Weedsport, NY — June 8, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Series activity was dormant over the past week leaving Matt Sheppard (Big-Block), Brett Hearn (358-Modified), Steve Gray (Sportsman Mod) and Joey Ladouceur (Pro Stock) atop their respective point standings in the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championships. However, in the season-long DIRTcar Northeast weekly point chases for open-wheel divisions, only Gray maintains a stronghold as the first month of summer rolls on.
Sheppard owns a first (Cayuga County), second and third in the initial three Super DIRTcar Series shows although it’s bonus points from a pair of fast times and heat win that separate ‘Super Matt’ from opening round Hagerstown winner Billy Decker as the tour prepares to invade Grandview and Orange County. Opening day tour victories give Hearn (Merrittville), Gray (Black Rock) and Ladouceur (Cornwall) the early nod in their respective DIRTcar NE title runs.
On the regional front, Jimmy Phelps once again ranks above six-time Big-Block winner Sheppard in DIRTcar Northeast’s Central chase while Jeremiah Shingledecker sits comfortably ahead of Mike Turner on the Western points chart.
Continuing to flip-flop positions in their epic Eastern Region contest, Bobby Varin regained the top spot over weekly foe Craig Hanson with win number three on the season at Glen Ridge.
Small-Block stalwart Tim O’Brien holds on to a slim lead in front of rookie Matt Billings in the 358-Modified Northern Region while Chad Brachmann recently had his margin cut in half by upstart Mat Williamson to pace the weekly wars out West.
Already hitting double-digits in the win column, two-time defending Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman titleholder Chris Raabe holds a healthy lead over Shane Pecore in the Sportsman Northern division while leading challenger to the throne Ryan Susice has ballooned his margin to more than 150 points ahead of runner-up Brad Rouse in the Western standings. Bodie Bellinger clings to a scant 2-point lead ahead of D.J. Brundige in the East just as Gray built up a cushion of more than 100 markers over Tom Juhl in the Central New York bracket.
To follow the status of your favorite DIRTcar driver throughout the season, log into www.dirtcar.com and select ‘Points’ at the top then choose division on the left to view all track, region and series leaders. Complete Championship Series points are also available by clicking ‘Super DIRTcar Series’ on the right, then choosing a specific touring division and opening up using the MS Excel format.
DIRTcar Racing Northeast Point Standings (as of June 7, 2010):
BIG-BLOCK SUPER DIRTcar SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Matt Sheppard 303
2 Billy Decker 294
3 Dale Planck 236
4 Jimmy Phelps 230
5 Brett Hearn 226
6 Billy Dunn 218
7 Danny Johnson 216
8 Michael Storms 214
9 Ryan Phelps 198
10 Alan Johnson 187
11 Larry Wight 175
12 Pat Ward 159
13 Tom Sears Jr. 152
14 Steve Paine 151
15 Gary Tomkins 144
358-MODIFIED SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Brett Hearn 100
2 Jimmy Phelps 95
3 Danny Johnson 90
4 Pete Bicknell 85
5 Stewart Friesen 80
6 Mat Williamson 76
7 Chad Brachmann 72
8 Fred Carleton 68
9 Danny O’Brien 65
10 Rick Richner 62
11 Adam Ferri 60
12 Tommy Flannigan 58
13 Pat O’Brien 56
14 Mario Clair 54
15 Erick Rudolph 52
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Steve Gray 100
2 Chris Raabe 95
3 Donnie Lawson 90
4 Ryan Susice 85
5 Eric Giguere 80
6 Brady Fultz 76
7 Mark Chiddy 72
8 Dan Wiesner 68
8 Loren Lincoln 65
10 Jesse Cotriss 62
11 Shane Pecore 60
12 Fran Hilton 58
13 Daryl Hilkert 56
14 Rob Richmond Jr. 54
15 Mark Dixon 52
PRO STOCK SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Joey Ladouceur 100
