STEVE PAINE WINS RAIN DELAYED FINGER LAKES 100; ORTIZ TOPS WESTERN REGIONAL PRO STOCK TOP GUN ONE RUN

CANANDAIGUA, NY...On Thursday, September 25, Waterloo's Steve Paine picked up were he left off winning the Finger Lakes 100, an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series event, paying $7,000 to win. While Paine took the victory, Pat Ward laid claim to the guaranteed Syracuse spot for the Eckerd 200 run during Super DIRT Week, October 7-12, 2003.

Jipp Ortiz won a tight battle with Jeremy Clark in the Top Gun One memorial race run in honor of Pro Stock great Les Whyte, to lengthen his points lead in the Empire Sports Network's Pro Stock Western Region. A special 20-lap Street Stock run went to Mike Welch. The 12-lap finale for the Mid-State Vintage cars was won by 70's runner Lowery Siemens. Pat Sonnenberg, driving a 60's car finished second. The first 50's car was Don Ackerman, who came home in sixth.

The 100-lap DIRT Modified feature got off to a rough start as "yellow fever" struck the field. On the first lap the yellow flew when Steve Hulsizer looped out in the first turn. the very next lap Tim McCreadie slowed in the third turn. Danny Johnson led the first lap and then Vic Coffey passed him, on lap two, for the lead.

The yellow flew for the third time on lap five when Vince Vitale slowed on the front stretch. Two laps later Jeff Isabell stopped in the fourth turn for yet a fourth yellow.

Finally the race started to get in pace with Billy Decker blasting by Coffey for the lead the lap eight restart. Coffey ran second followed by Steve Paine in third, Chuck Hebing and Gary Tomkins.

The yellow came out again on lap 14 when Jeff Brownell looped out in the second turn. Two laps later Gill Tegg Jr. drew the yellow when his car came to a stop in the fourth turn with a terrible vibration. At the same time the yellow flew Steve Paine had completed his pass on Decker to lead lap 16. Paine then started to draw away from the rest of the field, leading Decker by as much as 2.7 seconds.

Yellow flags on laps 22 and 23 again tighten the pack together again. On lap 22 Darryl Ruggles slowed on the track and on 23 Bobby Varin came to a stop on the front stretch in his new Troyer Experimental car.

Tim Fuller, who was absent the on September 13, both came to the rain delayed show and won the first consolation race, now began to threaten the leaders. On lap 26 he took fourth from Coffey and set his sights on Tomkins in third.

The yellow flew on lap 31 when Vitale and Shawn Beardsley came together in the fourth turn. With yellows now counting the green came back out on lap 35. The restart saw Fuller take third and then go after Decker. Paine, who now held nearly a second and a half lead on Decker remained in the lead. On lap 43, after a two lap side-by-side duel with Decker, Fuller moved into second.

On lap 45, Tim McCreadie again became a factor passing Decker for third. He then pulled along side of Fuller and passed him too for second on lap 51.

The yellow flew for the ninth time on lap 61 when Decker spun in the third turn and dropped from the race. The restart, lap 65, saw the yellow out again when Jerry Higbie made contact with the fourth turn inside barrier.

Paine was able to keep lapped cars between himself and McCreadie. Fuller lost third to Tomkins on lap 78. Paine's lead was a constant 1.5 seconds, but a let race caution would make a race at the end. On lap 93 the yellow flew when Derrick Podsiadlo and Alan Johnson came together in between turns one and two. Both lost a lap to the field in the melee. With just three laps remaining in the race the green flag flew.

Paine took the win followed by Tomkins, who passed McCreadie on the final lap for second. McCreadie came home in third followed by Fuller and Chuck Bower. Ward came home in sixth to get the Syracuse spot.

The 25-lap Pro-Stock main saw Chad Homan lead the first 20 circuits when a broken front suspension put him out of the race. This gave the lead over to Jipp Ortiz, who was in a tight battle for position with Jeremy Clark.

Only two yellow had slowed the race up to lap 20. On lap four the yellow flew for a four car tangle in the second turn. The second yellow came on lap 19 when James Henry slowed to a stop in turn four.

On lap 20 Homan slowed to the inside of the speedway in turn three, just as sixth place Jim McGuigan darted into the pit entrance in turn three. This allowed Ortiz to take the middle road and pass Clark, who had been second to Homan, for the lead before the yellow flew.

