Wednesday’s race marked first series opener in Ontario as well as Haers’s first series points race win
BROCKVILLE, ONTARIO – May 28, 2014 – Justin Haers started his racing season better than ever.
The Phelps, N.Y., driver outdueled veteran racers Billy Decker and Brett Hearn at Brockville Ontario Speedway Wednesday night to pick up his first-ever victory in a Super DIRTcar Big-Block Modified Series points race.
“It feels awesome,” said Haers, whose first series win was a no-points race February during DIRTcar Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment. “I got a taste of it down in Florida, winning a big race down there. To start the year off with our first Super DIRTcar Series race and to get another win, it’s just icing on the cake.”
Nearly ten years after accepting the Big-Block Modified rookie of the year award, Haers arrived at the first Super DIRTcar Series Ontario opener without a series point win to his name. Successful seasons in 2012 and 2013 brought him to fourth and eighth places respectively in end-of-season series point standings, but no victories were tallied.
Haers started Monday’s 100-lap feature race in fourth after placing second overall in time trials and ending up second in his heat race. He quickly overcame Larry Wight, winner of the first, Pole Position Raceway Fast Qualifier award, to claim second before the first lap concluded.
Setting his sights on Decker in first, Haers powered forward, but an early race caution in lap 3 slowed the pace. Decker, of Sidney, N.Y., chose to restart on the outside lane and surpassed Haers when the green flag waved again in lap 7.
After a second series of yellow-flag laps, Haers found the speed he needed on the challenging inside lane to pass leader Decker in lap 23.
“We just didn’t tighten up enough,” said Decker, whose Brockville Super DIRTcar Series experience had included five top-five finishes out of six total races. “I knew from Brockville experience that sooner or later that bottom will come around on the restarts, and it did.”
A determined Haers put some distance between the Phelps Cement Products No. 3 and the rest of the pack and stood his ground, even after eight-time Super DIRTcar Series Champion Hearn, of Sussex, N.J., made a last-lap challenge.
Hearn started the race in seventh, but picked off his competition to make his way to second place in lap 80. He fiercely fought three-time Super DIRTcar Series Champion Matt Sheppard, trading third and fourth positions with the Waterloo, N.Y., racer three times before pulling ahead. He usurped second from Decker with a quick pass on the inside groove off a lap-79 restart and spent the last 20 laps of the feature race battling Haers for the lead.
“Sometimes you’re out there leading and you get into lapped traffic and you don’t know which line to run in,” Haers recalled of these final laps. I” started moving around and I saw someone peek their nose under me. I thought it was probably going to be Brett (Hearn). I just tried to protect my line and keep things smooth.”
Hearn and Haers raced wheel-to-wheel for many of the last laps, but Haers stayed strong to finish in the lead and claim his first Super DIRTcar Series points win.
“Justin’s got the experience; he’s not easily shaken,” said Hearn, who finished second. “I got a move off the line that he preferred. I thought I was going to be able to set him up, but I just didn’t get enough to run.”
The Super DIRTcar Series heads south for its next feature race, the highly-anticipated Friesen-Deyo Promotions “Dirty Jersey 60” at New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, N.Y. For more information about the Super DIRTcar Series, visit www.superdirtcarseries.com.
A-Main (100 Laps):
1. 3 Justin Haers – Phelps, N.Y. ($6,000)
2. 20 Brett Hearn – Sussex, N.J.
3. 91 Billy Decker – Sidney, N.Y.
4. 9h Matt Sheppard – Waterloo, N.Y.
5. 6m Mat Williamson – St. Catharines, Ontario
6. 27J Danny Johnson – Rochester, N.Y.
7. 21a Pete Britten – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
8. 96 Danny O’Brien – Kingston, Ontario
9. 49 Billy Dunn – Watertown, N.Y.
10. 10v Billy VanInwegen – Sparrowbush, N.Y.
11. 43 Keith Flach – Ravena, N.Y.
