Decker Romps To Score 2nd Straight ‘Salute To The Troops’ 358-Mod Win
*Alex Bruce Photo Attachment
Syracuse, NY – October 10, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Reigning Mr. DIRTcar Champion Billy Decker matched his Super DIRT Week success in a Big-Block on Saturday afternoon at the New York State Fairgrounds by scoring the fourth victory of his career in the headline 30th Annual ‘Salute To The Troops’ 150 Championship for 358-Modifieds.
Already a four-time titlist in the Rite Aid 200 for Big-Blocks, Decker inherited the lead when Frenchman Martin Roy made his pit stop with 99 laps posted on the scoreboard, then out-distanced another four-time winner Brett Hearn by 4.2-seconds to knock down his eighth Modified feature win on the historic Syracuse Mile.
“What a day … the Gypsum Wholesalers car was really good, I can’t thank my team enough as they got me in and out of the pits faster than anybody else today,” remarked Decker, 44, after registering his third victory of 2009 in DIRTcar Northeast’s sister Small-Block class, yet easily the biggest on the circuit this season as the Unadilla, New York veteran pocketed $20,000 for the LJL Racing no. 91 Gypsum Wholesalers/Bicknell Race Team. “That was the key to the race.”
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my guys, and that baby (engine) was hitting on all eight (cylinders) today. Would’ve rather had to dice it out over speed at the end than lapped traffic but that’s just how things worked out for us today,” Decker said.
Finishing another three seconds behind Hearn under the checkered flag was open-wheel veteran Kenny Tremont, while teenager Larry Wight, Larry Lampman Jr., Roy, Patrick Dupree, Rich Scagliotta and Mid-State Golf Cars Rookie of the Race Marc Johnson were the last to complete the prescribed 150-lap distance.
“My wife Robin does the spotting and Scott (Jeffery, crew chief), they keep track of everybody out there. Scott still said ‘let him go, let him go, we’re just racing those guys behind us’ when (Roy) was pulling way ahead,” noted Decker, who won last year’s 150-lapper after scoring a 50-lap victory in 1992 and then hitting Salt City paydirt in the ’02 75-lapper.
Overnight rain and early morning mist put a serious soaking on the storied State Fairgrounds oval, ultimately pushing back the feature race starting time over two hours from its original 1:45 p.m. slot. Once under green it took Decker another two hours to fulfill his mission with victory number eight on the fabled Moody Mile registered in decisive fashion.
“Tomorrow’s still the big day and we’re looking forward to it even more right now,” added Decker, after joining Hearn (1989), Tremont (1996-97) and ‘Mr. Small-Block’ Pete Bicknell (1982-83, 1998-2000) as the only drivers to capture back-to-back SDW 358-Mod Championships in its 30-year history. On Sunday Decker will be looking to tie Hearn’s all-time mark of five Rite Aid 200 triumphs, with Hearn (1990) and Danny Johnson (2006) the only drivers ever to sweep Super DIRT Week Modified mains on the same weekend after Jeff Heotzler garnered the inaugural 15-lap BM&F Small-Block title in 1980.
“That’s what we came here for, the big one on Sunday, I’m sure gonna try my best. Today I just had to make sure we kept some lapped cars between us and the guys were racing. It was a really good day with a happy ending,” Decker said.
While Decker and Hearn finished 1-2, under sunny, blue skies they also began the 150-lap finale on the front row and it was pole-sitter Hearn jumping out to an early lead to pace the 39-car starting field. A handful of yellow flags flew due to flat tires and a lap three crash by J.C. Flach in turn kept the pack close during the initial stages, with the fourth caution period the most pivotal as it opened up the pit window on lap 30.
Chris Shultz shredded a right-rear tread on lap 28 and before the green lights reappeared all but 11 cars had ducked pit side either for new rubber or splash of fuel, with most prepared to go the remaining 120-mile distance. Those that didn’t were new leader Roy, the recently crowned Airborne Speedway points champion on DIRTcar NE’s only paved oval, Tremont, Quebecois Sebastien Gougeon in only his second trip to Syracuse, fellow Frenchman Mario Clair, Dave Rauscher, Dig Safely NY Last Chance Qualifier race winner Rich Scagliotta, Greg Atkins, Marc Johnson, Mark D’Ilario, Michel Chicoine and Bicknell.
