For more info, please visit DIRT and Canandaigua Speedway.
By Tom Skibinski, DIRT Modified Series Reporter
Canandaigua, NY — August 11, 2005 — Gary Tomkins reached the pinnacle of DIRT
Modified racing last season when he captured the prestigious overall Hoosier
Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Championship. On Thursday night Tomkins added
another career highlight after scoring his first Advance Auto Parts Modified Super
DIRT Series victory on his home turf, Canandaigua Speedway.
"I've wanted this race for so long but some kind of problems always seemed to set us
back no matter how good the car was," said Tomkins, following his second tour
triumph of the season in 13 Advance Auto Parts SDS events. His ninth career win on
the trail was worth $6,000 and put him in sole possession of third-place in the tour
point standings behind leader Tim Fuller and runner-up Brett Hearn.
"We pretty much used my standard Saturday set-up out here tonight. Randy (Kisacky,
crew chief) was on the phone all week trying to get it as close as possible to the
#84 car. All the little things he did to the car worked out perfect and we finally
made it to victory lane," beamed Tomkins, 39, after recording his track-best sixth
big-block Modified win in '05 aboard the no. 1 Elaine James
Motorsports,Inc.-Pillsbury Collectibles-Hilton/Bicknell/Finger Lakes entry. His
first five were posted in his regular no. 84 Honeoye Auto Parts-Red Parker
Excavating ride.
With a capacity crowd in attendance to witness the annual 'Land of Legends' summer
showdown, a stellar field of 31 big-block machines was greeted by superb track
conditions as starter Dave Farney's initial green flag led off the mid-week special.
Drawing the pole for the third-time this season, Fuller opened up a commanding lead
from the outset as his closest challengers jockeyed for position dicing back and
forth both high and low.
While Chuck Bower held down second, five-time defending Canandaigua points champion
Steve Paine charged from sixth to third in seven laps before Vic Coffey stole the
spot back as the leaders began to close in on traffic. Starting eighth on the grid,
Tomkins showed his hand early as he maneuvered into fourth by lap 11 while row four
partner Tim McCreadie followed suit and cracked the top-five soonafter. Seven of the
'Elite 11' moved into top-10 slots with 15 laps complete as the leaders weaved in
and out of lapped cars on the smooth Ontario County Fairgrounds oval.
Action was slowed for the first time at the end of lap 21 when Justin Haers slowed
up high in turn four. While under yellow, the Gypsum team cars of Billy Decker and
Pat Ward sped into the pits with a pinging motor ending any hopes for a top finish.
Ward did return to fall back three laps under the checkered while Decker wound up
11th after completing the entire 50-mile distance.
Back under green flag conditions, second-generation standout Matt Sheppard quickly
entered the picture, grabbing fourth on lap 28 away from current World of Outlaws
Stacker 2® Late Model Series star Tim McCreadie, who was making an uncommon
appearance inside his old no. 39 Sweeteners Plus/TEO car. USAC Triple Crown winner
J.J. Yeley also made a special appearance aboard Dave Rauscher's no. 48too Magee
Transportation Services mount but stopped in turn two to incur a second yellow on
lap 30.
Tomkins shadowed Fuller for a dozen circuits and forged the final lead change as he
swept around Fuller's no. m1 MBF-B&F General Machine entry as the duo rounded to
turn four to complete lap 41. Just two laps later the third caution flew as local
favorite Paine's night came to a premature ending following contact with the front
stretch wall. In a rare show of emotion beyond his normally calm and quite facade,
the 'Hurricane' extricated himself from his disabled racer in turn one and marched
backwards on the front straightaway before suddenly ricocheting his helmet off the
no. 8j JIR Motorsports car of Tom Sears, Jr. and into the cockpit of the passing car
of Stewart Friesen.
