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Phelps Fends Off Fuller To Capture 1st Career Mr. DIRTcar 358-Mod Win
Canandaigua, NY – September 19, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
Friday night’s Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified main at Canandaigua Speedway came down to a contest on neutral ground between Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified standout Jimmy Phelps and current World of Outlaws Late Model Series star Tim Fuller.
The rough and tumble affair needed all 75 laps to determine a winner as Phelps traded the point with Fuller twice over the final two circuits to emerge victorious for the first time in a DIRTcar Racing 358-Modified Championship race.
“Timmy was awfully good there at the end, fortunately the lapped cars fell my way and I was able to hold him off,” said Phelps, 33, after edging Fuller by .272-seconds in the closest finish during the opening six rounds of the 12-race series that is scheduled to conclude at Orange County Fair Speedway in October.
Already a four-time Big-Block winner in ’08, Phelps’10th career DIRTcar Small-Block feature victory was his biggest ever and worth $3,000.
“The track was so narrow tonight, all those yellows (11) probably didn’t give the guys much time to get moving. We had the luck tonight, fortunately we had the car to back it up. I have to thank everybody that helped get us here and for doing a great job tonight,” remarked Phelps, after making his 2008 Small-Block DIRTcar debut aboard the J&B Installations no. 99J Town Mechanical/Troyer entry a successful one.
Chasing Phelps and Fuller across the line were 358-Modified tour opening day winner Dale Planck, home track regular Gary Tomkins and current tour points runner-up Danny O’Brien, after a late-race rally netted the second-generation traveler from Kingston, Ontario a front-five spot.
Phelps finished third in the fourth and final qualifying heat and the pole-position awaited the Baldwinsville, New York chauffeur as he was the last driver standing in the customary pre-race draw that sorted out the top-six rows. From there the B’Ville Blizzard blasted out front of the 31-car field and survived numerous slowdowns as the ultra-tacky Ontario County Fairgrounds’ half-miler took its toll on the invading teams.
The first caution on lap four included reigning Mr. DIRTcar 358 Champion Mario Clair in the five-car melee that jammed the track in turn four. Fuller’s car owner John Lazore looped at the end of the back straightaway on lap eight and on the ensuing restart another turn four pile-up involved a handful of cars resulting in Vic Coffey and Jessica Zemken locking together against the inside retaining wall.
With a dozen laps in the books, Big-Block veterans Phelps, Tomkins, Planck, recently crowned Canandaigua points champion Steve Paine and Fuller were already racing at the head of the class leaving the top 358-Modified regulars to battle among themselves. When perennial favorite Brett Hearn slowed on the back stretch for a flat tire on lap 14, caution laps began to count although the ‘Corporate Jet’ rejoined the back of the pack without going down.
While working their way through the top-10, O’Brien and Chad Brachmann made contact to incur the eighth slowdown on lap 33. Fuller took advantage to nose ahead of Phelps for a narrow lead on the lap 38 restart yet Phelps regained the momentum on the high side and returned to the point the following circuit to set the stage for a dramatic duel that continued non-stop the last half of the race.
The 11th and final yellow flag unfurled on lap 61 when Coffey looped high exiting turn one as he diced with Danny Johnson in their attempt to reach the front-five. Coffey showed his displeasure with the Johnson, ramming him repeatedly under caution with a black flag sending him to the pits for the remainder of the event.
Green lights were back on for the lap 65 restart giving Phelps and Fuller a clear track ahead to determine the final outcome. Yet that window only lasted eight laps as the leaders reached traffic on the lap 73, with Phelps caught behind Dave Rauscher as the front-runners looked for an open lane exiting turn two.
Steering the JL Motorsports no. 19 Street Wise Fight Gear/TEO machine, Fuller dove deep to cross the line ahead by a half car-length with one lap to go but Phelps never paused, riding the high side to perfection in turns one and two to regain the lead and wrap-up opening day activities of Labatt Blue Weekend in dramatic fashion.
