Matt Sheppard Goes Back-To-Back In DIRTcar Modified Feature Saturday At Land Of Legends

Story By: TOM SKIBINSKI / LAND OF LEGENDS RACEWAY – CANANDAIGUA, NY – With remnants of ‘Hurricane Debby’ dumping five inches of rain on the Ontario County Fairgrounds by mid-afternoon Friday, plenty of standing water around Land Of Legends Raceway seemingly put auto racing in jeopardy for the following day.

Racers and their fans were inclined to feel cancellation of Saturday’s show was inevitable, with both sides waiting for track promoter Paul Cole to make it official. Kasey Coffey was glad he didn’t as the second-generation chauffeur from Caledonia scored his first career Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified victory.

“Man, (win) felt like a long time coming,” remarked a relieved Coffey, 16, who logged four New Legends Sportsman wins at LOLR in 2022 before moving up behind the wheel of a regular Sportsman last season. “Feels really good to finally get one.”

On the flip-side, victory lane appearances over the past two decades have become routine for Pepsi Big-Block Modified feature winner Matt Sheppard as well as Jimmy Grant in Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling Street Stock competition during the last five seasons. Also returning to the top of the podium this season, Dillon Paddock (MighTea Boba 305 Sprint Car) and Justin Eldredge (Lloyd’s Contracting Hobby Stock) are getting just as comfortable with their own post-race accolades while Kyle Ridley closed out the six-division card with his first-ever triumph in the entry-level Maguire Ford of Canandaigua New Legends Sportsman class.

The ‘Saturday Spectacular’ presented by Geneva Club Beverage and Cargill was even more special for a dozen youngsters competing in the annual Kids Power Wheels races as well as the evening’s 50/50 beneficiary Safe Harbors of The Finger Lakes, which shared nearly $800 in the weekly drawing that helps to fund many area non-profit organizations.

During intermission the frontstretch was filled by the rawest stars of tomorrow and their parents with a pair of 5-lap events showcasing some upcoming talent. Liam Johnson from Waterloo secured victory in the under 5 years-old bracket while Paisley Stenzel from Stanley beat out six others in round two to take checkers in the dash for 5-12 year-olds wheeling her silver mini Corvette.

The familiar red colors of the #32C Carl Myers Enterprises-CoffeyMcCreadie Enterprises-Stirling Lubricants/Bicknell entry returned to Canandaigua’s winners circle yet on this occasion it was talented teenager Kyle taking over driving duties instead of father Vic Coffey, himself a seven-time LOLR Sportsman winner with 17 more victories logged in the Big-Block ranks.

Filing into ninth on the 24-car starting grid to kick off the 25-lap Sportsman finale, Coffey bided his time as Timmy Borden Jr. and rookie Nick Ventura swapped the early lead. Coffey cracked the top-five with 10 laps complete with only Ventura, runner-up Justin Henderson and Dave Conant Jr. running up ahead.

A past full-fender contender in Canandaigua, veteran Conant was also in search of his first Sportsman win at the fairgrounds and looked poised to collect that elusive checkered flag after overtaking Ventura for the top spot on lap 15. Yet when the fourth yellow flag of the race flew on lap 20 to end the night for Henderson, Coffey was in position to pounce on the ensuing restart, with the lead duo trading paint in a turn two tussle that resulted in the final lead change with only a handful of laps to go.

With a clear track ahead Coffey cruised home for a half-straightaway victory followed by a frustrated Conant, James Henry, points leader Zach Sobotka and Matt Guererri.

“A lot of struggles this season,” noted Coffey, following his third front-five tally of the season. “Been struggling to put together a full night sometimes but we finally got it tonight. Just been improving on keeping the car really good on the long runs and just figuring out where we need to be a lot.”

As soon as the green flag dropped to begin the 30-lap Modified main, Sheppard knew exactly where he wanted to be. Starting 12th in the 20-car Big-Block field, ‘Super Matt’ rocketed through the pack, needing only 11 times around the fast half-miler to grab a lead he would never relinquish.

“It’s one thing when you start on the pole and it goes caution-free,” pointed out Sheppard, who led the entire 15-mile distance the previous week to take home a $2,000 paycheck. “Tonight we started in the back and drove up through the field so this (car) was definitely good. Maybe we finally got things rolling here and we’re going in the right direction.”

The winning no. 9S Hurlock Auto & Speed-Westmoreland Golf Club-St. Lawrence Radiology/Bicknell mount was pointed forward from the start. The result was career Big-Block win #93 at LOLR with mentor Steve Paine (94) ranking second all-time.

