Carey Terrance - Rick Young Photo
Weedsport, NY — May 21, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Since his rookie Modified campaign in 2005, Carey Terrance has been one of the most consistent Small-Block competitors on the DIRTcar Northeast circuit. This year the Akwesasne, N.Y. chauffeur wants to be recognized among the winningest drivers in his class.
His pursuit begins on May 24 when Merrittville Speedway leads off the 2010 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series, with the Victoria Day winner collecting $4,000 from the lucrative $35,000 holiday purse.
“Everything feels like its coming together now, just have to finish more races and that should put us in the hunt,” remarked Terrance, 29, as he prepared for his sixth season following the region’s top Small-Block tour with a regular season win on home soil last Friday at Mohawk Int’l Raceway. “We’ve got the experience and equipment to get the job done, now it’s up to being consistent to take us to the next step.”
Teammate Dale Planck reached the final rung last year, sewing up his first-ever Mr. DIRTcar title while Terrance settled for sixth-place in search of DIRTcar Racing’s highest honor.in the Small-Block division. Planck plans to be at Merrittville on Monday, along with many of the remaining series shows, yet season-long Super DIRTcar Series activity in the Big-Block ranks will diminish any chance for him to defend.
“Big-Blocks are still our focus with Dale, he just ran into some trouble last year and made a late decision to run the whole 358 series,” noted team owner Terrance, who expects to race alongside Planck at select Super DIRTcar Series shows, including stops at Cornwall, Brockville, Granby, Drummond and closer to home at Mohawk Int’l Raceway. “At the same time, he really helped improve our Small-Block program.”
“I’ve only been to Merrittville a couple times but I think we have a pretty good handle going in. Dale has done well there and I’m really comfortable with our set-up right now. It’s always important to get off to a good start in the series, so we’re confident we’ve got a lot of good notes to fall back on next week,” said Terrance, who finished 11th at Merrittville in last May’s 50-lapper while Planck crossed the line third behind winner Larry Lampman Jr. and Big-Block regular Jimmy Phelps.
The RezX Race Team headed by Terrance and Planck will be on the look-out for home track favorite Pete Bicknell, a three-time Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified titlist as well as Merrittville’s career feature win leader. ‘Mr. Small-Block’ from nearby St. Catharines kicked off the season with two straight wins at the 59 year-old Thorold, Ont. oval, while veteran Rick Richner started his own streak last Saturday.
Joining Bicknell and Richner on the homefront will be weekly contenders Mat Williamson, Fred Carleton, Rob Pietz, Scott Wood, Chad Brachmann, Mike Bowman, Tim Jones, Todd Gordon and Boyd MacTavish. Second-generation standout Danny O’Brien and popular Frenchman Mario Clair, the Mr. DIRTcar in 2007, are expected to make the haul into the Niagara Frontier for round one of the 12-race tour.
“Its nice to know there’s a chance to win Mr. DIRT, that’s just about as big as it gets out here,” said Terrance, whose best finish in the overall point standings was third in 2007, which was sandwiched between fifth-place runs in both ‘06 and ’08. “I’d just like to hit all the specials after that. With my businesses keeping me busy, it would be easier to circle certain shows and not have to worry about being at any one track every week.”
Along with owning two restaurants, Terrance also operates a pair of gas and tobacco shops in the north country; the Twin Leaf Express (Ft. Covington) moniker adorns Planck’s no. 77X Bicknell ride while sister Twin Leaf (Hogansburg) service station distinguishes the no. 66X BRP entry driven by Terrance.
“It was awesome, there’s nothing like getting your first series win,” added Terrance, recalling his memorable tour triumph scored last season at Cornwall Motor Speedway during Labor Day Weekend, with the black RezX racing machines separated by a scant 0.002-second margin at the stripe to the fans delight. “That’s a feeling you don’t often get, something you can’t wait to have again. Right now I think it’s just a matter of finding more seat time, the more laps we run the better we seem to get.”
Terrance will have 100 laps around the racy 3/8-miler to find his groove at Merrittville on Monday. Gates unlock for hauler parking and pre-event inspection at 2pm and pits open at 4pm. Group time trials follow 6:15 warm-ups with qualifying races for all classes on the holiday card beginning at 7:05pm.
Track information can be found at www.merrittvillespeedway.com or by contacting Public Relations Director Jim Irvine at 905/892-8266. Merrittville Speedway is accessible from any direction in the U.S., taking the Peace Bridge in the Buffalo, NY/South Niagara Region, Rainbow Bridge and Queenston-Lewiston Bridge in Niagara Falls, or in Canada following the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) south to Niagara from the Hamilton or Toronto areas.
For additional information, please contact DIRTcar Northeast Director of Competition Joe Skotnicki (704/796-4566, e-mail jskotnicki@dirtcar.com) during normal business hours. Log into the homepage at www.dirtcar.com to find out more about the Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series as well as the entire circuit.
2010 Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE LAPS TRACK LOCATION/WINNER
Mon-May 24 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT
Thr-Jul 1 Autodrome Edelweiss Hull,QUE
Sun-Sep 5 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Fri-Sep 10 Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE ($10,000 to win)
Sat-Sep 11 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE ($10,000 to win)
Fri-Sep 17 Mohawk International Raceway Akwesasne,NY
Sun-Sep 26 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Wed-Oct 6 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Thr-Oct 7 Brewerton Speedway Brewerton,NY
Fri-Oct 8 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Sat-Oct 9 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY ($20,000 to win)
Sat-Oct 16 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds, home of DIRTcar All-Star Weekend in July. DIRTcar Northeast’s crown jewel event —Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse runs annually in October featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions. Ticket and schedule information is available by contacting the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during the day or logging into www.allstar100weekend.com and www.superdirtweekonline.com anytime.
The Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Hoosier Racing Tire www.hoosiertire.com and VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and Chizmark & Larson Insurance www.chizmarklarson.com, and contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, MSD Ignition www.msdignition.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Vicci Racing Apparel www.vicci.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.
