Weedsport, NY — September 5, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
The 2008 overall Hoosier Tire Mr. DIRTcar Championships are now in full gear after the Labor Day holiday, with point pictures now coming into clear view for top teams chasing DIRTcar Racing NorthEast’s highest honor.
Track bonus points were issued during the past week, revealing comfortable advantages for Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series leader Billy Decker and Pete Stefanski in the UMP Pro Stock division. 1998 Big-Block points king Decker is in pursuit of his second overall Mr. DIRTcar title while Stefanski looks to establish a new circuit-wide standard by wearing a third straight points crown in DIRTcar NorthEast’s premier full-fender class.
The Small-Block and Sportsman Modified divisions are another story, boasting the tightest battles of the bunch on an international front. In quest of a third career overall Mr. DIRTcar Championship, Canadian Pete Bicknell leads Friday night foe Todd Burley from Western New York by a dozen markers in 358-Modified competition while teenage sensation Chris Raabe from Napanee, Ontario and Danny Wiesner residing in Geneva, New York are dead-locked atop the overall Sportsman points chart heading into the first full weekend of post-season play.
Consistency has been the key for each divisional points leader throughout 2008, although plenty of feature wins have also played an important role in the success of every front-runner to date. All but Wiesner (2 wins) are leaders in their respective class with Decker (22) and Raabe (18) registering career best season totals while Bicknell (7) and Stefanski (9) are tied with Kayle Robidoux (358-Mod) and Denis Gauvreau (Pro) heading into the fall season.
To follow all the DIRTcar Racing NE Series standings as the point races unfold, log into www.dirtcar.com and select ‘Driver Points’ listed on the left side of the homepage, then choose any of the five Northeast touring divisions and click on to view the current point leaders. *NOTE: Pro Stocks are listed in the UMP Sportsman category.
Mr. DIRTcar Championship trail results/reports are available on www.dirtcar.com by selecting ‘Series’ at the top then choosing Mr. DIRTcar Series (#7) and hit ‘GO’ on right (all releases are also posted in the NEWS category). More specific information about the Advance Series can be found at www.superdirtcarseries.com. Bookmark each selection for quick review at a later time.
2008 MR. DIRTcar CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS (thru Sept. 4)
Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified
Rank No. Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 91 Billy Decker 2,053 1,753 300 0 10 17 21 21
2 77x Dale Planck 1,856 1,564 292 -197 3 16 19 21
3 98h Jimmy Phelps 1,773 1,499 274 -280 1 12 19 21
4 20 Brett Hearn 1,756 1,468 288 -297 2 9 18 21
5 84 Gary Tomkins 1,728 1,432 296 -325 2 9 18 21
6 9s Matt Sheppard 1,626 1,342 284 -427 1 7 16 21
7 7x Steve Paine 1,500 1,208 292 -553 0 8 9 21
8 FX1 Frankie Caprara 1,474 1,182 292 -579 0 2 12 21
9 3 Justin Haers 1,363 1,105 258 -690 0 2 13 20
10 99 Ryan Phelps 1,353 1,097 256 -700 0 0 7 21
11 14J Alan Johnson 1,322 1,034 288 -731 1 4 10 18
12 49 Billy Dunn 1,231 979 252 -822 0 0 2 21
13 27J Danny Johnson 1,198 1,058 140 -855 0 4 6 21
14 99L Larry Wight® 1,000 778 222 -1,053 0 0 1 19
15 6 Pat O’Brien 901 617 284 -1,152 0 0 2 15
16 29 Jeff Brownell Jr. 763 533 230 -1,290 0 0 1 13
17 42B Kevin Bates 691 439 252 -1,362 0 0 0 12
18 99b Chuck Bower 564 318 246 -1,489 0 0 0 10
19 79 Michael Storms® 509 255 254 -1,544 0 0 1 6
20 5 Jason Potter 489 239 250 -1,564 0 0 0 7
21 16 Mike Bowman 475 243 232 -1,578 0 0 0 7
22 88 Steve Hulsizer 463 221 242 -1,590 0 0 0 5
23 48T Dave Rauscher 453 227 226 -1,600 0 0 1 6
24 91h Chad Homan 450 232 218 -1,603 0 0 0 7
25 93 Ryan Bartlett 443 193 250 -1,610 0 0 0 5
DIRTcar 358-Modified
