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Syracuse, NY - October 7, 2006 - By Tom Skibinski, DIRT NorthEast PR Director
Open-wheel veteran Danny Johnson proved once again its not where you start at
Syracuse but how close you are to the front in the end that matters most after
capturing his second career victory in the 27th Annual ITT Industries-Goulds Pumps
150-lap 'Salute to the Troops' Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Series main event Saturday
afternoon at the New York State Fairgrounds. Johnson led the fewest laps aboard Dave
Thompson's no. 27J Quality Concrete-King Ent.-Chiefs Tobacco & Gas/TEO entry, yet
they were the most important as he held off Chad Brachmann by .35-seconds to collect
$20,000 for his biggest win of the year on DIRT MotorSports NorthEast's grandest
stage.
"There was definitely a lot of action out there today with the track not very wide
but it was finally coming around at the end," said Johnson, 46, after outlasting
Pennsylvanian Rick Laubach, whose fuel tank went dry after pitting on lap 21 while
D.J. made his lone stop on pit road during a lap 50 caution period. "There were a
lot of real good cars out there and we all came here to win. Everybody was really
pushing hard with a lot of bump drafting going on, but that's a big part of the game
here at Syracuse when the track is narrow and all the guys want to get to up front
right away." Chasing Johnson across the line were Chad Brachmann, pole winner Pat
Ward, 2004 ITT-Goulds Pumps race winner Wayne Jelley and Mid-State Golf Car Hard
Charger Kayle Robidoux from the province of Quebec.
Second-generation driver Matt Sheppard broke rank at the outset, blasting by front
row starters Ward and Pete Bicknell on the front straightaway to establish an early
advantage. Accounting for nine victories in Super DIRT Week's big-block Modified
main event, defending Eckerd 200 champion Billy Decker and Brett Hearn rounded out
the early top-five. While '03 small-block champion Sheppard led the initial 17 laps
a year ago on the Syracuse Mile, the talented Waterloo, NY pilot paced the 37-car
starting field until a majority of the leaders chose lap 50 to make pit stops after
Billy Decker's no. 91 Gypsum Wholesalers/Bicknell ride came to a halt high in turn
two. Choosing to take their own pitside tours when the first yellow flag unfurled on
lap 21 were Roy Tarbell and Laubach, as well as defending race winner Tim Fuller,
who necessitated the caution period when his no. 19 JL Motorsports(Native
Poker)-Chiefs Tobacco&Gas/TEO mount suffered a shredded right rear tire to ride the
turn three-four outside retaining wall.
Once Sheppard ran down pit lane for tires and fuel, the calculated move put 'Mr.
Small-Block' Pete Bickell in the lead while Hearn, Sheppard, Ward, Chris Shultz and
Donnie Corellis returned to the track in that order although still trailing the top
dozen chauffeurs that were inclined to wait for the next yellow flag to fall during
the coming laps. Vic Coffey didn't need to wait for a pit stop by the leader after
Bicknell slid high between turns one and two under green to open the door for the
race's third different leader on lap 72. When Scott Flammer and Carey Terrance
tangled on the back chute during the 85th circuit that was Coffey's cue to
relinquish the point with Laubach moving out front ahead of Roy Tarbell, Tim Fuller,
Sheppard and Johnson.
Coming out of the pits ninth following his own stop on lap 50 with many of the early
leaders, Western New York traveler Brachmann was the new man on the move as the
century mark approached just as fast. Brachmann swept around Johnson for fifth and
disposed of Sheppard the following circuit yet just one later Johnson charged back
around both on the outside exiting turn one to settle the issue once and for all.
Still in the 'Doctor's' sights were leader Laubach and Roy Tarbell before Danny and
Chad both slid under Tarbell on lap 125 to drop-kick the long-time runner-up from
second to fourth with just 25 laps remaining.