Ortiz and Clark then drew away from the rest of the field over the final five laps. Ortiz took the win followed by Clark, Pete Stefanski, Beamer Guzzardi and Derrick Excell.

A 20-lap top Gun One Shoot Out special for the Street Stocks saw 26 cars take the green. A number of yellow flags made up the first ten laps. In three cases the yellow flew when Mike Holford was involved. On lap 11, Holford drew his fourth and final yellow when he barrel rolled his car off the third turn.

Adam Depuy was the early leader of the race. Blane Smith then took the lead from DePuy on a lap five restart. Smith would remain the leader until lap 18 when he suffered a flat tire, allowing Mike Welch to pass him going down the back stretch for the lead. Smith held on with the flat left rear to finish the final two laps.

Welch took the win followed by Depuy, new comer Rocco Conte, Dave Marcuccilli and Mike Murphy.

Pit Notes: A number of qualified cars were unable to return for the rain delayed running of the Finger Lakes season ender. In the Modifieds Jason Barney was a no show. In the Pro-Stocks Dan Jalbert and Dave Bruno did not return. The Street Stocks saw Jim Burba absent. Canandaigua Speedway is now closed for the season. Racing will return to the "Land of Legends" in April 2004. Thanks go out from the management to all of the fans, officials and competitors for their efforts and participation in the 2003 racing season.

RAIN DELAYED WESLEY CONSTRUCTION FINGER LAKES 100 TOP GUN ONE SHOOTOUT NIGHT SUMMARY

MID-STATE VINTAGE

FEATURE (12-laps): LOWERY SIEMENS (70'S), PAT SONNENBERG (60's), Shad Gates, Jim Hilmire, Jim Chicoski, DICK ACKERMAN (50's), Richard Applebee, Joey Edgbert, Gordie Wood, Ron Hadden, Shirley Morden, Bob Williams, Al Harju, Gary Byerly.

STREET STOCKS

CONSI: M. Minutolo, N. Dandino, R. Cooper, H. Hobert, C. Jacobs, C. Hunt, R. Depuy, M. Rasbeck.

FEATURE (20-laps): MIKE WELCH, Adam Depuy, Rocco Conte, Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Murphy, Nat Peckham, Mike Minutolo, Nick Rizzo, Nick Dandino, Josh Smallidge, Blane Smith, Jason Quigley, Darren Phippen, Kevin Collins, Harold Hobert, Ray Cooper, Cory Hunt, Beatle Peters, Chris Jacobs, Mike Shaw, Kyle LaVare, tim Burnell, Mike Holford, Don Jones, Leroy Lewis, Mike Rasbeck.

PRO STOCK

CONSI: M. Williams, D. Schulz, K. Smith, P. Stefanski, S. Devos, D. Mayer.

FEATURE (25-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, Jeremy Clark, Pete Stefanski, Beamer Guzzardi, Derrick Excell, John Lazore, Patrick Hobbs, Frank Guererri Jr., Dave Schulz, Mitchell Jock, Brian Kotarski, Fred Arden, Dan Mayer, Ken Michaels, Bob Buno, Mike Williams, Roger Chrysler, John Underwood, Daryl Hilkert, Ricky Breed, John Rutkowski, Chad Homan, Jim McGuigan, James Henry, Steve Devos, Bill Hallett, Spike Smith, Kevin Smith, Billy Brown.

DIRT MODIFIED

CONSI 1: T. Fuller, B. tittle, D. Podsiadlo, R. Bliss, A. Shiffler.
CONSI 2: G. Tegg Jr., R. Cartwright Jr., M. Sheppard, S. Beardsley, V. Vitale.

FEATURE (100-laps): STEVE PAINE, Gary Tomkins, Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller, Chuck Bower, Pat Ward, Matt Sheppard, Vic Coffey, Kenny Tremont, Steve Gray, Butch Tittle, Alan Johnson, Brett Hearn, Chuck Hebing, Allen Shiffler, Jeff Isabell, Jerry Higbie, Steve Hulsizer, Derrick Podsiadlo, Karl Comfort, Ron Cartwright Jr., Billy Decker, Jeff Brownell, Shawn Beardsley, Vince Vitale, Darryl Ruggles, Jimmy Phelps, Bobby Varin, Gil Tegg Jr., Danny Johnson, Ray Bliss.