DIRT DIARY: FLORIDA TOUR 2001 - Day #9 (Fri. Feb 16)
McCREADIE SCORES FIRST WIN IN FRIDAY NIGHT VOLUSIA SHOWDOWN
BARBERVILLE,FL...DIRT Motorsports all-time winningest big-block driver Bob McCreadie extended his career total by one after capturing the 30-lap DIRT Modified main Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
McCreadie ducked under his son, Tim, on lap nine as the lead pair exited turn four and held off fellow Troyer wheelman Doug Hoffman to post his 292nd victory and earn $2,000 for his second-ever Florida Tour triumph. The Watertown, N.Y. veteran won his first at Volusia in 1999.
"The Troyer (chassis) cars haven't been finishing as well lately but tonight we got the job done," said McCreadie, who turned 50 just one month earlier. "We had the car set up to run the low side last night but the groove never came in. It was the fastest way around tonight and we just hugged the rail once out front."
North country travelers dominated the heat race action as Thursday night's winner Tim Fuller and both McCreadies took checkered flags in their eight-lap qualifiers to secure the first three spots in the 26-car feature line-up.
Younger Tim jumped out first from his pole-position start and rode the high line to lead the elder McCreadie, Fuller, Hoffman and teenage sensation Frankie Caprara, in another Troyer entry, during the early stages. The father/son duo used up the entire track in the family fued before Bob nosed his no. 9 Kinney Drugs-Syracuse Frame Service machine out front for the final time with a third of the race scored.
Fuller slowed to bring out the first yellow flag on lap 15 as a broken power steering pump cost him a chance to make it two straight on the spacious Barberville half-mile oval. At the midway mark it was the McCreadies leading Hoffman with Winston Cup entry Tony Stewart riding the ragged edge to steal away fourth-place from Brett Hearn.
Stewart finally slid too high and climbed the turn two wall before spinning the no. 20 GE Sealants & Adhesives/TEO mount out of the third turn. DIRT Pro Stock Tour graduate incurred the fourth and final yellow flag on lap 20 as he drifted high enough to catch the outside turn three wall aboard his no. 22 Sprint PCS/Troyer entry.
Hoffman moved under Tim McCreadie prior to the yellow to erase a sizeable advantage yet a clean track ahead of 'Barefoot Bob' on the restart still did not guarantee a victory during the ensuing 10-lap dash. With just two laps to go McCreadie made contact with a lapped car to give his trailers one final chance, but the door quickly slammed shut and he crossed the stripe three car-lengths ahead of Hoffman, late charger Hearn, and row seven starters Jimmy Horton and Danny Johnson. Tim McCreadie, Caprara, Pennsylvanian Ray Swinehart, Delaware driver Deron Rust and Johnson's Sweeteners Plus teammate Vic Coffey rounded out the top-10.
Through five of the six series races scheduled during the 30th annual Winternationals, three-time winner Hearn remains atop the Florida Tour standings with 282 points. Johnson(256) ranks second ahead of Tim McCreadie(240) while Hoffman and Bob McCreadie are tied for fourth with 210 points apiece.
Open-wheel action concludes Saturday at Volusia Speedway Park with the $5,000-to-win 50-lap DIRT Modified finale highlighting the evening program.
FLORIDA TOUR 2001 RACE RESULTS @ Volusia Speedway Park - Fri., Feb. 16
DIRT Modified Feature (30L)
FIN
CAR#
DRIVER
TEAM (Sponsor / Chassis / Engine)
1
9
Bob McCreadie/Watertown,NY
Kinney Drugs-Syracuse Frame-F.X. Caprara/Troyer/Morrison
2
27
Doug Hoffman/Allentown,PA
J & J Shop-Planned Poultry Renovations/Troyer/Enders
3
3
Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
Budweiser Racing-WLR Const-Cavallaro Prod/TEO/Feil-Enders
4
901
Jimmy Horton/Neshanic Station,NJ
Wallace Securities-Miles Concrete/Olsen/Feil
5
27j
Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
Sweeteners Plus-A&C Speedworld-Prudential Sec./Troyer/C.C. Perf.