Early leader Bicknell slowed on lap 127 and reached the pits under green yet was
held on pit row by officials after an unsafe maneuver was before finally parking the
no. 42 Havoline machine for good with 131 laps complete. Just a half-dozen more
circuits were run off before Sheppard's day finally came to a close with the no. 44S
Ross Motorsports entry limping to a stop on the back chute. Laubach maintained the
point on the lap 141 restart but just two more times around the Moody Mile his Dick
Biever-owned machine suddenly slowed, giving Johnson his first lead of the day with
only seven miles remaining. And that was easily enough for the Rochester, N.Y.
wheelman as he cruised home to his second straight $20,000 payday after claiming
Fulton Speedway's rain-shortened Victoria 200 big-block pot exactly one week
earlier.
"The strategy is pretty much the same when you run Syracuse, try to conserve tires
and fuel as long as you can and be around at the end to give yourself a chance,"
said Johnson, who won his only other Syracuse small-block championship in the 1994
edition of the ITT-Goulds Pumps 358-Modified title race. "I knew that the 007
(Tarbell) car had run out of gas, I just never radioed the crew about the number 14
(Laubach) but as soon as it slowed I figured it was all done. And that was good for
me after another great job for everybody involved with this team."
Brachmann matched his runner-up finish from two years ago steering the no. 3B
Original Pizza Logs & Calzones/Bicknell car which was good enough for a lucrative
$10,000 payday. "I showed Danny the high side and I should've stayed there a little
longer," said 2001 Mr. DIRT Sportsman champion Brachmann, who claimed Super DIRT
Week's headline Sportsman feature race in 1999. "He retaliated right away and after
that I just couldn't get another good run to move around. I needed Danny to get
bottled up again, he really slowed down in traffic and that would've been my only
chance to get back by. We've got a decent package going here at Syracuse now and I'm
really happy with second considering how good the car was all day."
After topping the speed charts on Friday morning and coming away with the
NativePoker.com pole award, Ward reluctantly settled for the show position although
he was still satisfied with the LJL Racing no. 42P Gypsum Express/Bicknell machine
coming home in one piece. "I was pretty nervous out there today with so many guys
banging right in front of me," said Ward, who didn't even compete in the show last
autumn after finishing 34th in the 2004 race. "I had a fast car all week but just
couldn't seem to get a good run and take advantage when the guys slowed in front of
me. Putting on tires was a good call during the pit stop as the new ones were pretty
worn coming down to the end."
Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Series Race #7 - New York State Fairgounds, Oct. 7, 2006 27th
ITT Industries/Goulds Pumps "Salute To The Troops" 150 Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
TEAM LAPS $WON$
1 10 27J Danny Johnson / Rochester,NY Quality
Concrete-King Ent.-Chiefs Tobacco & Gas/TEO/Kevlar 150 20,000
2 11 3B Chad Brachmann / Wheatfield,NY Original Pizza Logs &
Calzones/Bicknell/JanCen 150 10,000
3 1 42P Pat Ward / Genoa,NY Gypsum Express
Ltd./Bicknell/Enders 150 5,000
4 16 45 Wayne Jelley / Pittsfield,MA K&F Modular
Homes-Freedom Plains/TEO/Bedell 150 3,000
5 22 46 Kayle Robidoux / St-Constant,QUE Bert
Transmission-Dynatech Tri-Y Headers/Bicknell/Clements 150 2,000
6 13 4 Andy Bachetti / Sheffield,MA Old Forge
Powersports-Albraeda Waste/PMC/Morrison 150 1,500
7 19 21 Donnie Corellis / Averill Park,NY Beer Belly
Bob's Beverage/PMC/Morrison 150 1,200
