Tim Sears, Jr. - Rick Young Photo
Cornwall, ONT — June 13, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
In a main event slowed by 11 yellow flags, it was a fitting conclusion for the yellow no. 83x Total Site Development/Bicknell entry steered by talented teenager Tim Sears Jr. as he made a sizzling debut leading flag-to-flag Sunday night in the Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series ‘Benson Auto Parts 30’ at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
The final restart went single-file, giving Sears enough breathing room to outlast Canadian contender Chris Herbsion and allow the second-generation standout from Clay, N.Y. to score his second career tour victory by three car-lengths in the extended 31-lapper.
“I knew (Herbison) is a regular out here, knew he was fast because he beat me in my heat and I couldn’t catch him so I was definitely worried with all those restarts at the end,” remarked Sears, who also led the distance last summer to score his first tour win closer to home in Brewerton (NY) Speedway’s 40-lap stop. “I was kind of nervous but things worked out pretty good tonight.”
Sears’ first-ever appearance at promoter Ron Morin’s fast quarter-miler was greeted in victory lane by a check for $1,000, with the win also securing him an automatic starting berth in the Super DIRT Week Sportsman Championship on the Syracuse Mile in October. Ryan Susice from Ransomville, N.Y., Justin Wright from Piffard, N.Y. and Frenchman Steve Bernier from St-Hyacinthe, Que. rounded out the final top-five.
The 31-car starting grid was set after four qualifying heats with only Canadian Ghislan Lacombe not taking the green. That still provided plenty of machinery to cover the oval and after just one lap, yellow lights flashed around the track after Matt Collins slid way off turn one with Jenna David and late arriving Tom Benedict looping in their immediate reaction. Weekend winner Sheldon Hoogwerf broke at the same time with his own open-wheel mount coming to rest between turns three and four.
Prior to the initial caution period, Sears had out-gunned for the lead front row partner and pole-sitter Steve Gray, the opening series winner in April at Black Rock Speedway. There would not be a repeat winner on this night as Gray spun all alone in turn four to incur the third slowdown, then lost a lap to the leaders on lap 20 after rejoining the rear of the pack.
Herbison was the primary mover during the opening 11 circuits when a half-dozen yellow flags were thrown, opening the door for the Brockville, Ont. speedster to improve from seventh to fourth after just three laps before securing third-place with 10 in the books.
At the halfway mark it was Sears holding on to a healthy advantage over two-time reigning Mr. DIRTcar Champion and defending race winner Chris Raabe, followed by Herbison, Susice and Randy Earl, with Wright, Mark Dixon, Bernier, Jesse Cotriss and Dave Dykstra clinging to Top-10 spots.
Two-thirds of the way through Sears opened up the biggest lead of the night, lapping Gray with 20 on the scoreboard as Herbison overtook Raabe for the runner-up position. But two more yellow flags brought an abrupt halt to Raabe’s best effort as the right front wheel of Earl wedged itself in the left side nerf bar of Raabe’s C&B Enterprises no. 01 Sunrise Racing-Genesis Shocks/TEO machine. Veteran Earl put the final exclamation point on fast time trailer Raabe’s frustrating night as he rammed the ‘Teenage Tornado’ into the turn four wall under yellow to incur a black flag and parked his mount pitside during the final laps.
A handful of yellow flags over the last 10 laps kept the field bunched, and each time Sears was able to use the outside lane to his advantage while Herbison dug in deeper navigating the low lane on the ensuing restarts. Herbison actually nosed ahead on two occasions yet Sears never wavered and quickly resumed the point after both attempts.
“This track is so small, I think its more momentum than anything,” added Sears, following the fifth feature win of the season, a total that ranks second behind only Raabe with 10 checkered flags. “Just tried to keep it up running the top. Starting up front really helped out, don’t really know if I could’ve got through traffic with such a tight group. Always having a clear path ahead of me was important with so many yellows tonight.”
The view was just as open for Herbison in the Stewart’s Racing no. 63 D’s Collision Center/Bicknell ride once he moved into the runner-up slot with less than 10 to go. But each time Sears was up to the challenge, slamming the door on every restart while rim-riding his way to his biggest win of the young season.
“Thought we were going to get him because we were really good for a couple laps there, just didn’t have enough when it counted most,” said Herbsion, 37, as old as the first and third-place finishers combined. “(Sears) was a little bit better on top. I just didn’t have enough coming out of the turns, was just a little bit loose.”
“I really like racing here. You can run the top or you can run the bottom. Tonight I ran the bottom and he ran the top so it worked out good for everybody,” Herbison noted.
Mired midway through the pack much of the day, Susice made the most of an ill-handling machine to sew up the show position at the stripe and emerge as the new points leader through the initial two shows.
