TIM McCREADIE DOMINATES SMALL BLOCK SERIES RUN AT "LAND OF LEGENDS"

CANANDAIGUA, NY...Watertown's Tim McCreadie came, he saw, and he conquered the Turning Stone Casino Resorts 358-Modified Super DIRT Series 100 last Wednesday, by lapping almost the entire starting field at Canandaigua Speedway. Some 41 small blocks were on hand for this event. Chad Homan won the accompanying Pro-Stock feature.

An All-Canadian front row, following the redraw, saw Stewart Friesen and Pete Bicknell bring the 32 car starting line up to the green. Friesen quickly rook command of the lead with Bicknell, Alan Johnson and Dale Planck in tow. Johnson started his move towards the front, taking second from Bicknell on lap two. Johnson then stalked Friesen, finally passing him for the lead on lap six. The lapping process began on lap eight.

The first of only four yellows, on the perfectly prepared track, came on lap 12 when Rich Swarthout slowed and came to a stop on the track.

Johnson retained his lead on the restart, with Tim McCreadie taking second from Friesen. Johnson built nearly a two second lead on McCreadie before the second yellow flag flew, on lap 19, when Karl Comfort simultaneously looped in the fourth turn and Billy VanPelt made contact with the outside second turn wall after losing a wheel.

Steve Paine now challenged McCreadie for second on the restart, taking the position for just two laps before McCreadie retook the position. Tim Fuller now moved into fourth followed by Friesen, Vic Coffey and Brett Hearn.

On lap 25 the yellow flew again when Tim Burnett and Alex Hoag made contact in the second turn. Throughout the first 25-laps caution laps had not counted. The run would start when then would count with lap 26.

The first, and only, yellow counting came on lap 32 when Bryon Turner flew off the track and made contact with the first turn wall. This would be the last caution period of the race with the final 64 laps run under green flag conditions.

Both Tim Fuller and Brett Hearn found some value in the high groove around the track, both moving up some in the running order when they attempted the high line. Hearn took third from Paine on lap 46.

On lap 52 McCreadie pulled along side of Johnson and exiting the second turn on the low side passed Johnson for the lead. McCreadie would now start to run away from the rest of the cars and eventually hold over a half track lead on Johnson when the checkers flew. Fuller passed Hearn for third around lap 62, when Hearn began to drop backwards in the race. He too would be eventually lapped by McCreadie on lap 81.

The crowd was awe struck as McCreadie lapped car-after-car, finally lapping the sixth place car of Chad Brachmann with just two laps remaining in the race. McCreadie took the win some 15.351 seconds ahead of Johnson in second with an average speed of 77.436 mph. Fuller finished third followed by Paine and Matt Sheppard, the only other cars on the lead lap.

Fast time on the evening was set by Brett Hearn with a lap of 18.497 seconds, 97.313 mph, not a new record. Hearn missed the record speed of 18.487 seconds, set by Tim Fuller in 2002, by ..010 seconds. Mitch Gibbs set second fast time.

The accompanying Pro-Stock feature seemed stressful for the racers as a number of penalties were imposed. Jipp Ortiz led the first six laps when the yellow flew as Patrick Hobbs spun in the first turn.

The restart proved controversial when suddenly Ortiz spun exiting the second turn. Officials looked at television replays but could not determine if Ortiz had any help in spinning. This left Chad Homan as the leader. Only one lap could be completed when Frank Guererri Jr. spun in the first turn.

Homan would eventually win the 20-lap affair with Daryl Hilkert finishing second some 4.317 second back. Dan Mayer came home in third followed by Bill Hallett and Roger Chrysler. The average race speed was 63.539 mph.

Canandaigua returns to complete the 2003 season with only three Saturdays remaining in the year. The points races in all divisions will end on August 30. The track will then remain closed for one week, September 6, and return with a big block Advance Auto Parts 100 starting at a special time, 5 p.m, on September 13. Mid-State Vintage Racers, Street Stocks and Pro Stocks will be part of this year end show.

Canandaigua Speedway is located at the Ontario County fairgrounds just eat of the Village of Canandaigua, NY, on County Road 10.

DIG SAFELY NY presents the TURNING STONE CASINO RESORTS 358-MODIFIED SUPER DIRT SERIES NIGHT SUMMARY

PRO-STOCKS

HEAT 1: J. Ortiz, C. Homan, P. Hobbs, J. Henry.
HEAT 2: F. Guererri Jr., D. Hilkert, B. Thompson, B. Hallett.

FEATURE (20-laps): CHAD HOMAN, Daryl Hilkert, Dan Mayer, Bill Hallett, Roger Chrysler, Jipp Ortiz, Patrick Hobbs, Steve DeVos, James Henry, Frank Guererri Jr., Fred Arden, Spike Smith, Brian Thompson, Joe Ignizio.

358-MODIFIEDS

TIME TRIALS: Brett Hearn 18.497 (97.313 mph), Mitch Gibbs 18.556, Stewart Friesen 18.558, Byron Turner 18.645, Steve Paine 18.653, Tim McCreadie 18.661, Matt Sheppard 18.690, Pete Bicknell 18.732, Randy Chrysler 18.749, Dale Planck 18.759, Derrick Podsiadlo 18.798, Alan Johnson 18.805, Vic Coffey 18.843, Rick Richner 18.856, Darryl Ruggles 18.984, Ron Cartwright Jr. 19.022, Tim Fuller 19.053, Justin Haers 19.057, Gil Tegg Jr. 19.064, Chad Brachmann 19.068, Mike Bliss 19.174, Todd Burley 19.212, Chuck Hebing 19.226, Russ Henderickson Jr. 19.272, Billy VanPelt 19.327, Ron Cartwright Sr. 19.401, Karl Comfort 19.434, Mike Ward 19.494, Dave Rauscher 19.495, Tim Burnett 19.544, Rich Swarthout 19.562, Jim LaRock 19.581, Mike Jackson 19.582, Curt VanPelt 19.662, Alex Hoag 19.678, Perry Francis 19.732, Jim Roberts
19.913, Ron White 20.511, Allen Willoughby 20.696, Jim Hull 20.700, Fran Hilton NT.

HEAT 1: M. Sheppard, S. Friesen, G. Tegg jr., D. Ruggles, R. Swarthout.
HEAT 2: A. Johnson, P. Bicknell, C. Brachmann, B. Turner, R. Henderickson Jr.
HEAT 3: S. Paine, V. Coffey, T. Fuller, C. VanPelt, R. Chrysler.
HEAT 4: T. McCreadie, D. Planck, T. Burley, B. VanPelt, J. Haers.
CONSI 1: C. Hebing, K. Comfort.
CONSI 2: D. Rauscher, T. Burnett.
GUARANTEES ADDED: A. Hoag, D. Podsiadlo, A. Willoughby, J. Roberts, R. White, M. Bliss.

FEATURE (100-laps): TIM McCREADIE, Alan Johnson, Tim Fuller, Steve Paine, Matt Sheppard, Chad Brachmann, Stewart Friesen, Brett Hearn, Randy Chrysler, Justin Haers, Chuck Hebing, Darryl Ruggles, Todd Burley, Mitch Gibbs, Dale Planck, Karl Comfort, Vic Coffey, Derrick Podsiadlo, Dave Rauscher, Jim Roberts, Ron White, Alex Hoag, Russ Henderickson Jr., Curt VanPelt, Gil Tegg Jr., Pete Bicknell, Bryon Turner, Tim Burnett, Billy VanPelt, Rich Swarthout, Allen Willoughby, Mike Bliss.