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Jimmy Phelps Captures First Advance Series Win of 2008 at Merrittville

Jimmy_Phelps_MER_82042008_WEB

Thorold, ONTAugust 4, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
*Alex Bruce Photo

Central New Yorker Jimmy Phelps has been knocking on the door to victory lane all season. When the opening finally came Monday night at Merrittville Speedway, the ‘B’Ville Blizzard’ stormed through untouched and he went on to score his first Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series win of the season in the 16th Trevor Wilkens Memorial 100 presented by Toolneeds.

Click to listen to first place Jimmy Phelps, second place Danny Johnson, and third place finisher Steve Paine

Pole-sitter Phelps swapped the lead twice with front row partner Justin Haers, before moving out front for good on lap six, then holding off a rejuvenated Danny Johnson for a comfortable 2.0-second victory in the Canadian Civic Holiday special. Steve Paine finished third followed by the 2008 Advance Series point leaders Billy Decker, Dale Planck and Brett Hearn, with Phelps locking up a guaranteed starting berth in the prestigious Rite Aid 200 Championship race on Oct. 12 of Super DIRT Week XXXVII at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.

“It was good on top tonight but there was a real fine line, the right rear (tire) would catch the brown and shove a little bit,” noted Phelps, 33, following his fourth career tour triumph and his second out of state. The Baldwinsville, New York chauffeur captured his first series checkered flag at Brewerton (NY) Speedway in 2006 and followed up that same season at Williams Grove (PA) Speedway before registering his lone victory last year on Labor Day at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, New York. “But I’d rather be tight on a slick track than loose.”

“The bottom line is we got on a little bit of a roll. I thought we might give a couple away, at least at Granby (finished 2nd), but we’ve just had some good runs. We’ve been knocking on the door and we really needed this. We’ve been there, hopefully just keep plugging away at this,” said Phelps, after logging his fourth top-three finish in the past seven Advance Series stops.

While Paine prevailed in the Integra Shocks Time Trials, covering the fast third-miler in a time of 15.523 seconds (77.305 mph ave.), Phelps was fourth quickest in the field of 36 entries. Yet when it came time for the customary pre-race draw for position in the feature, Phelps selected number ‘1’ while Paine filed into eighth on the 30-car starting grid.

Outside pole-sitter Haers charged past Phelps when the first green flew, although the H&H Motorsports no. 98H Mohawk Northeast-New England Race Fuels-Joe Gibbs Racing Oil/Troyer machine stayed low and regained the point on lap three. Hearn suddenly slowed on lap four with a flat left-rear tire to force out the first of 11 yellow flags, although he quickly returned to the back of the back without losing a lap. Just before the caution lights flashed on, Phelps had taken his first lead although it was short-lived as Haers once again took the high route to the front on a lap five restart after Big-Block rookie Larry Wight went spinning to the infield exiting turn four.

Phelps forged the final lead change the next lap and for the 94 circuits that ensued would not relinquish the point despite an early race bid from season-opening Advance Series winner Matt Sheppard and then a relentless effort put forth by Johnson from lap 22 on.

There was no sure thing for any of the top runners as they reached the halfway point, with Phelps, Johnson, high-flying Planck, Paine and Decker filling the front-five slots. The final caution period arrived on lap 74 when Merrittville regular Boyd MacTavish looped his mount high between turns three and four, just as Decker cracked the top-five with only a quarter of the race remaining to be run.

Decker moved past Planck for fourth on lap 78 and battled Paine the rest of the way as Phelps and Johnson solidified their stronghold on the field. Phelps was even more dominant as the final laps clicked off, stretching his advantage over the ‘Doctor’ to a dozen car-lengths with 19 of the 26 racers still trackside to complete the entire 100-lap distance.

“The car started working pretty good in the middle and that kinda made me confident in traffic,” remarked Phelps, after posting his third Big-Block win on the DIRTcar Racing NorthEast circuit in 2008. “I’ll be honest, we had a better car working in the middle and Danny kinda woke me up on that one restart. He got up next to me and I said we better get going again.”

