Matt Farnham Wins First Career Empire Super Sprints A-Main At Land of Legends; Rest Of Night Falls To Rain
News Director 
Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – A full field of cars and premium track conditions at Land Of Legends Raceway laid the groundwork for a splendid ‘Saturday Spectacular’ as the historic Ontario County Fairgrounds oval finally kicked into high gear its 360 Sprint Car campaign.
Yet despite a rescheduled sprint feature completed in record time and three qualifying heats run for companion classes also in competition, ‘Mother Nature’ had the final say as evening showers forced cancellation of the remainder of the event.
The show presented by Admar Construction Equipment & Supply, Howell Properties LLC and Monroe Mechanical Services was officially scrapped at 9:10pm with excessive moisture still on the track as numerous packer vehicles and both open-wheel and full-fender racers provided vital support attempting to dry out the surface.
The wild winged machines from the A-Verdi Storage Containers Patriot Sprint Tour return to wine country for the postponed full points show on Sat. Aug. 28 alongside a complete program of Speed Connection Sportsman, Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprint and Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock racing on Pepsi Big-Block Modified Championship Night. Hobby Stockers will now get that night off.
Picking up where they left off when rain soaked the speedway on July 20, the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints opened the card with Chad Miller collecting $100 for his 4-lap romp in the Cobra Coaches Series ‘Danny Willmes Memorial’ Dash. With skies overhead darkening as the evening progressed, 21 cars were pushed trackside for the 25-lap ESS A-Main which marked the 11th event along the 2021 points trail.
Boasting five past LOLR winners on a stacked starting grid, pole-sitter Matt Farnham wasted little time becoming the 24th driver to capture an A-Main in 37 ESS events at the fairgrounds. Now in his third season contending weekly in Canandaigua’s top tier Big-Block ranks, the Tonawanda traveler pocketed a cool $2,500 for his 7-1/2 minute march in the fast caution-free affair.
“The car was awesome, every time I get to race one of these Hoddick cars I can’t thank everybody enough,” beamed Farnham, 26, after parking the sleek black Rider-powered Hoddick Racing #7NY Skyline RV-CJ Construction-Composites Fibreworks-Brady Electric/XXX machine in Canandaigua’s Cazbah Victory Lane. “Glad we could do it tonight, especially on Trey’s (Hoddick) birthday. Hopefully everybody enjoyed it.”
Farnham’s front row partner Dylan Swiernik chased the leader early but only lasted seven laps before pulling pitside for good with mechanical woes aboard his no. 7C Adirondack Powder Coating-Westward Painting/Panther entry. Three-time ESS winner on the hallowed half-miler, the “Cobra” Chuck Hebing inherited the runner-up spot chased by Joe Trenca, Paulie Colagiovanni in search of a third Canandaigua victory, and Jeff Cook.
With Farnham on cruise-control a straightaway out front, Trenca shadowed Hebing until finally getting by with four to go, while Colagiovanni dropped “Cobra” to fourth as the final checkered flag waved. In his own quest for a third ESS trophy, Jason Barney cracked the top-5 by the midway point yet was unable to advance during the closing stages of the ultra-fast finale.
“Easily the best track (surface) all year, fast and smooth, kept the pedal to the floor all the way around up top until I hit traffic,” remarked Farnham, who owns a half-dozen Big-Block top-5 feature finishes at LOLR, after making the first in ESS competition his biggest. “Certainly helps running here this year, especially knowing the track conditions and more of what to expect.”
“Definitely keeps us sharp (running both Mods & Sprints), whether its 360, 410 sprints or my Modified, all of it helps out in some little way. Hopefully we can get it done in the second one, too,” added Farnham, who was looking to match his only other Patriot Tour triumph logged last September at Penn Can (Pa.) Speedway.
Farnham never got the chance to repeat, however, as light rain began to fall over the fairgrounds as companion classes moved trackside. Four qualifying heats had lined up the 33 teams registered in PST preliminaries, with Lacey Hanson the lone ESS driver not electing to participate in the unique sprint car doubleheader.
ESS teams headed east from the speedway with Barney (1066) topping the point standings followed by Colagiovanni (1036), Danny Varin (853), Matt Tanner (823) and Shawn Donath (802).
With the black clouds finally starting to empty by 7:30, Nick Dandino and Josh Pangrazio took checkered flags in the two Street Stock heats while Nick Cooper was dialed in to claim the first of three scheduled Sportsman qualifiers. Continuing rain forced out a red flag before round two could be run and the wet grounds combined with humid conditions ultimately dictated the decision to cancel soon after.
LEGEND LEDGER
The ‘Saturday Spectacular’ presented by Auction Direct USA and Midstate Basement Authorities on August 14 not only offers a complete card of Pepsi Big-Block Modified, Speed Connection Sportsman, Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock and Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock action, it also includes a full program of Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprinters contending in the SuperGen Products with Champion Power Equipment CRSA Series plus a make-up 20-lap A-Main from June 19.
Twenty-three 305s signed in for the June event with all-time LOLR sprint winner Darryl Ruggles, female flash Alysha Bay and five-time feature winner Brandyn Griffin scoring heat race victories. Before rain forced postponement, Bay and Jason Whipple selected front row starting positions in the customary pre-race redraw.
