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Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Second-generation standout Nick Root waited for the final ‘Saturday Spectacular’ of the month at Land Of Legends Raceway, making his first trip to victory lane in ‘24 even more special as it came in the DIRTcar Northeast Sportsman Series against the toughest field of the year assembled so far in Canandaigua.
“This is our first series win so it’s definitely exciting,” remarked Root, 16, who scored his first-ever Stirling Lubricants Sportsman win at the same Ontario Co. Fairgrounds oval last summer. “We weren’t really too good at Weedsport (finished 12th) so this helped us in our central points.”
Also cracking the winner’s circle were Alex Payne in the Pepsi Big-Block Modified ranks, Bobby Parrow (MighTea Boba 305 Sprint Car), Jimmy Grant (Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock), Justin Eldredge (Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock) and Tyler Foster (Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman).
Sponsoring one of the most popular shows of the season, Geneva Club Beverage headlined ‘Family Autograph Night’ at the fairgrounds while the Canandaigua VA was the evening’s 50/50 beneficiary.
Hundreds of fans met up with their favorite drivers alongside their cars parked 3-wide in the fairgrounds midway outside turn four behind the main grandstands, collecting hero cards and posing for pictures during the meet and greet activities. LOLR public address announcer Steve Ovens and trackside reporter Doug Elkins conducted candid one-on-one interviews with many of the racers in all classes before qualifiers took the first green flag.
A stellar field of 36 racers signed in for round #2 of DIRTcar’s Central Region Series which attracted ten of the top-20 early season Sportsman point chasers. Root qualified second quickest in the third of four group time trials sessions, then ran runner-up in his heat before redrawing third among the top-2 finishers in each heat to start the 30-lap feature race.
Watching weekly foes Justin Liechti and Matt Guererri swap the top spot from their front row perches the first half of the race, Root charged into the lead on lap 16 and survived a pair of caution flags over the final dozen circuits to earn a $1,000 payday.
“The car felt good but we didn’t really get going for awhile,” noted Root, who climbed to second in the Central Region points standings. “On the restart we got by Gibbz then made a lot of good choices after that and felt like we pulled away a little bit.”
Outside pole-sitter Liechti out-dragged Guererri to set the early pace as the lead pair pulled away from the 30-car starting field. Guererri ducked low to move ahead on lap seven and after two more times around the slick half-miler, Root followed suit to grab second from Liechti. Halfway through the 15-mile main, Guererri and Root stayed on course up front while seventh starting Mike Fowler was sandwiched by two more LOLR stars, Zach Sobotka and Kevin Ridley.
A fourth corner spin by previous night’s Ransomville Speedway winner Dave Conant Jr. forced out a yellow flag on lap 16 and the restart resulted in the winning move as Root swept around Guererri in a bold high side maneuver rounding turn three. Despite two more slowdowns for minor incidents, including a final yellow on lap 29, Root had his #30 FX Caprara Honda-Mohawk Northeast-Fratto Curbing-JP’s Custom & Cycle-SJP/Bicknell ride on rails as the Geneva teen cruised home to a commanding six car-length win under chief starter Scott Hixson’s double checkers.
Fowler crossed the line a solid third followed by Frank Guererri Jr., Sobotka and Ridley with Tony Finch II, past LOLR tour winner Tyler Corcoran, Emmett Waldron and Kasey Coffey completing the Top-10.
“Didn’t really know where to go, top or bottom,” divulged Root, now sitting second behind Sobotka on both the Central Region and LOLR points charts. “Got around (Matt) and I just kept going to the top after that. He’d get a good run into turn one, I was side-by-side with him in three and I could just drive it so much deeper and that really helped us.We’ve been putting a lot of hours in the shop and it definitely paid off.
Stated two-time LOLR season points champion Matt Guererri, “He was definitely the better car. Didn’t need those yellow flags, we were good once we got going. Felt like it took 5-6 laps to get car going. He got good restarts and his car was rolling good.”
Added Fowler in his first appearance of the season in Canandaigua, “Started out with notes from last year but after time trials just threw our notebook right out the window. Still happy with the outcome after making some changes that put us in contention. Finishing third to two track regulars, I’ll take it.”
