PAINE DOUBLES TO CLAIM 2001 DIRT MODIFIED CANANDAIGUA TITLE

CANANDAIGUA, NY...Waterloo, NY's Steve Paine was the points leader coming into the season finale Twin 25-lap features last Saturday at Canandaigua Speedway. When the dust settled, Paine had won both 25-lap features and was crowned the 2001 Canandaigua Track Champion. Justin Haers won the special 25-lap DIRT Sportsman feature and won the Sportsman Track Championship by just 2 points over second place finisher Karl Comfort. Comfort was leading in points going into the night. Jipp Ortiz won the 25-lap Pro-Stock feature but the Pro-Stock title went to his good friend Jason Boyle. Richard Briggs won the 15-lap Street Stock main and the 2001 Street Stock track title.

The first 25-lap DIRT Modified feature saw Dave Axton lead the first half of the race before giving up his lead to Darryl Ruggles. Ruggles was only able to hold on for one lap before Paine passed him, lap 14, for the lead. Paine then drew away for the final 12 laps to claim a 2.285 second victory over Bob McCreadie. Pat Ward was third followed by Ruggles and Time Fuller.

The race was slowed by three yellow flags. On lap three the yellow flew when Chuck Hebing broke on the back stretch and slowed to a stop. The second yellow came on lap five when Vince Vitale smacked the second turn concrete. His car had to be towed back into the pits. The final yellow came on lap 19 when Billy Decker slowed in between turns three and four.

The second feature found the cars, qualifying through the heat races, being re-handicapped, while the consolation cars were lined up at the back of the pack based on the order in which they finished the first 25-lapper.

Dave Axton again led the second feature at the drop of the green. However this time he only held the lead for one lap as the yellow flew for a tangle on the back stretch involving Vitale and Ruggles. The restart saw Gary Tomkins take the lead and hold off Pat Ward for 14 circuits before Paine took command of the lead. Paine then shot off to a 2.042 second victory over Tomkins. Danny Johnson took third followed by Billy Decker nipping Pat Ward at the finish line for fourth.

Two additional yellows slowed the race pace to 50.599 mph average. On lap five the yellow flew when Ron White slowed on the back stretch. On lap 18 the final yellow came out when Mike Ward's number 45m went up in smoke at the start-finish line. The scariest moment of the race came on lap 16 when Dale Darling had a flat tire in front of the leaders, sending the front pack scurrying on the front stretch. Darling was able to pull his car off the track.

The 25-lap DIRT Sportsman feature saw only 19 cars answer the starting call. Eldon Payne Jr. was the early leader of the race. The yellow came out on lap three when Paul Guererri slowed on the track. The restart saw Payne Jr. hold his advantage.

On lap five the yellow flew when Joe Beyea spun in the second turn. This time Justin Haers caught Payne on the start and pulled away from the rest of the field. Haers held a 7.252 second lead at the finish, nearly a half track ahead of second place Karl Comfort. Comfort took second from John Pfeffer on lap 18, but could never close the gap Haers had built for himself. Steve Gray finished third followed by Pfeffer and Dan Wiesner.

Haers's win earned him 60 points, while second place paid only 56 points. Comfort only held a two point lead over Haers going into the finale. His win gave Haers the track title by just two markers.

The 25-lap Pro-Stock feature saw Scott Fremouw holding command of the lead, nearly four cars ahead of second place Patrick Hobbs. On lap 10 the yellow flew when Chad Homan slowed going into the fourth turn and was rammed from the rear by rookie John Rutkowski. Rutkowski's car was severely damaged, but John was uninjured. The restart saw Fremouw flounder, almost gathering Hobbs in what could have been a nasty accident on the front stretch. Jipp Ortiz passed Lee Burnett and took over the lead going down the back stretch. As quickly as the green flew the yellow flew again as Fremouw came to a stop on the backstretch.

Ortiz held on through three more yellows, laps 15, 18 and 24. the final yellow came when Lee Burnett looped in the fourth turn on the final lap. A one lap dash to the checkers was set up with Ortiz holding on for the victory. Kevin Smith came home in second followed by Mike Cooper, Jason Boyle and Jon Miller.  Boyle held the points lead over Miller going into the finale. Boyle's finish, one spot ahead of Miller, secured the 2001 Pro-Stock title for Boyle.

The finale of the night was a 15-lap Street Stock main event. Twenty-two cars reported to the starting line. Jim Cologgi took the lead at the drop of the green. A short yellow followed as pole sitter Adam Delong looped across the field exiting the second turn and gathered in a number of cars.

The restart saw Cologgi hold off Richard Briggs for just one lap. Briggs took command of the lead on lap four. A second yellow came out on lap seven when Tim Burnell lost a wheel in between the third and fourth turns.

Briggs held on through one final yellow, lap 12, when James Henry looped his number 21 on the backstretch. Frank Burnell made a late race bid for the lead, but finished in the runner up position. Mike Welch finished third followed by Cologgi and Jared LaBarge.

