Cooper Notches 1st As Britten, Hutton, Grant, Burnell & Payne Return To Winning Ways At LOLR
Britten, Hutton, Grant, Burnell, Payne make triumphant return to Land Of Legends victory lane
Canandaigua, NY – June 10, 2023 – Return visits to victory lane were the order of the night as Ryan Phelps Auto Sales and LSI Solutions presented the ‘Saturday Spectacular’ at Land Of Legends Raceway.
While Jimmy Grant and Kennedy Payne dominated for their third wins of the 2023 campaign and Peter Britten, Jordan Hutton and Frank ‘Bubba’ Burnell Jr. each added win number two, the 70th Anniversary season was an even bigger celebration for Nick Cooper as the persevering pilot from Waterloo broke an eight-year dry spell at the historic Ontario Co. Fairgrounds oval.
“Been a lot of work, just my dad and I at the shop every night and this makes it all worth it,” remarked Cooper, 31, after his sterling performance in the Stirling Lubricants Sportsman feature. His first career Sportsman win is a follow-up to the seven previous checkered flags taken in sprint car competition at Canandaigua, with his last A-Main victory logged on June 20, 2015.
Britten collected the $2,000 top prize in the headline Pepsi Big-Block Modified main, Hutton won the MighTea Boba 305 Sprint Car feature, Grant secured top dollar in the Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock race, Burnell battled for the Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock victory and Payne humbled the historic half-miler en route to first-place in the Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman finale with superb track conditions and fierce race action enjoyed by fans and racers alike throughout the six-card show.
On this night Rochester Spinal Association was the 50/50 beneficiary while ‘Live Stream’ sponsor LSI Solutions provided an XBox Series X console that was rewarded to the 2nd-place 50/50 raffle winner.
Cooper filed into fifth on the 21-car starting grid yet had to wait out an opening lap red flag before moving up the leader board. It was anything but a gift on his birthday for veteran Paul Guererri as LOLR’s all-time Sportsman win leader broke a left-rear wheel hub after contact with another car entering turn four. Guererri’s car slowed in rapid fashion after getting sideways and left no place to go for onrushing Mark Potter, whose own open-wheel mount went airborne in the aftermath. No injuries were reported yet both were done for the night without a single lap scored.
The remaining 24 laps went non-stop with front row partners Behr Grover and Tim Baker swapping the top spot back under green. Biding his time aboard the #35 Seneca Meadows-Bobcat Of FingerLakes-FingerLakes Real Estate Rehabbers/Bicknell machine, Cooper grabbed second from Grover on lap six then closed in on Baker before making the winning move 10 laps later rounding turns three and four. From there the second-generation driver from Waterloo cruised home fora commanding 3/4-straightaway victory over Baker, while Kasey Coffey, Zach Sobotka, Frank Guererri Jr. and points leader Matt Guererri diced further back.
“Was telling myself to stay on the bottom, didn’t think the top (groove) was really there so I just stayed with what I was doing,” noted Cooper, who placed third in 305 points four straight years, earning his first win in a winged machine when the class debuted at Canandaigua in 2012. LOLR promoter Paul Cole took charge in 2018, the same year Cooper was a Sportsman rookie at the fairgrounds.
“After that red flag the car actually jumped out of gear on me on the front stretch here. I had to hold it in gear and drive one-handed the rest of the way so it was a lot of work,” added Cooper, who’s father Mike registered a half-dozen Pro Stock feature wins at Canandaigua, finishing second in the final 2000 point standings.
The battle to the front was just as furious in the 30-lap Modified main with Britten proving to be the best in a fast-paced affair delayed by only two cautions. Justin Wright (lap 1) and Gil Tegg Jr. (lap 10) were the lone casualties with 19 of the 21 starters taking head flagman Scott Hixson’s final checkers.
“I knew I was in good shape when I went from 10th to fifth on that initial start,” figured season-opener winner Britten, who had his #21A Pepsi-Beyea Custom Headers-AMI Racing/Bicknell entry on rails from lap one. “Sometimes its just a track position game, lanes open and shut, and tonight they just opened for me.”
Outside pole-sitter Dalton Martin paced the field early before fellow second-generation driver Kyle Coffey rolled high around him in turns one and two on a lap 10 restart. With no slowdowns in sight, Britten needed a dozen circuits to duck under Alan Johnson down the back chute for second on lap 23 yet only one more mile to blast by Coffey up high as the leaders navigated through turn two.