A Farmington-Victor Kiwanis Club Benefit raffle will be held during the night with practice sessions kicking off on-track activity at 5:30pm. Heat race qualifiers for all five divisions go green at 6:30pm with pit gates open at 3:30pm and spectators gaining admittance into the main grandstands at 5 o’clock.
LOLR WALL OF FAME ADDS TOP-NOTCH TRIO
Special ceremonies on the grandstand side kick off this weekend’s ‘Saturday Spectacular’ as all-time Canandaigua division winners Paul Guererri and Mike Welch, and former track official Fred Taney will be honored on the Land Of Legends Wall of Fame.
Open-wheel Sportsman veteran Guererri, full-fender Street Stock mainstay Welch, and the late flagman Taney join fellow ’21 classmate Steve Paine, who was inducted in June. Donald ‘Dutch’ Hoag, ‘Barefoot’ Bob McCreadie, DIRT Motorsports founder Glenn Donnelly and all-time LOLR Big-Block Modified winner Alan Johnson comprise the list of WoF charter members in 2018 while Steve Pesarek, Milt Johnson, Gary Montgomery and Gary & Donna Spaid were recognized in the Class of 2019.
Land of Legends Raceway Event Summary – August 7, 2021
Admar Construction Equipment & Supply, Howell Properties LLC and
Monroe Mechanical Services present Saturday Sprint Car Spectacular
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints
*A-Main (25 laps / *rain-delayed from 7/20): 1. 7ny-Matt Farnham ($2,500), 2. 98-Joe Trenca, 3. 10c-Paulie Colagiovanni, 4. 45-Chuck Hebing, 5. 87-Jason Barney, 6. 90-Matt Tanner , 7. 22-Jonathan Preston, 8. 10-Jeff Cook, 9. 10h-Kelly Hebing, 10. 88c-Chad Miller, 11. 67-Steve Glover, 12. 29-Dalton Herrick, 13. 3z-Bobby Parrow, 14. 17-Sammy Reakes IV, 15. 23-Tyler Cartier, 16. 33-Lacey Hanson, 17. 53-Shawn Donath, 18. 7c-Dylan Swiernik, 19. 66-Erik Karlsen, 20. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 21. 00-Danny Varin, 5k-Jake Karklin(DNS), 36-Nick Fratto(DNS), 53x-Jeff Halligan(DNS).
(heats run 7/20)
Cobra Coaches / Danny Willmes Memorial Dash (4 laps / *rain-delayed from 7/20): 1. Miller ($100), 2. K.Hebing ($75), 3. Ruggles ($50), 4. Hanson ($25), 5. Varin(DNS), Halligan(NS).
Patriot Sprint Tour (33 entries)
00-Danny Varin, 2-Dave Axton, 3-Denny Peebles, 3z-Bobby Parrow, 3a-Jeff Trombley, 7c-Dylan Swiernik, 7ny-Matt Farnham, 9-Bobby Breen, 9x-Dillon Paddock
10-Paulie Colagiovanni, 10c-Jeff Cook, 10h-Kelly Hebing, 10x-Ryan Smith, 17-Sammy Reakes IV, 22-Jonathan Preston, 23-Tyler Cartier, 28f-Davie Franek, 29-Dalton Herrick, 35-Jared Zimbardi, 36-Mike Stelter, 45-Chuck Hebing, 47-Kyle Drum, 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 53-Shawn Donath, 66-Erik Karlsen, 67-Steve Glover, 79-Jordan Thomas, 87-Jason Barney, 88c-Chad Miller, 90-Matt Tanner, 97-Jordan Hutton, 98-Joe Trenca, 121-Randy Years.
*Full show rescheduled for Aug. 28 due to rain.
Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock
*Feature Starting Line-Up Aug. 14 (20 laps): 1. 55p-Parker Smith, 2. 3-Patrick Hobbs, 3. 9-Aksel Jensen, 4. 99-Nick Dandino, 5. 00-Mike Welch, 6. cj1-C.J. Guererri, 7. 57j-Adam DePuy, 8. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 9. 64b-Bob Buono, 10. 5c-Rick Crego, 11. 7-Josh Pangrazio, 12. 36-Jimmy Grant, 13. 122-Chris Beyea, 14. 510-Brad Steinruck Jr., 15. 74-Ronald “Bundy” Metcalf, 16. 12s-Dakota Sharp, 17. 63-Mike Fellows, 18. 93-Jared Hill, 19. 24j-Marcus Springer, 20. 12-John Burritt.
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Dandino, Grant, Welch, Hobbs, DePuy, Buono, Beyea, Metcalf, Fellows.
#2: Pangrazio, Smith, Jensen, Guererri, Minutolo, Crego, Steinruck, Sharp, Hill, Springer, Burritt.
NEXT EVENT: Saturday Spectacular, August 14 @ 6:30pm; Auction Direct USA and Midstate Basement Authorities present Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/CRSA 305 Sprint Tour DOUBLE FEATURES/Street Stock/Hobby Stock with Farmington-Victor Kiwanis Club Benefit.