CANANDAIGUA POINTS: The final top ten point standings for the modifieds and sportsman is as follows: MODIFIED-Steve Paine 1044, Tim McCreadie 927, Danny Johnson 914, Gary Tomkins 896, Tim Fuller 878, Billy Decker 832, Pat Ward 814, Chuck Bower 813, Ron Smoker 753, Vic Coffey 740....SPORTSMAN-Justin Haers 896, Karl Comfort 894, Steve Gray 829, Joe Beyea 808, John Plumb 757, Eldon Payne Jr. 723, Clay Parmelee 708, David Allen 671, Dan Wiesner 670, Ricky VanNeil 659.

Canandaigua will remain silent this Saturday, but will return on Saturday, September 15 for the Third Annual Top Gun One ShootOut, starting at 5 p.m.. Gates will open that day at 3 p.m. sharp. Featured on the racing card will be a 50-lap ARANY Pro- Stock Super DIRT Series Championship race, a 25-lap Street Stock Championship and Mid State Vintage Racers.

LABATT/OWASCO BEVERAGE-PAINE MOTORSPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: E. Giguere, A. Delong, R. Briggs, M. Welch, F. Burnell, R. Peters, R. Cooper.
HEAT 2: J. Cologgi, D. Phippen, J. LaBarge, J. Henry, L. Lewis, K. Schrader, K. Dashburn.

FEATURE (15-laps): RICHARD BRIGGS, Frank Burnell, Mike Welch, Jim Cologgi, Jared LaBarge, Leroy Lewis, Eric Giguere, Ken Dashburn, Brandon Smith, Chris Jacobs, Ray Cooper, Mike Cuppernell, Kevin Collins, Robert Pierce, James Henry, Darren Phippen, Tim Burnell, Shawn Lloyd, Jerry Teeter, Kevin Schrader, Brian Lloyd, Adam Delong, DNS: Randy Peters, Vance Vanderwall, Doug Quigley, Elmer Schliefer, Mike Shaw, Todd Kirkland, Jimmy Brown.

PRO-STOCK

HEAT 1: S. Fremouw, J. Rutkowski, P. Hobbs, Z. Shove, J. Boyle, M. Smith.
HEAT 2: C. Homan, M. Cooper, K. Smith, J. Miller, L. Burnett, J. Ortiz.

FEATURE (25-laps): JIPP ORTIZ, Kevin Smith, Mike Cooper, Jason Boyle, Jon Miller, Chad Homan, Zack Shove, Patrick Hobbs, Matt Smith, Lee Burnett, Dave Conant, Daryl Hilkert, Scott Fremouw, John Mosher, John Rutkowski, Billy Brown, DNS: Chad Nugent, John Howard.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: S. Gray, C. Parmelee, K. Comfort, D. Allen, J. Plumb, W. Czymmek.
HEAT 2: E. Payne Jr., J. Haers, D. Wiesner, R. VanNeil, J. Pfeffer, P. Guererri.

FEATURE (25-laps): JUSTIN HAERS, Karl Comfort, Steve Gray, John Pfeffer, Dan Wiesner, John Plumb, Ricky VanNeil, Eldon Payne Jr., Joe Beyea, Wade Czymmek, David Allen, Drew Fallis, Clay Parmelee, Loren Lincoln, Phil Lavare, Amy Pfeffer, Rob Bussey, Scott Joy, Paul Guererri.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: D. Ruggles, D. Johnson, V. Coffey, P. Ward, B. Decker, G. Tomkins.
HEAT 2: C. Bower, R. Smoker, V. Vitale, S. Ridley, M. Ward, B. Swarthout.
HEAT 3: S. Paine, D. Axton, J. Gabriel Jr., C. Donk, C. Hebing, B. McCreadie.

CONSI: T. Fuller, C. Kokosa, G. Tegg Jr., R. Bliss Jr., D. Darling, R. White, F. Hilton
ADDED: T. McCreadie.

FEATURE #1 (25-laps): STEVE PAINE, Bob McCreadie, Pat Ward, Darryl Ruggles, Tim Fuller, Danny Johnson, Tim McCreadie, Ron Smoker, Charlie Donk, Gary Tomkins, Chuck Bower, Jim Gabriel Jr., Ray Bliss Jr., Billy Decker, Gil Tegg Jr., Chris Kokosa, Mike Ward, Brian Swarthout, Dale Darling, Dave Axton, Vic Coffey, Ron White, Scott Ridley, Vince Vitale, Chuck Hebing, Fran Hilton.

FEATURE #2 (25-laps): STEVE PAINE, Gary Tomkins, Danny Johnson, Billy Decker, Pat Ward, Jim Gabriel Jr., Charlie Donk, Ron Smoker, Vic Coffey, Chuck Bower, Tim Fuller, Darryl Ruggles, Scott Ridley, Chris Kokosa, Dave Axton, Mike Ward, Dale Darling, Ron White, Brian Swarthout, Fran Hilton, Gil Tegg Jr., Vince Vitale, Ray Bliss Jr., DNS: Bob McCreadie, Tim McCreadie, Chuck Hebing.