Sears Breaks Through At Home For First Super DIRTcar Win

CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. – In third grade, Tim Sears Jr. said he dreamed of winning a Super DIRTcar Series feature. After years of trying, that dream became a reality Monday night at Brewerton Speedway.

The Hastings, N.Y., driver charged from eighth to take the lead on lap 49 and never looked back to score his first triumph on tour during SummerFAST, just minutes away from his hometown.

“Wow, this is awesome,” Sears said. “In front of the home crowd, too? How much better can you get?

“I knew the track was going to slow down a lot, and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t use my tire up on the cushion,” he added. “The cushion was very tempting at the beginning, and I just wanted to save my stuff up there for the end.”

Peter Britten, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, picked up where he left off on Sunday by taking the early lead. The Brisbane, Queensland, Australia driver quickly pulled away from Chris Hile, gaining separation from the field throughout the first 10 laps.

Behind him, drivers were moving forward, including Jimmy Phelps, who passed Alex Yankowski for third on lap 8 and then Hile for second on lap 16. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., driver continued gaining momentum on the bottom of the track, inching toward Britten and a chance to take the lead.

After the race’s first caution for Larry Wight on lap 18, Britten continued his lead on the outside. But this time, Phelps stayed with the No. 21A as they raced off turn two.

As those two drivers started their battle for the lead, Sears began moving forward, jumping up three spots on the restart to take over fourth on lap 23.

Back at the front, Phelps finally got the momentum he needed to pull even with Britten as they completed lap 32. That was the first lap Phelps led, as the two drivers traded the lead over the next five laps while in slower traffic.

Phelps tried to pull away from Britten on multiple occasions, but Britten used the lap car of Erick Rudolph as a pick to drive back in front of the No. 98H.

Phelps was forced to go to the outside to get around Rudolph, opening the door on the inside line for Sears, who stormed past Phelps as they raced down the backstretch on lap 44.

Once Sears got to second, Britten started protecting the top, trying to keep the No. 83X behind him. However, it allowed Yankowski, who passed Phelps for third, to drive through the middle of the track in turns three and four and make it three-wide as they completed lap 45.

But just as Sears tried to pass Britten again in turn one, Ryan Behrent slowed in front of Britten, bringing out the race’s final caution.

When the race resumed, Britten stayed on the bottom through turns one and two, allowing Sears to roll the top. That was all Sears needed to drive by Britten in turns three and four and take the lead on lap 49.

From there, Sears stayed out front and held off a late charge from Mat Williamson to earn the $7,500 victory, becoming the 196th winner in Super DIRTcar Series history.

Sears said he took a lesson from last Friday’s feature at Brewerton that helped him reach victory lane on Monday.

“We finished third, but we got beat by Chad (Phelps) when he rolled us right on the bottom and the track slowed down at the end,” Sears said. “I was one of the guys on the top trying to knock the wall down, and I learned my lesson there. We just made the car too tight.

“We came back with a little different game plan tonight. Didn’t tighten it up or over-adjust it for the racetrack and let it come to you.”

Williamson crossed the line second, earning his third straight Super DIRTcar Series podium and second consecutive runner-up finish. The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver extended his championship lead to 88 points over Alex Yankowski, who finished sixth.

Williamson said he had a lot of fun racing on Brewerton’s surface, and that the best driver won the feature.

“That was a really good race to be a part of,” Williamson said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked to have been one better tonight. But the best driver and car won tonight, he deserves all the credit for sure.

“I made some mistakes, probably with 15 to go. I probably should’ve just stuck to the bottom. But I knew I wasn’t going to pass him on the bottom. So, I tried to build some momentum on the top, tried to get the middle going. I just did a lot of things where I probably should’ve been more patient.”

Phelps crossed the line third, earning his best Super DIRTcar Series finish of the season. Amy Holland was fourth, earning her best-ever Super DIRTcar Series finish after starting 27th with a track provisional.

Anthony Perrego rounded out the top five.

After two nights of SummerFAST, Williamson leads the event standings by eight points over Britten.

The finish:

1. 83X-Tim Sears Jr. [8]; 2. 88-Mat Williamson [12]; 3. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [4]; 4. 5-Amy Holland [27]; 5. 4-Anthony Perrego [11]; 6. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [3]; 7. 70A-Alex Payne [7]; 8. 2-Jack Lehner [5]; 9. 21A-Peter Britten [1]; 10. 35-Mike Mahaney [9]; 11. 5H-Chris Hile [2]; 12. 91-Felix Roy [17]; 13. 44-Chris Hulsizer [6]; 14. 4M-Logan Watt [23]; 15. 27J-Danny Johnson [22]; 16. 19-Tim Fuller [15]; 17. 12-Darren Smith [24]; 18. JS98-Rocky Warner [16]; 19. 25-Erick Rudolph [25]; 20. 9S-Matt Sheppard [20]; 21. 30-Nicholas Root [10]; 22. 9X-Tyler Trump [18]; 23. 3B-Ryan Behrent [13]; 24. 6-Matt Stangle [26]; 25. 99L-Larry Wight [21]; 26. 15-Todd Root [28]; 27. 32R-Ronnie Davis III [14]; 28. 5D-Kyle Devendorf (DNS).