McCREADIE WINS FOR SIXTH TIME IN 2003; JOY WINS FIRST OF YEAR

CANANDAIGUA, NY...Tim McCreadie, from Watertown, aborad the Carl Meyers owned Sweeteners Plus no. 39 has been on fire as of late at Canandaigua Speedway. In the past week he has picked up $8,000 for his two victories, the Advance Auto Parts 100 last Wednesday and this past Saturday on Geneva Harley-Davidson/Star Headlight and Lantern night. Scott Joy picked up his first win of 2003 in the 20-lap Sportsman main. Chad Homan returned to victory lane in the Pro-Stocks, while Mike Welch took top honors in the Street Stock division.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature saw outside pole sitter Ray Bliss blast into the lead. Earlier in the evening Bliss had nipped Bob McCreadie at the finish line to win a heat race. Following Bliss was Karl Comfort, Vince Vitale and Charlie Donk.

A four car accident in the fourth turn brought out the yellow on lap two. Involved in the accident were Vic Coffey, Mike Bliss, Derrick Podsiadlo and Steve Gray. Only Gray was unable to continue.

Comfort took the lead from Bliss on the restart only to see the yellow fly a second time, lap four, when Brian Michaels looped his No. Z8 on the front straight.

The restart saw Bliss better Comfort, as Chuck Bower moved into third and Tim McCreadie took sixth. The yellow flew on lap 11 with Bliss and Comfort crossing the line in almost a dead heat, however Comfort was recorded again as the leader.

One lap following the restart, and with Bliss slowly fading from the top spots, Bower used an outside move through the fourth turn to pass Comfort for the front spot. Comfort stayed glued to Bower and tried an inside move on lap 15, that saw the two cross the start-finish line side-by-side. Suddenly Comfort slowed down the back stretch and made the turn off the speedway and onto pit road with transmission troubles. This moved McCreadie into second as he had just passed Chad Brachmann for the position.

Ron Cartwright Sr. slowed on the track on lap 22 to bring out the yellow for the final time in the race. The restart was all McCreadie as he passed Bower using the same outside pass Bower had used earlier on Comfort through the fourth turn.

McCreadie build up a five car lead on Bower by the finish as lapped cars came into play over the final 13 circuits. McCreadie crossed the finish line some 3.882 seconds ahead of Bower. Steve Paine worked his way up to third at the finish. Matt Sheppard and Bob McCreadie rounded out the top five.

The 20-lap Sportsman feature got off to a rocky start as the first two laps were completed under caution. On lap one Dale Kissel looped in the first turn. The second lap caution was caused by Tom Jansch slowing in the fourth turn with an expired engine, as well as Adam DeLong sliding off the first turn.

When all of the "smoke" cleared it was Scott Joy passing taunya Lovejoy on the second lap in the lead of the race. Joy quickly established a 20 car advantage over Gus Hurlburt, Lovejoy and Phil LaVare. On lap six, Dan Wiesner slipped into third and began to chase down the two leaders.

The yellow flew on lap 11 when Rob Bussey, who exited the pits following a four lap stay there, slowed on the track. The bunched the leaders together. Over the final nine laps Joy extended his lead slightly over first Hurlburt and then from lap 16 on over Paul Guererri, who grabbed the runner up position.

At the finish line it was a joyous Scott Joy with the victory followed by Guererri, Eldon Payne Jr., Wiesner and Todd Henderson.

Chad Homan took the lead on the first lap of the Pro-Stock feature in a daring three wide pass down the back chute. Homan carried his advantage into the third turn and remained the leader for the entire 20-lap distance.

The second half of the race saw Jipp Ortiz try and close the two second gap Homan held on him. Ortiz fell short by .556 second at the finish line in a race that went green-to-checkers. Finishing third was James Henry. Patrick Hobbs and Fred Arden rounded out the top five finishers.

The 15-lap Street Stock was run under misty rain conditions as weather plagued the speedway for the third event in a row. Rains around the immediate area helped to keep many fans at home.

Dave Marcuccilli grabbed the lead at the start of the race with 25 cars taking the green flag. Jason Quigley brought out the first yellow when his motor blew down the front straight and he ended up in the first turn right by the maintenance area. During this yellow the rains began to fall heavier. Track officials kept the cars on the track and maintained the racing surface.

