SUPER DIRT WEEK XXVII - DAY #6 (Sun. Oct. 11, 1998)
BILLY DECKER DOMINATES FOR FIRST ECKERD 300 SUPER DIRT WEEK TRIUMPH
SYRACUSE,NY...Billy Decker came into Super DIRT Week expecting to win all along. The Unadilla, New York driver just never expected to run 101 laps on one tank of fuel to win the biggest event of his career.
He continued to believe in himself, trust his equipment and impress his competition on Sunday afternoon as he dominated the 27th annual Eckerd 300 to close out Super DIRT Week '98 at the New York State Fairgrounds.
Decker's first victory in the country's richest DIRT Modified event was worth $94,705 as he also claimed his initial Skoal Bandit Racing Super DIRT Series title. It was his DIRT-high 17th big-block win of the season for the Bugchaser-Adam Ross Cut Stone/Olsen team.
Pole-sitter Bobby Varin from Sharon Springs, N.Y. paced the 46-car field the first 26 laps before front row partner Decker ducked under as traffic forced Varin out of the turn two groove. The recently crowned Canandaigua Speedway points champion led until stopping in the pits for fuel on lap 50 and relinquishing the point to sixth-place starter Pat Ward from Genoa, N.Y. That lead only lasted 14 laps as Ward exited the track for a splash of fuel after Jerry Higbie,Jr. parked Brett Hearn's back-up no. 3a Budweiser-Auto Zone/TEO entry on the backstretch to bring out the fourth caution period on lap 64.
Making his lone DIRT Modified start of the year, current NASCAR Grand National rookie candidate Dave Blaney inherited the lead and held on until making his own pit stop for fuel on lap 90, along with top-five runners Bud Christmann, Steve Bottcher and Decker. This time it was Varin's turn to assume the top spot and he went on to collect the $1,000 Dryden Oil halfway leader award and pocket an extra $10,000 from Nice'N easy Grocery Shoppes for leading at the century mark.
After cracking the top-15, Blaney's day aboard the Team Goewey no. 4 TEO mount suddenly ended as he banked off the infield burm and slammed the outside turn two wall as a result. When the leaders once again exited the track for fuel under the caution, Decker again emerged as the leader followed in line by Kenny Tremont, Christmann, New England invaders Dave Camara from Poultney, Vt. and Dick Larkin from Sheffield, Mass.
But any battle between two of Eastern New York's most talented open-wheel pilots never materialized. Decker withstood five more yellow flags to open up comfortable leads each time. And despite a final caution coming for runner-up Tremont, who ran out of gas on lap 187, Decker still forged an eight-second victory over Christmann as the lap counter flashed 191 to end the longest race in Super DIRT Week history.
Larkin, who was fined $1,000 for utilizng a gas tank with an "excessive fuel capacity," crossed the line third ahead of defending Eckerd 300 champion Danny Johnson from from Rochester, N.Y. and Varin, who kept intact the fact that no lap 100 bonus leader has ever gone on to win the same race.
Two-time race winner Alan Johnson from Phelps, N.Y. rallied from a lap down to secure sixth at the stripe with Pound Ridge, N.Y.'s Eddie Marshall finishing seventh, second-time qualifier Tim Dwyer of Gloversville, N.Y. placing eighth and Waterloo, N.Y.'s Steve Paine scored as the final driver to complete the entire distance. Syracuse Frame Service "Hard Charger" Tim Fuller from Edwards, N.Y. rounded out the top-ten after starting 38th on the grid. Lansing, N.Y. driver Chuck Bower finished 15th to secure Freihofer Rookie of the Race honors and earn $2,000 for his efforts.
With double points on the line towards the Skoal Bandit Racing Championship, Decker ultimately edged Hearn, 1601-1589, followed by Danny Johnson(1519), Jimmy Horton(19th,1398) and Doug Hoffman (37th,1368).
Sunday activity actually began at noon with the 20-lap Terrell's Potato Chips Non-Qualifiers race. Nineteen of the scheduled 28 starters took the green flag with only four spots open to advance into the Eckered 300 title event.
Rookie driver Mike Benson from Eagle Bridge, N.Y. paced all last-chance qualifiers followed by second-generation driver Scott Prentice, Pennsylvanian Randy Sherlock and six-time overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT big-block champion Jack Johnson from Duanesburg, N.Y.
Benson earned $1,000 for his flag-to-flag victory, yet could only muster a 40th-place tally in the Super DIRT Week '98 finale as motor problems forced him pitside with 41 laps scored.