MOTORSPORTS: Tim Fuller gets solo victory in Stars and Stripes 70

Jun 11, 2024

Tim Fuller traveled to the Stars and Stripes 70 alone, won his heat in convincing form, drew the pole and led every lap of the feature on Wednesday night.

HOPEWELL — Tim Fuller brought home a lucrative win in the Stars and Stripes 70, the eighth date for the Super DIRTcar Series. Lucrative — and a bit unlikely.

Fuller traveled to the race alone, finding help in the pits from another team and a long-time friend. He won his heat in convincing form, drew the pole, and led every lap of the feature.

It was Fuller’s first Super DIRTcar Series win since a victory at Bridgeport (NJ) Speedway, May 4, 2021. He has won 33 Super DIRTcar Series features. Matt Sheppard was second ahead of Peter Britten, Max McLaughlin and Jimmy Phelps.

The race was delayed from the original date by rain to Wednesday night, and paid $7,500 to the winner.

“You start on the pole there is only one way to go, backward,” said Fuller. “Like I have said, when you have the baddest guy on the planet at driving a modified on you, behind you, you gotta to be right on the mark.

“He ran me in there pretty hard, but we never touched.”

Sheppard chased Fuller high in the first and second turns on four occasions but could not get to a point where he could clear the fast No. 19, and that proved to be the difference.

“Congrats to Tim. He was awesome tonight. There is a reason why he is in the Dirt Hall of Fame,” complimented Sheppard, who logged his third straight runner-up finish in three starts. The one before that was a win.

“We had a few shots. I thought if I could beat him to one, I could beat him to the top, it was what it would take to win the race. But I think I beat him to one three times and still didn’t beat him off the top of two,” Sheppard said.

Fuller stormed to an early lead. Sheppard was quick to second and Alex Payne followed to Kyle Coffey’s back bumper in a race for third.

The track offered several lanes as the surface widened in the opening circuits, and Peter Britten was working to pass Jordan McCreadie with five on the board. He cleared with 62 to go.

With 10 in, Fuller continued to hold court, looking to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction from last week with a win at his former stomping grounds. An early weakness was the longer green runs, where Sheppard could carve into the leads in lapped traffic.

With 58 to go, Fuller caught the provisional starters Adam Pierson and Felix Roy at the tail of the field and enjoyed a straightaway’s edge that equated to a 3.5-second lead. Darren Smith was next to go a lap down; but held the leader up enough to let Sheppard close within six car lengths in a snap. But a caution period muted that rally.

Caution laps counted through lap 45, but froze after 3 laps. So, the race resumed with 47 to go. Sheppard put all his attention on Fuller, ignoring a high-flying Peter Britten. Laps clicked down to the halfway point and, Fuller was leading by more than two seconds over Sheppard. But, lapped traffic loomed ahead, and Sheppard began chopping away at the lead. Fuller was forced wider than he had been running, and Sheppard took a swing on the extreme outside line. With 30 to go, Fuller was again working on lapping Smith, while Sheppard was clearing Pierson and Mathieu DesJardins. However, caution lights came on again with 29 to go and Alan Johnson took his No. 14j pit side.

The race resumed with 25 to go, and Fuller stayed out front. Britten again looked for something on the top, but quickly fell in line behind Sheppard. Sheppard dropped to the extreme inside in the third and fourth turns and continued to make gains running a lower line than Fuller. Before the true benefits of that change came to fruition, Darren Smith slowed with a broken front end in the second turn with 21 to go and drew a caution period.

On the restart, 20 laps remained. Fuller was leading Sheppard and Britten, then McCreadie and McLaughlin. Rudolph stormed to eighth on the restart, and Haers followed to 10th. McLaughlin moved to fourth with 17 to go, passing McCreadie. Fuller had about a third-straightaway lead with 15 to go; Alex Payne slipped past Haers for 10th.

With 10 to go, Fuller had an edge, but again slower traffic loomed. He caught Pierson with eight remaining. Fuller went high in traffic while Sheppard stayed low in the turns. With five to go, Fuller caught Tim Sears Jr. and Roy running side by side, and he cleared Sears Jr. with three to go.

Behind Fuller, Sheppard and Britten, Max McLaughlin charged to fourth from 17th. Phelps filled the top five. McCreadie, Jack Lehner, Erick Rudolph, Mat Williamson and Larry Wight rounded out the top 10.

The DIRTcar Sportsman West and Central Divisions hosted a combined event on the undercard, where Andrew Buff was the early class of the field.

With 21 to go, Kasey Coffey struck the frontstretch wall after making a tremendous initial save. The impact ripped the wheel off the No. 32c.

