McCreadie Tops Canandaigua Field For First Win, Button Stops Vitale's Sportsman Streak
CANANDAIGUA, NY...For a while it looked as if Bob McCreadie would not win a DIRT Modified feature at Canandaigua in 1998. But last saturday he used his great talents to pass Gary Tomkins for the lead in the closing laps and earn his first feature win at Canandaigua in 1998. Top honors in the sportsman division went to Mike Button, ending Vince Vitale's win streak at four, tied with Mark Zona for the most consecutive sportsman feature wins in a row. Tom Barron earn feature win number nine at Canandaigua, while Todd Stanton picked up his first Entry Stock feature victory of the year, all on Honeoye Auto Parts night.
The 35-lap DIRT Modified feature would turn into a "crash-fest" hosting nine caution periods and one red flag period. Bobby Varin took the lead from his outside pole starting spot at the drop of starter Tom Burton's green flag. Bryon Turner held onto second followed by Gil Tegg Jr. and Ray Bliss Jr..
One of the worst accidents of the evening came on a lap 11 restart, with Gary Tomkins now leading Varin, Tim Fuller and Billy Decker, when Gil Tegg Jr. flipped his number 22g three times in the third turn causing the race to be red flagged.
Tomkins lead until lap 12 when Billy Decker drove high around the speedway on a restart to take the lead starting in fourth. Decker proceeded to show he was the fastest car on the track, pulling away to a comfortable lead. On lap 22, on a restart Decker saw his right rear tire explode allowing Gary Tomkins to retake the front position.
Bob McCreadie was now in second and set his sights on first place. He raced with Tomkins side-by-side through the turns. McCreadie also setup the situation of passing low in the fourth turn. On lap 33, when Tomkins tried to block the low grove in turns three and four, he became stuck behind the lapped car of Jim Burke, allowing McCreadie free access around the top of the track for the lead. McCreadie cruised across the finish line, followed by Tomkins, Chuck Hebing, Vic Coffey and Billy Decker.
Tomkins demonstrated his temper by slamming into the parked Jim Burke modified in the pit area after the race. He was disqualified by officials and the rest of the field moved up one spot in the finish order.
The sportsman feature also suffered from numerous cautions. Jerry Haers Jr. recorded himself as the leader during the early stages of the race, laps one to ten. Mike Button took over the lead when Haers suffered a flat tire and retired from the race. Vitale, in an effort to better Mark Zona's record of four in a row, was involved in two racing accidents sending him to the rear of the field twice.
Following Button across the finish line were Paul Guererri, Randy Holden, Chris Ridsdale and Todd Preston.
In street stock action, Les Whyte saw his chances of closing in on points leader Tom Barron diminish when he was involved in a first lap tangle. He returned to the race one lap down and drove the wheels off his car, but was unable to gain back his lost lap. Barron took the lead with just three laps remaining in the feature. He took the checkers followed by the Miller brothers, Randy and Rick. Lee Burnett and John Unaman rounded out the top five.
In Entry stock competition Todd Stanton took the lead on alp three from Leroy Lewis and drove home to victory.
This Saturday will the fourth from final show at Canandaigua in the 1998 season. It will be All County Construction night with racing starting at 7 p.m. sharp. gates open at 5 p.m. Canandaigua Speedway is located at the Ontario County fairgrounds just east of the village of Canandaigua, New York.
HONEOYE AUTO PARTS NIGHT SUMMARY
ENTRY STOCKS
FEATURE (10-laps): TODD STANTON, Leroy Lewis, Mike Archer, Dan Weisner, Beatle Peters, Tim Burnell, Car 0, Brad Steinruck.
STREET STOCKS
HEAT 1: L. Whyte, J. Unaman, Ra. Miller, T. Barron, S. Pesarek.
HEAT 2: C. Homan, Ri. Miller, S. Fremouw, J. McGuigan, E. Oldfield.
FEATURE (15-laps): TOM BARRON, Randy Miller, Rick Miller, Lee Burnett, John Unaman, Jim McGuigan, Dave Conant, Betty Fremouw, Jim Burba, Carl Reynolds II, Les Whyte, Chad Homan, Scott Fremouw, Steve Pesarek, Bobby Lutz, Ed Oldfield, Jim Stone.
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: J. Haers Jr., T. Henderson, M. Button, C. Ridsdale, K. Stell, V. Vitale.
HEAT 2: L. Dusett, S. Gray, S. Oplinger, R. Lyons, R. Holden, R. VanNeil.
HONEOYE AUTO DASH FOR CASH: Todd Henderson ($200), Steve Gray ($100), Lance Dusett ($100), Jerry haers Jr. ($100).
FEATURE (20-laps): MIKE BUTTON, Paul Guererri, Randy Holden, Chris Ridsdale, Todd Preston, Vince Vitale, Wade Czymmek, John Pfeffer, Todd Henderson, Steve Oplinger, Bill Hebing, Keith Stell, Steve Gray, Russ Lyons, Jerry Haers Jr., Dave McQuay, Ricky VanNeil, Lance Dusett.
MODIFIED
HEAT 1: T. Fuller, P. Ward, B. Turner, B. McCreadie, G. Tegg Jr., S. Boudinot.
HEAT 2: B. Varin, C. Donk, B. Decker, S. Paine, C. Hebing, D. Ruggles.
HEAT 3: G. Tomkins, V. Coffey, S. Schrader, R. Bliss Jr., J. Ventura, T. Burnett.
FEATURE (35-laps): BOB McCREADIE, Chuck Hebing, Vic Coffey, Billy Decker, Darryl Ruggles, Ray Bliss Jr., Mike Ward, Jim Burke, Stu Shepherd, Steve Lead, John Ventura, Bobby Varin, Scott Schrader, Scott Boudinot, Max Phillips Jr., Tim Fuller, Charlie Donk, Bryon Turner, Gil Tegg Jr., Pat Ward, Steve Paine, Tim Burnett, Steve Schultz. disq.-Gary Tomkins.