2012 CMP News & Announcements

Connect with CMP

Capacity Crowd Witnesses 4th Career CMP Triumphs for Phelps & Yonge

NASCAR Cup stars Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney & J.J. Yeley help fill 'Land of Legends' field

Canandaigua, NY – August 11, 2012 – Cup Weekend at The Glen helped lure asphalt stars Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley to Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday, yet when the dirt finally settled it was Jimmy Phelps and Lance Yonge taking checkered flags in front of the capacity crowd that packed the Ontario County Fairgrounds to the rafters.

A two-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series winner at CMP, Blaney finished 11th in the Original Pizza Logs Big-Block finale some 17-seconds behind Phelps while former fairgrounds Modified driver Yonge captured the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint A-Main ahead of fourth-place Stewart. Yeley settled for 19th one lap down to the leaders in the sprint car feature.

Cobra Motorhomes/Wilkins RV and North Eastern Pool & Spa presented the big six card that attracted 127 cars, with divisional point leaders Dan Wiesner (Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman Modified), Russ Marsden (Parts Plus Street Stock) and Vance Vanderwall (Pure Stock) extending their advantages while Jeff Davoli scored his second New Legends Sportsman victory of the 2012 campaign.

“These guys have their A-Game and knows these tracks real well, and that's what I like, going up against the best at every track we visit,” remarked reigning NASCAR Cup points king Stewart, who won a qualifying heat last summer at Canandaigua before rain washed out the main event that the Columbus, Ind. Superstar was unable to return for. “But now we've got some good notes and we'll be back to give 'em another run next year. We got a lot more racey as we went on tonight and it was a great run with Chuck (Hebing) so we're pleased how things turned out.”

With Stewart filing in fifth on the 24-car grid to being the 25-lap ESS main, Sammy Reakes IV jumped out quickly from his pole-position start. An opening lap melee forced a complete restart when Cory Sparks looped exiting turn one and Glenn Styres rolled before Keith Dempster ended upside down atop the Styres mount.

Reakes returned to the point back under green but could not hold back hard-charging Yonge and gave way to the red no. 17J Johnson Farms/Maxim on lap nine. Starting outside row two alongside Yonge, ESS points leader Justin Barger blasted high out of turn four to overtake the the popular Penn Yan pilot before traffic forced Barger over the cushion high in turn and afford Yonge a lead he would never relinquish.

“Lapped cars kind of got in Justin's way,” Yonge figured. “I was good on the bottom and wasn't about to set sail on the top side, its just a long ways around up there. Everything just fell our way tonight in traffic. We had some good draws too, which always helps when you can start toward the front. We ran here a lot of years with the Modified, never had a win, so being able to win here in a sprint car is certainly special.”

A disappointed Barger crossed the line second while Hebing nipped Stewart for third exiting the fourth and final turn in front of Frenchman Steve Poirier from Quebec. “Traffic cost us the win tonight,” lamented Barger, who won the ESS A-Main at Canandaigua in 2006 before falling just short in the group's 23rd trip to the 'Land of Legends.'

Traffic was never a factor for Phelps as his no. 99J J&B Installations-Industrial Tire/Troyer was up to the task once out front on lap 13 of the 35-lap Big-Modified main.

“Just had an awesome car tonight, probably the best one we've had here this year considering the track conditions,” remarked Phelps, who's third win of the season came after starting 16th on the 27-car grid. His first CMP triumph came in the 358-Modified tour show staged at the fairgrounds in 2008. “The traffic got a little hairy but the track was gorgeous. Jeremie (Corcoran, CMP promoter) did a helluva job with all the racing going on tonight.”

The feature lasted only one lap for brothers Alan and Danny Johnson as contact between Chad Homan and Steve Paine on the initial circuit caused a pile-up on the front straightaway that forced out a rare red flag. Back under green Daryl Hilkert did his best to hold back Derrick Podsiadlo, yet couldn't turn back high-flying Vince Vitale who bolted from third to first on lap eight. Phelps was even quicker, cracking the Top-5 with 10 laps complete before wrestling the lead from Vitale on a lap 13 restart.

Points leader Matt Sheppard moved into second the next lap yet could not find enough room in and around traffic to pose a serious threat to Phelps, falling a dozen car-lengths shy in his bid. Peter Britten, Gary Tomkins and Justin Haers rounded out the front-five.

“Been good here, been bad here,” Phelps added. 'With the sprint cars here I knew (track) was going to be slippery so we put our heads together and the car was really good. Saw Matt was in second so I had to just keep digging the whole race. It was great to finally get a win with my wife here, that makes it that much more special.”

Wiesner was just as dominant as Phelps, charging from 13th to first in just eight laps to leave rookie Daryl Nutting in his dust and roll on for his fourth Sportsman win of the season.

'Had a couple bad nights the last few weeks but we've stayed positive,” Wiesner said. “Coming from the back is always tough racing against guys like we do every week. Everybody seems to be on their A-Game. Yes, we're watching points but we try to stay focused on getting this car back to where it was at the beginning of the season when we won back-to-back. Staying consistent is always our goal.”

Steve Gray moved into the runner-up slot at the halfway mark yet could his late-race rally fell a car-length shy at the stripe.

Marsden's win was just as special as it amounted to his track-high 11th of the 2012 season in the full-fender Street Stock ranks.

“I just paced myself. I've raced so much I've learned to be patient,” Marsden said. We've had a little brake issue lately and finally got that figured out so other than that it's been one of my best season's so far.”

Defending points champion Mike Welch actually snatched away the lead with two to go yet Marsden stayed true to his low line and regained the point on the final lap to garner the thrilling victory. Nate Peckham, Steve Pesarek and Doug Jones completed the Top-5 at the wire.

Vanderwall needed eight times around the ultra-smooth half-miler to overtake Derek Excell for the top spot and cruise on for his seventh Pure Stock win of the year.

“You always have to step up your game when the Ransomville (Speedway) cars come to town,” said Vanderwall, after besting a season-high total of 18 entries in the 12-lap finale. “Its nice to see them guys come and get the car count back up there. We made some changes this week and scaled the car last night. Did a lot of work and it really paid off after a long week.”

Davoli was the final repeat winner of the night, leading all 20-laps in the caution-free feature that took just over seven minutes to run.

“Sometimes you just know when you got it, and when I came here and drew #1 I knew it was going to be a good night,” noted Davoli, makes the weekly haul to wine country from his home in Watertown. “The car was good down low, ran it as close as I could get to the walls. It was pretty slick but overall the car was good, the track was nice and smooth, and we had a really good run.”

Chasing Davoli to the line two-thirds of a straightaway behind was Billy Brown, followed by Anthony Kimble, Brandon Rauscher and Jon Ellsworth.

Action returns to Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday, Aug. 18 when Honeoye Auto Parts presents a big six show of Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified, Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock, New Legends Sportsman and Castner Performance 305 Sprint Car racing along with the final Pit Stop Challenge. Pit gates unlock Saturday at 4pm, grandstands open at 5pm and the first qualifying heat goes green at 7pm.

Our Sponsors