September 4, 2010

CANANDAIGUA, NY- It was a fight to the end before "The Doctor" Danny Johnson won for the second week in a row during the action-packed 50-lap DIRTcar big block Modified feature last night at Canandaigua Speedway. The four-time track champion took hold of the lead on lap-20 and never relinquished it. Johnson finished 5.22 seconds ahead of second place finisher Rob Bellinger who was just in front of third place finisher Charlie Donk, but the night belonged to Steve Paine who, with a fourth place finish took home his eleventh track championship at the "Land of Legends." Paine had won nine straight years before Matt Sheppard broke his streak and won in 2009. Victory Lane was "electric" as fans made their way to the fence to witness "The Doctor" and "The Hurricane" sharing common ground after a spirited battle in the last couple of weeks to finish the season.
With the track in arguably the best shape of the year, the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds put on another great show for the fans as Karl Comfort took the victory over second place and new Sportsman track champion Eric Giguere. Paul Guererri was third while Loren Lincoln and Justin Henderson rounded of the top five. Steve Gray, who began the night with a 24 point lead in the championship, never seemed to get the car "hooked up" as he finished sixth in his heat and eighth in the feature. Steve led the championship standings for a majority of the season, but series regulars Eric Giguere, Dan Wiesner and Paul Geurreri all stayed in striking distance as the championship neared its end.
Frank Burnell Jr. battled it out to the end to take the 2010 DIRTcar Stock Car track championship. It started as the closest battle of the night as Chris Fisher and Frank "Bubba" Burnell entered the evening tied in points, but after Fisher beat Burnell by just under a foot in their heat, Chris went into the feature with a slim points lead. When the green dropped, Bubba jumped out to the lead as Fisher seemed to get stuck in traffic battling for the sixth position. By lap 15 the championship seemed to shape up as Chris encountered engine trouble and had to take his car to the pits and Burnell would just need to keep his car out of trouble. Rasbeck, one of the hottest drivers in the division, took over Burnell on lap 24 of the 30-lap Parts Plus Tri-Track Series feature but Burnell kept the heat on Rasbeck for the last six laps hoping to be the lone ranger in victory lane only to see Rasbeck record his third win in the last five feature events. Mike Welch was third with John Zimmerman and Andy Fisk rounding out the top five.