Gil Tegg Jr. jumped out front at the drop of the first green flag yet lasted only five laps before a vibration sent him pitside just as fast, turning the lead over to front row partner Derrick Podsiadlo. With only a handful of laps in the books, Sheppard had already stormed into fifth behind Podsiadlo, Justin Wright, Dalton Martin and Daniel Johnson Jr.

Carving his way through with precision both high and low, Sheppard picked off the closest competition one by one until dropping Podsiadlo into the runner-up slot without even a dozen laps scored. The lead ballooned to a straightaway over the final 20 circuits with Peter Britten settling for second-place nearly 4-seconds back, chased by Alex Payne, points leader Mat Williamson who charged from 15th, and three-time track champion Justin Haers.

“Hopefully we can keep it rolling this week,” added Waterloo native Sheppard, the current tour points leader with a Super DIRTcar Series tripleheader scheduled to run Monday and Wednesday in Central New York, sandwiching an extra-distance event in between Tuesday at Land of Legends. “It’s a big week for us, three big races coming up. Big for the series, big for the points. We need to be in good form.”

After a lengthy duel with LOLR’s all-time winningest wing driver Darryl Ruggles, Paddock found the perfect form just in time to claim top honors for his second 305 Sprint A-Main victory of the season. A conflicting date with the CRSA tour event at Thunder Mountain Speedway reduced the field to 12 cars although show-up points were distributed with a $500 first-place prize still on the line.

“Heckuva show. Pretty good for the amount of rain we’ve had this week so a ‘shout out’ to the track crew, that’s awesome,” stated Paddock, who stands second in points ahead of Ruggles, 353-352, with Bobby Parrow (404) on top. “Good race, just tried to keep our nose clean. There were a few accidents there but don’t have too much to say about that, it was a great night.”

Ruggles sped past pole-sitter Cameron Moss to open the 20-lap feature with Ethan Gray and Paddock moving in to challenge with five in the books. Following the first caution for the stopped car of Alan Buchanan on lap nine, backstretch contact between Parrow and Lance Dusett sent Parrow sliding high off the track the following circuit. A red flag flew immediately after when Gray failed to slow under yellow and clipped the left-rear wheel of Ruggles exiting turn four resulting in Gray’s crumpled car resting on its side down the front straightaway.

Back under green, Paddock regained second from Randy Years and set his sights on leader Ruggles. A turn one slide-job by Paddock then a criss-cross maneuver from Ruggles in turn two highlighted the lap 14 duel before a second slider from Paddock in turns one and two rewarded Paddock with the final lead change two laps later.

Years dropped off the pace with three to go affording Paddock to put a full straightaway between his #8 Carrier Customs-Stone 8 Tap House-Pour House-Kitto’s Carting/Maxim and Ruggles in the closing laps. Ruggles held off Dusett at the line followed by early season winners Matt Rotz and Timmy Lotz.

“Have to thank Blake for stepping up and playing crew chief tonight, we’re a little light on staff and didn’t have a whole lot of help that we’re used to having,” divulged Paddock, a Savannah resident where Sheppard now resides. “Also thanks to Matt for coming out with me tonight and everybody that helps keep us going here every week. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling, keep the speed we bring every week and get a few more of these (wins) before the year is out.”

In 10 Street Stock starts this season, Grant has already taken seven checkered flags and his latest run to victory lane may have been his best. A quick turn pitside prior to the opening green flag for a transponder issue forced him to start at the back of the pack yet that only fired up further the Penn Yan pilot en route to another stellar performance steering the prolific #36 Fratto Curbing-Washburn Excavating Chevrolet Camaro.

“She was puffing smoke a little, don’t know what’s going on with (car),” voiced Grant in victory lane. “I’m happy to be here.”

Three-wide contact on the opening circuit involving Patrick Hobbs and C.J. Guererri sent first-time qualifying heat race winner and outside pole-sitter John Burritt sliding high off the back chute. Both Burritt and Mike Kelly, in his first trip to Canandaigua this season, were done for the night while Guererri stayed straight and assumed the lead when racing returned to restart the headline 20-lapper.

Falling into 13th (last) when action resumed following the first lap mishap, Grant placed seventh with four complete then picked off two more foes the next time around to reach the top-five. Hannah Guererri-Searle slid high off turn three to force out caution on lap in her full-fender debut, providing last week’s winner Mike Welch the opportunity to pass C.J. Guererri on the ensuing restart.