“Made a little bit of a wrong call on the right front spring,” divulged Susice, 19, after starting 14th aboard his Investor’s Service Company no. 38 Philpac Packaging/Bicknell ride then claiming his second top-five finish of the season on tour. “That was my decision there.”
“We came here with our Merrittville (Speedway) set-up and the car was just way too tight. It was alright on the long runs when the tires got heat in them but on the short ones it was just so tight I didn’t have anything for them. When I got by Raabe I thought I might have something for the leaders but that obviously wasn’t the case at the end,” Susice conceited.
The Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series takes a 10-day break before getting the green light for round number three at Mohawk Int’l Raceway on Wednesday, June 23 as part of the DIRTcar doubleheader featuring the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Race #2 – Cornwall Motor Speedway, June 13, 2010 ‘Benson Auto Parts 30’ Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 2 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY ($1,000)
2 7 63 Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT
3 14 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
4 10 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
5 9 25 Steve Bernier/St-Hyacinthe,QUE
6 6 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
7 24 66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY
8 4 1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY
9 13 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
10 5 20k Dave Dykstra/Port Colborne,ONT
11 18 30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT
12 20 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
13 15 80 Steve Barber/Lansdowne,ONT
14 16 02 Chris Taylor/Picton,ONT
15 27 2L Loren Lincoln/South Bristol,NY
16 19 11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY
17 17 6 Roger Varacalli/Brockville,ONT
18 1 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
19 8 11k Dillon Sallows/Wolfe Island,ONT
20 3 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
21 22 22 Matt Collins/Cornwall,ONT
22 26 33 Cory Winters/Finch,ONT
23 31 7 Tom Benedict/Akwesasne,NY
24 29 90 Bruno Lepage/Maple Grove/QUE
25 11 20 Randy Earl/Brockville,ONT
26 28 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
27 23 17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY
28 30 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
29 21 4 Jeff Phillips/Ottawa,ONT
30 12 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT
DNS 25 88 Ghislan Lacombe/Alexandria,ONT
LAP LEADER: Sears (1-31).
CAUTIONS: 10 (lap 1, lap 3, lap 3, lap 5, lap 10, lap 11, lap 23, lap 25, lap 26, lap 29).
HEAT WINNERS: Gray, Raabe, Wright, Earl.
SYRACUSE SUPER DIRT WEEK QUALIFIER: Tim Sears Jr.
FAST TIME TRIALER: Chris Raabe (14.503sec/62.056mph).
CARS ENTERED: 31.
NEXT EVENT: Mohawk Int’l Raceway – June 23, 2010.
QUALIFYING
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1 14.503 62.056 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
2 14.659 61.396 63 Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT
3 14.970 60.120 11k Dillon Sallows/Wolfe Island,ONT
4 14.980 60.080 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
5 14.998 60.008 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY
6 15.060 59.761 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
7 15.078 59.690 25 Steve Bernier/St-Hyacinthe,QUE
8 15.162 59.359 30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT
9 15.218 59.140 20 Randy Earl/Brockville,ONT
10 15.240 59.055 90 Bruno Lepage/Maple Grove/QUE
11 15.267 58.951 6 Roger Varacalli/Brockville,ONT
12 15.279 58.904 80 Steve Barber/Lansdowne,ONT
13 15.296 58.839 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT
14 15.333 58.697 17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY
15 15.341 58.666 4 Jeff Phillips/Ottawa,ONT
16 15.356 58.609 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
17 15.357 58.605 20k Dave Dykstra/Port Colborne,ONT
18 15.378 58.525 02 Chris Taylor/Picton,ONT
19 15.384 58.502 22 Matt Collins/Cornwall,ONT
20 15.387 58.491 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
21 15.394 58.464 1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY
22 15.479 58.143 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
23 15.538 57.923 66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY
24 15.598 57.700 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
25 15.653 57.497 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
26 15.757 57.117 11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY
27 16.110 55.866 2L Loren Lincoln/South Bristol,NY
28 16.157 55.703 33 Cory Winters/Finch,ONT
29 16.416 54.825 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
30 16.634 54.106 88 Ghislan Lacombe/Alexandria,ONT
31 -NT- —– 7 Tom Benedict/Akwesasne,NY
Heat Races (8 laps, top 3 went to re-draw)
#1: Gray, Sallows, Dixon, Cotriss, Varacalli, Phillips, Lacombe, Lepage (DNS).
#2: Raabe, Herbison, Sears, Susice, Kelsey, Collins, Martin (DNS).
#3: Wright, Bernier, Hoogwerf, Barber, Lawson, Platt, Winters, Benedict (DNS).
