Danny Johnson Captures $25,000 Advance Auto Parts Modified 200
Fuller Crowned Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Champion
Danny Johnson dominated the Advance Auto Parts Modified Series Atlantic Coast Championship 200 on Sunday at Bridgeport (NJ) Speedway and collected $25,000 for his first tour victory of the season. But in the end it was the season-long success achieved by Tim Fuller that secured him the coveted overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Modified Championship to conclude DIRT MotorSports NorthEast’s 30th consecutive season of open-wheel racing.
In one of the most impressive performances of the 2005 Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series, Johnson led all but 29 laps en route to a three-second victory over runner-up Tim McCreadie with Matt Sheppard, Billy Pauch and Billy Decker filling out the top-five at the checkers. With a tour-high total of six extra-distance wins recorded this year, Fuller finished 28th after the MBF Racing no. m1 B&F General Machine/TEO machine fell victim to a broken rear axle with just 79 laps complete.
"There’s a lot that goes into having a good team but in the end its all about a quality car out here," said Johnson, 45, after scoring the decisive win steering track owner Jay James’ potent no. 27 J&J Shop-Planned Poultry Renovations/TEO entry. Johnson’s 59th career Advance Auto Parts SDS victory came in his ninth tour start of the season and marked just his second top-10 and only first top-five finish of 2005. "Timmy had some chances on a couple restarts but everything seemed to play our way with lapped cars when it counted. Things could’ve been closer catching some traffic near the end but this car kept me comfortable the entire race."
Johnson was third fastest in Saturday time trials and he won the first of six qualifying heats on opening day before drawing the third pill to start Sunday’s main event inside row two. Pole-sitter Billy Pauch, Jr. blew a motor after pacing the all-star field over the initial 11 circuits before Johnson crossed the line ahead of leader Richie Tobias, Jr. to forge the final lead change on lap 30. The native Rochester, New Yorker never looked back even after a mandatory stop pitside at the halfway mark.
"Besides changing tires and putting in more fuel, we only added a little stagger and stayed pretty much the same the second half of the race," said Johnson, following his fourth big-block feature win of the year at Bridgeport. Three more Modified victories in Delaware and a small-block triumph at Utica-Rome (NY) Speedway complete his win list in 2005. "Once out in front the car was so good I hardly worked up a sweat. I can’t say enough about the crew, they all know their jobs and today everything clicked from lap one."
The 45-car starting field rolled to head flagman Matt Burdick’s opening green flag but before a single lap was completed consolation round qualifiers Tommy Hager and Keith Hoffman tangled in turn one to incur the first of 19 caution periods. A rare red flag was waved with seven laps complete when more than a half-dozen cars piled into turn three. Recently crowned Bridgeport points champion Duane Howard was tapped at the end of the back chute and got sideways with Alan Johnson, Meme DeSantis, Jamie Mills and Mark Forte, Sr. joining in the heap before making a final turn pitside for the remainder of the event.
Second-generation driver Pauch showed early signs of smoke on the lap eight restart and remained at the point until the big-block powerplant in the yellow no. 1k Evernham Performance Parts/TEO mount expired to cut his evening short. Tobias was quick to inherit the lead before Johnson took over on lap 30 with McCreadie, Gary Tomkins and Justin Haers in close pursuit.
Once out front, Johnson easily paced the field and was able to open up comfortable advantages at will on nearly every restart that followed a dozen more cautions. All that changed was the order of his nearest challengers as the laps clicked off. McCreadie overtook Tobias for second after 50 laps were complete while Jimmy Phelps charged into the runner-up slot on a lap 61 restart.
Homestate pilot Brett Hearn pulled to a stop in the frontstretch infield after his Page Trucking-Gable Auto Stores/TEO ride had a rear-end let loose on lap 66. Fuller was the next top runner to exit the track as Michele and Bob Faust’s car ran to the turn three infield while holding down 11th. Johnson continued to maintain the point over Phelps and McCreadie with that order remaining intact when the field made a group stop in the pits as 100 laps clicked on the scoreboard. At the halfway mark Haers, Sheppard, Tomkins, Tobias, Decker, Jimmy Horton and Pauch, Sr. contended in the top-10.