Grant was even quicker, snagging fourth from Chris Woodard on lap six and overtaking both Marc Minutolo for third and runner-up Guererri on lap eight. In another paint-trading war among leaders this night, Grant bolted high out of turn four to complete the last to first rally with a third of the race still to go.

Low running Welch offered numerous challenges in the closing stages while high-flying Grant fended them off each time. Despite three-wide traffic thwarting the leader’s effort on the white flag lap (1 to go), points leader Grant still salvaged a commanding four car-length margin of victory over Welch. Minutolo, 12th starting Rick Crego and C.J. Guererri rounded out the final front-five.

Recovering from the disappointing results suffered the previous weekend, Eldredge returned to post his third win in the past four outings for Hobby Stock contenders.

“We just came here set out to have a nice smooth night and somehow we ended up in victory lane,” figured a modest Eldredge from Waterloo, who had a rod go through the oil pan last Saturday in his qualifying heat forcing him to miss the main event completely. “Let all the worries go out the window and try to have fun. We made the best of it and here we are.”

Nate Peckham dashed ahead of pole-sitter Blane Smith as the 15-lap feature got underway. With an untested powerplant installed in his #25J Eldredge & Sons Scrap Recycling-Sunset Bowl-Big Mike’s Auto/Chevrolet Monte Carlo during the week, Eldredge tracked down Peckham and crossed the stripe just a foot ahead to complete lap five.

Three yellow flags over the final 10 circuits only delayed his march to the checkers as Eldredge authored a comfortable four car-length margin even after third running Daniel Kerrick spun all alone to set up a final green-white-checkered flag finish.

“We had no expectations with a brand new motor under the hood,” figured Eldredge, now with a dozen stock car wins at Canandaigua despite none added last year. “The first laps on it were tonight so we just came here and tried to have fun and see what happens.”

“Want to thank Adam DePuy from I-Freeze Storage for all his support as well as Trout’s Enterprises, Legion Motors, LaRock Logging & Firewood, NG Promotions and ImageX. Everybody that continues to help us out,” Eldredge said.

Surviving a mid-race scare when race-long leader Dylan Woodworth spun between turns one and two, steering the #20K BMF Equipment Solutions-Howie’s Auto-BR’s Services/Bicknell car Ridley turned back every challenge from Chase Spoor to earn his first career open-wheel victory at Canandaigua.

“It was really close, really the first time I went high and it was kinda lucky,” recalled Ridley, 14, as he replayed his quick low to high maneuver halfway through the 12-lap affair for novice Sportsman campaigners. While holding down second, Spoor wasn’t as fortunate as he slapped Woodworth to open the door for Ridley in the aftermath. “Kinda missed it and I was thankful. His tire was really close but glad I missed it.”

Once Ridley assumed the lead position it was race on with weekly rival Spoor who retained the runner-up role despite contact with Woodworth. Nick Galusha finished the night in third followed by Evan Gray and Mitchell Hyde in his season debut aboard Justin Liechti’s no. 21J Boosted Coatings-Batzel’s Automotive-Olmstead Machine/Bicknell entry.

“A couple times I messed up going into the corner and (Spoor) was coming,” admitted Ridley, who finished second to Spoor in all of his four wins coming into the night. “Just knew I had to change my line and hope I could hold him. Ran high, ran low, just seeing what would work and I finally got grip and stuck with it.”

“Thanks to Paul Cole for putting the class on, for teaching us to get up into the Sportsman and maybe a Big-Block when I grow. Really nice to get in (racing) early,” added Ridley, whose uncle Kevin Ridley ranks 2nd all-time at LOLR with 33 Sportsman wins to go along with a pair of season point championships.

SUPER DIRTcar SERIES: ROUND #2
LOLR followers only have to wait three more days before short-track action returns to the fairgrounds. The Super DIRTcar Series makes its return to the Land of Legends on Tue. Aug. 13 when Big-Block Modifieds are the headline attraction in the “SummerFAST 75” paying the winner $7,500. The mighty Mod Squad will be joined by the DIRTcar 358-Modifieds with the companion 30-lap Small-Block feature winner collecting a cool $2G. Honeoye Auto Parts returns to present another dynamic doubleheader with current Canandaigua points leader Mat Williamson (BB Mod) looking to match his tour triumph taken down at LOLR on July 4.

Veteran Big-Block Series star Jimmy Phelps won the last 358-Mod race run at the fairgrounds in September 2008. Past Super DIRT Week champ Tim Fuller, the late Dale Planck, recent Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame inductee Gary Tomkins and popular Canadian pilot Danny O’Brien filled out the front-five that weekend.

