Elbridge, NY – Oct. 8, 2010 – For those fans making an early departure from Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Friday night while Brett Hearn was leading the first 74 laps of the Pullen’s Truck Center 75 --- shame on you.
Especially with Danny Johnson hot on Hearn’s trail and $4,000 on the line for the winner of the annual Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series event scheduled in autumn during Super DIRT Week.
Taking advantage of two lapped cars sandwiching Hearn entering turn three on the final lap, Johnson suddenly dove low looking for an opening and swept past all three to pull off a dramatic win for owner Mike Payne in his Honeoye Auto Parts no. 7z Currier Plastics-Waste Management/Bicknell ride.
“We hung with him the whole race and tried to get underneath and he moved to the bottom” began Johnson, 50, as he recounted the final lap in his latest addition to the 2010 season highlight reel. “When you get to lapped traffic you don’t know what to do, unfortunately he got the two of them. He got the road blocked and I managed to get a hold on the bottom and go by both of them.”
“The car was really good down low the whole race but I had to hit it just right. If I went in too hard I slid, getting it just right was tough to do. This is a great win, hopefully it will get the guys spirits back up for when we go to Syracuse,” added Johnson, following his second Series win of the year.
Finishing a ways back behind Johnson and Hearn in the Super DIRT Week thriller were Pennsylvania invader Frank Cozze, current Mr. DIRTcar 358 points leader Danny O’Brien and older brother Alan Johnson, the winningest Big-Block driver on the DIRTcar Northeast circuit.
Luck of the draw among the top-10 heat race qualifiers put Hearn on the pole to begin the 75-lap Modified main with Johnson filing into ninth on the 30-car starting grid. Six yellow flags slowed the action during the first half of the race, yet it was the final 30 that went non-stop as Johnson was able to chip away at Hearn’s once seemingly insurmountable lead.
After shadowing Hearn over the last dozen circuits, Johnson actually nosed past his chief rival’s Madsen Motorsports no. 20 Wentworth Custom Homes-Fox Hill Campgrounds/TEO machine exiting turn two on lap 74 but couldn’t pull off the pass with still over a lap to go. However, his perseverance paid big dividends over the final half-mile as the ‘Doctor’ stayed glued to Hearn’s rear bumper and when the hole opened up he filled it with no hesitation before crossing the line with a surprising sixcar-length win in Rolling Wheels next to last event.
There is little time to relax as teams chasing points towards the overall Hoosier-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship get right back to action the next day when the Syracuse Mile plays host to the ‘Salute To The Troops 150’ at the State Fairgrounds.
Now following O’Brien (1605) on the points chart through eight events are Danny Johnson (1595), Pete Bicknell (1590), David Hebert (1514), Mario Clair (1501), Pat O’Brien (1454), Mat Williamson (1433), Carey Terrance (1369), Luke Whitteker (1360), Eric Gauvreau (1357), Jeremy Wilder (1357), and defending overall Mr. DIRT car 358-Modified champion Dale Planck (1313). The 2010 Mr. DIRTcar champion will be crowned at Brockville Ontario Speedway next weekend when the BOS stages it 2nd Annual DIRTcar Fall Nationals outside the city of the Thousand Islands.
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Race #8 – Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Oct. 8, 2010 ‘Pullen’s Truck Center 75’ Event Summary
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 9 7z Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY ($4,000)
2 1 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
3 8 90 Frank Cozze/Wind Gap,PA
4 13 7* Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
5 4 Deuce Alan Johnson/Middlesex,NY
6 18 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
7 29 124h David Hebert/St. Damase,QUE
8 10 4* Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
9 17 7f Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
10 7 33 Mike Mahaney/King Ferry,NY
11 22 3b Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
12 11 99b Chuck Bower/Lansing,NY
13 16 38 Luke Whitteker/Iroquois,ONT
14 21 4j Jeff Sykes/Edwards,NY
15 26 6m Mat Williamson/St.Catharines,ONT
16 30 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
17 19 28 Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT
18 12 22 Eric Gauvreau/Chelsea,QUE
19 6 1x Todd Stone/Middlebury,VT
20 15 6* Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
21 20 71 Mike Bowman/St.Catharines,ONT
22 2 9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
23 5 6 Pat O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
24 25 38r Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
25 3 93 Rich Vinson/Sanborn,NY
26 28 22j Jeremy Wilder/Fort Plain,NY
27 14 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
28 24 37s Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY
29 23 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
30 27 66x Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
GATER NEWS LAP LEADERS: Hearn (1-74), D.Johnson (75).
CAUTIONS: 6 (lap 5, lap 9, lap 16, lap 23, lap 43, lap 45).
HEAT WINNERS: P.O'Brien, Stone, A.Johnson, Vinson, Hearn.
CONSI WINNERS: Sykes, Brachmann, Clair.
BICKNELL RACING PRODUCTS WINNER AWARD: Danny Johnson.
SYRACUSE 150 QUALIFIER: Frank Cozze.
HALFWAY LEADER: Brett Hearn.
BERT HARD CHARGER: David Hebert.
PENSKE POWER POSITION (21st): Mike Bowman.
BILSTEIN SHOCKS FAST TIME AWARD: Matt Sheppard (20.456sec/109.992mph).
TOTAL PURSE: $19,325
CARS ENTERED: 56.
NEXT EVENT: New York State Fairgrounds "Salute To The Troops 150" - October 9, 2010.
By Tom Skibinski / DIRTcar PR