A three-wide racing formation out of turn four precipitated the incident with Sears
and Paine looking for room under the high-flying Friesen as the trio prepared to
head down the front chute. Sears caught the inside Jersey barrier and slid up which
eventually pinched Paine against the outside wall with a collapsed front end on the
no. 7x Tallmadge Tire Special the end result. "It was just a racing incident but
Steve tossing his helmet was intentional," said JIR Motorsports team owner Jeff
Isabell. "Back when my drivers ---Sears and Danny Johnson--- were involved in the
same kind of altercation they both got fined and suspended two weeks. I was in total
agreement of the decision at the time. I'm just waiting for what the ruling will be
on Paine, fair is fair. Danny lost his major sponsor and the ride after that
happened, something that could have cost him the championship this year. I'm just
hoping the situation is dealt with in the same consistent manner."
With the field back under control as it reached the halfway mark, Tomkins paced the
group of open-wheel all-stars that suddenly featured Hearn in second ahead of a
fading Fuller, Sheppard and McCreadie. By the time Isabell stopped out of turn two
on lap 56, McCreadie had charged into third with Fuller and Sheppard swapping
top-five positions. With 30 laps remaining, Southern Tier invader Mitch Gibbs was
the man on the move as he pulled the no. 22g Cossitt Concrete-Kenyon Press-Nice'N
Easy Grocery Shoppe/Bicknell machine into sixth.
The final yellow flag waved in response to Alan Johnson slowing the borrowed no.
48jr. Fox's Auto car of retiring regular Darryl Ruggles to a stop in turn two.
Non-stop green light action during the final 15-mile stretch kept the outcome
uncertain as two racing grooves, a host of lapped cars and ever-changing track
conditions brought excitement in every turn.
After Sheppard ducked low on Hearn in turns three and four to complete lap 71, Gibbs
methodical move to the front offered the only other changes among the leaders. The
threesome of McCreadie, Fuller and Gibbs remained intact until Gibbs cracked the
top-five past Fuller on lap 80. Six more times around and Gibbs was able to slip
under McCreadie for the final exchange up front.
Under the checkered flag Tomkins scored a 10 car-length victory while 'Super Matt'
edged the 'Corporate Jet' by inches as the pair crossed the line side by side in the
bid for second. Gibbs held on for fourth while McCreadie staved off a last lap pass
by SDS points leader Fuller to take home fifth-place money. Bert 'Hard Charger'
Sears (started 18th), Todd Burley, Chad Brachmann, Bower, Decker and Vic Coffey were
the last cars to be scored on the lead lap.
"I can't thank the guys enough for getting me the win here," added Tomkins, who now
owns 29 DIRT Modified wins at Canandaigua Speedway to rank him sixth all-time. "The
car could run anywhere I put it and was able to stay in the black all night without
a problem. We just need to be more consistent and have more nights like this. But
its gonna take a lot more hard work and probably a little luck to come out on top
again this year."
Sheppard reluctantly settled for second-place for a second time this season behind
Tomkins, who snatched the lead with just eight laps remaining in the century grind
at Autodrome Drummond in July. "I really thought I had Gary tonight the way we were
going early on," said Sheppard, following his sixth top-five tally of the 2005 Super
DIRT Series in the potent no. 44s G-U Hardware-Advance Auto Parts-Adam Ross Cut
Stone/Bicknell entry. "But we got tight again at the end and Gary stole another away
from us. I worked with Steve (Paine) and watched run low and win here for years. I
wanted to keep the tires cool running inside even if I had to give up some ground
early. The car just tightened up, especially right at the end and I did all I could
to hang onto second. I haven't been at Canandaigua too much lately but I miss
running here, we always seem to do good and always look forward to coming back with
a lot of positive notes to work from."
