PAINE AND SHEPPARD AGAIN AT CANANDAIGUA

CANANDAIGUA, NY...Steve Paine and Matt Sheppard, both from Waterloo, NY, again dominated the racing action last Saturday at the Canandaigua Speedway. Sheppard debut a new car for the UFPO DIRT Sportsman Series and a new number, 90. Frank Burnell made it two in a row in the Street Stock division, while Jon Miller held off Pro-stock track points leader Jipp Ortiz to claim a feature victory.

The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature saw Darryl Ruggles and Vince Vitale bring the field down to take the green. Vitale jumped into the lead, with Vic Coffey in his Sweeteners' Plus number 32c right on his heels. As the field entered the second turn on the second lap, Ruggles was helped around and became a sitting duck in the middle of the turn. Gary Tomkins, aboard his Honeoye Auto Parts number 84 nipped the nose of the Ruggles's machine hard enough to force him out of the race. Also involved was Charlie Donk. Thanks to great driving no one made hard contact with the Ruggles number 48Jr.

Coffey was now recorded as the leader with Vitale second and Tim McCreadie third. The race resumed, but for only one lap, as Jeff Brownell looped around in the third turn, making contact with A.J. Romano in the process. Brownell was able to continue, but Romano had to part his Skip's Used Cars-Labatts number 16 for the night.

Coffey now began to stretch out a ten car advantage over Jim Gabriel Jr. in second. But the fastest car on the speedway seemed to be Steve Paine, running third. Paine passed Gabriel Jr. on lap nine and began to close the gap created by Coffey. The biggest help for Paine's cause of closing the gap came on lap 14 when Tim McCreadie slowed to a stop in the first turn infield causing a yellow. This bunched the field together for the restart.

Paine didn't waste much time passing Coffey. They raced side-by-side for two laps and then Paine sailed into the lead. Coffey now had his hands full with third place Bob McCreadie. McCreadie was able to take second as Coffey began to fad back in the field. On lap 27 Coffey parked his car on the infield with mechanical woes. This left the lead pack of Paine, McCreadie, Charlie Donk, Danny Johnson and Gabriel Jr., with Paine some seven cars ahead of McCreadie.

One final yellow, on lap 29, came when Brownell again left the track in the fourth turn and Pat Ward limped across the start line with a flat right rear.

The final dash saw Danny Johnson move to the high side of the speedway, passing Donk for third. Johnson then tried to move his Sweeteners' Plus number 27J past McCreadie. Each lap McCreadie would come out ahead in the straights as Danny looked to have the lead in the turns. On the final laps, as Paine took the checkers some ten cars ahead of the battle for second, Johnson completed his move and recorded a second place with McCreadie in third. Rounding out the top five were Donk and Gabriel Jr..

The 20-lap DIRT Sportsman feature saw only one yellow, lap 11, when Steve Gray looped his number 29g in the fourth turn and returned to the back of the pack. Up front David Allen had been leading for those eleven laps, with Ricky VanNeil and Matt Sheppard hot on his heels. Sheppard was able to pass Allen as the yellow flew for Gray to take the lead.

The final half of the race saw Sheppard pull away from the pack. A battle for second had developed between Karl Comfort and Allen. VanNeil ran a strong fourth. Comfort nosed out Allen on the final lap for second. VanNeil finished a strong fourth and Clay Parmelee rounded out the top five.

A special "Top One Gun Shoot-out" dash was run in memory of last year's Pro-stock champion, Les Whyte, who had been killed in a horse riding accident a year ago. Tom Barron collected the victory in that 4-lap, $100 to win, dash.

As for the Pro-stock feature, it proved to be one wild event. Rick Miller was recorded as the leader on the first lap, as the yellow flew for a spin in the third turn by Phil Barone and Billy Brown. Jon Miller took over the lead on the restart, but again the yellow flew as Bobby Lutz coasted to a stop in the second turn. Lutz returned to the race some three laps down.

Jon Miller was able to maintain his lead over Rick Miller, Patrick Hobbs and Tom Barron on the restart. On lap nine, multi-time feature winner, Mike Cooper began a series of spectacular barrel rolls in the third turn, coming to rest on all four wheels and forcing the field to be red flagged. Mike emerged uninjured and waved to the fans.

Jipp Ortiz was now on the move, taking second from Rick Miller on the restart. Jon Miller and Ortiz then began to separate themselves from the rest of the field. But on lap 14 the red flew again when Billy Brown flipped his machine in the fourth turn. Billy also emerged uninjured form his wrecked car.

