Paine Adds 3rd Straight As Ridley, Welch & Minutolo Take Canandaigua Firsts   Canandaigua, NY - May 26, 2022 - By Gary M. Spaid, Canandaigua Speedway PR   Steve Paine seems to have the answers to the questions when it comes to Canandaigua Speedway. For the third week in a row he won the 35-lap DIRTcar Modified feature. After switching to a Troyer chassis modified, Paine has been dominating the speedway although this week it took him 28 laps to gain the lead.   Kevin Ridley became the fifth different Sportsman Modified winner in five features run at the speedway this year. Ridley also picked up the $100 crate motor bonus. Only one feature has been won by a non-crate powered motor.   In full-fender action, Mike Welch also became the fifth different feature winner in this year's Ferris Mowers UMP Street Stock division. Young Marc Minutolo picked up his first ever PureStox feature win.   In the 35-lap DIRTcar Modified feature, Greg Monica grabbed the lead and held off Chad Homan, who was able to pull alongside Monica to be scored leader of lap three. Suddenly, the handling went away on the Homan car and he looped his number 91 in the third turn to bring out the first yellow flag   On the ensuing restart Derrick Podsiadlo dove low and took the lead away from Monica. Podsiadlo then began to build up a lead over Monica, Chuck Bower, Steve Paine and Charlie Donk.   On lap 10 the caution lights appeared again when newcomer Justin Gates spun to the inside of the fourth turn. Bower had advanced to second and started to move in on Podsiadlo. Behind them, Paine charged around the high side of the speedway down the backstretch to pass Donk for third.   On lap 25 Paine was able to inch by runner-up Bower and set his sights on leader Podsiadlo. Three laps later Paine took the low groove and Podsiadlo the high one as they were trying to pass the lapped car of Mike Johnson. Paine ducked extremely low and was able to move Johnson high and blocked Podsiadlo. This move gave Paine the lead for good. There was heavy traffic during the final five laps yet Paine easily sailed through into the clear.   At the wire it was Paine winning by six and a half seconds over second-place finisher Bower, who had inched by Podsiadlo exiting the fourth turn to snag the runner-up position. Donk and Dave Rauscher completed the top-five, which were the only cars to finish on the lead lap.   "I could go wide open into the corners," stated Paine. "But if there was a car ahead on me, my car seemed to bog down. When I was in the clear the car never bogged down. The bottom was the place to be tonight but we still had to come up off the bottom in lap traffic to get the job done tonight."   The 25-lap DIRTcar Sportsman feature started off on a sour note as a yellow flag flew when Doug Rohr looped out in the second turn. Up front it was Jim Hull with the early lead over Kevin Ridley and Loren Lincoln.   On lap eight Ridley was able to pass Hull for the lead and Hull then fell back in the field to fourth. On lap 20 he spun out in the first turn to cause the yellow to fly for just the second time in the event. During this slowdown Dan Wiesner retired to the pits and was recorded as the last place finisher in the race.   Up front Lincoln was running a close second to Ridley but when the leaders were in lap traffic Ridley could stretch his advantage over Lincoln. With the white flag out the race had to be yellow flagged for a third time. Bill Coleman spun between the third and fourth turns, thus setting up a one lap dash to the checkers.   Ridley was able to maintain his lead and claim the win. Lincoln, points leader Todd Henderson, Mark Chiddy and Eric Giguere rounded out the front-five finishers. "I had been following him (Hull) in the heat race and he slipped up the same way in the feature," stated Ridley on how he took the lead. "The bottom was the best way to go, he just slipped high off the fourth turn."   The Ferris Mowers UMP Street Stock main was extended to 20 laps for the first time, allowing the racers more of an opportunity to get to the front. As normal the race was highly competitive, with cars running side-by-side around the fast half-mile clay oval.   