Sears Scores 6th Series Win At BOS, Earns Mr. DIRTcar Crown!

 
Sears Captures DIRTcar NE Fall Nationals Title Sunday At Brockville
6th Series victory locks up overall Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman points championship
 
Brockville, ONT – October 17, 2010 – Just needing to start the feature race to clinch the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship on Sunday afternoon at Brockville Ontario Speedway, Tim Sears Jr. closed out a storybook season with his sixth series victory of the 2010 campaign in the headline 'Global Warranty DIRTcar NE Fall Nationals BOB FM Radio 50' finale.
 
The second-generation driver from Clay, N.Y. fell one victory shy of tying the single-season tour win mark yet 10 top-3 finishes in 12 extra-distance events provided more than enough to claim the coveted crown in convincing fashion.
 
"Going for the Mr. DIRTcar title just kind of fell into place for us this season," remarked, Sears, 18, who ended the season with 16 checkered flags, only one series win short of matching Joe Williams count of seven established in 2007. "We just put ourselves in good positions and it all worked out really nice."
 
"Never would've believed winning six series races. My dad and uncle Tom (Sears) worked to give me a great car and my grandparents helped me a lot pitching in with some money. We don't have any sponsors so we're doing it all on our own. That's probably what makes this whole deal so special," said Sears, following his first full season chasing the division's biggest prize aboard the family-owned no. 83x Total Site Development/Bicknell..
 
Last Saturday's Syracuse Super DIRT Week Sportsman winner Ryan Susice settled for second after charging from 20th, while Justin Wright finished third ahead of Ontario favorites Shane Pecore and Chris Herbison.
 
Two-time defending Mr. DIRTcar titlist and last year's inaugural Fall Nationals winner Chris Raabe set fast time yet grabbed number six in the customary pre-race draw to leave the door open for a possible successor. Recently crowned Brockville points champion Dylan Evoy was just the man as he selected the pole-position and was the early leader of the 50-lap shootout.
 
Tour regular Christine Martin took advantage of her guaranteed starter status to fill out the 30-car field although she incurred the initial caution period on lap four after looping her pink no. 81 SUNY Canton-American Traditions/Troyer entry low in turn one. Mark Dixon bolted by Evoy on the ensuing restart yet could not keep it from Raabe as he forged ahead high around Dixon on lap 12.
 
In pursuit of a record-shattering 32nd feature win on the DIRTcar Sportsman circuit in 2010, Raabe appeared to be in control despite numerous yellow flags keeping the race pace slow and the top spot anything but protected. With the 'Teenage Tornado' from Napanee, Ont. holding on to the lead up front, Wright moved in to challenge with 15 laps scored while third-place Dixon and sixth running Sears sandwiched Brandon Sweet and Steve Barber during the early stages.
 
While Raabe held off the early advances of Wright and Sears, Susice continued to mount a charge and by lap 18 had already cracked the Top-10 and was looking for more. Contact between Frenchman Guy Ouellette and Dixon on the back stretch forced Ouellette into the pits with a cut tire, leaving Susice in fourth position and looking for more.
 
The lap 22 restart after Ouellette's misfortune turned into shot of good luck for Sears as he slid under Raabe for the final lead exchange while Susice followed him through the hole. And that's the way the pair stayed the remainder of the way with Sears opening up a three car-length at the stripe.
 
"Didn't really learn too much in practice out there, only got a few laps and the track was mostly greasy and wet," noted Sears, who started third come feature time yet fell out of the top-five before making his move toward the front a third of the way through. "Once the rubber started getting laid down we were able to work our way back toward the front as the track got faster."
 
"After that everybody else seemed to get tighter and tighter, but we stayed the same the whole race. As the race went on guys were going into the turns hard but couldn't stay low and pushed up, then I could get beside them on the straightaways and beat them into the corners," Sears said.
Susice was just as dominant as Sears yet ran out of time as the final laps clicked off, finishing second in the race to also wind up second in the overall Mr. DIRTcar standings for a second successive season.
 
