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By Don Post, DIRT Sportsman Series Reporter
Canandaigua, N.Y. – September 24, 2005 – Veteran DIRT Sportsman racer Brian Sage
picked up his fourth win of the year in the season ending “Salute to the Legends”
Super DIRT Series event at the Canandaigua Speedway on Saturday night. The Brockport
(NY) native started the 50-lap main in the 11th position and was involved in a lap
11 crash on a restart sending the Sweeting Asphalt and Paving Troyer mount to the
rear. Sage said in victory lane, “I didn’t mean to get into Scott (Schrader) on the
restart but it was tight in the pack and things backed up before I could do anything
to avoid the contact.” That coupled with a late race yellow that shrouded the finish
in controversy as the race went an additional lap in a green white checkered finish.
Sage added, “I’m not sure what happened but when we went green I found something on
top that no one else seemed to have, and it paid off.”
The 30-car starting field was led to the green by Justin Henderson of Canandaigua
and current Mr. DIRT points leader Russ Hefti of Jordan. The first lap found a log
jam of four cars in turn one as Rob Bussey of Canandaigua got turned around in a
mid-pack scramble collecting Rob Bellinger of Dexter, N.Y. along with Scott and Dave
Just racing out of Ransomville, N.Y. The restart looked as though the field would
settle in as leader Hefti in his Clearview Windows-Sunsetter Awnings Bicknell took
control.
Geneva’s Eric Giguere settled in the second slot as he raced the low groove in the
Dept. of Veteran Affairs/TEO powered by a GM Crate engine and looked stout.
Canandaigua track champion '05 Scott Schrader ran third in the Fox’s Auto-Dar’s
Auto-Manchester Mart/Bicknell as Carbondale, Pa. young gun Brett Tonkin was fourth.
The top-five in the first 10 laps included Henderson in his #27h Synergy Global
Solutions-Rick Benham Enterprises/Bicknell along with Jim Dallet of Vineland, N.J.,
a school teacher dicing for fifth in the #95 Casino Horizen/Bicknell.
Yellow lights flashed for a second time on lap 11 as Cornwall, ONT native Marcel
Pecore spun his new mount the Ezard Racing/Troyer #82 in turn one. This set up the
lap 11 restart that Sage eluded to in victory lane as the field was racing in close
quarters in turn three. Schrader got turned by Sage, who also spun, and the field
piled in rapid fashion. The result caused Nick Cupolo, Lance Willix ll, Roger
Chrysler and Greg Martin to slam into the wreck. There were no injuries but heavy
damage was sustained although Sage and Schrader were able to drive away from the
scene and join the field at the rear.
As the field sorted out on lap 16, Chrysler of Lewiston, N.Y. came to a stop in turn
four from damage in the prior incident that caused mechanical problems on the
Randy’s Smoke Shop-Iroquois Spring Water/Bicknell to end his night. On the ensuing
restart, Hefti continued at the front of the field as Kevin Wills found something on
the outside on lap 18 and slipped passed Giguere into second in pursuit of Hefti.
Racing the top of the fast half-miler, Wills put the Wills Dairy Farms-Philpac
Packaging/Bicknell on the high side of Hefti moving to the front to forge the first
lead change of the race on the 20th circuit.
At the halfway point of the event Wills led with Hefti who seemed to still have
something to challenge the '05 Ransomville champion. Danny Wiesner had to qualify
through the consi yet had worked his way into third with a great run aboard the
Monroe Wheel Chair-KC Services/Bicknell mount. Giguere held fourth with a good
distance between the fifth place runner Dallett, who made the longest tow of the day
from New Jersey. Lake Ariel, Pa. racer Kevin Bates in the Bicknell Racing
Products-Joanne Strada Beauty Salon/Bicknell entry ran sixth ahead of Henderson,
Paul Guererri, Greg Doust, and a fading Brett Tonkin among the top-10.
The next 17 laps offered no change in the top-five, then on lap 42, Sage roared back
into the front-five displacing Dallett. The next seven laps carried only one change
as the leaders raced though lapped traffic until starter Dave Farney had the white
flag in the air. At that point a lapped car slowed exiting turn four forcing the
yellow to come out on the speedway and at the same time Loren Lincoln and Scott
Schrader spun in turn three adding further to the precaution taken by the starter
for the safety of the drivers racing to the checkered.
