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2012 CMP News & Announcements |
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 Canandaigua, NY – July 7, 2012 – Stu and Matt Sheppard turned victory lane into a family affair on Saturday as the Waterloo racers became the first father/son duo to win features on the same night in 60 years of competition at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
Defending track champion Matt extended his points lead after scoring a division-high tying fifth Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified win while Stu closed out the open-wheel action with his first Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman victory in 25 years at the Ontario County Fairgrounds.
The curtain came down on Syracuse Nationals Night at the 'Legends of Legends' with Russ Marsden (Parts Plus Street Stock) and Daryl Nutting (New Legends Sportsman) posting their second successive wins, Dave Ferguson (Castner Performance 305 Sprint) making it three straight and Marc Minutolo (Pure Stock) winning for the fifth time in 2012.
 Its not unusual nowadays for the name Sheppard to echo over the loud speaker during victory lane ceremonies. Yet hearing it twice on the same night marked an extraordinary occasion as no family had ever taken home two trophies after one show since the Canandaigua gates first swung open in 1953.
“Always said I didn't want to get back into racing, just too much work,” beamed Stu, 53, who last won at CMP in August of 1987, ending Canandaigua's inaugural Sportsman season with a total of eight wins and settling for second-place in the final point standings. “But this makes it fun right here. Its pretty cool Matt winning on the same night, too.”
The customary handicapped start paired Sheppard outside front row and the seasoned veteran out-dragged pole-sitter Loren Lincoln to lead off the 25-lap Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman finale. 2008 CMP points champ Kevin Ridley made his presence known early, charging from 10th to crack the Top-5 with just a handful of laps complete.
Chasing Sheppard throughout, Frank 'Bubba' Burnell Jr. was on the brink of registering his best finish of the season, holding onto second ahead of Greg Cool, Ridley and current points leader Dan Wiesner with 15 laps scored. But Ridley was not done, grabbing third from Cool on lap 17 and plowing under Burnell for the runner-up slot on lap 20 as they traded paint down the back chute and into turn three..
After reeling in Sheppard during the closing stages, a last-lap surge underneath the no. 48B Magee Transportation Services-Monadnock Disposal/Bicknell mount forced Ridley off the pace between turns three and four. Cool took advantage and swept around Ridley exiting turn four, allowing Sheppard to escape with a thrilling victory in the caution-free feature.
Wiesner edged Burnell at the end to complete the front-five, with Todd Henderson only able to complete one lap in the borrowed Billy Brown ride following a heat race crash to fall 43 points behind Wiesner in the points race.
“Never saw anybody the whole race, I was just trying to hit my marks,” noted Sheppard, following his first Top-5 finish ---just his third Top-10--- of the season after leading 15 laps in his previous 10 starts. “Saw the laps dwindling and I said 'what am I going to do wrong?' Never thought this would happen.”
“Have to thank Dave and Kelly (Rauscher, owners) for letting me drive. We built this car for Dave's son Brandon last year but it was just sitting in the barn this spring and he wasn't doing anything with it. I told Dave lets get it out and put a 'For Sale' sign on it and let me drive it one night. I've been in it ever since,” Sheppard smiled.
When Stu garnered his first feature win at Canandaigua in 1987 at age 28, Matt was just four years old and weekend trips to the fairgrounds have become a rite of spring ever since. Now 29, 'Super Matt' has already registered 27 career Big-Block victories and is on pace to collect a third season championship at the hallowed half-miler.
“At the end I was just yelling for (Stu) to stay low and don't give up his line,” said Matt, who owns 10 more feature wins in the Sportsman ranks at Canandaigua and now holds a 36-point lead over five-time winner Danny Johnson (finished 7th) in his quest for the coveted title. “Its been a long time, really neat to see him win again.”
While the Sportsman feature ran off straight through under green flag conditions in nine minutes, the yellow lights flashed only once to slow Matt's march to the front in the 35-lap Big-Block Modified main. Colton Chappius slid high between turns one and two to force out the lone caution on lap five, with Sheppard already gaining ground quickly from his initial 11th-place perch.
