DECKER, SHEPPARD AND MILLER TOP CANANDAIGUA
CANANDAIGUA, NY...Billy Decker won only his second feature of the year last Saturday at the Canandaigua Speedway. "This place has been a thorn in our side," he commented in victory lane. "After tonight however I think we've worked it out." High school junior, Matt Sheppard also earned his second feature of the year at Canandaigua in the DIRT Sportsman division. Rick Miller took top honors in the Pro-stocks, while Mike Minutolo continued his domination of the Pure Stock division.
It seemed that the 35-lap modified main event just couldn't get going. Ray Bliss Jr. took command of the race right from the start. A caution-fest was about to happen! On lap three the yellow flew when Darryl Ruggles looped in between the third and fourth turns, collecting Chuck Hebing and Jim Burke. All were able to continue. On the restart, Tim Fuller took over the lead from Bliss Jr., with Billy Decker pulling into second. Decker would then pass Fuller for the lead on lap 5.
A second yellow, on lap 6, saw Steve Schultz loop in turn three. A lap later the yellow flew when Steve Glover spun in the third turn. Still one more lap and the yellow flew for the fourth time when Bill Hoff spun in the first turn. Then with lap 9 in the books, the yellow flew for the fifth, and final time, when John Moravec slide his car high off the track in the second turn.
Pat ward was now pressuring Decker, and taking the lead. Decker regained the front spot on lap 11, however Ward fought back to lead for four more circuits. Decker again took the lead for a lap, with Ward far from giving up and retaking the lead on lap 17. Finally after nearly ten laps of side-by-side battling, Ward slide high in between turns 3 and 4, allowing Decker to charge under him for the lead. Decker then pulled away to a ten car advantage over Ward, Danny Johnson and Steve Paine.
Gary Tomkins seemed to have a good head of steam, as he was able to take third from Ward on lap 28. Tomkins then tried to shoot low in the third turn and pass Johnson. However he too fell back, allowing ward to take third from him at the finish line. Decker took the victory followed by Johnson, who toured the high groove all night long. Following ward in third was Tomkins, then Steve Paine, rounding out the top five finishers.
The 20-lap DIRT Sportsman main event was also strewn with yellow flags. Three yellows flew, the worst coming on lap 7, when track points contender Rich Swarthout had a bolt fall out of the left front radius rod, sending his car wildly crashing off the front stretch concrete inside wall. Rich emerged uninjured from his impact with the wall.
Lance Dusett led this event after Keith Stell, Ron Cartwright and David Allen all had their time at the front of the field. It would be Matt Sheppard's powerful Bicknell and his seemingly uncanny smooth driving style that bolted this youngster to the front of the field. On lap 14 he used the low groove to pass Dusett going through the fourth turn. Todd Henderson nipped Dusett at the wire for second. Following Dusett in fourth was Paul Guererri and finally Vince Vitale in fifth.
"I found a fast line around the bottom of the track tonight," commented Sheppard in victory lane.
The 15-lap Pro-Stock main saw Chad Homan, also a high schooler, take the lead and begin an effort to hold back second place Rick Miller. On lap six, Homan was no longer able to hold the front position and ceded the position to Miller. Miller lost the lead late in the race to Wayne Ellison. However contact between Randy Miller and Wayne Ellison, on lap 12, saw the yellow fly for the final time in the race. Miller, the current points leader, dropped from the event. Also at the same time as the Miller and Ellison incident, Chad Homan hit the inside barrier in the second turn, sending his car high into the air. After repairs were completed only Homan was able to continue. The front of the field was now completely shaken up. It was now Rick Miller maintaining his lead over John Miller and Dick Weisner at the finish line.
Mike Minutolo will have to start at the rear of the Pure Stock field for a while after he picked up his sixth feature win of the year at Canandaigua. Minutolo led all 10 laps after starting fourth on the field.
This Saturday racing returns to the half mile clay oval starting at 7:30 p.m. sharp. Special school bus races will be added to the race card that evening. Track officials claim that they expect ten buses will be in competition this Saturday at Canandaigua.
CANANDAIGUA MOTORS NIGHT SUMMARY
PURE STOCKS
FEATURE (10-laps): MIKE MINUTOLO, Steve Miller, Leroy Lewis, Beetle Peters, Jim Cologgi, Glen Peters, Mike Shaw, Jim VanArsdale, Tim Burnell, Fred Salsburg, Mike Majors, Car 2s, Ralph Priest, Brad Steinruck. DNS: Mike Archer.
PRO-STOCKS
HEAT 1: D. VanArsdale, W. Ellison, D. Conant, L. Whyte.
HEAT 2: Ra. Miller, D. Weisner, Ri. Miller, P. Barone.
HEAT 3: J. Miller, T. Chapman, C. Homan, B. Lutz.
FEATURE (15-laps): RICK MILLER, John Miller, Dan Weisner, Scott Fremouw, Lee Burnett, Les Whyte, Dave VanArsdale, Brian Thompson, Wayne Ellison, Bobby Lutz, Dave Conant, Jerry Sullivan, Billy Brown, Jim Burba, Chad Homan, Randy Miller, Rob White, Tiger Chapman, Phil Barone, Betty Fremouw. DNS: Brian Michaels.
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: S. Gray, D. Allen, K. Stell, Ju. Haers.
HEAT 2: M. Sheppard, K. Comfort, V. Vitale, R. Cartwright.
HEAT 3: L. Dusett, T. Henderson, R. Swarthout, C. Parmelee.
FEATURE (20-laps): MATT SHEPPARD, Todd Henderson, Lance Dusett, Paul Guererri, Vince Vitale, Steve Gray, David Allen, Karl Comfort, Wade Czymmek, Jerry Haers Jr., Justin Haers, Ron Cartwright, Keith Stell, Clay Parmelee, John Pfeffer, Todd Preston, Rich Swarthout, Gary Hotelling, DNS: Loren Lincoln.
MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1: B. Decker, C. Donk, C. Hebing, J. Hoff, D. Axton.
HEAT 2: D. Johnson, T. McCreadie, P. Ward, D. Ruggles, J. Moravec.
HEAT 3: S. Paine, T. Fuller, G. Tomkins, S. Boudinot, R. Bliss Jr.
FEATURE (35-laps): BILLY DECKER, Danny Johnson, Pat Ward, Gary Tomkins, Steve Paine, Tim McCreadie, Charlie Donk, Vic Coffey, Chuck Hebing, Darryl Ruggles, Scott Boudinot, Steve Schultz, Dave Axton, Jeff Hoff, Steve Glover, Jim Burke, Bill Hoff, Tim Fuller, Scott Schrader, John Moravec, Ray Bliss Jr., Ray Smith.