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Gary Tomkins Continues Hot Streak with Last Lap Pass at Canandaigua Speedway
Weedsport, NY – August 24, 2008 – By Dan Kapuscinski, Canandaigua Speedway PR Coordinator
After Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series wins at Can-Am Motorsports Park and Cornwall Motor Speedway, Gary Tomkins came into Canandaigua Speedway Saturday night looking to keep the streak alive. Tomkins led through the middle stages of the event, only to have Steve Paine emerge as the front runner. However, after a late race restart Tomkins used the outside lane to his advantage, powering around Paine to retake the lead out of turn four on the final circuit.
Tomkins’ fourth win of 2008, and first since July 5th, was worth $1,500 on Autogenesis/Lumberyard Grille and Payne Construction Night at the Races.
“We didn’t have a first place car tonight,” said Tomkins, who now has 43 career wins at the Land of Legends. “I think Steve is kicking himself in the pit area right now. I’m not sure why he took the low line there at the end; it was his race to lose. I have to thank my guys; it is good to be on a roll like this heading into the post season.”
After leading 16-laps Paine held on for the runner-up position as Justin Haers, Matt Sheppard, and Charlie Donk finished the top five.
“The Blizzard is Back”; Anthony Rizzardo, better known at the “Canadian Blizzard”, dove underneath Daryl Hilkert out of turn two on the final lap Saturday night to pick up his first career Sportsman Modified feature win at Canandaigua Speedway. Hilkert led every lap but the final one and came home second ahead of Rob Bussey, Todd Henderson, and Tim Currier.
Chris Fisher and Marc Minutolo also picked up wins Saturday night in the Street Stock and PureStox divisions, while Barb Amadon won the second and final round of the WNYR 98.5FM Crazy Chick-n-Cars series in the Nate Peckham no. 90.
Chad Homan and Dave Rauscher started the 35-lap DIRTcar Big-Block Modified main event from the front row Saturday night with Rauscher gaining the early advantage in the Manodnock Disposal no. 48T. Rauscher led Homan for the first six circuits before Tomkins came into play.
Tomkins, in the Honeoye Auto Parts no. 84, drove by Homan for second on lap-7 and began to set his sights on the leader. Rauscher had built nearly a two second advantage at one point, but by lap-9 Tomkins was in position to battle for the lead.
Tomkins made all the right moves early, coming from the 7th position on the grid. At the same time, Paine was moving up too and looked to be the quickest car on the track. Paine dogged Tomkins through the field, and after Tomkins drove under Rauscher for the lead on lap-11, Paine followed suit.
Just 2-laps later, Paine slipped underneath Tomkins in turn three, but couldn’t make the move stick. Tomkins would enjoy the lead for 7-laps, but it was clear that the Terrell’s Potato Chips no. 7x was the car to beat. Tomkins ran the high side of the track, and Paine kept himself in the patented “Paine Lane” on the bottom of the Speedway.
Before long Paine snagged the lead on lap-19 and began to pull away out front. Paine would not deviate from the bottom of the Speedway and it seemed to be the smart move. With just 5-laps to go Paine had built a 4-second lead on Tomkins and had lapped up to 7th place running Charlie Donk.
Tomkins stayed on the top side as he had all night long, and for all intent and purposes had conceded to the “Hurricane.” That was until the race’s only caution came on the Speedway on lap-33.
Paul Guererri in the Pump House Tavern no. 7g, stalled on the outside of turn four giving Tomkins and the rest of the lead lap cars a chance at the 9-time Canandaigua Speedway Track Champion. With only 2-laps to go Paine led Tomkins, Justin Haers, Matt Sheppard, Charlie Donk, Chad Homan, and Dave Rauscher. They were the only cars on the lead lap at the restart.
Paine would keep his advantage out front into turn three, but as the two race leaders came down for the white flag it was clear that Tomkins had something left in the tank. Paine again stayed on the bottom, while Tomkins used the cushion, and out of turn two the no. 84 began to pull alongside Paine into turn three. As the two veterans drove through three and four, Tomkins slammed the cushion perfectly and rocketed around Paine out of the last turn to score his 43rd career win at Canandaigua Speedway.
“This is the first time we have won in this car,” said Tomkins. “Things are going good right now, but like I said we shouldn’t have had this one tonight. I could only get my car to work on the cushion, and when Steve stayed low I thought I might have a chance.”