“I feel sometimes that I’m the luckiest guy in the world with all the help coming from Billy (Colton) at Troyer, Randy (Kisacky, crew chief) and all the guys that give me a great race car. Everybody at H&H, these guys just put great stuff under me. I’m just real happy and I can’t thank everyone enough,’ Phelps added.

Runner-up Johnson was maybe even more thankful as he lined up yet another new ride just in time for the trip across the border. While the Rochester, New York racer began the year steering a Troyer car for JIR Motorsports, Johnson recently drove Mark Forte’s TEO mount at Orange County Fair Speedway (July 31) before climbing behind the wheel of Mike Petruska’s no. J66 Atlas Paving-Behrent’s Performance Warehouse/TEO machine for the 13th tour race at Merrittville.

“Hats off to these guys, I’m sure with a little bit more time we’ll probably get a little bit better,” figured Johnson, 48, following just his fourth top-five finish of the ’08 Advance Series. Ranked second all-time on the tour win (65) list, including last year’s dominating first-place dash at Merrittville, the runner-up tally is the first for D.J. since settling for second behind Decker at Fulton Speedway back on June 7. “For the first time in it, they did a helluva job getting it ready for us.”

“We broke a driveshaft in hot laps so we were lucky just to get in the main. Thank God we had enough help to get her done, just can’t thank these guys enough for such a great ride. I just needed a little bit more to get by Jimmy. We almost had him a couple times but that’s just how racing goes,” said Johnson, who was close to driving the same Petruska car at Grandview Speedway in mid-July, yet was refused the opportunity by former car owner Jeff Isabell. Teo Fabrication founder Bobby Hearn was instrumental in getting Johnson and Petruska together, and their first night of success already has the new team reviewing the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for future event consideration.

The recent third-place tally put an abrupt halt to any speculation that Paine might miss the next Advance Series show at Brewerton (Aug. 8), although the Waterloo, New York pilot has had August 9 circled on his calendar since day one for the annual tour trip to his home track of Canandaigua Speedway.

“The top-four (in points) just seems like they’re pretty much locked in, they’ve got quite a lead,” assessed Paine, 47, still in search of his first win of the ’08 Advance Series although he stands seventh all-time with 27 triumphs on tour. He has so far racked up a handful of top-fives with his most recent extra-distance feature win taken last August at Can-Am Motorsports Park. “But 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th they’re all pretty close, so we’ll just keep at it and see what we can come up with.”

“We had a good car tonight, probably the best one we’ve had in a long time. Dan was just a little bit better than we were. We couldn’t get a good enough run off the top of turn four so we tried him a couple times on the bottom. We were actually close, pretty equal most of the race. He was holding me up a little getting in (corners) and he was better than me coming off. Maybe if I was in first I could’ve rolled it a little bit faster and maybe run a bit lower than Jimmy. It came and went, (Danny) was better than I was sometimes and I was better than him sometimes, but it was a good race,” Paine said.

All-time Advance Series win leader (100) Hearn settled for sixth after the early race flat tire, and was chased to the stripe by Gary Tomkins, highest finishing small-blocker Chad Brachmann, Sheppard and Merrittville 358-Modified mainstay Scott Wood.

The Advance Auto Part Super DIRTcar Series returns to the states for back-to-back tour stops at Brewerton Speedway on Friday, August 8 and Canandaigua Speedway on Saturday, August 9. Brewerton hosts the WHF Racing 100 for Big-Blocks with the top tour travelers competing the next evening in the Ferris Mowers Twin 50s at the Ontario County Fairgrounds.

Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Race #13 – Merrittville Speedway, August 4, 2008 ‘Toolneeds 16th Trevor Wilkens Memorial 100’ Big-Block Modified Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 1 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY($6,000)
2 4 j66 Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
3 8 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
4 12 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
5 11 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
6 7 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
7 5 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
8 21 3b Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
9 3 9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
10 17 38 Scott Wood/Thorold,ONT
11 15 99 Ryan Phelps/Fulton,NY
12 23 15j Tim Jones/Sanborn,NY
13 29 9 Ken Cosgrove/Allanburg,ONT
14 10 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
15 16 80 Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT
16 6 fx1 Frankie Caprara/Watertown,NY
17 20 5jr. Travis Braun/Jordan Station,ONT
18 9 49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY
19 14 23 Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
20 2 3 Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
21 13 6 Pat O’Brien/Kingston,ONT
22 22 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
23 26 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY®
24 24 108 Bill Bleich/Port Robinson,ONT
25 27 00 Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY
26 19 56 Dereck Lemyre/Hamilton,ONT
27 25 22 Dan Miller/St.Catharines,ONT
28 18 44 Brian Stevens/St.Catharines,ONT
29 30 31 George Bosse/St.Catharines,ONT
30 28 72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT
 
DID NOT QUALIFY(6)
1-Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT
16w-Derek Wutzke/Fenwick,ONT
37s-Andrew Sittler/St.Catharines,ONT
55-Todd Kendrick/London,ONT
91c-Travis Cunningham/Grimsby,ONT
96-Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT

EVENT SUMMARY:
LAP LEADERS: Haers (1-2), J.Phelps (3-4), Haers (5), J.Phelps (6-100).
CAUTIONS: 11 for 12 laps.
HEAT WINNERS: Dunn, Hearn, Decker, J.Phelps.
DIG SAFELY NEW YORK LAST CHANCE RACE WINNERS: Brachmann, Richner.
BICKNELL RACING PRODUCTS WINNER AWARD: Jimmy Phelps.
CRANE CAMS WINNER AWARD: Jimmy Phelps.
RISLONE OIL STABILIZER & TREATMENT WINNER AWARD: Jimmy Phelps.
BARS LEAKS RUNNER-UP AWARD: Danny Johnson.
CRANE CAMS RUNNER-UP AWARD: Danny Johnson.
SYRACUSE RITE AID 200 QUALIFIER: Jimmy Phelps (G).
HALFWAY LEADER: Jimmy Phelps.
BERT/KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER AWARD: Ken Cosgrove.
HOLLEY HARD LUCK AWARD: Brian Stevens.
PENSKE POWER POSITION AWARD (19th): Larry Lampman Jr.
INTEGRA SHOCKS FAST TIME AWARD: Steve Paine (15.523sec/77.305mph).
TOTAL PURSE: $27,575.
CARS ENTERED: 36.
NEXT EVENT: Brewerton Speedway – August 8, 2008.

QUALIFYING
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1 15.523 77.305 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
*$100 Integra Shocks Fast Qualifier Award
2 15.557 77.136 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
3 15.591 76.967 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
4 15.596 76.943 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY
5 15.643 76.712 49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY
6 15.657 76.643 9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
7 15.660 76.628 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
8 15.747 76.205 fx1 Frankie Caprara/Watertown,NY
9 15.758 76.152 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
10 15.759 76.147 j66 Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
11 15.781 76.041 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
12 15.806 75.921 3 Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
13 15.818 75.863 6 Pat O’Brien/Kingston,ONT
14 15.865 75.638 23 Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
15 15.899 75.476 56 Dereck Lemyre/Hamilton,ONT
16 15.937 75.296 80 Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT
17 15.972 75.131 9 Ken Cosgrove/Allanburg,ONT
18 15.973 75.127 44 Brian Stevens/St.Catharines,ONT
19 15.986 75.066 99 Ryan Phelps/Fulton,NY
20 15.996 75.019 5jr. Travis Braun/Jordan Station,ONT
21 16.016 74.925 38 Scott Wood/Thorold,ONT
22 16.053 74.752 00 Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY
23 16.065 74.697 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY®
24 16.091 74.576 96 Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
25 16.190 74.120 15j Tim Jones/Sanborn,NY
26 16.200 74.074 3b Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
27 16.206 74.047 31 George Bosse/St.Catharines,ONT
28 16.225 73.960 72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT
29 16.239 73.896 22 Dan Miller/St.Catharines,ONT
30 16.241 73.887 1 Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT
31 16.282 73.701 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
32 16.375 73.282 108 Bill Bleich/Port Robinson,ONT
33 16.430 73.037 55 Todd Kendrick/London,ONT
34 16.729 71.732 91c Travis Cunningham/Grimsby,ONT
35 16.980 70.671 16w Derek Wutzke/Fenwick,ONT
36 17.090 70.217 37s Andrew Sittler/St.Catharines,ONT

