The Write Track – Canandaigua Motorsports Park – 2nd Annual Jan Corcoran Memorial – April 7th 2012

I first want to say that I apologize with my blog being late as my personal life with family was on a sore side and my mind hasn’t been clear enough to write. Also it was excellent to see family members on Easter Sunday as well. Anyone will tell you, that family first and then racing. I’m a true believer in this, but it is hard to take, as it just isn’t me. I did only attend the race as a fan so I’m not media and obligated to get a story out on a deadline, because if that were the case, I would have quit as Family Rules. Now onto the racing part of my blog.
I was extremely excited for this day to arrive and arrive it did! I have missed all of last year’s shows at Canandaigua, as simply put, work and racing sometimes just don’t go well together. The anticipation of this event had all internet message boards filled up with chatter and conversations of many things from the weather, to who is going to show up. With all the hype that surrounded this event, I’ll start off by saying it sure did live up to it.
The grandstand gates were set to open up at 3pm and racing was going to start at 5 pm and I usually like to get there early and cook some food out on the grill and relax. Show up early and go put some blankets down to save our seats and we would be all set to go. I was trying to tell my buddy that we have to get going, or the line will be huge, which it was.

I was out relaxing, “tailgating” and heard the first roar of a BIG BLOCK MODIFIED out on the track for hot laps, I WAS PUMPED!!! I normally get the “Midway” parking and pay a bit extra to park behind the grandstands, but to my avail I found out that you couldn’t have a cookout and/or bring alcohol into this area. The security guy was very polite to me and I was back to him also. He was checking cars for the “booze” which was fine with me; he was just doing his job. Without me being there last year, I did not know that the rules have changed, which was not a problem. Think of this in a promoters view, he owns the place and sells food and beer there and in this economy any business owner needs to make as much as possible to stay above debt. The “Midway” parking is also used for handicapped so there isn’t too far to walk and be able to get up close. This is the first time in years that I saw so many people and cars in the parking lot for a special show at “The Land of Legends”. It was a great day with the weather so that was to be expected. No one really knew what the car count was going to be and all were guessing on the internet and anymore in this day in age I’ll settle for who ever shows up and keep supporting local racing, 41 Modifieds signed up for the series opener, which is a real good car count, as my friend said, “that’s it”? I said be thankful it wasn’t 40 or 26!!
Along with the Modifieds, DIRTcar sportsman and also Pure Stocks and Street Stocks were on the card and I was hoping for a good car count in the full-fendered divisions as they put on a great show too. After hot laps and grouped time trials, Justin Hears set fast time. The track was getting ready for the anthems, and the drivers lined up on turns three and four to pay tribute to the late Paul Britten who was the father of Peter Britten who drives #21a Troyer Big Block Modified and also tribute to the late Jan Corcoran.

After the anthems, we were ready to get into heat races and start out the 2012 season for the Super DIRTcar Series and also for Canandaigua Motorsports Park. The crowd in the grandstands was packed and almost elbow-to-elbow.

I usually sit to the left of the flag stand toward turn four and I used to have season passes here back from like 2000-2004 when the racing was in a better economy than what it is today. It was real good to see old racing friends and to meet new friends as well. It was good to see that the children came out with their parents and a few of them already have the racing blood in them and you can see this by some of the “junior flagger’s” which I think is a real good deal for the younger generation. The track also has a kid’s club set in place to help and entertain the younger base of fans, and yes folks that is the future of racing!

A familiar face that you will see every Saturday night is that of Bob Miller who is on the video camera catching all the action. Here he is just getting ready to hit that record button or maybe just trying to get the camera in focus. If you see him be sure to say thank you, as a thank you goes a long way and he does what he does for the love of the sport.

