Brewerton Speedway
Brewerton's 13-year wait for Late Models is over
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model SeriesNearly 13 years after a wild Super Late Model practice session got Brewerton Speedway’s fans fired up for full-fender racing, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will finally give the track’s faithful what they’ve been waiting to see on Sept. 2.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., the 2007 WoO LMS champion, was one of four drivers who hot-lapped dirt Late Models at the high-banked, third-mile oval during Super DIRT Week in October 1996 in preparation for a scheduled STARS Renegade DirtCar Series event. The race was rained out the next night and the tour never returned to central New York, but memories of Francis and Co. twisting their machines around the track in electric fashion still live on.
And now, with everyone knowing that Wednesday night’s field will be stacked with not only WoO superstars but a host of drivers who have made their name running central New York’s big-block modified circuit, anticipation couldn’t be higher for the inaugural D-Shaped Dirt Demon 50.
A capacity crowd is expected to converge on Brewerton, a stalwart DIRTcar big-block modified track that was purchased earlier this year by trucking company magnate and multi-race team owner John Wight. Wight, whose racing operation includes the Gypsum Express dirt Late Models driven by red-hot WoO regular Tim Fuller, has even installed a new section of bleachers to accommodate the influx of fans.
Fuller (26 career DIRTcar big-block modified wins at Brewerton) will arrive at his former home track as the hottest WoO driver. Sitting fourth in the series points standings entering the holiday-week swing, he recently tied the tour’s consecutive-win record of four and won for the fifth time overall in the last series event, on Aug. 29 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga.
The DIRTcar big-block modified contingent in Wednesday’s event will also include 2006 WoO champion Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. (11 career wins at Brewerton), 2008 WoO Rookie of the Year Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., defending track champion Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y. (44 career wins) and 16-year-old Larry Wight of Baldwinsville, N.Y. (son of track owner John Wight and a Friday-night regular).
In addition, current Brewerton DIRTcar big-block modified points leader Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, N.Y., is hoping to make his Dirt Late Model debut on Wednesday night. The 26-year-old standout’s team owner, Jeff Brownell Sr., recently purchased a Rocket car formerly driven by Fuller, but an unexpected problem with the C.C. Performance engine Brownell obtained from the Sweeteners Plus operation has Sheppard uncertain if he’ll be ready to challenge the Outlaws.
“We got the motor in the car and fired it up for the first time on Friday, but the intake started leaking,” said Sheppard, who leads the DIRTcar big-block Modified division with 16 feature wins this season. “We sent the intake back to C.C. on Saturday. Hopefully we’ll get it back in time to make it to Brewerton so we can get some laps.
“We’re gonna take it slow,” he added when asked about his Dirt Late Model future. “We haven’t talked about any big plans.”