Wheeling the no. 3 Page Trucking-Gable Auto Stores-Kruger-WLR Construction/TEO
mount, Hearn finished third to continue his string of top-fives, with the first of
six straight coming on the Fourth of July at Rolling Wheels Raceway. "We can't be
too unhappy with another solid finish," said Hearn, a two-time SDS winner in 2005 to
bring his career-high total to 86 on DIRT MotorSports NorthEast' premier Modified
circuit. "When Fuller blew by early on I thought we were in big trouble, this is
always one of my harder tracks to figure out and get any luck at. But the track
really came to us at the end. I was able to keep Gary in sight all the way and
almost got Matt at the end. You want to step on the gas really bad out here
sometimes but you still have to wait and feel the throttle to go anywhere. A couple
more laps and we could've gotten even one spot better, things were that good at the
end."
Fuller leads the big-block DIRT Modifieds back into New Jersey for the second stop
of the year at New Egypt Speedway on Wednesday, August 24. He now stands ahead of
Hearn by a 1037-1002 margin in the Advance Auto Parts standings with Tomkins riding
third with 988 points through 13.
Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series – Canandaigua Speedway, August 11,
2005 Finger Lakes Championship Event Summary [*Official box score posted on
www.dirtmotorsports.com by selecting DIRT NorthEast then choosing either the
358-Modified SDS, Sportsman SDS or Pro Stock SDS before clicking the 'Advance' logo
top left on homepage]
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 8 1 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
2 12 44s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
3 4 3 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
4 9 22g Mitch Gibbs/North Norwich,NY
5 7 39 Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
6 1 m1 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
7 18 8j Tom Sears,Jr./Clay,NY
8 16 62 Todd Burley/Spencerport,NY
9 10 3b Chad Brachmann/Wheatfield,NY
10 2 99b Chuck Bower/Lansing,NY
11 11 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
12 3 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
13 5 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY
14 23 99 Charlie Donk/Macedon,NY
15 15 20 Stewart Friesen/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
16 20 10 Karl Comfort/Rushville,NY
17 28 6j Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
18 14 74 Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
19 13 3h Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
20 29 27z Ray Bliss/Warsaw,NY
21 24 48too J.J. Yeley/Phoenix,AZ
22 30 79 John Pfeffer/Hilton,NY
23 17 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
24 19 21 Derrick Podsiadlo/Penn Yan,NY
25 31 48jr. Alan Johnson/Phelps,NY
26 25 7j Jeff Isabell/Pennellville,NY
27 6 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
28 27 29b Jeff Brownell,Jr./Waterloo,NY
29 22 88h Steve Hulsizer/Brewerton,NY
30 21 9 Bob McCreadie/Watertown,NY
31 26 49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY
DID NOT QUALIFY(7)
21k-Roger Chrysler/Lewiston,NY
28p-Eldon Payne,Jr./Hopewell,NY
44-Shannon Whaley/Pavilion,NY
45m-Mike Ward/Genoa,NY
48jr.-Darryl Ruggles/Hopewell,NY
50-Don Slover/Bath,NY
72-Mike Bliss/Warsaw,NY
Lap leaders: Fuller (1-40), Tomkins (41-100).
Hard Charger: Tom Sears, Jr.