The popular pilot from Queensland, Brisbane, Australia was untouchable after that, forging a 15 car-length advantage at the finish. Upstart Alex Payne slipped past Johnson for third on lap 27 while two-time reigning points king Justin Haers settled for fifth ahead of Danny Johnson.
“Alan was running the top there and Kyle was running the bottom, I just kept trying to split the middle every now and then,” added Britten, who returned to the top of the track standings as points leader Erick Rudolph was winning a special Big-Block event at Autodrome Drummond north of the border. “Couldn’t quite clear Alan as it was definitely some tight racing out there. I’m super stoked to set the Pepsi no. 21A back in victory lane, the past couple weeks have been a little off. Obviously a lot of people that help make this whole deal happen and I’m thankful for that. I know back home in Australia my mother and brother are watching, hope they enjoyed the show, I know I did.”
When the 305 Sprints hit the track, it was certainly showtime for Hutton as the Hannibal driver was hooked up high from the start. Taking advantage of two yellow flags on lap seven to gain ground, he had his 2nd-string #66 Tom’s Auto-Big Awesome BBQ-JB Farms & Logging Eagle in prime position to overtake leader Johnny Kolosek halfway through the 20-lapper and out-distance Dillon Paddock at the line.
“Man, I was flying … can’t believe I won from 14th,” beamed current CRSA Series points leader Hutton, following his second win in three starts this season at LOLR. “Coming off (turns) one and two I was getting a little loose coming off the bottom, was definitely way faster up top. Johnny was quicker in one and two on restarts, saw him get real loose once and I was coming.”
Pole-sitter Kolosek jumped out to a big lead in the early stages before rookie Kirsten Dombroski slid to the infield to incur the first slowdown. Race runner-up Randy Years then suddenly pulled out of line rounding turns three and four on the restart to force out another yellow flag just as fast. Hutton found himself in second when the field was sorted out and he wasted little time charging around Kolosek —suffered a broken rocker arm stud— out of turn four followed by Paddock to complete lap 10.
A final caution for Dustin Sehn on lap 14 tightened the pack for only a brief time as Hutton triumphed by a comfortable 10 car-lengths at the stripe. Paddock held on to place second followed by Ethan Gray and current point co-leaders Darryl Ruggles and Bobby Parrow.
“Can’t believe how good this (car) was after we were struggling in the heat race,” said Hutton, who climbed to sixth on the LOLR points chart. “I’ll be honest, this is my back-up car for the year. We just wanted to come out here and get some of the tweaks worked out and make sure it was good to go if we ever needed it in case we got in a wreck.”
One car is all that Grant has needed so far this season, cruising home for three 20-lap wins and a pair of runner-up finishes in five tries.
“I know the car was really good on the bottom, I tried the top and it just wasn’t working,” stated Grant, after his 15th career win at LOLR puts the Penn Yan pilot further ahead in his bid for a second division points title. “Tonight the track was good for me, but just on the bottom.”
Rick Crego out-dueled Aksel Jensen to take the early lead before Pat Hobbs and Justin Neff were involved in a front stretch mishap on the third circuit. Nick Dandino moved to the point on the ensuing lap three restart with ninth starting Grant already challenging Crego for second-place. Grant and Dandino crossed the line even on lap four yet the next time around it was all Grant as he put his potent #36 Fratto Curbing-Washburn Excavating Chevrolet Camaro ride out front to stay with 15 laps still to go.
Mike Fellows slid high over the turn two bank on lap eight and Hobbs looped his car low in turn four on lap 15 to require two more cautions, yet each time Grant was up to the task as he stretched the winning margin to nearly a straightaway. Dandino outlasted Marc Minutolo for second while C.J. Guererri and all-time LOLR full-fender winner Mike Welch rounded out the Top-5.
“I know the last two nights its been ‘hammer down’ on the top, if you started out front you probably won,” added Grant, who claimed the LOLR Street Stock season championship in 2021. “Had a little help on set-up from Shane Wolf this week and we just nailed it.”
In the most entertaining contest of the night, Waterloo wheelman Burnell outlasted eventual runner-up and rival Marc Minutolo to savor his second victory that featured a staggering six lead changes in the first half of the race.
“Everybody in the pits is gonna tell you that Marc and I don’t see eye-to-eye, but we did that for the fans, me and him, he’ll agree on that one,” remarked Burnell, who broke a dead-lock with Minutolo and now leads the points chase by just four markers heading into the summertime slate. Ironically, his 33rd career stock car win in Canandaigua matched Marc’s father Mike Minutolo Sr. for 7th-place on the all-time list. “My car has never been this good in the middle (lane) like this, that was a heckuva race.”