8 14 1 Willy Decker / Vernon,NY® Westmoreland Golf
Club-Steel Sales/TEO/Enders 150 1,000
9 21 77F Mark Flach,Jr. / Coxsackie,NY Flach Crane &
Rigging/PMC/Bedell 150 800
10 26 115 Kenny Tremont / West Sand Lake,NY S&S Asphalt
Paving/Bicknell/Waters 150 600
11 20 1X Todd Stone / Middlebury,VT G.Stone
Motors/Bicknell/Morrison 150 400
12 4 55 Gary Edwards Jr. / Bloomingburg,NY® New York
Truck Parts-YESSS Country Chevy/TEO/JPM 150 350
13 24 M96 Brian McDonald / Cornwall,ONT Kriska
Transportation/Bicknell/Eng. Research 150 320
14 28 43 Keith Flach / Ravena,NY Flach Crane &
Rigging/PMC/JPM 150 310
15 25 26 Rick Richner / Niagara Falls,NY Lazy Lakes Camp
Resort-Niagara Maint. Contr./Bicknell/Gor-Den 150 300
16 18 24 Chris Shultz / Pawling,NY Liberty Rock
Crushing/TEO/JPM 150 290
17 33 19K Paul Kinney / Vernon,NY ® Southern Tier
Comm./Bicknell/Enders 149 280
18 9 19 Tim Fuller / Edwards,NY JL Motorsports(Native
Poker)-Chiefs Tobacco&Gas/TEO/Enders 149 270
19 7 14 Rick Laubach / Quakertown,PA Alpha Mills-Reiley
& Sterner Auto Sales/TEO/Enders 148 260
20 30 M40 Mark Forte Jr. / Blue Anchor,NJ J & M Roofing &
Builders/TEO/Morrison 142 250
21 3 44S Matt Sheppard / Waterloo,NY BKS-G-U
Hardware-Currier Pastics/Bicknell/Finger Lakes 136 250
22 34 007 Roy Tarbell / Hogansburg,NY T & T
Motorsports/TEO/Kevlar 135 250
23 2 42 Pete Bicknell / St.Catharines,ONT Merrittville
Speedway-Havoline/Bicknell/Glasgow 131 250
24 17 37X Scott Flammer / West Milford,NJ Flammer Heating &
Cooling/Bicknell/Precision 129 250
25 8 32C Vic Coffey / Leicester,NY Sweeteners
Plus/Bicknell/CC Performance 122 250
26 27 48too Dave Rauscher / Waterloo,NY Magee Transp.
Services-Monadnock Disposal/Bicknell/Morrison 110 250
27 12 66X Carey Terrance / Akwesasne,NY Jreck Subs/TEO /
LaFrance Performance 81 250
28 23 8 John Lutes Jr. / Altamont,NY® Diamond
Fabrication/TEO/Forbes 69 250
29 6 4* Brett Hearn / Sussex,NJ Wentworth
Construction-Four Star Transmissions/TEO/Morrison 59 250
30 39 40 Ted Teal / Averill Park,NY Bubie Enterprises-DMS
Designs/Bicknell/Silly's Competition 57 250
31 5 91 Billy Decker / Unadilla,NY Gypsum
Wholesalers-Stadium International/Bicknell/Enders 49 250
32 32 80 Jeff Marshall / Fort Covington,NY® RPS
Performance-Jacobs Excavation/TEO/Enders 24 250
33 35 77G Robbie Grant / Malone,NY® Discount
Cigarettes-Jacobs Excavation/Bicknell/Doobie Martin 22 250
34 31 81 Jeff Sykes / Edwards,NY RPS Performance-Jacobs
Excavation/TEO/LaFrance Perform. 14 250
35 36 92 Shawn Donath / South Onondaga,NY®
Daniels&Mayfield Mtrspts-ProMotion Speed Sply/TEO/Daniels(Ford) 10 250
36 15 6 Pat O'Brien / Kingston,ONT Gypsum Logistics-Newells
Garage/Bicknell/Enders 3 250
37 44 37 Lance Willix II / Theresa,NY® Morey
Enterprises-Wolfclan Truck Stop/Bicknell/West Carlton 2 250
DNS 29 1H David Hebert / St. Damase,QUE Freightliner
Granby/Bicknell/Finger Lakes --- ---
DNS 37 124 Pierre Dagenais / Gatineau,QUE Quarry
Dagenais/Bicknell/Doiron --- ---
DNS 38 124x Mike Adderley / Watertown,NY ® Quarry
Dagenais/Bicknell/Doiron --- ---
DNS 40 220 John Ferrier / Middletown,NY Superior Building
Supplies/TEO/Precision --- ---
DNS 41 14J Alan Johnson / Phelps,NY NativePoker.Com-Pine Line Auto
Sales/Bicknell/Morrison --- ---
DNS 42 250 Alan Houghtaling / Poughkeepsie,NY® Skidmore Heating &
Cooling/TEO/Sansone --- ---
DNS 43 14V Dan Vauter / Forest City,PA® Community
Bank&Trust-Panorama Golf Course/Bicknell/Enders --- ---
DNS 45 7z Gary Tomkins / Clifton Springs,NY Payne
Motorsports-Mastin Engineering/TEO/Mastin --- ---
DNS 46 21k Randy Chrysler/Lewiston,NY Randy's Smoke
Shop-Arrow's Express-Seneca Brand/Bicknell/Pogo --- ---
LAP LEADERS: Sheppard (1-50), Bicknell (51-71), Coffey (72-84), Laubach (85-142),
D.Johnson (143-150).
