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2012 CMP News & Announcements |
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 Canandaigua, NY – June 23, 2012 – The winningest driver in Canandaigua Motorsports Park history added to his legacy Saturday as Alan Johnson romped to career victory number 115 in the 35-lap Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified main.
'A.J. Slideways' bolted around frontrunners Dave Allen and Steve Paine in a thrilling three-wide maneuver at the halfway mark, then built up a straightaway margin en route to his first feature win of the year at the Ontario County Fairgrounds.
 Mike Welch (Parts Plus Street Stock) and Dave Ferguson (Castner Performance 305 Sprint) posted their third wins of the season and Eric Chapman repeated in Pure stock competition while A.J. Lloyd (Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman) and Jeff Davoli (New Legends Sportsman) etched their names in the 'Land of Legends” record book on Currier Plastics-Genny Light Night that served to recognize firefighters and rescue personnel in attendance as the summer season officially kicked off in wine country.
“This (win) feels pretty good, especially lately, we've been struggling really bad with a couple tenths and a 9th-place the last three races here,” remarked Johnson, 54, who logged his first-ever win at Canandaigua in 1975 yet hadn't visited victory lane since 2008. Saturday marked his first win at CMP teamed with car owner Kenny Saya. “So given a good starting spot we had a great car tonight and got it done.”
Johnson pulled into ninth on the 24-car starting grid aboard Saya's black no. 10J Commercial Roofing and Sheetmetal/Bicknell ride, beginning his march toward the front as Mike O'Brien and Allen swapped the lead early. Embellishing the phrase 'as the track gets slicker Alan gets quicker' coined over the years for his mastery of smooth surfaces, Johnson took advantage to crack the front-five after seven laps.
Fifth-starting Paine moved into second a third of the way through and Johnson took over the show position soonafter, with both veterans setting their sights on high-flying Allen at the front of the field. Just as Paine looked for room on the low side of the leader, Johnson swept past high exiting turn four in a perfect slingshot move as the scoreboard clicked off 18 laps complete.
Points leader Matt Sheppard slowed with a left-front flat tire to bring out the first yellow flag on lap 22 while Daryl Hilkert suffered mechanical problems to incur a second caution period just two laps later. Points runner-up Danny Johnson ducked pitside to replace a worn tread in time for the lap 24 restart as older brother Alan led Vince Vitale, Paine and Justin Haers with just over 10 circuits remaining.
Johnson went unchallenged the rest of the way with a clear track ahead, although the battle behind the Middlesex veteran kept scorers reeling. Paine grabbed second on lap 29 running three-abreast with Vitale and Haers with that order remaining intact under the checkers. Billy Dunn rounded out the final Top-5 fending off a late-race charge by Jimmy Phelps.
“It helps when the track gets a little slippery, that takes horsepower out of the equation making it just a matter of getting hooked up,” added Johnson, who also scored a pair of 358-Modified wins at Canandaigua in 2005. “I've had a lot of practice feathering the throttle over the years.”
“Our program is still a little behind right now. We're trying to catch up so we just keep plugging away every week. Kenny and all the guys like coming out to run against this kind of competition, hopefully I can add a couple more (wins) to that list,” smiled Johnson, who joins Sheppard as the only drivers to finish in the Top-10 in all 11 events held at Canandaigua this season.
On the other end of the spectrum, Lloyd emerged as the 98th different winner since the DIRTcar Sportsman debuted at the Routes 5&20 oval in 1987. The local pilot from Canandaigua captured a 10-lap Legends race last year before graduating into the Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman ranks after only five open-wheel starts.
“Didn't think a win would come this fast, especially with a new car, thought I'd be fighting it for awhile,” said Lloyd, after edging Dave Marcuccilli by 0.3-sec. at the stripe to give owner Tom Fox his second win of the year after Rich Swarthout crossed the line first on May 5. “Thanks to Tom and Dar (Fox) for the chance.”
“Got a new car last week and a new motor and fought with it a little bit last week. Went back to my old set-up with this car and it felt really good. I hit the tire coming into (turn) one and just had to keep going deeper into the corner every lap after that. Fortunately it had just enough left to hang on,” noted Lloyd after pulling into victory lane aboard the no. 1F Fox's Auto-Dar's Auto-Becks Recycling/Bicknell entry.