Just as the yellow was displayed and the field started to slow, third-place runner
Wiesner was tagged by Jim LaRock causing the Geneva native to spin in the aftermath.
This set up a green-white-checkered flag finish which ultimately extended the race
to 51 laps. During the yellow the lapped cars were separated leaving the top-five to
restart the race in that order. Wills brought the field to the cone for the restart
and the field raced into turn one. Sage moved his Troyer mount to the top past
runner-up Hefti as he entered turn three, then went to the outside of Wills as the
white again after lap 50. Wills raced down the back stretch with Sage returning to
the top in turn three. They came to the checkered with Sage in front with Wills a
half car-length off the pace at the stripe. Hefti crossed the line third with Kevin
Bates making a late pass into fourth while Giguere completed the final front-five.
Dallett put his Bicknell under the starter's stand sixth in a very solid run with
Tonkin making a come back in the seventh slot. Schrader and Lincoln recovered from
the spin to come home eighth and ninth respectively as Henderson completed the
top-ten. By virtue of his late race pass of Giguere, Bates picked up the guaranteed
starting spot for the 30-mile Sportsman Championship during Super DIRT Week in
October at the “Moody Mile”. Heat races for the 34 Sportsman teams that lined pit
road went to Giguere, Henderson, Doust, and Hefti, with the Consi going to Dan
Wiesner.
Event Summary [*Official box score posted on www.dirtmotorsports.com and can be
viewed by first selecting 'DIRT NorthEast' on the corporate homepage then clicking
'Sunoco Series' logo]
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 9 11 Brian Sage/Brockport, NY ($1,500)
2 10 111 Kevin Wills/Ransomville,NY
3 2 0 Russ Hefti/Jordan,NY
4 13 42b Kevin Bates/Lake Ariel,PA
5 3 67g Eric Giguere/Geneva,NY
6 4 95 Jim Dallett/Vineland,NJ
7 8 15 Brett Tonkin/Carbondale,PA
8 5 58 Scott Schrader/Shortsville,NY
9 24 2L Loren Lincoln/Bristol Springs,NY
10 1 27h Justin Henderson/Canandaigua,NY
11 15 p38 Rob Pratt/Brockport,NY
12 6 19h Chris Higgins/Syracuse,NY
13 26 20k Kyle Inman/Darien,NY
14 11 19j Rob Ledingham/Port Colborne,ONT
15 28 8 Rob Bellinger/Dexter,NY
16 14 58L Jim LaRock/Seneca Falls/NY
17 24 54j Dave Just/Ransomville,NY
18 23 54jr Scott Just/Ransomville,NY
19 25 2k Rob Knapp/St.Catharines,ONT
20 21 66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY
21 18 7p Clay Parmelee/Waterloo,NY
22 30 82 Marcel Pecore/Cornwall,NY
23 17 7 Paul Guererri/Geneva,NY
24 7 67 Greg Doust/Jamesville,NY
25 27 96 Luke Carlton/Port Colbourn,ONT
26 16 76 Rob Bussey/Farmington,NY
27 12 t21 Roger Chyrsler/Lewiston,NY
28 20 99c Nick Cupolo/Thorold,ONT
29 19 16w Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY
30 29 4 Greg Martin/Youngstown,NY
DID NOT QUALIFY(4)
101w-Eric Hefferren/Shortsville,NY
86hd-Dale Kessel/Canandaigua,NY
7k-Scott Kerwin/Newfane,NY
11n-Rick Newton/Oakfield,NY
Lap Leaders: Hefti (1-20), Wills (21-50), Sage (51).
Heat Races (Top-5 qualify, top-2 went to redraw)
#1: Giguere, Schrader, Sage, Bates, Guerirri, S. Just, Bellinger, Lincoln, Kerwin (
DNS).
#2: Henderson, Dallett, Wills, LaRock, Parmelee, Knapp, Inman, Heffernen (DNS).
#3: Doust, Tonkin, Ledingham, Pratt, Willix ll, Wiesner, Carlton, Pecore, Kissel.
