Sheppard Outduels Tegg At Canandaigua Motorsports Park

Defending track champion Matt Sheppard thwarted a late-race charge from early season surprise Gil Tegg Jr. to score his first Big-Block Modified victory of the season at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday, setting his sights clearly on a third points title in four years at the Ontario County Fairgrounds. Mirroring their winning efforts from a week ago, Dan Wiesner (Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman Modified), Russ Marsden (Parts Plus Street Stock) and Vance Vanderwall (Pure Stock) each returned to pose in victory lane while Josh Livingston closed out the five-star program by capturing the New Legends Sportsman opener.

Sheppard's 23rd career win was well in hand after overtaking Tegg for the lead early in the headline 35-lapper, yet Tegg regained the point with less than 10 to go forcing 'Super Matt' to regroup just in time to make the final pass as the white flag waved.

“(Gil) was really fast tonight,” noted Sheppard, who moved to the top of the Original Pizza Logs Big-Block point standings after two events, placing fourth in last weekend's Super DIRTcar Series showdown. “Actually thought he had a little better car than we did.”

“I've known Gilly for a long time, would've liked to see him get a win. I felt bad, but not that bad, we wanted to win one too,” smiled Sheppard, after edging out Tegg by a half-dozen car-lengths to cap off a thrilling run to the checkers.

A pre-race draw instituted during the month of April lined up Sheppard fourth on the 24-car starting to begin the Original Pizza Logs Modified main, putting the second-generation driver from Waterloo in prime position to grab the first-place trophy. As expected, the 29 year-old standout ducked under early pace-setter Tegg on lap seven and with 15 flashing on the scoreboard had increased the margin to nearly a full straightaway around the fast half-miler.

Pole-sitter Eldon Payne Jr. slid off the track high exiting the first turn to force out a yellow flag on lap 24 and tighten the pack that included rising star Rob Bellinger, Tegg, Vince Vitale and Chuck Bower. Tegg regained the runner-up slot before a left-front flat tire on Peter Britten's mount incurred another slowdown three laps later.

A stubborn Tegg surprized Sheppard on the ensuing lap 27 restart, rim-riding high out of turn four to swap spots with the reigning Super DIRTcar Series points king and create a buzz from the hearty fans on hand despite the rainy forecast.

Starting 21st on the grid after qualifying through the consolation round, last week's Jan Corcoran Memorial winner Danny Johnson once again played a pivotal part in the final outcome. After rallying into third, Johnson suffered a flat tire with two laps left to bring out a caution that gave Sheppard new life and put Tegg's second career Canandaigua win on hold.

Sheppard took advantage when Tegg drifted high on the last restart and crossed the line first to complete lap 34. It was no contest the final time around as the potent JB Motorsports no. 9s F.X. Caprara Car Co.-Xteme Lubricants/Bicknell entry pulled away from Tegg with Bellinger, Alan Johnson and Vitale chasing in the Top-5

“We've run so many races, some you start up front and others in the rear so I don't think it matters as much with so many good cars out there nowadays,” remarked Sheppard, who needed his back-up car to get the job done on this occasion. “I got in too low (turn 4) a couple times and almost gave it away on a restart but fortunately got it back on that last one.”

“Don't really know what happened to the (primary) car, ran it in warm-ups and everything seemed fine driving it through the pits. Then it started making a heck of a racket. Don't know what the noise was, transmission maybe motor, so we unloaded this car and the guys worked real hard tonight and it paid off.”

Team work proved just as significant for Wiesner as the Geneva pilot alluded to following a command performance in the 25-lap Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman nightcap.

“We had a death in the family this week, so this win goes out to my wife's grandfather who passed away,” acknowledged Wiesner, after moving into fifth-place all-time at Canandaigua with his 19th career Sportsman triumph. “These (crew) guys busted their butts all week. I wasn't around, maybe put in two hours at the shop, so I'm truly grateful for all the support.”

Open-wheel veteran Todd Henderson out-dragged front row partner James Henry at the start before Kevin Ridley moved to the point on lap three. Tenth-place starter Wiesner improved to eighth after a handful of laps and moved his no. 66 Monroe Wheelchair-Wayne's Spa Service/Bicknell machine into the front-five by lap 10.

A rare red flag flew over the field on lap 11 when Greg Cool looped his mount in turns three and four and was rammed by Rob Bussey within seconds. Bussey went airborne and rolled over before his car came to rest on its side, forcing a 15-minute delay as the track safety crew took care of the fuel spill that resulted in the crash.

