Four of six features run off caution-free as superb track conditions greet nearly 100 racers
Canandaigua, NY – May 11, 2013 – Tom Skibinski, Canandaigua Motorsports Park PR (585-350-8997)
 Two-time defending points champion Matt Sheppard from Waterloo, NY returned to winning form Saturday night at Canandaigua Motorsports Park, charging from 18th to grab the lead from Danny Johnson with just four laps left and capture the thrilling Team Tiremasters Big-Block Modified victory.
Dave Marcuccilli (SafetyAwareness Solutions Sportsman), Nick Cooper (Castner Performance 305 Sprint), Derek Excell (Pure Stock) and Andrew Jacobson (Community Car Care of Waterloo New Legends Sportsman) each triumphed in their caution-free features while Mike Welch remained undefeated following his fourth straight Parts Plus Street Stock win on Champion Power Equipment 'Mothers of Racing' Night at the popular Ontario County Fairgrounds oval.
Sheppard emerged as the first repeat Big-Block winner after four events, at the same time keeping Johnson winless with a bold maneuver that sent sparks flying in a late-race pass under the starter's stand in front of the grandstand crowd.
“I knew it was going to be interesting at the end,” smiled Sheppard, 30, with sights set clearly on a fourth track title in the past five years at CMP for car owner Jeff Brownell and the no. 9s F.X. Caprara Car Co.-Xtreme Lubricants/Bicknell Team. “But with just a couple laps left sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get (victory lane).”
“Danny and I were side-by-side going into turn three and there were two lapped cars running side-by-side right in front of us. So we were both kind of trapped there. As far as I knew Danny was still behind the lapped car in three and I couldn't see the lapped car coming out of four so I started easing around the #19 (Justin Wright). Then I felt (Danny) there on my right-rear quarter-panel at the same time,” Sheppard explained.
Johnson settled for second ahead of Justin Haers, Australian Peter Britten, Gary Tomkins and Jimmy Phelps, with this year's only other feature winners Alan Johnson and Billy Dunn next in line after 35 laps.
Starting 13th in the 25-car feature field, Johnson needed just nine times around the ultra-fast half-miler to bolt past early leader Mike O'Brien. A pair of yellow flags for the slowing mounts of Dave Rauscher and Marcus Dinkins on lap 12 brought Johnson back to the field and at the halfway mark Sheppard had cracked the front-five.
'Super Matt' disposed of third-place runner Tomkins on lap 22 and overtook Haers for the runner-up spot two lap later. The two leaders pulled away from the pack before Sheppard reeled in Johnson with five to go and finally ducked under DJ for the final exchange as the lapped counter clicked off 32 and their sheet metal met.
“This car has been really good here the last three weeks,” noted Sheppard, after logging his 29th career Big-Block win in wine country; five came last season. “It was really awesome tonight and so was the track. You know it was racy anytime you can start 18th and get to the front. You know you had a good car and a good race track.”
Similar to Sheppard's magnificent march to the front, Marcuccilli needed nearly the entire distance to claim victory in the 25-lap Sportsman nightcap. Falling into 15th on the 25-car starting grid, the Cayuga, NY chauffeur reached fifth-place by lap 13 and methodically picked off the front-runners in convincing fashion aboard his potent no. m1 Mike Laird Construction-Stormin/Bicknell mount .
 With a handful of laps to go, Marcuccilli swept past both race-long leader Jeff Davoli and Matt Guererri, while points leader Kevin Ridley closed to within three car-lengths at the stripe. Guererri, Canadian traveler A.J. Lewis and Greg Cool filled out the final top-five.
“Kevin and I had a real good race going, figured whoever got to the front first tonight was probably going to win it,” remarked Marcuccilli, who already matched last season's win total after copping Canandaigua's 2013 opener on April 5. “I got ahead there and was able to stay in front of him.”
“It was awesome behind the wheel tonight, we finally got the car figured out after struggling for a couple weeks. Its still not easy getting to the front at this place, always a lot of good cars in front of us --- usually most of the field. I expected maybe a top-5 tonight but not a win going green to checkers. 25 laps without a caution was pretty cool,” Marcuccilli added.
Legends Sportsman grad Davoli jumped out from his outside pole-position start and held a seemingly comfortable advantage most of the way. Yet the final 10 laps when it counted most it was the open-wheel veterans showing the way as Marcuccilli moved ahead for good on lap 20 and 18th-place starter Ridley followed in his tire tracks the next circuit.
The 20-lap Sprint Car A-Main needed every circuit to determine a winner as second-generation standout Cooper from Stanley and first-year wingman Todd Henderson staged a fierce battle right down to the checkered flag.
