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Tomkins Takes Taney Memorial, Ridley Wins First Career Sportsman Main Canandaigua, NY – May 27, 2006 – By Gary M. Spaid, Canandaigua PR Gary Tomkins, from Clifton Springs, NY took top honors and the $3,000 first place-money on Saturday winning the 50-lap Taney Memorial for DIRT Modifieds at Canandaigua Speedway. Tomkins took command of the race on lap 29 and held off a hard charging Matt Sheppard to score his third win of the season. In DIRT Sportsman action Kevin Ridley took the 25-lap feature run, hid first ever DIRT Sportsman victory. “If it wasn’t for Advanced Lubrication Specialties I wouldn’t be here,“ stated an elated Ridley in victory lane. “They helped us make it back again. Last year was a good year but we really didn’t have enough sponsorship money to field both Eric (Giguere’s) and my cars.” Mike Minutolo spun donuts in the infield grass following his 15-lap Expert Street Stock victory. The Novice feature win went to Charles Vohs, his second win of the year at Canandaigua. The 50-lap DIRT Modified main began with Derrick Podsiadlo grabbing the early lead from his outside-pole starting position. On lap four Charlie Donk used an outside pass through the fourth turn to inherit the lead. Podsiadlo fought back to regain the lead on the next circuit. All the time Matt Sheppard was stalking the two leaders. On lap six he took second and then on lap nine completed the pass for the lead before the yellow flag flew. Don Slover’s car was disabled on the backstretch and in a dangerous position. On the restart Sheppard moved out and started to build a commanding lead while Todd Burley claimed second, some two seconds behind Sheppard. On lap 29 the yellow flew when Todd Town ricocheted off the front stretch wall collecting Randy Chrysler. The yellow flag flew once again on the restart when Justin Gates looped his mount in the third turn. What was important was that Gary Tomkins had been able to pass Sheppard for the lead before the yellow flew. With Tomkins in the lead Sheppard, went on the offensive and tried to retake the top spot. One last yellow slowed the pace on lap 39 as Dave Rauscher had a flat tire and slowed on the back stretch. Tomkins turned back every effort by Sheppard over the final laps to take the holiday victory. Sheppard, Burley, Steve Paine and Vic Coffey rounded out the top-five. Newcomer Pat O’Brien came home sixth after starting the feature from the 17th starting spot. The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman main opened with Daryl Hilkert taking command, holding off Ed Fisher, Jim Hull and Mark Chiddy. Only five yellows slowed the race this week. On lap five, Danny Wiesner coasted to a stop on the back stretch to cause the first yellow. The yellow came out on lap nine when Eric Giguere looped his 67g on the back stretch following contact with two other cars. Loren Lincoln spun in the second turn to cause the third yellow on lap 15, with a three lap-three yellow flag situation to follow. On lap 16 Rob Pratt stopped in the first turn. And on lap 17 it was Hilkert, the leader, who drifted high in the second turn and then with a little bump was sent into the outside wall. This gave the lead over to Kevin Ridley, who had been running in the top four all evening long. Ridley held off Todd Henderson over the final nine circuits to take his first ever win. Henderson finished second followed by Scott Schrader. However in post race inspection Schrader was found with his rev-limiter box not hooked up, so he was disqualified handing third over to Paul Guererri. Jim Hull and Rob Bussey rounded out the top-five finishers. In Expert Street Stock action it was Mike Minutolo using his outside pole starting position to take the lead and scramble away from the rest of the field. One yellow, coming on lap eight, slowed the pace. Rod Comfort Jr. spun in a pool of water left in the fourth turn. He tried to regain control, fishtailing down the front straight. The in turn one he looped his car around to cause the yellow. Minutolo was able to keep Frank Burnell behind him to take the win. Wayne Ellison came home third followed by a pair of Smiths, Blane and Steve. “He (Burnell) snookered me in the heat race and I learned fast,” stated Minutolo from victory lane. “He wasn’t going to get me again tonight.” The Novice Street Stock feature ran green-to-checkers with Charles Vohs leading the entire 10 laps distance. Mike Dandino, Beatle Peters, Casey Wagner and Cory Hunt rounded out the top-five finishers. Canandaigua Speedway will host a regular four-division program of DIRT Modified, Sportsman, Expert Street Stock and Novice Street Stock action on Saturday, June 3. Race time will remain at 7 p.m. sharp, with gates opening at 4 p.m. 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. LEGENDS NOTES: With Can-Am not hosting the Modifieds, both Pat O’Brien and Tim O’Brien made the trek to Canandaigua from Canada. Pat finished a strong sixth while his brother Tim came home in eleventh….Roger Chrysler was chosen for the second time in a blind draw for the Sportsman team of the week. Robert Lloyd won the Street Stock team of the week award. Both teams get passes for next Saturday’s show at Canandaigua…Great sportsmanship moves were made by Jeff Brownell Jr. and Greg Monica as to not stop the race. Both were able to pull their cars off the track at the pit exit to keep the races moving along… Both Butch Tittle and Fran Hilton made their first treks to the “Land of Legends” in 2006. Tittle finished a very respectable tenth….Shannon Whaley thought he hurt his engine in the consolation event, not finishing the distance. He was unable to make the feature. TANEY MEMORIAL NIGHT SUMMARY DIRT STREET STOCK HEAT 1: F. Burnell, M. Minutolo, S. Smith, B. Smith, A. DePuy, B. Lloyd. NOVICE FEATURE (10-laps): CHARLES VOHS, Mike Dandino, Beatle Peters, Casey Wagner, Cory Hunt, George LaVare Jr., Rob Ingraham, Ray Cooper, Dave Busemi, Jamie Eldridge (DNS) DIRT SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: T. Currier, J. Hull, R. Bussey, D. Wiesner, R. Miller, R. Richmond Jr. DIRT MODIFIED HEAT 1: D. Podsiadlo, S. Paine, J. Brownell Jr., C. Brachmann, C. Homan, T. O’Brien. |