QUALIFYING
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
@1 17.540 102.623 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
2 17.569 102.453 3 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
17.569 102.453 39 Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
4 17.571 102.442 99b Chuck Bower/Lansing,NY
5 17.595 102.302 3b Chad Brachmann/Wheatfield,NY
6 17.622 102.145 22g Mitch Gibbs/North Norwich,NY
7 17.629 102.104 1 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
8 17.648 101.995 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
9 17.652 101.971 74 Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
10 17.728 101.534 m1 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
11 17.856 100.806 3h Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
12 17.857 100.801 62 Todd Burley/Spencerport,NY
13 17.890 100.615 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
14 17.929 100.396 48too J.J. Yeley/Phoenix,AZ
15 17.938 100.346 20 Stewart Friesen/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
16 17.946 100.301 44s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
17 17.948 100.290 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
18 17.969 100.173 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY
19 17.984 100.089 99 Charlie Donk/Macedon,NY
20 18.018 99.900 TEN Alan Johnson/Phelps,NY
21 18.023 99.872 9 Bob McCreadie/Watertown,NY
22 18.039 99.784 8j Tom Sears,Jr./Clay,NY
23 18.091 99.497 21 Derrick Podsiadlo/Penn Yan,NY
24 18.183 98.994 10 Karl Comfort/Rushville,NY
25 18.185 98.983 44 Shannon Whaley/Pavilion,NY
26 18.260 98.576 88h Steve Hulsizer/Brewerton,NY
27 18.288 98.425 48jr. Darryl Ruggles/Hopewell,NY
28 18.293 98.398 49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY
29 18.377 97.949 27z Ray Bliss/Warsaw,NY
30 18.429 97.672 79 John Pfeffer/Hilton,NY
31 18.494 97.329 7j Jeff Isabell/Pennellville,NY
32 18.503 97.282 21k Roger Chrysler/Lewiston,NY
33 18.553 97.019 28p Eldon Payne,Jr./Hopewell,NY
34 18.560 96.983 72 Mike Bliss/Warsaw,NY
35 18.609 96.727 29b Jeff Brownell,Jr./Waterloo,NY
36 18.722 96.144 6j Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
37 18.735 96.077 45m Mike Ward/Genoa,NY
38 22.027 81.718 50 Don Slover/Bath,NY
*Top-2 locked into pre-race feature draw.
@Track Record
Heat Races (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to feature, top 3 went to re-draw)
#1: T.McCreadie, Tomkins, Haers, Friesen, Podsiadlo, Donk, Isabell, Ruggles, Brownell.
#2: Coffey, Bower, Sheppard, Burley, Comfort, Dunn, Bachetti, Chrysler, A.Johnson.
#3: D.Johnson, Brachmann, Paine, P.Ward, B.McCreadie, R.Bliss, Payne, Whaley, M.Ward.
#4: Fuller, Gibbs, Phelps, Sears, Hulsizer, Yeley, Pfeffer, M.Bliss, Slover.
Consolation Round (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: Donk, Isabell, Brownell, R. Bliss, Whaley, Payne, M.Ward, Ruggles.
#2: Yeley, Dunn, Bachetti, Pfeffer, M.Bliss, Chrysler, Slover, A.Johnson (DNS).
Provisional Starter: Alan Johnson.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SUPER DIRT SERIES POINT STANDINGS (through Canandaigua –
August 11, 2005)
No. Driver Points Diff Money Wins Top 5Top 10Starts
1 M1 Tim Fuller 1,037 0 $44,500 5 9 10 13
2 3 Brett Hearn 1,002 (35)$30,000 2 8 10 13
3 1 Gary Tomkins 988 (49)$28,100 2 6 10 13
4 91 Billy Decker 948 (89)$22,525 1 4 9 13
5 42p Pat Ward 884 (153)$18,375 0 4 7 13