Heat Races (10 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to feature, top 3 went to re-draw)
#1: Dunn, Paine, Planck, O’Brien, Wood, Jones, Miller, Cosgrove, Kendrick.
#2: Hearn, Sheppard, Johnson, Lampman, Stevens, Brachmann, MacTavish, Gordon, Cunningham.
#3: Decker, Tomkins, Bicknell, R.Phelps, Lemyre, Richner, Wight, Bosse, Wutzke.
#4: J.Phelps, Caprara, Haers, Steele, Braun, Bleich, Flannigan, Sittler, Carleton.
Dig Safely New York Last Chance Races (top 5 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: Brachmann, Jones, Miller, MacTavish, Cosgrove, Gordon, Kendrick, Cunningham (DNS).
#2: Richner, Bleich, Wight, Flannigan, Bosse, Carleton, Wutzke, Sittler.

Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Point Standings (Through Aug. 4, 2008)
Rank No. Driver Total Series Diff Wins T-5 T-10 Starts
1 91 Billy Decker 1,121 1,121 0 5 10 13 13
2 20 Brett Hearn 1,019 1,019 -102 2 8 12 13
3 77x Dale Planck 983 983 -138 3 8 10 13
4 98h Jimmy Phelps 959 959 -162 1 5 11 13
5 9s Matt Sheppard 878 878 -243 1 2 9 13
6 84 Gary Tomkins 850 850 -271 0 3 11 13
7 7x Steve Paine 826 826 -295 0 5 6 13
8 27J Danny Johnson 784 784 -337 0 4 5 13
9 FX1 Frankie Caprara 768 768 -353 0 1 7 13
10 99 Ryan Phelps 701 701 -420 0 0 2 13
11 3 Justin Haers 675 675 -446 0 1 6 12
12 49 Billy Dunn 650 650 -471 0 0 2 13
13 14J Alan Johnson 625 625 -496 0 1 4 11
14 99L Larry Wight 555 555 -566 0 0 1 13
15 6 Pat O’Brien 342 342 -779 0 0 1 8
16 29 Jeff Brownell Jr. 298 298 -823 0 0 0 7
17 14 Rich Laubach 256 256 -865 0 2 2 4
18 79 Mike Storms 255 255 -866 0 0 1 6
19 42B Kevin Bates 220 220 -901 0 0 0 6
20 4 Duane Howard 198 198 -923 0 2 2 2
21 21 Yan Bussiere 161 161 -960 0 0 1 3
22 1w Billy Pauch 152 152 -969 0 0 2 2
23 22 Mario Clair 152 152 -969 0 0 0 3
24 99b Chuck Bower 140 140 -981 0 0 0 4
25 11j Sean Beardsley 139 139 -982 0 0 0 4
26 16 Mike Bowman 135 135 -986 0 0 0 4
27 357 Stewart Friesen 131 131 -990 0 1 1 2
28 19 Tim Fuller 130 130 -991 0 1 1 2