Enough of my rant, it is time to get onto the racing, the Pure Stocks came out for their one and only heat for the night and the first real racing action in over a year! Vance Vanderwall would lead them to the field and never look back and take the heat victory.
The Street Stocks were up for their heat and Nate Daggett wound up taking the victory.
The DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds were set to run their 5 qualifying heats, which were won by Todd Henderson, Justin Henderson, Greg Cool, Eric Giguere, and Cody McPherson. This was a real good field with a total of 40 cars in the pits.
The ground pounding Big Block Modifieds was set to go in their 4 heats with 41 Mods signed in. It was time to Start the season for the Super DIRTcar Series 2012 edition Billy Decker, Larry Wight, Matt Sheppard and Danny Johnson won the heats. It looked like many cars were really hooked up and that it was going to be a great feature. The staff at the track and officials did a great job of keeping the show moving right along! The weather was getting colder as the day went on, but with the great on-track action it didn’t bother me too much.
While heading back to the car during a break to grab another sweatshirt, I have noticed that someone has apparently pranked someone or intentionally doesn’t like the person, but either way this is what you don’t want to see at the races!!

I have said many times that the racing family and fans are some of the best and will do anything to help you out in a time of need, and this was just a bad example of this. Then again, maybe the people who knew about this, are still laughing and was done all in fun with friends, but I don’t know take it for what it is.
The redraw for the Modifieds took place right behind the flag stand and all the drivers had to pick from a pile of white Jan Corcoran t-shirts that had a number on them which would set the top-12 starting positions.
The drivers would pick their shirt and then sign the shirts and give them to a fan, most of the drivers had someone pick them for them and also the kids loved getting up close to see their favorite drivers, it was good to see smiles on faces!

Dave Farney was in the house to flag for the Super DIRTcar Series, and also the honorary starter was Ms Motorsports Samantha LaGas, who threw the green flag for the 2nd Annual Jan Corcoran Memorial!! Jeremie and Lori Corcoran’s two kids gave the call to start the engines, just another showing of how the racing family comes together! The track set off a ton of fireworks, which was a spectacular way to get the crowd into pre-race excitement!
Take into consideration that I take these pictures with my Android X cell phone, so they might not be the best, but trying to keep the good word about racing and tweeting results and updates. Here is the picture that I captured when they took the green.

Yes, that is Larry Wight on inside and Tim McCreadie on the outside and just behind him you can get a glimpse of the eventual winner Danny Johnson.
The racing was extremely exciting and fast and at many times from like 2nd-8th place the drivers were going 3-4 wide. The Doctor Danny Johnson took the lead passing Larry Wight on the 6th lap and never looked back only four cautions plagued the event and Danny was still able to prevail claiming his first SDS victory since 1995 at Canandaigua.
I had a blast and so did my friends and my neighbors boy called it right and picked Danny to win. It was getting interesting near the end as Brett Hearn looked like he really found something on the top groove and was closing in on Danny, but just ran out of time. Justin Haers finished third by getting by Matt Sheppard on the last lap and Sheppard showed his frustration by “tapping” the rear bumper of Haers when exiting the track headed to the scales. Too me it seemed like a little love tap and just provided a bit more to the experience of the first race of the year.
Thanks to Jeremie and Lori Corcoran for a well-run show and also to all the employees and volunteers that helped make the first night a huge success!! The track was in great shape, food was great and so was the racing.
I was doing updates from the grandstands and it really does help with good speakers and also two great announcers in Shane Andrews and Mel Thomas. Lookout world because the LAND OF LEGENDS IS BACK!!! Until Next Time, Keep it on “THE WRITE TRACK” and get off your duff and go and support your local track no matter what is racing!! Full Results are below along with some helpful Internet links. Remember if you want complain about this and that, how about you think “outside” the box and be part of the solution instead! For any and all comments, you can reach me at the following> tomames2@yahoo.com or by phone
607-368-3617 LETS GO RACING!!!!

