Root Romps To First Big-Block Win, Sobotka Snags Career Second At LOLR
Darling flag-to-flag Sportsman winner as veterans Grant & Minutolo split stock car features
Canandaigua, NY – June 6, 2026 – Tom Skibinski, Land of Legends Raceway PR
The second ‘Saturday Spectacular’ of the season at Land Of Legends Raceway resulted in career firsts as talented teen Nick Root captured that elusive first Pepsi Big-Block Modified main and even younger Chris Darling scored his first Stirling Lubricants Sportsman victory in flag-to-flag fashion.
Experience was the name of the game in full-fender feature race action as multi-time track champions Jimmy Grant notched his 36th Proctor Enterprises Street Stock win and Marc Minutolo triumphed for the 66th time in the Smith Brothers Drywall Hobby Stock finale.
Three-time LOLR Sportsman points king turned DisBatch Brewing Company 305 Sprint Car specialist Zach Sobotka made it two straight at the Ontario County Fairgrounds as the A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Series invaded the historic half-miler to close out another fast-paced five-star program presented by DisBatch Brewing Company and Fulldraw Hunting Equipment.
With storm warnings in effect right up until raceday, Root brought his own thunder to the speedway as his no. 30 Fratto Curbing-Mohawk Northeast-Scott Jeffery’s Performance Plus mount was on rails from the outset. And it had to be as the track lifer faced some of the best Big-Block competition the Northeast has to offer.
“Its the coolest thing,” remarked Root, after joining his father Kevin Root, the 2019 LOLR Sportsman points champ, who logged his lone Modified win in 2022. “You come here every week and you got Williamson, Sheppard, Alex Payne and all the top series guys to run against.”
“It’s a small field of cars but they’re the best around in New York State and to be able to race with them being 18 (yrs old), and against guys that have been doing this for double my age, it’s pretty cool to be in victory lane at Land of Legends,” noted Root from Geneva, last year’s LOLR Big-Block top rookie after finishing 7th in points with a pair of top-5 feature race tallies.
Turn one contact between pole-sitter Dylan Zacharias and front row partner Mike Trautschold forced Trautschold around high to bring out caution on the opening circuit of the 30-lap Modified main. Qualifying heat race two winner Root moved into Trautschold’s second-place slot for the complete restart and wasted no time bolting past Zacharias with clear sailing in sight.
While Root rode on cruise control up front, tour stars Jimmy Phelps, Peter Britten, Payne and Mat Williamson worked their way forward with Zach Payne, Justin Haers and Matt Sheppard, aboard the Slack-owned #3RS Bicknell mount on this night, fighting for position further back.
Root held a five car-length advantage at the midway mark over Phelps and Zach Payne with Britten and Williamson gaining ground as the laps clicked off. ‘Money Mat’ grabbed fourth by lap 20, slid past Zach Payne for third on lap 26, then overtook Phelps for second the next time around in a bid to match his opening night victory.
Williamson cut the lead to less than two seconds in the closing stages, yet without any more yellow lights it was Root by a half-dozen car-lengths as chief starter Scott Hixson’s checkered flag unfurled after 12 minutes of non-stop racing around all four corners. Zach Payne finally made it past Phelps on lap 28 while eighth-starting Haers edged Britten for fifth on the final circuit.
“I was able to roll the top in (turns) one and two better than the bottom and could get around (lap cars) into three and four with the momentum,” added Root, himself a four-time Sportsman feature winner at the fairgrounds. “The race went green to green so we’ll take it.”
En route to the overall CRSA Championship as well as rookie of the year honors last season, Sobotka closed out the 2025 Canandaigua campaign with his first-ever winged win at the routes 5 & 20 clay oval in September. Starting on the pole, the Parish pilot continued his success on Saturday, leading all but the opening six of the 25-lap CRSA A-Main to take his first tour win of the year.
“Darryl (Ruggles) shocked me up there on that original start, I didn’t expect him to go all the way up there on the first lap but he did,” relayed Sobotka, 25, after parking the #38 Stirling Lubricants sprinter in Marine Blue Victory Lane. “So he pretty much showed me the line for the rest of the race.”
“I knew the bottom wasn’t gonna be too bad but figured it was gonna be just roll through the middle and whoever could get through it the best. There was a pretty good berm up here in (turns) one and two but three and four was a little bit different. Darryl was running the top and I was just trying not to get any of his air, kinda diamond off and take the bottom. It was a really nice track, smooth and slick and pretty racy,” Sobotka said.
