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Fast Talk: Discussing Phillips and the Topless
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Here’s the latest edition of Fast Talk, a DirtonDirt.com feature appearing each Monday and sponsored by Out-Pace Racing Products. Staffers Michael Rigsby, Todd Turner and Joshua Joiner gather weekly for a roundtable discussion about who’s hot, who’s not and other issues regarding Dirt Late Model racing. Regular contributor Ben Shelton subs for Michael this week (edited for clarity and length):
Todd Turner: Let’s dive into Sunday’s Comp Cams Topless 100 victory by Terry Phillips at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway. The Springfield, Mo., driver, son of Hall of Famer Larry Phillips, earned $40,000 for his richest victory and a rare crown jewel triumph for a non-national touring driver (or driver not named Moyer, Mars or Birkhofer). You all both picked Phillips, right?
Ben Shelton: Ha ha ... no I won't lie. Terry was not on my short list, and let's be honest it wasn't on anyone else's list either (outside of the Phillips camp), which makes the win even better. Honestly he quietly worked his way to the front, and by lap 60 he's in the top five and then 20 or so laps later he is in the lead and gone. Terry has had a more than frustrating year, and he is very deserving of this win because he has worked his tail off this year to get back to good again.
Joshua Joiner: I wish I could claim picking Phillips, but to be honest, he wasn't even on my radar going into the weekend. I guess really he's always a threat at Batesville, but he hasn't performed well enough this season to strike you as a possible contender. But he was solid all weekend, then his car came on strong when it mattered most.
TT: How did you all see the contact with Jimmy Owens as Phillips took the lead on lap 79? At the beginning of your interview with Owens, Ben, it seemed like the runner-up was going to take exception to the move, but he later gave credit to Phillips for the victory. How did you all see it?
BS: It looked like to me that Terry throttled up to run the bottom and maybe hit a little slime and shot up the track, which sent him over Owens nose. I honestly thought the damage might hamper both drivers, but luckily for them it didn't. It was definitely a hard racing move, and when there's $40,000 on the line, I can't blame anybody for making it.
JJ: I can understand if Owens wasn't happy with it, but on a daytime racing surface, going for a $40,000 payday ... I'm fine with it. Phillips was well alongside Owens going into the corner, so it's not like he banzaied off in the corner. I think he just slid a little higher than he meant to and got into Owens a little bit. Just a racing deal, in my opinion.
It's one of those deals, where the driver on the wrong end isn't happy about it, but probably would've done the same thing if he were in the other driver's position.
TT: I tend to look at Phillips, a six-time MARS DIRTcar Series champion, as perhaps the greatest regional racer of his generation. From 1995-2005, if I went to a event in Missouri, Oklahoma or Kansas, he seemed to be in victory lane more often than not. Phillips has 105 career MLRA victories, 81 MARS victories and dozens of other regional wins along with his 1999 Show-Me 100 victory and extensive Arizona success. With the addition of his Topless 100 victory, where do you all rank the 47-year-old Phillips among the sport’s best drivers?
BS: I think he definitely has to be discussed in the realm of some of the sport's best of all time. The thing that hampers Terry in the discussion is that for the longest his area didn't get many big-time events outside of the Show-Me 100. He's made trips to Eldora and a few other crown jewels, but he races for a living and has to race closer to home, where it makes sense. Right now it's hard to say where Terry would fall in the top 50 of our sports' all time best, but I definitely think he has more than earned a spot there.
TT: I have trouble making that call because he competes nationally so rarely. It'd be nice to have seen him, in his primest of primes, run a national tour, and see how many races he'd have won and where he'd rank among those guys. I think it'd be favorable.
There's not many guys who expect to win as much Phillips expects himself to win, that's for sure.
JJ: Phillips' career accomplishments makes for a perfect example of a great resume for a regional racer to mid-level national contender. He probably has the best resume of any regional racer. While he's been up-and-down in recent seasons, he has been without a doubt the best driver in his home region over the past decade or more. And his two crown jewel victories just make his status that much higher.
