SATURDAY NIGHT RACE FEVER HAS NO REMEDY IN ONTARIO COUNTY

CANANDAIGUA, NY.....Just three more regular Saturday night race programs are scheduled at Canandaigua Speedway with Lakeview Mental Health Center leading off with sponsorship of the August 14 four-star show.

On the heels of the season championships scheduled on September 4, only the big Legends Championship Weekend, Sept. 25-26, remains to close out the 2004 race season at the historic 1/2-mile clay oval located on the Ontario County Fairgrounds.

This Saturday all eyes will again be focused on raging open-wheel battles in the premier DIRT Modified and Sportsman divisions. Full-fender Pro Stock and Street Stock classes plus a special Ladies Race add to the 7 p.m. card.

Big-block veteran Steve Paine from Waterloo, N.Y. and Sportsman mainstay Eldon Payne, Jr. from neighboring Hopewell, N.Y. find themselves in familiar territory as they contend for titles in Canandaigua's top open-wheel classes.

While Paine looks to establish an all-time track record by capturing a fifth straight title at the 'Land of Legends,' Payne hopes to overcome a 33-point deficit to Paul Guererri in search of his first career open-wheel track championship at Canandaigua.

Last year at this time Paine held the big-block field at bay by almost 50 points while Payne clung to less than a 25-point advantage over weekly rival Guererri, who eventually rallied to best Payne by just five markers in the final 2003 standings.

This time around Paine (602 pts) has earned four feature wins to lead Vic Coffey (570) who has also collected four checkered flags. Three-time winner Gary Tomkins (543) and Chad Brachmann (538) are longshots to the Canandaigua throne in '04.

Despite missing some recent shows, Western New York traveler Randy Chrysler continues to pace Mike Bliss, Scott Boudinot and Mike Ward in the third-ever 358-Modified title chase at the historic Routes 5&20 clay oval.

Track record-setter Jipp Ortiz (28 career wins) sits comfortably on top of Canandaigua's JoshComp Pro Stock points chart in search of his third season championship in wine country. But before Ortiz (6 wins) can claim his second straight Canandaigua title he has to fend off Saturday night rivals Bill Hallett and Frank Guererri, Jr., with each owning one win apiece.

The Parts Plus Auto Stores Street Stock season trophy is nearly in the grasp of reigning points king Mike Welch (634 pts), who leads runner-up Blane Smith (550) in the division's fifth successive year of championship competition. Adam DePuy has reached victory lane a division-high four times to rank third on the points chart.

Canandaigua Speedway canandaiguaspeedway.com is located on the Ontario County Fairgrounds just east of the city of Canandaigua, easily accessible from both Exits 43 and 44 of the NYS Thruway.