 “This was the best race I've had by far in my career,” beamed Cooper in victory lane. The son of full-fender favorite Mike Cooper, Nick broke into the winner's circle for the first time last September in what turned out to be Canandaigua's season-finale.
“Todd Henderson and all these guys, just to win with them is a blessing in itself. And to win against this type of competition is really incredible,” Cooper stated.
Making just his second start in the opening four events, pole-sitter Dan Kuhn appeared in control much of the way until Cooper and Henderson slid in to join the fray up front. Buckled in behind the wheel of his potent no. 35 Schwartz Excavating-Honeoye Auto Parts/Eagle, Cooper wrestled the lead away on lap 15 before Henderson nabbed the top spot two laps later.
Looking for his fourth win a row, division rookie Charlie Donk drop-kicked Kuhn to fourth as he made it a three-car contest in the closing laps. With chief starter Scott Hixson's white flag in hand, Cooper dove under Henderson exiting turn four and a half-mile later forged a narrow two car-length victory while Donk crossed the line third. Kuhn and local pilot Darryl Ruggles rounded out the top-five.
A perfect six for six (3 feature wins, 3 heat wins) and leading every lap en route to his three main event victories, Lyons' Welch was suddenly set back by a blown power steering hose in his qualifier. But that only delayed the inevitable as Canandaigua's all-time stock car feature winner moved from 10th to first in 11 laps and cruised home for his 53rd career checkered flag at the Routes 5&20 speedplant.
“It was tough getting through traffic tonight, wasn't sure if I was going to catch Blane (Smith) but the car was strong,” said Welch, the record eight-time Canandaigua points champion in Street Stock racing. “Did a little trick move from the top to bottom to get past him coming out of turn four and fortunately it worked.”
Everything seemed to be working for row two starter Smith as he moved from third to first at the drop of the green and never flinched. Two brief slowdowns for the parked machines of Charles Harvey (lap 6) and Dave Rogers (lap 9) kept the field bunched long enough to give Welch his chance.
Welch put his 00 Investor Services-Mark's Garage-Parts Plus Chevrolet Impala ride past CJ Guererri on the lap 10 restart then moved below Smith as the lead duo completed lap 11 in the headline 15-lapper. Despite Jack Terrell and Guererri locking bumpers with one to go, Welch would not be denied his fourth win of 2013 ahead of Smith, Jake Karlnoski, Bill Weller and Steve Austin.
“Hats off to Jeremie (Corcoran, CMP Promoter), he has an awesome track here,” Welch said. “You can go anywhere you want around this place. And victory lane is a good place to be at the end of the night.”
The 15-lap Pure Stock feature finished the same way the previous two did. However, on this occasion, winner Excell got to keep all his earnings after another dominant performance in the no. 18xl Stymie Cat Trucking-Collins Shoeing-Peters Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
“Some numbers were ground off (engine) last week but it had nothing to do with horsepower,” noted Excell, who prior to this season last parked in Canandaigua's winner's circle after a rookie Street Stock win in June of 1987. “I apologized, we got things fixed this week and everything went good for us. The car was on a rail tonight, it was like driving a Cadillac around here.”
Starting seventh out of 12 entries, Excell pulled into third after three circuits and took over the point from Nick Dandino the lap after. Without a caution period to slow the event, the Waterloo, NY warrior opened up more than a straightaway margin en route to victory ahead of Wayne Ellison, Roger Bush, Mike Minutolo Sr. and points leader Eric Chapman.
Putting an exclamation point on his career in the Legends Sportsman ranks, Rochester's Jacobson led flag-to-flag to score his second victory of the season and win by nearly a full straightaway in the 10-lap finale.
“Been looking forward to this day for a long time when I can finally move up and join the big dogs, its pretty exciting,” remarked Jacobson, who also claimed a pair of checkered flags last summer aboard his Grassman Landscaping-Gorham Market-Blowers Agri Service/TEO mount, this year numbered 61. “We're going to move up to the Sportsman in two weeks after taking next week off.”
“This class is great as it gave me a lot of laps and lots of track time. The car count is a little less so if you get out of shape is isn't too costly. We wanted to try out some different things today with tires and some other stuff. They obviously worked out well, can't wait to come back in a couple weeks,” Jacobson added.
Jason Scales crossed the line second chased by opening night winner Jordan Siri, Ray Hendershot, Kenny Washburn and Bruce Batzel.
Canandaigua Motorsports Park returns to action on Saturday, May 18, with a solid six-star show featuring the Team Tiremasters Big-Block Modified, Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman, Castner Performance 305 Sprint Car, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock and Community Car Care of Waterloo New Legends Sportsman racing plus slam bang $1,000-to-win Demolition Derby. Qualifying begins at 7pm.
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Sheppard Sizzles For 2nd Win of Season In Fast-Paced Canandaigua Card
