Tim Sears, Jr. - Rick Young Photo
Akwesasne, NY — September 17, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
*Rick Young Photo
Fresh off the biggest weekend of his budding career, Tim Sears Jr. continued his streak of success on the Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series posting his third extra-distance victory in eight days.
The Clay, N.Y. teenager made his return trip to Mohawk Int’l Raceway on Friday another worthwhile experience as he added a tour-best fourth win of the 2010 campaign in the headline ‘Jreck Subs 50’ ahead of recently crowned track champion and two-time reigning overall Mr. DIRTcar points king Chris Raabe.
“My car was good for how rough the track was,” figured Sears, 17, who increased his Series points lead to 65 markers over sixth-place finisher Ryan Susice, with a half-dozen events remaining to determine the newest Mr. DIRTcar titlist. “You just couldn’t be consistent. Just hold it to the floor all the way around the track, you didn’t even need to lift. The track was wicked fast, yet pretty rough like a moto-cross track. We were fortunate to stay in one piece.”
Raabe finished a straightaway back at his Friday night hangout throughout the season, followed by early race pace-setter Dylan Evoy, fellow Canadian Shane Pecore and Western New Yorker Steve Gray in the front-five. Tour points chaser Mark Chiddy crossed the line 10th and was scored as the last car to complete the entire 50-lap distance.
Originally scheduled for June 23, rain forced track and Series officials to postpone the feature to Sept. 17 after completion of three qualifying heats won by Raabe, Gray and Dan Wiesner, who was one of eight drivers failing to return among the 26 that made the starting grid.
Evoy was not one of them and proceeded to jump out to an early advantage ahead of front row partner Sheldon Hoogwerf as soon as the opening green flag waved. Starting sixth alongside Susice in the revamped line-up, Sears was quick to advance, already securing third-place when Jeff Phillips slid his mount low on the back stretch to incur the first of five caution periods on lap five.
With 10 laps complete, Sears was tracking down the leader as they both continued to pull away from the field at will. With a trio of open-wheel pilots out of action ahead of him from the start, Raabe improved from 12th to ninth before a single lap was turned, and was now gaining on Sears with each passing lap.
Hoogwerf looped his car low exiting turn four to require a second yellow on lap 12 and back under green the top-three once again sustained their supremacy with Susice and Chiddy waiting in the wings. It took 10 more laps for the front runners to hit traffic and that was the most crucial time for all three.
Approaching the car of Joshua Jock down the back straightaway, Sears and Evoy tried to make it three-wide exiting the third corner. That attempt was short-lived as Jock slid high in front of Evoy between turns three four and Sears ducked low as soon as the inside lane opened up to emerge as the new leader.
Stalled in third position much of the race, Raabe took advantage of a lap 30 restart to grab the second slot from Evoy. However, his bid to track down Sears was a different story as the final 20 circuits were run straight through under green with the leader gaining speed as the scoreboard counted down.
“Personally, I like the slick tracks, they’re more car and driver and really anyone can drive on a track like this,” noted Sears, who also earned wins in his first trips to Cornwall, Ransomville and Merrittville this season steering the yellow no. 83x Total Site Development/Bicknell machine. “Just hold it to the floor all the way around.”
“It was a good night, brought it home in one piece. My car is just awesome, practically drives by itself. My dad (Tim Sr.) and uncle Tom (Sears) set it up, you could probably put a monkey in to drive, its just that good. I can go anywhere I like with it and tonight it showed,” added Sears, following his 14th victory of the season.
Already a record 14-time winner at Mohawk n 2010, Raabe was on the verge of establishing another Sportsman standard on Friday night and the next victory would elevate his count to an even 30 checkered flags this season. It would also be his 80th career DIRTcar Sportsman triumph and put him just five shy of the all-time mark of 85 set by two-time Mr. DIRTcar titlist Steve Hall (1991-2000),
“Timmy’s been strong on tour all year, I don’t know if we’ll have anything for him in the points,” assessed Raabe, 19, a second-year honor student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. where he continues to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. “Just have to continue to put ourselves in position, if he has some bad luck you have to be ready to pounce. He’s going to be tough from here on out, that’s for sure.
