Brewerton, NY – Oct. 7, 2010 – Fresh off setting fast time in the Big-Block portion of Super DIRT Week on Thursday afternoon at the Syracuse Mile, Jimmy Phelps maintained a torrid pace as he outlasted Matt Sheppard to score a convincing victory at Brewerton Speedway in the headline ‘Upstate Spray Foam 100’ held at night.
Phelps swept past Sheppard in traffic on lap 56, then held back numerous challenges from ‘Super Matt’ during the second half of the 100-lapper to collect $4,000 for second career win in the Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRT car 358-Modified Championship Series.
“We caught a break in traffic tonight and I was able to get by Matt or he would’ve been pretty tough to beat,” acknowledged Phelps, 35, who scored one small-block tour triumph each of the past two seasons at Canandaigua Speedway (2004) and Autodrome Drummond (2009). Crowned Big-Block points champion at both Brewerton and Fulton speedways in 2010, Phelps also registered his lone Super DIRTcar Series triumph at Brewrerton in 2006. “We don’t run this small-block enough to even know what we’re doing, so this is really a big bonus for us.”
“We did know this car was pretty good all year here, so we put the other motor in and it was good to go tonight. Have to thank Doug Holmes (Finger Lakes) for working on the small-block this week, the last time I ran it wouldn’t get out of its own way,” remarked Phelps, after posting his first 358-Modified win of the season to elevate his career total to an even dozen after taking his first checkered flag at Fulton in 1999.
Phelps extended his lead to eight car-lengths at the finish line over Sheppard, followed by Brett Hearn, Billy Decker and Dale Planck to round out the front-five. Alan Johnson climbed to eighth on the final sheet to pick up an automatic starting berth in Saturday’s ‘Salute To The Troops 150 in Syracuse while last year’s race winner Tim McCreadie finished 16th and was the last driver to complete the entire 100-lap distance.
While Phelps was mired inside row four to start the 100-lap nightcap, Frenchman Mario Clair took advantage of his pole-position start to lead the opening six circuits. Chasing close behind during the initial stages were Pat Ward, Stewart Friesen and Planck while eighth-place starter Sheppard cracked the top-five with five laps complete. Planck made his intentions known early on, charging to the front on lap seven before current Mr. DIRTcar 358 points leader Danny O’Brien looped his mount to bring out the first yellow.
Back-to-back caution periods for minor spins on lap eight and 12 kept the 31-car field in check, and when the third yellow flag flew for a frontstretch mishap involving Chuck Bower, Ward and Friesen, Sheppard tagged the trio and dropped out of the picture briefly before resuming his assent to the front with a third of the race complete.
While Planck maintained his advantage weaving through traffic, Hearn was on the move from his 12th starting spot following a similar line around the tacky 1/3-miler. After another slowdown for a turn 3-4 tangle involving Tommy Flannigan and O’Brien, Hearn was in prime position and grabbed the lead from Planck on a lap 29 restart.
That only lasted two circuits as Planck moved back to the point on 31 and stayed there until Hearn took advantage of a lap 40 restart to regain the lead. Sheppard was back solidly in the mix at that time, moving past Planck for second on lap 42 and taking his first lead away from Hearn three laps later.
At the halfway mark it was Sheppard trying to hold back a charging Phelps, with Hearn, Planck and 17th-place starter Danny Johnson making up the new front-five. Phelps wasted little time, sliding high around Sheppard entering turn one as the leader got bottled in behind the lapped car of Erick Rudolph on lap 56.
From there, only two more yellow flags unfurled to allow Phelps and Sheppard to break away from the pack, with Hearn holding on to the show position for the remaining distance.
“Lapped cars weren’t really too big a factor out there, we caught the yellows before we really got thick again,” noted Phelps, who parked in victory lane before exiting his no. 99J J&B Installations-Industrial Tire/Troyer entry amidst a cloud of smoke. Pulling pitside moments later, a blown head gasket was uncovered leaving Phelps high and dry as he planned to use the same ride at Syracuse during his small-block qualifying heat.
“Didn’t even know the car was smoking until I pulled to a stop and it all came kind of billowing out there,” Phelps added. “Seemed to run alright most of the race but I did pick up on few funny noises it was making as we got closer to the end. What we’ll do now for Syracuse I don’t know yet. Concentrating on the Big-Block just might be the only way to go for us right now.”
Following a dominating tour victory in his 2010 Series debut at Mohawk Int’l Raceway in September, Sheppard settled for runner-up despite the JB Motorsports no. 9s Xrreme Lubricants/Bicknell ride suffering a setback.
“When Chuck (Bower) and Pat Ward got together (lap 19), I got into the back of them when they were spinning,” Sheppard noted. “It bent the right front shock in half and the car wouldn’t really steer anymore. The car was good getting into the corners but when it came time to turn it didn’t really want to so I had to wait on it for awhile.”
“Jimmy was really good tonight and we had a good car too, if it wasn’t for the shock we might’ve had something for him. But I’m still happy to hold on to second, it was still a good run tonight and I can’t complain,” Sheppard said.