With four qualifiers and a B-Main needed to trim down the 33-car field to 24, it was fourth starting Ruggles charging from fourth to first as soon as head flagman Tyler Groescup’s initial green flag waved. Beginning his latest quest on the point, Sobotka fell to second while his biggest rival Dillon Paddock, Canandaigua’s opening night winner Spencer Burley and Paul Colagiovanni filled out the early front-five.
Sobotka bided his time before darting past Ruggles on lap seven with Paddock and Burley also moving under Ruggles on lap nine when LOLR’s winningest sprint car driver slid high off the track rounding turn two. But Ruggles never relented, again flying high outside to actually regain the lead on a lap 16 restart before a tangle between turns three and four involving Dave Axton and Dalton Herrick negated the latest do-or-die maneuver and returned Sobotka to first..
A third and final yellow flag flew on lap 18 when the winged machine of two-time defending LOLR points champ Bobby Parrow came to a stop on the front chute. It was no contest back under green with Sobotka putting the pedal down to open up a near straightaway advantage over Paddock while Lance Dusett passed Burley in the closing stages and all-time CRSA winner Jeff Trombley completed the top-five.
“I stumbled really bad on one of those restarts and Darryl got by me,” admitted Sobotka, who improved to seventh in the updated CRSA points standings through four events with sixth-place finisher Tyler Graves topping the current chart. He does lead the DisBatch Brewing Company/Stirling Lubricants Challenge mini-series with Friday night winner at Ransomville (NY) Speedway a close second. “Really lucky that caution gave me a wicked break.”
Round #5 of the 2026 CRSA Series is scheduled at Utica-Rome Speedway on June 14 while the 305 winged warriors return for tour competition in Canandaigua on July 2 over the Independence holiday and Sept. 18 to kick off the 8th Annual Gerald Haers Memorial Weekend.
No luck was needed for Darling once the green flag flew to begin the 25-lap Sportsman feature, but some good fortune did fall the way of the 14 year-old favorite from neighboring Manchester when warm-ups first hit the track in early evening.
“Beginning of the night was not great,” revealed Darling, whose father Dale racked up five Sportsman wins at LOLR from 1996-97. “Went out for hot laps and found out the water pump was bad. Had to get another one, put it on and get ready for the heat.”
With the mechanical issue out of the way, Darling proceeded to win the first of three qualifiers and matched his dominance come feature time, leading the entire distance from his pole-position start. Veteran Loren Lincoln slowed between turns one and two to incur the only caution period on lap four with Darling needing to navigate through traffic for the remainder to add his name to the family legacy at LOLR.
“It was kind of a roller coaster today, but it’s amazing to be here right now,” said Darling, who posted five Legends Sportsman wins in just eight starts last season before taking on his big brothers during the summer. “I fired off full (from the start) and that’s always good. This is just amazing.”
Richard Murtaugh blasted from 10th to second after only five laps before settling for runner-up laurels by nearly a straightaway at the stripe behind the blue no. 714 Speed Connection ride. Ninth starting Tim Baker ran a strong race to overtake Matt Guererri over the final mile and finish third while Austin Germinio completed the top-five in the 11-minute main.
For the second straight week it was Grant showing the way to reach the winner’s circle in convincing fashion for Canandaigua’s top full-fender class. On Opening night the Penn Yan wheelman needed four laps to secure the lead while this time he moved to the point on lap 12, although identical results came on both occasions.
“(Season) going real good, gotta pinch myself sometimes and realize its real,” beamed Grant, 40, who posted career win number 36 at LOLR driving the familiar family-born #36 car showcasing new sponsor Proctor Roofing along with Geneva Glass, Washburn Excavating and Nick Fratto. “To get (win) 36 here of all places. It’s a tough place to win, the track is always changing. Always racy and it’s a good time.”
Marc Minutolo out-dueled Rick Crego at the start before reigning track points king C.J. Guererri blasted high exiting turn one to grab the top spot on lap five. Sixth starting Grant pulled into second on lap seven and set his sights on the early leader.
Canadian traveler and Ransomville Speedway high point man Chase Kish slid too high rounding turn four, scraping the frontstretch cement retaining wall to slow and immediately draw the lone yellow flag. The ensuing lap 12 restart was the difference as Grant went around Guererri under green and never looked back.
