TWS Dirt Track Championships boast big Friday nite numbers

February 28, 2009

In what is rapidly becoming the biggest dirt track racing event in the region, Texas Motor Speedway’s Dirt Track is hosting another successful version the annual Texas World Dirt Track Championship presented by O’Reilly’s Auto Parts on their four tenth-mile, semi-banked track just north of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Over 300 drivers from fourteen states and one Canadian province rolled through the pit gate, quickly filled the designated pit area and spilled over into the adjacent camping area.

The 212 Modified entries include not only regional and local Track Champions and Rookies of the Year, but also National Champions as well - a virtual “who’s who” in the dirt modified racing community. The heat races looked more like feature races typically seen at “Anytrack, USA,” on a Saturday night.

Limited Modifieds had 123 drivers signed in, headed by two National champions, one of whom came up a little short in the Friday night qualifying races and failed to qualify for the upcoming feature race.

Many of the top SUPR Late Model series drivers were on hand for “hot lap” sessions throughout the night, readying themselves for the $3,500-to-win SUPR season opener on Saturday.

Phillips flies to Modified A-Qualifier win

Springfield, Missouri’s Terry Phillips may be better known for his prowess driving a dirt Late Model, but Friday night he proved he can handle a Modified as well. Phillips, who started in the second row of Friday night’s A-qualifier, battled by Tommy Meyer for second, then grabbed the lead from Canadian Steve Arpin halfway through the 15-lap event. From there Phillips ran away to notch the win.

Terry Phillips

,br clear=”left”>Meyer and Arpin paced the 21-car starting field to green in a fight for the top eight spots to be locked in for Saturday nights championship race. Arpin jumped out coming down the front stretch beating Meyer in to turn 1 for the lead. In the pack small wars were erupting with some expected paint-trading and rubbing.

Timothy Culp and Vance Wilson made contact several times before Wilson ended up facing the wrong direction in turn 4 at the end of the first lap to bring out the yellow. Wilson was done for night, while Culp continued with a slightly adjusted door panel. On the restart the field broke away clean, with William Gould quickly moving from the last row into the top ten.

Gould had just gotten past John Allen for the transfer spot, when Rodney Sanders spun to bring out the caution on lap three. Once back to green the top three eased away from the rest of the field. On lap five Phillips started challenging Arpin for the lead. Phillips took a look outside, with Meyer filling the hole low looking for second.

Phillips continued to chase Arpin on the high side and got the edge coming out of turn 2 beating Arpin back to the line to lead on lap seven. Meyer then began to put the heat on Arpin for second, with Gould finally securing the final transfer spot. Phillips was able to pull away while Meyer took second from Arpin. As the white flag was shown, Phillips had built nearly a full straightaway lead, easily cruising to the win.

Modified A-qualifier(Top 8 locked in to Saturday’s A-main)
1. 75x Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. 65 Tommy Meyer, Blooming Prairie, Minn
3. 00 Steve Arpin, Estavan, Canada
4. 21c Chris Brown, Cleveland
5. 8C Timothy Culp, West Monroe, La.
6. 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan.
7. 11 Jason Armstrong, Marshall
8. 60 William Gould, Calera, Okla.
9. 30 Chase Allen, Midlothian
10. 5M Morgan Bagley, Longview
11. 00EH Jeff Taylor, Joneboro, Ark.
12. 99T Eric Turner, Hermitage, Mo.
13. 9H Shane Hebert, Lafayete, La.
14. 7J Ron Jones, Princeton, Minn.
15. 120 Rodney Sanders, Happy
16. xxx Rick Hurnsberger, Hot Springs, Ark.
17. 88x Clyde Dunn jr.
18. 11H Jim Hernandez, Topeka, Kan.
19. 21C Wade Cross, Phillips, Nebr.
20. 87 Justin McCoy, Ovilla
21. 1V Vance, Wilson, Frankfort, Mo.
2J Grant Junghans, Manhatten, Kan.—DNS
12HXMike Hansen, Alton, Iowa—DNS
1x Chris Ableson, Souix City, Iowa—DNS

Hebert hot as Cajun cooking for Limited Modified victory

Lafayette, Louisiana’s Shane Hebert showed the Limited Modified field nothing but his rear bumper in the 15-lap A-qualifier. Hebert started on the pole, got a big jump on Matt Meuller when green waved, and proceeded to lead every lap. Hebert got a late challenge from fellow Cajun, Jamie Burford but was up to the task for the win.

As Hebert grabbed the early lead, Travis Evans snagged second, with Meuller and Chris Hennigan falling into line. As the top six sorted out single file, from seventh on back it was still side-by-side through the pack. Hennigan and Burford both got by Meuller on lap one for third and fourth. The lead quartet then pulled away from Andy Claiborne, who had also gotten past Meuller.

By lap five, Hebert had put some distance on Evans, who had opened a gap back to Hennigan and Burford. Burford picked off third from Hennigan on lap six, while former IMCA Sportmod champ, Jeff Turner and Ted Thomas got past Claiborrne and Meuller in the fight for the last transfer position. With five laps to go the battle in the pack was still wheel to wheel.

As Hebert was on cruise control, Burford ran down Evans for second catching him on lap 11. After a brief battle, Burford got by Evens on lap 12 and went in search of the leader. Burford was only able to get close as the white flag waved, but never close enough to mount a serious challenge as Hebert took the checkers with a slight margin.

Limited Modified A-qualifier(Top 8 locked in for Sat. A-main)
1. 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La
2. 19 Jamie Burford, Keatchie, La.
3. 4 Travis Evans, Bullard
4. 01H Chris Hennigan, Marshall
5. 44 Jeff Turner, Kaufman
6. 74 Ted Thomas, Post
7. 148 Andy Claiborn, Conroe
8. 38 Matt Meuller, Stamford
9. 28 Wendall Bolden, Greenville
10. 40p Jeff Wood, Conroe
11. 124 Dennie Gieber, Frankston
12. 118 Tim Clonch, Quinlan
13. 199 Matt Winnett, Colbert, Okla
14. 71m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak
15. 69R Kenny Grigsby, Marshall
16. 30 Joe Corvillion, Sharon, La.
17. 5D Kevin Green, Waco
18. OK Ron McCartney,
19. 051 Michael Robertson,
20. Boo Randy Thomas, Elk City, Oka.
21. 15 Joe Collier, Clyde
22. 41 Jacob Pirkle, Midlothian
23. 1x Brent York, Bullard
24. 5t Randy Timms, Oklahoma City, Okla.