The pole-position start to pace a hungry 26-car pack was the perfect place for Lloyd to begin his quest for the elusive victory. He quickly opened up a commanding lead over Kane Bristol before Canadian invader A.J. Lewis looped his mount to force a slowdown on lap 10. The entire field was brought to a halt under red flag conditions when Central New York traveler Earl Rudy ended his night upside down after a turn two mishap.
Lloyd appeared in control back under green while Rob Bussey and Todd Henderson ---looking to score his first win of the year on his sponsor's night--- diced for runner-up laurels ahead of Marcuccilli and Bristol at the midway mark of the headline 25-lapper. However, after the leader's unexpected contact with a uke tire in the latter stages, Henderson and Marcuccilli were able to close the gap considerably and get within striking distance with just two to go.
Marcuccilli slid past Henderson on the white flag yet his last effort exiting turn four to overtake the race-long leader fell just a half car-length shy, putting Lloyd in the record book and keeping Marcuccilli out of it for another week as he continues in his first full season contending at the hallowed half-miler. Bussey and last week's winner Paul Guererri filled out the final front-five.
Just as Welch was ready to settle for his fourth runner-up finish behind 6-time race winner Russ Marsden, the leader suddenly slowed on lap nine and pulled to the infield and the defending division points champion led the final six circuits to give him a track-best 46 Parts Plus Street Stock wins in the new millennium.
“We didn't have the best car tonight, but in this deal the best car doesn't always win,” figured Welch, after the Lyons chauffeur increased his lead over Marsden in search of an unprecedented eighth full-fender points crown at Canandaigua. “Great job by Jeremie (Corcoran, CMP promoter), great to race in front of a lot of people and be able to put on a good show for them every week.”
“This win feels real good after having a lot of problems lately. Broke a water pump during hot laps and didn't get enough water in her for the heat so I shut it down and picked up the rear for the feature. This (win) definitely makes up for it,” added Welch, who now leads Marsden by 22 markers after 11 events.
Blane Smith held off Marsden on the opening circuit before the white no. 28 Chevrolet Impala moved to the point in the 15-lap finale. Welch chased down runner-up Adam DePuy when the crossed flags flew at the halfway mark. When DePuy hesitated behind the slowing Marsden machine, Welch never flinched in his rehydrated Original Pizza Logs no. 00 Yukon Gear & Axle-Parts Plus Chevy Impala entry and sped past on the high side as the new lead duo rounded turn four.
Finishing a distant eight car-lengths back, DePuy settled for second, one position ahead of his tally last weekend, while Smith, Nate Daggett and Pat Hobbs took down Top-5 finishes in the caution-free affair.
Similar to the Street Stock scenario, the fastest cars were not be seen at the finish of the 12-lap Pure Stock as leaders Vance Vanderwall and Marc Minutolo tangled with one to go and opened the door for Chapman to step through and secure the surprize win.
“Don't know what happened in front of me, I came out of turn four battling the other #22 car and they both came off the corner sideways,” reflected Chapman, who remains second to Vanderwall on the points chart after posting his ninth career win. “I'll take 'em how I can get 'em I guess.”
Vanderwall blasted from fourth to first on the opening circuit to show his intentions early, yet Minutolo had other ideas as he muscled into second-place on lap seven and dropped Western New York runner Webb Nashwinter to third in his first trip to CMP this season.
Mike Minutolo Sr. looped high in turn four to slow the field on lap nine and allow his son to shadow Vanderwall on the ensuing restart. Young Marc moved under in turn two to grab the top spot on lap 11, yet before the lap could be completed, Vanderwall went low and the leaders hooked together sliding to the infield just shy of the frontstretch flagstand.
Nashwinter inherited the lead before Chapman rolled underneath in turns three and four in the last lap shootout to claim the unpredicatable victory steering his no. 22T John Juhl Construction-Marsden Racing Engines/Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS mount. Mike Minutolo, Roger Bush and Rod Comfort rounded out the Top-5.