29 46 Kayle Robidoux 125 125 -996 0 0 2 2
30 56 Vince Vitale 125 125 -996 0 0 0 3
31 5 Jason Potter 125 125 -996 0 0 0 4
32 HR2 Jimmy Horton 121 121 -1,000 0 0 0 2
33 48T Dave Rauscher 119 119 -1,002 0 0 0 3
34 14w Ryan Watt 111 111 -1,010 0 0 0 2
35 19 Kenny Brightbill 111 111 -1,010 0 0 1 2
36 30 Jamie Mills 110 110 -1,011 0 1 1 1
37 71 David VanHorn Jr. 109 109 -1,012 0 0 0 2
38 30 H.J. Bunting III 103 103 -1,018 1 1 1 1
39 15x Billy Pauch Jr. 103 103 -1,018 0 0 0 2
40 85 Wade Hedrickson 103 103 -1,018 0 0 1 2
41 26 Rick Richner 100 100 -1,021 0 0 0 2
42 44 Shannon Whaley 100 100 -1,021 0 0 0 3
43 62s Tom Sears Jr. 99 99 -1,022 0 0 0 3
44 26 Ryan Godown 98 98 -1,023 0 0 0 2
45 3 Claude Brouillard 98 98 -1,023 0 0 0 2
46 19 Chuck McKee 96 96 -1,025 0 1 1 1
47 126 Jeff Strunk 96 96 -1,025 0 1 1 1
48 23 Dany Bilodeau 96 96 -1,025 0 0 0 2
49 123 Robbie Krull 96 96 -1,025 0 1 1 1
50 42 Pete Bicknell 95 95 -1,026 0 0 0 2
51 80 Chris Steele 92 92 -1,029 0 0 0 2
52 43 Jimmy Horton IV 90 90 -1,031 0 0 0 2
53 2 Michel Dusseault 90 90 -1,031 0 0 0 2
54 85 Dan Vauter 89 89 -1,032 0 0 0 2
55 1 David Hebert 88 88 -1,033 0 0 0 2
56 8 Rob Bellinger 86 86 -1,035 0 0 0 3
57 47 Jerry Higbie 85 85 -1,036 0 1 1 1
58 41 Boyd MacTavish 84 84 -1,037 0 0 0 2
59 24L Carl Labonte 84 84 -1,037 0 0 0 2
60 21 Derrick Podsiadlo 84 84 -1,037 0 0 0 3
61 39w Steven Downs 83 83 -1,038 0 0 0 2
62 54 Steve Bernard 81 81 -1,040 0 0 0 2
63 6G Martin Gagné 81 81 -1,040 0 0 0 2
64 84L Eric Landry 80 80 -1,041 0 0 0 2
65 66w Wallace Stacey 80 80 -1,041 0 0 0 1
66 89b Todd Burley 80 80 -1,041 0 1 1 1
67 3b Chad Brachmann 78 78 -1,043 0 0 1 1
68 28 Scott Kerwin 76 76 -1,045 0 0 1 1
69 13 Tony Steiner 73 73 -1,048 0 0 0 1
70 32c Vic Coffey 70 70 -1,051 0 0 0 1
71 1c Craig VonDohren 68 68 -1,053 0 0 1 1
72 53e Ric Hill 65 65 -1,056 0 0 1 1
73 88 Steve Hulsizer 65 65 -1,056 0 0 0 2
74 20m Jeff McGinnis 65 65 -1,056 0 0 1 1
75 17d Danny O’Brien 65 65 -1,056 0 0 1 1

