PAINE, PODSIADLO, GUERERRI, ORTIZ AND WELCH CROWNED AS 2003 CHAMPIONS;
McCREADIE, PAYNE JR., ORTIZ AND DEPUY WIN FEATURES

CANANDAIGUA, NY...The final points night at Canandaigua saw Steve Paine, from nearby Waterloo, NY, win his fourth Modified Track Championship in a row, tieing Bob McCreadie's feat of four in a row back in 1992-1995.

Derrick Podsiadlo became the first 358-Modified Track Champion since Fred Arden accomplished this honor back in 1996.

Paul Guererri won his first Canandaigua Sportsman Track Title. Jipp Ortiz won the Pro-Stock Title, as well as the night's 25-lap feature.

"I am sure glad to win here," stated Jipp. "My father won a few titles here and I am proud to join him as a champion here. Plus, I am in the overall DIRT Pro-Stock points race and the track bonus points from this title will really help."

Mike Welch won the Street Stock title when points contender Blane Smith failed to show up for the final race. The 50-lap DIRT Modified feature saw Charlie Donk grab the lead from the outside pole starting position. He was challenged for a number of laps by Ray Bliss. These two swapped the lead some six times in ten laps as they raced side-by-side.

On lap 11, Tim McCreadie, running in third, darted beneath both Donk and Bliss in lapped traffic to take the lead. He immediately began to stretch his lead as Gary Tomkins passed Bliss for second on lap 13.

The first yellow flew on lap 15 when Jim Roberts came to a stop in the first turn. On the restart Steve Paine charged from fourth to second using the high line around the track.

McCreadie seemed to be able to hold off Paine using the low groove when the yellow flew for a second time when Vic Coffey came to a stop in the fourth turn.

Paine was able to inch ahead of McCreadie on the restart to lead lap 21. But McCreadie immediately returned to the lead and then began to stretch his advantage.

On lap 32 Paine started to close back in on McCreadie as the leaders were in heavy lapped traffic. Paine's efforts fell a second short as McCreadie earned his seventh feature win of the season to finish second in points to Paine. Paine, Tomkins, Matt Sheppard and Danny Johnson rounded out the top five finishers.

The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman feature saw Rob Bussey take the early lead in the race. The first yellow appeared on lap three when Phil LaVare broke in the first turn. The restart saw Eldon Payne Jr. take the lead, with Jon Miller also passing Bussey for second. Miller's race was about to end in a cloud of blue smoke as his engine expired sending him off the third turn and into the grass to bring out the yellow again.

Gus Hurlburt hit the inside fourth turn wall on the restart to bring out the yellow for the final time in the race.

Payne Jr. held off Bussey on the restart, as Bussey faded back to fifth. Scott Joy, Paul Guererri and Dan Wiesner were now the closest pursuers of Payne Jr..

The race settled into a rhythm over the final 17 laps with Payne Jr. taking the win to close Guererri's 12 point lead to just five points as Guererri finished third behind Scott Joy in second. Wiesner and Todd Henderson rounded out the top five finishers.

Paul Guererri Jr. took command of the 25-lap Pro-Stock main over fred Arden and Chad Homan at the drop of the green. The first yellow of the race flew on lap five for debris on the track.

Homan was able to pass Arden for second and set his sights on Guererri Jr. in the lead. Jipp Ortiz, who needed to stay near Homan to protect his points advantage took third and stayed glued to Homan's back bumper.

On lap 10, Homan made the move for the lead, putting Guererri Jr. between himself and Ortiz. Four laps latter Ortiz passed Guererri Jr. and the only thing Homan could hope for now in order to win the championship was for Ortiz to break.

Ortiz was not about to let that happen as he caught Homan and passed him for the lead on a lap 18 restart.

Ortiz built up a full second lead on Homan by the checkers. Guererri Jr finished in third followed by Patrick Hobbs and James Henry.

The 20-lap Street Stock main was full of yellows as 29 cars took the green. Mike Rasbeck was the early leader but lost the lead to Tim Burnell on lap five. A yellow on lap six slowed the action.

The restart saw Nat Peckham inch ahead of Burnell, only to see Burnell retake the lead through the first turn. Yellow fever began on lap 12 with four yellows flying between that lap and lap 17. The most interesting of these was the yellow on lap 15 for second place runner Peckham, who looped his car in turn two allowing Adam Depuy to take the position. The restart saw Depuy pass leader Burnell and take off from the rest of the field for the win.

Following Depuy across the finish line were Mike Welch, Burnell, Darren Phippen and Nick Rizzo.

