street Stock main of the year while Mike Welch captured his second Expert main. A special 12-lap Central NY Mini-Sprint race was also on tap, with Rick Hench, from Newport, PA, taking the win in his Henchcraft Racing Products number 1H. 

The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature started with Phil Vigneri taking the lead from his outside-pole starting spot. Ray Bliss caught and passed Vigneri on lap four then began to stretch out a lead over Vigneri, Chad Brachmann and Jeff Brownell Jr. On lap nine the first yellow flag flew when Shannon Whaley spun in the third turn, collecting Steve Paine in the process. Both cars returned to the back of the field for the restart. Tomkins was now able to pass Bliss for the lead, moving up to the front from the sixth starting spot on the restart. He stretched out a lead of nearly seven seconds as the green flag laps clicked off. Back in the pack Bliss had his hands full with Brownell who took second on lap 17 and was being hounded by Matt Sheppard. 

Sheppard finally completed his pass for second on lap 25. Brownell, Vic Coffey, Todd Burley and Brachmann made up the front-five runners. The yellow came out again on lap 29 when Justin Gates looped his car in the second turn. This set up a six-lap dash to the checkers which Tomkins easily won at an average speed of 56.364 mph. Sheppard finished second followed by Coffey, Brownell and Burley. “My team has been working hard and I have to give them credit,” stated Tomkins. “I expect the twin 20’s next week for Modifieds to be very grueling, especially after running mid-week back-to-back series races out of state.” 

The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman race opened with 26 cars taking the green flag. Danielle Culverwall brought out the first yellow on the very first lap as Gus Hurlburt led the first part of the event. He weathered four more yellow flag periods holding off Todd Henderson on each restart. 

On lap 12 the red flag had to be thrown as a massive pile-up exiting the second turn blocked the back stretch. It then took emergency crews some time to evaluate the drivers involved and two were treated for bruises. Once the race resumed, Hurlburt remained in the lead ahead of Henderson, Guererri, Eric Giguere and Kevin Ridley. As the leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 17, the lapped car of newcomer Chris Gleason spun around in the third turn. When the smoke cleared the two leaders had spun off the third turn placing Guererri in the lead. One more yellow slowed the pace of the race but Guererri held on for victory followed by Giguere, Ridley, Loren Lincoln and Scott Schrader. 

The Novice Street Stock 10-lap feature went off without a hitch as the full moon rose over the third turn. Eldridge grabbed the lead from Ray Cooper on lap six and sailed home the winner. In the 15-lap Expert main a number of different drivers took their turn at leading the event. Nick Dandino led the first two laps when Mike Minutolo took command of the race on a lap three restart. Minutolo led for three laps before Mike Welch moved to the point. Welch came home the winner followed at a distance by Dandino, Leroy Lewis, Frank Burnell and Nick Rizzo. “It’s my son Nathan’s birthday today and I said I would try and win this one for him,” commented Welch in victory lane. Following the checkers Burnell and Rizzo tangled exiting the second turn when Burnell had the left front radius arm break. 

The Central NY Mini-Sprinters were on hand for their annual event. Rick Hench took the lead at the drop of the green and led every lap to take the victory. Initially Greg Hoffman came across the finish line in fifth but was placed near the rear of the field after he was repeatedly black-flagged for heavy smoke. Following Hench to round out the top-five were Don Harvey Jr., Bubba Broderick, Mike Kiser and Jamie Kiser. 

LEGEND LEDGER: Sean Beardsley took a nasty tumble in his heat race. He flipped in the first turn. The car was righted and he returned at the back of the field with a much bent-up car. Also involved in this tangle was Derrick Podsiadlo who seemed to suffer worse sheet metal damage then Beardsley…Teams of the Week went to Sportsman pilot Rob Bussey and Cory Hunt in the Street Stock ranks…Both Expert Street Stock winner and CNY Mini-Sprint winner referred to the excellent track prep that made for a super smooth speedway surface. 

