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HAGERSTOWN, MD – It took three attempts for Tim Fuller but he finally conquered Maryland’s Hagerstown Speedway.
On Saturday night, the 2005 Mr. DIRT Champion came from the 18th starting position to the lead in 33 laps to claim the victory in the ‘North-South Shootout 100.' It was the first round of the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series and an important win for Fuller, who’s had troubles the past two seasons at the big ½ mile.
“The last few years we had the fastest car here and didn’t win,” commented Fuller after pocketing the $6,000 winner’s share of the prize money. “Gary (Tomkins) passed us on the final lap two years ago and last year we hit some oil that put us into the wall.
“After all that bad luck for us to get the win tonight really means a lot to me and my crew.”
Fuller was chased to the line by 2006 winner Brett Hearn. Gary Tomkins finished in third while former Mr. DIRT Champion, Billy Decker finished fourth and the ‘Quaker Shaker’ Rick Laubach, of Quakertown, Pa. finished fifth.
Justin Haers, of Phelps, N.Y., bolted out to the race lead at the drop of the green flag in his Finger Lakes powered Bicknell mount.
Haers paced the field through the first 25 laps until Decker was able to maneuver his way to the front from the fifth starting position. Decker went to the inside of turn four to skate by Haers just as Kenny Stafford brought out the caution in his no. 60 Troyer car.
On the lap 29 restart, Decker continued to put his John Wight owned Enders powered Bicknell along the inside rail as Fuller worked through traffic from his mid-pack starting position to grab second.
“I messed up in the heat race and that put us behind in the feature,” stated Fuller. “The guys went to work on the car and it was perfect tonight. I was able to move around when I needed to and that helped make my job of getting to the front a lot easier.”
It took four more laps for Fuller to gain enough momentum to pull off a pass for the top spot. As Decker worked low, Fuller went to the middle of the track surface in his Enders powered Teo Pro Car and beat Decker off of turn four for the race lead.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get by him (Decker) on the bottom,” said Fuller. “So I ran the middle of three and four and fortunately the car stuck and I was able to pull off the pass.”
Once the race leader, Fuller easily pulled away from Decker and the rest of the field in his John Lazore owned mount to open up a full straightaway advantage.
On lap 99, with the race seemingly in his hands, the final caution flag of the event flew for Brett Tonkin who slowed on the backstretch forcing Fuller give up his ½ track advantage to fend off challengers for at least a green-white-checker finish.
“I was not happy about that last caution,” stated Fuller. “After getting passed two years ago on the last lap I was a little worried about what was going to happen.”
Fortunately for the Edwards, N.Y. native he was able to hold on and lead the final two laps to take home the Eckerd 200 guaranteed starting position.
Hearn, of Sussex, N.J., passed Tomkins on the final lap to claim the runner-up spot in his Madsen Motorsports, Enders powered Teo Pro Car.
“My car was very good on cooler tires,” stated the Super DIRT Series career wins leader. “I was able to roll the middle of the corner really well on the cool tires and on that last lap I just went in a little harder and the car rolled through the corner perfectly allowing us to beat him (Tomkins) off the corner.”
Hearn started the event from inside the fifth row and was never able to really challenge Fuller for the top spot as he battled with several drivers for the runner-up position.
“The car kept getting better throughout the race,” said Hearn. “It would have taken a little bit more to catch Fuller but I’m happy with the way things turned out.”
Tomkins, of Clifton Springs, N.Y., finished third even though he had problems all evening long in his no. 84 Bicknell ride. In hot-laps he had power steering problems and then he had accelerator problems in his heat race.
“I knew I was in trouble when the yellow came out at the end of the race,” said Tomkins. “I needed a few laps to get some heat in the tires and the car got a little quicker.
In the end I’m happy that we’ll leave here with a top five finish.”
Fast Facts
Decker captured the Integra Shocks Fast Time Award with a lap time of 19.135.
Heat races for the 36 cars in attendance were won by Haers, Frank Cozze, Dale Planck, and a tie was declared between Brian Swartzlander and Jimmy Phelps for the fourth heat. The consolation event was won by Alan Johnson.
A.J. Romano did not qualify for the event after having a motor expire during his heat race.
Billy Pauch hit the wall hard during his heat race in his Will Brown's Truck Repair no 1w ending his evening.
Noticeably missing from the field was Genoa, N.Y. driver Pat Ward and former Octoberfest winner J.R. Hefner.
Ryan Odasz and Brett Tonkin made their first ever appearances at the Washington County oval.
Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Race #1 – Hagerstown Speedway, March 31, 2007 North-South Shootout Big-Block Modified Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 18 19 Tim Fuller/Edwards, NY ($6,000)
2 9 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
3 14 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
4 5 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
5 26 14 Rick Laubach/Quakertown,PA
6 11 44 Frank Cozze/Wind Gap,PA
7 17 44s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
8 3 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
9 2 3 Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
10 22 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
11 4 1a Brian Weaver/Windsor,NY
12 10 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY
13 20 42b Kevin Bates/Lake Ariel,PA
14 23 0 Russ Hefti/Elbridge,NY
15 29 66w Wallace Stacey/Kahnawake,QUE
16 24 115 Kenny Tremont/West Sand Lake,NY
17 25 t21 Roger Chrysler/Lewiston,NY
18 30 37x Tom Scheetz/Boyertown,PA
19 6 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
20 1 27j Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
21 13 14r Ryan Odasz/Ballston Spa,NY
22 15 15 Brett Tonkin/Carbondale,PA
23 12 33-1/3 Tommy Meier/Waldwick,NJ
24 21 14j Alan Johnson/Middlesex,NY
25 8 42 Jimmy Horton/Neshanic Station,NJ
26 7 83 Brian Swartzlander/Leechburg,PA
27 27 60 Kenny Stafford/Homer,NY
28 16 r2 Rusty Smith/Bethlehem,PA
29 19 117 Kevin Hirthler/Boyertown,PA
30 28 25 Mike Kolka/Circleville,NY
LAP LEADERS: Haers (1-25), Decker (26-32), Fuller (33-105).
CAUTIONS: 8 for 17 laps.
ECKERD 200 QUALIFIER: Tim Fuller(G).
DID NOT QUALIFY (6)
1-Darwin Greene/Susquehanna,PA
1w-Billy Pauch/Frenchtown,NJ
16-A.J. Romano/Johnstown,NY
44b-Jim Bobbitt/Phillipsburg,NJ
92-Dave Reynolds/Scranton,PA
98hx-John Pfeffer/Hilton,NY
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