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Todd Burley Races to Career First at Canandaigua Speedway; Invader Rich Vinson Claims 358 Syracuse Qualifier
Weedsport, NY – July 13, 2008 – By Dan Kapuscinski, Canandaigua Speedway PR and Promotions Coordinator
Todd Burley won 14 Sportsman Modified feature events in his career at Canandaigua Speedway, but had never visited victory lane in a Big-Block Modified. That changed Saturday night with a mid-race pass on Derrick Podsiadlo, as the no. 89b took Dave Farney’s checkered flag on Dig Safely New York “Kid’s Flag Night” presented by Currier Plastics.
Burley won by over a full straight-away, claiming the $1,500 top prize.
“It feels good to finally get a win here in a Modified, we’ve been trying for quite some time,” said Burley in victory lane. “Of course I would have liked to have beat guys like Gary (Tomkins), Matt (Sheppard), and Steve (Paine) to do it, but we’ll take it. When you are able to beat guys like that you know you are doing something.”
Paul Guererri and Podsiadlo started the 35-lap Big-Block Modified main event from the front row with Podsiadlo taking the early advantage. Burley started the feature from 5th, and began to pick his way through the field from the very start.
As the race unfolded it looked as though Podsiadlo would be the man to beat in the Penn Yan Mini Storage no. 21. Podsialdo had built quite the lead over the rest of the field, but it would not take long for Burley to mount a challenge.
Near the halfway point Burley began to find his racing line, and closed in on the no. 21. Eventually, Burley was able to make a low move and breeze into the race lead never looking back as he stretched his lead on the way to victory.
Podsialdo finished all alone in second followed by Shannon Whaley, Vinnie Vitale, and Chuck Bower in the top five.
Western New York driver Rich Vinson in the no. 93 came to Canandaigua Saturday night with his 358-Modified in search of the $100 bonus and Syracuse Qualifier. He was able to do just that with a fine 8th place finish in the final rundown. Vinson edged out four other 358’s in the field vying for the guaranteed spot.
One of those was the no. 2B of Ron Cartwright Jr. Cartwright though took a vicious ride into the first turn wall, flipping his machine up and over the turn one barrier. The no. 2B ended up out of the ball park, but Cartwright was able to climb out of the car under his own power. He did take a ride in the ambulance for pre-cautionary measures.
The 25-lap DIRTcar Sportsman Modified main event saw Steve Gray in the no. 29g pull into victory lane for the 3rd time this season. Gray passed Canadian front-runner AJ Lewis for the top spot on his way to victory.
Lewis held on for a strong second place run after crashing heavily down the front straight while leading one week ago. The no. 24a pressured Gray all the way to the finish line in the Currier Plastics main event.
Gray was a happy driver in victory lane after picking up his 11th career win at the ‘Land of Legends’ oval.
“I really don’t know what to say,” commented Gray in victory lane. “I just have to thank all my guys. This car runs absolutely great, even though it is yellow. My wife wasn’t a big fan of yellow, but I think it will work. These cars don’t have a lot of power, but you still have to work the throttle quite a bit. We just seemed to have it figured out lately.”
Point leader Kevin Ridley came home third ahead of Rob Bussey, and Anthony Rizzardo in the front five.
The DIRTcar Street Stock main event saw a familiar face in victory lane for the fourth time this season, and third consecutive week. The no. 00 of Mike Welch once again took the top spot, pulling down his 31st career win at the ‘ Land of Legends .’
“We had a rough start to the season,” laughed Welch. “I told everyone I was going to start over and we needed to start winning in July. The car has been perfect this month, and we have been able to put some finishes together. I want to thank my sponsors and everyone involved.”
Andy Fisk finished second to Welch for the second week in a row in the no. 33. The 2007 Rookie of the Year has finished second six times this season, as he looks to return to victory lane in 2008. Fisk held of hard chargers Chris Fisher, Bubba Burnell, and Adam Depuy in the top five.
The PureStox feature event saw the no. 6 of George LaVare Jr. pull into victory lane after the disqualification of race winner Eric Chapman. LaVare had a solid second place run on the track, and after post race tech he was rewarded with the top spot in the final rundown.
LaVare Jr., who is hearing impaired, received a warm welcome in victory lane and was accompanied by his father for the victory lane ceremonies and interview.