The 15-lap finale began boasting a four-car frenzy up front with Parker Smith edging father Blane Smith as Minutolo and Justin Eldredge joined the fray. A yellow flag quickly unfurled as fire underneath Parker’s black Camaro required immediate attention yet from then on, lap after lap, Minutolo and seventh starting Burnell went at it tooth and nail, never giving an inch. Minutolo crossed the stripe low each time to lead laps 2, 4 and 6 while Burnell edged ahead on the high side by a bumper to complete laps 3, 5 and 7.
Past points champ Eldredge slowed to a stop on the back chute to give scorers a break and with the race half over Burnell and Minutolo were in a league of their own ahead of Daniel Kerrick, Blane Smith and Brighton Grant. Looking to make a second straight trip to victory lane, Kerrick’s mount suffered a broken timing chain on the ensuing lap nine restart to drop off the pace and send him pitside for the duration.
Back under green Burnell kept the pedal down in his no. 57B FLX Home Solutions-Scott French Home Improvement Chevrolet Taurus, ultimately holding on for a narrow two car-length victory over Minutolo. Blane Smith, Grant and Justin Jacoby, who tallied a career-best finish despite a last lap turn one tangle with Craig Dingy.
“This track right now, like from five weeks ago, this is where I wanna be,” declared two-time and defending LOLR points champion Burnell. “The speed, we haven’t raced Hobby stocks this fast in years. These guys, Richie (Yahn, track prep) and Paul (Cole), they busted their asses and this is the place to be right here. I went to the motor builder this week, did some carb work, tightened up the distributor and went from an automatic to a standard transmission. This (car) is rocket ship and man, I love this thing. Our team is awesome, nobody ever quits.”
For the third time this season there was no quitting once Payne got out front as the talented teen from Hopewell sped out to another convincing victory, her second straight 12-lapper at the fairgrounds.
“Its nice get #3 in the books, truly I never thought we’d be this far in the season and have this many wins,” admitted Payne, who last week made the winning move high out of turn four and this Saturday dove low down the back straightaway to show her versatility in authoring the same result. “Definitely feels real good.”
Angel Sperring bolted ahead of front row partners Brad Sawyer and Kyle Ridley at the drop of the green yet could only hold back Payne until lap four when the #31K SVN Realty Performance-Deck Tech-Speed Connection/Troyer car blazed by. After that it was all Kennedy as she remained relentless rolling on to win by a half-track in the four-minute caution-free affair.
“Never had a car this comfortable. Threw it into the turn there a little too hard and almost spun out but it corrects itself really nice. It rolls on smoothly and feels really, really good. Could go on with all the people that help me out … Bob from SVN Realty, Tony from Troyer and my dad and his Speed Connection business … but everyone’s important in the end when it counts,” Payne pointed out.
Sperring, Sawyer in his season debut, and Ridley finished bumper-to-bumper-to bumper in the otherwise anti-climactic novice Sportsman nightcap.
LEGEND LEDGER
Father’s Day Weekend brings with it Mid-Season Championship Night at Land Of Legends Raceway presented by Seneca Meadows. The mighty Pepsi Big-Block Modifieds hit the Canandaigua clay for their 30-lap feature event on June 17 and are joined by Stirling Lubricants Sportsman, MighTea Boba 305 Sprint Car, Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock and Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock classes with double points on the line in all divisions. AutismUP is the weekly 50/50 beneficiary with pit gates opening at 3:30pm, spectators entering at 5 o’clock and hot laps starting at 5:30 followed by the first qualifier at 6:30pm.
SKIDMARKS
Led by award-winning executive producer Art Rorick, and Chris Marquart in his absence, the LOLR TV broadcast team embodied by production assistant Makenna Hansen, graphics coordinator C.J. Miller, chief camera operators Mike Yawney, Jim & Michelle Mullen, and veteran voices Steve Ovens (PA announcer) and Doug Elkins (pit reporter) are once again on-site to provide LIVE video coverage of every event through Land of Legends TV, with LIVE streaming continuing to be offered FREE in 2023. On-line registration at https://landoflegendstv.com/
Also available for download is the LOLR mobile app found at Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/
App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/
In addition to LOLR’s weekly racing being simulcast on Land of Legends Raceway TV, each show will also be broadcast live on DIRTVision and highlighted by the mighty DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds. To watch, sign up for an annual Platinum FAST PASS with DIRTVision and experience every event either online or through the DIRTVision App.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TICKET BUNDLES & PIT PASS PACKAGES IN 2023
General Admission Ticket and Pit Pass bundles continue to be offered to LOLR fans and race teams while providing a great opportunity to save money in the process. G.A. packs of 20 ($200) or 50 ($450) and Pit bundles of 20 ($700) or 50 ($1700) must be pre-ordered to be used during the upcoming season.