6
56
Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
Finch's Trucking-Gypsum Wholesalers-Syr.Frame/TEO/Finger Lakes
7
fx1
Frankie Caprara/Watertown,NY
Manheim Auto Auction-Auto Value-F.X.Caprara Cars/Troyer/Gor-Den
8
33
Ray Swinehart/Bechtelsville,PA
J & L Speed Supplies/Bicknell/Reinford Racing Engines
9
396
Deron Rust/Georgetown,DE
Bodie's Dairy Markets-Heck Masonry/TEO/Beston Automotive
10
32c
Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
Sweeteners Plus-A&C Speedworld-Prudential Sec./TEO/C.C. Perf.
11
74
J.R. Heffner/Averill Park,NY
A.Colarusso & Son/TEO/Raspuzzi
12
42p
Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
Gypsum Express,Ltd./TEO/Finger Lakes
13
Z
Butch Tittle/Saylorsburg,PA
Tittle & Sons Motorsports/Troyer/Fiehl
14
8
Rich Scagliotta/Bound Brook,NJ
Central Jersey Trailer & Hitch Depot/Troyer/Enders
15
24
Chris Shultz/Holmes,NY
Liberty Rock Crushing-Bicknell Racing Products/TEO/JPM
16
44
Gary Hager/Stewartsville,NJ
Atlantic Towing-Quality Drywall/TEO/Burnett
17
35
Mike Perrotte/Elizabethtown,NY
Adirondack Auto/Troyer/Enders
18
11j
Jerry Pennock,Jr./Warrensburg,NY
Millennium Motorsports-Camelot Design & Developmnt/TEO/Enders
19
93
Ryan Bartlett/Adams,NY
D.P. Barlett & Sons Plumbing Heating & AC/Olsen-TEO/Bow-Tie
20
32
Jim Rasey/Southington,OH
Twin Oaks Services South/Troyer/Rasey
21
7jr
Jimmy Reppert/Hamburg,PA
MicroAide Computers-Boyd's BBQ Catering/Olsen/CMS
22
22
Kevin Jordan/Speedsville,NY
Sprint PCS/Troyer/Gordon
23
20
Tony Stewart/Rushville,IN
GE Sealants & Adhesive-Extreme Silicone Technology/TEO/Enders
24
18
Brian Cobb/Honesdale,PA
Mud-X/Bicknell/Schwab Machine
25
m1
Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
B&F General Machine-Dixon Steel-Afco/TEO/Enders
26
30+
Mike Frost/Factoryville,PA
Lartz Industries-Serenity Lodge/Troyer/Frost
DNQ
77
Bob Hamm,Jr./Windsor,NY
Hamm Motorsports/Bicknell/Main-Hamm
DNQ
79
Jeremy Markle/Port Jervis,NY
Len & Jo's Restaurant/Bicknell/Quality Engines
DNQ
60
Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
Zoom'N Groom-B&B Auto Sales/Olsen/Feil
DNQ
44f
Brother Fowlkes/Alexandria,LA
Darrell's Auto Service-JR's Performance Fuels/Olsen/Shoulders
DNQ
30
Jamie Mills/Milford,DE
I.G.Burton Car Dealrshp-L&W Ins.-Mills Bros.Markets/Troyer/Myers
EVENT SUMMARY:
LAP LEADERS: T.McCreadie (1-8), B.McCreadie (9-30).
CAUTIONS: 4 (lap 15, lap 15, lap 17, lap 20).
HEAT WINNERS: B.McCreadie, T.McCreadie, Fuller.
CONSI WINNER: Tittle.
TOTAL PURSE: $10,650.
CARS ENTERED: 31.
