Pat Ward Caps Steel Night At Canandaigua Speedway
CANANDAIGUA, NY.8/29/98...The United Steel Workers Local 3298 from Goulds Pumps was on hand to see Pat Ward, from Genoa, NY, win the 35-lap DIRT Modified feature last Saturday at the Canandaigua Speedway. Also finding victory lane was Lance Dusett in the 20-lap Sportsman main. In full-fender action Tom Barron won the street stock main to record his eleventh win of the year and Beatle Peters took top honors in the Entry Stock feature.
The outside row in the modified feature seem to get the advantage on the start as Scott Schrader took the lead from his outside pole starting position and was followed by Bobby Varin, who started fourth and Chuck Hebing, who started sixth. Schrader's lead, which he began to stretch, lasted only four laps when the yellow fell, bunching the pack together. Bill Hoff looped his HB1 on the fourth turn.
On the restart Varin grabbed the lead, looking strong, as he also began to stretch his advantage. Schrader, running second, found himself in a battle with Billy Decker, Pat Ward and Charlie Donk. Ward was able to take Schrader on lap 11 and take off after Varin, who now held a ten car lead over Ward.
In just three circuits Ward caught Varin, as these two battle at the front of the field. The yellow flew on lap 20, as all eyes looked to see what had happened. The yellow was for Varin, who had a right rear flat tire as he was going through the third and fourth turns. Varin slowed as Ward took the lead with Decker now second. Varin fixed the tire and returned, only to see it also go flat on the very next lap, bringing out yet another yellow.
On lap 24 the yellow flew for a fourth time when Scott Boudinot spun in the fourth turn. Danny Johnson, aboard the Chuck Hebing backup car, went pitside during this yellow with a flat, also returning to the rear of the field.
Tim Fuller had now joined the race at the front of the field, passing Decker for second on lap 27, when Decker spun in between the first and second turns. Hebing had now moved into third with Donk and Vic Coffey rounding out the top five runners.
The finish would be in that same order as the last five laps ran under green flag conditions. It was Ward's third win of the season at Canandaigua.
In the 20-lap sportsman main event Ricky VanNeil seemed to come alive, leading the race for five circuits. VanNeil, who has not had the best of years, started on the pole and immediately took command of the race. Through two yellow flag restarts he maintained his front running spot. On lap five Lance Dusett pulled along side of the VanNeil car and inched his way by to take the lead going into the third turn. VanNeil maintained a top five spot until the last lap when he faded back into the field.
Dusett found a new challenger in Steve Gray. Gray pulled along side of the Dusett car, but could not complete the pass. Dusett took the victory, also his third of the year at Canandaigua, followed by Steve Gray, Steve Oplinger, Mike Button and Todd Henderson.
The 15-lap street stock feature proved how good the top street stock drivers really are when the pressure in on them. A third lap pile up involving ten cars was triggered in the second turn when Lee Burnett and Rick Miller got together. Burnett looped his car in front of the on coming traffic as drivers looked for ways around the cars stacking up. Involved in this accident were Tom Barron, Les Whyte, Billy Brown, Chad Homan, Jerry Haers Jr., Ed Oldfield, Jerry Sullivan and Randy Miller. Barron and Whyte were battling for the points lead going into the final week's races next Saturday. Both were able to return to the race. Tiger Chapman, who was recorded as the leader since the drop of the green, continued to hold the front spot, with Bobby Lutz running second. Lutz made his move on lap 10 with a daring outside pass to take the lead. Involved at the front of the field were Lutz, John Unaman and Chapman. But on the move was ten time winner Tom Barron. Barron, running fourth on lap 12, took second place on lap 13 and took out after Lutz. On lap 14, Barron took the lead and one lap later the win. Lutz finished second followed by Unaman, Chapman and Whyte.
In post race action Chapman protested both the Barron and Whyte cars, putting the money up to have each torn down. Whyte refused the tear down and was disqualified from the race losing all points and money for the evening. Barron's crew, along with DIRT officials were busy tearing the winning car down late into the night. The results of the tear down were not available at the writing of this article.
