|
TOMKINS, HEFTI, HOMAN AND CONTE TAKE WINS, PAINE, PAYNE JR., ORTIZ AND WELCH CROWNED WITH CANANDAIGUA TITLES CANANDAIGUA, NY...Gary Tomkins made it five DIRT Modified feature wins at Canandaigua, tying both Vic Coffey and Steve Paine for the most wins at the speedway this season. All Steve Paine had to do is to take the green to earn his fifth Canandaigua Track Modified Championship in a row and his sixth overall. The same held true for Scott Boudinot in the 358- Modified points race. Randy Chrysler earned his tenth highest finishing 358-Modified award, but by missing a number of weeks to coach his lacrosse team, Boudinot surged into the small block points lead. "I have a lot on my plate now," stated Chrysler in victory lane. "It was more important for me to work with the kids and basically give up my chances at this title." In the Sportsman division Russ Hefti picked up his first Canandaigua Speedway victory of the year. Eldon Payne Jr.'s third place finish was enough to secure him his first Canandaigua Sportsman track Championship. Jipp Ortiz unveiled a new car. However it was Chad Homan taking the win, his second of the season. Ortiz held more then enough points going into the night to take the championship. Mike Welch was also like Ortiz, when it came to the Street Stock track points race. It was fortunate for Welch as he dropped from the Street Stock feature late in the race showing signs of having blown his motor. Rocco Conte earned his first Canandaigua feature win of the year. A special 8-lap 4-cylinder Enduro was staged with Bill Werner taking the win. "We are looking at this division as a possible addition in 2005," stated track general manager Jeff Farney. "We were interested in what they could do on the half mile. They normally run the three-eighths mile at Cayuga County on a weekly basis." The 50-lap DIRT Modified main saw Jeff Brownell Jr. grab the lead at the drop of the green with Ron Cartwright Jr. second. In fourth was Justin Haers. The first yellow flew on lap two when Lance Dusett looped off the track in between the first and second turns. The restart also had to be aborted and placed under yellow when Dale Kissel looped in the third turn. Cartwright Jr. took over the lead with Haers passing Brownell Jr. one lap later. On lap seven Hears dropped low and passed Cartwright Jr. for the lead. Darryl Ruggles also passed Brownell Jr. for third at this time. Haers pulled out to nearly a full straight away advantage over Ruggles, who grabbed second from Cartwright Jr. on lap 12. Moving up quickly was Gary Tomkins. Tomkins sailed into second and then began to close the gap Haers had built for himself. By lap 23 Tomkins had Haers in his sight and started to challenge him for the lead. As the two exited the second turn on lap 26, Tomkins ducked low and moved alongside of Haers for the lead. The yellow flew one last time on lap 32 when Ray Bliss slowed down the back stretch. Tomkins then began to build his own lead as Haers now had his hands full with Steve Paine and Chad Brachmann. Brachmann, as if on a mission, sailed by both Paine and Haers to take second on lap 37. Tomkins was able to maintain a 1.5 second advantage the remainder of the race over Brachmann. Paine finished third followed by Vic Coffey and Haers. Tomkins averaged 87.358 mph in taking the win. The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman feature was riddled with yellows the second half of the event. Dan Wiesner was the early leader of the race. A spin by Phil LaVare on lap 11 slowed the field as the yellow flew for the first time. The restart saw one of the scariest wrecks of the night. Eldon Payne Jr., trying the low line on the restart through turn four, made contact with Rob Bussey and squeezed Scott Schrader car. This contact sent Schrader slamming into the fourth turn wall head on at full speed. After several minutes Schrader emerged from his wrecked machine shaken but uninjured. Hefti emerged the leader on lap 13 and muddled through a number of yellows that followed. Ricky VanNeil had one of his best finishes in 2004. He was able to take second on lap 16 and held on for a strong finish. Wiesner's early luck left him as he lost a front wheel in the second turn on lap 22 while running in sixth. Hefti took the win followed by VanNeil, Payne Jr., Todd Henderson and Bussey. Hefti averaged 78.515 mph in taking the win. His margin of victory was nearly a full second. In full fender action the Pro-Stocks races a 25-lap main event. Bill Hallett took the lead at the drop of the green with Billy Brown running second. By lap five, Chad Homan had moved by Brown for second. Homan then began to dog Hallett for the lead. A number of yellows flew during the race, mainly for debris and cars stopping on the track. On lap 18, just as the yellow was flying for a spin in the second turn by Matt Grubbe, Homan charged into the lead. Ortiz was able to move into third by lap 16, but was not able to challenge either Homan or Hallett for their positions. Homan took the win followed just .33 seconds back by