Downpour Dumps On Land Of Legends, Make-Up Street Stock Main Set for June 1
Only rain can cool off sizzling Matt Sheppard as wild win streak hits 11 over weekend
Canandaigua, NY – May 25, 2019 –The black clouds that hovered around Land Of Legends Raceway throughout Saturday afternoon and early evening finally unloaded, with a torrential downpour forcing track officials to postpone the remainder of the motorsports program on Smith Bros. Drywall Night.
Yet the final rainy result didn’t come before second-year speedway promoter Paul Cole took every chance attempting to complete the show for those avid fans and racers that arrived for the annual holiday happening.
“During qualifying I thought we had maybe a 2-hour window before something big might move in according to the radar,” remarked Cole, who watched closely as 11 qualifying heat races ran off in less than an hour before it took just five minutes for a sudden cloudburst to flood the Ontario County Fairgrounds oval. “When I saw that gap I told Greg (Hixson, Race Director) to put the hammer down and let’s go. But the heavy rain blew in only about a half-hour later and we didn’t stand a chance.”
The 15-lap Smith Bros. Drywall Street Stock feature was rushed trackside just after 8 pm, although a pair of early caution periods negated every effort by the track crew as sheets of rain suddenly soaked the speedway allowing no time for recovery.
Second-generation chauffeur Parker Smith took off from his pole-position start before the first yellow flag flew on the opening circuit. Weekly contender Jimmy Grant —sporting a re-numbered 36WW in honor of his late father and Yates County stunt driver ‘Wild Willy’ Grant’s birthday on May 25— suffered a blown engine in the potent Chevy Monte Carlo entry to end any chance of the Penn Yan pilot scoring his first career victory in Canandaigua.
Smith remained out front back under green, yet a multi-car mishap with two laps complete required more caution. Jason Quigley and Carl Whittaker tangled after contact with Mike Welch rounding turn four, while Blane Smith scraped by just as the darkening skies began to open up.
In search of his fourth straight full-fender triumph on the fairgrounds, seventh starting Adam DePuy bolted from fourth to first on the lap three restart. Yet before the two-time defending points champion could make it around, chief starter Scott Hixson dropped the final yellow flag followed immediately by red as ultra-wet track conditions became unsafe for further competition.
As only two laps were scored, the Street Stock main will be run in its entirety next week retaining the original starting line-up for those comprising the 12-car field. In lieu of the recent weather, promoter Cole is offering a $5 discount off general admission on June 1 for everyone returning with their ticket stub from May 25.
Make-up dates for the remaining Pepsi Big-Block Modified, Canandaigua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Sportsman Modified and Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprint Car class features will be announced during the coming week. Be sure to check out www.LandofLegendsraceway.com in the days ahead for further schedule updates.
Matching DePuy’s string of three consecutive victories at LOLR to open the season, Big-Block Modified marauder Matt Sheppard is also riding a remarkable 11-race win streak covering eight different tracks in the Northeast. ‘Super Matt’ also tops the current Canandaigua point standings in quest of a ninth title at the fairgrounds.
Sheppard chased 2018 LOLR points champion Erick Rudolph across the line in his heat with Danny Johnson and Phil Vigneri III capturing the first two Big-Block qualifiers. DePuy and Grant split the Street Stock heat races.
Also taking checkered flags in preliminary events were Eric Giguere, Nick Guererri, Matt Guererri and Rick Newton in the Sportsman division and MEM 305 wingmen Trevor Years and defending track champion Darryl Ruggles.
LEGEND LEDGER
A new month kicks off with the first ‘Saturday Spectacular’ on June 1 presented by Hoselton Chevrolet and Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores. The lead-off show features another fast four-star card of Pepsi Big-Block Modified, Canandaigua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Sportsman, Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprint and Smith Bros. Drywall Street Stock racing, with a pair of full-fender features now on the docket.
The Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour makes its first of two scheduled appearances at LOLR on 6/1 while the CNY RockaBetties roam the grounds helping raise funds in support of Biker’s Against Child Abuse. Race time is set for 7 p.m. Pit gates unlock at 4:00 and grandstand seating opens at 5 p.m. while hot laps go green at 6.
Mark your calendars for the first mid-week special of the season on Wed., June 26 when the Monster Trucks invade Land Of Legends Raceway. 2018 Monster Jam World Finals champion ‘Overkill Evolution’ will be in the house, headlining a big tripleheader packed with Quad Racing and a huge Demolition Derby. Tickets are on sale now on the track website, $20 adults and $15 for 12 yrs. & under.
With the 56th season now officially underway, continue to follow the point standings and breaking news online by visiting www.LandOfLegendsRaceway.com. Advance sale tickets are also available for purchase online throughout the upcoming months. Log into the website (LandOfLegendsRaceway.com), hit the red “Buy Tickets” button on the homepage, then make a selection from the list of dates & events highlighted.
Land of Legends Raceway is located at the Ontario County Fairgrounds, east of the city on Town Line Road (County Road 10), with easy access off either Exit 43 (Manchester, Route 21 South) or Exit 44 (Farmington, Route 332 South) of the New York State Thruway, just ½-hour southeast of Rochester.