“The Mr. DIRT thing was real nice the last two years, this year we accomplished 30 wins. Its hard to decide which one you’d rather take. Every year they hand out a Mr. DIRT trophy, not every year you get to break a record,” added Raabe, who joins Big-Block legends Alan Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Danny Johnson and Will Cagle as the only winners of at least 30 features in a single season. Tim Hindley, Billy Willard Jr., Matt Sheppard and Rob Pietz remain the only other DIRTcar Sportsman drivers to rack up at least 20 wins during one year.
The Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series returns to action next week at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Saturday, Sept. 25 as part of the ‘World Series Fanfest 125’ at the fast 5/8-mile Elbridge oval.
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Race #7 – Mohawk Int’l Raceway, Sept. 17, 2010 ‘Jreck Subs 50’ Event Summary
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVE/HOMETOWN
1 7 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY ($1,000)
2 12 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
3 1 83 Dylan Evoy/Brockville,ONT
4 11 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
5 3 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
6 5 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
7 15 1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY
8 26 9 Kristian Smoke/Akwesasne,NY
9 9 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
10 4 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
11 17 30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT
12 22 03 Josh Jock/Akwesasne,NY
13 20 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
14 24 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
15 2 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT
16 14 17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY
17 18 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
18 21 4 Jeff Phillips/Ottawa,ONT
NR 6 66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY
NR 8 92ny Brad Winters/Lisbon,NY
NR 10 11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY
NR 13 88 Michel Primeau/Summerstown,ONT
NR 16 28 Shawn Burke/Massena,NY
NR 19 2L Loren Lincoln/South Bristol,NY
NR 23 02 Chris Taylor/Picton,ONT
NR 25 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
LAP LEADERS: Evoy (1-24), Sears (25-50).
CAUTIONS: 5 (lap 5, lap 12, lap 27, lap 28, lap 30).
HEAT WINNERS: Wiesner, Gray, Raabe. (run 6/23)
SYRACUSE SUPER DIRT WEEK QUALIFIER: Dylan Evoy.
FAST TIME TRIALER: Chris Raabe (18.345sec/78.496mph). (held 6/23)
CARS ENTERED: 26.
NEXT EVENT: Rolling Wheels Raceway Park “World Series Fanfest 125” – Sept. 25, 2010.
QUALIFYING *held 6/23
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1 18.345 78.496 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
2 18.481 77.918 66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY
3 18.515 77.775 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT
4 18.520 77.754 83 Dylan Evoy/Brockville,ONT
5 18.638 77.262 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
6 18.694 77.030 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
7 18.725 76.903 4 Jeff Phillips/Ottawa,ONT
8 18.743 76.829 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
9 18.793 76.624 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
10 18.845 76.413 88 Michel Primeau/Summerstown,ONT
11 18.866 76.328 92ny Brad Winters/Lisbon,NY
12 18.900 76.190 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
13 18.980 75.869 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY
14 19.014 75.734 9 Kristian Smoke/Akwesasne,NY
15 19.086 75.448 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
16 19.101 75.389 28 Shawn Burke/Massena,NY
17 19.120 75.314 17j Jamie Platt/Watertown,NY
18 19.139 75.239 30 Brent Kelsey/Plantagenet,ONT
19 19.181 75.074 11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY
20 19.246 74.821 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
21 19.264 74.751 02 Chris Taylor/Picton,ONT
22 19.411 74.185 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
23 19.505 73.827 1 Travis Back/Hogansburg,NY
24 19.551 73.654 2L Loren Lincoln/South Bristol,NY
25 19.660 73.245 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
26 19.815 72.672 03 Josh Jock/Akwesasne,NY
Heat Races (8 laps, all qualify, top 4 went to re-draw) *run 6/23
#1: Wiesner, Sears, Susice, Lawson, Primeau, Burke, Lincoln, Jock, Cotriss.
#2: Gray, Hoogwerf, Wright, Chiddy, Platt, Kelsey, Dixon, Taylor, Smoke.
