WARD LEADS FIVE BIG WINNERS AT CANANDAIGUA OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND
CANANDAIGUA, NY...Last Saturday at Canandaigua the race fans truly got their "money's worth" as five different divisions were in competition. Pat Ward won his first DIRT Modified main event of the year at Canandaigua on board his Gypsum Wholesalers/ Finch's Trucking and Logging TEO. Karl Comfort repeated from the week before in the Sportsman division with a win, as did Jon Miller in the Pro Stock 20-lap main event. James Henry earned victory number three for the season in the Street Stocks and Rick Wood, from Endfield, CT, took top honors in the Empire Super Sprint 20-lap A-Main.
The early leader in the 35-lap Modified feature was outside pole sitter Chuck Hebing. Hebing kept his Excell Communications/Cobra Troyer in front for nine circuits of the flat half mile, when Pat Ward charged low out of the second turn and out dragged Hebing down the back chute for the lead on lap 10. Ward then proceeded to pull away to a ten car advantage over Hebing, Tim Fuller, Charlie Donk and Vic Coffey.
On lap 18 the yellow flew for Ron White, who had come to a stop in the third turn. This bunched the field together for the restart. Charlie Donk seemed to come out of the restart the best, moving from fourth to second in just two laps. Ward by then had started to rebuild his lead to nearly five car lengths.
On lap 22, Darryl Ruggles slowed in his Ruggles World of Auto Body TEO on the back stretch to bring out the second yellow of the race. Again the field was bunched together and again Ward shot out into the lead followed by Donk, Fuller, Coffey and Danny Johnson.
On lap latter the yellow flew again, when Alex Hoag drove off the first turn and slowly limped his way back onto the racing surface. A battle royal was shaping up for second through eighth as Ward again establish a solid advantage over the pack. Donk also was able to pull away to a slight lead over third place Fuller, who had his hands full holding back teammates Vic Coffey and Danny Johnson. Multi-time feature winner Steve Paine was next, in a battle of his own with Gary Tomkins.
Ward took the victory followed by Donk, Fuller, Coffey and Johnson. Seventeen cars finished the race, fifteen on the lead lap.
The 20-lap Sportsman feature saw pole sitter Wade Czymmek take the lead at the drop of starter Ben Vitale's green flag. Rookie runner John Plumb was second followed by Justin Haers, Jim Rufiange and Matt Sheppard, who started twelfth, and took the high road around the rest of the field for fifth.
On lap three the yellow flew when Rufiange looped his number 76 in the second turn. The restart saw Czymmek remain in the lead battling both Plumb and Sheppard. Sheppard passed Plumb on lap five and then pulled to the outside of the third turn to pass Czymmek for the lead a lap later.
On lap nine Bill Englert flipped his Lock Stock & Barrel Bar& Grill number 57 exiting the second turn. He was collected by Dale Darling, who slammed into the bottom front end portion of the Englert machine. Both drivers were uninjured. The restart saw yet another yellow when Rufiange and Eldon Payne came together in the second turn. The final yellow came on lap 12, when Greg Walters looped his new car in the second turn.
The two front runners seemed to be in a race of their own. Comfort made a move for the lead on lap 18, passing Sheppard, who had fallen back some by going wide in the first and second turns. Comfort took the win followed closely by Sheppard. Paul Guererri finished third followed by Joe Beyea and Justin Haers. The 20-lap Pro-stock feature saw Dave Conant Jr., in his Star Headlights & Lanterns Buick Regal battle with Jon Miller's Calhoon's Pub Grand Prix. Miller was able to pass Conant Jr. on lap seven for the lead. As Conant Jr. fell off the pace, Jipp Ortiz, in his NAPA AP's Camaro, started to charge towards the front.
Only three yellows slowed the race, all for minor spin outs. Miller took the victory followed closely by Ortiz. Tommy Barron finished a distant third in his Blair's Siding & Roofing Camaro, completing the exact same top three finishers from the week before. Rounding out the top five were Mike Minutlo and Chad Homan in fifth, one position worse then last week.
The 10-lap Street Stock main event saw 19 runners take the green, with James Henry in the lead. As the first lap was being completed the yellow flew for a spin in the fourth turn.