6 44s Matt Sheppard 874 (163)$20,125 0 5 8 13
7 7x Steve Paine 834 (203)$14,700 0 3 6 13
8 TEN Alan Johnson 819 (218)$16,600 1 2 8 13
9 3h Justin Haers 773 (264)$11,450 0 1 7 13
10 3b Chad Brachmann 725 (312) $7,725 0 1 5 13
11 20 Stewart Friesen 710 (327) $6,525 0 0 4 13
12 98h Jimmy Phelps 699 (338)$10,100 0 1 4 12
13 32c Vic Coffey 603 (434) $6,700 0 1 4 10
14 8J Tom Sears Jr. 550 (487) $5,850 0 0 4 9
15 6J Andy Bachetti 471 (566) $6,660 0 1 1 9
16 29B Jeff Brownell Jr. 436 (601) $3,400 0 0 1 9
17 9 Bob McCreadie 390 (647) $5,000 0 1 1 8
18 18 Sean Beardsley 371 (666) $2,125 0 0 0 7
19 27z Ray Bliss 370 (667) $2,600 0 0 0 8
20 44 Frank Cozze 351 (686) $5,600 0 1 3 6
21 88 Jeff Strunk 348 (689) $2,900 0 0 2 7
22 7J Jeff Isabell 347 (690) $1,875 0 0 0 6
23 99B Chuck Bower 322 (715) $3,300 0 0 3 5
24 39 Tim McCreadie 295 (742) $4,800 0 2 2 5
25 115 Kenny Tremont Jr. 291 (746)$10,650 1 2 2 4
26151X Dale Planck 275 (762) $3,925 0 1 1 5
27 27J Danny Johnson 216 (821) $1,450 0 0 0 4
28 85 Dan Vauter 204 (833) $1,425 0 0 0 4
29 12a Jack Johnson 197 (840) $2,800 0 1 2 3
30 42 Jimmy Horton 191 (846) $7,600 0 1 1 3
31 1 Billy Pauch 185 (852) $8,000 1 2 2 2
32 22g Mitch Gibbs 165 (872) $3,700 0 2 2 2
33 99 Ryan Phelps 154 (883) $1,150 0 0 0 3
3458Jr Bucky Kell 140 (897) $1,300 0 0 0 3
35 5 Rick Laubach 138 (899) $1,000 0 0 0 3
36 88h Steve Hulziser 132 (905) $900 0 0 0 3
37 1J Bobby Varin 131 (906) $2,300 0 1 1 2
38 16 A.J. Romano 130 (907) $900 0 0 0 3
39 62 Todd Burley 128 (909) $1,500 0 0 1 2
40 86 Kyle Strickler 126 (911) $1,100 0 0 0 3
41 Z Butch Tittle 123 (914) $900 0 0 0 3
42 X Chad Phelps 120 (917) $900 0 0 0 3
43 74 Doug Hoffman 116 (921) $1,700 0 0 1 2
44 26 Ryan Godown 105 (932) $4,000 0 1 1 1
45 49 Billy Dunn 104 (933) $600 0 0 0 2
46 74 J.R. Heffner 104 (933) $900 0 0 1 2
47 48T Dave Rausher 101 (936) $600 0 0 0 2
48 10 Karl Comfort 100 (937) $600 0 0 0 2
49 21 Yan Bussiere 100 (937) $800 0 0 0 2
50 22 Mario Clair 98 (939) $700 0 0 0 2
Skidmarks:
* Once towing in weekly every Saturday from his North Norwich, N.Y. home, Mitch
Gibbs was a Canandaigua Speedway regular in the early 1990s. Yet after scoring his
only feature win at the 'Land of Legends' oval in 1992, the 42 year-old open-wheel
veteran has only returned to the Ontario County Fairgrounds only a half-dozen times
since. "I was really skeptical about running some series race after hearing stories
about the new people in charge," admitted Gibbs, today a weekend runner at Can-Am
Motorsports Park and Utica-Rome Speedway. "But I was really surprised how decent I
was treated both here and at Albany-Saratoga (finished 5th) and the officials
running the show are the same guys that have been around for years. Its really a
professional group and they create a good atmosphere at the tracks. At first I
thought there might be a problem since I follow the RoC tour but I've been treated
just the same as everybody else. Canandaigua has always had good people but the
racing really sets it apart and that's still what I like best about coming here.
There's always two grooves to chase and the racing is clean, that's probably why a
lot of the top teams make it their Saturday night stop during the season," said
Gibbs, who plans to run 10-15 big-block races in '05 with his next tour stop
expected at Brewerton Speedway on August 31.
