Weedsport, NY — June 1, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
The first full month of trackside activity on the DIRTcar Racing Northeast circuit is now in the books with early season point leaders found in all four Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar champ trails and open-wheel battles throughout the region
Matt Sheppard from Waterloo, N.Y. provided a dominating performance in the holiday Hall of Fame Classic at Cayuga County Fair Speedway to swap top spots with Unadilla, N.Y.’s Billy Decker in the Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Blocks. Sussex, N.J. speedster Brett Hearn’s victory over Central New Yorker Jimmy Phelps a week ago in the Victoria Day special at Merrittville Speedway gives him an early lead in the 358-Modified Series standings, with the Small-Block tour slated to resume activity at Autodrome Edelweiss in exactly one more month.
Opening round race winners Steve Gray (Sportsman) and Joey Ladouceur (Pro Stock) are also eager to pick up where they left off as both tours run later in June and offer a clearer picture of those waiting to surface and contend for top honors.
In the tightly contested regional competition, Jimmy Phelps recently overtook ‘Super Matt’ Sheppard in DIRTcar Northeast’s Central chase for Big-Blocks with each reaching victory lane during Memorial Day weekend. Second-generation driver Craig Hanson also climbed past veteran Bobby Varin in the Eastern standings while Jeremiah Shingledecker added a pair of feature wins to extend his advantage out West.
Leaders remain intact in the 358-Modified regional ranks with Northern star Tim O’Brien continuing to maintain a narrow margin ahead of division rookie Matt Billings while the first win of the year for Mat Williamson vaulted him into the runner-up slot behind Chad Brachmann on the Western points chart.
Victory lane appearances have been a weekly habit hard to break for Chris Raabe as he owns a commanding lead in the Sportsman Northern division, now with a DIRTcar NE circuit-best total of eight feature wins. Both Steve Gray (Central) and Ryan Susice (Western) also extended their respective Sportsman strongholds while on the other end of the speedway spectrum, still winless Bodie Bellinger regained his post in the East.
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 May 31, 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 800
2 Matt Sheppard 774
3 Alan Johnson 640
4 Steve Paine 632
5 Billy Decker 614
6 Rob Bellinger 582
7 Ryan Phelps 577
8 Larry Wight 570
9 Billy Dunn 502
10 Danny Johnson 467
11 Pat Ward 460
12 Tom Sears Jr. 456
13 Michael Storms 454
14 Mike Mahaney 432
15 Chad Phelps 398
EASTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Craig Hanson 295
2 Bob Varin 290
3 JaMike Sowle 276
4 Mike Ronca 272
5 Jackie Brown 251
5 Paul Kinney 242
7 Rich Price 240
8 Jim Davis 239
9 Kenny Tremont Jr. 232
9 Donnie Corellis 232
11 Brett Hearn 224
12 Eddie Marshall 220
13 Andy Bachetti 218
14 Mark Flach Jr. 214
14 J.R. Heffner 214
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
12 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 578
2 Matt Billings 565
3 Brian McDonald 510
4 Luke Whitteker 468
4 Kayle Robidoux 468
6 Dave Heaslip 456
7 Carey Terrance 429
8 Todd Stewart 381
9 Gage Morin 361
9 Mario Clair 360
11 Stephane LaFrance 354
12 Eric Gauvreau 336
13 Martin Roy 330
14 Danny O’Brien 327
14 Laurent Ladouceur 327
WESTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Chad Brachmann 530
2 Mat Williamson 490
3 Todd Gordon 435
4 Pete Bicknell 406
5 James M. Friesen 382
6 Boyd MacTavish 338
7 Tommy Flannigan 331
8 Robbie Krull 323
8 Rick Richner 302
10 Scott Wood 292
11 Rob Pietz 286
11 Mike Bowman 278
13 Pete Cosco 271
14 Chad Chevalier 267
15 Jeff McGinnis 265
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS
NORTHERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Chris Raabe 670
2 Shane Pecore 464
3 Dylan Evoy 422
4 Brent Kelsey 346
5 Adam Turner 344
6 Josh Van Brocklin 290
7 Sheldon Hoogwerf 271
8 Matt Hulsizer 266
9 Dillon Sallows 265
10 Randy Earl 262
11 Dana Aikins 259
12 Steve Barber 254
12 Brad Winters 254
14 Christine Martin 247
15 Chris Herbison 238
EASTERN (Best 10)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Bodie Bellinger 282
2 DJ Brundige 276
3 Chuck Allen 270
4 Greg Pessolano 256
5 Tony Farone 254
5 Chris Schaffer 254
7 John Marsh 253
8 Brain Pessolano 233
8 Justin Boehler 229
10 Mike Tholin 218
11 Ricky Quick 213
12 Jack Gentile 202
13 Steve Costantino 169
14 Leo Sousie 159
15 Mike Burdo 155
CENTRAL (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Steve Gray 514
2 Tom Juhl 448
3 Jeremy Pitcher 416
4 Justin Wright 402
5 Eric Giguere 354
6 Mark Chiddy 318
7 Dan Wiesner 296
7 Tim Sears Jr. 296
9 Paul Guererri 286
10 Ricky Newton 284
11 James Spano 262
12 Earl Rudy 261
13 Adam Hilton 251
14 Nick Guererri 242
15 Loren Lincoln 231
WESTERN (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Ryan Susice 606
2 Brad Rouse 517
3 Greg Panunte 472
4 B.J. Willard 438
5 Cody McPherson 416
6 Rick Bellante 404
7 Nick Cupolo 348
8 Don Spatorico 344
9 Adam Leslie 299
10 Rob Murray 269
11 Mark Dixon 244
12 Justin Wright 236
13 Curtis Friesen 221
13 Mark Chiddy 221
15 Brandon Easey 210
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.
