Weedsport, NY — September 15, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Track bonus points toward the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championships have been issued and heading into the track finale this weekend at Mohawk Int’l Raceway the battles remain tight in all four touring divisions.
‘Super Matt’ Sheppard (Big-Block) and Louie ‘Action’ Jackson (Pro Stock) remain ranked highest on their respective point charts while ‘Mr. Small-Block’ Pete Bicknell has climbed to the top of the 358-Modified standings and talented ‘Tiger’ Tim Sears Jr. is now being chased on the Sportsman trail.
Second-generation star Sheppard owns a Series-best five extra-distance victories to remain out front of top contender Jimmy Phelps while three Top-5 tour finishes puts Merrittville high-point man Bicknell just three markers ahead of Cornwall race winner Danny O’Brien. Teenage sensation Sears has strung together three wins in the last five Series stops to overtake Ryan Susice, with Jackson logging a trio of Top-3 finishes on the road to maintain his distance over French favorite Jocelyn Roy in the full-fender fight.
Mohawk Weekend kicks off on Fri., Sept. 17 with A&M Beverage presenting the Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series (75 laps) along with a Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman tour (50 laps) event rain-delayed from June. Saturday is saved for the Super DIRTcar Series ‘SUNY Canton 100’ for Big-Block Modifieds with MIR also adding its second Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series (30 laps) show in ‘10.
The DIRTcar Racing Northeast Regional point standings were finalized over Labor Day Weekend with champions crowned in Big-Block, 358-Modified and Sportsman Modified classes.
The Eastern Region Big-Block Modified points battle came down to the last weekend with Brett Hearn and Bobby Varin finishing in a tie atop the season-long standings. Series star Matt Sheppard captured his first Cayuga County Fair Speedway Big-Block title en route to clinching the Central Region title ahead of tour rival Jimmy Phelps, with Tri-City Speedway champ Jeremiah Shingledecker already securing Western Region high-point honors the previous week.
Tim O’Brien rallied on the final weekend to match Stephane LaFrance at the top of the 358-Modified Northern Region points chart while on the other end of the Small-Block spectrum Pete Bicknell produced the widest margin ending the chase out West with a 56-point advantage over runner-up Chad Brachmann.
Record-setting teenager Chris Raabe virtually locked up the Northern Region Sportsman crown in early August, establishing a new standard of 28 feature wins —and still going— during the 2010 campaign. It was a totally different scenario out West as veteran Greg Panunte edged upstart Ryan Susice by only two markers on the final night to secure Regional honors in the Niagara Frontier. Bodie Bellinger (East) and Steve Gray (Central) finished what they started, holding on to narrow victories in their respective regions over the holiday.
To follow the success of your favorite DIRTcar driver during the rest of the year, 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 MS Excel.
DIRTcar Racing Northeast Point Standings (as of Sept. 12, 2010):
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Matt Sheppard 2450
2 Jimmy Phelps 2388
3 Billy Decker 2335
4 Brett Hearn 2270
5 Dale Planck 2062
6 Danny Johnson 2046
7 Billy Dunn 1975
8 Ryan Phelps 1975
9 Michael Storms 1932
10 Steve Paine 1899
11 Tom Sears Jr. 1881
12 Larry Wight 1750
13 Rich Scagliotta 1731
14 Pat Ward 1564
15 Gary Tomkins 1559
358-MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Pete Bicknell 1,391
2 Danny O’Brien 1,388
3 Mario Clair 1,374
4 David Hebert 1,361
5 Danny Johnson 1,334
6 Pat O’Brien 1,291
7 Mat Williamson 1,281
8 Yan Bussiere 1,243
9 Carey Terrance 1,240
10 Eric Gauverau 1,231
11 Luke Whitteker® 1,208
12 Jeremy Wilder 1,205
13 Dale Planck 1,153
14 Rick Richner 1,150
15 Chad Brachmann 1,139
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Tim Sears Jr. 1520
2 Ryan Susice 1479
3 Steve Gray 1443
4 Chris Raabe 1438
5 Justin Wright 1368