The restart saw Eric Giguere pass Henry for the lead, but before Giguere could establish a solid lead the yellow flew for Brad Steinruck, who spun in the first turn.
Giguere was able to maintain his lead until a lap five restart, when the fourth place runner, Richard Briggs, looped his car in the first turn. This time Henry re-secured the lead. Henry earned his third win of the year followed by Giguere. Points leader Mike Ferens finished third followed by Darren Phippen and Randy Peters.
Also on hand were the 33 ESS sprint cars. Rich Woods won his first ever Canandaigua feature. He was followed in the green-to-checkers 20-lap run by Bobby Podolak, points leader Mike Woodring, Scott Holcomb and Lance Yonge. "Bubby" Kerrick took top honors in the B-Main, while Woodring won the Walt's Hobby Shop Dash. Heat wins went to Woods, Podolak and Woodring.
This Saturday at Canandaigua a complete four star program of racing will be on the track. Also on hand will be the "Green Mamba Jet Car". The modifieds will be vying in the 35-lap Hoot Frarey Memorial. Race time will be at 7 p.m.. Gate open at 4:30 p.m..
LAUTERBORN ELECTRIC/PICK-n-PULL AUTO PARTS OF AUBURN/TRACEY ROAD
EQUIPMENT NIGHT SUMMARY
(note: see ESS results elsewhere)
STREET STOCKS
FEATURE (10-laps): JAMES HENRY, Eric Giguere, Mike Ferens, Darren Phippen, Randy Peters, John Rutkowski, Jim Cologgi, Mike Welch, Richard Briggs, Jarad LaBarge, Nathen Peckham, Leroy Lewis, Brad Steinruck, Fred Srock, Fred Salsburg, Frank Burnell, Vance Vanderwall, Shane Yack.
PRO-STOCK
HEAT 1: D. Conant, L. Burnett, T. Barron, Ri. Miller, Z. Shove.
HEAT 2: B. Brown, J. Miller, M. Minutlo, S. Miller, M. Cooper.
HEAT 3: D. Weisner, J. Ortiz, J. McGuigan, C. Homan, J. Herrivan.
FEATURE (20-laps): JON MILLER, Jipp Ortiz, Tommy Barron, Mike Minutlo, Chad Homan, Jim McGuigan, Mike Cooper, Steve Miller, Jody Herrivan, Zack Shove, Lee Burnett, Patrick Hobbs, Billy Brown, Wayne Ellison, Phil Barone, Bobby Lutz, Todd Hanagan, Scott Fremouw, Dan Weisner, Carl Reynolds II, Josh Nichols, Dave Conant, Brian Michels, Rick Miller, Betty Fremouw.
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: J. Plumb, K. Comfort, D. Allen, E. Payne Jr., J. Rufiange, L. Beardsley, G. Walters.
HEAT 2: J. Haers, W. Czymmek, M. Sheppard, S. Gray, J. Beyea, J. Pfeffer, D. Darling.
FEATURE (20-laps): KARL COMFORT, Matt Sheppard, Paul Guererri, Joe Beyea, Justin Haers, Wade Czymmek, David Allen, John Plumb, John Pfeffer, Steve Gray, Clay Parmelee, Keith Stell, Bob Henry Jr., Jim Rufiange, Ed Monroe, Greg Walters, Dale Darling, Eldon Payne Jr., Bill Englert, Larry Beardsley.
MODIFIED
HEAT 1: V. Coffey, C. Bower, G. Tomkins, C. Hebing, J. Brownell.
HEAT 2: P. Ward, T. Fuller, T. McCreadie, B. Decker, V. Vitale.
HEAT 3: R. Bliss Jr., C. Donk, S. Paine, D. Johnson, J. Gabriel Jr.
FEATURE (35-laps): PAT WARD, Charlie Donk, Tim Fuller, Vic Coffey, Danny Johnson, Steve Paine, Gary Tomkins, Tim McCreadie, Billy Decker, Jim Gabriel Jr., Ray Bliss Jr., Scott Ridley, Tim Burnett, Vince Vitale, Randy Miller, Jeff Brownell, Ron White, Chuck Hebing, Alex Hoag, Darryl Ruggles, Chuck Bower, Greg Tatich, Fran Hilton.