#4: Earl, Back, Dykstra, Taylor, Pecore, Wiesner, Lincoln, David.
Mr. DIRTcar Series Sportsman Point Standings (Thru June 13, 2010)
Rank No. Driver Total Diff Wins Top 5 Top 10 Starts
1 38 Ryan Susice 175 175 0 2 2 2
2 29g Steve Gray 146 146 1 1 1 2
3 83x Tim Sears Jr. 140 140 1 1 1 2
4 66 Dan Wiesner 140 140 0 0 2 2
5 11 Donnie Lawson 140 140 0 1 1 2
6 01 Chris Raabe 139 139 0 1 1 2
7 19w Justin Wright 130 130 0 1 1 2
8 140 Mark Dixon 128 128 0 0 1 2
9 55c Jesse Cotriss 127 127 0 0 2 2
10 15 Shane Pecore 118 118 0 0 0 2
11 2L Loren Lincoln 117 117 0 0 1 2
12 63 Chris Herbison 95 95 0 1 1 1
13 81 Christine Martin 88 88 0 0 0 2
14 25 Steve Bernier 80 80 0 1 1 1
15 67g Eric Giguere 80 80 0 1 1 1
16 70 Brady Fultz 76 76 0 0 1 1
17 54 Mark Chiddy 72 72 0 0 1 1
18 1 Travis Back 68 68 0 0 1 1
19 20k Dave Dykstra 62 62 0 0 1 1
20 30 Brent Kelsey 60 60 0 0 0 1
21 3 Fran Hilton 58 58 0 0 0 1
22 80 Steve Barber 56 56 0 0 0 1
23 4 Daryl Hilkert 56 56 0 0 0 1
24 02 Chris Taylor 54 54 0 0 0 1
25 92Jr Rob Richmond Jr. 54 54 0 0 0 1
26 34 Trevor Sutherland 50 50 0 0 0 1
27 6 Roger Varacalli 48 48 0 0 0 1
28 1 Gary Donnelly 46 46 0 0 0 1
29 11k Dillon Sallows 45 45 0 0 0 1
30 83 Bryan Faulkner 44 44 0 0 0 1
31 22 Matt Collins 43 43 0 0 0 1
32 21 Randy McCulloch 43 43 0 0 0 1
33 33 Cory Winters 42 42 0 0 0 1
34 11n Ricky Newton 42 42 0 0 0 1
35 7 Tom Benedict 41 41 0 0 0 1
36 22 Greg Cool 41 41 0 0 0 1
37 90 Bruno Lepage 40 40 0 0 0 1
38 20 Randy Earl 40 40 0 0 0 1
39 2 Jenna David 40 40 0 0 0 1
40 17j Jamie Platt 40 40 0 0 0 1
41 4 Jeff Phillips 40 40 0 0 0 1
42 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf 40 40 0 0 0 1
43 72 A.J. Potrzebowski 40 40 0 0 0 1
44 29 Brent Ayers 40 40 0 0 0 1
45 37 Serenity Sutherland 40 40 0 0 0 1
46 17 Marcus Dinkins 40 40 0 0 0 1
47 85 Rob Humphreys 40 40 0 0 0 1
48 v28 Billy VanPelt 40 40 0 0 0 1
49 88 Ghislan Lacombe 10 10 0 0 0 0
50 24b Brett Bruono 10 10 0 0 0 0
Mr. DIRTcar Series Sportsman Entries – June 13 (31)
Car# Driver/Hometown Team (Sponsor / Chassis)
01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT C&B Enterprises-Sunrise Racing-Genesis Shocks/TEO
02 Chris Taylor/Picton,ONT Taylor Racing/Bicknell
1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY Thompson Motorsports-Back’s High Performance Fuels/Troyer
2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE Warrior Racing-Sweet Dreams/TEO
2L Loren Lincoln/South Bristol,NY Honeoye Auto Parts-Lincoln Fabrication/TEO
4 Jeff Phillips/Ottawa,ONT Alti Construction-Anew Electric/Bicknell
6 Roger Varacalli/Brockville,ONT Prescott Canadian Tire-Red Stallion Quality Auto Products/Bicknell
7 Tom Benedict/Akwesasne,NY Bush Mohawk Construction-LaVack’s Custom Builders/TEO
11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY LaBarron Bros. Repairs & Parts-Morgan’s Auto Repair/TEO
11k Dillon Sallows/Wolfe Island,ONT Shorthall’s Sand & Gravel-Alltech Pavement Maintenance/Bicknell
15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT ESP Auto Parts-St.Andrews Service Center/TEO
17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY Clarence Center Coach-Husky Property Management/Troyer
19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY Mercer Milling Company-Yager Bros. Trucking/Bicknell
20 Randy Earl/Brockville,ONT Burnside Window Sales-Herbison Tree Service/Bicknell
20k Dave Dykstra/Port Colborne,ONT M&M Motorsports-Rouse Racing-Brian’s Tire-Whiting Equipment/Bicknell
22 Matt Collins/Cornwall,ONT CMW Mobile High Pressure Cleaning-Roofworks Ltd./Bicknell
25 Steve Bernier/St-Hyacinthe,QUE R.Poirier Transport-Bernier Excavation/Bicknell
27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT King Edmond Auto Parts-Mr. Mozzarella/Bicknell
29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY Fox’s Auto-Dar’s Auto-Beck’s Recycling-Proctor Roofing/Bicknell
30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT Rockland Ford-Castrol-A&W Restaurant Rockland/Bicknell
33 Cory Winters/Finch,ONT Carruthers Custom Baling-Benoit Plumbing/Troyer
38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY Investor’s Service Company-Philpac Packaging/Bicknell