Advance Auto Parts DIRTcar Modified Entries – August 4 (36)
CAR# DRIVER / HOMETOWN TEAM (Sponsor / Chassis / Engine)
00 Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY Generous Motors-Racing Fabrication Company/Bicknell/MacTavish
1 Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT Blue Moon Potatoes-Buona Pizza/Bicknell/ERD Ford(Terry Vince)
fx1 Frankie Caprara/Watertown,NY F.X. Caprara Car Co.-Auto Value-JK Contracting/Troyer/Dan Bedell
3 Justin Haers/Phelps,NY Phelps Cement Products-SMV Motorsports-Jeff Jolly Masonry/Bicknell/Finger Lakes
3b Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY Original Pizza Logs/Bicknell/Honest Abe’s
5jr. Travis Braun/Jordan Station,ONT DBN Drywall-Brian’s Tire Repair/Bicknell/Cosgrove
6 Pat O’Brien/Kingston,ONT 730 Truck Stop-Gypsum Logistics-Newells Garage/Bicknell/Enders
7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY Tallmadge Tire-Swarthout Recycling-Instant Heat Wood Pellets/Troyer/Finger Lakes
9 Ken Cosgrove/Allanburg,ONT White Oak Transport-Dr. Walter Rodrigues Dentist/Bicknell/Cosgrove
9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY Advanced Lubrication Specialties-BPG/Chad Sinon Motorsports/Bicknell/Finger Lakes
15j Tim Jones/Sanborn,NY Global Warranty-Nu Craft Windows/Bicknell/ERD(Vince)
16w Derek Wutzke/Fenwick,ONT Base Mechanical Inc.-Sports Obsession/Bicknell/New Generation
20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ Madsen Motorsports-Wentworth Custom Homes-Kruger-WLR/TEO/Enders
22 Dan Miller/St.Catharines,ONT Players Athletic Lager Co.-Garden City Auto Complex/Bicknell/C.C. Performance
23 Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT Players Athletic Lager Co.-Garden City Auto Complex/Bicknell/C.C. Performance
26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY National Vacuum Corp.-Lazy Lakes Camping Resort/Bicknell/Gor-Den
31 George Bosse/St.Catharines,ONT Frontier Auto Dismantlers-Priority Collision/TEO/ERD(Vince)
37s Andrew Sittler/St.Catharines,ONT Gaston’s Auto Sales-Part Source/Bicknell/Ray Stevens
38 Scott Wood/Thorold,ONT Henderson’s Pharmasave-Investors Group-Tim Horton’s/Bicknell/Fioravanti
42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT Lucas Oil Products-Merrittville Speedway-Bicknell Race Prods/Bicknell/Fioravanti
44 Brian Stevens/St.Catharines,ONT Farr Drainage-Stevens Racing/Bicknell/Ray Stevens
49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY Number One Speed-American Traditions-Fast Lube Watertown/Bicknell/Finger Lakes
55 Todd Kendrick/London,ONT Strickland’s Automart-GTA Gold Club-Kendrick Racing/Bicknell/Chevrolet
56 Dereck Lemyre/Hamilton,ONT Fire-Out Fire Protection-Everlast Windows & Doors/Bicknell/Phil Lemyre
j66 Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY Atlas Paving-Behrent’s Performance Warehouse/TEO/JPM
72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT Kane’s Vending-CMH Leasing/Bicknell/Enders
77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY RezX Racing-Grow It Hydroseeding-Action Race Parts-Teo Fab./TEO/Kevlar
80 Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT Mac Outpost Computers-RCM Racing-Niagara Dental/Bicknell/Fioravanti
84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY Honeoye Auto Parts-Red Parker & Son Excavating/Bicknell/Mastin
91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY Gypsum Wholesalers-Stadium Int’l-Quality Hardwoods/Bicknell/Enders
91c Travis Cunningham/Grimsby,ONT Bowens Automotive-Family Discount Depot/Bicknell/Fioravanti
96 Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT Turn 4 Collision-Brian’s Tire-Jac-M-Up Race Gear/Troyer/New Generation
98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY Mohawk N.E.-New England Race Fuels-Joe Gibbs Racing Oil/Troyer/Finger Lakes
99 Ryan Phelps/Fulton,NY Big Red Towing-Dave Miller Auto Body/Bicknell/Enders
99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY® Gypsum Express,Ltd./Bicknell/Enders
108 Bill Bleich/Port Robinson,ONT Baron Windows & Doors-Peninsula Press-Westside Trucking&Excv/Bicknell/ERD