“The car has been running good but we still need to make some changes,” said LaVare Sr., as he proudly stood next to his son in victory lane. “We don’t have the right cam in this engine just yet, so it is a little slow on starts. We want to thank everyone for their support, this means a lot.”
The final finishing order saw Roger Bush, Bryan Faulkner, Chris Gingerich, and Floyd Bush in the top five.
Next Saturday at night at Canandaigua Speedway it is Honeoye Auto Parts Night at the Races featuring the mighty DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds. The DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, DIRTcar Street Stocks, and PureStox will join the card along with the WNYR 98.5 FM Crazy Chicks-n-Cars at 7pm.
For more information call the DIRTcar NE Headquarters at 315/834-6606 or visit www.canandaiguaspeedway.com.
Dig Safely New York/Currier Plastics Event Summary (7-12-08):
PureStox
Heat: Faulkner, Chapman, Minutolo, R. Bush, Lurcock, LaVare Jr., Shoemaker, Guererri, F. Bush, Gingerich
Feature (12-laps): 1) 6- GEORGE LAVARE JR., 2) 9r- Roger Bush, 3) 83- Bryan Faulkner, 4) 10- Chris Gingerich, 5) 9f- Floyd Bush, 6) 3rd- Tom Shoemaker, 7) CJ1- Chris Guererri, 8) 22t- Eric Chapman, 9) 05- Ross Lurcock, 10) 25b- Marc Minutolo
DIRTcar Street Stocks
Heat: Burnell, Lewis, Fisk, Fisher, Welch, Rasbeck, Smith, Collins
Feature (20-laps): 1) 00- MIKE WELCH, 2) 33- Andy Fisk, 3) 37- Chris Fisher, 4) 57b- Bubba Burnell, 5) 99- Adam Depuy, 6) 00r- Mike Rasbeck, 7) 75- Scott Smith, 8) 70- Kevin Collins, 9) 07- Leroy Lewis
Home Necessities $25 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 57b- Bubba Burnell
DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
Heat #1: Gray, P. LaVare, Lincoln, Ridley, Giguere, Hitlon, Cook Jr., Henderson, Currier
Heat #2: Hoteling, Bussey, Hilkert, Wiesner, Lewis, Rizzardo, Guererri, K. LaVare
Feature (25-laps): 1) 29g- STEVE GRAY, 2) 24a- AJ Lewis, 3) 20x- Kevin Ridley, 4) 76- Rob Bussey, 5) 99$- Anthony Rizzardo, 6) 4- Daryl Hilkert, 7) 25g- Nick Guererri, 8) 67g- Eric Giguere, 9) 66- Dan Wiesner, 10) 18h- Todd Henderson, 11) 10- Tim Currier, 12) 8L- Phil LaVare, 13) 2L- Loren Lincoln, 14) 3- Fran Hilton, 15) 88- Kyle LaVare, 16) 8- Joe Cook Jr., 17) 44- Gary Hoteling, 18) 17- Marcus Dinkins
Currier Plastics $50 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 99$- Anthony Rizzardo
DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds
Heat #1: Podsiadlo, Vitale, Donk, Payne Jr.*, Burley, Slover, Brown*, Smoker
Heat #2: Homan, Brownell Jr., Rauscher, Habeck, Fisher, Vinson*, Monroe *
Heat #3: Whaley, Guererri, Bower, Tegg Jr., Bowman, Cartwright*, Onderdonk
Feature (35-laps): 1) 89b- TODD BURLEY, 2) 21- Derrick Podsiadlo, 3) 44- Shannon Whaley, 4) 56- Vinnie Vitale, 5) 99b- Chuck Bower, 6) 99- Charlie Donk, 7) 48T- Dave Rauscher, 8) 93- Rich Vinson*, 9) 91- Chad Homan, 10) 7- Paul Guererri, 11) 37c- Eric Fisher, 12) 22- Gil Tegg Jr., 13) 25- Paul Habeck, 14) 28p- Eldon Payne Jr.*, 15) 16b- Mike Bowman, 16) 2b- Ron Cartwright Jr.*, 17) 56g- Neil Onderdonk, 18) 16- Billy Brown*, 19) 62R- Ron Smoker, 20) 50- Don Slover, 21) 29- Jeff Brownell Jr.
Gypsum Wholesalers $100 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 44- Shannon Whaley
$100 Bonus, Syracuse Qualifier: 93- Rich Vinson (358-Modified)
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