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Tomkins Batting .500 With 5th DIRT Modified Win At ‘Land Of Legends’ Canandaigua, NY – June 24, 2006 – By Gary M. Spaid, Canandaigua PR There have been ten DIRT Modified features run this year at Canandaigua Speedway and Gary Tomkins has claimed victory in half of those, winning number five Saturday evening. “This feature really belonged to Jeff (Brownell Jr.) as he had just as fast a car as I did,” commented a relaxed Tomkins from Victory Lane. Brownell Jr. held a seven-car lead over Tomkins until Tomkins closed the gap dramatically on lap 26 and took the lead. “Jeff has come a long way and will win a bunch of these some day.” In DIRT Sportsman action it was Russ Hefti taking the win in just his second appearance of the year at Canandaigua. In the Street Stock division it was Corey Hunt winning his second Novice feature of the season while Adam DePuy also won his second feature of the year in the Expert division. A post-race inspection has held up the official results of the expert race from being posted. The results will remain unofficial until a final decision is made on DePuy’s transmission. The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature opened with pole-sitter Butch Tittle blasting into the lead at the drop of the green. Young Jeff Brownell Jr. pulled along side of Tittle on lap six to move to the point. Brownell then proceeded to build a lead over Chuck Bower, Todd Burley, Tittle and Gary Tomkins. On lap 14 the yellow flew when Steve Paine slowed with a flat tire on the backstretch. On the restart Tomkins took second from Bower and set out to try and run down Brownell. A second yellow flew on lap 17 when Todd Burley slowed in the second turn and he quickly returned to the race. Up front the race was coming down to Tomkins chasing down Brownell. On lap 26 Tomkins pulled along side the leader using the high line out of the fourth turn and took the lead. Tomkins led the parade home with Brownell holding onto second. Matt Sheppard came home third followed by Vic Coffey and Paine. The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman main took some 33 minutes to complete thanks to seven yellows and one red flag. The race opened with Bruce DeWick leading his first feature lap at Canandaigua, only to lose the lead to Dan Wiesner on the second time around. A double car spin in the first turn on lap three would prove to be the start of a number of yellows. With Wiesner leading Tim Currier, Todd Henderson and DeWick, the yellow flew a second time on lap seven when Kevin Ridley broke a shock mount on the front straight, littering the track with metal. The restart proved to be somewhat controversial when the second-place car fired for the restart first. This forced starter Dave Farney to toss the yellow again. Some cars slowed and others charged on resulting in a number of cars scattering towards the infield. Darryl Ruggles was one of those cars. His car did not stop and he flew off the inside of the first turn Jersey Barrier and flipped onto the track surface. This forced officials to go red. Also involved in the multi-car melee were Rob Richmond Jr., Ricky Newton, Nick Guererri and Kerry Ball. Once the race resumed it was Russ Hefti ducking low and taking the lead. Hefti would hold the lead for four more laps before the yellow flew again. This time early leader Bruce DeWick’s fine ride ended when he spun in the second turn. The restart proved even more controversial when two cars locked bumpers and the yellow flew immediately to slow the field. One car slammed into the rear of the Scott Schrader car as Schrader slowed in the second turn. Officials gave Schrader back his spot as he was trying to slow when he was hit from behind. “We normally would not have done that,” stated the head scorer, “but that act was just a blatant, an intentional hit. Schrader was trying to obey the yellow by slowing and the other car was full bore under yellow.” Jim Hull was the next to bring out a yellow when he hopped the wall in the first turn and flew over the Jersey Barrier on lap 15. Hefti led the remainder of the race to take the win. Dan Wiesner held on for second, a race he would have probably liked to win as the event was a Memorial for one of his long time crewman Shane Palmer. Currier came home in third followed by Todd Henderson and Schrader. Both the full-fender Novice and Expert Street Stock races went green-to-checkers. In the Novice 10-lap feature, Corey Hunt took the lead at the drop of the green and began to build a lead over the rest of the field. The second place car of George LaVare Jr. held that spot until the last lap when he drifted high in the second turn and fell back to fourth. At the checkers Hunt held a ten car advantage over second place finisher Mike Dandino. Ray Cooper, LaVare Jr. and Charles Vohs rounded out the top-five finishers. Vohs was one who helped to keep the race green after he spun on the front stretch on lap three, circled around to continue with the race. The Expert race featured a charge for the front spot that included early leader Mike Schultz, Adam DePuy and Blane Smith. These three originally were able to pull away in a battle of their own, swapping second and third almost on every lap. In the closing laps Steve Smith and Frank Burnell closed the gap on the lead group. On the final lap Blane Smith nosed by Schultz for second as DePuy took the checkers and the victory. Steve Smith and Burnell rounded out the front-five. LEGENDS LEDGER: Mike Dandino (Street Stock) and Nick Guererri (Sportsman) were picked as teams of the week….Kid’s Club members drew posters and then met with their favorite drivers in front of the grandstands to have them autographed….Family members of Shane Palmer and Ron Lawson paid tribute to these men in victory lane. The Palmer family asked to have Dan Wiesner’s car also present in the Sportsman victory lane…Modified driver Neal Onderdonk returned to the speedway after a number of years off. This Saturday, July 1 is Military Appreciation Night at Canandaigua. Any members of the Military will be admitted free, with proper ID. A regular program of DIRT Modified, Sportsman and Street Stock racing will be augmented with a spectacular fireworks display. Race time starts at 7 p.m. sharp. The adult general admission ticket price is $10. Further schedule information is available throughout the season by logging into or by contacting the DIRT MotorSports NE office at 315/834-6606. ONTARIO COUNTY FAIRBOARD/RON LAWSON AND SHANE PALMER MEMORIAL NIGHT SUMMARY DIRT STREET STOCK HEAT 1: M. Schultz, A. DePuy, B. Smith, S. Smith, F. Burnell, N. Rizzo. NOVICE FEATURE (10-laps): COREY HUNT, Mike Dandino, Ray Cooper, George LaVare Jr., Charles Vohs, Mike Minutolo Jr., Rob Ingraham, Jamie Eldridge. EXPERT FEATURE (15-laps): ADAM DEPUY, Blane Smith, Mike Schultz, Steve Smith, Frank Burnell, Leroy Lewis, Wayne Ellison, Steve Faulkner, Nat Peckham, Mike Welch, Nick Rizzo, Matt Grubbe, Robert Lloyd, Mike Minutolo, Chris Jacobs, Nick Dandino. DIRT SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: T. Currier, B. DeWick, R. Hefti, J. Hull, T. Henderson. FEATURE (25-laps): RUSS HEFTI, Dan Wiesner, Tim Currier, Todd Henderson, Scott Schrader, Gus Hurlburt, Dave Just, Loren Lincoln, Randy Miller, Eric Giguere, Mark Chiddy, Rob Bussey, Phil LaVare, Scott Just, Daryl Hilkert, Nick Guererri, R.J. Kingdollar, Bruce DeWick, Ricky Newton, Paul Guererri, Kerry Ball, Jim Hull, Rob Richmond Jr., Darryl Ruggles, Kevin Ridley, Danielle Culverwall. DIRT MODIFIED HEAT 1: D. Rauscher, T. Burley, C. Bower, S. Paine, S. Gray. |