The series returns to the Ontario Co. Fairgrounds in Canandaigua as part of the 6th Annual Gerald Haers Memorial on Sept. 14 when LOLR hosts a DIRTcar Northeast Fall Championship event with top Sportsmen contending in a 40-lap feature race. Fulton Speedway stages the third Central Region points race on July 27 with Sobotka (284 pts), Root (276), Finch (272), Matt Guererri (266) and Corcoran (266) highest atop the point standings.
Opening the season with back-to-back Big-Block wins at the fairgrounds, Payne got back on track Saturday despite a broken driveshaft hindering his latest 30-lap jaunt.
“The last two laps the vibration came back bad and I was just like ‘please, just two more laps,” commented Payne, 18, after the Hopewell hotshot pocketed another $2,000 payoff at LOLR to vault him into second in the current track standings. “With this brand new Billy The Kid piece (engine) under the hood, really couldn’t ask for much more.”
“Knew I was pretty good, just trying to be real patient and keep the tires under me. Raced with Matt (Sheppard) for awhile, not sure what happened to him. Once I got to third around the #27 (Daniel Johnson Jr.) and then got to Pat (Ward) it was only lap 19 so I stayed patient,” Payne added.
Pole-sitter James Sweeting could only hold off front row partner Ward one lap before the open-wheel veteran took over the second time around. With five laps down the lead duo had out-distanced second-generation wheelmen Johnson Jr. and Zach Payne while seventh starting Payne advanced to fifth.
Halfway through it was still Ward and Sweeting up front with Zach and Alex chased by perennial powerhouse Sheppard while division points leader Mat Williamson found himself pinned between Daniel and his dad Danny Johnson. A wicked three-car battle waged between Sheppard and the Paynes carried on through lap 17 with a relentless Alex snatching second by lap 20.
Sheppard improved to fourth with 10 to go before suddenly ducking to the infield on lap 22 after a reported fuel pump sidelined him for a second straight Saturday; last week running fifth before pulling pitside on lap 27 with an oil line issue. Lap 22 proved just as pivotal for the youngest Payne as he blasted under Ward exiting turn two to forge the final lead change.
Taking advantage of Sheppard’s departure, Williamson passed Sweeting for third on lap 27 then disposed of runner-up Ward on lap 29. Despite his #70A Nardozzi Paving & Construction-Bilstein Shocks/Bicknell mount suffering a damaged driveshaft in the aftermath, it was still Payne authoring a comfortable straightaway margin at the stripe for his fourth career triumph at the fairgrounds.
“First lap coming down the front stretch (car) vibrated terrible,” recalled Payne, who trails only Williamson, 408-392, after leaping over both Sheppard and previous week’s winner Peter Britten with one more month to chase track points. “Drove into turn one and thought ‘man, I don’t know if I should lift,’ it was bad.”
“Then driving down the back straight was wondering if a yolk bolt was coming out but think there was enough force to keep it in. After crossing the (finish) line coming around (turns) three and four it sounded like somebody pulled a grenade under me so I assume it just fell off,” Payne pointed out.
While Payne took home the trophy in the non-stop 10-minute Modified finale, Parrow needed only eight minutes to match his opening day triumph at LOLR in the 20-lap 305 Sprint A-Main.
“My guys did a wonderful job. Didn’t have to say anything, they just did it all tonight,” understated Parrow following his 12th career win in Canandaigua. “They’ve been with me for years and they know what they’re doing.”
First-year chauffeur Cameron Moss led his first-ever laps from outside front row on the 24-car grid. Alysha Bay moved into second before Dan Craun sped past the top-two and seized control on lap five.
Tori Kaplin stopped on the pit road entrance high in turn three to incur the lone caution on lap 10 which became Craun’s undoing on the ensuing restart. Back under green seventh starting Dillon Paddock was scored first on lap 10 followed by Parrow as he mirrored the move. The next time around it was Parrow by a nose across the stripe and that’s the way it remained for the duration despite traffic cutting the gap to two seconds at the line.
