 Canandaigua, NY – June 25, 2013 – Tom Skibinski, Canandaigua Motorsports Park PR (585-350-8997)
Surely a rookie no more, 2nd year touring driver Bub McCool blasted by veterans Clint Smith and Rick Eckert on a restart with 10 laps to go then staved off a late-race rally by former track regular Tim Fuller to capture the World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main presented by Sweeteners Plus on Tuesday night at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.
 I knew we had a little harder tire on than those front two guys, once the tires got locked in we got going pretty good,” remarked McCool, 36, after the Vicksburg, Miss. traveler scored his second career WoO LMS victory ---first of the year--- worth $8,550. “Just knew I had to keep my cool on that last restart and keep the tires under me. We had a good car all night and it worked out well for us in the end.”
A two-time Big-Block Modified winner at CMP, Fuller from Watertown settled for runner-up laurels followed by Outlaws Late Model Series rookie contender Morgan Bagley from Longview, Tex., pole-sitter Eckert from York, Pa. and Watertown's Tim McCreadie, who remained perfect with his fourth top-five finish in four WoO tour stops at the site where he owns 14 Big-Block Mod wins.
Joining McCool in victory lane for Canandaigua's first of two mid-weeks shows this season was Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman winner Paul Guererri, who collected his second straight checkered flag at the historic Ontario County Fairgrounds half-mile clay oval.
A year ago McCool arrived in wine country and chalked up a solid fifth-place finish in the 40-lap feature, two spots behind Fuller on the final scoresheet. After time trialing fifth-fastest out of 23 full-fender entries aboard the No. 57J McCool Logging/Henderson Motorsports/Southern Belle Victory Circle by Moyer and taking second in his qualifying heat, the traditional re-draw rewarded him with a third-place start on Tuesday.
While Eckert and Ohlins Shocks fast timer Clint Smith (18.262 sec./98.565 mph) traded spots up front early, McCool bided his time until the first caution period for the slowing mount of Rick 'Boom' Briggs curtailed the non-stop action with 29 laps complete. McCool took advantage of the slowdown, bolting past the lead duo on the ensuing restart and holding back 11th-place starter Fuller who had moved into second when the green lights returned on lap 30.
“Those top guys took off early and got a big lead, I could barely see them a half-tack ahead,” noted McCool, who recorded his first win last season at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway and finished seventh in the final 2012 series points standings. “So I just tried to run a good line and not lose any position. Started catching up a little and that caution put us in good position. Got the right-rear tire wet up top and made a good run on (Eckert) then got around (Smith) when he slowed in turn one.”
Eckert led the opening seven laps before Smith from Senoia, Ga. sandwiched the lapped car of Gil Tegg Jr. in a daring three-wide maneuver as the trio drove out of turn two. Smith followed the high line as Eckert clung low while CMP Big-Block mainstay Tegg in the Greg Oakes back-up no. 22 machine got stranded in between.
Fuller methodically worked his way through the pack, cracking the front-five by lap 25 and charging from fourth to second on the lap 30 restart. Traffic forced him out of his accustomed low line in the closing stages and he crossed the line three car-lengths behind McCool at the stripe.
“The top-5 cars, we had the right tires tonight, just a tick harder and that was a big difference out there,” said Fuller, 45, after adding his second straight top-three tally at his former Saturday night stomping grounds, this year steering the no. 19 Core Construction/Kennedy Partners Capital Race Cars entry.
“It was gonna be a real battle there for a minute, I needed to stay on the bottom … but I didn't so I'll take (2nd). The car went good tonight. Its been real frustrating the last few races, just been terrible. We did a lot of different stuff tonight, actually tested things out in the dash right before feature time and that helped some,” added Fuller, who collected the winner-take-all pot of $740 ---$500 provided by CMP promoter Jeremie Corcoran--- in a special LM dash comprised of fellow Empire State competitors Billy Decker, Vic Coffey and McCreadie.
