HEBING RETURNS TO VICTORY LANE AT CANANDAIGUA; HENRY JR. WINS FIRST OF THE YEAR IN SPORTSMAN

CANANDAIGUA, NY...It took nearly a year, but Chuck Hebing returned to victory lane at Canandaigua Speedway last Saturday, August 3, 2002. Chuck last won at the "Land of Legends" back on August 18, 2001. In the Sportsman division Bob Henry Jr. came home the winner for the first time. Jon Miller upped his win total to eight wins in 2002. Mike Minutolo won his sixth of the year in the Street Stocks. Also on hand were the Mid-State Vintage Racers with wins going to Doc Smith, Don Ackerman and Ally Amell.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified Gert & Ernie Farney Memorial started off with Ray Bliss Jr. powering his new TEO car into the lead over Charlie Donk, Chuck Hebing and Vince Vitale. The yellow flew at the start of the race when Three cars; Bob McCreadie, Karl Comfort and Bill Trexler all came together in the fourth turn. All but Trexler were able to continue.

Bliss Jr. seemed to be hooked up as he again took the lead and held off Chuck Hebing for 12 laps. On lap 12, Hebing pulled alongside of Bliss Jr. down the front chute and took the lead through the first and second turns.

The yellow flew for the second time on lap 17 when Bob McCreadie looped near the pit entrance road. Bliss Jr. tried to regain the front spot but was unable to mount a serious challenge to Hebing. On lap 25 Bob McCreadie slowed on the track with a flat tire. The restart saw Gary Tomkins's machine falter and Vic Coffey break an axle, putting both of these top drivers out of the race.

Both Donk and Billy Decker were able to eventually pass Bliss Jr. for second and third positions. The front three of Hebing, Donk and Decker then put on a drive exhibition, sometimes running three wide through the turns. Hebing beat Decker to the finish line by a mere .134 seconds. Donk came home in third followed by a distant Steve Paine in fourth. Bliss Jr. held on for a fine fifth place finish.

In the sportsman main the yellow flag flew immediately when former winner Eldon Payne Jr. flew off the third turn and off the track. The restart saw Rick Miller, Keith Stell and Bob Henry Jr. all cross the start-finish line three wide. Henry Jr. inched ahead through the second turn to take the lead. John Plumb, last week's winner, brought out the next yellow slowing to a stop in between the third and fourth turns. Only one additional yellow slowed the race. On lap five Gary Hoteling slowed with a flat tire on his number 22x machine.

Henry Jr. held off Loren Lincoln, maintaining a 1.6 second advantage for the remainder of the race. Lincoln closed the gap to just 1.1 seconds at the checkers. Randy Chrysler, who tried the high grove most of the race, finished in third. Rounding out the top five were Ricky VanNeil and Paul Guererri.

The Pro-Stocks saw Jon Miller take the lead right at the green flag as a number of poor finishes handicapped him to the pole starting position. The race had to be red flagged on lap six when Dale Kissell flipped his number 17J machine in the first turn. The former Robin Smith car did not hold up well in the accident, as it took DIRT officials a long time to clear the speedway. Kissell was uninjured in the accident.

At the same time Kissell flipped by himself in the first turn, Chad Homan had slowed on the track in the third turn. Homan returned to the back of the pack for the restart. His eventual charge up to a fourth place finish earned him the JoshComp Hard Charger award.

The restart saw Kevin Smith take up pursuit of Miller. Smith was never able to close the leader's advantage by more then 1.5 seconds. Running a close third were James Henry and Dave Conant Jr. On lap 14, as the leaders were exiting the fourth turn, Conant Jr.'s engine blew up in a ball of flames. The DIRT Safety crew quickly extinguished the flames. Conant picked up the JoshComp Hard Luck Award of $50.

Miller sailed home to the victory followed by Smith. Henry finished third followed by Homan and last week's feature winner Roger Chrysler. Miller could now pick up an additional $500 in the JoshComp Pro-Stock Winner's Bonus program by winning again this Saturday.

The caution riddled Street Stock feature had to be checkered four laps early due to the time limit for the event. Mike Minutolo took the lead from Mike Welch on lap eight to take the victory. Despite all of the yellows, seventeen of the 25 starters were still running at the finish.

Following Minutolo across the finish line was Blaine Smith for his fifth straight second place finish in his number 55 Chevrolet. Welch, Nick Rizzo and Tim Burnell rounded out the top five finishers.

The Mid-State Vintage racers were on hand. In the 50's-60's 10-lap feature Doc Smith powered his number 17 "Don Saunders" 60's look alike to victory. The first 50's car across the finish line was Dick Ackerman, who came home in third.

The 70's 10-lap feature only five cars answered the call. Earlier in the evening Scott gates almost went out of the ballpark off the second turn, severely tearing up his number 7R coupe as it slide along the top of the Jersey Barrier.

Ally Amell took the lead on lap six after a three lap side-by-side duel with Joel Grimaldie. Grimaldie held on for a second place finish. The Mid-State cars return to Canandaigua as part of the "Top Gun One" Finger Lakes Saturday, September 14.

