Weedsport, NY — September 8, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
DIRTcar Racing Northeast Regional point chases concluded over the Labor Day Weekend with champions declared in the Big-Block, 358-Modified and Sportsman Modified divisions. Track bonus points toward the overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship are now being issued heading into the weekend with Pro Stocks joining the three open-wheel divisions to crown the lone full-fender points king.
How close was the Regional competition in 2010? In nine separate point chases, two ended dead-locked while another went down to the final weekend with a change at the top.
The Eastern Region Big-Block Modified points battle came down to the final 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 scenerio 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.
On the Mr. DIRTcar champ trails, Sheppard and Danny Johnson maintained their margins through Labor Day as ‘Super Matt’ settled for a 7th-place tally in the Super DIRTcar Series showdown at Cayuga County Fair Speedway while Johnson finished third in the Sunday special at Cornwall Motor Speedway. In the mid-week Pro Stock Series stop at Mohawk Int’l Raceway, Louie Jackson salvaged 3rd-place to remain atop the point standings, and Susice enters this weekend’s Sportsman tour tripleheader at Ransomville, Merrittville and Humberstone speedways clinging to a slim advantage over Gray, with Tim Sears Jr. ranking close behind.
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. 7, 2010):
BIG-BLOCK SUPER DIRTcar SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Matt Sheppard 1450
2 Jimmy Phelps 1388
3 Billy Decker 1360
4 Brett Hearn 1270
5 Dale Planck 1117
6 Danny Johnson 1081
7 Ryan Phelps 1020
8 Michael Storms 997
9 Billy Dunn 975
10 Tom Sears Jr. 946
11 Steve Paine 899
12 Rich Scagliotta 813
13 Larry Wight 810
14 Stewart Friesen 764
15 Gary Tomkins 657
358-MODIFIED SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Danny Johnson 280
2 Pete Bicknell 247
3 Danny O’Brien 237
4 Mario Clair 234
5 Pat O’Brien 211
6 David Hebert 211
7 Eric Gauvreau 162
8 Mat Williamson 160
8 Chad Brachmann 154
10 Jeremy Wilder 150
11 Rick Richner 150
12 Luke Whitteker ® 147
13 Carey Terrance 138
14 Tommy Flannigan 138
15 Erick Rudolph ® 132
SPORTSMAN MODIFIED SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Ryan Susice 270
2 Steve Gray 246
3 Tim Sears Jr. 245
4 Justin Wright 220
5 Dan Wiesner 208
6 Jesse Cotriss 202
7 Chris Raabe 195
8 Mark Dixon 178
8 Shane Pecore 169
10 Loren Lincoln 167
11 Mark Chiddy 154
12 Donnie Lawson 150
13 Eric Giguere 142
14 Christine Martin 138
15 Daryl Hilkert 110
PRO STOCK SERIES POINTS
Pos. Driver Points
1 Louie Jackson 347
2 Chip Smith Jr. 321
3 Dave Bissonnette 310
Jocelyn Roy 310
5 Corey Wheeler 308
6 Pete Stefanski 290
7 Joey Ladouceur 272
8 P.J. Peters 270
9 Buddy Hencke 266
10 Rob Yetman 217
11 Ricky Thompson 212
12 Stephane Lebrun 201
13 David Papineau 197
14 Allen Peters 192
15 Rod Tarbell 185
Dion Oakes 185
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.
