Sheppard & Marcuccilli Repeat At Canandaigua

Story By: PAUL SZMAL / CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Matt Sheppard and Dave Marcuccilli became repeat winners Saturday night as Canandaigua Motorsports Park hosted a night of racing action presented by American Equipment LLC.

In the 35-lap Modified feature, Dave Rauscher and James Maier started on the front row, with the two trading the lead over the opening laps. Further back in the top ten, the battle was intense as Justin Haers, Alan Johnson, Steve Paine, and Matt Sheppard came from their mid-pack starting spots toward the top five. Maier assumed the lead and pulled out to an advantage as James Sweeting and Rauscher battled for position. Haers was the first driver to break free from the pack to move into the top five, making a great move in turns three and four to grab third from Erick Rudolph just past halfway. He tracked down leader Maier and made the pass for the lead as Sheppard worked his way to second place. By lap 20, Sheppard had run down Haers and after a battle for the top spot, Sheppard took over the point and pulled away. As Sheppard encountered lapped traffic, Alan Johnson was also moving forward, eventually getting into the third spot with less than 10 laps left. Sheppard handled traffic and cruised to the win in the non-stop feature event with Haers taking second. Johnson was third across the line, followed by Steve Paine and Erick Rudolph.

Modified heats were won by Justin Wright and Matt Sheppard.

The 25-lap Sportsman feature event saw Karl Comfort grab the early advantage with Kane Bristol and Tim Baker fighting for second place. Baker found the outside groove to his liking and used it to power past Bristol and Comfort and take the lead. Comfort started to fade back, allowing Dave Marcuccilli and Ricky Newton to move forward. Newton also used the outside groove and after battling Bristol for several laps caught up to leader Baker. Marcuccilli got by Bristol for third and soon caught up to the lead group. The key moment of the race happened when Newton and Baker had slight contact coming into turn four, pushing them high as Marcuccilli slid under them to take the lead. As Marcuccilli pulled away up front, Paul Guererri was working his way through the top five, and as the white flag waved, he slipped past Newton for second place. At the finish, Marcuccilli had his third win of the season over Guererri, Newton, Bristol, and Matt Guererri.

Sportsman heats were won by Bristol and Austyn Fugle.

The 305 Sprint car feature began with Jason Whipple jetting into the lead over Tim Smith as Lee Sanders moved into third spot. Sanders grabbed second a couple of laps into the feature and worked the bottom groove as Whipple stayed on the high side. Sanders was able to make the move to take the lead, but a quick spin by Smith bunched the field for a restart. When the race resumed, Sanders pulled away for his second 305 Sprint win of the season over Whipple, Smith, Dan Craun, and Bobby Gardner.

Whipple won the lone 305 Sprint car heat race.

CJ Guererri took off from the front row in the Street Stock 15-lap feature event and built up an early advantage as two-time winner Adam Depuy battled with Mark Minutolo and Bob Buono for position.
Guererri held a solid lead while the battle behind him continued through most of the race, with Minutolo finally getting the better of Depuy for second spot. A caution for Parker Smith’s blown engine set up a restart, but only one lap was completed before another yellow flag flew. Over the final three laps, Minutolo closed in on Guererri, and the two battled to the finish…but officials deemed that contact between the two would give Guererri the win and move Minutolo back to second. Depuy, Buono, and Mike Welch rounded out the top five.
Street Stock heats were won by Minutolo and Depuy.

The 15-lap New Legends Sportsman feature saw Brandon Michaud take the early lead, but Cameron Tuttle was able to find a groove that worked after battling with Ben Karlson to slip into the top spot.
He cruised to his second straight win in the division, with Muchaud, Karlson, Jeff Lawrence, and Brett Baldin rounding out the top five.
Michaud won the New Legends Sportsman heat race.

Next Saturday night, Fox’s Auto and DC Rauscher present a regular race program of Modifieds, Sportsman, 305 Sprints, Street Stocks, and New Legends. Race time is 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.canandaiguamotorsportspark.com

RACE SUMMARY-AMERICAN EQUIPMENT LLC NIGHT-CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK-JUNE 3, 2017

MODIFIED FEATURE-MATT SHEPPARD, Justin Haers, Alan Johnson, Steve Paine, Erick Rudolph, Justin Wright, James Maier, Gil Tegg Jr, Gary Tomkins, James Sweeting, Derrick Podsiadlo, Dave Rauscher, Kyle Coffey, Eldon Payne, Dave Allen, Rick Richner, Lance Dussett, Tommy Keyes.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE-DAVE MARCUCCILLI, Paul Guererri, Ricky Newton, Kane Bristol, Matt Guererri, Kevin Ridley, Tim Baker, Nick Guererri, Karl Comfort, Austyn Fugle, Anthony Kimble, Doug Smith, Eric Giguere (DNS).

305 SPRINT FEATURE-LEE SANDERS, Jason Whipple, Tim Smith, Dan Craun, Bobby Gardner.

STREET STOCK FEATURE-CJ GUERERRI, Marc Minutolo, Adam Depuy, Bob Buono, Mike Welch, Brad Steinruck, Roger Bush, Bryan Faulkner, George LaVare, Nick Dandino, Parker Smith, Brian Michaels, Shawn Lloyd.

NEW LEGENDS SPORTSMAN FEATURE-CAMERON TUTTLE, Brandon Michaud, Ben Karlson, Jeff Lawrence, Brett Baldwin, Harold Johnson (DNS).