When the race resumed the track, somewhat slicker, proved to have held up well under the wet conditions. Marcuccilli continued to lead until lap nine when he exited the track with a flat tire leaving the lead to Mike Welch.

Welch held off Blane Smith over the final laps to take the win. Smith came home in second followed by Daryl Barrett, Nat Peckham and Nick Rizzo.

This Saturday will see the return of the ladies to Canandaigua as they vie, for the second time this year, driving street stocks. A regular four star program featuring DIRT Modifieds/358-Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro-Stocks and Streets will fill out the program.

There are just five weeks of racing remaining in the 2003 season at Canandaigua Speedway. Race time each and every Saturday begins at 7 p.m., except for the season finale on September 13, which will start at 5 p.m..

GENEVA HARLEY-DAVIDSON/STAR HEADLIGHT & LANTERN NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: D. Phippen, J. Burba, N. Peckham, C. Jacobs, K. Collins.
HEAT 2: D. Marcuccilli, M. Welch, K. LaVare, T. Burnell, N. Dandino.
HEAT 3: B. Smith, L. Lewis, D. Barrett, A. Depuy, N. Rizzo.

FEATURE (15-laps): MIKE WELCH, Blane Smith, Daryl Barrett, Nat Peckham, Nick Rizzo, Adam Depuy, Leroy Lewis, Jim Burba, Tim Burnell, Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Shaw, Don Jones, Eric Chapman, Chris Jacobs, Kevin Collins, Charles Vohs, Nick Dandino, Jason Whipple, Mike Bullard, Mike Minutolo, Kyle LaVare, Darren Phippen, Doug Smith, Mike Withey, Jason Quigley, DNS: Vance Vanderwall.

PRO-STOCKS

HEAT: J. Henry, J. Ortiz, F. Guererri Jr., F. Arden, C. Homan, P. Hobbs, S. DeVos.

FEATURE (20-laps): CHAD HOMAN, Jipp Ortiz, James Henry, Patrick Hobbs, Fred Arden, Frank Guererri Jr., Billy Brown, Brian Thompson, Daryl Hilkert, Steve DeVos, DNS: Bill Button.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: J. Pfeffer, P. Guererri, T. Lovejoy, P. LaVare, A. DeLong.
HEAT 2: G. Hurlburt, T. Henderson, R. Bussey, D. Park Jr., A. Pfeffer.
HEAT 3: S. Joy, D. Wiesner, S. Doell, R. Briggs, B. Englert.

FEATURE (20-laps): SCOTT JOY, Paul Guererri, Eldon Payne Jr., Dan Wiesner, Todd Henderson, Gus Hurlburt, John Pfeffer, Taunya Lovejoy, Richard Briggs, Jon Miller, Phil LaVare, Dick Park Jr., Loren Lincoln, Amy Pfeffer, Bill Englert, Steve Doell, Dale Kissel, Frank Wadsworth, Rob Bussey, Adam DeLong, Tom Jansch.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: B. Decker, K. Comfort, V. Coffey, C. Brachmann, V. Vitale, R. Miller.
HEAT 2: R. Bliss, B. McCreadie, M. Sheppard, G. Tomkins, D. Ruggles, S. Gray.
HEAT 3: C. Bower, C. Donk, T. McCreadie, S. Paine, R. Cartwright Jr., D. Podsiadlo.
CONSI: C. Hebing, G. Tegg Jr., J. Plumb, S. Whaley, M. Bliss, B. Michaels, R. Cartwright Sr., A. Willoughby, J. Roberts.

FEATURE (35-laps): TIM McCREADIE, Chuck Bower, Steve Paine, Matt Sheppard, Bob McCreadie, Gary Tomkins, Vic Coffey, Chad Brachmann, Billy Decker, Ron Cartwright Jr., Derrick Podsiadlo, Mike Bliss, Brian Michaels, Randy Miller, Shannon Whaley, Jim Roberts, Charlie Donk, John Plumb, Chuck Hebing, Ron Cartwright Sr., Vince Vitale, Ray Bliss, Karl Comfort, Gil Tegg Jr., Darryl Ruggles, Allen Willoughby, Steve Gray.