The 2024 edition of “SummerFAST” leads off with a super swing through Central New York at Brewerton Speedway on Mon. Aug. 12 and moves west to Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes Region on Tuesday before heading back east to Fulton Speedway on Wed. Aug. 14 for the third and final leg. LOLR pit gates unlock Tuesday at 4 p.m., grandstand seating opens at 5 o’clock and Big-Block group time trials go off the line at 6:30 before opening ceremonies are held at 7:00.

DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[12]; 2. 21A-Peter Britten[13]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[19]; 4. 6-Mat Williamson[15]; 5. 3-Justin Haers[5]; 6. 19W-Justin Wright[4]; 7. 7Z-Zachary Payne[9]; 8. 21P-Derrick Podsiadlo[1]; 9. 27J-Danny Johnson[10]; 10. 27D-Daniel Johnson[6]; 11. 14J-Alan Johnson[11]; 12. 42P-Pat Ward[7]; 13. 34-Kevin Root[8]; 14. 18K-Dalton Martin[3]; 15. 15-Nicholas Root[17]; 16. 17-Marcus Dinkins[20]; 17. 7-Troy Sperring[16]; 18. 11J-James Sweeting[14]; 19. 22G-Gil Tegg Jr[2]; 20. 21B-Kevin Britten[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19W-Justin Wright[2]; 2. 42P-Pat Ward[3]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[5]; 4. 27J-Danny Johnson[4]; 5. 21P-Derrick Podsiadlo[1]; 6. 7-Troy Sperring[7]; 7. 70A-Alex Payne[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Haers[2]; 2. 22G-Gil Tegg Jr[1]; 3. 34-Kevin Root[3]; 4. 21A-Peter Britten[5]; 5. 6-Mat Williamson[6]; 6. 15-Nicholas Root[7]; 7. 17-Marcus Dinkins[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27D-Daniel Johnson[2]; 2. 18K-Dalton Martin[1]; 3. 7Z-Zachary Payne[3]; 4. 14J-Alan Johnson[4]; 5. 11J-James Sweeting[5]; 6. 21B-Kevin Britten[6]

DIRTcar Sportsman

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 32C-Kasey Coffey[9]; 2. 44-Dave Conant[6]; 3. 21-James Henry[7]; 4. 38-Zach Sobotka[13]; 5. 12G-Matt Guererri[10]; 6. 20X-Kevin Ridley[15]; 7. 21J-Justin Liechti[8]; 8. 113-Frank Guererri[12]; 9. 35-Nick Cooper[18]; 10. 30-Nicholas Root[22]; 11. 31K-Kennedy Payne[5]; 12. 711-Nick Ventura[4]; 13. 7-Paul Guererri[11]; 14. 10-Karl Comfort[17]; 15. 51-Tim Lafler[16]; 16. 9-Tim Baker[20]; 17. 69V-Tony Velez[3]; 18. 2T-Mike Taylor[24]; 19. 23B-Tim Borden[2]; 20. 7T-Tyler Guzzardi[19]; 21. 18H-Justin Henderson[1]; 22. 1F-AJ Lloyd[21]; 23. 7S-Torrey Stoughtenger[14]; 24. 28-Mark Potter[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18H-Justin Henderson[1]; 2. 69V-Tony Velez[2]; 3. 21J-Justin Liechti[4]; 4. 7S-Torrey Stoughtenger[8]; 5. 7-Paul Guererri[5]; 6. 51-Tim Lafler[3]; 7. 7T-Tyler Guzzardi[6]; 8. 30-Nicholas Root[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 711-Nick Ventura[2]; 2. 32C-Kasey Coffey[4]; 3. 44-Dave Conant[3]; 4. 20X-Kevin Ridley[8]; 5. 38-Zach Sobotka[7]; 6. 10-Karl Comfort[5]; 7. 9-Tim Baker[1]; 8. 28-Mark Potter[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12G-Matt Guererri[4]; 2. 31K-Kennedy Payne[2]; 3. 23B-Tim Borden[1]; 4. 21-James Henry[3]; 5. 113-Frank Guererri[5]; 6. 35-Nick Cooper[6]; 7. 1F-AJ Lloyd[8]; 8. 2T-Mike Taylor[7]