“Didn’t see him, not sure how close (Paddock) was at the end,” recalled Parrow, after the Waterloo wheelman parked his potent #80 Seneca Meadows Inc-Re/Max Revolution-Proctor Enterprises Special in victory lane to become the division’s first repeat winner in eight events. “My car was working real good, very pleased.”
“Doug Shaw builds us one heckuva car. Each one is individually built, hand-made. My dad’s birthday is coming up next week. Gonna be 84 so this one’s for him,” added Parrow, who turns 56 years himself on Tuesday.
Continuing to peak at age 38, Grant regained his winning form as he darted under Patrick Hobbs in turn four to complete three laps and then held off a frantic last-to-first rally by Mike Welch to garner a narrow 20-lap Street Stock victory.
“Have to give (Welch) a shout out, that’s a helluva run, his car has definitely stepped up,” said Grant, following the Penn Yan pilot’s fifth win in seven starts. The 27th career triumph at the fairgrounds puts him in prime position for a second straight track crown steering his no. 36 Fratto Curbing-Washburn Excavating Chevy Camaro.
“I knew Mike was gonna be there, when you’re running second you can just throw a ‘Hail Mary’ and it almost worked. Surprised I won that, had a very ill-handling race car. Inside the corners that thing would pick up a push, surprised someone didn’t drive around the top of me to be honest with you.”
Hobbs held off C.J. Guererri at the drop of the first green flag while sixth starting Grant charged into third. When Grant took the lead Welch had advanced from last (12th) to sixth and on a mission to score his second straight win. Welch took fifth from Olean traveler Jeff Neff on lap four, grabbed fourth from Hobbs on lap five, third under Guererri on lap seven, then second from Marc Minutolo by the halfway point.
Welch cut the margin to 10 car-lengths with five to go but Grant still appeared destined for an easy win. Yet just like the week prior, a yellow flag unfurled on the final circuit to set up a one lap dash to the finish. Only this time the roles were reversed with Welch chasing Grant to the line after John Burritt’s car went up in smoke in turn one. Another half-mile made no difference to Grant however, even with less than a car-length separating the talent-laden twosome at the end.
“These people over here are why we do this,” said Grant, continuing to share credit with his loyal cast of sponsors and family members that join him regularly in the winner’s circle. “I’m so lucky to be here, feel very fortunate with such a supporting group. It’s a team effort everytime we’re able to make it back here.”
Minutolo hung on for third-place finishing ahead of Guererri and Damian Long and Neff, two outsiders prepping for Wednesday’s Ontario Co. Fair Empire Street Stock Series special.
In contrast to Grant’s recent speedway success, Hobby winner Eldredge broke a two-year dry spell after capturing the 2021 division points title.
“Been leading a lot, had a couple seconds and thirds, just haven’t put the whole thing together,” understated Eldredge, 26, who dominated last week’s 15-lap feature before a ball joint broke midway through, turning over the lead and eventual win to double-duty driver Minutolo. “Have to thank my dad, he puts a lot of time and effort into these cars. Hopefully it will start showing.”
In the midst of an opening lap scramble among frontrunners jockeying for position, pole starter Dan Korpanty surfaced as the early race leader. Yet that only lasted a half-mile as Brighton Grant, nephew to Street Stock winner Jimmy Grant, pulled through in a wild four-wide clamber across the line.
Eldredge was among the vigilants, pulling alongside Grant on lap five before maneuvering past a lapped car to secure the lead for good in another caution-free affair that took only six minutes off the clock.
At the halfway point the trio of Eldedge, Grant and Nathan Peckham had separated from the pack while Daniel Kerrick, Minutolo and Blane Smith battled further back. Aside from Eddie Stevens stealing sixth from Smith at the stripe, the leaderboard remained intact with Eldredge in his sleek blue #25J Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling-Sunset Bowl-Big Mike’s Auto/Chevy Monte Carlo winning by a straightaway for the first time since June of ‘22.
“Was running with Blane and Brighton, Korpanty was still up there and I’m like ‘holy crap, I don’t think I’ll get by these guys,’” recalled Eldredge, following his 10th career win at LOLR. “Then the seas kinda parted and I got under Blane, reeled in Brighton and kinda checked out from there.”