Back under green flag conditions with 21 of the 26 returning cars still scored on the lead lap, Johnson showed no sign of slowing down although McCreadie moved into second for good on lap 102 to offer a brief challenge. McCreadie actually closed to within a car-length on lap 118 but faded immediately after with Phelps, Hears and Sheppard holding their positions through lap 150.
Veteran Pauch began to challenge the leaders in the later stages, passing Decker for seventh on lap 157 before powering past Tomkins on the 174th circuit. Pauch improved another position and cracked the top-five for the first time when Phelps relinquished his third-place status after suffering a flat right-rear tire on lap 183. And finally on lap 190 when Sheppard ducked under Haers for third in turn two, Pauch mirrored the maneuver and grabbed fourth-place while Decker blasted by Haers for fifth three laps shy of the finish.
Coasting under the checkered flag with a convincing three-quarter straightaway lead, Johnson proved to be no competition for his nearest trailers including the second-best car of World of Outlaws Late Model star McCreadie. "I just have to thank Jamie Mills and Kenny Brightbill for their teams helping change a steering box at the break, it was the difference between finishing second and not even coming back out," said McCreadie, following his third top-five tally of the Advance Auto Parts SDS aboard the no. 39 Sweeteners Plus-A&C Speedworld/Bicknell entry. "There still wasn’t anything for Danny today, this is his track and I’ve been watching him win big races since I was a kid. He had us covered so second-place is the best after that."
Sheppard settled for the show position after posting his ninth top-five finish of the ’05 tour in the Ross Motorsports no. 44s G-U Hardware-Advance Auto Parts/Bicknell ride. "I felt like I was better than a lot of cars out here today but it was just so tough to pass with the low groove being so good," said Sheppard, who posted his lone tour win of the ’05 campaign in a last-lap thriller at New Egypt (NJ) Speedway in late September. "We had a decent year, maybe not as good as first expected, but just some real dumb luck set us back. Other than that we ran pretty well most of the season and finishing on a high note is something positive to take into the off-season. We’re already looking forward to next year, with a couple breaks we should be right in the hunt."
After collecting the overall Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Championship for his owners in 2003, Fuller (1,960) outlasted Hearn (1,886) by 74 points to secure the Fausts DIRT MotorSport NorthEast’s highest big-block Modified title. Defending Mr. DIRT champion Tomkins (1,861) placed third followed by Decker (1,841), Sheppard (1,718), Pat Ward (1,702), Steve Paine (1,529), Haers (1,495), Phelps (1,457) and 2005 Miller Electric Modified Rookie of the Year Stewart Friesen (1,446).
Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series – Bridgeport Speedway, November 13, 2005 Atlantic Coast Championship Event Summary [*Official box score posted on www.dirtmotorsports.com by selecting DIRT NorthEast then choosing either the 358-Modified SDS, Sportsman SDS or Pro Stock SDS before clicking the ’Advance’ logo top left on homepage]
Qualifying
Heat Races (8 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to feature, top 2 went to re-draw)
#1: D.Johnson, McCreadie, Strunk, Strickler, Mills, Carberry, McCaughey, R.Phelps, Hindley, Beardsley.
#2: J.Phelps, Tobias, Chester (DSQ), Sears, Isabell, T.Hager, Carman, Axton, Armbruster.
#3: Sheppard, Haers, Decker, Hendrickson, Brownell, Franz, K.Hoffman, Keith Brightbill, Gagliardo, Friesen, Rauscher.
#4: Pauch,Jr., Laubach, Kenny Brightbill, Iles, Howard, Ricco, Chrysler, Towns, Boria, Varin (DNS).
#5: Horton, Fuller, Cozze, G.Hager, Stonebraker, Forte,Sr., Dekutoski, Flammer, Merkel, Pesarek (DNS).
#6: Bachetti, Tomkins, Ward, Durand, DeSantis, A.Johnson, B.Hoffman, Beamer, Pratt (DNS), Wescott (DNS).
Consolation Round (20 laps, top 11 finishers transferred to feature)
Forte,Sr, T.Hager, Hindley, K.Hoffman, Varin, Carman, Wescott, R.Phelps, Franz, Keith Brightbill, Axton, Chester, Ricco, McCaughey, Beardsley, Merkel, Boria, Gagliardo, Dekutoski, Carberry, Beamer, Arbruster, Chrysler (DNS), B.Hoffman (DNS), Towns (DNS), Flammer (DNS), Rauscher (DNS), Pratt (DNS), Pesarek (DNS).