Racing continues at Canandaigua on Saturday, September 13, starting at 5 p.m., with the running of the Finger Lakes 100 for DIRT Modifieds and the Top Gun One ShootOut for full-fender cars; Pro-Stocks and Street Stocks. Also on the race card that evening ate the Mid-State Vintage Racers in their season finale.

CANANDAIGUA 2003 OPEN WHEEL FINAL POINTS (TOP 5):

SPORTSMAN POINTS: Paul Guererri 859, Eldon Payne Jr. 854, Todd Henderson 796, Dan Wiesner 783, John Pfeffer 713.
358-MODIFIED POINTS: Derrick Podsiadlo 873, Jim Roberts 853, Allen Willoughby 658, Mike Bliss 648, Ken Johnson 422.
MODIFIED POINTS: Steve Paine 948, Tim McCreadie 873, Matt Sheppard 850, Gary Tomkins 835, Vic Coffey 781.
PRO STOCK POINTS: Jipp Ortiz 998, Chad Homan 982, James Henry 928, Frank Guererri Jr. 791, Daryl Hilkert 782
STREET STOCK: Mike Welch 926, Blane Smith 805, Adam DePuy 792, Leroy Lewis 718, Nathan Peckham 695

OWASCO BEVERAGE/PAINE MOTORSPORTS NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: T. Burnell, D. Marcuccilli, N. Peckham, K. Collins, J. Bradt.
HEAT 2: M. Rasbeck, J. Burba, M. Welch, N. Dandino, S. Deline.
HEAT 3: A. Depuy, D. Phippen, N. Rizzo, M. Withey, M. Murphy.

FEATURE (20-laps): ADAM DEPUY, Mike Welch, Tim Burnell, Darren Phippen, Nick Rizzo, Nick Dandino, Jim Burba, Mike Rasbeck, Kevin Collins, Mike Withey, Nat Peckham, John Bradt, Beetle Petters, Don Jones, Kyle LaVare, Corey Hunt, Jason Quigley, Mike Shaw, Ray Cooper, Mike Murphy, Mike Minutolo, Leroy Lewis, Dave Marcuccilli, Chris Jacobs, Scott Deline, Mike Walters, Harold Hobart, Jamie Elbridge, Vance Vanderwall.

PRO-STOCK

HEAT 1: C. Homan, F. Guererri Jr., J. Ortiz, S. Miller.
HEAT 2: J. Henry, P. Hobbs, F. Arden, D. Hilkert.

FEATURE (25-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, Chad Homan, Frank Guererri Jr., Patrick Hobbs, James Henry, Fred Arden, Billy Brown, Daryl Hilkert, Brian thompson, Jim McGuigan, Roger Chrysler, Steve Miller.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: J. Pfeffer, D. Wiesner, P. Guererri, T. Henderson, R. Briggs.
HEAT 2: D. Park Jr., R. Bussey, J. Miller, R. VanNeil, F. Burnell.
HEAT 3: P. LaVare, E. Payne Jr., S. Joy, G. Hurlburt, W. Chyrywaty

FEATURE (25-laps): ELDON PAYNE JR., Scott Joy, Paul Guererri, Dan Wiesner, Todd Henderson, John Pfeffer, Jeremiah Munson, Rob Bussey, Richard Briggs, Ricky VanNeil, Taunya Lovejoy, Walt Chyrywaty, Amy Pfeffer, Bill Hardy, Frank Burnell, Frank Wadsworth Jr., Dick Park Jr., Dale Kissel, Gus Hurlburt, Jon Miller, Phil LaVare.

DIRT MODIFIED

HEAT 1: G. Tomkins, S. Paine, D. Johnson, V. Coffey, R. Bliss, R. Miller.
HEAT 2: T. McCreadie, V. Vitale, C. Brachmann, D. Ruggles, S. Beardsley, A. Willoughby.
HEAT 3: M. Sheppard, C. Bower, C. Donk, R. Cartwright Jr., M. Bliss, D. Darling.

FEATURE (50-laps): TIM McCREADIE, Steve Paine, Gary Tomkins, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Chuck Bower, Chad Brachmann, Steve Gray, Ray Bliss, Charlie Donk, Darryl Ruggles, Jeff Isabell, Randy Miller, Ron Cartwright Sr., Dale Darling, Shannon Whaley, Jim Hull, Vince Vitale, Vic Coffey, Allen Willoughby, Ron Cartwright Jr., Shawn Beardsley, Derrick Podsiadlo, Jim Roberts, Mike Bliss, DNS: Dave Stonebreaker.