SKIDMARKS
Sheppard On Track With Weekend Threefer
: Second-generation racer Matt Sheppard had already swept his weekend rounds at Brewerton (Fri.), Canandaigua (Sat.) and Cayuga County Fair (Sun.) speedways. The final test to complete a rare feat of four consecutive feature wins came to a halt Monday at Merrittville after the Waterloo, New York pilot faded to ninth at the finish. “We’ve really been pretty good on the weekends all along, you don’t see it because of all the rain we’ve had,” relayed Super Matt, who doubled his season output from three wins to six to kick off the month of August. “We had different set-ups all three night so we’ll wait to make a choice for Merrittville after hot laps. At Brewerton we just found the fast lane first before Billy (Decker) got there and at Canandaigua a late race caution helped us catch the leaders with when we were running third. Cayuga County was probably the best since we got the car working in the middle and was able to split the leaders with a just a couple laps to go. We hadn’t really made many changes from what we did before, everything finally came together and stayed that way for three straight days.”

Bicknell Taking Three-Fold Approach: Pete Bicknell has always been a racer and for half a lifetime entrenched in his internationally recognized business Bicknell Racing Products. ‘Mr. Small-Block’ remains submerged in both entities and since 2003 has been a co-owner of Merrittville Speedway with Randy Williamson. “There’s just not enough hours in the day anymore,” said Bicknell, as prepared to compete in the night’s Advance Series show, just moments after putting the finishes on the same track he would face the best Big-Block racers from DIRTcar NorthEast’s premier Modified tour. “Right now I probably spend 60-70 hours a week at the track and that leaves Randy to take care of the shop. I still want to race, still love racing but the picture is much bigger now and a lot of other things come first. I let my guys get the car ready and I’ll get in to run it, but the first priority is the track. Making sure its ready on race day is the number one concern.”

Planck Likes Canadian Exchange: Returning to Merrittville for the first time since his dominating performance in the Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series opener in April, Dale Planck was hoping to make it two straight on foreign soil. The Cortland, New York standout even won a 100-lapper the night before at Cornwall Motor Speedway to carry the momentum into Merrittville’s biggest event of the year. “There’s such a big difference between the Big-Block and Small-Block,” pointed out Planck, before finishing fifth in the Wilkens Memorial 100 to close out the Civic Holiday at the Thorold, Ontario speedplant. “It starts with the amount of power but there’s stagger, tire compounds and gear choices that are influenced by changing conditions. Its been a long summer and all the tracks have changed besides. When we won in April the car was fresh out of the box, now is right about the time when everybody starts catching up to you. My only advantage coming back here is that I might have a better idea about the track after 100 laps. Its really more of a mental thing as all the Big-Block teams have been coming here for years and know the place much better than I do.”

Pot Holes: Integra Shocks Time Trials ended with 12 of the top-13 fastest cars housing Big-Block powerplants. Track owner Pete Bicknell (11th) was the best of the local Small-Block runners which made up 22 of the 36 DIRTcar Modified entries signed in…..Fast timer Steve Paine and Bicknell squared off on the frontstretch in a special match race riding bicycles with the ‘Hurricane’ continuing to exhibit the Big-Block supremacy ahead of ‘Mr. Small-Block’ in front of a partisan crowd. Voice of the Advance Series Shane Andrews then out-distanced Merrittville veteran public address announcer Eric Tomas to win the battle of the bellowers in a celebrity pedal off that followed immediately after…..The traditional pre-race draw for feature race starting positions offered a unique bonus with the kids that donned Advance Series caps numbered ‘7’ and ‘11’ rewarded with those same two bicycles used earlier in the show. In addition, the child paired with the driver that drew the highest #12 received an Advance Series poster autographed by many of the drivers in competition…..Alan Johnson was missing from the roster for only second time despite BRP vice-president Randy Williamson lining up the #72 Tommy Flannigan ride for his use in the holiday special…..Pat O’Brien was back in Advance Series competition on Canadian soil and plans to attend nearly every remaining extra-distance event on the ’08 schedule.