“(CJ) was carrying so much momentum around there, I was just trying to keep the car straight and not spin the tires,” figured Grant, a three-time division champion over the past five years. “Him giving me the outside on that last restart wasn’t the greatest decision.”
For the second consecutive week, following Grant and Guererri across the line in the nine-minute affair were Crego and Ely Mangiarelli while Minutolo placed fifth.
With five less to run in the 15-lap Hobby finale as he followed his weekly double-duty agenda, Newark’s Minutolo rebounded to finish four positions better and increase his overall full-fender win total to 78 at LOLR which ranks second all-time.
“Kinda threw, maybe not gonna say the kitchen sink at it, but reverted back to what we knew and this (car) was just great,” exclaimed second-generation standout Minutolo, 34, himself a six-time division points champ at the fairgrounds. “It was like driving ‘Miss Daisy’ again. Been chasin’ it since the first week, threw a curveball at it and we worked well together.”
Blane Smith pulled off a complete 360-degree spin between the final two corners to bring out the first of four cautions on the opening circuit and require a complete restart. Wayne Ellison grabbed the early lead soonafter with eighth starting Minutolo already third after three laps. When Smith looped again rounding turn four, Minutolo was quick to pounce and forged the last lead change with four laps in the books.
A turn four scrum after contact between Frank ‘Bubba’ Burnell and Ellison collected Jimmy Grant giving second-place to Justin Eldredge and third to Nate Peckham when scorers sorted out the line-up with a dozen cars still remaining trackside.
The #25B of Minutolo and #25J of Eldredge pulled away with the winning black & blue Big Mike’s Auto Repair-Real Estate By Jenn-Tradition Auto Group-Honeoye Auto Parts entry authoring a commanding 12 car-length victory margin under the checkers. Eldredge settled for second chased by Peckham and the father-son duo of Frank and Tyler Burnell while Smith regrouped to finish sixth.
LEGEND LEDGER
The second 'Saturday Spectacular' of the month at Land of Legends slated for June 13 is presented by LSI Solutions. Another fast-paced six-star card features the headline Pepsi Big-Block Modifieds in a 30-lap main event with Stirling Lubricants Sportsman (25L), DisBatch Brewing Company 305 Sprint Car (20L), Proctor Enterprises Street Stock (20L), Smith Brothers Drywall Hobby Stock (15L) and a return of the MighTea Boba New Legends Sportsman (12L) in the show. Pit gates open at 3:30pm, spectators gain entrance at 5 o'clock, hot laps start at 5:30 and the first qualifying heat goes off the line at 6:30pm.
SKIDMARKS
Guided by award-winning executive producer Art Rorick, the talented LOLR TV broadcast team boasting production assistant Teara LeGrett, graphics coordinator Mark Rose, camera operators Mike Yawney, Jim & Michelle Mullen, and veteran voice Steve Ovens (PA announcer) and Adam DelGrosso (pit reporter) is once again on-site to provide LIVE video coverage of every event through Land of Legends TV, with LIVE streaming continuing to be offered FREE in 2024. On-line registration at https://landoflegendstv.com for a free account is the only step to take.
Also available for download is the LOLR mobile app found at Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goodbarber.landoflegends or
App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/land-of-legends/id1508128970?uo=4 to secure your raceday pass today.
In addition to LOLR's weekly racing being simulcast on Land of Legends Raceway TV, each show will also be broadcast live on DIRTVision starting with the 5/2 season-opener and highlighted by the mighty DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds. To watch, sign up for an annual Platinum FAST PASS with DIRTVision and experience every event either online or through the DIRTVision App.
LOWER PRICES PROVIDED WITH SPECIAL 2026 TICKET & PASS PACKAGES
General Admission Ticket and Pit Pass bundles continue to be offered to LOLR fans and race teams while providing a great opportunity to save money in the process. G.A. packs of 20 ($220) or 50 ($475) and Pit bundles of 20 ($700) or 50 ($1700) must be pre-ordered to be used during the upcoming season.
Regular weekly ticket prices remain set at $15 Adults, $13 Seniors, Kids 16 yrs. and under FREE. Pit passes are $40. For those youngsters needing pit access, Child Season Pit Passes are $50 for 2 yrs. & under and $150 for kids 3-13. Camping is FREE at all race events.
To purchase ticket and pit pass bundles, review marketing opportunities available at the track in 2026 or make media credential inquiries and vendor requests, please e-mail manager@landoflegendsraceway.com. Be sure to check out www.landoflegendsraceway.com often as the latest news and season schedule information will be posted right up to raceday.
