By Tom Skibinski, DIRT Modified Series Reporter
Concord, NC — May 25, 2005 — Last season Tim Fuller was selected as DIRT MotorSports' Driver of the Year after wheeling the MBF Racing no. m1 B&F General Machine/TEO entry to a DIRT-high total of 18 big-block feature wins. The Edwards, N.Y. pilot already has the 2005 campaign locked on course to match that mark and his latest $10,000 victory in the Ferris Commercial Mowers presents the Eckerd 50 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway on Wednesday may be enough to even push him beyond.
"With all the Cup people around here along with my car owner this one ranks right up there with the win at Syracuse last year," figured Fuller, following his sixth career Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series victory in NASCAR's backyard. His DIRT-best fourth win of '05 gives him 51 big-block feature race triumphs and vaults him into fifth-place on the Series' points chart after finishing 25th with a blown motor in the tour opener at Rolling Wheels (NY) Raceway on May 1. "I like to win at different tracks and especially at big places like this. This one goes out to the crew since they were the ones that took vacation time off just to come down here and make it all happen. Its just a great night from start to finish."
Fuller actually finished off the evening time trials, turning trackside with the last of 43 cars to run under the clocks. He toured the 4/10-mile red clay oval fourth fastest and captured the second qualifying heat before drawing third to start the 50-lap main inside row two.
Pole-sitter Gary Tomkins charged out to open up an early feature race advantage before veteran Bob McCreadie spun out high in turn three on the first circuit steering his new tour ride, the renumbered no. 27x JIR Motorsports-Tracey Road Equipment/Bicknell machine. With five laps complete Brett Hearn had charged from sixth to second with Fuller in tow ahead of Justin Haers and Bucky Kell. On lap six it was second-generation standout Tim McCreadie stopping on the back stretch to incur the second caution period.
Back under green flag conditions, Fuller quickly overtook Hearn for the runner-up slot and set his sights clearly on leader Tomkins in the no. 1 Elaine James Motorsports-Pillsbury Collectibles/Bicknell machine. Fuller pulled even with Tomkins as the lead duo crossed the stripe to complete lap 13 and then ducked under in turn two to forge what would be the final lead change of the race although it was never a runaway for the Edwards, NY chauffeur.
Three more caution periods for minor slowdowns hindered the race pace with the open-wheel mounts of Vic Coffey (lap 16) and Tomkins (lap 34) suffering flat tires while Dale Planck (lap 49) extended the finale after he looped owner Brian McDonald's East End Auto Parts/Bicknell ride in front of the leaders with just a couple miles to go. Both qualified Nextel Cup drivers Carl Edwards (flat tire) and Dave Blaney (brake line) also retired during the early stages leaving the DIRT contingent to battle among themselves for the highest positions.
By the halfway mark Fuller still showed the way ahead of Tomkins while 11th-place starter Jimmy Horton secured the show position followed by Haers, Kenny Tremont and Matt Sheppard. And after Tomkins bowed out with his right rear flat the order would not change despite Horton testing out every lane in the potent no. 42 Grosso Trucking/Bicknell machine.
Horton closed to within a couple car-lengths on lap 40 and crept even nearer when Fuller suddenly got trapped behind Ray Bliss in traffic as 46 laps were completed on the scoreboard. Yet just as Horton was setting up for a last-gasp effort in turn two, Planck spun out in turn four opening the door wide again for Fuller to chase the checkered flag with a clear track ahead. The late race mishap only delayed the inevitable as Fuller dashed over the finish line three car-lengths ahead of Horton, with Haers, Tremont and Sheppard coasting across the stripe in that order.
"I just needed a better starting spot tonight even though we had trouble in time trials," said Horton, who dropped in a Feil big-block powerplant under the hood of the traditional Grosso Trucking small-block ride used at Bridgeport (NJ) Speedway on Friday nights. "I really couldn't do anything the last 20 laps, (Fuller) was using up the fast lane down low and that's where I needed to be to make up any ground. Second is still alright considering Rick (Grosso) called me on Monday to come down and here we are on the podium."
The third-place tally for Haers was maybe even more impressive as he crashed his primary no. 3h Phelps Cement Products car at Cayuga County Fair (NY) Speedway on Sunday and sent his brother to Canada to pick up a brand new Bicknell chassis by Tuesday. "I'm really more surprized just to finish as we've come here the past couple years and always seem to get in a wreck," Haers said. "It's a brand new car and the first time we've run it so the experience was definitely a good one this time around."
The win was Fuller's first-ever at Lowe's after logging four top-five finishes in the 50-lap events staged in 2002-03 and settling for 11th-place last April one lap down to the field. Despite a broken panhard bar dropping Hearn back to eighth on the final scoresheet, the Sussex, N.J. ace still leads the Advance Auto Parts standings heading back to Central New York on Sunday, May 29. Highlighting the traditional Memorial Day holiday card is the 14th Annual DIRT Hall of Fame Classic at Cayuga County Fair Speedway sponsored by Tobacco Free Cayuga and Madison Counties.
Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series – The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, May 25, 2005 Ferris Commercial Mowers presents the Eckerd 50 Event Summary [*Official box score posted on www.dirtmotorsports.com by clicking 'Advance' logo on homepage]
FEATURE
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER/HOMETOWN
1 3 m1 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY ($10,000)
2 11 42 Jimmy Horton/Neshanic Station,NJ
3 5 3h Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
4 13 115 Kenny Tremont/West Sand Lake,NY
5 8 44s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
6 7 TEN Alan Johnson/Phelps,NY
7 10 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
8 6 3 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
9 16 88 Jeff Strunk/Bethel,PA
10 24 20 Stewart Friesen/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
11 21 8j Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
12 15 r24 Rick Grosso,Jr./Belle Mead,NJ
13 19 98h Chad Brachmann/Wheatfield,NY
14 14 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
15 22 711 Mike Iles/Medford,NJ
16 23 39 Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
17 30 99 Ryan Phelps/Fulton,NY
18 1 1 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
19 29 3g Gary Risch,Jr./Sarver,PA
20 28 29z Ray Bliss/Warsaw,NY
21 25 151kb Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
22 17 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
23 20 29b Jeff Brownell,Jr./Waterloo,NY
24 4 74 Dave Blaney/Hartford,OH
25 9 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
26 12 3e Carl Edwards/Columbia,MO
27 18 86 Kyle Strickler/Sinking Spring,PA
28 27 85 Dan Vauter/Forest City,PA
29 2 58jr. Bucky Kell/Hammonton,NJ
30 26 27x Bob McCreadie/Watertown,NY
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