Moody Mile Newbie’s First Race Will Be the Big One After Locking In a VP 200 Position

ELBRIDGE, N. Y. – Oct. 7, 2012 – Although he has not driven the Moody Mile at the New York State Fairgrounds, Chad Homan has been trying for years to qualify for the VP Small Engine Fuels 200 Sunday during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week. Instead of participating in time trials and heat races throughout the week, Homan has been working on conquering Rolling Wheels for the Big-Block Modified “Win and You’re In” race, and Saturday he finally made it.

“I’ve been trying to win this race for a few years now, but I’ve never won it,” Homan, of Macedon, N. Y., said. “It’s going to be pretty cool to start the 200.”

Homan started third in his heat at Rolling Wheels, beating out competitors to get the top spot and going on to start third in the 25-lap feature. Chad Brachmann, 2011 “Win and You’re In” winner, took the initial lead, but a caution just off the green flag gave Homan the chance to pass on the restart. (more…)

T-Mac’s Coveted Triumph Comes After Hearn’s Fuel Tank Runs Dry With Two Laps Remaining

SYRACUSE, NY – Oct. 6, 2012 – By Kevin Kovac/DIRTcar Racing P.R. – Tim McCreadie can finally call himself a winner at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Erasing a frustrating history of near-misses and bad breaks during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, McCreadie inherited the lead when Brett Hearn ran out of fuel with two laps remaining and held on to capture Saturday’s Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150.

McCreadie, 38, of Watertown, N.Y., was clearly overjoyed after scoring a $20,000 triumph at the historic one-mile oval where his father, ‘Barefoot’ Bob McCreadie, won the prestigious big-block Modified VP Small Engine Fuels 200 in 1986. He celebrated by doing doughnuts on the homestretch with his 4-Star Racing Teo-Pro car, pounding on the machine’s roof and posing for pictures on the winner’s stage with a large contingent of friends and family members, including his two-year-old son, Gavin, and legendary father.

“It’s awesome,” McCreadie said when asked to describe what a victory at the Syracuse Mile meant to him. “I can’t believe we did it. I know it’s only the small-block race, but this is an unbelievable feeling for me. I can say it’s probably the most emotional and excited and happy that I’ve ever been in a race car.” (more…)

Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150

SYRACUSE, NY – Oct. 5, 2012 – Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., will begin his quest for an unprecedented fifth consecutive victory in the Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 from the pole position after registering the fastest lap in Friday afternoon’s qualifying during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week XLI at the New York State Fairgrounds.

The 47-year-old master of the Syracuse Mile clicked off a circuit of 31.702 seconds early in the 64-car session and it held up to the finish. He bested fellow DIRTcar circuit veteran Danny Johnson of Rochester, N.Y., by 0.187 of a second to earn Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 fast-time honors for the third year in a row.

“It’s the same car – same everything – from last year,” said Decker, who established a new consecutive-win record for the 358-Modified event when he drove the Gypsum Racing Bicknell/Kevlar combination to the checkered flag in 2011. “This is all a product of being prepared. It shows the depth of this team and the work and dedication that goes into preparing stuff.” (more…)

Series Drivers Build Momentum for Friday’s 358-Modified Time Trials and Twin 20s

ELBRIDGE, N. Y – Oct. 5, 2012 – Second place just wasn’t good enough for Brett Hearn. The Vernon, N. J., native took the runner-up spot at Wednesday’s 358-Modified Series race at Cayuga County Fair Speedway, but Thursday’s 75-lap series race at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park gave him the second chance he needed to make it to victory lane.

“We finished the deal tonight,” said Hearn, who fought hard for first in Weedsport Wednesday, but finished second to World of Outlaws Late Model Series star Tim McCreadie. “We didn’t give it away at the end.”

Despite success in qualifying events, making fast time in time trials and winning his heat, Hearn’s redraw put him in the 11th starting spot. Pole-sitter Lee Gill took the early lead, but Hearn was able to make his way up and challenge Gill in lap 16, passing in lap 18. The two raced neck-and-neck for several laps, Gill getting the chance to reclaim the lead off a double-file restart in lap 35. However, Hearn took the top spot back in lap 48 and sped along “The Fast Track” to build a hefty lead over his follower.

“We had to get through a lot of cars to get to the front,” Hearn said. “I had a little scare there with the 7 car went by me on that one restart, but after my tires got hot again everything was good.” (more…)

Keystone State Star Sweeps World of Outlaws Late Model Series Program In Convincing Fashion

ELBRIDGE, NY – Oct. 4, 2012 – Rick Eckert has figured out Rolling Wheels Raceway Park.

The 46-year-old star from York, Pa., was untouchable in Thursday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main, cruising to victory at the five-eighths-mile oval during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week for the second straight year.

Eckert steered his Team Zero by Bloomquist car past Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., for the lead on lap 11 and never looked back. He had a straightaway-plus advantage wiped out by a lap-35 caution flag but still triumphed by a commanding margin, pulling away over the final circuits to defeat a late-charging Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., by 5.529 seconds.

“I just love this place,” said Eckert, whose four career WoO LMS starts at Rolling Wheels include two wins (2011 and ’12) and two runner-up finishes (’05 and ’10). “It’s turned into my favorite racetrack in the country.”