Regular weekly ticket prices remain set at $15 Adults, $13 Seniors, Kids 16 yrs. and under FREE. Pit passes are $40. For those youngsters needing pit access, Child Season Pit Passes are $50 for 2 yrs. & under and $150 for kids 3-13. Camping is FREE at all race events.
To purchase ticket and pit pass bundles or discuss marketing opportunities available at the track in 2023, please contact LOLR Director of Marketing & Operations Tana Robinson via e-mail tana@landoflegendsraceway.com or cell 716-799-5669.
Check out www.landoflegendsraceway.com often as the latest news and season schedule information will be posted right up to raceday.
Land of Legends Raceway is located on County Road 10 at the Ontario County Fairgrounds, just 1-1/2-miles north of Routes 5&20, and is easily accessible from the NYS Thruway (I-90), taking Exit 43 (Manchester, Route 21 South) traveling from the east or Exit 44 (Farmington, Route 332 South) coming from the west.
Land of Legends Raceway Event Summary – June 10, 2023
70th Anniversary Season Celebration
Ryan Phelps Auto Sales & LSI Solutions present Saturday Spectacular
Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature (30 laps): 1. 21a-Peter Britten ($2,000), 2. 39-Kyle Coffey, 3. 70a-Alex Payne, 4. 14j-Alan Johnson, 5. 3-Justin Haers, 6. 27j-Danny Johnson, 7. 42p-Pat Ward, 8. 34-Kevin Root, 9. 132-Dalton Martin, 10. 27jr-Daniel Johnson Jr., 11. 29-Matt Caprara, 12. 11j-James Sweeting, 13. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 14. 7z-Zach Payne, 15. 32r-Zach Sobotka, 16. 11n-Ricky Newton, 17. 88-Dave Allen, 18. 7-Troy Sperring, 19. 29ny-Greg Birosh, 20. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 21. 19w-Justin Wright.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Coffey, Britten, Ward, Sobotka, Tegg, Newton, Sperring.
#2: Martin, A.Johnson, A.Payne, Haers, Wright, Z.Payne, Birosh.
#3: Sweeting, D.Johnson, Root, Caprara, Podsiadlo, Allen, D.Johnson Jr.
Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified
*Feature (25 laps): 1. 35-Nick Cooper ($750), 2. 9-Tim Baker, 3. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 4. 38-Zach Sobotka, 5. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr., 6. 12g-Matt Guererri, 7. 18h-Justin Henderson, 8. 34-Behr Grover, 9. 7j-JT Sperring, 10. 30-Nick Root, 11. 31-Kane Bristol, 12. 10-Karl Comfort, 13. 51-Tim Lafler, 14. 25n-Evan Nugent, 15. 21j-Justin Liecht, 16. 26-Greenley George, 17. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 18. 29g-Steve Gray, 19. 5-Brent Ayers, 20. 7-Paul Guererri, 21. 28-Mark Potter.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Coffey, Sperring, Grover, Comfort, Lafler, George, Liechti.
#2: Root, P.Guererri, Henderson, Bristol, Borden, Gray, Potter.
#3: Baker, Sobotka, Cooper, M.Guererri, F.Guererri, Nugent, Ayers.
MighTea Boba 305 Sprint
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 66-Jordan Hutton ($500), 2. 8-Dillon Paddock, 3. 17e-Ethan Gray, 4. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 5. 80-Bobby Parrow, 6. 14-James Layton, 7. 18-Timmy Lotz, 8. 18c-Dan Craun, 9. 99-Adam DePuy, 10. 77-Matt Rotz, 11. 45-David Ferguson, 12. 121-Steve Glover, 13. 4-Cliff Pierce, 14. d9-Dustin Sehn, 15. 10-Johnny Kolosek, 16. 23-John Smith, 17. 2-Randy Years, 18. 30-Kirsten Dombroski, 19. 21b-Blake Warner, 29-Tori Kaplin(DNS), X-Dan Bennett(DNS).