* Unlike Gibbs, Macedon, N.Y. native Charlie Donk has remained a Canandaigua
die-hard since running in the Street Stock division in the early 1980s. The 1982
Expert S.S. track champion made his big-block debut at the Ontario County oval in
1986 and pulled into victory lane for the first time in the summer of '92. "Every
win here is something very special," said Donk, 44, who scored his fifth career
big-block win at Canandaigua last Saturday (Aug. 6). There have been a lot of guys
that raced here for years with only a couple wins to show. That's a testament to
both the competition and the track itself, I've been here for 25 years and it
doesn't get any easier. I'm a working guy racing out of my own pocket so its a big
accomplishment getting some wins against the full-time drivers with major
sponsorship. If it wasn't for guys like Steve (Paine) and Gary (Tomkins) just think
how many wins I might have now. I ran small-blocks at Black Rock and finished second
to Steve over 20 times. But its still the fun and the people in racing that bring me
back, without those its just too much money to be throwing away." Donk also noted
that Canandaigua is easy on tires and that he only goes through about a dozen during
an entire season; something that allowed him to save up for the recent purchase of a
brand new HVH 18-degree big-block motor that powered him to his latest feature win.
* While Donk savors every one of his brief moments in the winner's circle, five-time
defending Canandaigua points champion Paine just cherishes the chance to get into a
Modified and show he's among one of the best ever in wine country. "I look forward
to every race, as long as I can stay out of trouble I have a chance to win and
that's why I do it," said Paine, who has won three times in 2005 at Canandaigua and
stands third all-time with 66 Modified wins. Ironically, Paine suffered his first
crash of the season less than halfway into Thursday's SDS main event to finish 27th
on the final scoresheet. "We've had things going good lately in the series, so we're
looking forward to Canandaigua for obvious reasons. The track has been a little
faster this year and the lap times have been quicker. In the series race I expect it
should be among the fastest of the year."
* Paine was right on with his prediction as 10 of 38 drivers taking in pre-race time
trials shatttered the former single-lap standard of 17.852 seconds (100.829 mph)
established by Billy Decker on Sept. 13, 2003. Decker was once again the fastest on
Thursday evening as he toured the fast half-miler in a time of 17.540 sec. for an
average speed of 102.623 mph).
* Making his fourth-ever appearance in a DIRT Modified, former USAC champion and
current Busch driver J.J. Yeley from Phoenix, Ariz, set 14th fastest time at
Canandaigua before finishing 21st in Dave Rauscher's no. 48too Magee Transportation
Services-Monadnock Disposal Service/Bicknell entry. The deal came together through a
Waterloo, NY connection between local resident Stu Sheppard and former neighbor Mike
McLaughlin, who serves as the 'Busch Series Coach" for Yeley on Joe Gibbs' no. 18
Home Depot Chevrolet. Before competing at Canandaigua, Yeley ran the Syracuse Mile
on two occasions while running at Rolling Wheels Raceway just once.
* No stranger to Canandaigua in his popular no. 9 Kinney Drugs-Syracuse Frame
Service-F.X. Caprara Car Co. modified ---except over the past two seasons---
'Barefoot' Bob McCreadie made his first trip of the season to a track he fondly
called home for 21 consecutive seasons (1983-2003). "There's a reason for why we
raced here for that long," said McCreadie who has stood on 99 career Modified
feature wins in Canandaigua since 2002. Only Alan Johnson (113) has more wins at the
'Land of Legends' since the DIRT era. "We had a lot of fun there, some great times
and wouldn't change it for anything. Hopefully, the circuit can get back to normal,
there have been way too many changes around here lately."
* Once a touring regular, Lansing, N.Y. driver Chuck Bower is hoping that change
will come in the form of a new sponsor to supplement the financial backing supplied
by Joe Beyea in the no. 99b Beyea Custom Headers-Ingles Performance Ski-Doo/Bicknell
ride. "It's no secret you need a lot of money and full-time help to follow a tour
like this," said Bower, who captured the overall Mr. DIRT Sportsman title in 1995.
"We'd still like to follow it as much as possible but its hit or miss with Joe's
business not letting him get too many days off. When its $500 to haul to a series
event or $50 to run Canandaigua, its simple math where we're able to show up. It
seems that the stronger seem to get stronger and the weak get weaker when it comes
to sponsorship support," said Bower, a weekly runner at Brewerton and Canandaigua so
far this season.