Land of Legends Raceway is located on County Road 10 at the Ontario County Fairgrounds, just 1-1/2-miles north of Routes 5&20, and is easily accessible from the NYS Thruway (I-90), taking Exit 43 (Manchester, Route 21 South) traveling from the east or Exit 44 (Farmington, Route 332 South) coming from the west.
Land of Legends Raceway Event Summary – June 6, 2026
DisBatch Brewing Company and Fulldraw Hunting Equipment present ‘Saturday Spectacular’
Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature (30 laps): 1. 30-Nick Root ($2,000), 2. 6-Mat Williamson, 3. 7z-Zach Payne, 4. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 5. 3-Justin Haers, 6. 21a-Peter Britten, 7. 70a-Alex Payne, 8. 3rs-Matt Sheppard, 9. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 10. 12-Darren Smith, 11. 27z-Dylan Zacharias, 12. 25-Erick Rudolph, 13. 28-Mike Trautschold, 14. 11j-James Sweeting, 15. 19w-Justin Wright, 16. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 17. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 18. 9g-Doug Gavette, 19. 6x-Billy Paine.
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Trautschold, A.Payne, Haers, Britten, Rudolph, Coffey, Wright, Tegg, Paine, Gavette.
#2: Root, Zacharias, Z.Payne, Phelps, Williamson, Sheppard, Sweeting, Smith, Dinkins.
DisBatch Brewing Company 305 Sprint
CRSA Sprint Car Series Race #4
DisBatch Brewing Company/Stirling Lubricants Challenge Series Race #2
*Feature (25 laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka ($1,000), 2. 27g-Dillon Paddock, 3. 14x-Lance Dusett, 4. 15b-Spencer Burley, 5. 3a-Jeff Trombley, 6. 25g-Tyler Graves, 7. 48jr.-Darryl Ruggles, 8. 10sr-Paul Colagiovanni Sr., 9. 45-David Ferguson, 10. 27w-Nick Webb, 11. 18c-Dan Craun, 12. 77-Matt Rotz, 13. 61-John Scarborough, 14. 23-John Smith, 15. 29-Dalton Herrick, 16. 22-Tomy Moreau, 17. 81k-Dalton Martin, 18. 17e-Ethan Gray, 19. 18-Timmy Lotz, 20. 121-Steve Glover, 21. 80-Bobby Parrow, 22. 2a-Dave Axton, 23. 36-Mike Stelter, 24.31c-Maverick Coffey.
Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger Award: Tyler Graves (+11).
Heats (8 laps / 5 qualify)
#1: Paddock, Colagiovanni, Coffey, Stelter, Glover, Gray, Kelley, Laurendeau, Moss(DNS)
#2: Smith, Trombley, Craun, Ferguson, Parrow, Webb, Pierce, Bay.
#3: Scarborough, Ruggles, Dusett, Martin, Herrick, Years, Wagner, Sehn.
#4: Sobotka, Rotz, Moreau, Graves, Burley, Axton, Lotz, Bobbett.
B-Main (10 laps / 4 qualify)
#1: Webb, Axton, Lotz, Gray, Wagner, Pierce, Bobbett, Sehn, Kelley, Years, Bay, Laurendeau.
Elab Smokers Boutique Dash (4 laps): Dusett ($100), Burley, Glover, Moreau, Craun, Coffey.
DNQ (9): 2-Randy Years, 9z-Zach Bobbett, 10n-Nathan Pierce, 20k-Ed Kelley, 21-Scott Wagner, 21L-Eric Laurendeau, 25-Cameron Moss, 48a-Alysha Bay, 410-Jerry Sehn Sr.
Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified
*Feature (25 laps): 1. 714-Chris Darling ($750), 2. 33-Richard Murtaugh III, 3. 9-Tim Baker, 4. 12g-Matt Guererri, 5. 10g-Austin Germinio, 6. 41s-Chase Spoor, 7. 10-Karl Comfort, 8. 25n-Evan Nugent, 9. 35-Nick Cooper, 10. 28j-Jordan Moden, 11. 26-Zach George, 12. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr., 13. 45-Michael Lupold, 14. 10h-Trevor Houghton, 15. 63-Dylan Woodworth, 16. 23b-Timmy Borden Jr., 17. 7g-Tyler Guzzardi, 18. 20k-Kyle Ridley, 19. 28-Mark Potter, 20. 2-Loren Lincoln, 21. 87-Brad Sawyer, 22. 20-Nick Galusha, 23. 21j-Justin Liechti(DNS).
