Weedsport, NY — June 16, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
*Mike Johnson Photo: Popular autograph signing Saturday at Fulton Speedway
Flying in from the land downunder for a three-race set over the past weekend, Australian V8 Dirt Modified Champion Peter Britten made his maiden voyage upover to the United States to take on some of DIRTcar Northeast’s best.
Mixed results left plenty of room for improvement and just as much enthusiasm for the 21 year-old superstar from Brisbane, Queensland, who crossed the ocean with the Victorian State Championship and prestigious Australian Championship titles tucked away neatly under his belt.
“Its really amazing how close together many of these tracks are over here,” remarked Britten, who competed at Can-Am Motorsports Park (finished 13th) in LaFargeville on Friday and travelled south to Fulton Speedway (20th) on Saturday before closing out his first weekend of racing in America at Cayuga County Fair Speedway (24th) in Weedsport on Sunday. “At home I have one track about 15 minutes away and there’s 2-1/2 hours to the next.”
Once more buckled in behind the wheel of the patriotic #1 Troyer Big-Block entry, Britten concludes his six-race tour in New York State this weekend with a first-time stop at Brewerton Speedway (June 19) along with return visits to Fulton (June 20) and Cayuga County (June 21).
“All the tracks are quite a bit bigger in the states, its just a matter of making the right changes and getting comfortable once you’re out there,” noted Britten, who began his speedway racing career at age 15 and last season earned Rookie of the Year recognition in the V8 Dirt Modified class. “It was tough adjusting at the start of the nights but I feel like I’m getting used to how things are done now and am anxious to get some more laps. We tried some different shock combinations at Weedsport after hours and that really helped us make a lot of progress.”
“Can-Am is pretty big but it was still a really cool place to get around, quite an experience compared to the quarter-milers back home. Fulton was a little closer to what I’m used to, still the turns were sharp which made the straightaways seem longer than they actually are. Cayuga County was a different story, even the lesser known guys do alright here so we had our hands full all night,” said Britten, whose parents Paul and Jane, recently became partners in an Australian dealership distributing Troyer race cars and a full line of the vital components.
More familiar in another hemisphere steering his family-owned JBR Motorsport no. 21 Troyer machine during the 2008-09 season, Britten is piloting a brand new ‘09 Troyer mount during his North American campaign. When he heads back home with his father next Wednesday for the 30-hour trip, the same car and two more brand new Troyer creations will be shipped across the ocean to greet him upon arrival.
“For me the tires were probably the biggest thing to adapt to from the start,” Britten added. “I’m used to the 104” (circumference) sprint tires that we run on in Australia, the 92” Hoosiers require a totally different style to drive. But that’s why I’m over here, to learn and try to get better. I guess like any serious racer I would love to race for a living but there’s a lot of things that would need to fall into place for that to happen.”
Britten is well on his way to making his wish come true, already piling up some formidable stats that are comparable to any of his weekly foes on the homefront. Over a span of four years racing in various classes (AMCA Nationals, Super Sedans and V8 Dirt Modifieds) he has won one of every four races run, been on the podium (1st, 2nd or 3rd) one in every three races and qualified for the pole-position start one in every three attempts.
“The hardest thing for Peter to overcome is the handicapping, he had to start in the back behind so many good cars,” stated Billy Colton, who heads the Troyer operation based in Rochester, New York. Britten will accompany Colton and the H & H Motorsports team with driver Jimmy Phelps and crew chief Randy Kisacky when they travel to Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown on Wednesday, June 17 for an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series event.
“Peter is a very intelligent driver, he definitely knows what he’s doing out there. I really wish we could run all three tracks again to measure what we’ve learned, but the plan now is to make it back to both Fulton and Weedsport. I’m confident Peter will improve taking what he’s learned and applying it with some better starting spots. We even stayed after the races ended at Weedsport and ran some 17.8 second laps. The track was much better later on yet Steve (Paine) won turning 18.4s so we know we’re getting close,” Colton figured.
For more information on V8 Dirt Modified racing in Australia, please visit www.v8dirtmodifieds.com.au. A short video clip of Peter Britten on his way to a dramatic feature win in Australia can be viewed by clicking on http://www.jbrmotorsport.com.au/page/video_gallery.html.
For further details, please contact:-
Ben Graham- Dirt Modifieds Australia Media Liaison
Ph: +61 413 761 733
E: ben@zoomxtreme.com.au
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds www.cayugacountyfairspeedway.com, home of the 2009 DIRTcar All-Star Weekend, July 17-19, featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Sportsman and Big-Block Modifieds in the richest short-track show of its kind in the nation — the $20,000-to-win Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series “DIRTcar All-Star 100” on Sunday, July 19.
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.