Already a three-time Super DIRT Week winner at Brewerton during his legendary career, Hearn fell two spots short in his latest effort trying to tame the D-Shaped DIRT demon in the Thursday night satellite showdown.
“Those guys (Jimmy & Matt), they know the track … they’re here every Friday night and know it really well,” stated Hearn, following his third-place showing steering the Madsen Motorsports-Wentworth Custom Homes-Fox Hill Campgrounds/TEO machine. “This car was so good off the bottom of (turn) two, I tried to make something happen.”
“I got a little bit better in the middle of the track and tried to make a run later on. Gave it all I had, but that’s all I had right there – third. We’ve had a good run for the last couple months, had some good wins and its been fun,” Hearn added.
Three-time Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Champion and the night’s fast time trialer Pete Bicknell finished ninth to cut 15th-place finisher Danny O’Brien’s Series points lead to just six markers with only three events remaining on the ’10 agenda. Racing in the Hoosier-VP Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series speeds on in round two of the scheduled three-race stint during the annual Super DIRT Week extravaganza in the Salt City. Rolling Wheels Raceway Park continues the popular tripleheader Friday, October 8 on the eve of the headline 150-lap Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series ‘Salute To The Troops’ Championship race slated for Saturday on the Syracuse Mile.
Following O’Brien (1520) and Bicknell (1514) on the points chart through seven events are Danny Johnson (1495), Mario Clair (1461), David Hebert (1442), Pat O’Brien (1413), Mat Williamson (1381), Carey Terrance (1329), Jeremy Wilder (1317), Eric Gauvreau (1311), Luke Whitteker (1304) and defending overall Mr. DIRT car 358-Modified champion Dale Planck.
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Race #7 – Brewerton Speedway, Oct. 7, 2010 ‘18th Annual Upstate Spray Foam’ Event Summary
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 7 99j Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville, NY ($4,000)
2 8 9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
3 12 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
4 9 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
5 3 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
6 17 7z Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
7 24 6 Pat O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
8 13 Deuce Alan Johnson/Middlesex,NY
9 14 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
10 2 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
11 11 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY
12 4 6* Stewart Friesen/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
13 16 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
14 19 7f Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
15 27 7* Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
16 10 4* Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
17 6 99b Chuck Bower/Lansing,NY
18 26 6m Mat Williamson/St.Catharines,ONT
19 18 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
20 5 66x Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
21 1 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
22 25 98h Erick Rudolph/Ransomville,NY
23 23 99 Anthony Rizzardo/Jordan Station,ONT
24 15 72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT
25 30 22j Jeremy Wilder/Fort Plain,NY
26 22 4 Jeff Sykes/Edwards,NY
27 31 22 Eric Gauvreau/Chelsea,QUE
28 21 15j Tim Jones/Sanborn,NY
29 20 33 Mike Mahaney/King Ferry,NY
30 28 38 Luke Whitteker/Iroquois,ONT
31 29 97h David Hebert/St. Damase,QUE
GATER NEWS LAP LEADERS: Clair (1-6), Planck (7-28), Hearn (29-30), Planck (31-39), Hearn (40-44), Sheppard (45-55), Phelps (56-100).
CAUTIONS: 7 for 29 laps.
HEAT WINNERS: Sheppard, Bower, Friesen, Planck, Hearn, Phelps.
CONSI WINNERS: D.Johnson, Richner, Fuller.
BICKNELL RACING PRODUCTS WINNER AWARD: Jimmy Phelps.
SYRACUSE 150 QUALIFIER: Alan Johnson.
HALFWAY LEADER: Matt Sheppard.
BERT HARD CHARGER: Pat O'Brien
PENSKE POWER POSITION (18th): Mat Williamson.
BILSTEIN SHOCKS FAST TIME AWARD: Pete Bicknell (14.972sec/80.150mph).
TOTAL PURSE: $19,325
CARS ENTERED: 60.
NEXT EVENT: Rolling Wheels Raceway Park - October 8, 2010.
DID NOT QUALIFY(29)
X-Dan Mazy/Alburtis,PA
zero3-Zach Aubertine/Chaumont,NY
3b-Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
3d-Dexter Stacey/Kanhawake,QUE
6h-Josh Hohenforst/Gloversille,NY
8s-Justin Sharp/St.Catharines,ONT
12-Brian Sage/Brockport,NY
13-Tony Steiner/Jamesville,NY
17c-Pete Cosco/St.Catharines,ONT
17x-Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT
19-John Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
21k-Randy Chrysler/Lewiston,NY
t21-Roger Chrysler/Lewiston,NY
28-Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT
31-Tom Jock Jr./Hogansburg,NY
37s-Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY
44-Casey Swamp/Akwesasne,NY
45m-Mike Ward/Genoa,NY
66w-Wallace Stacey/Kahnawake,QUE
71-Mike Bowman/St.Catharines,ONT
85-Dan Vauter/Forest City,PA
90-Frank Cozze/Wind Gap,PA
96-Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
97-Michel Chicoine/Ste-Cecile de Milton,QUE
108-Bill Bleich/Port Robinson,ONT
117-Alex Tonkin/Carbondale,PA
124-Pierre DagenaisGatineau,QUE
124x-Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
397-Jean Francois Tessier/St. Damase,QUE