Back under green, Karl Comfort blasted by Ridley to lead lap 12 with Wiesner taking over second on lap 14. The caution-fest continued when Steve Gray stopped in turn two on lap 19 and a multi-car tangle slowed the action once again on the next lap just as Wiesner edged past Comfort to forge the final lead change.

“Things kind of panned out for us tonight,” added Wiesner, after out-distancing Comfort by 10 car-lengths followed by first-year CMP regular Dave Marcuccilli, past CMP champ Ridley and Niagara Frontier invader Greg Martin. “We finished outside the draw but the heads-up start after that put us 10th instead of maybe 18th like we'd be after normal handicapping. We still had to pass a lot of cars so we're happy with that.”

Starting eighth out of 10 cars that filed in for the 15-lap Parts Plus Street Stock finale, heat winner Marsden from Mexico, NY continued his dominance in the full-fender ranks by registering his second straight win in convincing fashion.

“I can only keep giving thanks to Pat (Flack) and Marty (Patchen) for letting me drive this car and Jeremie (Corcorn, CMP promoter) for giving us such a great track,” said Marsden, who closed out the 2011 Canandaigua campaign winning the last two races. He reached sixth on the final points chart despite missing a half-dozen shows. “This is a great place to be every week, already looking forward to coming back.”

Jason Whipple diced side-by-side early with Jack Terrell and Michael Cooper before Nate Daggett took over the top spot on lap six. In a three-wide maneuver with 2011 points champion Mike Welch, Marsden grabbed second on lap nine and inched past Daggett the following circuit before putting the white no. 28 Flack’s Hi-Rise Concrete Restoration-Coatings Plus/Chevrolet Impala ahead by six car-lenths at the stripe.

Welch and Daggett finished in order for the second straight week with Cooper and Terrell tallying their first Top-5s of the season.

Coming from dead-last in the 15-lap Pure Stock main was a feat in itself for Saturday's winner Vanderwall, yet coming away with his second victory of the new season in a totally different car was even more satisfying for the Palmyra pilot.

“We broke a valve spring I don't know when last week, but just figured it out yesterday and it was too late to fix,” divulged Vanderwall, after climbing out of the gray no. 23 Pulcini Contracting-District II Beef Farms Oldsmobile Cutlass. Last Saturday his orange no. 742 Pulcini Contracting-Carriarge Stop Restoration Chevrolet Monte Carlo carried him to the winner's circle.

“This was a car I built for my stepfather and he ran it a couple seasons and I bought it from him over the winter so it was just our spare. Since we couldn't run the new car, we pulled this one out of the weeds and went to town on it last night. Hopefully, we'll have the (742) back out next week,” said Vanderwall, following his sixth career division win at the fairgrounds.

An opening lap tangle involving track rookie Cliff Brucker and Canandaigua regular Dave Bush slowed the race early, and when leader Eric Chapman was charged with firing too early and sent to the rear on the initial restart Jeremy Pifer advanced to the point. Vanderwall completed his charge to the front on lap three and when the final yellow flag dropped with only one to go just three of the 10 starters remained.

Attempting to match his runner-up tally from the weekend prior, Marc Minutolo went off the track low in turn two on the final circuit to relinquish the spot to Chris Gingerich while Chapman and Brad Steinruck were credited with Top-5 finishes.

It was the 2012 season debut for Canandaigua's New Legends Sportsman division and when the final checkered flag fell, Livingston had become the newest entry in the 'Land of Legends' record book. A graduate of quarter-midget and go-cart racing, the Odessa driver survived contact with hometown racer Jason Scales to steal away the lead on lap seven and cruise on for a half straightaway victory in the 10-lap entry level affair.

Daryl Nutting nosed ahead of heat winner Scales to complete the opening circuit yet Scales would not be held back the second time around the ultra-smooth clay oval. Aboard Modified driver Marcus Dinkus' yellow no. 17 Swarthout Recycling/TEO team car, Livingston would not be denied either as the top two rubbed rails in the second corner before Livingston emerged as the third leader in his first-ever Sportsman attempt.

Canandaigua Motorsports Park is back in action on Saturday, April 21 with a full card of Original Pizza Logs Big-Block Modified, Safety Awarness Solutions Sportsman, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock and New Legends Sportsman racing. Pit gates are unlocked at 4pm, grandstands open at 5pm and the first qualifying heat goes green at 7pm.

A complete schedule is posted on CanandaiguaMotorsportsPark.com along with updated point standings, driver rosters and the latest breaking news. Send a note to to join the e-mail list, or register with twitter.com/Canandaigua_MSP to keep up-to-date on-line and through text messages on cell phones via Twitter.