TOTAL LAPS LED: 58-Laubach, 50-Sheppard, 21-Bicknell, 13-Coffey, 8-D.Johnson.
LEAD CHANGES: 4 among 5 drivers.
CAUTIONS: 7 for 33 laps.
ELAPSED TIME: 1 hr. 45 mins. 50 secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 85.043 mph.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .350 sec.
DIRT MOTORSPORTS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Willy Decker.
MID-STATE GOLF CAR HARD CHARGER: Kayle Robidoux.
NATIVE POKER.COM HALFWAY BONUS: Vic Coffey.
GATER RACING NEWS BEST APPEARING CAR & CREW: #27J - Danny Johnson.
NYSSCA 'TOP MEMBER' AWARD: Danny Johnson.
NATIVE POKER.COM FAST TIME AWARD: Pat Ward (30.965 sec/116.260 mph).
NATIVE POKER.COM 2ND FAST TIME AWARD: Pete Bicknell (31.181 sec/115.455 mph).
NATIVE POKER.COM TWIN-20 RACE WINNER: Pat Ward.
NATIVE POKER.COM TWIN-20 RACE WINNER: Pete Bicknell.
RACE ROOKIES®: 11.
ENTRIES: 47.
Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Series Point Standings (Top-12 through Oct. 7, 2006)
1540-Pat O'Brien, 1526-Brett Hearn, 1484-Andy Bachetti, 1431-Brian McDonald,
1410-Carey Terrance, 1383-Pete Bicknell, 1380-Lance Willix II, 1337-Jeff Sykes,
1297-Roy Tarbell, 1295-Pierre Dagenais, 1272-Jeff Marshall, 1266-Kyle Dingwall,
1242-Danny O'Brien.
UPCOMING EVENT
The final Mr. DIRT 358-Modified event of the season comes in two weeks during the
45th running of Eastern States Weekend, Oct. 20-22, at Orange County Fair Speedway
with valuable points on the line towards the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels
Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Championship.
2006 MR. DIRT 358-MODIFIED SERIES SCHEDULE
*Show up points only
DAY-DATE LAPS TRACK - LOCATION / WINNER
Sun-Sep 3 100 Cornwall Motor Speedway / RAIN-CANCELLED
Sat-Sep 9 50 Lebanon Valley Speedway / ANDY BACHETTI
Sun-Sep 10 80 Can-Am Motorsports Park / ALAN JOHNSON
Sat-Sep 16 75 Brockville Ontario Speedway / PETE BICKNELL
Fri-Sep 22 100 Rolling Wheels Raceway / ALAN JOHNSON
Wed-Oct 4 75 Can-Am Motorsports Park / RAIN-CANCELLED
Thr-Oct 5 75 Brewerton Speedway / ALAN JOHNSON
Fri-Oct 6 100 Rolling Wheels Raceway / TIM FULLER
*Sat-Oct 7 150 New York State Fairgrounds / DANNY JOHNSON
Sat-Oct 21 150 Orange County Fair Speedway - Middletown,NY
The DIRT MotorSportsT 358-Modified Series 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., DealMaker
Auto Group and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are
Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads,
DART Machinery, Holley HP Carburetors, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller
Electric Manufacturing Company, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.