TT: World of Outlaws Late Model Series competitors had their hands full with the home-state drivers with their weekend in Michigan. It wasn’t a big surprise that Jeep Van Wormer, the state’s most broadly-traveled star, won at Winston Speedway, but a couple of Michigan standouts nearly made it two in a row the next night at Merritt Speedway. Tim Fuller had to fight off multitime track champion Eric Spangler and Rich Neiser, a six-time winner at Merritt this season, for his first WoO victory since 2010. Michigan drivers are sometimes dismissed as a notch below others in the Midwest, but they stepped up this time, didn’t they?
BS: I was really shocked at how well the Michigan drivers performed this weekend. Some of the home-state drivers have obviously enjoyed success this year, but their track record against the travelers, whether it be WoO or Lucas Oil, is not that great. They definitely served notice this weekend that the days of the Michigan locals being steppingstones has come to an abrupt end.� It's always exciting to see drivers and teams stepping up their game. One of the many great things about our sport right now!
TT: Just to toss another Michigan nugget out there, Dona Marcoullier wrapped up the Oakshade Raceway title this weekend ... one of Ohio's best weekly tracks.
JJ: The weekend was definitely a great showing for the home-staters in Michigan. You definitely don't think of Michigan as a hotbed for Dirt Late Model talent, so for those guys to defend their home turf so well, it's really a nice boost of confidence for the state of Late Model racing up there.
TT: Last week we discussed Tony Jackson Jr.’s big season. Let’s move to another of the top breakout drivers of the season with Justin Kay of Wheatland, Iowa. Those lucky enough to see him in Arizona the past few Januarys could see something special in Kay, but it’s no secret now as he’s mowing down the competition.
He entered the season with three career feature victories, and after his double-feature wins last night in Dubuque, he’s got 19 victories this season, including three on the Deery Brothers Summer Series and one with the Corn Belt Clash circuit. He’s really been something else the last few months, hasn’t he?
BS: He served notice in January that he means business this year, when he almost scored the win at Central Arizona Raceway's opener, and then flirted with wins for the next two weeks in the desert. What makes his win total in his area even more impressive is the fact that he's racing against some really solid fields night in and night out whether it's Deery Brothers or Corn Belt Clash action or anywhere else he unloads. Again it's always good to see a breath of fresh air in our sport, and he is no doubt a leading contender for top breakout driver of 2013.
JJ: After the success Tony Jackson Jr. has had this summer, I thought for sure he's a lock for the top breakout driver this season. But Kay is definitely in the running for that honor with just an outstanding season so far. As impressive as his victories are, I would like to see Kay run some more national events, just to see if he can keep the success going against some of the sport drivers. It'll be interesting to see if maybe he ventures out a bit late this season and to see how he performs if he does.
TT: We’ve got a mix of $10,000-to-win races coming up, including the national tours with Thursday-Saturday doubleheaders (the Ultimate Late Model Series has a $10,000-to-win makeup race on Friday at Virginia Motor Speedway). The World of Outlaws tackle Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway and Winchester (Va.) Speedway while the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series bounces between regions with Volunteer Speedway’s Scorcher in Bulls Gap, Tenn., followed by the annual stop at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. Any thoughts on these or other upcoming events?
BS: My thoughts are that this weekend's events represent the launching pad for one of the busiest stretches of big-time racing in the east that we have seen in the past few years in our sport. These races will ignite the fire that will burn through Labor Day weekend into the World 100 the following weekend, and then the endless onslaught of season ending specials that won't conclude until early November. Teams better be ready because this stretch will try even the most seasoned teams and drivers as well as obviously their equipment.
TT: Regarding the Little Valley Speedway race, I know Ron Davies was pointing to that one to challenge the World of Outlaws. That's one of his best tracks. His brutal wreck at Lernerville on Friday — that was some frightening stuff — will likely sideline him from Thursday's race, unfortunately.
JJ: It's getting to do-or-die point for the points chasers on both national tours. If anyone is going to unseat Jimmy Owens on the Lucas Oil tour or overtake Josh Richards on WoO, they have to get rolling now. Look for guys like Steve Francis and John Blankenship in the Lucas Oil events and Darrell Lanigan and Shane Clanton at the WoO races to give it their all trying to put together a solid weekend and remain in the title hunt on their respective tours.