When last year’s SDW Sportsman winner Erick Rudolph slid up against the turn one wall to incur a fifth slowdown on lap 65, the remaining drivers except for Roy and Rauscher idled down pit row. Roy was quickest on the clocks up to this point, with Decker second fasted and already charging into the runner-up position when the grid refired for the ensuing lap 72 restart.
The green flag dropped for just a moment as top-five runner Andy Bachetti went from high to low in a maneuver under the starter’s stand, yet there was not enough clearance as the popular Sheffield, Mass. pilot got turned around and the no. 4 Garrity Asphalt-Albraeda Waste-Steve Hough Motors/PMC ride rammed the end of the cement barrier at the end of pit lane to bring an abrupt halt to his day.
The day suddenly got even brighter for Decker when a flat right-rear tire for race rookie Doug Faulker required caution number eight on the 98th circuit. At the end of the next circuit, Roy became the final driver to stop pitside moving Decker to the point and his nearest chasers Matt Sheppard, Hearn Rick Laubach and Tim Fuller all up an additional spot in time for the extended lap 108 restart.
Only two more caution periods transpired over the next 40 laps yet the 11th and final slowdown on lap 146 for Decker’s teammate Pat Ward put the top three cars together for a final two-lap dash for the cash. While runner-up Sheppard was forced pitside with an empty gas tank on lap 144, new second-place runner Fuller suffered the same consequence as he a limped through turn two on the final lap.
The green lights stayed on as Decker cruised home for a 20 car-length victory over Hearn with 20 cars crossing under the final checkered flag and Decker’s other teammate Wight running out of gas just after ending his best run in fourth.
“We had a really good car today in open air in the beginning, then we struggled a little bit after getting through our pit stop,” noted Hearn, after nursing home an ailing machine the last 40 laps which was still good enough for a $10,000 paycheck. “We kind of rode around for a little while, knew what we had to do after that.”
“Once I was on the gas and got the back of the car to stand up a little bit, it got the fender off the tire which wasn’t all that bad. But if you ever want to be scared in a race car, that’s the race car you want to drive right there,” as he motioned toward the Madsen Motorsports no. 20 Wentworth Custom Homes-Kruger-Benjamin Moore Paints/TEO entry parked on the front chute.
“Looks like we spit out a roller, actually spit a torsion arm out of the roller and amazingly it hung on the bolt that locates the rear-end and stayed there … amazing … and the fender was just about through the tire also. The no. 91 guys had a great pit stop, they got in and out really fast and beat us out of the pits. I don’t know if that was the difference, I’m just happy to be here on the front straightaway now after all that,” added Hearn, who will start eighth on Sunday afternoon on the 38th Annual Rite Aid 200 Presented By Ferris & Snapper Mowers.
All-time Lebanon Valley Speedway Big-Block feature winner Tremont notched another top-five finish n Saturday’s premier Small-Block event, marking a rare appearance made this season by the 1999 Rite Aid 200 champion.
“Definitely didn’t have our fuel mileage down to a science, we just played it a little bit on the conservative side,” acknowledged Tremont, who won his last Syracuse 358 Championship in 199, and on Saturday was back aboard the familiar no. 115 S&S Asphalt-Rifenburg Construction/Bicknell ride. “We just really didn’t get a lot of practice time and weren’t sure of the exact mileage, so we were kinda playing a guessing game.”
“We just decided today we better go a little bit on the conservative side rather than run out of fuel. Just had limited time, not a lot of time given to adjust things on the car and make it any faster than what it was. So it was a good day. Everything went well but I’ve been on the other side of that too, like what happened to some of those guys today. Its unfortunate but it kinda worked in our favor at the end,” Tremont said.
With the Salute To The Troops 150 designated as show-up points race, current Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar 358 leader Dale Planck elected not to start as did his car owner Carey Terrance and runner-up the past two years Danny O’Brien fro m Kingston, Ontario.
Super DIRT Week XXXVIII concludes Sunday with the prized jewel of DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast --- Rite Aid 200 Presented By Ferris & Snapper Mowers --- for Big-Block Modifieds paying the winner a whopping $50,000. The 'Dig Safely New York Modified Last Chance Qualifier rewards the top-five finishers with starting positions 42-46 in the 200-mile main event with Rolling Wheels Raceway’s ‘Win And You’re In 25’ victor Chad Brachmann from Saturday night earning the 47th starting spot in the 200-lap fairgrounds finale.
