DONK BREAKS WINLESS STREAK; GUERERRI DQeD IN SPORTSMAN, WIN GOES TO CHRYSLER

CANANDAIGUA, NY...Charlie Donk broke a four year losing streak by winning the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature in front of his sponsors, Corvettes by turner Automotive. Donk last won on July 24, 1999. He upped his Canandaigua victory total to four wins. Paul Guererri took the DIRT Sportsman victory but refused post race tear down, handing the victory over to second place finisher Randy Chrysler. In the Pro-Stock division Tom Barron returned to his weekly track for the past number of years and quickly claimed the victory, making himself eligible for a special $100 bonus if he can win again this Saturday. Jared LaBarge earned his second Street Stock victory of the year. In ESS action Rob Dietrich took the 20-lap victory. Result from the ESS portion of the show can be found elsewhere.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature only took just short of 13 minutes to run as the race went green-to-checkers, averaging 81.883 mph. Rookie Karl Comfort, from nearby Shortsville, NY, took the early lead and stretched out a lead as big as 4 seconds over the rest of the field. Another rookie, Joe Beyea, held back both a charging Billy Decker and Gary Tomkins for as long as he could from taking second. Then on lap 10 Tomkins blasted by for second and then took off after Comfort. Decker followed suit and swapped spots with Tomkins as these two worked their way closer to the lead.

Charlie Donk was now on the move He passed Decker on lap 17 and finally caught Tomkins on lap 26. The lead three cars came upon the lapped car of Bill Trexler. Trexler's car was being used as a pick to block the leader by both Tomkins and Donk. Comfort would have none of that as he darted around the inside of the Trexler machine through turn four and maintained the lead.

Donk passed Tomkins on lap 27 and then tried to use the lapped car of Joel Thomas as yet another pick. Comfort held on as both he and Donk crossed the line side-by-side. On lap 31, Donk was able to make the pass stand, taking the lead.

At the finish line it was Donk with the victory, followed by Comfort, Tomkins, Steve Paine and rookie Steve Gray. It was a night that all of the modified rookies will remember.

The 20-lap Sportsman feature saw Wade Czymmek take the lead over Gus Hurlburt and Todd Henderson. The yellow flew on lap two when Tom Jansch and Eric Giguere came together in the first turn and spun. The restart saw the second yellow fly when Frank Burnell spun in the third turn.

John Plumb passed for the lead on lap five. Paul Guererri and Henderson were now in a side-by-side duel for second, with Guererri getting the advantage. The very next lap, Guererri ducked low in the third turn to take the lead.

One exciting move during the race saw Henderson and Randy Chrysler split a lapped car on the front stretch, with Chrysler able to take third with that move. On lap 11, Chrysler ducked to the low side of Plumb for second.

At the finish line it was Guererri, followed by Chrysler, Eldon Payne Jr., Henderson and Plumb. A tear down protest fee was placed on Guererri following the feature. The Guererri team refused to complete the tear down and were totally disqualified, giving the victory to Chrysler.

The Pro-Stock feature saw Tommy Barron return to the speedway. He made his return quite exciting as he battled with Chad Homan, Jon Miller and James Henry for the lead for nearly the entire race. The race was slowed on the first lap when Corey Kolz looped in the third turn. The restart saw Homan take the lead and hold off Barron and Miller for the next 10 circuits. Henry joined the front pack to make for a four way battle.

The yellow flew for a second time on lap 13 when Dave Conant Jr. looped his Chevrolet in the fourth turn. One more yellow flew, lap 16, when Conant Jr. slowed on the track and Phil Barone went around in the fourth turn.

Barron made his pass for the lead on lap 18. Miller followed into second one lap later. Barron took the victory followed by multi-time feature winner Miller. Henry, Homan and Roger Chrysler rounded out the top five.

The Street Stock feature saw Tim Burnell take the lead at the drop of the green. His car became very lose as a pack of nearly twenty cars were at his heels.

On lap 14, Jared LaBarge ducked by Burnell, taking returning driver Blaine Smith with him into second. Next was Nick Rizzo's turn to grab third as he passed Burnell on the final lap. Mike Minutolo also passed Burnell for fourth by inches at the finish line.

The evening ended with a complete show of fireworks to celebrate the holiday weekend.

The Saturday will be All County Construction and Lozier Analytical Group & Express Labs night at Canandaigua. A complete night of DIRT Modified, Sportsman, Pro-Stock and Street Stock action is planned. Race time will begin at 7 p.m. sharp.

CORVETTES by TURNER AUTOMOTIVE/PICK N' PULL AUTO PARTS NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: J. LaBarge, B. Lloyd, C. Jacobs, M. Cuppernell, M. Welch, B. Smith.
HEAT 2: N. Rizzo, T. Burnell, M. Rasbeck, B. Smith, J. Brown, S, Washburn.

FEATURE (15-laps): JARED LABARGE, Blaine Smith, Nick Rizzo, Mike Minutolo, Tim Burnell, Mike Welch, Leroy lewis, Mike Murphy, Mike Cuppernell, Chris Jacobs, Kevin Collins, Mike Shaw, Kyle LaVare, Steve Washburn, Ray Cooper, Brandon Smith, Mike Rasbeck, Jimmy Brown, Brian Lloyd, Brian Hoisington, Adam Depuy, Bill Ball, DNS: Chris Cooper, Scott Deline.

PRO-STOCK

HEAT 1: J. Miller, R. Chrysler, B. Bruno, B. Brown, T. Barron, D. Hilkert.
HEAT 2: C. Homan, J. Henry, D. Conant Jr., P. Hobbs, C. Kolz, Z. Shove.

FEATURE (20-laps): TOMMY BARRON, Jon Miller, James Henry, Chad Homan, Roger Chrysler, Bob Bruno, Billy Brown, Zack Shove, Phil
Barone, Daryl Hilkert, Corey Kolz, Dave Conant Jr., John Gagner, Bobby Lutz, DNS: Patrick Hobbs.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: T. Henderson, R. Chrysler, G. Hurlburt, S. Joy, R. Briggs.
HEAT 2: W. Czymmek, R. Bussey, P. Guererri, E. Payne Jr., A. Pfeffer.
HEAT 3: J. Plumb, L. Lincoln, B. Henry Jr., J. Pfeffer, P. LaVare.

FEATURE (20-laps): RANDY CHRYSLER, Eldon Payne Jr., Todd Henderson, John Plumb, Loren Lincoln, Rob Bussey, Gus Hurlburt, Dan Wiesner, Wade Czymmek, Bob Henry Jr., Frank Burnell, Scott Joy, Phil LaVare, Richard Briggs, John Pfeffer, Rick Miller, Tom Jansch, Walt Chyrywaty, Amy Pfeffer, Eric Giguere, DQ'ed: Paul Guererri.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: B. Decker, K. Comfort, G. Tomkins, J. Beyea, V. Coffey, S. Ridley.
HEAT 2: C. Donk. B. McCreadie, T. McCreadie, S. Paine, S. Gray, V. Vitale.

FEATURE (35-laps): CHARLIE DONK, Karl Comfort, Gary Tomkins, Steve Paine, Steve Gray, Vic Coffey, Tim McCreadie, Billy Decker, Joe Beyea, Scott Ridley, Vince Vitale, Ray Bliss Jr., Derrick Podsiadlo, Dave Axton, Bill Trexler, Joel Thomas, Bob McCreadie, Alan Willoughby, Todd Thomas, Greg Tatich.