55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY Sigma Motor Inc.-Fearby Auto-Jay’s Auto Sales & Service/Bicknell
63 Chris Herbison/Brockville,ONT D’s Collision Center-Stewart’s Racing/Bicknell
66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY Monroe Wheelchair-Suttleworth Asphalt Paving/Bicknell
80 Steve Barber/Lansdowne,ONT Payload Transportation-Unique Towing/Bicknell
81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY SUNY Canton-American Traditions-Creative Optical/Troyer
83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY Total Site Development/Bicknell
88 Ghislan Lacombe/Alexandria,ONT Glengarry Windows & Doors-Glengarry Printing-Significo/Troyer
90 Bruno Lepage/Maple Grove/QUE Expert Mecanique Centre-Les Enterprise I.C.M./Bicknell
140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT Markdale Tractor/Bicknell
Pot Holes: The third-ever trip to Cornwall for Mr. DIRTcar point chasers attracted eight of the Top-12 in the overall point standings, including early season front-runners Steve Gray, Chris Raabe, Donnie Lawson and Ryan Susice. Many more of the 31 drivers signed in indicated they have plans to follow the remainder of the 2010 tour, with that list headlined by Justin Wright, Tim Sears Jr. and veteran Canadian traveler Mark Dixon …. For the second straight year, two female pilots registered on Sunday, with Christine Martin from Wellesley Island, NY and Jenna David from Akwesasne, Que. making up for the absence of ’09 entries Tammy Jalbert and Tabatha Murphy. Mechanical issues forced Martin to miss her heat after time trialing 22nd quickest while David was 29th under the clocks and placed eighth in the fourth and final preliminary race. Martin completed only eight of the laps to finish in 27th while David ended up 25th after going around just 16 times in the feature finale … Gray entered the weekend with high hopes for his first-ever trip to Cornwall before crashing his primary Fox’s Auto-Dar’s Auto no. 29G Beck’s Recycling-Proctor Roofing/Bicknell on Saturday night at hometrack Canandaigua (NY) Speedway. Forced to tow a 2006 chassis over the border housing a six year-old engine, the open-wheel warrior still time trialed sixth fastest before copping his qualifying heat. The Middlesex, N.Y. chauffeur then went out and drew the pole among the top-12 heat finishers but ended up in 18th on the final scoresheet, the first car a lap down … It looked like Eric Giguere’s car, except for the #66 roof, yet a closer glimpse found Danny Wiesner behind the wheel. Wiesner still made a stellar run on foreign soil, charging from 24th to seventh in the 30-lap affair that began with the sun out and ended under the lights.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Title contenders in the 21st Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series make their way back to the states on June 23 for a return trip to Mohawk Int’l for the first time in 16 years. Tour activity resumes in July when teams make their way to Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, New York on July 17 for the 2nd Annual DIRTcar All-Star Weekend. Each extra-distance affair offers valuable points towards the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship as well as guaranteed starter status for the Super DIRT Week main event in October.
2010 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/LOCATION
Sat-Apr 10 Black Rock Speedway Steve Gray
Sun-Jun 13 Cornwall Motor Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Wed-Jun 23 Mohawk International Raceway Akwesasne,NY
Sat-Jul 17 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Weedsport,NY
Fri-Sep 10 Ransomville Speedway Ransomville,NY
Sat-Sep 11 Merrittville Speedway Thorold,ONT
Sun-Sep 12 Humberstone Speedway Pt.Colborne,ONT
Sat-Sep 18 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Sep 25 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Fri-Oct 1 Fulton Speedway Fulton,NY
Wed-Oct 6 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville,NY
Fri-Oct 8 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Sat-Oct 9 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY
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.