2 Pete Stefanski 95
3 Louie Jackson 90
4 Corey Wheeler 85
5 Carl Smith Jr. 76
6 Buddy Hencke 72
7 Stephane Lemire 68
8 Rob Yetman 65
9 Jocelyn Roy 62
10 Ghislain Valade 60
11 Marc Lalonde 58
12 P.J. Peters 56
13 Dave Bissonnette 54
14 Rod Tarbell 52
15 Guy Viens 50
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS
CENTRAL (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Jimmy Phelps 816
2 Matt Sheppard 792
3 Billy Decker 706
4 Steve Paine 698
5 Alan Johnson 680
6 Rob Bellinger 660
7 Ryan Phelps 612
8 Larry Wight 595
9 Billy Dunn 562
10 Pat Ward 550
11 Michael Storms 542
12 Danny Johnson 517
13 Tom Sears Jr. 508
14 Chad Phelps 462
15 Mike Mahaney 458
EASTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Bob Varin 350
2 Craig Hanson 347
3 JaMike Sowle 316
4 Mike Ronca 297
5 Jackie Brown 295
5 Jim Davis 285
7 Rich Price 282
8 Brett Hearn 280
9 Kenny Tremont Jr. 272
10 J.R. Heffner 266
11 Eddie Marshall 264
12 Mark Flach Jr. 260
13 Pep Corrada 257
14 Jerremy Wilder 255
15 Donnie Corellis 253
WESTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Jer. Shingledecker 526
2 Mike Turner 446
3 Dave Murdick 414
4 Dean Pearson 399
5 Kevin Bolland 377
6 Del Rougeux Jr. 339
7 Brian Swartzlander 318
8 Rex King 316
9 Carl Murdick 314
10 Rex King Jr. 272
11 Don Brown 241
12 Erik Martin 226
13 Steve Feder 226
14 Shawn Fleeger 222
15 Brad Rapp 218
15 Kevin Hoffman 218
358-MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS
NORTHERN (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Tim O’Brien 668
2 Matt Billings 653
3 Dave Heaslip 530
4 Luke Whitteker 518
5 Brian McDonald 510
5 Kayle Robidoux 498
7 Carey Terrance 489
8 Todd Stewart 471
9 Stephane LaFrance 462
9 Gage Morin 461
11 Mario Clair 416
12 Danny O’Brien 402
13 Eric Gauvreau 388
14 Laurent Ladouceur 373
15 Martin Roy 372
WESTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Chad Brachmann 554
2 Mat Williamson 534
3 Pete Bicknell 502
4 Todd Gordon 487
5 Boyd MacTavish 418
6 James M. Friesen 418
7 Rick Richner 400
8 Tommy Flannigan 391
8 Robbie Krull 379
10 Rob Pietz 322
11 Pete Cosco 316
11 Scott Wood 315
13 Mike Bowman 312
14 Fred Carleton 304
15 Chad Chevalier 299
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS
NORTHERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Chris Raabe 712
2 Shane Pecore 564
3 Dylan Evoy 520
4 Adam Turner 416
5 Brent Kelsey 396
6 Josh Van Brocklin 384
7 Dana Aikins 359
8 Matt Hulsizer 326
9 Sheldon Hoogwerf 317
10 Steve Barber 316
11 Brad Winters 306
12 Randy Earl 306
13 Dillon Sallows 290
14 Chris Herbison 290
15 Christine Martin 268
EASTERN (Best 10)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Bodie Bellinger 324
2 DJ Brundige 322
3 Chuck Allen 310
4 Tony Farone 304
5 Brain Pessolano 293
6 Greg Pessolano 292
7 Chris Schaffer 288
8 John Marsh 280
8 Justin Boehler 273
10 Mike Tholin 270
11 Ricky Quick 269
12 Jack Gentile 250
13 Steve Costantino 201
14 Kory Wilder 184
15 Leo Sousie 180
CENTRAL (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Steve Gray 574
2 Tom Juhl 469
3 Jeremy Pitcher 466
4 Justin Wright 426
5 Eric Giguere 396
6 Mark Chiddy 362
7 Tim Sears Jr. 338
8 Paul Guererri 336
9 Dan Wiesner 319
10 Ricky Newton 314
11 Nick Guererri 280
12 Daryl Hilkert 278
13 Justin Henderson 265
14 James Spano 262
15 Earl Rudy 261
15 Tim Schneider 261
WESTERN (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Ryan Susice 714
2 Brad Rouse 555
3 Greg Panunte 512
4 B.J. Willard 482
5 Cody McPherson 468
6 Rick Bellante 436
7 Nick Cupolo 394
8 Don Spatorico 390
9 Rob Murray 305
10 Adam Leslie 299
11 Justin Wright 292
12 Mark Chiddy 271
13 Brandon Easey 266
14 Jim Johnstone 248
15 Curtis Freisen 245
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.