#4: Hefti, Higgins, Chrysler, Bussey, Cupolo, D. Just, Newton, Martin.
Consi: Wiesner, S. Just, D. Just, Lincoln, Knapp, Inman, Carlton, Bellinger, Martin,
Newton, Pecore, Heffernen, Kissel, Kerwin (DNS).
OVERALL HOOSIER-SUNOCO MR. DIRT SPORTSMAN POINT STANDINGS
(through Canandaigua Speedway – September 24, 2005)
No. Driver Regional Home Comb Total Diff
1 0 Russ Hefti 1000 950 380 2330 0
2 11 Brian Sage 970 1000 341 2311 -19
3 111Kevin Wills 980 1000 315 2295 -35
4 42bKevin Bates 980 1000 290 2270 -60
5 20kKyle Inman 934 980 290 2204 -126
6 19JRob Ledingham 960 1000 238 2198 -132
7 m96Marcel Pecore 946 1000 187 2133 -197
8 8c Wayne Conn Jr. 950 1000 182 2132 -198
9 8 Rob Bellinger 960 946 221 2127 -203
10 16 Lance Willix II 970 970 178 2118 -212
11 67 Greg Doust 1000 980 137 2117 -213
12 19hChris Higgins ? 950 926 211 2087 -243
13 99cNick Cupolo ? 930 950 194 2074 -256
14 p38Rob Pratt 902 970 170 2042 -288
15 2k Rob Knapp 938 970 131 2039 -291
16 95 Jim Dallett 920 906 204 2030 -300
17 T21Roger Chrysler 946 920 155 2021 -309
18 71mMark Potter 920 960 137 2017 -313
19 1J Joe Williams Jr. 942 960 90 1992 -338
20 7 Scott Kerwin 918 980 90 1988 -342
21 108Bill Bleich 942 970 72 1984 -346
22 9 Jason Riddell 938 980 45 1963 -367
23 67gEric Giguere 902 950 90 1942 -388
24 20 Jeff McGinnis 918 970 41 1929 -401
25 54JScott Just 912 922 88 1922 -408
26 54JDave Just 926 934 58 1918 -412
27 27hJustin Henderson 914 930 62 1906 -424
28 14 Jeremy Pitcher 916 950 40 1906 -424
29 88 Roy Bresnahan ? 924 938 40 1902 -428
30 28 Jeff Stevenson 922 906 62 1890 -440
31 20 Kevin Ridley ? 912 960 10 1882 -448
32 56 Steve Schumacher 912 928 40 1880 -450
33 94 Stan Zanchin 928 946 0 1874 -456
34 5T Tony Purgarich 924 950 0 1874 -456
35 25 Bobby Herrington 910 960 0 1870 -460
36 16 Mike Bowman 934 934 0 1868 -462
37 12 Jeremy LaSalle ? 918 938 0 1856 -474
38 69 Brad Kirkland 904 950 0 1854 -476
39 44 Jason Boyle 906 946 0 1852 -478
40 42cMike Conrow 906 942 0 1848 -482
41 23 Kees VanWinden 900 946 0 1846 -484
42 06JJordan Bennett 930 900 10 1840 -490
43 47 Sean Carman 928 912 0 1840 -490
44 8 Chris Herbison 914 924 0 1838 -492
45 20KRick St. Pierre 922 916 0 1838 -492
46 68xCurtis Friesen ? 908 924 0 1832 -498
47 11 Tim VanBrocklin 900 928 0 1828 -502
48 54 Mark Chiddy 904 916 0 1820 -510
49 58 Scott Schrader 0 1000 144 1144-1186
50 15 Brent Tonkin 0 942 144 1086-1244
CANANDAIGUA COMMENTS:
* Another solid field of 34 DIRT Sportsman cars lined pit road for Canandaigua
Speedway’s final event of the year as a season high 114 race teams jammed the pit
area for the fall “Legends Weekend” in the heart of wine country.