Land of Legends Raceway Event Summary – May 25, 2019
Smith Bros. Drywall presents Saturday Spectacular
Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature Starting Line-Up (35 laps / TBA): 1. 27j-Danny Johnson, 2. 31m-Jimmy Maier, 3. 21p-Derrick Podsiadlo, 4. 44v-Phil Vigneri III, 5. 12x-Dillon Groover, 6. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 7. 11j-James Sweeting, 8. 23-Kyle Coffey, 9. 19w-Justin Wright, 10. 14j-Alan Johnson, 11. 25-Erick Rudolph, 12. 10-Patrick Hoopes, 13. 3-Justin Haers, 14. 49-Billy Dunn, 15. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 16. 28p-Eldon Payne,Jr., 17. 63-Adam Roberts, 18. 1-Steve Paine, 19. 22-Jeff Daugherty, 20. 77-Lance Dusett, 21. 21x-Eric Williams.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: D.Johnson, Wright, Dunn, Sweeting, Hoopes, Payne.
#2: Vigneri, Groover, Haers, A.Johnson, Maier, Roberts, Daugherty, Williams.
#3: Rudolph, Sheppard, Podsiadlo, Tegg, Coffey, Paine, Dusett.
Canandaigua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Sportsman Modified
*Feature Starting Line-Up (25 laps / TBA): 1. c21-Jeff Davoli, 2. 93-Tyler Vinson, 3. 35-Nick Cooper, 4. 25g-Nick Guererri, 5. 28a-Alex Payne, 6. 2-Loren Lincoln, 7. 9-Tim Baker, 8. 2k-Anthony Kimble, 9. 56-Garrison Krentz, 10. 1f-A.J. Lloyd, 11. 12g-Matt Guererri, 12. 11n-Ricky Newton, 13. 1x-Andrew Smith, 14. 7-Paul Guererri, 15. 3m-Mike Stanton Jr., 16. 67g-Eric Giguere, 17. 7z-Zach Payne, 18. 20x-Kevin Ridley, 19. 34-Kevin Root, 20. 42-Darryl Nutting, 21. 132-Dalton Martin, 22. 1-Billy Paine, 23. 00-Sam Hoxie, 24. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr., 25. 117jr.-C.J. Castelletti, 26. 31-Kane Bristol, 27. 1L-Jeff Lawrence, 28. 21v-Tony Velez, 29. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 30. 20-Dan Gardner, 31. 4-Keith Stevenson.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Giguere, Root, Lincoln, P.Guererri, Cooper, Martin, Castelletti, Borden.
#2: N.Guererri, Lloyd, Davoli, Baker, Stanton, Paine, Bristol, Gardner.
#3: M.Guererri, A.Payne, Smith, Kimble, Z.Payne, Hoxie, Lawrence, Stevenson.
#4: Newton, Ridley, Krentz, Vinson, Nutting, F.Guererri, Velez.
Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprint
*Feature Starting Line-Up (20 laps / TBA): 1. 13t-Trevor Years, 2. 48a-Alysha Bay, 3. X-Dan Bennett, 4. 42-Jesse Pruchnik, 5. 38-Jason Whipple, 6. 75-Brandyn Griffin, 7. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 8. 26j-Johnny Kolosek, 9. 99-Andy Jacobus, 10. 74-Eric Kurtz, 11. 66-Erik Karlsen.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Years, Pruchnik, Kolosek, Griffin, Jacobus, Karlsen.
#2: Ruggles, Bay, Bennett, Whipple, Kurtz(DNS).
Smith Bros. Drywall Street Stock
*Feature Starting Line-Up (15 laps / June 1): 1. 55p-Parker Smith, 2. 37x-Carl Johnson, 3. 02-Brad Steinruck, 4. 34q-Jason Quigley, 5. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 6. 36ww-Jimmy Grant, 7. 99-Adam DePuy, 8. 55b-Blane Smith, 9. 64-Bob Buono, 10. 12s-Dakota Sharp, 11. 00-Mike Welch, 12. 69r-Carl Whittaker
Heats (6 laps)
#1: DePuy, Minutolo, P.Smith, Steinruck, Buono, Welch.
#2: Grant, Quigley, Johnson, B.Smith, Sharp, Whiitaker.
NEXT EVENT: Saturday Spectacular, June 1 @ 7pm; Hoselton Chevrolet & Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores present Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/305 Sprint/Street Stock(double features) plus Dirt Modified Nostalgia Tour with CNY RockaBetties/Biker’s Against Child Abuse Benefit.
Track Instant Info
Website: www.LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
E-Mail: info@LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
Twitter: @LandofLegendsNY
Facebook: @LandofLegendsNY
Instagram: @LandofLegendsNY
Along with recognizing its weekly 50/50 raffle fund beneficiaries, Land of Legends Raceway is proud to salute several sponsors and corporate partners that continue to help bring its fans the best Saturday night racing show in the Northeast. Listed alphabetically are current division sponsors Canandaigua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, Mike Emhof Motorsports, Pepsi Geneva Club Beverage, Smith Bros. Drywall; event sponsors Admar Construction Equipment & Supply Company, American Equipment, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Geneva Club Beverage, Honeoye Auto Parts/Auto Value, Pepsi/Mountain Dew/Lipton Lake Beverage, L&L Transmission & Towing, Main Energy, Red Osier Restaurant, Sherwin-Williams Paint, Tradition Automotive Group; promotional partners Champion Power Equipment, Dig Safely New York 811, Dobbers Sports Bar, Elab Smokers Boutique, Hoosier Racing Tire, Hoselton Chevrolet, Ontario County Fairboard, Radio 95.1 Rochester, Star Headlight & Lantern Co., VP Racing Fuels, Weedsport Hall of Fame, Wright Beverage, Young Real Estate Agency.
Sources: Tom Skibinski, Land of Legends Raceway PR