Gil Tegg Jr. Returns to His Roots at Canandaigua Speedway in ‘08

 

Weedsport, NY – January 18, 2008 – By Dan Kapuscinski, Canandaigua Speedway Public Relations Director

 

Gil Tegg Jr. started his racing career at the Canandaigua Speedway in 1990, and after exploring the southern tier for the past few seasons, he is planning a homecoming at the ‘Land of Legends’ in 2008.

 

“We’re going to run Saturday nights at Canandaigua just once a week for this coming season,” said Tegg.  “We want it to be our main focus, so that we can get some positive results.  We have a Big-Block that we had run in the past, but we are definitely looking into trying to upgrade some of that equipment.”

 

Tegg began his career in the Street Stocks at Canandaigua, but he quickly moved on to the Big-Block Modified division the following season as a rookie in 1991.  After several seasons of competition at the Finger Lakes oval, Tegg broke through for his lone Big-Block Modified victory at the ‘Land of Legends’ on June 8, 1996.

 

After eight straight seasons at Canandaigua, Tegg felt it was time for a change.  The team would shift their focus to the southern tier, and more specifically the Black Rock Speedway.

 

“We had a lot of success at Black Rock in the past few years with the 358,” said Tegg.  “We played around a lot in the southern tier between Black Rock and Woodhull, and really put together a couple of good seasons.”

 

From 2002-2003 Tegg racked up seven 358-Modified feature wins.  Six of those victories came at the Black Rock Speedway, with the other coming at Woodhull.  More recently, Tegg has continued that pattern of success.

 

In 2006 behind the wheel of his no. 22 machine, Tegg took 3^rd in the final Black Rock standings with five feature wins to his credit.  Last season on June 15 at ‘The Rock’, Tegg visited victory lane for his 7^th win in the past three years.

 

With that long list of accolades in the 358-Modified, why make the move back to Canandaigua?  The answer is quite simple.

 

“I really want to finish things up where I started,” said Tegg, a native of Rochester.  “I’d like to try and hit 20 years of racing Modifieds, and the past few seasons the track at Canandaigua has been real nice, and I really like the way they run their shows.  In the end it is definitely closer to home, so everything really points in the direction of Canandaigua Speedway for us this season.”

 

As Tegg makes the transition from Small-Block to Big-Block in 2008, he will also have to deal with the stiff competition that competes weekly at the Canandaigua half-mile.  

 

With speedy regulars Steve Paine, Chuck Bower, Charlie Donk and others on the card weekly, Tegg understands that consistency will be his main goal for the season.

 

“I’ve set some goals for myself this season, and the main one if to be a weekly top10 runner.  If we can do that, then we’ll have a really good shot at finishing in the top5 in points at the end of the year.  Of course, I’d love to walk out of there with a couple of wins!”

 

Tegg will begin his search of his second career Big-Block Modified victory at Canandaigua Speedway when the season gets underway on April 12.