Provisionals: Sean Beardsley, Jimmy Chester.
Skidmarks:
* Bridgeport Speedway originally opened late in 1972 and in its first full year the following season hosted the track’s inaugural 200-lap big-block Modified main event as part of the popular All-Star Racing League. Legendary driver Dick ’Toby’ Tobias covered the entire distance without a pit stop steering his ’65 Mustang-bodied Modified and outlasting Floridians Will Cagle and Buzzie Reutimann, national asphalt champion Jerry Cook and popular Pennsylvanian Gerald Chamberlain to score the memorable victory. Qualifying for Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Modified Series Atlantic Coast Championship more than 30 years later, Sinking Spring, Pa. star Kenny Brightbill drew the pole-position on that Oct. 7 date in ’73 and paced the 41-car field for the opening 68 laps before giving up the point to Tobias.for the remainder. Twenty-one years later, Oct. 29, 1994, the second 200-lapper at Bridgeport was scheduled and Brightbill was credited with the DIRT-sanctioned victory when apparent winner Bob McCreadie was caught up in a scoring controversy that centered around his backstretch pit stop. McCreadie left nothing to opinion the next autumn and dominated the double-century grind on Oct. 28 and Doug Hoffman captured his first 200-lapper in the Garden State the following year. Central New York standout Steve Paine traveled to the South Jersey oval for the 1999 Halloween special and claimed top honors the first time the race was run in two 100-lap segments in an effort to avoid confusion with green flag pit stops. The sixth and most recent 200-lapper on June 10, 2000 was the only event run during the summer and governed by the short-lived United Speedways of North America (USNA) organization. Brett Hearn was the winner with the 125-miler divided into two separate sessions for the second straight year.
* Big-block Modified Super DIRT Series competition returned to Bridgeport for the second straight year, this time to officially close out the 2005 DIRT MotorSports NorthEast points race. The Advance Auto Parts SDS finale attracted 62 cars for the Atlantic Coast Championship with the names Brightbill and Tobias still prevalent when the first green flag flew. Still in search of his first feature win of the season, Kenny Brightbill finished 34th, son Keith Brightbill placed 14th to earn the Bert Hard Charger award while second-generation driver Richie Tobias, Jr. settled for 16th in the richest Modified race in track history.
* The sun always brings out the best in racers and the past weekend was no different. Before the cars even reached the track for the first time on Saturday afternoon, a number of teams were already making plans to attend the 35th Annual Winter Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in February. The 2006 edition will mark DIRT MotorSports’ first ’Race Weeks’ as owner of the popular Florida facility. The Florida Tour at Volusia will once again feature the mighty big-block Advance Auto Parts Modifieds from the Northeast during the week leading up to the Daytona 500 (Feb. 19). The preliminary schedule (Feb. 15, 16, 17, 18) once again includes three 30-lap main events with a 50-lap finale closing out the ’06 trip. Indicating that they are planning to be a part of the ’06 DIRT Modified openers in the Sunshine State are Delaware driver Jamie Mills, New Jersey pilots Gary Hager and Wade Hendrickson in Sal DeBruno’s no. 0 South Jersey Overhead Door/TEO ride.
* Despite Tim Fuller ending the season in November with a 13th-place tally at Syracuse and 28th at Bridgeport, the Edwards, N.Y. pilot locked up the overall Mr. DIRT crown for Michele and Bob Faust with a tour-best 14 top-five finishes in 21 events that included another series-high total of six feature wins. Both driver and owners will be honored among the best in the business when the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. hosts the DIRT MotorSports NorthEast Awards Banquet on Nov. 19.
* A fan appreciation ’Pit Party’ was held behind Bridgeport’s main grandstands in the morning which featured nearly 20 Advance Auto Parts Modified machines ready to compete in the upcoming 200-lapper along with at least as many of the qualified drivers. Many of the track’s publicized ’Young Guns’ were on hand to sign autographs and pose for pictures including pole-sitter Pauch,Jr. (18 yrs), Kyle Strickler and former Sportsman driver Sean Carman who made his Bridgeport Modified debut using track promoter Dave Adam’s big-block GM crate motor valued at $10,000.