* Brockville Ontario Speedway points champion Marcel Pecore drove the Ezard Racing
Troyer with La France power. The former pilot of the LaSalle Racing/Bicknell, Pecore
revealed, “We just didn’t have the same agenda, I love to race and have fun with it
they had a different outlook, and that’s okay. We plan on trying to stay in the
point’s race this season on the tour and whatever happens, happens.” Pecore now
resides in Cornwall, ONT and seems comfortable with what transpired.
* Notable no show for the Canandaigua Sportsman Super DIRT Series event was St.
Catharine’s, ONT racer Wayne Conn Jr. who was just 108 markers off overall Mr. DIRT
leader Russ Hefti. Conn in the S&W Service Centre-406 Auto Parts/Bicknell Chassis
had not missed a West Region or Combined event to date on the Series.
* Many Sportsman teams on hand were not pleased early in the evening as a mix up in
hot laps left them with less than a lap of warm-ups under green flag conditions.
Track Officials said the mistake was just that and not intentional.
* Humberstone Speedway '05 champion Rob Ledingham from Port Colborne, ONT ranked
sixth in overall markers and was asked after a rather mediocre 14th place tally in
the 50 lap run what was wrong if anything with his KN Filters/Bicknell entry. “Take
a look at the car (pointing to the open trailer machine), we won tonight, it was a
victory” he said with a big smile. His reference was to the simple fact that the car
survived the night's racing without damage. He continued, “We can go home this week
and not have to fix anything, just get ready for Fulton." Great attitudes for such
an up and down tour run this year.
* Asking Brian Sage what he found in the final laps to make passes on Russ Hefti and
Kevin Wills, he said, “I’m not sure but I could throw it in and it stuck real good,
must be this Troyer Chassis it has been really great this year. We hope Billy
(Colton) can continue to build on it and make a comeback, we’re sold.” He also went
into further detail on the incident with Canandaigua champion Scott Schrader, “I
really felt bad about it, that is not the way I race, he did come back but that
doesn’t matter it’s not good racing.” He added, “Some of the guys said he may have
been going around, but it was tight on the restart, and it happens.”
* Other victims of the lap 11 incident were for one notable Lance Willix ll in the
Theresa Redemption Company-Bustler Construction/Bicknell who was ninth in overall
points. Willix was not pleased with what took place in front of him on the restart
as his mount suffered extensive damage putting his top-10 points place in jeopardy
as the Series moves to Fulton this coming Friday for Victoria Weekend.
* Nick Cupolo also was caught up in the melee and the Cairn Croft Hotel-Niagara Hot
Tubs/Bicknell sustained some considerable body damage. The youngster quiet by nature
said, “There was just no place to go, it was a hard hit, that’s racing”. The
Thorold, ONT racer will not be running at Syracuse this year as DIRT has mandated
that he and three other young Sportsman pilots must be at least 16 years-old to
compete on the Mile.
* The race went a distance of 51 laps due to the late yellow, this was not a good
situation for several drivers as they made their feelings known following the event.
The driver who had the most at stake was race leader Kevin Wills in the Wills Dairy
Farms-Philpac Packaging/Bicknell as he lost the race on the final circuit. Kevin
stated, “I have been doing this series part time and full time for a few years, and
never saw the Sportsman races go over the scheduled laps.” He added, “I thought we
would see the yellow, checkered to finish as we came down for lap 50.” His outlook
showed disappointment but he looked at it open minded saying, “We got a solid second
and that doesn’t hurt us, so we will take it to Fulton and go from there.”
* Crew members were not as gracious as one said, “We got a real raw deal and they
(officials) took the race that we won away by adding a lap”. They may look at the
issues from that standpoint, however, starter Dave Farney gave his explanation
following the race. “We had a car stopped in turn four and two or three cars turned
around in turn three. My goal in this tower is to see that every driver leaves this
speedway without injury, which is the most important part of the entire picture. The
yellow that sent the race beyond the scheduled distance was done for that reason and
it was a judgement call on my part.” He added, “The rule book says the race must end
under green this caused us to use that format nothing more, nothing less”.
* Vineland, N.J. racer Jim Dallett made the long hall form South Jersey pay off as
he looked like a solid top-five car throughout the event. On the late race restart
Dallett admitted, “I felt good and steady with my line the entire race but slipped
up near the end and Kevin (Bates) got by me. Overall, I felt it was a good solid run
in the company of these guys up here in New York, it was fun.”