Race-long leader Ron Cartwright Jr. battled early with frontrunners Tyler Siri and Daryl Hilkert, while Australian Peter Britten and Justin Wright dueled among the front-five. Sheppard shot past Chad Homan to reach fifth on lap nine and the following circuit Britten forged the first lead change as he dove under Cartwright exiting turn four.
The momentum continued to build for Sheppard as he put the potent JB Motorsports no. 9s FX Caprara Car Co.-Xtreme Lubricants/Bicknell ride into third on lap 12, and once in second he set his sights clearly on Britten with 20 laps still to go. Mission complete on lap 19 as Sheppard sped past 'Batman' high out of the fourth corner to take a lead the second-generation pilot would increase to 10 car-lengths under the checkers.
Beginning 13th on the original 24-car grid, Justin Haers rallied to reach second on lap 33 in a dramatic three-wide maneuver with Britten and the lapped car of Rich Scagliotta. Siri and Homan recorded their first Top-5 finishes of the season with the brothers Johnson, Alan and Danny, running out of time to advance further.
“Everything went our way tonight, had a good starting spot, got some good breaks in traffic and had a real fast race car,” remarked Sheppard, who is just seven point shows away from wearing his third Big-Block crown in the past four seasons. “Sometimes cautions can help you, other times just kill you. I had just got by a couple cars when that first caution came out but had to go back to my position the previous lap so that was really the only setback.”
“The car was really good tonight, felt pretty neutral everywhere. Felt like I got the right-rear (tire) a little hot there in lapped traffic and I kind of settled down for a couple laps after that. Then it felt like it came back in and I was able to pick off those last two lapped cars by the end,” explained Sheppard, also the two-time reigning Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block Modified points king.
A track-high eighth Parts Plus Street Stock feature win of the 2012 campaign for Marsden proved even more significant as it moved the Mexico, N.Y. pilot to within just two points of Mike Welch in the titanic battle for bragging rights in Canandaigua's top full-fender division.
“I haven't had a season like this in a long time, so I know its really great,” said Marsden, a four-time winner last year despite not running a full schedule. “You still gotta have lady luck on your side sometimes. I'm just here to drive, this car does just about everything. Its flawless.”
Pole-sitter Nate Peckham staved off every challenge afforded in the early stages of the 15-lap finale, finally giving way to Marsden aboard the no. 28 Flack's Hi-Rise Concrete Restoration-Coatings Plus Chevrolet Impala entry as the leaders crossed the line side-by-side at the end of lap nine. Welch completed only six laps as mechanical issues in his own double-zero numbered Impala forced the seven-time CMP champ to strap into Vance Vanderwall's no. 742 Monte Carlo in search of valuable points.
In yet another caution-free event on the ultra-smooth clay oval, Marsden outlasted Peckham by four car-lengths, with returning Canandaigua veteran Steve Pesarek steering keith Keuer's no. 5K Camaro to a third-place finish ahead of Blane Smith.
“Ran neck and neck with ole Nate there, he's a helluva good shoe and I gotta thank him for not wanting to rub rails and run me clean the whole way,” Marsden added. “I was going to stay right where I was and not move around too much unless I had to. This is a nice, easy car to drive. I'm glad I was able to get the job done.”
In the shadow of the rare feat pulled off by the Sheppards, the Minutolo clan had reason to celebrate yet again after son Marc claimed his 30th Pure Stock feature win to tie his father Mike Sr. for seventh on Canandaigua's all-time stock car win list.
“You just have to come out here prepared, racing gets tougher every race of every year,” said Minutolo, who has won multiple features every year since 2007 and earned track titles in '07 and '11. “The days are over when you can leave the car on the trailer all winter. Every year some new guys always come out and do real good.”
Minutolo's biggest concern has been the resurgence of current points leader Vance Vanderwall, a six-time winner this season after not winning since 2008. Rod Comfort led his first lap of the season in the 12-lap feature before the weekly rivalry was renewed once again.