First-year tour points chaser Bagley crossed the line nearly 1.7-sec. behind McCool, which was still good enough to land the top Lone Star State prospect his best career finish on the national tour.
“We're getting better and better every night,” said Bagley, 27, following his first trip to the 'Land of Legends' behind the wheel of the no. 14 P&W Sales/Rocket ride. “We set our goals, first some Top-10s then Top-5s, and now they've put us in contention to win.”
“Its always fun when you can go out and compete. I have so much respect for these (tour) guys. They're the best in the business, they prove it night in and night out. So whenever you can be competitive it makes the whole deal a lot of fun. I felt real comfortable riding out there tonight,” added Bagley, ranked 10th in the 2013 point standings.
Inaugural Canandaigua winner (2008) Josh Richards from Shinnston, W.Va., remains the WoO LMS points leader after 22 of 49 events on the current schedule with 2012 CMP victor Darrell Lanigan from Union, Ky. standing third. Neither were factors this time around as Richards struggled to a 13th-place finish while Lanigan faded to 14th after copping a heat. Shane Clanton, a sixth-place finisher on Tuesday, is second on the points chart ahead of Eckert (4th), Fuller (5th) and 2008 CMP winner McCreadie (6th).
Only show-up points were on the line for Sportsman teams yet Canandaigua's all-time division win leader Guererri never lost motivation as he continued his dominance with a second 25-lap feature win in four days.
“I had a left-front (tire) that actually held air in it this time,” quipped Guererri, referring to the previous Saturday night when he raced the last handful of laps nursing a flat tire before limping into the winner's circle. Career win number 34 at the fairgrounds for the two-time CMP Sportsman points king was seemingly much easier on Tuesday after a mid-race yellow flag put him alongside race-long leader Dave Marcuccilli.
“About three or four weeks ago I was about ready to give up, we couldn't do anything. Just started from the beginning, started from scratch and rebuilt the whole car again. I think we found something now,' smiled Guererri, who posted just three Top-5 finishes in the opening eight events before hitting gold in two successive shows. The Geneva pilot racked up a division-best five wins last year en route to second in the final point standings.
The heads-up start format in place aligned heat winners Dave Marcuccilli and Tyler Meeks on the front row of the 18-car grid. Marcuccilli ducked under Meeks on the second circuit and the current Big-Block runner built up a commanding half-straightaway lead when Mark Chiddy and newcomer Brandon Ford tangled in turns three and four to incur the first caution period on lap 13.
That was all fourth-starting Guererri needed as he rolled his no. 7 Al Raymond Collision-Proctor Roofing/Troyer entry under Marcuccilli exiting the fourth corner on the restart to forge the final lead change. A late-race charge by 11th-starting Karl Comfort fell three seconds short as the final half of the race ran caution-free, leaving Marcuccilli, Meeks, Nick Guererri and track points leader Kevin Ridley to fall in line at the checkers.
Along with a pair of qualifiers run off to establish the feature race starting order, a special dash among the top-two heat finishers was held wth Marcuccilli out-distancing Guererri, Meeks and Kane Bristol to earn bragging rights along with a $100 bonus.
Just one more weekend of auto racing remains in the month at Canandaigua Motorsports Park with Big Motor Media and the Ontario County Fairboard presenting a full program of Team Tiremasters Big-Block Modified, Safety Awareness Solutions Sportsman, Castner Performance 305 Sprint Car, Parts Plus Street Stock, Pure Stock and Community Car Care of Waterloo New Legends Sportsman action on June 29. The first qualifier runs at 7pm with pit gates opening at 4pm and grandstand seating starting at 5pm.
SKIDMARK – Mark your calendar as three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart is ready to return to Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Tue., July 16 for the '360 Smoke Shootout' staged at the Ontario Co. Fairgrounds. The 'Rushville Rocket” will be contending for his first win at the storied Canandaigua half-mile clay oval with $3,000 on the line for the A-Main victor. A full program of open tire Sportsman and Crate Late Model racing fills out the 7:30pm card. Tickets available for purchase online.
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