It was "Legends" night at the speedway and a number of former car owners and drivers were on hand for this event. Ron Narducci, Gil Sherman, Willie Allen, Bill Matteson, Milt Johnson, Dan Hoyt, Chuck Boos, Neil Truesdale, Rollie Velte, Bobby Merz, Jay Daily, John Burlingain, Richard Wallace and Ed Ortiz were all on hand for the event.

This week Industrial Tire-Mullen Industrial Handling will be in the VIP Tower for a regular Four Star night of DIRT racing. On tap will be the mighty Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro-stocks and Street Stocks. Race time will begin at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Remember that County Road 22, north of the speedway is under construction and closed for the next couple of weeks. By following detour signs off Route 21 you can still easily get to the speedway.

HONEOYE AUTO PARTS-BONADENT DENTAL LABORATORIES presents the GERT & ERNIE FARNEY MEMORIAL AND 12TH ANNUAL SALUTE TO THE LEGENDS NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: Bl. Smith, J. LaBarge, R. Cooper, M. Welch, S. Deline.
HEAT 2: M. Minutolo, N. Rizzo, V. Vanderwall, J. Burba, D. Phippen.
HEAT 3: T. Burnell, L. Lewis, B. Smith, B. Lloyd, B. Ball.

FEATURE (11-laps): MIKE MINUTOLO, Blaine Smith, Mike Welch, Nick Rizzo, Tim Burnell, Brad Steinruck, Brandon Smith, Ray Cooper, Mike Murphy, Mike Cuppernell, Darren Phippen, Brian Lloyd, Jim Burba, Jared LaBarge, Jimmy Brown, Chris Jacobs, Adam Depuy, Kyle LaVare, Bill Ball, Mike Rasbeck, Kevin Collins, Harold Hobart, Scott Deline, Leroy Lewis, Robert Pierce, DNS: Vance Vanerwall, Chris Cooper, Daryl Barrett, Steve Washburn, Brain Hosington.

PRO-STOCKS

HEAT 1: J. Miller, C. Homan, M. Cooper, K. Smith, D. Hilkert.
HEAT 2: D. Conant Jr., R. Chrysler, J. Henry, J. Ortiz, C. Nugent.

FEATURE (20-laps): JON MILLER, Kevin Smith, James Henry, Chad Homan, Roger Chrysler, Mike Cooper, Jipp Ortiz, Chad Nugent,
Steve Miller, Bob Bruno, Billy Brown, Daryl Hilkert, Dave Conant Jr., Dale Kissell.

MID-STATE VINTAGE RACERS

50'S/60'S HEAT: D. Smith, J. Ackerman, P. Claussen, B. Litzenburger, J. Hilmire.
70'S HEAT: Sm. Gates, J. Grimaldie, A. Amell, M. Mclaughlin, A. Harju.

50'S/60'S FEATURE (10-laps): DOC SMITH (60's), Phil Claussen, DICK ACKERMAN (50's), Jeff Ackerman, Jim Hilmire, Gordie Wood, Shirley Morden, Brad Litzenburger, Don Larmon, Leon Litzenburger, Jessie Ferguson, Joey Edgbert, Rod Hodden.
70'S FEATURE (9-laps): ALLY AMELL, Joel Grimaldie, Mike McLaughlin, Al Harju, Gary Byerly, DNS: Stan Gates, Scott Gates.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: R. Bussey, P. LaVare, R. Chrysler, J. Pfeffer, K. Stell.
HEAT 2: B. Henry Jr., L. Lincoln, T. Henderson, W. Chyrywaty, S. Joy.
HEAT 3: R. VanNeil, P. Guererri, J. Plumb, R. Miller, D. Wiesner.
CONSI: E. Payne Jr., G. Hoteling, R. Briggs, A. Pfeffer, T. Burns, T. Jansch, F. Burnell, G. Hurlburt.

FEATURE (20-laps): BOB HENRY JR., Loren Lincoln, Randy Chrysler, Ricky VanNeil, Paul Guererri, Todd Henderson, John Plumb, Rick Miller, Dan Wiesner, Scott Joy, Rob Bussey, John Pfeffer, Eldon Payne Jr., Phil LaVare, Frank Burnell, Gus Hurlburt, Walt Chyrywaty, Amy Pfeffer, Gary Hotaling, Richard Briggs, Tim Burns, Tom Jansch, Keith Stell.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: C. Hebing, C. Bower, R. Bliss Jr., D. Darling, V. Coffey.
HEAT 2: V. Vitale, S. Paine, S. Gray, C. Donk, G. Tatich.
HEAT 3: T. McCreadie, S. Ridley, G. Tomkins, J. Beyea, D. Podsiadlo.
CONSI: B. Decker, B. McCreadie, K. Comfort, B. Trexler, R. Miller, M. Bliss, J. Thomas, M. Ward, T. Thomas.

FEATURE (35-laps): CHUCK HEBING, Billy Decker, Charlie Donk, Steve Paine, Ray Bliss Jr., Steve Gray, Chuck Bower, Joe Beyea, Vince Vitale, Derrick Podsiadlo, Karl Comfort, Greg Tatich, Randy Miller, Joel Thomas, Tim McCreadie, Gary Tomkins, Vic Coffey, Bob McCreadie, Scott Ridley, Mike Bliss, Mike Ward, Dale Darling, Todd Thomas, Bill Trexler.