Canipe Doubles Up at Hickory

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Canipe Doubles Up at Hickory on Opening Night

Story by: Chris Romano/Contributor to RACE22.com

Newton, NC(March 21, 2010) -- Dexter Canipe, Jr. won the Late Model and Limited Late Model features on opening night at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Canipe, Jr. had a frustrating qualifying effort, starting ninth as polesitter Kyle Mansch led the field to the green for the 100 lap event. Mansch led early, followed by Jesse LeFevers, Josh Wimbish, Andy Mercer and Neil Meredith.

On lap eleven it all went to hell as the the top five stacked up in turn four. Emerging from the carnage was Lefevers in the lead, followed by a damaged Candace Muzny, Meredith and Mike Darne. Mansch was in the pits for a long time and re-entered the race in fourteenth and last place.

On the restart LeFevers held on to the point while Meredith took second on lap thirteen. Muzny faded while Canipe, Jr. and Kyle Moon rounded out the top five.

Moon was on the move when the track went green again, as the top three cars were under a blanket for several laps. By lap twenty-nine Moon was in front and never looked back. LeFevers was a distant second while Canipe settled in for third. Lefevers' race came to an end on lap forty-four with mechanical problems.

The long green flag run saw Moon stretch his lead to half a lap, while Canipe, Jr. got by Meredith for second.

And on lap sixty-seven the race changed again as Moon pulled in the pits with a broken sway bar link. Canipe had to withstand a late yellow on lap eighty-four, and went on to take the checkers over Meredith. Jessica Brunelli, in her rookie year, came from last on the grid to finish fourth ahead of Muzny, with Mike Darne rounding out the top five. Katie Hagar was sixth, followed by Mercer and Jason Romero, with Mansch credited for ninth, the last car running.

In third Bunelli was thrilled. "We didn't get to qualify so to come from last to finish third I was really happy with how the car was handling. It was set up amazing. I've got to thank my crew, Goodyear gave us some great tires, we had all kinds of help this weekend."

Meredith said "It's a whole lot better than 2009 was for us. The highest we finished last year was sixth and most of the time we took the car home in pieces. It makes it easy when everyone in front of you falls out like they did but I'll take it. We had a really good car. I think we'll be here this year."

Canipe, Jr. had confidence in his car, despite the qualifying effort. "We had a great car, but we had great competitors too. Neal Meredith ran a great race. I didn't mean to get into him on the backstretch but we're going for the win. He's running really good, and more wins will come his way. My team has been awesome. All day today we've been flawless. I just have to thank all my sponsors; Little Ceasars, Jewelry Exchange, Wesley Page Shocks, Harrington Racing Motors, and Sunoco."

Canipe, Jr. admitted he had nothing for Moon. "Heck no. He was in another area code. I didn't even know he came into the pits he was so fast. He had a great car. All these guys, if they keep running like they're running, it'll come to them.

The Limited Late Models kicked off the night with a thirty five lap feature. Brandon Cox and Jason Crouse led the seventeen car field to the green, with Crouse quickly jumping out front. Chris Lewis took second with Canipe, Jr. third while Cox quickly faded to fourth. The race went yellow on lap five when Kenneth Pardue slammed the fourth turn wall. On the restart the pack bunched up and Russell Stilwell, Sheflon Clay and Brandon Lynn got the worst of it.

The second attempt was good and Crouse and Lewis raced side by side for several laps, but by lap ten Canipe, Jr. was in second. At the halfway point Cox was clocked by Mark McIntosh, with Hunter Bledsoe joining in. The next restart was all Canipe, Jr. needed to get around Crouse, and that was it, with Lewis third at the checkers, followed by Tyler Church, Matt Piercy, Clinton Baker, Austin McDaniel, Brandon Hudnall, David Parks and Clay.

Lewis, a former Late Model Competitor, was OK with third, but just OK. Asked if he was happy with the car he said, "To be honest, no. We came out here to win tonight but we're going to run the season in Limiteds this year so a third is a good way to start it off. We know what's wrong with it and we're going to fix it."

Crouse admitted that he "was probably a second place car. Dexter, Jr. is tough competition. I've got to thank God and all the people who helped me. They knew we were here tonight. I'm as happy as I can be to finish second."

But this feature too belonged to Canipe, Jr. "My car was coming around, but it's hard to pass on these old tires so I don't know if I had enough for Jason without that last caution. Jason ran a really good race and gave me plenty of room. I appreciate that and that will pay off later in the season, because we've got to give and take. It just feels so good to come out after sitting out three or four months in the wintertime and being snowed in, it feels really good to win the first race."

Bojangles Late Model 100
1. Dexter Canipe Jr. (5)
2. Neil Meredith (36)
3. Jessica Brunelli (3)
4. Candace Muzny (92)
5. Mike Darne (99)
6. Katie Hager (4)
7. Andy Mercer (10)
8. Jason Romeo (2)
9. Kyle Mansch (88)
10. Toby Parese (22)
11. Kyle Moon (19)
12. Jesse LeFevers (43)
13. Ashley Huffman (7)
14. Josh Wimbish (51)