“The top got so slippery right up to that berm, I just couldn’t carry the speed there that I did earlier in the race,” remarked Phelps, as he put his name in the ‘Land of Legends’ record book following a torrid battle with Fuller, who scored his lone win at Canandaigua in 2001 when he competed every Saturday in a Big-Block.
“I knew (Tim) was probably a little better than I was on the bottom, but like I said, the lapped cars and traffic helped me out a ton. We did what we had to do, we had a free enough car to run up high real hard most of the race. It might have been a tad too free there at the end but it all worked out. We just better have some pretty good shocks on the car tomorrow,” added Phelps, eluding to his return to the fairgrounds on Saturday for the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Labatt Blue 100 for Big-Block Modifieds.
Making his first appearance on the Mr. DIRTcar 358 Championship trail this season, native Edwards, New Yorker Fuller will also be contending in Canandaigua’s Big-Block season-finale on Saturday, once again teaming up with John Lazore for the century run.
“I run out of laps tonight, (Jimmy) was real good. If the track had been a little bit rougher maybe we would have had something for him,” remarked Fuller, 40, revealing a hint of sarcasm and momentarily shunning his roots that include a pair of overall Hoosier Tire Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championships (1993, 2003) which remain forever imbedded in Northeastern soil.
“It was really a great race. Jimmy ran a great race and did exactly what he had to do and stayed on the top. We had a good side-by-side battle going there for awhile. He did a good job and it was pretty good to stay up front on this type of track.”
Enjoying possibly the best view in the house over the final circuits, Planck was content with his third-place showing as he sported his familiar RezX Racing no. 77x Grow It Hydroseeding-Action Race Parts-Teo Fab./TEO colors for the first time in Small-Block competition this season.
“This is a brand new car tonight and what you’ll see me in the rest of the year after wrecking the 66 car at Drummond,” divulged Planck, 38, who currently stands second on the points chart in the Advance Series for Big-Blocks. “It worked super right out of the box, we just have to tweak it a little bit and get a little better on those starts.”
“We were just as good as anybody out there at the end, I’m still happy to come home third. The car was good, just lacked that little bit coming off the corners and on the restarts. Don’t know if it was the gears or what. I’ll try to be back here and talk with you more about it tomorrow. The track’s a little choppy so I’ll just try to make the right choices throughout the night and end up here again,” added Planck, who like Phelps was winless at Canandaigua coming into the weekend and the popular Cortland, New York pilot hopes to break the ice on Saturday when the curtain drops on the 2008 race season at Canandaigua Speedway.
Teams chasing points towards the overall Hoosier Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series return to action next week as DIRTcar Racing NorthEast charter member Rolling Wheels Raceway Park hosts round number seven of the 2008 tour on Friday, September 26 as part of the 22nd World Series Weekend.
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Race #6 – Canandaigua Speedway, September 19, 2008 ‘Labatt Blue Light 75’ Event Summary Feature
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 1 99j Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville, NY($3,000)
2 3 19f Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
3 4 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
4 8 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
5 18 17d Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
6 12 55j Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
7 5 3b Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
8 16 66x Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
9 22 4* Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
10 6 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
11 24 93 Rich Vinson/Sanborn,NY
12 28 19L John Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
13 23 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
14 21 007 Roy Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY
15 20 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY
16 26 55 Mitch Gibbs/North Norwich,NY
17 15 22w Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY
18 19 22 Eric Gauvreau/Chelsea,QUE
19 30 19z Jessica Zemken/Sprakers,NY
20 2 80 Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT
21 14 19k Joe Kubiniec/Lockport,NY
22 13 48too Dave Rauscher/Waterloo,NY
23 7 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
24 31 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
25 9 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
26 11 97 Michel Chicoine/Ste-Cecile de Milton,QUE
27 10 5 Todd Burley/Spencerport,NY
28 17 2b Ron Cartwright Jr./Portageville,NY
29 29 72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT®
30 27 14 Mitchell Jock/Akwesasne,NY®
31 25 9 Mark Smoke/Akwesasne,NY
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