In the 12-lap New Legends nightcap, Foster claimed his second win in four starts, holding off Chase Spoor by two car-lengths to complete the six-division card.
“Was a little worried about starting up top (4th, outside 2nd row) but that kinda sorted out quick,” figured Foster, 14, with the Pendleton driver’s no. 53 A+ Performance Cycle-John’s Motorshop & Transmission-Bud’s Apple Pie/Bicknell car showcasing more than 30 hours of hand-painted lettering and graphics (no vinyl found here) by his father. “Just waited for the leader to kinda mess up a little bit. Saw an opportunity on top and that led to the win.”
Spoor settled for second ahead of early race leader Dylan Woodworth, Elizabeth Nugent and Dave DiPietro Sr. circling the Canandaigua speedplant for the first time.
Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature (30 laps): 1. 70a-Alex Payne ($2,000), 2. 6-Mat Williamson, 3. 42p-Pat Ward, 4. 11j-James Sweeting, 5. 7z-Zach Payne, 6. 27jr-Daniel Johnson Jr., 7. 3-Justin Haers, 8. 27j-Danny Johnson, 9. 14j-Alan Johnson, 10. 21a-Peter Britten, 11. 34-Kevin Root, 12. 19w-Justin Wright, 13. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 14. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 15. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 16. 18k-Dalton Martin, 17. 60-Daryl Barrett, 17-Marcus Dinkins(DNS)
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Ward, Haers, A.Payne, Z.Payne, Williamson, A.Johnson, Podsiadlo, Tegg, Dinkins(DNS).
#2: D.Johnson Jr, Britten, Sweeting, Sheppard, D.Johnson, Root, Wright, Martin, Barrett(DNS).
Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified
DIRTcar Northeast Series Central Region Race #2
*Feature (30 laps): 1. 30-Nick Root ($1000), 2. 12g-Matt Guererri, 3. 410-Mike Fowler, 4. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr, 5. 38-Zach Sobotka, 6. 20x-Kevin Ridley, 7. 0-Tony Finch II, 8. 64-Tyler Corcoran, 9. 4-Emmett Waldron, 10. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 11. 21-James Henry, 12. 68-Dave DiPietro II, 13. 21j-Justin Liechti, 14. 72-Hunter Hollenbeck, 15. 711-Nick Ventura, 16. 10g-Austin Germinio, 17. 7s-Torrey Stoughtenger, 18. 7t-Tyler Guzzardi, 19. 00-Sam Hoxie, 20. 31k-Kennedy Payne, 21. 35-Nick Cooper, 22. 9-Tim Baker, 23. 34-Behr Grover, 24. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 25. 1f-A.J. Lloyd, 26. 7-Paul Guererri, 27. 5-Kyle Devendorf, 28. 44-Dave Conant Jr., 29. 2-Mike Taylor, 30. 18h-Justin Henderson.
Heats (8 laps / 5 qualify / top-2 redraw)
#1: P.Guererri, Germinio, Finch, Henderson, Payne, Taylor, Grover, Sawyer, Hoxie.
#2: Sobotka, M.Guererri, F.Guererri, Coffey, Lloyd, Baker, Borden, Hollenbeck, Slavick.
#3: Ridley, Root, Corcoran, Henry, Waldron, Devendorf, Conant, DiPietro, Barrett.
#4: Fowler, Liechti, Ventura, Cooper, Guzzardi, Stoughtenger, Lafler, Nugent, Comfort.
Last Chance Showdown (10 laps/ 6 qualify)
#1: Baker, Devendorf, Stoughtenger, Conant, Taylor, Grover, Hollenbeck, DiPietro, Hoxie, Borden, Nugent, Lafler, Sawyer(DNS), Slavick(DNS), Barrett(DNS), Comfort(DNS).
Provisional: Hollenbeck.
Added: DiPietro, Hoxie, Borden.