Vanderwall moved ahead the second time around before sixth-place starter Minutolo from nearby Newark grabbed the top spot for good on lap three. Chris Gingerich looped on the frontstretch (lap 3) and Dave Bush and George LaVare Jr. tangled in turns one and two (lap 9) to incur the only slowdowns, with the leaders pulling away from the field on each restart.
When the final checkered flag finally flew, it was Minutolo in his no. 25B Butch's Body Shop-Big Mike's Auto Chevrolet Camaro outdistancing Vanderwall while Comfort, Roger Bush and Ted Sweeney in his season debut filled out the front-five.
“My only plan was to keep (car) running high and wound out,” Minutolo added. There was a little bump in turns three and four, it would keep you down but outside was definitely the place to be. You could keep your momentum right up and with the guys we're running against you just have to. Need to be on your A-game.”
Nutting needed only five minutes to get the job done for a second straight Saturday, taking the lead just in time from division rookie Frank Guererri Jr. to log his third victory in the 15-lap New Legends Sportsman feature.
“Its a lot of fun out there, I really love this place,” remarked Ballston Spa's Nutting, who shares duties pitside with Big-Block chauffeur Matt Sheppard between Legends races. “Beautiful track tonight with the extra rain that we got. I still kept sliding up in turns one and two, think it was my fault, probably not the car, so hopefully I'll figure that out.”
Nutting watched from behind when Guererri grabbed the lead from Billy Brown on lap two and remained patient in the early going. Without a yellow flag to slow the action, Nutting crossed the line ahead of Brown on lap nine and with two to go put his red no. 42 Camara Slate-Xtreme Lubricants-Ticallion Contracting/Bicknell machine underneath Gurerreri to close the deal.
Just six Castner Performance 305 Sprint Car races have been run and Ferguson is now riding at a 67% clip after copping four of them, including the last three A-Mains. Nearly a half straightaway separated the Rochester driver from runner-up Steve Doell Jr. in his latest mastery of the historic Ontario Co. oval.
“This week was a long one for us, spent most of Tuesday out in Buffalo working on the motor,” said Ferguson, after claiming the 15-lap finale over a solid nine-car field in the division's first season. “Been having some issues idling with it lately but tonight Dan Pogo (engine builder) had a great piece under me. My main set-up man Mark (Tychonowicz) wasn't here so this was mainly mine and to come away with another win is really nice.”
Second-generation driver Nick Cooper put his winged machine out front at the drop of the green yet Ferguson never let him out of sight before motoring by high out of turn two the fourth time around. Mike Castner spun alone entering turn two to require the lone caution on lap seven, and from there Ferguson was untouchable in his no. 45 Speedy's Cleaners-AT&T-KCC Carpentry/TripleX sprinter.
SKIDMARKS
Ryan Blaney, son of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney, was pitside on Saturday night. After practicing on pavement out west at Dunn Tire Raceway Park (Lancaster), the 18 year-old from High Point N.C. turned some hot laps and even entered a qualifying heat “just for fun” behind the wheel of the no. 98 HBR Motorsports-Mohawk Northeast/Troyer driven on tour by DIRTcar star and Canandaigua regular Jimmy Phelps.
The third-generation rising star currently drives the No. 36 SealWrap Repair Tape Chevrolet Impala part-time for Tommy Baldwin Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He also drives the No. 10 SealWrap Repair Tape/Heavy Duty Industrial Services Chevrolet for DB Racing in the K&N Pro Series East, and the No. 98 Carswell Motorsports Chevrolet in the PASS Super Late Model Series.
Canandaigua Motorsports Park returns to action on Sat. July 14 when Dig Safely New York 811 presents a jam-packed five-star show of Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified, Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock and New Legends Sportsman racing plus round number three of the Pit Stop Challenge. Pit gates unlock at 4pm, grandstands open at 5pm and the first qualifying heat goes green at 7pm.
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