* The top-15 finishers in the ’Eckerd 200’ (Nov. 5) at the New York State Fairgrounds were at the head of the line to share in the final $3,000 Winner’s Circle payout that has been set aside to be divided among the highest finishing drivers at each event. The distribution of this special $3,000 fund is based on the feature race finishing order: drivers placing in positions 1-5 each earn $100, 6th – 10th-place finishers receive $200 and 11th – 15th pocket $300. Competitors are required to attend and attempt to qualify for the next Advance Auto Parts SDS event to collect payment of the Winner’s Circle bonus. By racing at Bridgeport, Billy Decker and Bobby Varin received $100 each, Frank Cozze, Stewart Friesen and Alan Johnson earned $200, while Tim Fuller, Jimmy Phelps and Jimmy Horton pocketed $300. Todd Burley, Ronnie Johnson, Kenny Tremont, David Hebert, Ryan Godown, Vic Coffey and Eddie Marshall were no shows.
* With RACEceiver now recognized as the Official Driver Communicator of DIRT MotorSports™ in 2005, fans, as well as the competing drivers, were able to hear first hand everything that was happening throughout the entire New Egypt show. A compact radio receiver that conveniently fits into a driver’s pocket, a RACEceiver allows each driver to hear directions from series officials, which greatly enhances the safety and timeliness of events. A similar version available to fans allows RACEceiver users to hear what information series officials are relaying to the drivers. For more information about RACEceiver, visit www.raceceiver.com, call 866/301-7223, or look for their sales trailers at various events.
2005 ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SUPER DIRT SERIES SCHEDULE
Day-Date Track (Laps) Location/Winner
Mon-Feb 14 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................BRETT HEARN
Tue-Feb 15 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................ANDY BACHETTI
Wed-Feb 16 Volusia Speedway Park (30L-NP)......................BILLY DECKER
Fri-Feb 18 Volusia Speedway Park (50L-NP)......................JAMIE MILLS
Sun-May 1 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................BRETT HEARN
Wed-May 25 Lowe’s Motor Speedway (50L)...........................TIM FULLER
Sun-May 29 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (100L)..............TIM FULLER
Wed-Jun 22 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................BILLY PAUCH
Thr-Jun 23 Hagerstown Speedway (100L)...........................ALAN JOHNSON
Tue-Jun 28 Albany-Saratoga Speedway (101L)...................BILLY DECKER
Mon-Jul 4 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................TIM FULLER
Thr-Jul 7 Lebanon Valley Speedway (100L).....................KENNY TREMONT
Sun-Jul 10 Cornwall Motor Speedway (100L)......................BRETT HEARN
Mon-Jul 11 Autodrome Drummond (100L)...........................GARY TOMKINS
Tue-Jul 19 Grandview Speedway (100L).............................TIM FULLER
Wed-Aug 3 Lernerville Speedway (100L).............................TIM FULLER
Thr-Aug 11 Canandaigua Speedway (100L).........................GARY TOMKINS
Wed-Aug 24 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................TIM FULLER
Wed-Aug 31 Brewerton Speedway (100L)..............................Rain-Cancelled
Sun-Sep 4 Cayuga County Fair Speedway (100L)..............PAT WARD
Mon-Sep 5 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L)........................GARY TOMKINS
Sat-Sep 10 Lebanon Valley Speedway (200L).....................BRETT HEARN
Sun-Sep 18 Rolling Wheels Raceway (200L)........................GARY TOMKINS
Sat-Sep 24 New Egypt Speedway (100L).............................MATT SHEPPARD
Sun-Oct 16 Williams Grove Speedway (100L) .....................Wet Grounds-Cancelled
Sat-Nov 5 New York State Fairgrounds (200L)...................BILLY DECKER
Sun-Nov 13 Bridgeport Speedway (200L) ............................DANNY JOHNSON
*NP = Non-Point event.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIED SERIES SPONSORS
The DIRT MotorSports™ Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Dynomax Performance Exhaust, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional Partners include Stacker 2®, AMB i.t., RACEceiver and Zippo Lighters and the contingency sponsors are DART Machinery, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.