#3: Raabe, Evoy, Winters, Pecore, Back, Martin, Phillips, David.
Mr. DIRTcar Series Sportsman Point Standings (Thru Sept. 17, 2010)
Rank No Driver Total Series Bonus Diff Wins Top 5 Top 10 Starts
1 83 Tim Sears Jr. 1,610 625 985 0 4 6 6 7
2 38s Ryan Susice 1,545 545 1000 -65 0 3 7 7
3 01 Chris Raabe 1,523 523 1000 -87 1 4 4 7
4 29g Steve Gray 1,513 513 1000 -97 1 3 5 7
5 11Jr Justin Wright 1,423 448 975 -187 0 3 4 7
6 55c Jesse Cotriss 1,374 419 955 -236 0 1 5 7
7 15 Shane Pecore 1,351 376 975 -259 0 1 1 7
8 54 Mark Chiddy 1,343 378 965 -267 0 0 4 6
9 140 Mark Dixon 1,287 347 940 -323 0 0 1 7
10 99p Greg Panunte 1,222 222 1000 -388 0 2 3 3
11 66 Dan Wiesner 1,208 243 965 -402 0 0 2 4
12 81 Christine Martin 1,194 270 924 -416 0 0 0 6
13 7 Cody McPherson 1,191 216 975 -419 0 1 2 3
14 77JR BJ Willard 1,159 184 975 -451 0 0 2 3
15 0 Jipp Ortiz 1,146 218 928 -464 0 1 2 3
16 67 Eric Giguere 1,142 142 1000 -468 0 1 2 2
17 2 Loren Lincoln 1,129 197 932 -481 0 0 1 4
18 m1 Dave Marcuccilli 1,106 141 965 -504 1 1 1 2
19 1 Travis Back® 1,095 140 955 -515 0 0 2 2
20 30 Brent Kelesy® 1,095 120 975 -515 0 0 0 2
21 83 Dylan Evoy 1,090 90 1000 -520 0 1 1 1
22 9 Paul Gaboury 1,089 157 932 -521 0 1 2 2
23 6 Brandon Easey 1,080 95 985 -530 0 1 1 1
24 63 Chris Herbison 1,080 95 985 -530 0 1 1 1
25 20k Dave Dykstra 1,074 152 922 -536 0 0 1 3
26 17J Jamie Platt 1,070 135 935 -540 0 0 0 3
27 11n Ricky Newton 1,069 124 945 -541 0 0 0 3
28 55 Matt Hulsizer 1,068 68 1000 -542 0 0 1 1
29 4 Daryl Hilkert 1,065 110 955 -545 0 0 0 2
30 99c Nick Cupolo 1,063 118 945 -547 0 0 1 2
31 18r Brad Rouse 1,061 96 965 -549 0 0 0 2
32 5 Don Spatorico 1,061 76 985 -549 0 0 1 1
33 67 James Henry 1,047 107 940 -563 0 0 1 2
34 14 Jeremy Pitcher 1,043 43 1000 -567 0 0 0 1
35 4 Jeff Phillips 1,041 86 955 -569 0 0 0 2
36 2 Jenna David® 1,039 94 945 -571 0 0 0 2
37 3a Adam Hilton® 1,038 106 932 -572 0 0 0 2
38 21JJ Jim Johnstone 1,035 100 935 -575 0 0 0 2
39 6r Nate Reynolds 1,030 95 935 -580 0 1 1 1
40 27 Sheldon Hoogwerf 1,027 92 935 -583 0 0 0 2
41 18f Darrell Farraway 1,021 86 935 -589 0 0 0 2
42 76 Rob Bussey 1,020 80 940 -590 0 0 0 2
43 15 Adam Leslie 1,015 83 932 -595 0 0 0 2
44 20 Randy Earl 1,015 40 975 -595 0 0 0 1
45 25 Steve Bernier 1,015 80 935 -595 0 1 1 1
46 2K Rob Knapp 1,014 90 924 -596 0 1 1 1
47 92 Brad Winters 1,009 44 965 -601 0 0 0 1
48 9 Kristian Smoke® 1,008 68 940 -602 0 0 1 1
49 02 Chris Taylor 1,008 104 904 -602 0 0 0 2
50 69 Jesse Penner 1,001 85 916 -609 0 0 0 2
51 1 Jim Spano 1,000 60 940 -610 0 0 0 1
52 18 Bodie Bellinger 1,000 0 1000 -610 0 0 0 0
53 13s Derek Smith 999 54 945 -611 0 0 0 1
54 04 Greg Mrzywka 995 40 955 -615 0 0 0 1
55 11k Dillon Sallows 990 45 945 -620 0 0 0 1
56 03 Joshua Jock® 988 58 930 -622 0 0 0 1
57 67s Dave Small 988 62 926 -622 0 0 0 1
58 3 Fran Hilton 988 68 920 -622 0 0 0 1
59 6m Mike Mainse 985 0 985 -625 0 0 0 0
60 10 Josh Van Brocklin 985 0 985 -625 0 0 0 0
61 18F Tony Farone 985 0 985 -625 0 0 0 0
