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Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – USA 4, Canada 2, Australia 1. So reads the scoreboard through seven Pepsi Big-Block Modified mains at Land Of Legends Raceway after Brisbane, Queensland transplant Peter Britten finally cracked the winner’s circle Saturday to close out the latest ‘Saturday Spectacular’ presented by Auto Value Parts Stores and Seneca Meadows.
“Was thinking it was gonna be one of those races that we should’ve won but we weren’t gonna,” remarked Britten, 36, following his fifth consecutive front-5 finish at the revered Ontario Co. Fairgrounds oval where he now owns a baker’s dozen first-place trophies. His 13th career checkered flag in Canandaigua came in dominating fashion as he bested Canadian standout Mat Williamson and track veteran Danny Johnson to collect the $2,000 top prize.
“Those first couple starts … then Williamson’s beside me and I thought here we go again. But we had a pretty good car, had good traction and here we are (victory lane), pretty cool.”
Season-opening Stirling Lubricants Sportsman winner Zach Sobotka captured his second checkered flag of the season while Lance Dusett took top honors in the MighTea Boba 305 Sprint Car A-Main. Veteran Mike Welch (Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock) and second-generation chauffeur Marc Minutolo (Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock) split full-fender feature events before Evan Gray logged his first career Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman victory.
On this hot and steamy summer night in Ontario County, the Family Promise of Ontario County was recognized as the beneficiary of the weekly 50/50 drawing.
In a special pre-race ceremony held behind the main grandstands, Mike Minutolo was honored Saturday as the 21st selection to the Land of Legends Wall of Fame amidst a formidable gathering of family, friends, fans and fellow racers.
Mechanically inclined at an early age, the long-time proprietor of Big Mike’s Auto Repair in nearby Newark was able to satisfy his competitive spirit participating in demolition derbies on the local front. Building his first stock over the winter months wanting to be numbered B-52 after the war plane bomber but it was already taken, he settled for the #52B when he began his full-fender foray in 1995 contending in the Enduro ranks at both Canandaigua and Weedsport speedways.
Purchase of his ‘infamous’ Camaro entry in time for the start of the 1998 season suddenly launched Minutolo into the limelight, with his white Chevy mount carrying him to Canandaigua’s victory lane on May 23. Waiting only a week to score a second win, Minutolo returned the following season even stronger as he racked up nine victories although points were never kept in this entry level pure stock class.
With Pro Stocks topping Canandaigua’s full-fender card, Minutolo entered the new millennium sporting a Street Stock. Success continued at the fairgrounds as he scored 15 more wins from 2002-05 and rose to a career-best 2nd-place in the final ‘02 point standings. Young son Marc entered the stock scene in 2006 and went on to capture the Canandaigua Pure Stock crown the following season at age 15!
Minutolo reached the winner’s circle for the 33rd and final time at the fairgrounds in 2013, finishing third in the Pure Stock points tally while Marc again took the coveted title that same year. Acting as crew chief over the years, today Mike continues to serve as the mentor for Marc, now a 5-time track champion with over 70 feature race wins at Land Of Legends Raceway.
Steering a new car in just its fifth time on a track, Britten began the 30-lap Big-Block finale outside row four alongside three-time reigning points king Justin Haers. While Johnson paced the 19-car starting field in the early stages, Britten crept closer to the front after two caution periods slowed action over the first four laps. An opening lap skirmish knocked out Derrick Podsiadlo following contact with the outside frontstretch cement retaining wall before Haers sent Alex Payne for a ride off turn two with three laps complete.
Back under green, top-5 running Britten grabbed fourth from Alan Johnson on lap five then disposed of Dalton Martin and Kevin Root over the ensuing three circuits to set his sights on the ‘Doctor.’ Britten ducked low rounding turns three and four, forging the final lead change on lap 12 despite a surprise jolt in the back of his #21A Pepsi-Agway of Ballston Spa-AMI Racing/Bicknell mount before Johnson retreated.