"This was probably our last race in a Sportsman car so it was good to go out with a solid finish," said Susice, another second-generation pilot who hails from Ransomville, N.Y. who was behind the wheel of the CBR Fabrication no. 38 Investor's Service Company-Philpac Packaging/Bicknell entry.
"We've had a good run, won four track championships the last couple years and winning Syracuse was a dream come true --- its our 'Super Bowl' of racing every year. It's nice to finish second two years in a row, hey things could be a lot worse," Susice figured.
 
While Susice finished in fifth-place last October at Brockville, Wright took runner-up honors before falling back one position this time around.
"We kept the car straight and out of trouble so third is a good finish today, especially behind Tim and Ryan," said Wright, who logged laps in a Modified over the summer teamed with two-time Syracuse 200 winner Vic Coffey. "They're both class acts and been among the best all year."
"Tim's been on a roll, any time he shows up at track he's never seen before he ends up winning. We gave it a shot but just fell a little short. Lapped cars weren't much of a problem out there, when you showed your nose they pretty much moved out of the way. I'm happy to drive all the way up here and finish third, it was definitely worth it," added Wright, recognized once more buckled into the Mercer Milling Company no. 19w Yager Bros. Trucking/Bicknell machine.
 
Finishing behind Sears (2100) and Susice (1996) in the final 2010 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship point standings are Raabe (1947), Wright (1814), Western New York traveler Jesse Cotriss (1727), pre-season favorite to wear the crown Steve Gray (1680), Shane Pecore (1678), Mark Chiddy (1630), Mark Dixon (1578) and Christine Martin (1466).
 
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Race #12 – Brockville Ontario Speedway, Oct. 17, 2010 'Global Warranty DIRTcar NE Fall Nationals BOB FM Radio 50' Event Summary
 
FIN   STR    CAR#     DRIVE/HOMETOWN
1          3          83x      Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY ($1,000)
2          20        38        Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
3          10        19w     Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
4          14        15        Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
5          4          63        Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT
6          11        6          Mike Mainse/Kingston,ONT
7          8          27        Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT
8          12        1m       Mathieu Desjardins/Sorel,QUE
9          2          140     Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
10        25        3b        Steve Billings/Smiths Falls,ONT
11        5          24        Brandon Sweet/Watertown,NY
12        7          80        Steve Barber/Lansdowne,ONT
13        16        88x      Michel Primeau/Summerstown,ONT
14        6          01        Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
15        23        7          Kenny Polite/Spencerville,ONT
16        27        03        Josh Jock/Akwesasne,NY
17        9          17j       Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY®
18        21        55c      Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
19        18        52        Jessica Power/Kingston,ONT
20        26        44        Todd Ferguson/Prescott,ONT
21        15        07        Guy Ouellette/Valcourt,QUE
22        17        25        Steve Bernier/St-Hyacinthe,QUE
23        28        66        Tabatha Murphy/Prescott,ONT
24        13        20        Randy Earl/Brockville,ONT
25        24        30        Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT®
26        22        92        Adam Turner/Picton,ONT
27        19        8a        Dana Aikins/Wellesley Island,NY
28        30        81        Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
29        1          83        Dylan Evoy/Brockville,ONT
DNS    29        30t       Thunder Anderson/Hogansburg,NY
LAP LEADERS:   Evoy (1-3), Dixon (4-11), Raabe (12-21), Sears (22-50).  
CAUTIONS:   11 (lap 4, lap 13, lap 15, lap 18, lap 19, lap 22, lap 26, lap 27, lap 30, lap 30, lap 38).                                  
HEAT WINNERS:   Sears, Raabe, Mainse, Platt.                                    
CONSI WINNERS:   Susice, Cotriss.                                
FAST TIME TRIALER:   Chris Raabe (15.866sec/85.088mph).                        
CARS ENTERED:   40.                              
 
From: Tom Skibinski- DIRTcar