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It's Qualifying Day for the DIRTcar big-block Modified Syracuse 200 and 'Salute to the Troops' 358-Modified Championship 150 at the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds. Time Trials for both divisions are scheduled for this afternoon, beginning with the 358-Modifieds at 1:20 p.m. and then the big-block Modifieds at 2:45 p.m.
The top six starting spots in the Syracuse 200 and 'Salute to the Troops' 358-Modified Championship 150 will be locked in after today's time trials. Results will also be used to align each division's heat races during tomorrow's S-T-R Trailer Repair 'Friday Night Lights' program.
Click the 'Read More' link below for live updates of the action on the 'Moody Mile' and other news and notes throughout the day, and check back tonight for updates from the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series 'Hurricane 100' at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway. Be sure to refresh your browser regularly to read the latest information.
Scrambling
11:55 a.m. - So much for Jimmy Blewett getting a lot of track time during practice.
The New Jersey driver and at least a half-dozen crewmen are currently working feverishly on Blewett's car, which was damaged in a hot-lap incident. The machine's left-arm torsion broke as he entered turn three, sending him into the inside berm and then the outside wall.
Blewett and Co. have already put in a new front axle and are toiling on several other parts of the car, including the rear end. The right-front portion of the new car's frame is also slightly bent, but it appears they should be able to have the mount ready for time trials this afternoon.
Looking for speed
11:45 a.m. - As the morning practice session nears its conclusion (on-track action will cease at 12 noon for the annual NAPA Super DIRT Week Media Day Press Conference in the infield media center), Matt Sheppard sits atop the big-block Modified speed chart with a lap of 30.761 seconds. Tim Fuller is second-fastest at 30.841 seconds, followed by Justin Haers (31.159), Stewart Friesen (31.272) and Tim McCreadie (31.406).
Stewart Friesen, meanwhile, has turned the fastest 358-Modified lap so far at 32.315 seconds, topping Ronnie Johnson (32.689) and Billy Decker (33.047).
Happy he didn’t need a doctor
11:30 a.m. - Danny Johnson is thanking his lucky stars that he’s able to walk around the New York State Fairgrounds this week, let alone compete in the NAPA Super DIRT Week activities.
On Tuesday night at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Johnson was involved in a grinding wreck late in the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified ‘Stars & Stripes 100.’ After breaking a wheel at high speed halfway down the homestretch, Johnson’s Mike Petruska-owned Atlas Paving No. 66 began to roll and was t-boned hard at virtually full speed by Keith Flach. Many witnesses said it was one of the loudest car-to-car impacts they had ever heard – and Johnson called it one of the hardest hits he’s ever experienced in over three decades behind the wheel.
“The headers were bent up over the air cleaner,” Johnson said of the damage done to his machine. “The car was pretty much demolished. They left a pile of it over there.”
After finishing second in last night’s DIRTcar 358-Modified Series 75 at Weedsport (N.Y.) Speedway, Johnson looked back on the crash again. Neither Johnson nor Flach suffered anything more severe than soreness from the accident.
“We’re fortunate I didn’t get hurt,” said Johnson, who is running another Atlas Paving mount in this week’s big-block action at the Mile. “That’s one thing I don’t wanna do is get hurt in a race car.”
That was quick
11:15 a.m. – It appears that New Jersey's Neal Williams has claimed the dubious honor of being the first victim of a blown engine at Syracuse during NAPA Super DIRT Week 2013.
Just minutes into today’s practice, the powerplant in Williams’s 358-Modified let loose. He said he had turned just five laps before the malfunction sent him limping to his pit stall.
“It’s a shame,” said Williams, who won the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship 30 during NAPA Super DIRT Week 2011 and finished 18th in his 358-Modified 150 debut last year. “We just got the motor back after having it refreshened after last year’s race. Something just let go.”
Williams, who drives a car fielded by New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway owner Fred Vahlsing, quickly arranged for a wrecker to visit his pit area so his team could make an engine change before this afternoon’s 358-Modified time trials. (That's his steaming engine below.) He said he will have to use the Saturday-night small-block motor he uses at New Egypt – a good piece, but one that’s not tuned for fuel mileage like the expired engine.
Getting acclimated
10:40 a.m. - One driver anxious to get as many laps in around the ‘Moody Mile’ as possible is Jimmy Blewett, a 32-year-old asphalt Modified specialist from Howell Twp., N.J., who is still in the process of adjusting to dirt-track racing.
This year marks Blewett’s third attempt at NAPA Super DIRT Week in the 358-Modified division. He failed to qualify in 2011 and finished 28th in last year’s 150-miler.
Considering Blewett broke through this season to win features on dirt for the first time – at both of his home-state tracks, Bridgeport Speedway and New Egypt Speedway – he’s bringing plenty of confidence to Syracuse. But he’s still very much in the middle of the learning process.
“It’s coming,” Blewett said of his dirt-tracking skills. “I just need to run on dirt more.”
Blewett is looking to make that happen in 2014. He said he has all of his family’s asphalt Modified equipment for sale so he can concentrate on dirt racing next season; he’ll only run on pavement next year if he finds a ride for selected events.
Here we go
10:25 a.m. - The first big-block Modified practice session of NAPA Super DIRT Week 2013 has begun. DIRTcar officials plan to hot-lap the big-blocks until 11 a.m. before sending 358-Modifieds onto the speedway.
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