Buff started on the outside, daring Cameron Tuttle to try the inside line while local stars Matt Guererri and Kane Bristol worked in the top five, passing third-place Brian Dolbear. At halfway, racing became chaotic in the back half of the top 10 as Eisley, Tyler Corcoran and Emmett Waldron began making moves.

With 11 to go, Corcoran jumped to eight, passing Waldron and Nelson Mason. Waldron was battling with Mason for ninth and lost the handle,spinning in the third turn. Tim Lafler spun to avoid contact. On the restart, Guererri and Bristol lined up behind leader Buff and runner-up Tuttle. Buff fired from the outside again, and held the lead for the final 10 circuits en route to the win over Tuttle and Guererri. Gavin Eisley and Cody McPherson charged to fourth and fifth in the final 10 laps, swapping fourth and fifth before Eisley ultimately trumped McPherson.

The finish anchored Cody McPherson’s Western Region championship run; he won the previous three west region events.

The DIRTcar Sportsman events served as the fourth of the year for the Central Division, and second stop for the Western Series. The entry list was impressive with the mid-week date, with more than half of the top 11 drivers in each respective point chase attending the event. In total, the combined event attracted 40 Sportsman competitors.

Land of Legends Raceway will be back with a five-division show this Saturday, with Modifieds and Sportsman, 305 Sprints, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and New Legend Sportsman. It also marks the Wall of Fame induction for Joe Plazek. Adult admission is $15. Children aged 16 years and under are admitted free. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. with racing to follow at 7 p.m.

Land of Legends Raceway Quick Results — July 19, 2023

70th Anniversary Season Celebration

Honeoye Auto Parts & iFreeze Storage & Distribution Center present Wednesday Super Spectacular — Super DIRTcar Series Race #8 Pepsi Big-Block Modified “Stars & Stripes 70”

Feature (70 laps): 1. 19-Tim Fuller ($7,500), 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 21a-Peter Britten, 4. 8h-Max McLaughlin, 5. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 6. 28-Jordan McCreadie, 7. 2L-Jack Lehner, 8. 25-Erick Rudolph, 9. 88-Mat Williamson, 10. 99L-Larry Wight, 11. 3-Justin Haers , 12. 70a-Alex Payne, 13. 4-Anthony Perrego, 14. 39-Kyle Coffey, 15. 35-Mike Mahaney, 16. 5h-Chris Hile, 17. 27j-Danny Johnson, 18. 54-Steve Bernard, 19. 7z-Zach Payne, 20. 83x-Tim Sears Jr., 21. 91-Felix Roy, 22. 37m-Mathieu Desjardins, 23. 213-Adam Pierson, 24. 42p-Pat Ward, 25. 12-Darren Smith, 26. 14j-Alan Johnson.

Heats (8 laps / 5 qualify / top-2 redraw)

#1: Sheppard, Haers, A.Johnson, Perrego, McLaughlin, Mahaney, D.Johnson Jr., T.Root, K.Root, Martin, Reif(DNS).

#2: Britten, Phelps, Rudolph, Hile, Williamson, Wright, D.Johnson, Davis, Morey, Stone.

#3: Fuller, A.Payne, Lehner, Z.Payne, Bernard, Caprara, Roy, Slack, Sweeting, Sears, Swarthout.

#4: McCreadie, Coffey, Wight, Desjardins, Smith, Ward, Pierson, Dinkins, Podsiadlo, Lawrence(DNS).

HYTORC of NY Last Chance Showdowns (10 laps/ 2 qualify)

#1: Mahaney, D.Johnson, T.Root, D.Johnson Jr, K.Root, Wright, Martin, Morey, Stone, Davis, Reif(DNS).

#2: Ward, Sears, Roy, Caprara, Pierson, Slack, Dinkins, Podsiadlo, Lawrence, Swarthout, Sweeting(DNS).

Provisionals: Pierson, Roy.

Low E Insulation Group Time Trials (3 laps / 42 cars)

#1: Sheppard 18.456sec. (97.529 mph), Britten 18.637, Haers 18.653, Phelps 18.779, McLaughlin 18.792, Rudolph 18.800, A.Johnson 18.841, Hile 18.853, Perrego 18.857, Williamson 18.919, Mahaney 18.950, D.Johnson 18.993, D.Johnson Jr. 19.023, Wright 19.122, T.Root 19.146, Stone 19.174, K.Root 19.229, Davis 19.241, Martin 19.406, Morey 19.434, Reif(-NT-).

#2: Jack Lehner 18.676sec. (96.380 mph), Wight 18.726, Fuller 18.775, Smith 18.873, A.Payne 18.914, Desjardins 18.955, Z.Payne, 19.042, McCreadie 19.044, Slack 19.095, Coffey 19.131, Roy 19.154, Pierson 19.167, Bernard 19.169, Ward 19.240, Sears 19.293, Podsiadlo 19.632, Caprara 19.677, Dinkins 19.687, Sweeting 19.741, Lawrence 19.982, Swarthout 20.057.