Paine, Haers, Sheppard, Donk, Homan, Rauscher, Ron Smoker, Chuck Bower, and Eric Fisher filled the top ten finishers in the 17-car field.
The 25-lap DIRTcar Sportsman Modified feature pitted Rob Bussey and Daryl Hilkert against each other on row one, with “Hollywood” Hilkert grabbing the early race lead. Hilkert, in the Rochester Gypsum no. 4, won his first career feature at Canandaigua back on May 17th, and was looking for win number two after picking up a heat race earlier in the night.
Hilkert led Bussey for the first 4-laps when the race’s second caution of the night came out for Championship contender Dan Wiesner. The Monroe Wheelchair no. 66 headed pitside only completing 3-laps, and ending up with a 17th place finish on the night.
Hilkert led Bussey, Anthony Rizzardo, Fran Hilton, and Marcus Dinkins to the stripe for the restart. When the field went back to green Rizzardo began to make his move in the Regional Haulage no. 99.
Rizzardo found his way by Bussey, pulling in behind Hilkert out front on lap-5. Hilkert and Rizzardo seemed to be the class of the field as they began to gain some distance on third place running Bussey.
Lap-9 saw another Championship contender run into problems, this time it was Steve Gray in the Fox’s Auto no. 29g. Gray pulled into the pit area very slowly, but would return to the racetrack. Gray would end the night 5-laps down in 14th position.
Wiesner and Gray had already run into issues, it was only fitting for point leader Kevin Ridley to experience issues of his own on lap-20. Ridley picked up a flat tire and slowed in the back stretch to bring out the caution. His day would be done with a finish of 15th.
The restart with 5-laps to go saw Hilkert lead Rizzardo, Bussey, Tim Currier, and Hilton out front. Before the yellow lights came on Rizzardo was beginning his battle for the lead, and on the restart he would give it another charge on the outside of turn four.
With the green flag back out, Rizzardo charged to the outside but Hilkert could feel the pressure. “Hollywood” slid up the track to block the line and as he did so the two made contact at the start finish line, nearly sending both cars into the outside wall. Each was able to hang on however, as at the same time the no. 11 of Ben Wheeler found the outside wall in turn two.
The night’s final incident would set up the final restart of the evening, as all eyes were set on the no. 99 to see if Rizzardo would make another daring outside attempt at the lead. With 5-laps to go the top five remained the same with the exception of Eric Giguere who had now managed to work his no. 67g into 5th.
Everyone in Canandaigua knew that Rizzardo was going to try the high side again in the final 5-laps, as did race leader Hilkert. Rizzardo tried the high line on several occasions, with Hilkert sliding up high each time to block his momentum. Hilkert’s car became very wide in the final laps, and as the white flag came out into turn one, the no. 4 may have become a little too wide.
Rizzardo drove high down the front straight and into one, as Hilkert dove low and then slid high to again try and slow Rizzardo. This time though the “Canadian Blizzard” looked ahead, and as Hilkert slid high Rizzardo pulled the high-low swing out of two to take the lead. Over the final half lap Rizzardo charged away and stormed under start Dave Farney’s checkered flags for his first career win at Canandaigua Speedway.
Rizzardo was joined by family and friends in victory lane, including his mother who was on pins and needled throughout the event. Rizzardo then climbed to the roof and proclaimed, “The Blizzard is Back Baby!”
“This is amazing,” said the Jordan, Ontario pilot. “We have been fast all year long, it came together tonight. Daryl drove me tough, we made a little contact a few times out there but that is how it goes. I have to thank my team and my sponsors, they are the best. My mom has a pretty tight grip on that trophy over there, she’ll be sad she brought it home later though because she is going to have another one to dust off.”
Hilkert held on to second after leading 24 and a half laps. Bussey, Todd Henderson, and Tim Currier completed the top five.
The 20-lap DIRTcar Street Stock finale went green to checkered Saturday night with Chris Fisher, in the Fisher’s Tree Service no. 37, taking win number two of 2008. Fisher led all 20-laps from the front row, and had to hold off the advances of Leroy Lewis in the closing laps to claim victory.
Point leader Andy Fisk was engaged in a tough battle all night long with fellow contenders Mike Welch and Bubba Burnell. Fisk however picked up a flat tire on lap-16 and pulled into the pit area with a 10th place run.
Fisher was a happy driver in victory lane.
“This division is so tough. I don’t come here to win every week, but I do come to be competitive every week. You just have to run hard every lap in this class, and everything worked out for us tonight leading every lap.”
