Weedsport, NY — September 17, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
The memory of the late Maurice Holbrook will once more be honored by a $500 prize presented to the Modified driver who turns the fastest lap during Super DIRT Week XXXVII preliminaries leading up to the headline Rite Aid 200 in Syracuse. 2008 marks the 13th consecutive year this award has been posted.
Last year current Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series standout Jimmy Phelps registered a 28.365-second clocking (126.917 mph) in the round of Integra Shocks Time Trials for Big-Blocks held Thursday afternoon, October 5.
Mauri Holbrook was in charge of preparing the Moody Mile from the late 1970s until just before his death in 1995 at age 64. He prided himself on a smooth, fast racing surface and was especially proud of Syracuse’s reputation as the fastest one-mile dirt track in the world.
The Holbrook Memorial award goes out to the driver who turns the fastest lap of the week at any time prior to Sunday’s Big-Block Modified finale. The fast lap can occur during time trials, Triple 20s, or even practice, so long as it is timed on the official clock —computer using the AMB Transponder System— and certified by DIRTcar chief timer and computer scoring operator Gary Spaid. Culminating the festivities during the 37th running of Super DIRT Week, October 7-12, the $500 prize will be handed out in the awards ceremony held just prior to the start of the Rite Aid 200 on Sunday afternoon.
Past Holbrook Memorial Award winners include: 2006-Tim Fuller (practice), 2005-Gary Tomkins (practice), 2004-Billy Decker (pole), 2003-Billy Decker (2nd day time trials), 2002-Brett Hearn (pole), 2001-Tim McCreadie (pole), 2000-Billy Decker (2nd day T.T.), 1999-Brett Hearn (2nd day T.T.), 1998-Bobby Varin (pole), 1997-Joe Plazek (2nd day T.T.), 1996-Steve Paine (Friday heat).
The late Mr. Holbrook died without a spouse or children surviving him. So his Will, approved by the Otsego County Surrogates Court, established a fund to reward the fastest car and driver at Syracuse in Mauri’s memory. The overseers of this prize are his cousin, Don White, attorney Andrew Fusco and Mark Kolceski, who succeeded Mauri as foreman of Syracuse’s track prep crew.
The Syracuse Mile, largely due to Mauri’s preparatory techniques, usually gets faster each day of Super DIRT Week. So while the front row times are rewarded on Thursday pole day, faster times set later in the week had often gone unrewarded. The Holbrook Memorial prize changes that. “It’s nice that Syracuse continues to honor its departed pioneers like former winner Dick Tobias, Hall of Fame announcer Jack Burgess and my cousin Mauri,” said White. “It’s one of the things that makes Super DIRT Week so special every year.”
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets As of April 19, 2008, the Company operated 3,291 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services, and on-line shopping for parts and accessories can be found on the Company’s web site at www.advanceautoparts.com.
The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts and Hoosier Racing Tire. Rite Aid Corporation is a promotional partner and the contingency sponsors are Bars Leaks, Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Crane Cams, Dig Safely New York, Holley HP Carburetors, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks, Rislone Oil Stabilizer and Wrisco Industries.