Up front Doug Smith looked to have the race under control until a yellow on lap eight bunched the field together. Mike Welch ran second and was able to challenge for the lead, finally pulling high around Smith for the lead on lap nine. But just two laps later, Smith went low down the backstretch to retake first-place from Welch on lap 11.   The yellow flew on lap14 when Rob Ingraham spun out on the back stretch. It wasn't until three laps later that Welch was able to regain the lead from Smith just before the yellow flew following contact between Scott Smith and Mike Schultz on the front straight away.   Welch led the last two circuits to claim the win, his first of the year at Canandaigua Speedway. Doug Smith, Blane Smith, Andy Fisk and Nathan Peckham filled out the top-five finishers. Welch stated in victory lane," I needed those five extra laps and was glad to have them."   In the 10-lap PureStox main, Mark Minutolo took the lead from Eric Chapman on the second lap. Chapman, who was trying to hold back Minutolo, flipped his number 22t in the first turn, causing the yellow to fly, the only one throughout the entire race. Minutolo, Chris Guererri, Corey Hunt, Les Excell and George LaVare Jr were recorded as the top-five finishers.   When asked in victory lane if he had seen the second-place runner at all, Minutolo replied," I didn't see him. I really did not want to see him. I'm just glad to have this win."   This Saturday, June 2, will see the special $20 a carload night at the speedway. The DIRTcar Modifieds will have the night off as many are planning to participate in the Five Star Series that runs the same evening at Can-Am Motorsports Park. The Sportsman will be the lead class featuring twin 20-lap main events. The UMP Street Stock and PureStox divisions will also be on the race card along with round two of the WNYR 98.5 "Crazy Chicks-n-Cars Catfight." Race time is 7 p.m. sharp.   Canandaigua Speedway is located just east of the village of Canandaigua at the Ontario County Fairgrounds, just off County Road 10. Additional information can be obtained by calling 585/394-0691 on raceday, during the week by dialing the DIRTcar Racing NorthEast office at 315/834-6606 and logging in anytime to canandaiguaspeedway.com.   AMERICAN SOLDIER NIGHT SUMMARY PURESTOX HEAT: M. Minutolo, E. Chapman, B. Lloyd, C. Hunt, L. Excell. FEATURE (10-laps): MARC MINUTOLO, Chris Guererri, Corey Hunt, Les Excell, George LaVare Jr., Brian Faulkner, Russ Lurcock, Eric Chapman, Brian Lloyd.   FERRIS MOWERS UMP STREET STOCK HEAT 1: F. Burnell, L. Lewis, A. Fisk, M. Dandino, S. Faulkner, M. Welch. HEAT 2: D. Smith, B. Smith, S. Smith, C. Fisher, N. Peckham, P. Marsden. FEATURE (20-laps): MIKE WELCH, Doug Smith, Blane Smith, Andy Fisk, Nathan Peckham, Adam DePuy, Phil Marsden, Chris Fisher, Steve Faulkner, Karl Wilkins, Frank Burnell, George LaVare Sr., Rob Ingraham, Scott Smith, Mike Schultz, Mike Dandino, Leroy Lewis, Nick Dandino (DNS).   DIRTcar SPORTSMAN MODIFIED HEAT 1: B. Coleman, P. Guererri, L. Lincoln, P. LaVare, C. Parmelee. HEAT 2: K. Ridley, E. Giguere, J. Hull, D. Wiesner, D. Hilkert. HEAT 3: T. Henderson, D. Allen, M. Chiddy, T. Currier, E. VanSkiver. FEATURE (25-laps): KEVIN RIDLEY, Loren Lincoln, Todd Henderson, Mark Chiddy, Eric Giguere, David Allen, Paul Guererri, Tim Currier, Daryl Hilkert, Phil LaVare, Rob Bussey, Eric VanSkiver, Clay Parmelee, Jim Hull, Gary Hotaling, Bill Coleman, John Robinson, Doug Rohr, Darryl Barrett, Marcus Dinkins, Dan Wiesner.   DIRTcar BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED HEAT 1: S. Paine, R. Hefti, B. Tittle, M. Johnson, D. Rauscher, E. Payne Jr., P. Vigneri, P. Habeck. HEAT 2: D. Podsiadlo, C. Bower, C. Donk, C. Homan, P. Taylor, M. Ward, G. Monica, J. Gates. FEATURE (35-laps): STEVE PAINE, Chuck Bower, Derrick Podsiadlo, Charlie Donk, Dave Rauscher, Eldon Payne Jr., Mike Ward, Butch Tittle, Phil Vigneri, Greg Monica, Mike Johnson, Ed Monroe, Paul Habeck, Justin Gates, Russ Hefti, Pete Taylor, Don Slover, Chad Homan.   The DIRTcar Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company and Wrisco Industries.