Pro Stock Time Trials begin tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. with the 25-lap BNC Motorsports Pro Stock Championship the first feature race slated to go off at 1:00 p.m. A pair of Dig Safely NY last-chance qualifiers follow immediately after for Big-Block Modifieds and Pro Stocks which take the first green flag at 12noon. DIRTcar Modified and Pro Stock ‘Futures’ events kick off the first racing action at 11:00 a.m. while the curtain comes down with the 38th running of the Rite Aid 200 on Sunday afternoon at 2:45 p.m.
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Race #10 – New York State Fairgrounds, Oct. 10, 2009 30th "Salute To The Troops" 150 Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 2 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY($20,000)
2 1 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
3 26 115 Kenny Tremont/West Sand Lake,NY
4 18 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY
5 17 22 Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
6 12 90 Martin Roy/Napierville,QUE
7 31 24x Patrick Dupree/Saranac Lake,NY
8 38 8 Rich Scagliotta/Bound Brook,NJ
9 40 3j Marc Johnson/Guilderland,NY®
10 10 6 Mat Williamson/St.Catharines,ONT®
11 8 14 Jimmy Horton/Neshanic Station,NJ
12 39 13 Tony Steiner/Jamesville,NY®
13 36 97 Michel Chicoine/Ste-Cecile,QUE®
14 23 1ny Greg Atkins/Clintonville,NY
15 4 74 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY
16 16 151kb Brian McDonald/Cornwall,ONT
17 42 14x Brian Swarthout/Beaver Dams,NY®
18 9 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
19 34 22j Jeremy Wilder/Fort Plain,NY
20 41 007 Roy Tarbell/Akwesasne, NY
21 3 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY
22 15 1w Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
23 25 08 Mark D'Ilario/Smithville,ONT®
24 30 77j John Flach Jr./Ravena,NY®
25 24 35 Mike Perrotte/Elizabethtown,NY
26 5 542 Rick Laubach/Quakertown,PA
27 13 76a Ronnie Johnson/Duanesburg,NY
28 14 48too Dave Rauscher/Waterloo,NY
29 37 95 Doug Faulkner/East Greenbush,NY®
30 21 4* Tim McCreadie/Watertown,NY
31 6 4 Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA
32 28 98h Erick Rudolph/Ransomville,NY®
33 19 44 Sebastien Gougeon/Drummondville,QUE
34 22 45 Wayne Jelley/Pittsfield,MA
35 32 16w Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY
36 7 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
37 11 24 Chris Shultz/Pawling,NY
38 29 83x Tom Sears Jr./Clay,NY
39 20 3 Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
DNS 27 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
DNS 33 66x Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
DNS 35 7* Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
EVENT SUMMARY:
LAP LEADERS: Hearn (1-30), Roy (31-99), Decker (100-150).
TOTAL LAPS LED: 69-Roy, 51-Decker, 30-Hearn.
LEAD CHANGES: 2 among 3 drivers.
CAUTIONS: 11 for 59 laps.
ELAPSED TIME: 1 hr. 57 mins. 15 secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 76.754 mph.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 4.264 sec.
MID-STATE GOLF CARS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Marc Johnson.
A-1 RACE PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Marc Johnson.
SUNY CANTON HARD LUCK AWARD: Tim Fuller.
SHARON'S TOY HARD LUCK: Jimmy Horton.
DIG SAFELY NEW YORK HALFWAY LEADER AWARD: Martin Roy.
GATER RACING NEWS BEST APPEARING CAR & CREW: #22j - Jeremy Wilder.
NYSSCA 'TOP MEMBER' AWARD: Brett Hearn.
NATIONAL PARTS PEDDLER POLE AWARD: Brett Hearn (31.712 sec/113.522 mph).
MID-STATE GOLF CARS OUTSIDE POLE AWARD: Billy Decker (31.860 sec/112.994 mph).
PULLEN'S TRUCK CENTER TWIN-20s RACE WINNERS: -rain-
DIG SAFELY NEW YORK SHOOTOUT RACE WINNER: Rich Scagliotta.
RACE ROOKIES®: 9.
ENTRIES: 58.
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