* Canandaigua regular Dan Wiesner had a solid run going until the yellow and he
stated, “When the yellow came out I lifted but Jim (LaRock) got into me turning me
around, which didn’t seem necessary. I felt I should have gotten my spot back as it
happened after the yellow came out. It just seems like that is the way the year has
gone for us.”
* Fifth-place finisher Eric Giguere ended the race with a great effort, his smooth
style showed as he drove his Dept. of Veteran Affairs/TEO powered by a GM Crate
engine to a strong top-five. He said, “The car was tight through the entire race as
we missed the set-up. I’ve said it all year we had a goal of top-five finishes and
in the company of the Series drivers we feel real good with the outcome.”
* Lake Ariel, Pa. Series regular Kevin Bates made his first stop at the “Land of
Legends" and recorded a solid fourth-place tally. Bates stated, “I like the place
and wish we would have had a few more hot laps. The set-up seemed like the right one
but just didn’t come in the way I thought it would.” Next Friday he will move on to
Fulton Speedway where he owns the 2005 track championship and looks to close the
point gap on the three Mr. DIRT frontrunners.
* Russ Hefti remained the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT points
leader after his third-place finish. Hefti said, “The set-up for this race was off
pretty bad so we did what we could with it. I don’t feel bad with the finish and as
long as we stay away from any more DNFs we should be alright.”
UPCOMING EVENT:
This Friday night Sept. 30th the Sportsman Super DIRT Series stops at Harvey Fink’s
Fulton Speedway for the first leg of the Victoria 200 weekend. The race is one of
the highlights of the season when it comes to big shows as the event will go a
distance of 30 laps on the wide high banked facility.
2005 SPORTSMAN SUPER DIRT SERIES SCHEDULE
Day-Date Track(Laps)
Location/Winner
Fri-May 6 Thunder Alley Speedpark (30L-E)......................GREG DOUST
Sun-Jun 12 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (30L-E).............JEREMY PITCHER
Fri-Jun 17 Ohsweken Speedway (50L-W)...........................MARTIN POLHILL
Fri-Jun 24 Thunder Alley Speedpark (30L-E)......................LANCE WILLIX II
Fri-Jul 1 Ransomville Speedway (50L-W)........................JEFF McGINNIS
Sun-Jul 3 Humberstone Speedway (50L-W)......................BILL BLEICH
Wed-Jul 13 Can-Am Motorsports Park (30L-C).....................BRIAN SAGE
Sat-Jul 23 Merrittville Speedway (50L-C).............................KYLE INMAN
Thr-Aug 11 Canandaigua Speedway (30L-W).......................RUSS HEFTI
Fri-Sep 9 Brockville Ontario Speedway (30L-E).................JASON RIDDELL
Fri-Sep 9 Ransomville Speedway (50L-W).........................BRIAN SAGE
Sat-Sep 10 Genesee Speedway (40L-W)..............................BRIAN SAGE
Fri-Sep 16 Brewerton Speedway (40L-C).............................Rain-Cancelled
Sat-Sep 17 Rolling Wheels Raceway (30L-C).......................RUSS HEFTI
Sat-Sep 24 Canandaigua Speedway (50L-C)........................BRIAN SAGE
Fri-Sep 30 Fulton Speedway (30L-C)...................................Fulton, NY
Wed-Oct 5 Can-Am Motorsports Park (30L-C).....................LaFargeville, NY
Fri-Oct 7 Rolling Wheels Raceway (30L-C).......................Elbridge, NY
Sat-Oct 8 New York State Fairgrounds (30L-C)..................Syracuse, NY
Sat-Oct 15 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (50L-C).............Weedsport, NY
Sat-Oct 22 Bridgeport Speedway (75L-C) ............................Bridgeport, NJ
E=East Region(4), W=West Region(6), C=Combined(11).
SPORTSMAN SERIES SPONSORS
The DIRT MotorSports™ Sunoco/Aplus Sportsman Series is brought to fans across the
Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Sunoco Race
Fuels, Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and DART Machinery. Promotional
Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, Zippo Lighters and F.X. Caprara Car Companies
and the contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD
Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.