Syracuse, NY – October 8, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
With a half-century of oval-track experience between them, DIRTcar Modified stars Brett Hearn and Billy Decker put their knowledge of the Syracuse Mile to good use on Thursday as they posted the two best times to earn front starting positions in Saturday’s ‘Salute To the Troops’ 358-Modified Championship at the New York State Fairgrounds.
The qualifying results were all too familiar for Hearn, a four-time winner of the annual Small-Block showdown in the Salt City and set last fast time in 2005.
“It’s a great way to end a long stretch of hard work by all the guys,” said Hearn, after besting 53 entries aboard the potent Madsen Motorsports no. 20 Wentworth Custom Homes-Kruger-Benjamin Moore Paints/TEO entry. “Its just what my guys deserved and a nice way to start building the momentum for the rest of the week.”
“It was a little rough in certain places giving it kind of a short track feeling working your way around. They were the same conditions for everybody, so you just had to pick your spots. It was really a matter of being smooth the whole way around and keeping the car straight was at a premium,” Hearn noted.
To cash in on the National Parts Peddler Pole award the Sussex, N.J. speedster toured the Moody Mile in a time of 31.712 sec. (113.522 mph), which was a tad quicker than Unadilla, New Yorker Decker’s best lap of 31.860 sec. on a cool afternoon in Central New York.
Motorsports Safety Systems Outside Pole award winner Decker’s Gypsum Express teammate Pat Ward (32.025 sec.) was third quick, Big-Block fast timer Tim Fuller (32.076) was fourth fastest, while Pennsylvania pilot Rick Laubach (32.097) and Massachusetts invader Andy Bachetti (32.128) filled out the top-six.
The remainder of the Rite Aid 200 field will come from 358-Modified Twin 20’s on Friday with the 150-lap Syracuse Small-Block Championship set to roll off the line Saturday at 2pm.
Super DIRT Week XXXVIII action continues on Friday afternoon with the Big-Block Modified Triple 20s and 358-Modified Twin 20s taking center stage on the NYS Fairgrounds oval, followed immediately by Sportsman Time Trials along with World of Outlaws Sprint Car ‘King of the Mile’ exhibition dash and Pro Stock practice.
Short-track action then moves over to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park for a 358-Modified/Sportsman Hoosier-VP Mr. DIRTcar Series doubleheader while across town Cayuga County Fair Speedway hosts a 360 Sprint Car Challenge under the lights plus a full car of full-fender racing featuring the ’09 Parts Plus Big Six Street stock Series finale.
SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXVIII 358-MODIFIED TIME TRIALS, NYS Fairgrounds, Oct. 8
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1 31.712 113.522 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
*$1,000-National Parts Peddler Pole Award
2 31.860 112.994 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
*$500-Motorsports Safety Systems Outside Pole Award
3 32.025 112.412 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
4 32.076 112.233 74 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
5 32.097 112.160 542 Rick Laubach/Quakertown,PA
6 32.128 112.052 4 Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
7 32.204 111.787 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
8 32.245 111.645 14 Jimmy Horton/Neshanic Station,NJ
9 32.287 111.500 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
10 32.409 111.080 6 Mat Williamson/St.Catharines,ONT
32.409 111.080 24 Chris Shultz/Pawling,NY
12 32.492 110.797 90 Martin Roy/Napierville,QUE
13 32.571 110.528 76a Ronnie Johnson/Duanesburg,NY
14 32.599 110.433 48too Dave Rauscher/Waterloo,NY
15 32.650 110.260 1w Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
16 32.753 109.914 151kb Brian McDonald/Cornwall,ONT
17 32.839 109.626 22 Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
18 32.848 109.596 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY
19 32.851 109.586 44 Sebastien Gougeon/Drummondville,QUE
20 32.926 109.336 3 Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
21 32.958 109.230 4* Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
22 32.988 109.131 45 Wayne Jelley/Pittsfield,MA
23 33.069 108.863 1ny Greg Atkins/Clintonville,NY
24 33.079 108.830 35 Mike Perrotte/Elizabethtown,NY
25 33.094 108.781 08 Mark D’Ilario/Smithville,ONT
26 33.097 108.771 115 Kenny Tremont/West Sand Lake,NY
27 33.108 108.735 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
28 33.118 108.702 98h Erick Rudolph/Ransomville,NY
29 33.146 108.610 83x Tom Sears Jr./Clay,NY
30 33.214 108.388 77j John Flach Jr./Ravena,NY
31 33.346 107.959 13 Tony Steiner/Jamesville,NY
32 33.411 107.749 8 Rich Scagliotta/Bound Brook,NJ
33 33.495 107.479 24x Patrick Dupree/Saranac Lake,NY
34 33.499 107.466 14x Brian Swarthout/Beaver Dams,NY
35 33.500 107.463 3j Marc Johnson/Guilderland,NY
36 33.510 107.431 16w Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY
37 33.525 107.383 66x Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
38 33.531 107.363 22j Jeremy Wilder/Fort Plain,NY
39 33.622 107.073 7* Danny O’Brien/Kingston,ONT
40 33.625 107.063 007 Roy Tarbell/Akwesasne, NY
41 33.690 106.857 42m Matt Pupello/East Greenbush,NY
42 33.696 106.838 97 Michel Chicoine/Ste-Cecile de Milton,QUE
43 33.710 106.793 72 Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT
44 33.731 106.727 14s Scott Duell/Ballston Spa,NY
45 33.898 106.201 r40 Ryan Forte/Blue Anchor,NJ
46 33.997 105.892 95 Doug Faulkner/East Greenbush,NY
47 34.013 105.842 14 Mitchell Jock/Akwesasne,NY
48 34.558 104.173 36 Brett Graham/Accord,NY
49 35.385 101.738 44c Casey Swamp/Akwesasne, NY
50 -NT- —– 24z Jessica Zemken/Sprakers,NY
51 -NT- —– 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
52 -NT- —– 99 Bryon Chew/Southampton,NY
53 -NT- —– 122 Scott Duso/Nassau,NY
*Top-6 locked into front three rows; 53 cars entered.