DNQ: 1L-Jeff Lawrence, 3rs-Dalton Slack, 11j-James Sweeting, 14-C.G. Morey, 14s-Brian Swarthout, 15-Todd Root, 15x-Justin Stone, 17-Marcus Dinkins, 19w-Justin Wright, 21-Derrick Podsiadlo, 27jr-Daniel Johnson Jr., 29-Matt Caprara, 32r-Ronnie Davis III, 34-Kevin Root, 55-Dan Reif, 132-Dalton Martin.

Stirling Lubricants Sportsman Modified

DIRTcar Northeast Series Central Region Race #2/West Region Race #4

Feature (30 laps): 1. 92-Andrew Buff ($1,000), 2. 35t-Cameron Tuttle, 3. 12g-Matt Guererri, 4. 18e-Gavin Eisele, 5. 7m-Cody McPherson, 6. 64-Tyler Corcoran, 7. 31-Kane Bristol, 8. 38-Zach Sobotka, 9. 30-Nick Root, 10. 42-Daryl Nutting, 11. 6-Cody Manitta, 12. 26-Kyle Richner, 13. 108-Bill Bleich Jr., 14. 4-Emmett Waldron, 15. 9-Tim Baker, 16. 5-Kyle Devendorf, 17. 35-Nelson Mason, 18. fox28-Tyler Stevenson, 19. 18h-Justin Henderson, 20. 10g-Austin Germinio, 21. 111-Brett Senek, 22. 23n-Nathan Peattie, 23. 31b-Ryan Dolbear, 24. 51-Tim Lafler, 25. 51k-Kreg Crooker, 26. 12-Chad Chevalier, 27. 410-Mike Fowler, 28. 32c-Kasey Coffey, 29. 10-Karl Comfort, 30. 113jr.-Frank Guererri Jr.

Heats (8 laps / 5 qualify / top-2 redraw)

#1: Buff, Dolbear, Coffey, Eisele, Sobotka, Germinio, Root, Richner, Potter, Dusett.

#2: Mason, M.Guererri, Baker, Corcoran, Lafler, Rogala, Crooker, Doxtater, Stevenson, Talada.

#3: Bristol, Tuttle, Comfort, Senek, Devendorf, Waldron, LaFlair, Liechti, Guzzardi, Peattie.

#4: Nutting, Chevalier, McPherson, F.Guererri, Fowler, Manitta, Clayton, Henderson, Bleich, Grover.

Last Chance Showdowns (10 laps/ 3 qualify)

#1: Germinio, Root, Crooker, Rogala, Richner, Doxtater, Potter, Stevenson, Talada, Dusett.

#2: Manitta, Waldron, Henderson, Clayton, LaFlair, Bleich, Liechti, Grover, Peattie, Guzzardi.

Provisionals: Richner, Bleich, Stevenson, Peattie.

Group Time Trials (3 laps / 40 cars)

#1: Buff 19.443sec. (92.578), Dolbear 19.750, Eisele 19.810, Coffey 19.820, Sobotka 19.872, Germinio 19.922, Richner, 20.021, Potter 20.361, Dusett 20.982, Root(-NT-).

#2: M.Guererri 20.005sec. (89.978 mph), Mason 20.094, Rogala 20.128, Baker 20.149, Lafler 20.159, Doxtater 20.203, Corcoran 20.374, Talada 20.443, Stevenson 20.476, Crooker(-NT-).

#3: Bristol 19.840sec. (90.726 mph), Senek 19.967, , Devendorf 20.004, Tuttle 20.055, Comfort 20.057, Waldron 20.181, Liechti 20.449, LaFlair 20.458, Guzzardi 20.744, Peattie 20.821.

#4: Chevalier 20.102sec. (89.543 mph), Nutting 20.147, McPherson 20.150, Manitta 20.236, Fowler 20.371, F.Guererri 20.380, Clayton 20.439, Bleich 20.447, Grover 20.570, Henderson 20.598.

DNQ: 08-Rich Talada, r1-Riley Rogala, 2-Taylor Doxtater, 7t-Tyler Guzzardi, 16x-Savannah LaFlair, 21j-Justin Liechti, 28-Mark Potter, 34-Behr Grover, 57-Lance Dusett, 63-Teddy Clayton Jr.

NEXT EVENT: Saturday Spectacular, July 22 @ 6:30pm; Seneca Meadows and Auction Direct present Big-Block Modified/Sportsman/CRSA 305 Sprint Tour/Street Stock/Hobby Stock plus New Legends Sportsman with AutismUP Benefit and Legends Inductee Night #2: Joe Plazek.

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