* All 'Elite 11' drivers qualified in heat races staged at Canandaigua except for
Alan Johnson, who blew a motor in the no. TEN CRC Community Rental-Tri-State
Roofing/TEO on last lap of heat forcing him to pick up the 48jr. ride of local pilot
Darryl Ruggles to fill out 31-car field. He completed 65 laps before mechanical
failure relegated him to 25th on the final scoresheet.
* Alan Johnson joins, Brett Hearn, Matt Sheppard and Stewart Friesen among a select
group of drivers opting to run both the Advance Auto Parts Modified and 358-Modified
SDS. Elite 11 members Hearn, Sheppard, Friesen and newcomer Johnson recently
finished two straight nights of Super DIRT Series small-block competition at
Brockville (Ont.) Speedway and Autodrome Edelweiss (Que.) before arriving in
Canandaigua. Friesen, Johnson and Hearn finished 1-2-3 in the 50-lapper at
Brockville on Monday while Sheppard settled for sixth-place. In Edelweiss' 75-lapper
on Tuesday, Johnson scored his second tour win of the season outlasting Sheppard
(2nd), Friesen (3rd) and Hearn (4th). Frogtown was rained out and cancelled on
Wednesday.
"I wish there races in the winter," said Johnson, the current 358-Modified SDS
points leader. "This is what I live to do and it pays the bills. Once the season
gets going I look forward to traveling around to the races at all the different
tracks. It's sure a lot easier when there are different guys taking car of the cars
and I can meet them at the track."
"The schedule has been pretty light up until now so we're just starting to get going
full throttle now," said Hearn, who trails only Johnson in the early season
small-block series points chase. "After you do this for a while you pretty much know
what to expect. Its more of a matter of preparing for it mentally, and you just get
used to it. I found that racing back to back really helps sharpen my skills and
you're able to finish better on a more consistent basis following a full schedule."
"I watched these same guys do it for years so traveling the circuit has really been
like a dream come true," said Friesen, a big-block rookie who led the DIRT
358-Modified circuit with 12 feature wins a year ago. "There's definitely a lot of
work involved but its never tiring when you're running good. And its a lot easier
when you're getting help. We planned to run the whole big-block series from day one
but this small-block deal just came up the day before Merrittville's opener. Right
now I only work on the Modified but we're doing better with the 358 car. We're still
having a great time with both cars every time out."
"I can't really say I'm tired, this racing is what I do," said Sheppard, ranked
fourth in 358 SDS points directly behind Friesen. "We got a break at Frogtown with
the rain, instead of getting home between 4-5am we arrived before 1 and 2. Right now
we'll be running the small-block as much as possible but the big-block program still
takes precedence. They're pretty much the same once you get racing both classes so
much. The only difference is that the big-blocks are faster and you have to let off
going into the turns while the 358s allow you to flat foot it all the way around. We
like whatever car we can win in at the time."
* The top-15 finishers in the 'Keystone Classic 100' (Aug. 3) at Lernerville
Speedway were at the head of the line to share in the unique $3,000 Winner's Circle
fund that has been set aside to be divided among the highest finishing drivers at
each event. The distribution of this special $3,000 fund is be based on the feature
race finishing order: drivers placing in positions 1-5 will each earn $100, 6th –
10th-place finishers will receive $200 and 11th – 15th will pocket $300. Competitors
are required to attend and attempt to qualify for the next Advance Auto Parts SDS
event to collect payment of the Winner's Circle bonus.
By racing at Canandaigua, Tim Fuller, Brett Hearn, Billy Decker, Pat Ward and Steve
Paine received $100 each, Tom Sears, Jr., Matt Sheppard, Vic Coffey, Jeff Brownell,
Jr. and Justin Haers earned $200, while Todd Burley, Chuck Bower, Jimmy Helps, Jeff
Isabell and Gary Tomkins pocketed $300. Upon attempting to qualify at the next
event, New Egypt Speedway on Aug. 24, Tomkins, Sheppard, Hearn, Mitch Gibbs and Tim
McCreadie will collect $100 each, Fuller, Sears, Burley, Chad Brachmann and Bower
will receive $200, with Decker, Coffey, Phelps, Charlie Donk and Stewart Friesen in
line for $300 bonuses.