Hallett. Ortiz came home third with Jim McGuigan and James Henry rounding out the top five. With 28 cars starting the Street Stock feature one would have thought it would have been a "crash-fest". It turned out completely opposite that. For 16 of 20-laps the cars circled the speedway at full speed without even the hint of a yellow flag. Up front Mike Murphy was turning in the ride of his life. he held nearly a half lap lead on Rocco Conte in second and was lapping traffic at will. A dash for fourth position between Mike Minutolo, Nick Rizzo and Blane Smith resulted in Rizzo hitting the front stretch wall and ending up in the first turn to bring out the only yellow of the race. Murphy's half lap lead was now gone! The yellow remained out when Mike Welch seemed to lose a motor. During this caution lap time it was noted that Murphy had a rear bumper dangerously dragging on the track. he was sent pitside to have it removed. This handed over the lead to Conte. Conte took the win followed by Smith, Jason Whipple, Leroy Lewis and Adam Depuy. Murphy finished sixth, the last car on the lead lap thanks to his great run. The final top ten Canandaigua Speedway track point standings are as follows: MODIFIEDS - Steve Paine 822, Vic Coffey 780, Gary Tomkins 767, Chad Brachmann 744, Chuck Bower 692, Charlie Donk 624, Justin Haers 623, Karl Comfort 603, Darryl Ruggles 558, Chuck Graham 547. 358-MODIFIEDS - Scott Boudinot 725, Randy Chrysler 712, Mike Bliss 704, Mike Ward 638, Ron White 534, Dale Kissel 330, Allen Willoughby 294, Bobby Parrow 216, Jim Roberts 152, Ray Bliss 150. SPORTSMAN - Eldon Payne Jr. 734, Paul Guererri 715, Todd henderson 701, Scott Schrader 673, Ricky VanNeil 664, Gus Hurlburt 572, Rob Bussey 557, Justin Henderson 545, Phil LaVare 537, Loren Lincoln 472. PRO-STOCKS - Jipp Ortiz 962, Chad Homan 830, Bill Hallett 822, Frank Guererri Jr. 808, James Henry 798, Daryl Hilkert 788, Billy Brown 654, Roger Chrysler 606, Kevin Smith 572, Matt Grubbe 494. STREET STOCKS - Mike Welch 824, Blane Smith 733, Adam Depuy 729, Rocco Conte 685, Nat Peckham 665, Nick Rizzo 603, Leroy Lewis 595, Mike Murphy 591, Mike Minutolo 578, Kevin Collins 557. Canandaigua Speedway will now remain closed for two weeks. On Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26, the famed Finger Lakes Weekend is revitalized. On Saturday the 358-Modifieds will run a Turning Stone Casino Resorts 100, their second of the year at Canandaigua. Also on tap is a Western Region 30-lapper for the DIRT Sportsman and the 50-lap sixth annual Top Gun One ShootOut for DIRT Pro-Stocks honoring the memory of the late Les Whyte, 1997 Pro-Stock Champion. This race will also be a Western Regional Empire Sports Network Pro-Stock Championship event. Race time on Saturday starts at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. On Sunday, September 26, the big-blocks return with the Advance Auto Parts Champions Challenge 100 in a chase for the Overall Mr. DIRT title. Joining the Modifieds that day will be the BOSS Street Stock Series. Race time on Sunday starts at 2 p.m. sharp. For more information about this weekend go to canandaiguaspeedway.com. LABATT/OWASCO BEVERAGE NIGHT SUMMARY ENDURO FEATURE (8-laps): BILL WERNER, Carl Wilken, Rob Ingerham, Craig Dingy, James Werner, Carl Werner, Nick Werner. STREET STOCKS HEAT 1: L. Lewis, R. Conte, A. Depuy, D. Marcuccilli, J. Quigley. FEATURE (20-laps): ROCCO CONTE, Blane Smith, Jason Whipple, Leroy lewis, Adam Depuy, Mike Murphy, Kevin Collins, Steve Faulkner, Scott Deline, Jason Quigley, Corey Hunt, Mike Shaw, George LaVare, Charles Vohs, Brad Steinruck, Nat peckham, Don Jones, Rod Comfort Jr., Bob Morgan, Mike Minutolo, Mike Welch, Nick Rizzo, Daryl Barrett, Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Walters, Dave Busceni, John Pratt, Darren Phippen, DNS: Tim Burnell, Bob Kelly. PRO-STOCKS HEAT 1: D. Hilkert, B. Brown, B. Thompson, J. Ortiz, B. Hallett, R. Florack. FEATURE (20-laps): CHAD HOMAN, Bill Hallett, Jipp Ortiz, Jim McGuigan, James Henry, Frank Guererri Jr., Billy Brown, Rick Florack, Brian Thompson, Matt Grubbe, Scott Fremouw, Daryl Hilkert, Doug Smith. SPORTSMAN HEAT 1: R. Bussey, M. Johnson, E. Payne Jr., L. Dusett, T. Henderson. FEATURE (25-laps): RUSS HEFTI, Ricky VanNeil, Eldon Payne Jr., Todd Henderson, Rob Bussey, Loren Lincoln, Gus Hurlburt, Dick Park Jr., Jeremiah Munson, Paul Guererri, Phil LaVare, Justin Henderson, Drew Fallis, Fran Hilton, Mike Johnson, Dan Wiesner, Lance Dusett, Clay Parmelee, Scott Schrader, Jason Memrick, Rick Miller, Eric Heffernan, Chris Mangiarelli. DIRT MODIFIEDS HEAT 1: J. Brownell Jr., V. Coffey, J. Haers, K. Comfort, J. Pfeffer, S. Boudinot. FEATURE (50-laps): GARY TOMKINS, Chad Brachmann, Steve Paine, Vic Coffey, Justin Haers, Steve Gray, Darryl Ruggles, Randy Chrysler, Jeff Brownell Jr., Chuck Bower, Karl Comfort, Chuck Graham, John Pfeffer, Mike Ward, Derrick Podsiadlo, Shannon Whaley, Lance Dusett, Allen Willoughby, Ray Bliss, Mike Bliss, Ron Cartwright Jr., Scott Boudinot, Danny Johnson, Dale Kissel, Don Slover, Charlie Donk. |