305 Sprints – Winged

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Dillon Paddock[6]; 2. 48-Darryl Ruggles[2]; 3. 14X-Lance Dusett[7]; 4. 77-Matt Rotz[5]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[9]; 6. 18C-Dan Craun[11]; 7. 48A-Alysha Bay[10]; 8. 25-Cameron Moss[1]; 9. 2-Randy Years[3]; 10. 9N-Alan Buchanan[12]; 11. 17E-Ethan Gray[4]; 12. 80-Bobby Parrow[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Randy Years[2]; 2. 80-Bobby Parrow[6]; 3. 8-Dillon Paddock[5]; 4. 25-Cameron Moss[1]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[3]; 6. 18C-Dan Craun[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 48-Darryl Ruggles[1]; 2. 17E-Ethan Gray[3]; 3. 77-Matt Rotz[4]; 4. 14X-Lance Dusett[5]; 5. 48A-Alysha Bay[2]; 6. 9N-Alan Buchanan[6]

Street Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 36-Jimmy Grant[6]; 2. 00-Mike Welch[8]; 3. 25B-Marc Minutolo[5]; 4. 5C-Rick Crego[12]; 5. CJ1-CJ Guererri[4]; 6. 93-Jared Hill[9]; 7. 28-Willy Easling[7]; 8. 3-Pat Hobbs[3]; 9. 63-Mike Fellows[15]; 10. 74-Ron Metcalf[13]; 11. 1X-Hanna Guererri[11]; 12. 00R-Don Reeves[14]; 13. 57J-Chris Woodard[1]; 14. 12-John Burritt[2]; 15. 84M-Mike Kelly[10]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. CJ1-CJ Guererri[3]; 2. 00-Mike Welch[6]; 3. 28-Willy Easling[5]; 4. 57J-Chris Woodard[1]; 5. 84M-Mike Kelly[8]; 6. 1X-Hanna Guererri[7]; 7. 74-Ron Metcalf[4]; 8. 63-Mike Fellows[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 12-John Burritt[1]; 2. 36-Jimmy Grant[4]; 3. 25B-Marc Minutolo[3]; 4. 3-Pat Hobbs[2]; 5. 93-Jared Hill[6]; 6. 5C-Rick Crego[5]; 7. 00R-Don Reeves[7]

Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 25J-Justin Eldredge[4]; 2. 90-Nathan Peckham[2]; 3. 57J-Tyler Burnell[19]; 4. 25B-Marc Minutolo[7]; 5. 56-Ed Stevens[6]; 6. 11-Dan Korpanty[5]; 7. 55B-Blane Smith[1]; 8. 61-Danny Kerrick[8]; 9. 57B-Jack Terrell[9]; 10. 3-Jesse Ballance[11]; 11. 67-James Werner[14]; 12. 88-Justin Jacoby[12]; 13. 24K-Kevin Lloyd[16]; 14. 8J-Jeff Rex[15]; 15. 22J-Randy Johnson[13]; 16. 22-Craig Dingy[10]; 17. 69J-Heather Auble Gray[18]; 18. 36X-Brighton Grant[3]; 19. (DNS) 09-Preston Hennigan

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 56-Ed Stevens[6]; 2. 61-Danny Kerrick[7]; 3. 36X-Brighton Grant[4]; 4. 55B-Blane Smith[3]; 5. 11-Dan Korpanty[5]; 6. 3-Jesse Ballance[10]; 7. 22J-Randy Johnson[2]; 8. 8J-Jeff Rex[1]; 9. 09-Preston Hennigan[8]; 10. 57J-Tyler Burnell[9]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 25J-Justin Eldredge[4]; 2. 90-Nathan Peckham[3]; 3. 25B-Marc Minutolo[6]; 4. 57B-Jack Terrell[8]; 5. 22-Craig Dingy[9]; 6. 88-Justin Jacoby[1]; 7. 67-James Werner[2]; 8. 24K-Kevin Lloyd[7]; 9. 69J-Heather Auble Gray[5]

New Legends Sportsman

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 20K-Kyle Ridley[3]; 2. 41S-Chase Spoor[5]; 3. 20-Nick Galusha[1]; 4. 29G-Evan Gray[4]; 5. 21J-Mitchell Hyde[8]; 6. 63-Dylan Woodworth[2]; 7. X-Chris Mangarelli[6]; 8. 21B-Jim Rushman[7]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 41S-Chase Spoor[5]; 2. 20K-Kyle Ridley[2]; 3. 63-Dylan Woodworth[7]; 4. 29G-Evan Gray[4]; 5. 20-Nick Galusha[6]; 6. X-Chris Mangarelli[1]; 7. 21B-Jim Rushman[3]; 8. 21J-Mitchell Hyde[8]