“(Johnson) really rocked me, didn’t know what he was doing to be honest,” noted Britten in the post-race recap. “I went down on the bottom, don’t know if he just didn’t like being passed or what it was. He rammed into my bumper pretty hard, not happy at all with that.”
“Track was slick but more (bite) on the top than I thought there was gonna be. Starting on the outside that was pretty exciting to see actually. Sometimes come night time the track seals up a little bit more, still slick but it picks up a little pace. We were okay in the heat race but not as good as I wanted to be. But we made a couple changes. Never know when you make changes if they will help you or hurt you. Obviously they helped us tonight,” Britten figured.
Following the third and final caution on lap 19 when Tim Fuller slowed down the back chute, Williamson charged past Johnson for second but still fell 20 car-lengths behind Britten at the end while Root settled for fourth in the final rundown. Relinquishing his spot to hard charger Erick Rudolph (started 17th), fifth-running Matt Sheppard could not muster a customary challenge, ultimately pulling pitside with tire issues on lap 27 under green after his own Bicknell entry exhibited smoke in the latter stages.
Through seven Big-Block point races, two-time winner Williamson leads Britten, 351-340, with Alex Payne and Sheppard tied for third at 329 points apiece.
With LOLR hosting its last Saturday show nearly a month earlier (June 15) due to poor weather conditions, a full field of Sportsman entries signed up anticipating success in their own 25-lap affair. Nine drivers involved in a turn one pile-up proved overly anxious on the initial circuit however, with early-season points leader Tyler Corcoran the lone casualty suffering heavy front-end damage and unable to return from the original cast of 24 racers.
Timmy Borden Jr. led his first laps of the season before front row partner Justin Henderson moved to the point on lap three. Lining up ninth on the grid, Sobotka was lightning in a bottle as he rolled his no. 38 Stirling Lubricants-O.L.T. Logging-Under Or Above Construction/Bicknell car into third after just five laps, then overtaking Henderson on lap 11 as the lead duo circled turns three four.
Yet while Sobotka retained his top spot, 12th starting Kevin Ridley appeared even quicker, charging into third by the halfway mark before dropping Henderson from second with 10 laps still to go. Three yellow flags flew between laps 17 and 21, tightening the pack on each occasion although Sobotka failed to surrender the lead on every one of Ridley’s unabated attempts.
“I got the lead somewhat early right about halfway so it was tough to judge what the track was gonna do towards the end,” commented Sobotka, after the Parish pilot held off Ridley by five car-lengths to register his 12th career LOLR win. “I really didn’t know what to do. There were a couple holes down in the bottom of (turns) three and four so I tried up top and that didn’t really feel that fast so I went back to the bottom. Then up top in one and two, as soon as I went up there I thought this feels like a rocketship off the corners so I just stayed up there and it just worked out.”
“Knew (Ridley) was good, saw him on the outside of me once. First restart saw him get on the inside of me so it was really hard to judge what to do. On each restart I would try something different and on the last one I didn’t end up seeing him,” added Sobotka, who worked on the car with his crew late Friday night and early Saturday morning after a crash Friday at Brewerton Speedway derailed a relaxing afternoon.
Nick Root chased Ridley across the line to take the show position while Matt Guererri and Kasey Coffey rounded out the top-5. With Corcoran (301) dropping to fourth with his last-place finish, Sobotka (329 pts) returned atop the standings followed by Root (316) and Guererri (313).
While Sobotka’s dozen wins have come over the last five seasons, Dusett scored his 12th career Sportsman win at LOLR in 2004. Now 20 years later, the 305 Sprint Car ‘rookie’ from Lima triumphed for the first time ever in a winged machine at age 51.
“We’ve been getting better and better every week playing with different things,” stated Dusett, who teamed up with fellow sprinter James Layton in time to compete during the ‘24 campaign in Canandaigua. “You never really have that feeling that a win was coming I guess, but I knew sometime it was gonna happen.”
