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Higgins Captures First Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Main with World Series Triumph at Rolling Wheels
Elbridge, NY – September 22, 2007 – By Dan Kapuscinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR and Promotions Coordinator
2005 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Rookie of the Year Chris Higgins ran away to victory Saturday night picking up his first career Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series feature in the ‘Budweiser 30’ at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park . The Syracuse native put his Line-X no. 19h out front on lap 7 and was never again contested on his way to victory.
“We’ve been fighting for these series races for a while,” exclaimed Higgins in victory lane. “My guys did a heck of a job getting this car dialed in the way it needed to be. We knew it was going to be slick, but we weren’t sure which lane to set up for. We ended up setting it up for the bottom and boy did she move.”
Five heat races and three consolation events were run earlier in the evening, sending 19 cars home. Ten drivers of the 31 starters were then eligible for the re-draw with Mark D’Ilario and Mike Bowman hitting the jackpot. They would start in the front row, and led the field to the World Series green flag.
Bowman jumped in the lead from the drop of the green, setting a comfortable pace at the front of the field. Higgins, who started in third, smartly hooked up with Bowman on the inside dropping D’Ilario from the point to third in just three laps.
The first slow down of the night came on lap four for the spinning Shawn Donath in the no. 87. Donath did a complete 360 out of turn two with Larry Wight and Paul Guererri also involved. On the restart Bowman led Higgins, D’Ilario, Greg Panunte and Eric Giguere.
Higgins began to mount a charge on the restart until a jam up on the front straight caused three cars to spin. Dan Sellen, Mike Mandigo, and Mr. DIRTcar points leader Joe Williams all swapped ends just before the starter’s tower. Each driver continued with Williams’ record tying win streak stopped at four consecutive feature wins.
With the field back at race speeds on lap six, Higgins again tried to set up Bowman and his no. 71. After searching for grip on the slick Rolling Wheels racing surface, Higgins finally found the bite he needed on the low side in turn four on lap seven. Bowman however, did not back down, immediately trying Higgins on the outside the following lap, but Higgins proved to be too much.
By the halfway point of the race Higgins had built an insurmountable straight away advantage over Bowman, Ortiz, Panunte, and D’Ilario. Bowman found a ray of hope though on lap 19 when Mike Storms lost the handle on the no. 79s in turn four while running tenth.
That ray turned into a very small glimmer as Higgins again pulled away on the lap 19 restart leaving Bowman and company to fight for the runner-up spot. At this point it was Ortiz giving Bowman fits on the high side of the speedway. With 10 laps remaining Ortiz was giving Bowman all he could handle, but a new character was entering the picture.
Chris Hile, who currently sits second in the Mr. DIRTcar standings, started the event in 12th and methodically moved his way through the field, eventually battling Ortiz for the third position. On lap 26, Hile made his move on the low side of turn four, capping a nice run from outside the top-10.
As Hile, Ortiz, Panunte, and D’Ilario battled, Higgins and Bowman had checked away from the field. For Higgins it was his fourth top 5 finish of the season, while Bowman managed his first top-5 in his fifth start.
Hile, Panunte, Ortiz, D’Ilario, Don Spatorico, Tim Currier, Nick Guererri, and Giguere rounded out the World Series top 10.
“I can’t thank my crew enough, it all goes to them,” Higgins said. “They get me here and gave me a chance to win. I’m just a small piece of the puzzle. We’ve got a big crew that helps us out here, and we couldn’t do it without them.”