The closing laps saw Jon Miller hold back Ortiz and Tom Barron at the front of the field. Miller took the victory followed by Ortiz and Barron. Barron's third place finished earned him an extra $100 bonus posted by Savage and Sons Roofing in honor of Les Whyte. Jim McGuigan and Steve Miller rounded out the top five.

The Street Stock feature saw Eric Giguere lead from lap two to nine, losing the lead on the final turn of the final lap to Frank Burnell. Giguere finished second followed by Leroy Lewis, Mike Ferens and Richard Briggs. Two yellows flew during the course of this feature. On lap six, Glenn Peters lost a right rear wheel off his number 18 and on lap eight Jim Cologgi slowed on the track.

This Saturday will be the final weekly track points races, featuring twin-25's for the DIRT Modifieds. The sportsman and Pro-stocks will also run 25 lap features, with the Street Stocks running a 15 lap finale. Race time will be at 7 p.m..

The speedway will be closed for a week and then reopen on Saturday, September 16, for the second annual "Les Whyte-Top Gun One Shoot-Out" featuring a $1,000 to win Pro-Stock ARANY DIRT Championship, plus Street stocks and Mid-State Vintage racers. This final special will see the races begin a 5 p.m., with gates opening at 3 p.m..

ANYTIME ANYWHERE TOWING-COMPETITION RACING SUPPLY-EASTMAN KODAK

COMPANY-PETER KOCH CHRYSLER/DODGE/JEEP NIGHT SUMMARY

STREET STOCKS

HEAT 1: M. Shaw, L. Lewis, B. Steinruck, V. Vanderwall, D. Eaton.

HEAT 2: M. Welsh, F. Burnell, E. Giguere, J. Labarge, G. Peters.

HEAT 3: R. Briggs, M. Ferens, J. Henry, J. Rutkowski, D. Barnes.

FEATURE (10-laps): FRANK BURNELL, Eric Giguere, Leroy Lewis, Mike Ferens, Richard Briggs, Jared Labarge, David Eaton, John Rutkowski, James Henry, Don Barnes, Vance Vanderwall, Tim Burnell, Brian Lloyd, Mike Shaw, Mike Welsh, Brian Steinruck, Glen Peters, Shane Yack, Jim Cologgi, Gordon Whithey.

PRO-STOCK

HEAT 1: S. Miller, D. Weisner, C. Homan, Z. Shove, J. Boyle, P. Hobbs.

HEAT 2: T. Barron, B. Lutz, J. Ortiz, J. Unaman Jr., D. Conant, C. Reynolds II.

HEAT 3: J. Miller, L. Burnett, Ri. Miller, T. Hanagan, J. McGuigan, Jim Burba.

TOP GUN ONE SHOOT-OUT DASH: Tom Barron, Steve Miller, Jon Miller, Jipp Ortiz.

FEATURE (20-laps): JON MILLER, Jipp Ortiz, Tom Barron, Jim McGuigan, Steve Miller, Lee Burnett, Chad Homan, Dan Weisner, Patrick Hobbs, Jason Boyle, Rick Miller, Jon Unaman Jr., Phil Barone, Jim Burba, Todd Hanagan, Zach Shove, Dave Conant Jr., Billy Brown, Carl Reynolds II, Mike Cooper, Bob Lutz.

SPORTSMAN

HEAT 1: R. VanNeil, P. Guererri, K. Comfort, J. Pfeffer, C. Parmelee, J. Beyea, E. Payne.

HEAT 2: J. Plumb, S. Gray, D. Allen, M. Sheppard, J. Haers, B. Henry Jr., W. Czymmek.

FEATURE (20-laps): MATT SHEPPARD, Karl Comfort, David Allen, Ricky VanNeil, Clay Parmelee, John Plumb, Steve Gray, Paul Guererri, Joe Beyea, Bob Henry Jr., Justin Haers, Dale Darling, Bill Englert, Wade Czymmek, John Pfeffer, Jim LaRock, Bob Haws, Ed Monroe, Eldon Payne Jr.

MODIFIED

HEAT 1: S. Paine, D. Ruggles, D. Johnson, V. Coffey, T. McCreadie, R. Miller, R. Smoker.

HEAT 2: V. Vitale, J. Gabriel Jr., Gary Tomkins, T. Fuller, C. Donk, P. Ward, J. Brownell.

FEATURE (35-laps): STEVE PAINE, Danny Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Charlie Donk, Jim Gabriel Jr., Tim Fuller, Ron Smoker, Pat Ward, Chuck Hebing, Ray Bliss Jr., Vince Vitale, Tim Cornell, Vic Coffey, Jeff Brownell, Greg Tatich, Ron White, Randy Miller, Tim McCreadie, A.J. Romano, Darryl Ruggles, Gary Tomkins.