Dusett shared the front row with hometown hero Matt Rotz and for the entire 20-lap distance the two waged a torrid battle nose-to-tail, weaving in and around traffic, neither letting off the throttle. Veteran Bobby Parrow blasted from ninth to third after only three times around the fast half-miler but was unable to contest for another win as the race went caution-free allowing the leaders to separate.
As the final laps clicked off, traffic grew heavier for the lead pair. Closing in on veteran Alysha Bay and young gun Spencer Burley at the back of the pack by lap 17, Dusett successfully navigated his #14x Tripodi Contracting-Layton Construction-Clapton Construction/Eagle past both, at the line edging Rotz by a mere half car-length in the closest finish of the night.
“Car kinda wanted to go to the top, didn’t know how good I was gonna be on the bottom at the end,” said Dusett, after emerging as the fourth new sprint winner this season in seven events, joining runner-up Rotz and Dillon Paddock —who finished fifth behind Parrow and John Smith— along with Timmy Lotz on LOLR’s growing list that now includes 35 drivers.
“Went down there a couple times, felt pretty good wherever I went. Knew somebody was there, just didn’t know who it was. Just thought (in 3-wide maneuver at the end) ‘keep it straight, keep it straight.’ Have to thank all the guys … Tony, Roger, Jamie, Frank … everybody that works so hard to give us a chance,” Dusett added.
Already an 11-time LOLR points champion with 86 feature wins under his belt since first strapping in 2000, Street Stock stalwart Welch chalked up yet another victory lane appearance at his favorite Saturday night hangout during the summer months.
“Good to be back here, didn’t think we’d ever see (winner’s circle) again,” crackled an emotional Welch, now 58, after holding off division points leader and chief rival Jimmy Grant by a car-length in a last lap dash to the checkers. “Just knew I had to keep running the same line. The car was good and consistent there, luckily it stuck (low) and the tires didn’t glaze over. Couldn’t be happier right now.”
C.J. Guererri stormed past front row starters John Burritt and Pat Hobbs in a bold three-wide move to kick off the 20-lap feature. Welch followed suit then did one better, moving into second on lap three before the star from Stanley took over for good high out of turn four the next time around.
Grant tracked down Guererri by lap six yet was unable to close in on the red #00 Mountain Dew-Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling-TLC Trips Chevrolet Camaro as non-stop green flag racing provided a seemingly comfortable 15 car-length advantage with only five to go. With white flag in hand, chief starter Scott Hixson suddenly traded it for yellow as Burritt slowed high off the track in turn two to set up a one lap dash to the checkers.
Grant quickly pulled to the outside when green lights reappeared yet Welch would not be denied, recording win #87 in dramatic fashion by only 0.335-sec. Retaining his season-long double-duty status, Marc Minutolo placed third ahead of Guererri and Rick Crego.
“Probably put a little extra drive into it and here we are,” beamed Welch, himself a district manager for night sponsor Auto Value boasting a network comprised of independent distributors, auto parts stores and professional service repair shops spread across all of North America. “Put this one out for Big Mike (Wall of Fame inductee), him and I raced together for 100,000 years, always had blinders on. He wrecked me a few times but we were always friends on Monday.”
Sporting his father’s familiar no. 52B on the side panels of his black Chevy Monte Carlo in honor of Mike, who was enshrined on LOLR Wall of Fame earlier in the evening, Marc made the night even more memorable as the Minutolo men shared victory lane together following his own 72nd stock car win in Canandaigua.
“Had a lot of people here tonight, what a special time to win on my father’s induction day,” said the younger Minutolo, who took advantage of early leader Justin Eldredge’s misfortune to notch Hobby Stock win number four on the season and extend his points lead. “He’s been my mentor since day one, owe so much to him for how far I’ve come.”