Heats (8 laps)
#1: Darling, Lupold, Murtaugh, M.Guererri, Spoor, F.Guererri, Woodworth, Galusha.
#2: Houghton, Germinio, Nugent, Comfort, Borden, Guzzardi, Lincoln, Liechti(DNS).
#3: Cooper, Moden, Baker, Sawyer, George, Ridley, Potter.
.Proctor Enterprises Street Stock
*Feature (20 laps): 1. 36-Jimmy Grant ($500), 2. cj1-CJ Guererri, 3. 5c-Rick Crego, 4. 57j-Ely Mangiarelli, 5. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 6. 00x-Damian Long, 7. 00-Blane Smith, 8. 99-Chase Kish, 9. 12-John Burritt, 00-Mike Welch(DNS)
Heat (6 laps)
#1: Crego, Minutolo, Guererri, Grant, Burritt, Kish, Long, Mangiarelli, Welch.
Smith Brothers Drywall Hobby Stock
*Feature (15 laps): 1. 25b-Marc Minutolo, 2. 25j-Justin Eldredge, 3. 90-Nathan Peckham, 4. 57b-Frank 'Bubba' Burnell Jr., 5. 57jr.-Tyler Burnell, 6. 55b-Blane Smith, 7. 22c-Craig Dingy, 8. 98t-Jack Terrell, 9. 97-Kevin Schrader, 10. 9r-Roger Bush, 11. 22j-Jon Johnson, 12. 18-Wayne Ellison, 13. 36-Jimmy Grant, 14. 13r-Joe Rast, 93-Jared Hill(DNS), 8j-Jeff Rex(DNS).
Heats (6 laps)
#1: F.Burnell, Dingy, Grant, Peckham, Terrell, Smith, Rast, Rex(DNS).
#2: Minutolo, Eldredge, Ellison, Bush, T.Burnell, Schrader, Johnson, Hill.
NEXT EVENT: Saturday Spectacular, June 13 @ 6:30pm; LSI Solutions presents Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/305 Sprint/Street Stock/Hobby Stock plus New Legends Sportsman.
Track Instant Info
Website: www.LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
E-Mail: info@LandOfLegendsRaceway.com
Twitter: @LandofLegendsNY
Facebook: @LandofLegendsNY
Instagram: @LandofLegendsNY
Live Stream: https://landoflegendstv.com/
Along with recognizing select 50/50 raffle fund beneficiaries, Land of Legends Raceway is proud to salute several sponsors and corporate partners that continue to help bring its fans the best Saturday night racing show in the Northeast. Listed alphabetically are 2026 division sponsors
DisBatch Brewing Company (305), MighTea Boba (Leg), Pepsi Geneva Club Beverage (Mod), Proctor Enterprises (Sts), Smith Brothers Drywall (Hob), Stirling Lubricants (Spt); event sponsors Admar Construction Rentals, A-Verdi Storage Containers, Lake Beverage, Copart, *DisBatch Brewing Company, DC Rauscher Contractor, Ferris Mowers, Fulldraw Hunting Equipment, Honeoye Auto Parts, LSI Solutions, Marine Blue, *Pepsi/Geneva Club Beverage, Phelps Cement Products, *Proctor Enterprises, Prouty's Bar & Grill, Regional Truck & Trailer, Rose City Drive In, Ryan Phelps Auto Sales, Seneca Meadows Landfill, *Smith Brothers Drywall, Superior Plus Propane, Tradition Automotive Group, Wilbert's U-Pull It; promotional partners Baker's Exterminating, Champion Power Equipment, Close Racing Supply(CRS), Comfort Windows, Elab Smokers Boutique, Emerson Oil Company, Fast Lane Rod & Customs, Hoosier Racing Tire, Mac's Dairy Bar & Mini Golf, Marine Blue, Meyer's Finger Lakes RV, *MighTea Boba, Mike Emhof Motorsports, NG Promotions, Ontario County Fairboard, Phelps Cement Products, Prouty's Bar & Grill, PumperJack Septic Services, The "Original" Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, Schultz Heating & Cooling, *Stirling Lubricants, Turn 5 Media, VP Racing Fuels, Weedsport Hall of Fame, Wicked Tees.