Event Summary – April 7, 2012
49th Season-Opener
Empire Seneca Recycling of Waterloo and Xtreme Lubricants present 2nd Annual Jan Corcoran Memorial
Big-Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series
*Feature (64 laps): 1. (4)27j-Danny Johnson, ($6,400), 2. (17)20-Brett Hearn, 3. (6)3-Justin Haers, 4. (5)9s-Matt Sheppard, 5. (10)98h-Jimmy Phelps, 6. (1)99L-Larry Wight, 7. (12)91-Billy Decker, 8. (18)8r-Rob Bellinger, 9. (3)7x-Steve Paine, 10. (20)10j-Alan Johnson, 11. (14)77x-Dale Planck, 12. (7)21a-Peter Britten, 13. (8)99b-Chuck Bower, 14. (16)21k-Randy Chrysler, 15. (23)49-Billy Dunn, 16. (11)62s-Tom Sears Jr., 17. (2)4*-Tim McCreadie, 18. (15)89b-Todd Burley, 19. (25)1jr.-Mike O'Brien, 20. (29)48too-Dave Rauscher, 21. (9)21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 22. (24)8-Rich Scagliotta, 23. (22)10-Tim Currier, 24. (28)72-Tommy Flannigan, 25. (26)23-Billy VanInwegen, 26. (19)91h-Chad Homan, 27. (21)74-Tim Fuller, 28. (27)22-Gil Tegg Jr., 29. (30)96-Mike Turner, 30. (31)20x-Gary Tomkins, 31. (13)56-Vince Vitale.
Heats (8 laps, 5 Qualify, Top-3 redraw)
#1: Decker, Haers, Phelps, Vitale, Hearn, Dunn, Fuller, Wright, Payne, Mangiarelli(DNS).
#2: Wight, Britten, Sears, Planck, Bellinger, O'Brien, Tegg, Rauscher, Bresnahan, Hilkert.
#3: Sheppard, Bower, Podsiadlo, Burley, Homan, VanInwegen, Turner, Siri, Chappius, Tomkins.
#4: D.Johnson, McCreadie, Paine, Chrysler, A.Johnson, Currier, Scagliotta, Flannigan, Allen, Willix, Dinkins.
Consolations (10 laps, 5 Qualify)
#1: Fuller, Dunn, O'Brien, Tegg, Rauscher, Wright, Bresnahan, Hilkert, Dinkins, Payne, Mangiarelli(DNS).
#2: Currier, Scagliotta, VanInwegen, Flannigan, Turner, Allen, Siri, Willix, Chappius, Tomkins(DNS).
Added: Tomkins.
Time Trials: 1. Justin Haers 17.881 sec (100.665 mph), 2. Billy Decker 17.964, 3. Jimmy Phelps 18.046, 4. Vince Vitale 18.072, 5. Matt Sheppard 18.142, 6. Brett Hearn 18.185, 7. Tim Fuller 18.237, 8. Peter Britten 18.476, 9. Billy Dunn 18.483, 10. Justin Wright 18.504, 11. Larry Wight 18.686, 12. Tom Sears Jr. 18.699, 13. Dale Planck 18.715, 14. Rob Bellinger 18.786, 15. Eldon Payne Jr. 18.854, 16. Mike O'Brien 18.856, 17. Derrick Podsiadlo 18.872, 18. Gil Tegg Jr. 18.935, 19. Tim McCreadie 18.950, 20. Steve Paine 19.028, 21. Todd Burley 19.031, 22. Chuck Bower 19.145, 23. Chad Homan 19.155, 24. Randy Chrysler 19.180, 25. Danny Johnson 19.269, 26. Tommy Flannigan 19.378, 27. Daryl Hilkert 19.415, 28. Tim Currier 19.424, 29. Billy VanInwegen 19.491, 30. Chris Mangiarelli 19.648, 31. Mike Turner 19.781, 32. Tyler Siri 19.808, 33. Dave Allen 19.822, 34. Marcus Dinkins 19.841, 35. Dave Rauscher 19.964, 36. Colton Chappius 20.768, 37. Rich Scagliotta, 22.581, 38. Alan Johnson(NT), 39. Gary Tomkins(NT), 40. Roy Bresnahan(NT), 41. Lance Willix II(NT).

Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman Modified
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 66-Dan Wiesner, 2. 777-Tyler McPherson 3. 29g-Steve Gray, 4. 18h-Todd Henderson 5. 7am-Cody McPherson, 6. 83x-Tim Sears Jr., 7. 67g-Eric Giguere, 8. 20x-Kevin Ridley, 9. 22-Greg Cool, 10. 24a-A.J. Lewis, 11. 57s-Beth Schneider, 12. m1-Dave Marcuccilli, 13. 06-Brandon Easey, 14. 7f-Matt Farnham, 15. 11-Ben Wheeler, 16. 10-Karl Comfort, 17. 52-Jessica Power, 18. 31-Kane Bristol, 19. 1f-A.J. Lloyd, 20. 111-Allan Wills, 21. 25g-Nick Guererri, 22. 21-Justin Henderson, 23. 11-Dean Patterson, 24. p5s-Rich Swarthout, 25. 76-Rob Bussey, 26. 57b-Frank Burnell Jr., 27. 6r-Nate Reynolds, 28. 21m-Randy McCulloch.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: T.Henderson, Wiesner, Schneider, Wheeler, Easey, Ayers, Lincoln, Scales, Livingston(DNS).
#2: J.Henderson, T.McPherson, Power, Lewis, Burnell, Chappius, M.Guererri, P.Guererri(DNS).
#3: Cool, Comfort, Farnham, Lloyd, Reynolds, Henry, Martin, Pavlick.
#4: Giguere, Swarthout, Ridley, Marcuccilli, N.Guererri, Wills, McCulloch, Cook.
#5: C.McPherson, Gray, Sears, Patterson, Bristol, Bussey, Ellsworth, Wilber.
Consolation (8 laps)
#1: Easey, Bristol, Reynolds, Wills, Martin, Lincoln, Wilber, Ellsworth, Chappius(DNS), Pavlick(DNS), P.Guererri(DNS).
#2: N.Guererri, Burnell, Bussey, McCulloch, Henry, Cook, Ayers, Scales, Keyes, M.Guererri, Livingston(DNS).

Parts Plus Street Stock
*Feature (12 laps): 1. 28-Russ Marsden, 2. 00-Mike Welch, 3. 3d-Nate Daggett, 4. 90-Nate Peckham, 5. 55b-Blane Smith, 6. 715-Michael Cooper, 7. 3-Patrick Hobbs, 8. 38-Jason Whipple, 9. 9r-Roger Bush, 10. 98t-Jack Terrell, 11. 5k-Keith Keuer.
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Daggett, Welch, Peckham, Smith, Marsden, Terrell, Whipple, Cooper, Hobbs, Keuer, R.Bush.

Pure Stock
*Feature (12 laps): 1. 742-Vance Vanderwall, 2. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 3. 02-Brad Steinruck, 4. 10-Chris Gingerich, 5. 6-George LaVare Jr. 6. 70-Rod Comfort, 7. 22t-Eric Chapman, 8. 11-Jeremy Pifer, 9. 4p-Dave Bush.
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Vanderwall, Steinruck, Minutolo, LaVare, D.Bush, Gingerich, Chapman, Pifer, Comfort(DNS).

NEXT EVENT: Sat., April 14 @ 7pm; Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/Street Stock/Pure Stock/New Legends Sportsman plus Pit Stop Challenge.

LINKS OF INTEREST

Canandaigua Motorsports Park
http://www.canandaiguamotorsportspark.com
Super DIRTcar Series
http://www.superdirtcarseries.com/
Bob Miller’s Number Nine Video Page Has Highlight video posted
http://www.youtube.com/user/NumberNineVideo
My Blogsite The Write Track Racing
http://thewritetrackracing.blogspot.com/
DIRT 365 – Exclusive Site Where all my Blogs will be posted
http://www.dirt365.com/
My Twitter Account @fastlaneradio
https://twitter.com/#!/fastlaneradio