CANANDAIGUA MOTORS PACES LEGENDARY FIELD IN ONTARIO COUNTY

CANANDAIGUA, NY.....For the 17th straight year Canandaigua Motors supplies the only vehicle that will lead every race at the Ontario County Fairgrounds!

Company representatives move from the pace truck to the VIP Tower at Canandaigua Speedway on June 15 as Canandaigua Motors and Autogenesis sponsor the four-division program.

Steve Paine has set course in his no. 7x Sweeteners Plus-A&C Speedworld entry to capture a fourth big-block title on the Ontario County Fairgrounds. The two-time defending points champion has registered two DIRT Modified wins in the opening seven events and has also reached victory lane at two other tracks to rank among the best on DIRT Motorsports' 2002 overall win list with six.

While Paine's early triumphs bring his Canandaigua total to 55 (4th all-time), the season-opener win for Alan Johnson improved his track-best count to 111 in big-block competition at the famed 'Land of Legends' speedplant.

Entering the second week of competition in June, Paine was dead-locked with Gary Tomkins (1 win) at 366 points apiece. Second-generation star Tim McCreadie (1 win), Paine's teammate Vic Coffey and upstart Vince Vitale rounded out the front-five in the standings.

Contending for spoiler roles in the 35-lap feature race will be veterans Billy Decker (2 wins) and Bob McCreadie, and local favorites Charlie Donk, Karl Comfort, Darryl Ruggles and Steve Gray.

The Sportsman battle in Canandaigua has been fierce with the top-four point-getters the only drivers to make their way into the winner's circle. Led by Randy Chrysler (3 wins), John Plumb (2), Eldon Payne,Jr. (1) and Todd Henderson (1), the front-runners were separated by 80 points after seven events.

Full-fender Pro Stock and Street Stock races fill out the Canandaigua Motors/Autogenesis card on Saturday at the Fairgrounds.

Pro Stock points leader Jon Miller is the winningest driver at Canandaigua in '02, capturing four checkered flags in seven outings. Roger Chryler, Chad Homan and Michael Cooper are the closest trailers while Jipp Ortiz (2 wins) and James Henry (1) stand next in line.

In the Street Stock ranks, Leroy Lewis, Tim Burnell, Mike Minutolo (2), Nick Rizzo and Jared LaBarge have each have won at least one main event to sit highest on the points chart while Lewis leads the standings ahead of winless Adam DePuy.

Canandaigua Speedway is located just east of the city on County Road 10. West-bound travelers can arrive by taking Route 21 South off Exit 43 of the N.Y.S. Thruway in Manchester while Exit 44 of I-90 to Route 332 remains the most common path for those heading east.