Get Out The Word First: RACEceiver is the Official Driver Communicator of DIRTcar Racing. A compact radio receiver that conveniently fits into a driver’s pocket, a RACEceiver allows each driver to hear directions from series officials, which greatly enhances the safety and timeliness of events. A similar version available to fans will allow RACEceiver users to hear what information series officials are relaying to the drivers. For more information about RACEceiver, visit www.raceceiver.com, call 866/301-7223, or look for their sales trailers at various events.

Tracks Know The Score: In the ongoing effort to assist every sanctioned track with presenting the best possible race programs, DIRT has teamed with AMB i.t. which continues to be recognized as the Official Timing System of DIRTcar racing. AMB i.t. is the world’s leader in automatic race timing and scoring systems and the DIRT organization is proud to retain the company as a valued partner in the timing and scoring of all DIRTcar Racing events.

UPCOMING EVENTS
The mighty Mod Squad crosses over into the states and heads east for back-to-back Advance Series shootouts at Brewerton Speedway and Canandaigua Speedway, Aug. 8-9. Can-Am Motorsports Park and Cornwall (rescheduled from July 13) stage consecutive 100-lappers Aug. 16-17 prior to the touring stars arriving at the home of DIRTcar NorthEast on Aug. 31 for Twin 54s at Cayuga County Fair Speedway.

2008 Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Schedule
NP=Non-Point event.
*All events subject to change
.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/RITE AID 200 QUALIFIER
Wed-Feb 13 Volusia Speedway Park-NP Billy Pauch
Thr-Feb 14 Volusia Speedway Park-NP Brett Hearn
Fri-Feb 15 Volusia Speedway Park-NP Dale Planck
Sat-Feb 16 Volusia Speedway Park-NP Jimmy Horton
Sat-Mar 22 Hagerstown Speedway Weather-Cancelled
Thr-May 1 Virginia Motor Speedway Matt Sheppard(G)
Sun-May 4 Rolling Wheels Raceway Billy Decker(G)
Sun-May 4 Rolling Wheels Raceway Dale Planck(G)
Sun-May 25 Cayuga Co Fair Speedway D.Planck/Danny Johnson(P)
Sat-Jun 7 Fulton Speedway B.Decker/Brett Hearn(P)
Thr-Jul 3 Ransomville Speedway B.Decker/Robbie Krull(P)
Thr-Jul 10 Brockville Ont Speedway B.Decker/Jimmy Phelps(P)
Fri-Jul 11 Autodrome Granby Brett Hearn(G)
Sat-Jul 12 Autodrome Drummond D.Planck/Steve Paine(P)
Wed-Jul 16 Grandview Speedway B.Decker/Jeff Strunk(P)
Thr-Jul 17 Georgetown Speedway H.J. Bunting III(G)
Thr-Jul 31 Orange Co Fair Speedway B.Hearn/Chuck McKee(P)
Mon-Aug 4 Merrittville Speedway Jimmy Phelps(G)
Fri-Aug 8 Brewerton Speedway Brewerton,NY
Sat-Aug 9 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Aug 16 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Sun-Aug 17 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Sun-Aug 31 Cayuga Co Fair Speedway Weedsport,NY
Mon-Sep 1 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge,NY
Sat-Sep 6 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY
Fri-Sep 12 Lernerville Speedway Sarver,PA
Sat-Sep 20 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Sep 27 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge,NY
Sun-Oct 12 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY
Sun-Oct 19 Orange Co Fair Speedway Middletown,NY

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 http://www.advanceautoparts.com.

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SERIES SPONSORS
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 and Hoosier Racing Tire. Rite Aid Corporation is a promotional partner and the contingency sponsors are Bars Leaks, Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Crane Cams, Dig Safely New York, Holley HP Carburetors, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks, Rislone Oil Stabilizer and Wrisco Industries.