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Caprara On Course For Advance Auto Parts Super Series Success
*Boris Rudzinski Photo Attachment
Weedsport, NY – July 8, 2008 - By Tom Skibinski , Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
Following the DIRTcar Racing circuit has long been a family affair on both sides of the fence, with generations of drivers continuing to ply their trade weekly at short tracks around the Northeast today. Father and son tandems have become popular entities at nearly every local speedway over the years, although most combinations were born behind the wheel and competition is their common thread.
Second-generation pilot Frankie Caprara certainly shares his dad Charlie’s love of motorsports, only this dirt track duo will never rub rails on race day. But when the Advance Series arrives at Brockville Ontario Speedway to kick off the ‘Great Canadian Tour’ on Thursday, July 10, both Capraras will still be in attendance and once again Charlie will take his place high atop the tower watching Frankie manhandle his mighty Modified down below.
“Dad usually comes out to shows around the area like Brockville, he’s been supportive over the years but still let’s me do my own thing,” said Frankie, 26, who has been around racing all his life as the family business F.X. Caprara Car Company has maintained a trackside presence since the 1970s. “He used to race Late Models at Evans Mills (known today as Thunder Alley Speedpark) a long time ago but that was before my time, now the businesses keep him pretty busy.”
Aside from orchestrating the daily operations at a multitude of car dealerships in the north country, Charlie Caprara has also maintained a partnership with his younger brother Billy as owner of both Can-Am Motorsports Park in LaFargeville , New York since 2003 and the same Thunder Alley oval in nearby Evans Mills beginning the following year. Charlie shared the deed at Brockville during 2003-04 with current owner Paul Kirkland, once giving the Caprara clan three tracks to run on a weekly basis.
“I still hear all the stuff about favoritism when I race up north, but sometimes its actually worse in the other direction,” pointed out Frankie, who is the current Big-Block Modified points leader at Can-Am with two feature wins to give him a career total of 19 on the DIRTcar NE circuit. Complementing his lone Can-Am Small-Block title at Can-Am in 2004, another 19 victories have been copped in the DIRTcar 358-Modified ranks, including a pair at Can-Am in the Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series. “I think I’ve got a raw deal a couple times, too.”
“I always went to the races when my family had a booth. For a long time my father helped back cars for Bob McCreadie and Rick Wilson and also sponsored nights in the tower at Can-Am. I started running go-carts there when I was 10 and have been going ever since. Its just been the thing to do for our family for so many years,” said Caprara, who moved into an IMCA Modified in 1998 and won 21 races en route to the Can-Am track crown, earning national rookie of the year honors by season’s end.
Caprara made an immediate impact in DIRTcar racing, following the Small-Block Series in 1999 to place 13th in the overall Mr. DIRTcar point standings and came away with the 358-Modified Rookie of the Year Award. The Watertown , New York racer matched the feat two years later as he finished 19th in the Mr. DIRTcar Modified points chase and was rewarded with Big-Block Rookie of the Year accolades in 2001.
“These tour guys today have been racing longer than I’ve been alive but I know we can win (Series race) one soon,” stated Caprara, who currently stands 12th on the Advance Series points chart with three top-10 finishes in six starts. “I’ve raced most of the tracks against the same drivers in both 358s and Big-Blocks, the only difference is its easier to hook-up a Small-Block and get better traction.”
“So far we’ve been fast wherever we’ve gone, just been bit by some bad luck a couple times. We won our heat at Virginia then got crashed and even had a tire go down on the front straightaway during introductions at Fulton . Ransomville was looking good after time trialing third but I got taken out in lapped traffic. I still think we can win and I’ve got total confidence in the team. They went a long time without winning with Danny (Johnson) awhile back so I’m just waiting for everything to finally click.”
The Thompson Motorsports no. FX1 Caprara Car Company-Auto Value/Troyer Team is certainly a proven commodity on the Advance Auto Parts Super Series, capturing the Super DIRT Week Rite Aid 200 on the Syracuse Mile in 2006 then following up with the Florida DIRTcar Nationals Championship in Florida to kick off 2007; both times with Johnson behind the wheel. Despite the ‘Doctor’ posting four more Advance Series wins and ending up eighth in the Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block points last year, conflicts of interest ultimately forced a late season departure.
“We should be alright, Mike (Burdick, crew chief) has a lot of fresh notes from every track racing with Danny and there were some good results,” figured Frankie, who finished 14th in the inaugural Advance Series show at Brockville in ’06, yet the upcoming stops at Granby, Drummond and Cornwall amount to his first-ever in a Big-Block. “Dave (Thompson, owner) has supplied us with the best equipment possible, not sacrificing anything, and everybody on the team just works well together.”
“I’ve always been best friends with Mike and last year the Thompson Team worked right out of our shop. After Super DIRT Week my uncle Billy got together with Dave and outlined a plan for this season. We’re anxious to get that first tour victory under our belt but Dave isn’t worrying, as long as everybody is having fun he’s happy,” added Frankie, who is employed as a Wholesale Manager for F.X. Caprara Car Company, working in the family business selling trades and participating in car auctions throughout the region.
Even if owner Thompson remains content during the second half of the season, Caprara is looking at a front-five position in the final Mr. DIRTcar Championship standings and that coveted first checkered flag in Advance Series competition to consider 2008 a success.
“My goal this year isn’t just to tag along and be part of the series, winning and having a chance to win every time out is really what we’re after,” said Caprara, who registered his initial DIRTcar Big-Block track championship at Thunder Alley in 2005 and followed it up by taking high-point honors at both Can-Am and Thunder Alley in ’06. “I’m excited knowing we have all the pieces to get the job done but just as frustrated when we can’t put them all together.”
“I’m really a dirt guy and love the Big-Block division so this is where I plan to be for awhile. I tried racing on the pavement, even finished second in my one feature, but when it ended I said I was never going back …. just wasn’t too crazy about asphalt, it seemed pretty boring to me. Hopefully, we’ll have some success up in Canada . We’ll have a lot of chances and I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a long time,” said Caprara, whose athleticism off the track keeps him occupied on the basketball court in the summer and on the gridiron (indoor football league) during the winter.
In his path toward victory lane, Caprara will have to contend with the hottest driver in the Advance Series as Billy Decker has captured checkered flags in half of the initial six tour races. Decker tops the points chart entering the Canadian swing chased by runner-up Danny Johnson, all-time Advance Series Champion Brett Hearn and two-time ’08 series race winner Dale Planck. Jimmy Phelps, Alan Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Gary Tomkins, Justin Haers and Steve Paine round out the top-10 in points with talented newcomers Ryan Phelps , Larry Wight, Billy Dunn, Jeff Brownell Jr. and Kevin Bates on the rise. Defending Brockville Series race winner Pat O’Brien stands 13th in points.
Closing out with the 3rd Annual Coca-Cola/BOB FM 100, Brockville pits open at 3 o’clock and spectators will be allowed through the main gates at 4 p.m. Integra Shocks time trials take place at 6:30 p.m. following 6 o’clock warm-ups with the first heats of the night getting underway at 7 p.m.
For more information, please contact Series Director Cory Reed at the DIRTcar NorthEast Office (315/834-6606) in Weedsport , New York or log into www.superdirtcarseries.com for additional Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series material. Brockville Ontario Speedway www.brockvillespeedway.com can be reached by traveling along Highway 401 then going north on Highway 29 to the track. Speedway officials can be contacted at the track (613/345-6324) or office (613/348-3998).
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, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Crane Cams, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.
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