It’s Six Wins At Canandaigua For Matt Sheppard

Story By: PAUL SZMAL / CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Canandaigua Motorsports Park returned to action after a week off for the Ontario County Fair with the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints making their third appearance of the season at the ‘Land Of Legends’.

The 25-lap Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint ‘A’ Main started with Bryan Howland jumping out to a big lead, pulling a full straightaway by lap 5. Danny Varin battled for the second spot with Jordan Poirier as Steve Poirier also moved into the top five from his 10th starting spot. Paulie Colagiovanni made some fantastic moves in the early stages to make his way toward the front, then jumped from fourth to second. Howland maintained the lead on restarts, but the battle for the rest of the top five spots was a war as Chuck Hebing traded slide jobs with Colagiovanni as Varin stuck to the bottom lane of the track.

Coleman Gulick also got into the mix as spots two through six changed virtually every lap through the final half of the race. Howland was not to be denied, taking the win, while Colagiovanni made a last lap move to get past Varin for second, with Gulick and Hebing rounding out the top five.

Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint heats were won by Steve Poirier, Jason Barney, and Coleman Gulick. Sammy Reakes IV won the Dash event and Tommy Wickham won the B-Main.

Mike O’Brien was the early leader in the 35-lap Modified feature as Steve Paine battled Gil Tegg for second, with Alan Johnson getting through the pack behind Matt Sheppard. By lap 10, Sheppard had moved up to the second spot and made the move on O’Brien on the outside of turn two to snag the lead. Justin Haers and Alan Johnson spent several laps trading third spot behind Paine while Erick Rudolph and Gary Tomkins raced hard behind them. Sheppard built up a solid lead and handled traffic in the closing laps to grab his sixth win of the year. Paine was uncontested for second, with Haers finally able to shake Johnson for third in the final laps. Rudolph was also able to get the best of Tomkins in the final five circuits to come away fifth.

Modified heats were won by Mike O’Brien and Steve Paine.

Tim Baker led the first 9 laps of the 25-lap Sportsman feature as Nick Guererri and Ricky Newton battled for second. Guererri took the lead from Baker as they completed lap 10 as Kevin Ridley battled Newton and Baker for position. Matt Guererri also got into the battle until the first caution flew on lap 12. Ridley moved to second after the restart, then used the outside lane to get past Guererri for the lead. Newton battled with the two Guererri cars for second and third as Kane Bristol used the outside to get past Paul Guererri to crack the top five. Dave Marcuccilli was working hard to get past Baker and Austyn Fugle, going three wide several times, finally making the move with a few laps to go, but the point leader could not make it into the top five by the checkers. Ridley pulled away in the final laps of the event to take his second Sportsman feature of the year.

Sportsman heats were won by Ricky Newton and Kevin Ridley.

Rick Crego grabbed the early lead in the 15-lap Street Stock feature, which started badly for point leader Adam Depuy as he had a flat tire and had to hit the pit area to change it and start in the rear. Bob Buono grabbed the lead on the restart as Dalton Martin moved into fourth and Depuy tore through the field to get to fifth on a lap 4 restart. Depuy continued to move forward, getting up to second on lap 8, and eventually caught Buono with two to go. Buono was able to hold off Depuy for the win with Crego third, followed by Dalton Martin and Parker Smith.

Street Stock heats were won by Rick Crego and Adam Depuy.

Racing continues at Canandaigua Motorsports Park with the makeup Modified feature from July 22nd plus a regular show for Modifieds, Sportsman, 305 Sprints, and Street Stocks, with the rescheduled Youth Demo Derby capping off the night’s activities. For details, visit www.canandaiguamotorsportspark.com.

RACE SUMMARY-CANANDAIGUA MOTORSPORTS PARK-AUGUST 5, 2017

LUCAS OIL EMPIRE SUPER SPRINT ‘A’ MAIN-BRYAN HOWLAND, Paulie Colagiovanni, Danny Varin, Coleman Gulic, Chuck Hebing, Steve Poirier, Matt Tanner, Johnathan Preston, Jason Barney, Jordan Poirier, Sammy Reakes IV, Matt Billings, Jeff Cook, Joe Tranca, Dylan Swernik, Alex Vigneault, Paul Kinney, Brett Wright, James Hanson, Erik Karlsen, Tommy Wickham, Chad Miller, Darryl Ruggles, Steve Doell.

MODIFIED FEATURE-MATT SHEPPARD, Steve Paine, Justin Haers, Alan Johnson, Erick Rudolph, Gary Tomkins, Justin Wright, Mike O’Brien, Gil Tegg, Eldon Payne, Kyle Coffey, Lance Dusett, James Sweeting, Derrick Podsiadlo, Kaitlyn Pushina, Rick Richner, Greg Birosh, Dave Allen, James Maier.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE-KEVIN RIDLEY, Ricky Newton, Nick Guererri, Matt Guererri, Kane Bristol, Paul Guererri, Dave Marcuccilli, Karl Comfort, Austyn Fugle, Jeff Davoli, Anthony Kimble, Tim Baker, Troy Sparring, Brett Buono, Ben Karlsen, Joe Cook, Doug Rohr, TJ Sparring, Brian Michaels.

STREET STOCK FEATURE-BOB BUONO, Adam Depuy, Rick Crego, Dalton Martin, Parker Smith, Brad Steinruck, Steve Pesarek, Nick Dandino, Dakota Sharp, Ed Rohr, Mike Welch, George LaVare (DNS).