“We've been working hard on the car, there are lots of people and sponsors to thank. The track was real tacky the last time (June 9) I won. It was a lot different tonight so there's still a lot more we need to do, but I won't argue with the outcome,” said Chapman, who registered wins in 2007 and '08 before the Hannibal driver returned to Canandaigua full-time this season.
Davoli's first-ever season behind the wheel of an open-wheel racing machine was rewarded with a decisive victory in the Legends Sportsman main, extended to 15-laps as 12 entry-level drivers signed up for competition.
“I'm not that good yet. To be honest, I run the car where it wants to go,” stated Davoli from Watertown, after outdistancing pole-sitter Daryl Nutting by six car-lengths to log his initial victory. “My crew chief Anthony did an awesome job setting up the car and it wanted to turn. That's the biggest task out here, especially with a dry summer coming. Get the car to turn, that's three-quarters of the battle.”
An uncharacteristically slick surface awaited the Legends regulars as it was the sixth and final feature of the night. A number of cautions were attributed to lack of track time on the slippery layout, although once Davoli in his no. C21 Century 21-Davoli Real Estate/Bicknell ride moved ahead of Nutting on a lap five restart, he stayed steady out front the rest of the way.
Gus Hurlburt advanced from sixth to third and Kyle Fink improved from eighth to fourth in their season-debuts while Jason Scales filled out the final front-five.
“Probably ran 11 or 12 good laps out there tonight. If I'm going to move up to the Sportsman class I'll have to get smoother, faster and be able to figure things out. Right now I have to thank the whole Wiesner clan, they took me under their wings and didn't have to. There's still a long ways to go,” Davoli added.
Ferguson has been going in only one direction since the Castner Performance 305 Sprint Cars were introduced to the Canandaigua faithful in April. Forward, and fast. The Rochester racer led all but four circuits to garner his third win in the 12-lap A-Main slowed by four caution periods.
“We had to work for it tonight, they were giving us a run for our money,” said Ferguson, who led flag-to-flag in his two previous victories. “Everybody's picking up their game and it makes you work a lot harder to get a win. This one's right up there, we had to fight for it a little more.”
Ferguson jumped ahead of front row partner Jeff Frasier on lap one to set the early pace. Steve Doell Jr. turned his winged machine on its side to force out the first yellow flag on lap three and Nick Cooper sped out front on the restart.
Mike Stelter performed a perfect 360-degree spin in turn two, yet not fast enough before pinning Scott Wagner against the outside retaining wall and creating another slowdown on lap seven. Wagner looped when the green lights came out and Ferguson charged past Cooper for the final lead change on the second try to restart.
From there the orange no. 45 Speedy's Cleaners-AT&T-KCC Carpentry/TripleX sprinter pulled away from his nearest chasers, with Cooper regaining second using an outside pass of Stelter exiting turn four on the last lap. Billy Jaycox and Doell completed the front-five under the checkers.
“We had problems in our heat. Our mag blew up and had to replace a whole bunch of parts. Didn't think we were going to make it tonight, but wow, what a run that was. Have to thank Dave Woodworth for helping out with the motor and Mark Tychonowicz, he's been a huge help for us lately. It was definitely a team effort that got the job done tonight,” Ferguson added.
Canandaigua Motorsports Park plays host to its biggest event of the summer when Ballantyne RV & Marine and Sweeteners Plus, Inc. present the World of Outlaws Late Model Series on Tue. June 26. The Top-12 in Original Pizza Logs Big Block points will participate in a special Modified invitational featuring Twin 12s while Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman teams complete the terrific tripleheader.
Canandaigua's lone mid-week show of the season marks the national touring group's third-ever appearance at the 'Land of Legends,' with fairgrounds favorite and 2006 WoO LMS champion Tim McCreadie from Watertown, N.Y. the '09 winner and Josh Richards from Shinnston, W. Va. victorious in '08.
CMP hosts its final program of the month when Saturday night activity returns June 30. A huge fireworks display closes out an early 'Fourth of July' celebration with 1-on-1 Spectator Drag Races joining a full card of Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified, Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock and New Legends Sportsman action. Pit gates unlock at 4pm, grandstands open at 5pm and the first qualifying heat goes green at 7pm.
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