62 1m Rob Murray 984 54 930 -626 0 0 0 1
63 80 Steve Barber 984 56 928 -626 0 0 0 1
64 33 Cory Winters 982 42 940 -628 0 0 0 1
65 16 Earl Rudy 980 52 928 -630 0 0 0 1
66 95 Len Dignard 980 60 920 -630 0 0 0 1
67 20 Karl Comfort 980 50 930 -630 0 0 0 1
68 6 Roger Varacalli 978 48 930 -632 0 0 0 1
69 22 Greg Cool 976 41 935 -634 0 0 0 1
70 7 Tom Benedict 976 41 935 -634 0 0 0 1
71 7 Paul Guerrieri 975 0 975 -635 0 0 0 0
72 24 Brain Pessolano 975 0 975 -635 0 0 0 0
73 2P John Juhl 974 44 930 -636 0 0 0 1
74 10 Brett Martin 974 44 930 -636 0 0 0 1
75 11 Ben Wheeler 974 48 926 -636 0 0 0 1
Mr. DIRTcar Series Sportsman Entries – June 23 (26)
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
03 Josh Jock/Akwesasne,NY Booth 3 Racing/TEO
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
9 Kristian Smoke/Akwesasne,NY Akwsasne Gas-Smoke’s Construction/Bicknell
11 Donnie Lawson/Woodhull,NY LaBarron Bros. Repairs & Parts-Morgan’s Auto Repair/TEO
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
27 Sheldon Hoogwerf/Prescott,ONT King Edmond Auto Parts-Mr. Mozzarella/Bicknell
28 Shawn Burke/Massena,NY Burke Excavation & Demolition-Chief Tobacco Outlet & Gas/TEO
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
38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY Investor’s Service Company-Philpac Packaging/Bicknell
54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY D&B Motorsports-Mullen Industrial Handling/Bicknell
55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY Sigma Motor Inc.-Fearby Auto-Jay’s Auto Sales & Service/Bicknell
66 Dan Wiesner/Geneva,NY Monroe Wheelchair-Suttleworth Asphalt Paving/Bicknell
81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY SUNY Canton-American Traditions-Creative Optical/Troyer
83 Dylan Evoy/Brockville,ONT Ogilvie’s Auto & Fleet Service-Unity Savings/Bicknell
83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY Total Site Development/Bicknell
88 Michel Primeau/Summerstown,ONT Primeau’s Marine-Flaro Developments/TEO
92ny Brad Winters/Lisbon,NY SUNY Canton Racing-Parkway Country Polaris/Troyer
140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT Markdale Tractor/Bicknell
UPCOMING EVENT
Title contenders in the 21st Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series return to action next weekend at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, New York on Sept. 25 for the ‘World Series Fanest’ which stands as the first of two stops at the ‘Fast Track’ in 2010.
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.
Sat-Jul 17 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Dave Marcuccilli
Fri-Sep 10 Ransomville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Sep 11 Merrittville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sun-Sep 12 Humberstone Speedway Chris Raabe
Fri-Sep 17 Mohawk International Raceway Tim Sears Jr.
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, 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.