In Entry Stock action Brad Steinruck lead the field into the ninth lap, but was unable to finish the last lap, as Beatle Peters, who was challenging for the front spot all race long, took the victory. Mike Archer, possibly the fastest car on the track, came home in second after a mid-race pitstop. Leroy Lewis finished third followed by Gordon Withey and Tim Burnell.
The final track points night at Canandaigua Speedway takes place this Saturday when double points will be on the line, along with a 50-lap DIRT Modified main event. It will be the annual "Salute to the Legends" night as many top drivers from the past at Canandaigua will be in attendance. Along with the 50-lap modified main a full program of Sportsman, Street Stock and Entry Stock racing will be on hand, also for double points. Race time will be at 7 p.m.
The final race of the year at Canandaigua will take place on September 19, with a 40-lap Mr. DIRT Street stock feature and a special Entry Stock/Enduro race hosted by All County Construction.
LOCAL 3298 UNITED STEEL WORKERS UNION NIGHT SUMMARY
ENTRY STOCKS
FEATURE (10-laps): BEATLE PETERS, Mike Archer, Leroy Lewis, Gordon Withey, Tim Burnell, Donnie Kilbourne, Brad Steinruck, Greg Walters, Jim VanArsdale, Mike Shaw, Mike Minutolo. DNS: Jimmy Brown.
STREET STOCKS
HEAT 1: T. Barron, Ri. Miller, B. Brown, L. Burnett, T. Chapman.
HEAT 2: J. Unaman, S. fremouw, L. Whyte, E. Oldfield, J. Burba.
HEAT 3: D. Conant Jr., Ra. Miller, J. Sullivan, B. Fremouw, B. Boudreau.
FEATURE (15-laps): TOM BARRON, Bobby Lutz, John Unaman, Tiger Chapman, Scott Fremouw, Jim McGuigan, Chad Homan, Rick Miller, Randy Miller, Carl Reynolds II, Bill Deerfield, Brian Boudreau, Dean DeMallie, Jim Stone, Ed Oldfield, Steve Pesarek, Dave Conant Jr., Lee Burnett, Jerry Sullivan, Billy Brown, Phil Barone.
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: V. Vitale, S. Oplinger, R. Lyons, J. Haers Jr., W. Czymmek.
HEAT 2: T. Preston, M. Button, R. VanNeil, S. Gray, L. Lincoln.
HEAT 3: L. Dusett, C. Ridsdale, T. Henderson, P. Guererri, K. Stell.
FEATURE (20-laps): LANCE DUSETT, Steve Gray, Steve Oplinger, Mike Button, Todd henderson, Paul Guererri, Vince Vitale, Ricky VanNeil, Jerry Haers Jr., Chris Ridsdale, Keith Stell, Wade Czymmek, Todd Preston, Kevin Pollock, Russ Lyons, Mark Plyter, Loren Lincoln, Bill Hebing, Gary Hotelling.
MODIFIED
HEAT 1: T. Fuller, C. Hebing, P. Ward, R. Bliss Jr., D. Ruggles.
HEAT 2: B. Varin, S. Paine, B. Decker, J. Moravec, S. Schultz.
HEAT 3: V. Coffey, C. Donk, D. Johnson, S. Schrader, J. Hoff.
FEATURE (35-laps): PAT WARD, Tim Fuller, Chuck Hebing, Charlie Donk, Vic Coffey, Steve Paine, Danny Johnson, Darryl Ruggles, Billy Decker, John Moravec, Steve Schultz, Scott Schrader, Mike Ward, Scott Boudinot, Jeff Hoff, Steve Lead, Bill Hoff, Bobby Varin, Ray Bliss Jr., Max Phillips Jr., Fran Hilton.
Note: Late word form Canandaigua Speedway officials confirmed that Tom Barron's number 28T All County Construction car passed all inspection proceeding and was legal. Barron is recorded as the winner of the Street Stock feature, his eleventh of the year and locks up his first Canandaigua track points title in the Street Stock division.