The Saturday, June 17 show at Canandaigua Speedway will include a special Father’s Day offer. General Admission will be just $20 a car load. On track the DIRT Modifieds will be running twin 20-lap features, with a complete program of DIRT Sportsman and Street Stock racing filling the card. Race time will begin at 7 p.m. sharp. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. 

CANANDAIGUA CHRYSLER-DODGE-JEEP/SCOUT NIGHT SUMMARY

DIRT STREET STOCK

HEAT 1: M. Grubbe, N. Rizzo, N. Dandino, M. Minutolo, B. Smith, M. Welch.
HEAT 2: M. Schultz, S. Smith, A. DePuy, F. Burnell, L. Lewis, B. Steinruck.
HEAT 3: C. Vohs, J. Eldridge, R. Ingraham, R. Cooper, C. Hunt, M. Dandino.

NOVICE FEATURE (10-laps): JAMIE ELDRIDGE, Ray Cooper, Corey Hunt, Mike Dandino, Beatle Peters, Rob Ingraham, Charles Vohs, George LaVare Jr. (DNS), Dave Busemi (DNS), Chris Hogan (DNS).

EXPERT FEATURE (15-laps): MIKE WELCH, Nick Dandino, Leroy Lewis, Frank Burnell, Nick Rizzo, Scott Smith, Mike Minutolo, Matt Grubbe, Brad Steinruck, Nat Peckham, Brian Lloyd, Chris Jacobs, Daryl Barrett, Steve Faulkner, Mike Schultz, Blane Smith, Adam DePuy, Mike Rasbeck, Robert Lloyd. 

CNY MINI-SPRINT

HEAT 1: B. Broderick, A. Kiser, J. Tomlinson, J. Fink.
HEAT 2: D. Harvey Jr., R. Hench, G. Hoffman, M. Kiser.

FEATURE (12-laps): RICK HENCH, Don Harvey Jr., Bubba Broderick, Mike Kiser, Jamie Kiser, Jared Fink, Art Kiser, Johnny Guarino, Fred Hoffman, Joe Burkert, , Jerry Sehn, James Tomlinson, Greg Hoffman, Ricky Donavan (DNS). 

DIRT SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: R. Richmond Jr., R. Pratt, G. Hurlburt, D. Just, R. Miller, R. Chrysler.
HEAT 2: K. Ridley, S. Just, J. Hull, D. Wiesner, R. Bussey, S. Schrader.
HEAT 3: E. Giguere, P. Guererri, M. Chiddy, T. Henderson, P. LaVare, J. Ortiz.

FEATURE (25-laps): PAUL GUERERRI, Eric Giguere, Kevin Ridley, Loren Lincoln, Scott Schrader, Dave Just, Rob Bussey, Jipp Ortiz, Rob Pratt, Scott Just, Todd Henderson, Rick  Miller, Daryl Hilkert, Jim Hull, Phil LaVare, Roger Chrysler, Mark Chiddy, Nick Guererri, Rob Richmond Jr., Bruce DeWick, Gus Hurlburt, Chris Gleason, Tim Currier, Ed Fisher, Dan Wiesner, Danielle Culverwall. 

DIRT MODIFIED

HEAT 1: C. Brachmann, S. Whaley, S. Paine, C. Bower, V. Coffey.
HEAT 2: C. Donk, G. Tomkins, T. Burley, M. Ward, B. Tittle.
HEAT 3: R. Bliss, M. Sheppard, J. Brownell Jr., D. Rauscher, P. Vigneri.

FEATURE (35-laps): GARY TOMKINS, Matt Sheppard, Vic Coffey, Jeff Brownell Jr., Todd Burley, Chuck Bower, Steve Paine, Chad Brachmann, Charlie Donk, Dave Rauscher, Ray Bliss, Mike Ward, Phil Vigneri, Butch Tittle, Shannon Whaley, Justin Gates, Sean Beardsley, Fran Hilton, Don Slover, Derrick Podsiadlo, Chad Homan (DNS).