RPW Column: The Land Of Legends Raceway Is Prepared To Be Hungover This Friday

Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – CANANDAIGUA, NY – If you want to start your year right by watching a fun dirt race that is likely going to feature some bumping and banging, you may want to tune into the “Hangover Gets a Double Shot” Friday afternoon.

New Year’s Day marks the beginning of the 2021 season for Land of Legends Raceway, hosting the 18th edition of “The Hangover” enduro race.

This will be the first time the track “where legends are made” will host the local New Year tradition. Last year’s race was held at Utica-Rome Speedway, and 16 prior editions took place at Ransomville Speedway.

This year marks a new format as the traditional 100-lap race will be divided into twin 50-lap races; hence the 2021 event title known as “Hangover Gets a Double Shot.” In recent years, 4-Cylinder and 6-Cylinder cars combined into one race, but this year the race will be divided into two. When the race got announced, Race Pro Weekly spoke with Hangover promoter Tana Robinson on what led to doing the twin 50s.

“At Ransomville, we were running separate events for each class based on car counts. Last year, we really weren’t sure what to expect with one 100 lap race. Attrition showed us 100 was too many on a larger track such as that,” said Robinson. “With Land of Legends Raceway being large and the car count we expect, we feel it best to run two 50s, one for each division.”

And that was a good idea because the pits will be jam-packed. As of Wednesday, 174 entries have pre-registered for the event. 114 cars for the 4-Cylinder race, and 61 for the 6-Cylinder race.

If you’ve been keeping score at home for car counts this year, DIRTCar OktoberFAST, which was known for massive car counts all week, had 104 entries at Land of Legends. Just imagine how packed the pits will be Friday.

Notable racers entering the 4-Cylinder class include the father-daughter combo from the 305 Sprint class, Darryl Ruggles and Alysha Bay. A preview of Bay’s car was posted on Land of Legends’ social media platform Wednesday afternoon of a 4-door sedan plastered in paint with a mini-305 sprint wing and teddy bear. Brothers Austin and Cole Susice out of the Ransomville area will also be taking part. Jimmy Grant, who finished runner-up in the Street Stock standings at Land of Legends, will be starting mid-pack. The Haers family, Jared, Jerry, and Super DIRTCar Series driver Justin have called Canandaigua home for years. Sportsman driver Nick Guererri will also be taking the green flag. Finally, defending Hobby Stock champion Tyler Burnell makes up a list of the notable names taking part in the 4-Cyl race.

In the 6-Cylinder race, the lineup includes Genesee Speedway regular Brandon Shepard, Jimmy Grant, and Austin Susice pulling double duty and Street Stock racers Rick Crego and Adam DePuy making up a 61-car field.

Each race will pay $500 to win.

Last year’s race was won by Chris Mackey, who won spectacularly by rebounding from multiple laps down, which shows anything can happen in this enduro race.

RaceDay weather is expected to be cold and cloudy, reaching the mid 30s and a possible chance at a mixture of rain and snow.

While no fans are allowed in the grandstands, a free broadcast will be available starting at noon Friday on Land of Legends TV.

Trust me, you are not going to want to miss this.