Bower, Phelps Earn Cayuga County Victories But Brachmann Grabs Rite Aid 200 Starting Spot
Weedsport, NY – October 11, 2008 – Story & Photos By Chris Dolack, DIRTcar VP Public Relations
Chuck Bower and Chad Phelps won Pullen’s Twin 25 features, Pierre Dagenais earned a spot in the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Rite Aid 200, but Chad Brachmann was the biggest winner on Saturday night at Cayuga County Fair Speedway.
After Dagenais rolled into victory lane at the end of the night with the highest averaging finishing position between the twin features, a spot good enough for the final starting position in Sunday’s Super DIRT Week finale at the New York State Fairgrounds, he revealed he would give up his spot to the next driver in line, Brachmann.
“We don’t have time to get the car ready for Syracuse,” Dagenais said. “It takes a special body to go there. We’re not ready for that, maybe next year.” That meant Brachmann’s team wasn’t going to get much rest on Saturday night as it headed back to the New York State Fairgrounds.
“Go back and thrash, that’s what we plan on doing,” said Brachmann, of North Tonawanda, N.Y. “We weren’t really planning on doing anything, but the car needs some serious changes to make it more competitive for the Rite Aid 200. We wanted to come here and race, but the ultimate goal is to get the spot at Syracuse. We’re going to roll the dice and see if we can make some good out of it.”
Bower was in prime position to win the Rite Aid 200 starting spot after capturing his first checkered flag of the season in the first of the Twin 25 main events. He and Dagenais went wheel-to-wheel before locking his car into the low groove and picking up the win.
“We’re a small-time crew, we’re not a big team, just independent guys,” said Bower, of Lansing, N.Y. “It’s big, a win is a win.”
Bower then had to roll the dice, literally, to determine his starting position for the second of the Pullen’s Twin 25s … and it settled on eight. With the track beginning to get slick, Bower’s team went back to work trying to make the adjustments to earn the Syracuse starting spot.
Phelps, though, had different plans. Starting on the outside pole, he quickly raced to the lead and held off Dagenais with a smooth line and no mistakes. With the laps winding down, Phelps had his hands full with lapped traffic, a slick track and Dagenais hunting him down. The white flag flew, Dagenais made a run. Phelps drove right through the middle of the groove, not giving Dagenais even a hint of space to move him out of the way. He charged off of the final corner and captured the checkered flag for the second time in the past three years of this event at Cayuga County Fair Speedway.
“I’m doing this for fun, and it’s good to finish out the year like this,” said Phelps, of Mexico, N.Y. “You just got to go with the punches and roll with it. The event setup gives you a break and a chance to revamp for the next 25-lap feature if the first one wasn’t working. The car started going away from me at the end and I figured there had to be someone there.”
Ultimately, a runner-up finish and a fourth-place run in the Pullen’s Twin 25 features made Brachmann the biggest winner of the night.
“We weren’t really set up for anything,” Brachmann said. “We brought the same car we ran at Rolling Wheels on Friday night in the small block race. We just kind of went with the flow and it worked out for us. You just had to keep the car underneath you and be easy on the throttle.”
The green flag on the Rite Aid 200 waves Sunday at 2:15 p.m. Fans can also see the Super DIRT Week action, featuring the Rite Aid 200, on SPEED from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Big Block Modifieds; Pullen’s 25 Twin 25s; Cayuga County Fair Speedway; Oct. 11, 2008
Feature #1 (25 laps)
1) 99B Chuck Bower
2) 3B Chad Brachmann
3) 124 Pierre Dagenais
4) 87 Shawn Donath
5) 29 Jeff Brownell
6) 85 Dan Vauter
7) X Chad Phelps
8) 8 Tim O’Brien
9) 09 Kyle Lewis
10) 2K Chris Hile
11) 44v Phil Vigneri
12) 77 Brandon Planck
13) 17c Pete Cosco
14) 13 Greg Monica
15) 97 Michael Chicoine
16) 45M Mike Ward
17) 28P Elden Payne
18) 93 Rich Vinson
19) 96 Todd Milton
20) 38 Tim Harris
DNS: 44 Shannon Whaley
Feature #2 (25 laps)
1) X Chad Phelps
2) 124 Pierre Dagenais
3) 8 Tim O’Brien
4) 3B Chad Brachmann
5) 87 Shawn Donath
6) 85 Dan Vauter
7) 2k Chris Hile
8) 29 Jeff Brownell
9) 99B Chuck Bower
10) 17c Pete Cosco
11) 09 Kyle Lewis
12) 77 Brandon Planck
13) 13 Greg Monica
14) 97 Michael Chicoine
15) 45M Mike Ward
16) 96 Todd Milton
17) 38 Tim Harris
18) 44v Phil Vigneri
DNS: 28P Elden Payne, 93 Rich Vinson, 44 Shannon Whaley
Qualified for Rite Aid 200: Pierre Dagenais (gave up spot to next highest finisher, Chad Brachmann)