Saturday, May 20, 2023
Fulton / 358 Mod
99L Larry Wight RAINOUT

Friday, May 19, 2023
Brewerton / Modified
99L Larry Wight finished 1

Saturday, May 13, 2023
Fulton / 358 Mod
99L Larry Wight rain out

Friday, May 12, 2023
Brewerton / Modified
99L Larry Wight finished 1

Saturday, May 6, 2023
Fulton / 358 Mod
99L Larry Wight finished 1

Friday, May 5, 2023
Brewerton / Modified
99L Larry Wight finished Rainout

Saturday, Apr 29, 2023
Fulton / 358 Mod
99L Larry Wight finished Rain out

Sunday, Apr 23, 2023
Bridgept / Modified
99L Larry Wight finished DNS

Monday, Jun 6, 2022
/ Modified
99L Larry Wight

Friday, Jun 3, 2022
Brewerton / Modified
99L Larry Wight finished 6


All Results »



Pat Ward Victorious at the Land of Legends Raceway Season Opener

Posted Jun 10, 2020 by David

Mon, June 6, 2020
With the coronavirus prevalent, spectators were not allowed in the grandstands yet plenty of race teams still signed in pitside, and in the end Land Of Legends Raceway opened in dramatic fashion with a light shower only wetting the appetite in anticipation of a 57th season of motorsports at the historic Ontario County Fairgrounds oval.

Veteran Pat Ward thwarted a late-race rally by Peter Britten to capture the headline 35-lapper for Pepsi Big-Block Modifieds while Matt Guererri (Speed Connection Sportsman Modified) outlasted Kevin Root and Alysha Bay (Mike Emhof Motorsports 305 Sprint Car) dominated the wing run to claim trophies in the companion open-wheel main events, both completed caution-free.

“Feel pretty bad about the deal with Peter but that was a lot of fun,” said Ward, 63, a former LOLR regular who scored his last win on the fairgrounds 20 years earlier. “I moved up (lane) because I saw he was coming but didn’t realize he was coming through then and we got together pretty good.”

Ward rallied from ninth starting position to grab the top spot from Kyle Coffey on lap 17. Britten filed in eighth on the 26-car starting grid and moved into second with 10 laps to go. After showing his nose on occasion, Britten swept high out of turn four on lap 32 but contact with Ward’s red no. 42P Gypsum Express-Gypsum Wholesalers entry pinned his mount against the outside front concrete retaining wall and the high-flying ‘Batman’ was suddenly grounded for the night.

“I saw Peter again coming on the top so I moved up the next lap,” noted Ward, last cracking Canandaigua’s elusive victory circle in August of 2000. “Feel bad about (contact) but this car was super duper. I was a little nervous with all the rain, don’t like running on fast muddy tracks but it came in good. Track was actually really racy, both bottom and top, and it was a lot of fun.”

After the Top-4 from a trio of heat race qualifiers redrew for the feature, second-generation driver Coffey led early from his pole-position start. North country invader Tyler Trump pulled ahead the second time around yet Coffey regained the top spot following the fast high line around the smooth half-miler. Coffey and Trump swapped the point twice more before Ward worked his way into contention and overtook Coffey for what amounted to the final lead change just shy of the halfway mark.

Gypsum teammate Larry Wight charged from last to third after looping on lap two yet a second mishap exiting turn one ended his valiant effort with less than 10 laps to go. The ensuing lap 28 restart put Britten on Ward’s rear bumper followed by all-time Canandaigua winner Alan Johnson, 13th starting Justin Haers and second-year standout Dillon Groover, who began 17th in the feature field.

Back under green the lead duo pulled away from the hungry pack, with Erick Rudolph, who pitted following a lap six caution, closing in on the front-five as the laps dwindled. The late-race incident dumped Britten to 20th on the final scoresheet, yet ultimately elevated Groover to a career-best runner-up finish just a tenth of a second behind Ward under the final checkered flag.

Johnson settled for third ahead of Haers, Coffey and Rudolph, with successful Canandaigua Sportsman pilot Dave Marcuccilli, Chris Hile, Matt Farnham and Trump tallying Top-10 finishes.

“The car was real good on the bottom and the middle early on,” assessed Ward, after the Genoa pilot collected $2,500 for his seventh career Big-Block triumph in Canandaigua. “I think Trump and Alan got held up (traffic) and I split them and Peter. Once I got in the lead, felt I was pretty good. But the bottom began slowing down on me and when you’re leading and running down there and pulling away at the beginning, you just don’t know where the fast groove is.”

“Its good to get back racing, haven’t been in the car since Florida (February). Scott Jeffery and Brandon Ford put this car together for me over the winter and its a coil-over Bicknell. Really fun to drive, can’t wait to come back here Tuesday,” Ward added.

PEPSI BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED
*Feature (35 laps): 1. 42p-Pat Ward ($2,500), 2. 12x-Dillon Groover, 3. 14j-Alan Johnson, 4. 3-Justin Haers, 5. 23-Kyle Coffey, 6. 25-Erick Rudolph, 7. m1-Dave Marcuccilli, 8. 5h-Chris Hile, 9. 7f-Matt Farnham, 10. 2020-Tyler Trump, 11. 19-Tim Fuller, 12. 63-Adam Roberts, 13. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 14. 1r-Adam Hilton, 15. 19w-Justin Wright, 16. 33j-Robbie Johnston(SB), 17. 31m-Jimmy Maier, 18. 21x-Eric Williams, 19. 1L-Jeff Lawrence(SB), 20. 21a-Peter Britten, 21. 99L-Larry Wight, 22. 14ny-Daniel Johnson Jr., 23. 77-Lance Dusett, 24. 29m-Ed Lawrence(SB), 25. 28p-Eldon Payne,Jr., 82-Gary Tomkins(DNS).