Group Time Trials (3 laps / 36 cars)
#1: Germinio 19.427sec. (92.655mph), Finch 19.430, Grover 19.529, P.Guererri 19.611, Hoxie 19.617, Payne 19.773, Sawyer 19.781, Henderson 19.831, Taylor 20.224.
#2: M.Guererri 19.521sec. (92.208mph), Sobotka 19.591, Lloyd 19.592, F.Guererri 19.678, Coffey 19.752, Baker 19.790, Slavick 20.570, Borden 20.009(dsq), Hollenbeck(-NT-).
#3: Ridley 19.617sec. (91.757 mph), Root 19.632, Corcoran 19.687, Henry 19.741, Devendorf 19.848, DiPetro 19.883, Waldron 19.985, Conant 20.044, Barrett 20.169.
#4: Ventura 19.639sec. (91.654 mph), Comfort 19.815, Guzzardi 19.936, Liechti 19.977, Stoughtenger 20.017, Fowler 20.059, Lafler 20.118, Cooper 20.176, Nugent 20.293.
DNQ: 7k-Kortney Slavick, 10-Karl Comfort, rb21-Ryan Barrett, 25n-Evan Nugent, 51-Tim Lafler, 87-Brad Sawyer.
MighTea Boba 305 Sprint
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 80-Bobby Parrow ($500), 2. 8-Dillon Paddock, 3. 18c-Dan Craun, 4. 18-Timmy Lotz, 5. 17e-Ethan Gray, 6. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 7. 2-Randy Years, 8. 21b-Blake Warner, 9. 77-Matt Rotz, 10. 48a-Alysha Bay, 11. X-Dan Bennett, 12. d9-Dustin Sehn, 13. 121-Spencer Burley, 14. 30-Kirsten Dombroski, 15. z28-Tucker Donath, 16. 26j-Johnny Kolosek, 17. 25-Cameron Moss, 18. 33z-Sydney Wetherbee, 19. 23-John Smith, 20. 29-Tori Kaplin, 21. 14x-Lance Dusett, 22. 42-Jeff Holliday
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Parrow, Bay, Years, Bennett, Kaplin, Rotz, Wetherbee, Holliday.
#2: Craun, Paddock, Dombroski, Dusett, Gray, Kolosek, Sehn.
#3: Warner, Moss, Ruggles, Tucker, Lotz, Burley, Smith.
Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 36-Jimmy Grant, 2. 00-Mike Welch, 3. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 4. cj1-CJ Guererri, 5. 00x-Damian Long, 6. 33-Justin Neff, 7. 3-Patrick Hobbs, 8. 63-Mike Fellows, 9. 05-Jeff Almekinder, 10. 12-John Burritt, 11. 74- Ronald “Bundy” Metcalf, 57j-Chris Woodard(DNS).
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Guererri, Minutolo, Grant, Hobbs, Long, Burritt, Neff, Metcalf, Almekinder, Woodard, Fellows, Welch(DNS).
Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock
*Feature (15 laps): 1. 25j-Justin Eldredge, 2. 36x-Brighton Grant, 3. 90-Nathan Peckham, 4. 61-Daniel Kerrick, 5. 52b-Marc Minutolo, 6. 56-Eddie Stevens, 7. 55b-Blane Smith, 8. 67-James Werner, 9. 11-Dan Korpanty, 10. 29i-Isaiah Murphy, 11. 88-Justin Jacoby, 12. 8j-Jeff Rex, 13. 97-Kevin Schrader, 14. 22j-Randy Johnson.
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Minutolo, Peckham, Werner, Smith, Murphy, Johnson, Rex.
#2: Eldredge, Grant, Jacoby, Stevens, Korpanty, Kerrick, Schrader.
Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman
*Feature (12 laps): 1. 53-Tyler Foster, 2. 41s-Chase Spoor, 3. 63-Dylan Woodworth, 4. 25n-Elizabeth Nugent, 5. 68-Dave DiPietro Sr., 6. 29g-Evan Gray, 7. 20-Nick Galusha, 20k-Kyle Ridley(DSQ).
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Spoor, Ridley, Foster, Galusha, Woodworth, Gray, DiPietro, Nugent.