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 41st 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.
In its 41st incarnation, NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week promises untold excitement as past champions and rookies alike wrangle for the spot atop the winner’s podium. Saturday’s DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Championship and the Gander Mountain 150 DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship, and Sunday’s Bacc-Off DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship and Super DIRTcar Series VP Small Engine Fuels 200 put the best competitors from the DIRTcar traveling series on a unique mile-long track quite unlike anything else they see all year.
“Syracuse is a much different race and is a much different animal than anything we ever run,” said Brett Hearn , a seven-time Super DIRTcar Series champion and a five-time winner of the VP Small Engine Fuels 200.
Winning Sunday’s Super DIRTcar Series VP Small Engine Fuels 200 is a crowning achievement for any racer, including those who have already conquered the event like Hearn and two-time defending series champion and current points leader Matt Sheppard.
“There are so many different variables,” Sheppard said of the VP Small Engine Fuels 200, the longest race in the Super DIRTcar Series and the only series feature with mandatory pit stops. “To win the race, first you’ve got to finish the race, which is tough to do. It’s a long, grueling race. Then you have to have a fast car, you’ve got to have the right strategy, you’ve got to have the right pit stops, you’ve got to have the right fuel mileage, and you’ve got to have luck. Those are a lot of different things to put together on one Sunday afternoon so you can be able to win that race.”
For many it’s simply known as “Syracuse,” but NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week extends beyond the city limits with satellite events Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights. World of Outlaws Late Models and World of Outlaws Sprint Cars invade Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, the former running Thursday and the latter running Saturday. On Wednesday night Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport opens for the first and only time this season for the NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Kickoff presented by FX Caprara featuring DIRTcar 358-Modifieds and DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds.
The theatrics and excitement of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week extend even beyond the confines of the race tracks. Last month, Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds even paraded through downtown Syracuse , this month campers will parade to the New York State Fairgrounds from Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. Add in Dave Farney’s flagging finesse, the legendary voices of Joe Marotta, Brian Mulligan and Shane Andrews echoing through the grandstands and post-race entertainment hosted by the likes of The Voodoo Lounge and Club Wago, and one can’t help but think, “There’s Only One Super DIRT Week!”
Advance tickets are still available for purchase online at www.SuperDIRTWeekonline.com or by calling the ticket hotline at (877) 395-8606 for events at the New York State Fairgrounds and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. The fairgrounds Gate 6 ticket building is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday for in-person advance ticket sales, and open Tuesday evening at Rolling Wheels Raceway for campers waiting to move into the Fairgrounds the following morning. Ticket windows open again 8 a.m. Wednesday and remain open through late Saturday night. Admission for Wednesday’s races at Cayuga County Fair Speedway can only be purchased at the gate the night of the event.
For the latest news and updates about Super DIRT Week and DIRTcar Racing, “like” the Super DIRT Week and DIRTcar Racing Facebook pages or follow the Twitter feeds, @SuperDIRTWeek and @DIRTcarNE.