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Race #7 – Rolling Wheels Raceway Park , Sept. 22, 2007 “Budweiser 30” Event Summary
FEATURE (30-laps): 19h-CHRIS HIGGINS, 71-Mike Bowman, 5J-Chris Hile, 99p-Greg Panunte, 0-Jipp Ortiz, 08-Mark D’Ilario, 11J-Don Spatorico, 10-Tim Currier, 25G- Nick Guererri, 67g-Eric Giguere, 3k-A.J. Kingsley, 2p-John Juhl, 58-Scott Schrader, 66-Dan Wiesner, 19-Joe Wiiliams, 7-Paul Guererri, 777-Tyler McPherson, 4h-Daryl Hilkert, 79s-Mike Storms, 58L-Jim LaRock, 11h-Bill Hallet, 12-Dan Sellen, 87-Shawn Donath, 2L-Loren Lincoln, 46-Bill Coleman, 8L-Phil LaVare, 11-Mike Mandigo, 99-Larry Wight, 4-Dave Reilley, d28-Shane Donath, 56-Steve Schumacher.
LAP LEADERS: Bowman (1-6), Higgins (7-30).
CAUTIONS: 5 (lap 0, lap 4, lap 5, lap 5, lap 19).
DID NOT QUALIFY(19)
0h- Keith Hotchkiss
1R- Rick Quick
3kx- LaShaw Howiesfeld
7a- James M. Friesen
7j- Alan Fink
7x- Tom Flannigan
13- Anthony Steiner
14- Jeremy Pitcher
18- Earl Rudy
19w- Justin Wright
20- Jason Occhino
34- Henry Desormeau
P38- Rob Pratt
57s- Beth Schneider
60- Mark Davidson
83s- Fran Hilton
83x- Tim Sears Jr.
97c- Luke Carleton
111- Curt Prevo
QUALIFYING
Heat Races (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to feature, top 2 re-draw)
#1: N. Guererri, D’Ilario, MacPherson, Shawn Donath, Hallett, Schrader, Wright, Pratt, Flannigan, Schneider.
#2: Bowman, Higgins, Chris Hile, Sellen, Juhl, Sears Jr., Carleton, Steiner, Occhino.
#3: Ortiz, LaVare, Reilley, Storms, Wight, Schumacher, Prevo, Davidson, Howiesfeld, Rudy.
#4: Spatorico, Shane Donath, Kingsley, Currier, Mandigo, Hilkert, Hotchkiss, Quick, Hilton, P. Guererri
#5: Panunte, Giguere, LaRock, Coleman, Williams, Fink, Friesen, Wiesner, Lincoln, Pitcher, Desmoreau
Consolation Round (8 laps, top 3 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: P. Guererri, Mandigo, Hallet, Wiesner, Fink, Sears Jr., Prevo, Occhino, Quick, Pratt.
#2: Williams, Juhl, Schumacher, Lincoln, Wright, Steiner, Pitcher, Hotchkiss, Schneider.
#3: Wight, Schrader, Hilkert, Carleton, Flannigan, Davidson, Hilton, Rudy, Friesen, Desormeau.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The 18th Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series closes out the month with back-to-back shows upcoming. Teams travel to Central New York for their Victoria Weekend special at Fulton Speedway on Friday, Sept. 28 before heading north to Humberstone Speedway on Saturday to run off the event that was initially postponed due to rain on Sept. 9.
2007 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule
DAY-DATE LAPS TRACK LOCATION/WINNER
Fri-Jul 6 30 Brewerton Speedway Alan Fink
Mon-Sep 3 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway Todd Henderson
Fri-Sep 7 50 Ransomville Speedway Joe Williams
Sat-Sep 8 50 Merrittville Speedway Joe Williams
Fri-Sep 14 30 Can-Am Motorsports Park Joe Williams
Sat-Sep 15 44 Canandaigua Speedway Joe Williams
Sat-Sep 22 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway Chris Higgins
Fri-Sep 28 30 Fulton Speedway Fulton, NY
Sat-Sep 29 50 Humberstone Speedway Pt.Colborne, ONT
Wed-Oct 3 30 Can-Am Motorsports Park LaFargeville, NY
Fri-Oct 5 30 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge , NY
Sat-Oct 6 30 New York State Fairgrnds Syracuse ,NY
Sat-Oct 13 55 Black Rock Speedway Dundee , NY
Sat-Oct 20 50 Orange Co Fair SpeedwayMiddletown,NY
*All events subject to change.
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, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.
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