* With RACEceiver now recognized as the Official Driver Communicator of DIRT
MotorSports™ in 2005, fans, as well as the competing drivers, were able to hear
first hand everything that was happening throughout the entire Canandaigua show. 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 allows
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.
Over fifteen thousand registered Dirtvision.com members had the opportunity to view
LIVE the Advance Auto Parts SDS action as it unfolded at the Canandaigua oval.
Including Wednesday's LIVE webcast of the Keystone Klassic, Dirtvision's 2005
Cybercast schedule currently has over 60 DIRT MotorSports events shared between the
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, World of Outlaw Stacker 2® Late Models, DIRT 358
and big-block Modifieds, UMP Late Models and MARS Late Model events. Users will need
a CyberPass subscription to view the Dirtvision Cybercast broadcast, which can be
purchased for as low as $9.99 on www.dirtvision.com. Windows Media Player 9 or
higher is required to see the cybercast so please be sure to download and install
the FREE player to get the full experience. For technical support or questions,
e-mail customerservice@dirtvision.com or click on the member's menu and select
Help/FAQ for answers.
2005 ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SUPER DIRT SERIES SCHEDULE
Day-Date Track (Laps)
Location/Winner
Mon-Feb 14 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................BRETT HEARN
Tue-Feb 15 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................ANDY BACHETTI
Wed-Feb 16 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................BILLY DECKER
Fri-Feb 18 Volusia Speedway Park (50L-NP)......................JAMIE MILLS
Sun-May 1 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................BRETT HEARN
Wed-May 25 Lowe's Motor Speedway (50L)...........................TIM FULLER
Sun-May 29 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (100L)..............TIM FULLER
Wed-Jun 22 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................BILLY PAUCH
Thr-Jun 23 Hagerstown Speedway (100L)...........................ALAN JOHNSON
Tue-Jun 28 Albany-Saratoga Speedway (101L)...................BILLY DECKER
Mon-Jul 4 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................TIM FULLER
Thr-Jul 7 Lebanon Valley Speedway (100L).....................KENNY TREMONT
Sun-Jul 10 Cornwall Motor Speedway (100L)......................BRETT HEARN
Mon-Jul 11 Autodrome Drummond (100L)...........................GARY TOMKINS
Tue-Jul 19 Grandview Speedway (100L).............................TIM FULLER
Wed-Aug 3 Lernerville Speedway (100L).............................TIM FULLER
Thr-Aug 11 Canandaigua Speedway (100L).........................GARY TOMKINS
Wed-Aug 24 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................New Egypt, NJ
Wed-Aug 31 Brewerton Speedway (100L)..............................Brewerton, NY
Sun-Sep 4 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (100L)..............Weedsport, NY
Mon-Sep 5 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................Elbridge, NY
Sat-Sep 10 Lebanon Valley Speedway (200L).....................West Lebanon, NY
Sun-Sep 18 Rolling Wheels Raceway (200L)........................Elbridge, NY
Sat-Sep 24 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................New Egypt, NJ
Sun-Oct 9 New York State Fairgrounds (200L)...................Syracuse, NY
Sat-Oct 15 Grandview Speedway (100L).............................Bechtelsville, PA
Sun-Oct 16 Williams Grove Speedway (100L) .....................Mechanicsburg, PA
Sun-Oct 23 Bridgeport Speedway (200L) ............................Bridgeport, NJ
*NP = Non-Point event.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SERIES SPONSORS
The DIRT MotorSports™ Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across
the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance
Auto Parts, Dynomax Performance Exhaust, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels.
Promotional Partners include Stacker 2®, AMB i.t., RACEceiver, Zippo Lighters and
F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the contingency sponsors are DART Machinery, Bicknell
Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.