DIRTcar NE: Decker Out Duels Sheppard In Canandaigua Opener!

Weedsport, NY – April 19, 2008 – By Dan Kapuscinski, Canandaigua Speedway PR and Promotions Coordinator

Billy Decker already had one feature victory on the weekend heading into the 45th season opener at Canandaigua Speedway on Saturday, April 19. By night’s end, Decker would visit victory lane for two consecutive events after disposing of Matt Sheppard on lap-31 of the Sunoco Race Fuels 35 at the ‘Land of Legends.’

Decker, driving his Gypsum Wholesalers no. 91, started the event in 15th but found himself in the top5 by lap-12. Sheppard took the green flag from outside row one, and lead every circuit until Decker found more bite on the low side in turn four on the 31st lap and sped away to victory.

“The track was a little rough tonight, but I think we had a little more shock than Matt (Sheppard) did, and that helped us tonight,” said 16-time Canandaigua feature winner, Decker. “I owe this one to the Gypsum crew, the field was tough but they really gave me a great car.”

Gary Tomkins, Todd Burley, and Steve Paine rounded out the top5 finishers.

In the DIRTcar Sportsman Modified feature event it was Eric Giguere grabbing the checkered flag behind the wheel of the Advanced Safety Solutions no. 67g. Giguere found his way past Anthony Rizzardo on lap-6 on his way to victory. Loren Lincoln, Kevin Ridley, Jipp Ortiz, and Steve Gray finished the fast five.

The UMP Street Stocks feature started close, but finished with Adam Depuy checking out to victory. Depuy and his Heluva Good Cheese no. 99 swapped the top spot with Chris Fisher before taking the lead for good on lap-6 and leading the final 14 circuits. Fisher pulled pit side on lap-12, leaving the top5 to Andy Fisk, Leroy Lewis, Mike Minutolo, and Mike Rasbeck.

Jim Cronin ran away to victory in the PureStox finale by over a straight away advantage. Bryan Faulkner, George LaVare Jr., Roger Bush, and Marc Minutolo completed the top5.

Feature Results
DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds
Sunoco Race Fuels 35: 1) 91d- BILLY DECKER, 2) 9s- Matt Sheppard, 3) 84- Gary Tomkins, 4) 89b- Todd Burley, 5) 7x- Steve Paine, 6) 56- Vinnie Vitale, 7) 29B- Jeff Brownell Jr., 8) 42B- Kevin Bates, 9) 28P- Eldon Payne Jr., 10) 48T- Dave Rauscher, 11) T21- Roger Chrysler, 12) 22- Gil Tegg Jr., 13) 37C- Eric Fisher, 14) 17d- Danny O’Brien, 15) 54J- Dave Just, 16) 14J- Alan Johnson, 17) 99- Charlie Donk, 18) 3- Justin Haers, 19) 99b- Chuck Bower, 20) 99L- Larry Wight, 21) 25- Paul Habeck, 22) 2B- Ron Cartwright Jr., 23) 21- Derrick Podsiadlo, 24) 45m- Mike Ward, 25) 44v- Phil Vigneri, 26) 50- Don Slover, 27) 91h- Chad Homan
GYPSUM WHOLESALERS $100 BONUS: Paul Habeck

DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
Ferris Mowers 25: 1) 67g- ERIC GIGUERE, 2) 2L- Loren Lincoln, 3) 20x- Kevin Ridley, 4) 0- Jipp Ortiz, 5) 29G- Steve Gray, 6) 10- Tim Currier, 7) 24A- AJ Lewis, 8) 54J- Scott Just, 9) 99$- Anthony Rizzardo, 10) 17- Marcus Dinkins, 11) 8- Joe Cook Jr., 12) 18H- Todd Henderson, 13) 93- Rob Richmond Jr., 14) 21H- James Henry, 15) 00- Amos Andrews, 16) 25G- Nick Guererri, 17) 4- Darryl Hilkert, 18) 17d- Tom Juhl, 19) 52- Jim Hull, 20) 54- Mark Chiddy, 21) 88- Kyle LaVare, 22) M1- Dave Marcuccilli, 23) 90- Nate Peckham, 24) 76- Rob Bussey, 25) 8L- Phil LaVare, 26) 66- Dan Wiesner, 27) 1s- Greg Hixson
CURRIER PLASTICS $50 BONUS: Tim Currier

UMP Street Stocks
Coke 20: 1) 99- ADAM DEPUY, 2) 33- Andy Fisk, 3) 07- Leroy Lewis, 4) 52b- Mike Minutolo, 5) 00R- Mike Rasbeck, 6) 37- Chris Fisher, 7) 00- Mike Welch, 8) 62J- Chris Kolosek, 9) 115- Nick Rizzo, 10) 3d- Doug Smith
LABATTS BEER $25 BONUS: Chris Fisher

PureStox
LaBatts 12: 1) 3c- JIM CRONIN, 2) 83- Bryan Faulkner, 3) 6- George LaVare Jr., 4) 9R- Roger Bush, 5) 25b- Marc Minutolo, 6) 22t- Eric Chapman, 7) CJ1- CJ Guererri, 8) 9F- Floyd Bush, 9) 17J- Karl Wilkins