FLORIDA TOUR 2001 PIT NOTES
Fri. Feb 16
*One of the most traveled teams on the entire DIRT circuit in 2000 was the J&J Shop-Planned Poultry Renovations/Troyer group led by Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series rookie owner Jay James and veteran open-wheel driver Doug Hoffman. Although the pair chose to regroup and missed the final Super DIRT Series events last autumn, Hoffman still managed a respectable 11th-place finish in the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Championship. Opening the '01 season on a high note in Florida may dictate plans for James' sophomore season up north. "We're in a tough location compared to the core DIRT tracks but we want to make it work," said James, 38, who declared Rolling Wheels Raceway as the hometrack for Hoffman to gain bonus points towards the overall Mr. DIRT title. The team remains a Saturday night fixture at the independent Bridgeport(N.J.) Speedway due to locality yet James hauls seven hours from Laurel, Del and Hoffman drives four hours from Allentown, Pa. to attend all specials held at Rolling Wheels in Elbridge, N.Y. "Somebody told me you can't make money on the DIRT circuit but I'm confident you can. I've got a lot invested in that belief so I want to prove them wrong." Once following the exploits of his uncle Nelson James at Georgetown(Del.) Speedway as a kid, James became a car owner seven years ago. He began with a rookie driver then from 1996-98 he teamed with Delaware driver Ricky Elliott and after taking off in '99, he hired Hoffman as his full-time wheelman. Just two weeks ago James hired a full-time marketing agent in an attempt to evaluate the worth of both his team and DIRT Motorsports. "Right now we plan to use our weekend money to follow the Super DIRT Series so a sponsor is vital to stay in the game," said James, who indicated a deal with a major financial backer is currently in the works and may be just a few phone calls away. "There's so much potential available with DIRT although there has to be something done to keep the interest greater and allow teams in our area to race for DIRT points closer to home. I want to expand my program but DIRT has to grow as well." James arrived in Florida with a brand new $145,000 Cobra Motorsports trailer carrying a pair of no. 27 Enders-powered Troyer machines. Hoffman opened the winter at East Bay with 23rd and 10th place finishes and improved with two 5th-place finishes and a runner-up tally at Volusia, which left him tied for fourth in the Tour point standings entering Saturday's 50-lap DIRT Modified finale. "We're finally starting to come around a little," James added. "I think we've got a chance to do something really big this year and hope it involves the DIRT circuit. Right now its the biggest game in town if you're fielding a modified team."
*Chuck Hebing from Ontario, New York not only sold his latest Cobra Motorsports creation to the James gang, he also built the custom transporter used to house the no. 27j and 32c Sweeteners Plus open-wheel entries owned by Carl Myers. Interest in Hebing's off-track work was also shown by many high-dollar Late Model teams following their own Florida tours during the February festival of speed.
*While Hebing and his Cobra Motorsports company continue to break new barriers in the transporter business, open trailers are becoming more and more rare on the DIRT circuit. Of the 34 teams entered during the 2001 Modified Winternationals, only small-block driver Brian Cobb failed to make the long tow down with an enclosed hauler. Sight of Cobb's "limelight" green no. 18 Mud-X/Bicknell as it entered the pits was still something that further escalated anticipation by the local fans as well as distant travelers because it was the only sure sign that the big-blocks were back in town.
*The name Hager is one familiar to many long-time DIRT Modified race fans in the Northeast. But most of them attach it to the veteran Tommy Hager, not his nephew Gary Hager that competed at East Bay and Volusia throughout Florida Tour 2001. "I didn't go to all that many races that my uncle ran, mostly because I competed with four-wheelers in Pennsylvania," said Hager, 28, who has run in the Sportsman division the past five years at Bridgeport and East Windsor speedways in New Jersey and Big Diamond Raceway in Pa. This year the Stewartsville, N.J. pilot plans to race a small-block at Big Diamond on Friday and buckle into a big-block every Saturday at New Egypt. In Florida, Hager drove his cousin Cody Hager's Atlantic Towing/TEO car. Back up north he will return to his own Troyer ride for weekly activity. "We've had a lot of small problems down here but hopefully the experience will give us more confidence for the start of the racing season closer to home," Hager added. Any time you can get some track time this early in the year it has to help." On the scoresheets Hager has been one of the most consistent finishers, placing 18th and 16th at East Bay before following up with two 16ths and an 18th-place tally at Volusia.
*Current Winston driver and former World of Outlaws sprint car champion Dave Blaney was expected to steer the no. 1 Goewey Motorsports team car at Volusia on Friday. A crew member even participated in the pre-race draw and walked away with the pole-position start in the second of three qualifying heats. Blaney never showed up, however, as he decided to spend time with his family at the beach. The car he was scheduled to drive was the same TEO car he crashed at Super DIRT Week '98 in Syracuse, at the time numbered 4. K.C. Goewey will drive the car in the Sportsman class at Lebanon Valley(N.Y.) Speedway during the upcoming summer when Blaney's Busch Grand National appearances do not conflict.