6 Jesse Cotriss 1344
7 Mark Chiddy 1291
8 Shane Pecore 1276
9 Mark Dixon 1241
10 Greg Panunte 1222
11 Cody McPherson 1191
12 Dan Wiesner 1173
13 BJ Willard 1159
14 Christine Martin 1156
15 Jipp Ortiz 1146
PRO STOCK CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Louie Jackson 1372
2 Jocelyn Roy 1360
3 Dave Bissonnette 1350
4 Joey Ladouceur 1348
5 Corey Wheeler 1345
6 Chip Smith Jr. 1330
7 Buddy Hencke 1311
8 Ricky Thompson 1302
9 Rob Yetman 1272
10 P.J. Peters 1250
11 Dion Oakes 1208
12 Stephane Lebrun 1199
13 Stephane Lemire 1169
14 Allen Peters 1166
15 Guy Viens 1160
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS *FINAL*
CENTRAL (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Matt Sheppard 896
2 Jimmy Phelps 884
3 Steve Paine 876
4 Danny Johnson 842
Rob Bellinger 842
6 Billy Dunn 834
7 Billy Decker 822
8 Alan Johnson 812
9 Pat Ward 796
10 Justin Haers 762
11 Dale Planck 748
12 Vince Vitale 736
13 Ryan Phelps 726
14 Michael Storms 720
15 Larry Wight 710
EASTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Brett Hearn 654
Bobby Varin 654
3 Craig Hanson 648
J.R. Heffner 648
5 Andy Bachetti 646
5 JaMike Sowle 644
7 Eddie Marshall 618
8 Donnie Corellis 610
9 Kenny Tremont Jr. 588
10 Mike Ronca 584
11 Jackie Brown 572
12 Mark Flach Jr. 532
Brian Berger 532
14 Pep Corrada 530
15 Keith Flach 516
WESTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Jer. Shingledecker 708
2 Dave Murdick 700
3 Kevin Bolland 684
4 Brian Swartzlander 660
5 Del Rougeux Jr. 636
6 Rex King 630
7 Brad Rapp 572
8 Mike Turner 568
9 Kevin Hoffman 558
10 Dean Pearson 552
11 Rex King Jr. 520
12 Carl Murdick 508
13 Steve Feder 494
14 Chris Haines 480
15 Shawn Fleeger 432
358-MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS *FINAL*
NORTHERN (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Stephane LaFrance 860
Tim O’Brien 860
3 Kayle Robidoux 852
Mario Clair 852
5 Carey Terrance 846
6 Danny O’Brien 844
Martin Roy 844
8 Patrick Dupree 842
9 Matt Billings 838
David Hébert 820
11 Pat O’Brien 812
12 Gage Morin 806
13 Luke Whitteker 802
14 Steve Bernard 788
15 Yan Bussiere 786
WESTERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Pete Bicknell 704
2 Chad Brachmann 648
3 Mike Bowman 638
4 Mat Williamson 622
5 Todd Gordon 612
Todd Burley 612
7 Tommy Flannigan 598
Scott Wood 598
James M. Friesen 598
10 Rick Richner 594
11 Robbie Krull 592
12 Boyd MacTavish 590
Chad Chevalier 590
14 Fred Carleton 584
15 Scott Kerwin 574
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED REGIONAL POINTS *FINAL*
NORTHERN (Best 12)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Chris Raabe 720
2 Dylan Evoy 688
3 Matt Hulsizer 666
4 Chris Herbison 664
5 Josh VanBrocklin 650
6 Randy Earl 646
7 Shane Pecore 638
Sheldon Hoogwerf 638
9 Brad Winters 606
10 Brandon Hagan 602
11 Brent Kelsey 600
Mike Mainse 600
13 Travis Back 588
14 Dana Aikins 584
15 Beth Schneider 566
EASTERN (Best 10)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Bodie Bellinger 536
2 Brian Pessolano 518
3 Tony Farone 510
4 Greg Pessolano 506
5 D.J. Brundige 502
6 John Marsh 488
7 Justin Boehler 486
8 Chuck Allen 484
8 Steve Costantino 468
10 Chris Schaffer 450
11 Jack Gentile 426
12 Dave Herrick 375
13 Ricky Quick 335
14 Laudy Hoyenga 328
15 Jim Eaton 317
CENTRAL (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Steve Gray 826
2 Jeremy Pitcher 814
3 Justin Wright 784
4 Tim Sears Jr. 778
5 Eric Giguere 760
6 James Spano 716
7 Tom Juhl 714
8 Dan Wiesner 694
9 Dave Marcuccilli 688
10 Adam Hilton 668
11 Matt Hulziser 660
12 Greg Mrzywka 656
13 Justin Henderson 647
14 Daryl Hilkert 640
15 Greg Cool 638
WESTERN (Best 15)
Pos. Driver Points
1 Greg Panunte 854
2 Ryan Susice 852
3 Cody McPherson 820
4 Brad Rouse 796
5 B.J. Willard 776
6 Don Spatorico 770
7 Brandon Easey 768
8 Justin Wright 764
9 Nick Cupolo 762
10 Mark Chiddy 704
11 Rick Bellante 702
12 Jipp Ortiz 694
13 Jesse Cotriss 669
14 Adam Leslie 668
15 Rob Murray 650
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, VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com and GM Performance Parts www.gmperformanceparts.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.