Runaway WoO LMS points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., had an relative off night, finishing third despite starting from the pole position. He was outgunned for the lead at the initial green flag by McCool and fell back as far as fourth before passing McCool for third on lap 40. (more…)

Steve Gray Wins Sportsman Modified Series Race at Cayuga County Fair Speedway 

WEEDSPORT, N. Y. – October 3, 2012 – A year away from his small block did no harm to Tim McCreadie’s performance during Wednesday night’s NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Kickoff presented by FX Caprara. McCreadie qualified well for Wednesday’s 75-lap DIRTcar 358-Modified Series race, starting six, and charged through several early-race cautions to take the lead in lap 5.

“We were fast early. We died a little mid-race, but we picked up at the end,” said McCreadie, a World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular. “Lapped traffic didn’t really seem to help.”

Leaders McCreadie and Brett Hearn reached lapped cars in lap 33, racing two- and three-wide, neck-and-neck, until Hearn slid past McCreadie for the lead in lap 43.

Hearn built a sizable lead over McCreadie, but “T-Mac” overtook him with just a few laps to go.

“We swapped the lead back and forth several times,” said Hearn, who took second at the checkered flag. “I knew where we needed to be at the end of the race, but I just couldn’t get to where we needed to be.” (more…)

Canadian Star Will Bid For Record-Tying Third Consecutive Victory In VP Small Engine Fuels 200

SYRACUSE, NY – Oct. 3, 2012 – By Kevin Kovac/DIRTcar Racing P.R. – Stewart Friesen is ready to chase history during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week XLI at the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds.

The cancelation of Wednesday afternoon’s ‘Happy Hour’ practice session due to wet conditions didn’t dampen the positive outlook of the 29-year-old star from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., who will bid to become just the second driver to win three consecutive editions of the prestigious DIRTcar big-block Modified VP Small Engine Fuels 200.

“It would’ve been nice to get some laps today, but we’ve been good here the last two years and we’ve got the same team, all the same stuff and all the right pieces,” said Friesen, who now resides in Sprakers, N.Y. “We have a good setup and we have a good gameplan for this place. That takes a lot of ‘what-ifs’ out of it.

“It’s nice to have the confidence that we’re not gonna be searching for speed when we do get on the track.” (more…)

Teams present cars to officials during early inspection as anticipation builds

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Oct. 2, 2012 – NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week will come to life Wednesday morning when hundreds of campers caravan into the New York State Fairgrounds, but first on Tuesday more than 110 cars rolled through early inspection to get a jump on the biggest race week of the year.

Campers will begin moving into the fairgrounds at 8 a.m., then by 3 p.m. DIRTcar Modifieds will roar onto the Moody Mile for their first practice session of the 41^st running of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week.

On Tuesday, DIRTcar officials spent nearly 10 hours scrutinizing every car that entered the inspection area set up behind the Gate 6 ticket center, giving teams a chance move into the fairgrounds Wednesday morning ready to go to work. (more…)

41st year of award-winning event promises to be bigger than ever

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Oct. 1, 2011 -Thousands of race fans and race teams are eagerly awaiting the gates to open for the 41^st NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week, which runs Wednesday through Sunday at the New York State Fairgrounds.

One of the most historic events in dirt racing, NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week received the National Speedway Directory Award for Outstanding Annual Short Track Event in 2011 , and this year promises to have even more energy. Together with longtime sponsor VP Racing Fuels, new partners NAPA Auto Parts and Gander Mountain are helping to make this year’s Super DIRT Week bigger than ever.

The “Moody Mile” puts man and machine to the limit. It’s where Buzzie Reutimann claimed the first two Syracuse titles in the early ’70s, where Gary Balough and the Batmobile sparked debate and domination, where Kenny Brightbill took advantage of a late-race mistake by two-time winner Jimmy Horton in 1988, where Alan Johnson won from last starting position after a late race crash involving the top-two in 1989, it’s where Kenny Tremont ran out of gas twice on the final lap while leading, where Vic Coffey pulled off the biggest upset of them all in 2002, and where Billy Decker, Frank Cozze and Stewart Friesen have exceeded the limits of gas mileage on their quests to victory. (more…)

Series Point Leader Dale Planck Finishes 13th after Pitting for Mechanical Issues

BRIGHTON, ONTARIO – September 23, 2012 – After an intense battle for the top spot at Brighton Speedway’s DIRTcar 358-Modified Series race Saturday, “Super” Mario Clair managed to take the lead with five laps to go and keep it through the checkered flag.

Chad Chevalier charged ahead of pole-sitter Erick Rudolph for the early lead in the Applefest 100, but lost it after six laps to Carey Terrance. Chevalier clung to second for almost 30 laps, taking his chance at a restart in lap 36 to get ahead of Terrance. However, Chevalier’s second time at the front lasted only a few laps, Terrance gaining momentum and passing him again in lap 39.

Meanwhile, Dale Planck made his way from the eighth starting spot to challenge Terrance for the lead in lap 42. Terrance held on for several laps against point leader Planck, but Planck won out in the end, leaping to the lead in lap 47. Clair, meanwhile, had progressed from a 13^th starting position to eighth place. (more…)