“Definitely think it was Justin’s race to win but he had a little misfortune. Know he’s gonna take some checkered flags this year, just had a heck of a run of bad luck. Hate to see it for him. I’ve mentored him, he’s one of my prodigies,” said Minutolo, who like his father that last won at LOLR in 2013, did donuts in victory lane.
In a mad dash to the front, Eldredge bolted from sixth to first at the drop of the opening green flag and seemed destined for his first win of the season in the headline 15-lapper. The Waterloo warrior suddenly slowed off the pace, rounding turn three as a front-end trouble forced him pitside for the second half of the race.
Minutolo lined up first on the ensuing lap seven restart yet still needed to make a gutsy three-wide move to secure the lead, choosing the high line with low-running Nate Peckham sandwiching Daniel Kerrick as the leaders crossed the line side-by-side-by-side to the delight of the faithful full-fender fans. Despite Justin Jacoby getting out of shape in turn four to incur caution on lap 10, Minutolo was a man on a mission aboard his black #52B Honeoye Auto-Real Estate By Jenn-Tradition Automotive Chevrolet Monte Carlo as he cruised home for a commanding 10 car-length victory ahead of Kerrick and Peckham while Brighton Grant and Blane Smith filled out the final front-five.
“Definitely glad to be able to capitalize on Justin’s bad break,” remarked Minutolo, who was rewarded further after the win when night sponsor Seneca Meadows’ District Manager Kyle Black signed up to provide ‘Mr. Smooth’ with two complimentary pit passes each week for the remainder of the ‘24 race season. “But after that restart didn’t think I was gonna be able to capitalize. Fell back to third then the car stuck in the middle and I thought ‘man, we might’ve found something here.’ The track was awesome tonight.”
Added the newest Wall of Famer Mike Minutolo, “That’s my boy! This is the icing on the cake, a dream come true today with everything that’s gone on.”
Rushville’s Gray continued the success of second-generation drivers found on Saturday night, holding off multi-time New Legends winner Chase Spoor in flag-to-flag fashion to earn his first career victory.
“Car was smooth, felt real good,” said Gray, 22, whose father Steve, the 2014 division points champion, ranks third all-time in the LOLR record book with 30 Sportsman wins. “Had to make a few adjustments after the heat race but we got it all figured out.”
Spoor finished five car-lengths behind the winning #29G Nacho Farm Tattoo Lover Tree Farm-Nichols General Contracting/HigFab machine, with Dylan Woodworth posting a season-best third-place finish ahead of Kyle Ridley, Nick Galusha and Elizabeth Nugent that comprised the six-car field in this entry level class.
Land of Legends Raceway Quick Results – July 13, 2024
Auto Value Parts Stores and Seneca Meadows present Saturday Spectacular
Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature (30 laps): 1. 21a-Peter Britten ($2,000), 2. 6-Mat Williamson, 3. 27j-Danny Johnson, 4. 34-Kevin Root, 5. 25-Erick Rudolph, 6. 70a-Alex Payne, 7. 14j-Alan Johnson, 8. 18k-Dalton Martin, 9. 7z-Zach Payne, 10. 19w-Justin Wright, 11. 11j-James Sweeting, 12. 42p-Pat Ward, 13. 27jr-Daniel Johnson Jr., 14.9s-Matt Sheppard, 15. 19-Tim Fuller, 16. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 17. 3-Justin Haers, 18. 3rs-Dalton Slack, 19. 21-Derrick Podsiadlo.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Root, Martin, Haers, Williamson, Britten, A.Payne, Sweeting, D.Johnson Jr, Rudolph, Fuller.
#2: D.Johnson, A.Johnson, Sheppard, Z.Payne, Wright, Podsiadlo, Ward, Slack, Tegg.
Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified
*Feature (25 laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka ($750), 2. 20x-Kevin Ridley, 3. 30-Nick Root, 4. 12g-Matt Guererri, 5. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 6. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr., 7. 7-Paul Guererri, 8. 34-Behr Grover, 9. 44-Dave Conant Jr., 10. 31k-Kennedy Payne, 11. 18h-Justin Henderson, 12. 21-James Henry, 13. 69v-Tony Velez, 14. 10-Karl Comfort, 15. 9-Tim Baker, 16. 51-Tim Lafler, 17. 87-Brad Sawyer, 18. 711-Nick Ventura, 19. 21j-Justin Liechti, 20. 35-Nick Cooper, 21. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 22. 28-Mark Potter, 23. 00-Sam Hoxie, 24. 64-Tyler Corcoran.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Lafler, Grover, Corcoran, Ridley, Borden, Coffey, Hoxie, Potter.
#2: Sobotka, Henderson, F.Guererri, Ventura, Root, Henry, Baker, Sawyer.
#3: Conant, M.Guererri, Payne, Comfort, P.Guererri, Cooper, Liechti, Velez.
MighTea Boba 305 Sprint
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 14x-Lance Dusett ($500), 2. 77-Matt Rotz, 3. 80-Bobby Parrow, 4. 23-John Smith, 5. 8-Dillon Paddock , 6. 17e-Ethan Gray, 7. 26j-Johnny Kolosek, 8. 18-Timmy Lotz, 9. 18c-Dan Craun, 10. 2-Randy Years, 11. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 12. 21b-Blake Warner, 13. 99-Adam DePuy, 14. 121-Spencer Burley, 15. 48a-Alysha Bay, 16. 10p-Vince Chicklets, 17. 25-Cameron Moss, 18. z28-Tucker Donath, 33z-Sydney Wetherbee(DNS), 30-Kirsten Dombroski(DNS), 14-James Layton(DNS), 25g-Tyler Graves(DNS).
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Warner, Dusett, Lotz, Gray, Burley, Wetherbee, Dombroski, Graves.
#2: Smith, Kolosek, Paddock, Craun, Moss, Chicklets, Layton.
#3: Parrow, Rotz, Ruggles, Years, DePuy, Bay, Donath.
Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 00-Mike Welch, 2. 36-Jimmy Grant, 3. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 4. cj1-CJ Guererri, 5. 5c-Rick Crego, 6. 28-Willy Easling, 7. 3-Patrick Hobbs, 8. 122-Chris Beyea, 9. 63-Mike Fellows, 10. 74- Ronald “Bundy” Metcalf, 11. 12-John Burritt, 12. 25j-Justin Eldredge, 13. 57j-Chris Woodard.
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Welch, Guererri, Grant, Minutolo, Burritt, Fellows, Eldredge.
#2: Crego, Easling, Hobbs, Beyea, Metcalf, Woodard.
Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock
*Feature (15 laps): 1. 52b-Marc Minutolo, 2. 61-Daniel Kerrick, 3. 90-Nathan Peckham, 4. 36x-Brighton Grant, 5. 55b-Blane Smith, 6. 67-James Werner, 7. 97-Kevin Schrader, 8. 88-Justin Jacoby, 9. 22j-Randy Johnson, 10. 24k-Kevin Lloyd, 11. 25j-Justin Eldredge, 12. 69j-Heather Auble-Gray, 8j-Jeff Rex(DNS), 11-Dan Korpanty(DNS).
Heats (6 laps)
#1: Peckham, Grant, Werner, Johnson, Auble-Gray, Rex, Korpanty.
#2: Kerrick, Minutolo, Eldredge, Smith, Jacoby, Lloyd, Schrader.
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Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman
*Feature (12 laps): 1. 29g-Evan Gray, 2. 41s-Chase Spoor, 3. 63-Dylan Woodworth, 4. 20k-Kyle Ridley, 5. 20-Nick Galusha, 6. 25n-Elizabeth Nugent.
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Spoor, Ridley, Galusha, Nugent, Woodworth, Gray.