Gypsum Racing.com

by Tom Skibinski | Jun 11, 2020 |

“Nice to be able to rebound from Saturday, think we definitely had the fastest car here then and had a tire go down and take us out of contention,” stated Wight, 27, following his second trip to victory lane at LOLR, his only other checkered flag taken in an Empire Super Sprint (ESS) A-Main in 2017. “Tonight we rebounded just like it was Saturday, track was phenomenal, a little bit of dust with the new surface but I’m sure Paul (Cole, promoter) will be able to figure out what he’s got to do with it.”

“The car was spot on what it was Saturday, pretty much that line up top was there again and we were able to stay pretty much straight up there. Once Peter (Britten) dipped down to the bottom of (turns) three & four I knew I had to gas it up and take advantage of it,” figured Wight, after collecting the $2,500 lion’s share.

Matching the total of 26 entries signed in for Saturday’s Spectacular, top traveling stars Matt Sheppard, Stewart Friesen, Jimmy Phelps, Billy Dunn, and Wight’s Gyspum teammate Billy Decker joined the fray Tuesday turning the event into a mini Super DIRTcar Series showdown. Return appearances by opening day race winner Pat Ward, Erick Rudolph, Tim Fuller, and Britten made it eight of the Top-15 point chasers from the 2019 SDS in competition.

Pole-sitter Britten rocketed out front at the drop of starter Scott Hixson’s initial green flag to kick off the 40-lap headliner. An early caution the second time around for Adam Roberts, who sat idle in turn one with a crunched front end, briefly slowed the action, once again bunching the pack for a lap two restart.

Mirroring his rim-riding style exhibited three nights earlier, fifth-starting Wight moved into third on lap three then overtook front row starter Friesen for second with six laps complete. Two circuits later ‘Lightning Larry’ grabbed the lead from Britten and the Phoenix, NY driver never looked back.

“On Saturday the tie-rod got bent a little when I got together with Peter and I checked up so not to t-bone him, that’s why I spun there,” recalled Wight, who was forced to re-start in the rear yet rallied back to third before a flat front tire on lap 27 sent him over the turn one embankment and eventually into the pits for a 21st-place finish. “Might have knocked the toe out a little bit.”

The potent LJL/Kevlar-powered red #99L FX Caprara Honda-Tracey Road Equipment Bicknell machine stayed perfect all night on Tuesday, although third Gypsum teammate Ward fell victim on this occasion. His own Bicknell ride made contact with Saturday’s runner-up Dillon Groover on the front stretch to force out a yellow flag as the no. 42P mount limped into the pits with a rear brake line severed.

Making another stellar run in his second straight Big-Block appearance at the Ontario County Fairgrounds, Tyler Trump ran sixth before contact in traffic with small-block entrant Ed Lawrence knocked him out with front-end damage and 25 laps in the books.

Starting 11th on the 26-car grid, Sheppard methodically worked his way to the front, on two occasions lifting his front end completely off the ground as he bounded low out of the second corner holding nothing back in tracking down the leaders. ‘Super Matt’ grabbed third from Britten on lap 21 yet needed 10 more circuits to slip under Friesen for the runner-up slot.

With the final 15 laps run caution-free, Wight rolled on to open a dozen car-length advantage under the checkers followed by Sheppard, Friesen, Alan Johnson, and Britten. Twelve of the 18 finishers completed all 40 laps.

“With all that moisture up top in 3 & 4 you could run in there just about on the deck,” remarked Wight, after running the extreme high side of the speedway the entire distance. “We were pretty much flat-footing it all the way around. So to shut it down and try it on the bottom, it just wasn’t gonna work. Especially restarting on the middle of the backstretch like it’s done here.”

“We (Gypsum team) plan to be back here next Saturday. As the races come out we’ll try to support the tracks that are opening up and giving us a chance to show our stuff,” added Wight, Super DIRT Week Modified 200 champion in 2018 after being recognized as DIRTcar Northeast’s Sportsman Rookie of the Year in 2007.

Pepsi Big-Block Modified
*Feature (40 laps): 1. 99L-Larry Wight($2,500), 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 44-Stewart Friesen, 4. 14j-Alan Johnson, 5. 21a-Peter Britten, 6. 91-Billy Decker, 7. 25-Erick Rudolph, 8. 19-Tim Fuller, 9. 19w-Justin Wright, 10. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 11. 7f-Matt Farnham, 12. 23-Kyle Coffey, 13. m1-Dave Marcuccilli, 14. 11j-James Sweeting, 15. 22g-Gil Tegg Jr., 16. 21x-Eric Williams, 17. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 18. 1L-Jeff Lawrence(SB), 19. 33j-Robbie Johnston III(SB), 20. 2020-Tyler Trump, 21. 12x-Dillon Groover, 22. 29m-Ed Lawrence(SB), 23. 42p-Pat Ward, 24. 49-Billy Dunn, 25. 63-Adam Roberts, 14ny-Daniel Johnson Jr.(DNS)