Lewis had another great run for second ahead of Welch, Burnell, and Nate Peckham in the top five.
The 12-lap PureStox feature was taken once again by the driver of the no. 25b, Marc Minutolo. Minutolo took the lead on lap-6 from a determined Roger Bush and pulled away to victory for the 8th time in 2008.
When asked if he could have ever imagined winning 8 races in one season, Minutolo replied quickly.
“You can always imagine winning 8 times, but it doesn’t always happen that way. My dad and everyone have this car running great, and I just had to wait for my time tonight behind Roger and Eric (Chapman).”
Last week’s winner Eric Chapman came home second ahead of Bush, Bryan Faulkner, Corey Hunt, and Chris Gingerich.
Next weekend is the final night of the regular season at Canandaigua Speedway with Paine Motorsports Night of Champions presented by Huff Equipment. The Big-Blocks, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and PureStox will conclude their chase for the championship, as Kid’s Fun Laps will also be on the card at 6:30pm.
For more information call the DIRTcar NE Headquarters at 315/834-6606 or visit canandaiguaspeedway.com.
Autogenesis/Lumberyard Grille and Payne Construction Night at the Races Event Summary (8-23-08):
PureStox
Heat: Chapman, Minutolo, Faulkner, R. Bush, Hunt, LaVare Jr., Gingerich, F. Bush
Feature (12-laps): 1) 25b- MARC MINUTOLO, 2) 22t- Eric Chapman, 3) 9r- Roger Bush, 4) 83- Bryan Faulkner, 5) 77- Corey Hunt, 6) 10- Chris Gingerich, 7) 6- George LaVare Jr., 8) 9f- Floyd Bush
DIRTcar Street Stocks
Heat: Smith, Fisher, Welch, Fisk, Lewis, Peckham, Jacobs, Lurcock, Force, Burnell
Feature (20-laps): 1) 37- CHRIS FISHER, 2) 07- Leroy Lewis, 3) 00- Mike Welch, 4) 57b- Bubba Burnell, 5) 90- Nate Peckham, 6) 75- Scott Smith, 7) 05- Ross Lurcock, 8) 17t- Chris Jacobs, 9) 6- George LaVare Sr., 10) 33- Andy Fisk, 11) 9r- Roger Bush, 12) 97- Chris Fisher
Home Necessities $25 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 07- Leroy Lewis
DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
Heat #1: Hilkert, Bussey, Rizzardo, Wiesner, Gray, Hilton, Giguere, Lewis, Cool
Heat #2: Currier, Dinkins, Ridley, Henderson, Wheeler, Lincoln, Guererri, DeMallie, K. LaVare
Feature (25-laps): 1) 99$- ANTHONY RIZZARDO, 2) 4- Daryl Hilkert, 3) 76- Rob Bussey, 4) 18h- Todd Henderson, 5) 10- Tim Currier, 6) 67g- Eric Giguere, 7) 3- Fran Hilton, 8) 24a- AJ Lewis, 9) 22- Greg Cool, 10) 17- Marcus Dinkins, 11) 2L- Loren Lincoln, 12) 88- Kyle LaVare, 13) 11- Ben Wheeler, 14) 29g- Steve Gray, 15) 20x- Kevin Ridley, 16) 74- Mike DeMallie, 17) 66- Dan Wiesner, 18) 25g- Nick Guererri
Currier Plastics $50 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 20x- Kevin Ridley
DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds
Heat #1: Rauscher, Podsiadlo, Vitale, Sheppard, Bower, Smoker, Guererri, Monroe, Payne Jr.
Heat #2: Homan, Donk, Tomkins, Paine, Fisher, Haers, Whaley, Slover, Brown
Feature (35-laps): 1) 84- GARY TOMKINS, 2) 7x- Steve Paine, 3) 3- Justin Haers, 4) 9s- Matt Sheppard, 5) 99- Charlie Donk, 6) 91- Chad Homan, 7) 48T- Dave Rauscher, 8) 62r- Ron Smoker, 9) 99b- Chuck Bower, 10) 37c- Eric Fisher, 11) 44- Shannon Whaley, 12) 21- Derrick Podsiadlo, 13) 7g- Paul Guererri, 14) 4- Ed Monroe, 15) 56- Vinnie Vitale, 16) 50- Don Slover, 17) 16- Billy Brown
Gypsum Wholesalers $100 Wheel of Fortune Bonus: 99- Charlie Donk
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