Rank No. Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 42 Pete Bicknell 605 309 296 0 0 2 4 4
2 5 Todd Burley 593 293 300 -12 1 2 3 4
3 17d Danny O’Brien 553 253 300 -52 1 2 2 4
4 3b Chad Brachmann 548 272 276 -57 0 1 2 4
5 99 Larry Wight® 526 226 300 -79 0 1 1 4
6 66x Carey Terrance 498 214 284 -107 0 0 1 4
7 9s Mark Smoke 461 169 292 -144 0 0 0 4
8 16 Lance Willix II 444 168 276 -161 0 0 0 4
9 19L John Lazore 438 146 292 -167 0 0 1 3
10 28 Scott Kerwin 429 155 274 -176 0 1 1 2
11 72 Tommy Flannigan® 418 194 224 -187 0 0 1 4
12 23 Laurent Ladouceur 414 130 284 -191 0 1 1 2
19z Jessica Zemken® 414 134 280 -191 0 1 1 2
14 123 Robbie Krull 394 120 274 -211 0 1 1 2
15 38 Scott Wood 394 102 292 -211 0 0 1 2
16 22c Mario Clair 390 126 264 -215 1 1 2 3
17 26 Rick Richner 388 134 254 -217 0 0 2 2
18 80 Chris Steele 383 161 222 -222 0 0 1 3
19 96 Kyle Dingwall 375 95 280 -230 0 1 1 1
20 22e Eric Gauvreau 368 80 288 -237 0 0 0 2
21 124 Pierre Dagenais 360 80 280 -245 0 1 1 1
22 80 Jeff Marshall 358 72 286 -247 0 0 1 1
23 23L Larry Lampman Jr. 354 78 276 -251 0 0 1 1
24 007 Roy Tarbell 353 103 250 -252 0 0 0 2
25 1h David Hebert 352 56 296 -253 0 0 0 1
DIRTcar Sportsman
Rank No. Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 01 Chris Raabe 729 429 300 0 1 4 5 6
66 Dan Wiesner 729 449 280 0 1 4 4 7
3 14 Jeremy Pitcher 669 385 284 -60 0 1 4 7
4 71 Mike Bowman 657 368 289 -72 0 1 3 7
5 777 Tyler McPherson 656 378 278 -73 0 1 4 7
6 85 John Pietrowicz 656 374 282 -73 0 2 3 7
7 99p Greg Panunte 630 350 280 -99 0 0 3 7
8 6 Mat Williamson 625 369 256 -104 0 2 3 7
9 19w Justin Wright 620 346 274 -109 0 1 1 7
10 67g Eric Giguere 619 349 270 -110 0 2 2 7
11 08 Mark D’Ilario 602 354 248 -127 1 2 2 7
12 2L Loren Lincoln 558 316 242 -171 0 2 3 6
13 10 Tim Currier 549 281 268 -180 0 0 0 7
14 20x Kevin Ridley 513 235 278 -216 0 0 2 5
15 17k Sammy Reakes IV 508 228 280 -221 0 1 2 5
16 2x Rob Knapp 502 244 258 -227 0 0 1 6
17 52 James Friesen 485 193 292 -244 0 1 1 3
18 2K Chris Hile 475 225 250 -254 1 1 1 4
19 12 Chad Chevalier 472 208 264 -257 0 0 1 5
20 17T Todd Town 460 216 244 -269 1 2 3 4
21 4 Daryl Hilkert 458 204 254 -271 0 0 0 5
22 24 Brandon Sweet 442 150 292 -287 0 0 1 2
23 38w Luke Whitteker® 439 187 252 -290 0 0 1 4
24 58 Steve Gray 433 149 284 -296 0 0 1 4
25 33 Mike Ruggiero 417 125 292 -312 1 1 1 2
26 M1 Dave Marcuccilli® 417 145 272 -312 0 0 0 4
DIRTcar Pro Stock
Rank No. Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 2p Pete Stefanski 776 480 296 0 3 5 5 5
2 72 Denis Gauvreau 674 382 292 -102 0 3 4 5
3 26 Don Carlson 643 375 268 -133 0 2 3 5
4 11 Don Barnes 642 362 280 -134 1 1 4 5
5 92 Joey Ladouceur 624 324 300 -152 0 1 3 5
6 18 Louis Jackson 596 304 292 -180 1 2 2 5
7 05 Jocelyn Roy 577 283 294 -199 0 0 1 5
8 48 Dion Oakes 571 321 250 -205 0 1 3 5
9 6 Stephane LeBrun 561 273 288 -215 0 0 2 5
10 4 Roch Aubin 560 320 240 -216 0 1 3 5
11 99 Mike Martin 532 236 296 -244 0 1 1 4
33 Bruno Cyr® 532 278 254 -244 0 0 1 5
13 88 Allen Peters 519 231 288 -257 0 0 1 4
14 188 David Papineau 488 234 254 -288 0 0 2 4
15 37 Ricky Thompson 445 191 254 -331 0 0 0 4
16 ba98 Steve Johnston 444 260 184 -332 0 0 0 5
17 12g Eric Greenlief 399 125 274 -377 0 1 1 2
18 6z Butch Zimmerman 376 110 266 -400 0 0 0 2
19 3 Bill Pascual 373 85 288 -403 0 1 1 1
20 71 Scott Gribben 366 190 176 -410 0 0 1 3
21 27 Gilles Godard 357 85 272 -419 0 0 0 2
22 49 Bill Woodward, Jr. 345 91 254 -431 0 0 0 2
2m Brett Martin 345 103 242 -431 0 0 0 2
24 88 Francois Lecours® 341 101 240 -435 0 0 0 2
25 69 Jody Swamp 334 46 288 -442 0 0 0 1
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets As of April 19, 2008, the Company operated 3,291 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services, and on-line shopping for parts and accessories can be found on the Company’s web site at www.advanceautoparts.com.
The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Crane Cams, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.
