Sheppard, Marcuccilli Visit Canandaigua Victory Lane

Story By: PAUL SZMAL / CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK – CANANDAIGUA, NY – After two weekends of less than ideal weather, Mother Nature greeted fans at Canandaigua Motorsports Park with a crisp, clear evening for Saturday’s racing program, presented by Sherwin Williams.

The 35-lap Modified feature started with a battle between Steve Paine and Alan Johnson for the lead, with Erick Rudolph and Justin Haers racing for third behind them. Haers was able to move forward and took the lead by the lap 10 mark as Matt Sheppard entered the top five. In the middle stage of the race, Sheppard started picking off competitors and was in third when a lap 20 yellow bunched the field. Sheppard was able to move past Rudolph for second, then two laps later, he made the winning pass on Haers to cruise to the checkered flag for his first CMP win of the season.
Haers settled for second, followed by Rudolph, Paine, and Johnson, who swapped the fifth spot with Justin Wright several times over the final laps of the event.

Modified heats were won by Alan Johnson and Steve Paine.

Dave Marcuccilli and Kevin Ridley brought the field to the green at the start of the 25-lap Sportsman feature, with Marcuccilli stretching out a lead while Rick Newton battled with Matt Guererri and Paul Guererri furiously. The feature went the entire distance without a caution, which allowed Marcuccilli to extend his lead, though he did have to deal with lapped traffic in the race’s second half. At the checkers, Marcuccilli had his first CMP Sportsman win of the year and became the third different feature winner in the division. Newton held off Paul and Matt Guererri in the battle for second, with Kevin Ridley taking the fifth spot.

Sportsman heats were won by David Marcuccilli and Kevin Ridley.

The 15 lap Street Stock feature was a great one, with a four car battle up front between CJ Guererri, Adam Depuy, and Marc Minutolo. Bob Buono caught the lead group and the four battled back and forth until the yellow flew just one lap from the finish. In the one lap dash to the checkers, Buono moved to second and was within a car length of Depuy as they crossed the line. Guererri , Minutolo, and Brad Steinruck rounded out the top five.

Street Stock heats were won by CJ Guererri and Adam Depuy.

In the 305 Sprint Car feature event, Jason Whipple pulled away from Dan Craun and took the win, with Erik Karlsen grabbing third.
Jason Whipple won the 305 Sprint car heat.

The New Legends Sportsman main event was a great race with Chris Mangiarelli and Brandon Michaud fighting for the lead right to the finish, with Ben Karlson hot on their heels. Mangiarelli got the top spot over Michaud, with Karlsen right behind them at the finish. Ken Washburn and Cameron Tittle completed the top five.

Chris Mangiaelli won the New Legends Sportsman heat.

Mike Schroeder outlasted 20 other competitors to win the 4/6 cylinder Demo Derby.

Next Saturday night, Canandaigua Motorsports Park hosts the first “Sprintacular” of the season with a visit from the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints, along with a full program of Modifieds, Sportsman, 305 Sprints, Street Stocks, and New Legends Sportsman. Race time is 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.canandaiguamotorsportspark.com .

RACE SUMMARY-SHERWIN WILLIAMS NIGHT-CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK-MAY 20, 2017

MODIFIED FEATURE-MATT SHEPPARD, Justin Haers, Erick Rudolph, Steve Paine, Alan Johnson, Justin Wright, Gil Tegg Jr, Mike O’Brien, Eldon Payne, Kyle Coffey, James Sweeting, Rich Rickner, James Meier, Rich Vinson, Dave Rauscher, Kaitlyn Pashina, Lance Dusett, Derrick Podsiadlo, Dave Allen, Tommy Keyes.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE-DAVE MARCUCCILLI, Rick Newton, Paul Guererri, Matt Guererri, Kevin Ridley, Nick Guererri, Kane Bristol, Austyn Fugle, Tim Baker, Karl Comfort, Anthony Kimble, Nate Peckham, Jeff Davoli, Doug Smith, Doug Rohr.

305 SPRINT FEATURE-JASON WHIPPLE, Dan Craun, Erick Karlsen.

STREET STOCK FEATURE-ADAM DEPUY, Bob Buono, CJ Guererri, Marc Minutolo, Brad Steinruck, Nick Dandino, Shawl Lloyd, Brian Michaels, Jason Doty, Mike Welch, Dakota Sharp, George LaVere, Steve Pesarek (DNS), Blaine Smith (DNS).

NEW LEGENDS FEATURE-CHRIS MANGIARELLI, Brandon Michaud, Ben Karlson, Ken Washburn, Cameron Tittle, Orville Harris, Brian Harris, Adam Harris.
4/6 CYL DEMO DERBY-MIKE SCHROEDER