12. 25 Erick Rudolph – Ransomville, N.Y.
13. 7z Dale Planck – Homer, N.Y.
14. 6 Pat O’Brien – Kingston, Ontario
15. 98h Jimmy Phelps – Baldwinsville, N.Y.
16. 42p Pat Ward – Genoa, N.Y.
17. 115 Stephane LaFrance – St. Albert, Ontario
18. 84 Gary Tomkins – Clifton Springs, N.Y.
19. R70 Ryan Arbuthnot – Renfrew, Ontario
20. 74 Matt Billings – Brockville, Ontario
21. 99L Larry Wight – Altmar, N.Y.
22. Randy Chrysler – Lewiston, N.Y.
23. 8s Rich Scagliotta – Hillsborogh, N.J.
24. 66x Carey Terrance – Hogansburg, N.Y.
25. 54 Steve Bernard – Granby, Quebec
26. 07 Tim Kerr – Picton, Ontario
27. 35 Mike Perrotte – Plattsburgh, N.Y.
28. 56 Vince Vitale – Cato, N.Y.
29. 9J Jordan McCreadie – Watertown, N.Y.
30. 25 Bobby Herrington – Kingston, Ontario
DNS:
9 Jason Riddell – Cardinal, Ontario
15aw April Wilson – Joycevelle, Ontario
19 Luke Stewart – Sydenhan, Ontario
55 Dexter Stacey – Kahnawake, Quebec
61 Brian Rogers – Kingston, Ontario
66 Kyle Dingwall – South Dundas, Ontario
75 Joe Banks – Kingston, Ontario
88 Chris Herbison – Kingston, Ontario
66w Wallace Stacey – Kahnawake, Quebec
B-Main 1 (10 Laps): LaFrance, Vitale, Chrysler, McCreadie, Ward, Rogers, Perrotte, D. Stacey
B-Main 2 (10 Laps): Arbuthnot, Planck, Terrance, P. O’Brien, Banks, Stewart, Dingwall, W. Stacey, Riddell
Qualifying Heats (8 laps; top 5 transfer, top 3 redraw)
Heat 1: Phelps, Britten, Hearn, Johnson, Billings, LaFrance, Rogers, Wilson, Perrotte
Heat 2: Sheppard, Herrington, Kerr, Bernard, D. O’Brien, Vitale, McCreadie, Chrysler, Ward, D. Stacey
Heat 3: Wight, Haers, VanInwegen, Tomkins, Scagliotta, Arbuthnot, Banks, Herbison, Stacey, Riddell
Heat 4: Decker, Dunn, Williamson, Flach, Rudolph, Terrance, Planck, P. O’Brien, W. Stewart, Dingwall
Time Trials: 1. Wight 14.277, 2. Haers 14.309, 3. Phelps 14.474, 4. Sheppard 14.478, 5. Britten 14.516, 6. Hearn 14.531, 7. Decker 14.541, 8. Ward 14.542, 9. Bernard 14.679, 10. Billings 14.749, 11. Dunn 14.753, 12. Flach 14.789, 13. Herrington 14.829, 14. D. O’Brien 14.866, 15. Williamson 14.870, 16. Terrance 14.874, 17. Johnson 14.882, 18. Rudolph 14.895, 19. LaFrance 14.944, 20. Kerr 14.993, 21. Herbison 15.017, 22. Arbuthnot 15.043, 23. Scagliotta 15.080, 24. Rogers 15.087, 25. Chrysler 15.104, 26. Riddell 15.137, 27. Dingwall 15.143, 28. VanInwegen 15.145, 29. Vitale 15.162, 30. Tomkins 15.236, 31. P. O’Brien 15.244, 32. Planck 15.253, 33. Perrotte 15.357, 34. McCreadie 15.399, 35. Stewart 15.432, 36. Banks 15.743, 37. Wilson 15.808. NT: W. Stacey, D. Stacey
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