Decker Bags 358-Modified Pole

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Decker Bags Pole Position Start In Quest For Fifth Straight Win In Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150

 

By Kevin Kovac, DIRTcar Racing P.R.

 

SYRACUSE, NY – Oct. 5, 2012 – Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., will begin his quest for an unprecedented fifth consecutive victory in the Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 from the pole position after registering the fastest lap in Friday afternoon’s qualifying during NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week XLI at the New York State Fairgrounds.

 

The 47-year-old master of the Syracuse Mile clicked off a circuit of 31.702 seconds early in the 64-car session and it held up to the finish. He bested fellow DIRTcar circuit veteran Danny Johnson of Rochester, N.Y., by 0.187 of a second to earn Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 fast-time honors for the third year in a row.

 

“It’s the same car – same everything – from last year,” said Decker, who established a new consecutive-win record for the 358-Modified event when he drove the Gypsum Racing Bicknell/Kevlar combination to the checkered flag in 2011. “This is all a product of being prepared. It shows the depth of this team and the work and dedication that goes into preparing stuff.”

 

Ronnie Johnson of Duanesburg, N.Y., was third-fastest at 31.918 seconds, followed by three drivers hailing from Watertown, N.Y. – Tim McCreadie (32.026), Billy Dunn (32.057) and Tim Fuller (32.061). The six fastest qualifiers locked into starting positions in the first three rows of Saturday’s Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150.

 

Decker’s 358-Modified lap was over one second quicker than the 32.997-second tour he turned in his big-block Modified on Thursday to earn the pole position for Sunday’s VP Small Engine Fuels 200.

 

“The track was a little better than yesterday,” said Decker, who has won the 358-Modified headliner of NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week a record six times in 19 career starts. “There’s a little less water in the bottom of one, and turn three is not quite as rough. You’d probably have seen better speeds yesterday, but, typical of a clay racetrack, the speeds slow after a while – and yesterday there was considerably more practice on it (before big-block time trials) than there was today.”

 

Decker, who felt he left “maybe a smidgen” on the track in his qualifying effort, will enter Friday night’s Twin 20-lap heat races and Saturday’s 150-mile test with plenty of confidence. He said he’s not thinking about his streak of 358-Modified victories at Syracuse, however.

 

“It’s a new one tomorrow,” said Decker. “That’s what we’re looking at.”

 

Danny Johnson, who has two Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 wins in 22 career starts, also likes his chances for success behind the wheel of Mike Payne’s Morrison-powered Bicknell car. The 52-year-old star knows his machine still had some speed in reserve.

 

“It was a pretty good lap but it could’ve been better,” said Johnson. “It’s like I tell the guys – when you drive it into turn one and don’t lift, that’s a hairy situation. You have to have confidence to do that, and I wasn’t confident enough in my car to do that yet. This car is great, but I only made about three laps (of practice) in it because we were spending all of our time working on brake problems and other stuff with the big-block.”

 

The remainder of the Gander Mountain 358-Modified Championship 150 starting field will be determined by the finishes of Friday night’s Twin 20-lap heat races.

 

For the latest news and updates about NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week and DIRTcar Racing, visit www.SuperDirtWeekOnline.com, “like” the Super DIRT Week and DIRTcar Racing Facebook pages or follow the Twitter feeds @SuperDIRTWeek and @DIRTcarNE.

 

 

Pos No. Name Time Diff
1 91 Billy Decker 31.702
2 27J Danny Johnson 31.889 0.187
3 76a Ronnie Johnson 31.918 0.216
4 4* Tim McCreadie 32.026 0.324
5 49d Billy Dunn 32.057 0.355
6 74 Tim Fuller 32.061 0.359
7 76 Jimmy Blewett 32.194 0.492
8 34b Andy Bachetti 32.306 0.604
9 323 Neal Williams 32.378 0.676
10 6 Mat Williamson 32.463 0.761
11 26 Ryan Godown 32.469 0.767
12 3J Marc Johnson 32.523 0.821
13 20H Brett Hearn 32.547 0.845
14 45 Wayne Jelley 32.548 0.846
15 8 Rich Scagliotta 32.590 0.888
16 1H David Hebert 32.620 0.918
17 14 Jimmy Horton 32.640 0.938
18 99L Larry Wight 32.642 0.94
19 94 Tim Hindley 32.709 1.007
20 83xx Tim Sears Jr. 32.725 1.023
21 77X Dale Planck 32.728 1.026
22 151K Brian MacDonald 32.801 1.099
23 13 Tony Steiner 32.818 1.116
24 9s Matt Sheppard 32.824 1.122
25 0 Bobby Varin 32.878 1.176
26 42P Pat Ward 32.900 1.198
27 44 Stewart Friesen 32.902 1.2
28 1x Willy Decker 32.938 1.236
29 32c Vic Coffey 32.984 1.282
30 74b Matt Billings 33.041 1.339
31 2 Roy Bresnahan 33.089 1.387
32 22J Jeremy Wilder 33.112 1.41
33 1R Rob Bellinger 33.162 1.46
34 3a Kevin Albert 33.208 1.506
35 115 Kenny Tremont Jr. 33.213 1.511
36 57 Donnie Corellis 33.219 1.517
37 72 Tommy Flannigan 33.224 1.522
38 8c Jimmy Cottrell II 33.252 1.55
39 22c Mario Clair 33.303 1.601
40 34 Steve Hough 33.462 1.76
41 48T Dave Rauscher 33.484 1.782
42 66x Carey Terrance 33.518 1.816
43 4k Jasmin Leveillee 33.571 1.869
44 816 Jeff Rockefeller 33.618 1.916
45 1ny Greg Atkins 33.645 1.943
46 10c Tim Currier 33.645 1.943
47 39T Clement Therrien 33.664 1.962
48 1hx Jason Herrington 33.726 2.024
49 24s Brandon Sweet 33.730 2.028
50 3B Scott Boudinot 33.827 2.125
51 1 Darwin Greene 33.845 2.143
52 188 David Papineau 33.887 2.185
53 42 Brian Murphy 33.899 2.197
54 10 Patrick McGrail 33.913 2.211
55 14s Brian Swarthout 34.126 2.424
56 3m Henry Maier 34.305 2.603
57 42B Kevin Bates 34.778 3.076
58 16 Aaron Jacobs 34.796 3.094
59 7g Kevin Gamble 34.797 3.095
60 14m C.G. Morey 35.022 3.32
61 99 Mikael Lebreche 36.487 4.785
62 27 Rich Laubach -.—
63 220 John Ferrier -.—
64 24 Patrick Dupree -.—

 

The Super DIRTcar Series and Super DIRT Week are brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Chevy Performance Parts, Gander Mountain, NAPA Auto Parts, and Safety-Kleen. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio and Roush Yates Performance Products. Contingency sponsors are ASI, Beyea Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Draco Springs, Intercomp, JE Pistons, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Ignition, Penske Shocks, Pro Fabrication, Racing Electronics, Superflow, Vicci Racing Apparel, Wilwood Engineering, WIX Filters, Wrisco Industries, and Xtreme Lubricants.

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