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Kolosek, Years, Ruggles, Parrow, Lotz, Ferguson, Dombroski.
#2: Gray, Rotz, Paddock, Glover, Pierce, DePuy, Kaplin(DNS).
#3: Layton, Smith, Hutton, Craun, Sehn, Warner, Bennett(DNS).
Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 36-Jimmy Grant ($500), 2. 57j-Nick Dandino, 3. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 4. cj1-CJ Guererri, 5. 00-Mike Welch, 6. 9-Aksel Jensen, 7. 5c-Rick Crego, 8. 39-Dave Yehl, 9. 122-Chris Beyea, 10. 22-Carl Cleveland, 11. 12-John Burritt, 12. 33-Justin Neff, 13. 63-Mike Fellows, 14. 3-Patrick Hobbs.
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Crego, Minutolo, Welch, Cleveland, Beyea, Neff, Burritt.
#2: Dandino, Guererri, Grant, Jensen, Yehl, Fellows, Hobbs.
Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock
*Feature (15 laps): 1. 57b-Frank ‘Bubba’ Burnell Jr., 2. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 3. 55b-Blane Smith, 4. 36x-Brighton Grant, 5. 88-Justin Jacoby, 6. 22-Craig Dingy, 7. 61-Daniel Kerrick, 8. 25j-Justin Eldredge, 9. 85x-Alex Dykes, 10. 55p-Parker Smith, 57jr.-Tyler Burnell(DNS).
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Kerrick, Eldredge, F.Burnell, Minutolo, B.Smith, P.Smith, T.Burnell, Dingy, Grant, Jacoby, Dykes.
Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman
*Feature (12 laps): 1. 31k-Kennedy Payne, 2. 56a-Angel Sperring, 3. 87s-Brad Sawyer, 4. 20k-Kyle Ridley.
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Payne, Sperring, Ridley, Sawyer.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday Spectacular, June 17 @ 6:30pm; Seneca Meadows Landfill presents Mid-Season Championships [Double Points]: Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/305 Sprint/Street Stock/Hobby Stock with AutismUP Benefit.
Saturday Spectacular, June 24 @ 6:30pm; Ferris Mowers presents DIRTcar Northeast Sportsman Series Central/West Region(30L) plus Big-Block Modified/305 Sprint/Street Stock/Hobby Stock with Colony Caregivers Benefit and Legends Inductee Night #2: Vic Coffey.
Track Instant Info
Website: www.LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
E-Mail: info@LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
Twitter: @LandofLegendsNY
Facebook: @LandofLegendsNY
Instagram: @LandofLegendsNY
Live Stream: https://landoflegendstv.com/
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 2023 division sponsors Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling, Pepsi Geneva Club Beverage, Lloyd’s Contracting, Maguire Ford of Canandaigua, MighTea Boba, Stirling Lubricants; event sponsors Admar Construction Equipment & Supply Company, Auction Direct USA, Auto Value Parts Stores, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Busch Light, DC Rauscher Contractor, Ferris Mowers, Genesee Beer/Coors Light/Twisted Tea, Geneva Club Beverage/Pepsi, Honeoye Auto Parts, Jack Howell Properties, iFreeze Storage & Distribution Center, Maguire Ford of Canandaigua, Nardozzi Companies, Phelps Cement Products, Prouty’s Bar & Grill, Regional Truck & Trailer, Ryan Phelps Auto Sales, Seneca Auto Sales & Service, Seneca Meadows Landfill, Sherwin Williams Paint, Tradition Automotive Group, VP Racing Fuels; promotional partners Always Locked Self Storage, American Woman Designs, Auto Wash Car Wash, Baker’s Externinating, Champion Power Equipment, Disbatch Brewing Company, Elab Smokers Boutique, Emerson Oil Company/Castrol, Enertech Global, FLX BBQ Company, Geneva Club Beverage, Hoosier Racing Tire, IndyKart Raceway, LSI Solutions, Legott’s Club 86, Mac’s Dairy Bar & Mini Golf, Maguire Ford of Canandaigua, Meyer’s Finger Lakes RV, Mike Emhof Motorsports, Ontario County Fairboard, On The Rocks Bar & Grill, Phelps Community Center Head Start Program, The “Original” Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, Schultz Heating & Cooling, Spectrum, Stop DWI NYS, Superior Plumbing Service, Turn 5 Media, Vance Metal Fabrication, Weedsport Hall of Fame, Wicked Tees.
Sources: Tom Skibinski, Land of Legends Raceway PR
Shawn Greene photo