Hagerstown Speedway
Fuller eyes Hagerstown hungry for horsepower
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Tim Fuller has struggled qualifying. (thesportswire.net)
Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway was very good to Tim Fuller in 2009. He's hoping the half-mile oval treats him just as well when he returns on Saturday.
"Maybe a race at Hagerstown will be just what we need to get going," said Fuller, eyeing the May 15 World of Outlaws Late Model Series visit to the half-mile oval for the 29th annual Conococheague 50. "Things have to start getting better for us, so why not at a track where we had some success last year?"
It's been a frustrating 2010 season so far for Fuller, who, despite entering this weekend's action in a relatively lofty tie for fourth in the WoO standings, hasn't had much to get excited about. Coming off a breakthrough '09 campaign that saw him win a career-high seven WoO events — including the tour's August stop at Hagerstown — he's yet to lead even a single lap in the 12 events run this year.
Fuller, 42, of Watertown, N.Y., isn't scratching his head and searching for answers, though, as he heads back to Hagerstown, where he also won the Stanley Schetrompf Classic last year on an off-Outlaw weekend in late April. He has a pretty good read on the source of his struggles.
"We just can't qualify worth a damn," said Fuller, the 2007 WoO Rookie of the Year after starring for more than a decade in the big-block modified ranks. "We've been putting ourselves in a hole almost every night. You're in big trouble with this group of drivers when you're always starting back in the pack like we are this year."
He's qualified 25th or worse seven times and inside the top 10 on a mere four occasions. Not surprisingly, he's started just three feature races from the eighth spot or better (including two front-row starts) and has already been forced to use four provisionals to gain entry to feature events.
Yes, Fuller leads the hard charger standings with 79 positions gained in features this season, but that stat reflects just how deep he's been starting. He might be moving forward with regularity, but certainly not far enough to contend for victories like he did during his amazing late-summer run in 2009, a sizzling stretch that included his matching of a WoO consecutive-win record when he scored his fourth straight triumph at Hagerstown.
Fuller has been a notoriously slow starter during his previous three seasons on the WoO LMS, but he doesn't feel that's an issue this year. He says he's never been more confident with his early-season setup and tire-choice decisions. His problem largely stems from a lack of power under the hood of his Gypsum Express Rocket cars. With his team owner, John Wight, starting an ambitious in-house engine program this year, finding the correct combination for Dirt Late Model success has proven to be a work in progress.
"Our cars are great – we have nothing to complain about there," said Fuller, whose top finish this season is a fourth on March 26 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas. "But our motor program has to move up about 80 percent from where it is. We've been suffering a little in time trials because we just don't have the horsepower we need.
"Right now, I need tracks to be dry, black-slick, and then we're OK. But during time trials, when the tracks are usually wet and heavy, that comes down to sheer horsepower. We're lacking in that department, so we get behind in qualifying and then we have to abuse our car trying to get to the front.
"The guys in the shop (led by the team's chief engine builder Kevin Lamphere) are working hard to get us on the right track," Fuller added. "But they've built big-block motors for years, so they're learning these Late Model motors. They're going against guys who have been building Late Model motors for 25, 30 years, so it's not going to be easy."
Fuller is hopeful that a brand-new powerplant currently being assembled by the Gypsum Express Racing engine department will provide him the additional horses he's looking for. It's due to be completed in time for Memorial Day weekend events at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway (May 28) and West Virginia Motor Speedway (May 29-30), two big tracks where Fuller will need plenty of power.
"Hopefully the motor builder will have things taken care of here in a couple weeks and we can get back to our normal way," said Fuller, who won his seven WoO races last year in an amazing 11-race span. "Fortunately, we've been lucky to get some top 10s (seven to date) and stay in the points battle while we've been struggling.
"That's the one good thing – you don't want to get such a big deficit early that you can't make it up when you do start running better. There's still a long way to go this season, and once we get our motors to where we need them, I think we'll be fine."
