The SuperClean Modified Racing Series returns to action this Saturday night, September 20th, at the Havasu 95 Speedway, in beautiful Lake Havasu City-Arizona, where a field of 22 starters will thrill their ever growing legion of fans with a 75 lap feature on the most scenic quarter mile paved oval in the southwest. Saturday night's race is the first of the final four events for the 2008 racing season. The series will return to the Havasu 95 Speedway on October 4th and then finish out the season with two appearances at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe-California on October 18th and November 8th.
The SuperClean Modified Racing Series is highly competitive and has attracted the attention of many drivers and team owners. In fact the series has received entries from 55 different teams during the first six events of the ten race series. Part of that attraction is without question some of the numbers associated with the regional touring series. The winner of a 75 lap A main receives $1,000 with $600 going to the second place driver while third place pays $500. Any driver who starts the A main is guaranteed at least $250. There are also sponsored $100 contingency awards for the Budweiser Fast Time, Sencon Concrete Hard Charger, and the Poly Dome Plastic Products Trophy Dash as well as contingency money for the Clean Pass Award and the winner of B main. The SuperClean Modified Racing Series boasts a combined $105,000 in purse and points money.
The grand prize at the end of the current season is a check for $2,500, plus $1,000 worth of Lucas Oil Products, for the series' points champion. That's why these final four races are expected to be so intense. Andrew Phipps, based on his two series' wins this year, goes into Saturday night leading the standings with 286 points. However, that's only a 26 point lead over season rival Jimmie Dickerson who has three series wins this year. The math indicates that Tim Morse is also involved in this championship picture. While Morse is still seeking his first win of the season, he has put together an impressive string of three consecutive top five finishes and that has placed him third in the standings and 62 points away from the leader.
Andrew Phipps is no stranger to the pressure of dealing with championship runs. But the Simi Valley-California driver has made it crystal clear that he has no intention of showing his conservative side and has no interest in the concept of points racing during these final four events. "I'm here to win races," he said adding "if I win a championship then I'll be happy about it. In all honesty the way I see it is Jimmie Dickerson has pretty much ruled the first half of this year and then he had a really unfortunate deal that happened to him during our last race, (August 16th at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino-California), and it cost him a lot of points. I don't want to be the guy that wins a championship and then have everyone say yeah but Jimmie won a lot of races. I'd much rather win the last four races of the year and not worry about the points. I just want to win races and earn the respect of all of these guys. JImmie and I haven't really haven't had a chance to have some good battles on the track. He usually just checked out on the races that he won and I just couldn't get to him. We've got four more races left and I really want to race wheel to wheel with him. He's a great driver and he's a lot of fun to race with."
Jimmie Dickerson has made it clear that he plans to win all of the final four races to take the champion's trophy home. "That's the only way we're going to win this thing right now," he said adding "unless Andrew has a bad night like we did, (on August 16th), he's a tough guy to beat."
SuperClean Modified Series co-promoter Greg Scheidecker is equally excited about the potential of the final four races and said "right now as close as the championship is, and is good as our mid pack cars are running, if a driver has a bad night you could actually lose 40 points in any given race. The problem with that is the points spread in not that far apart. The party's not over until it's over. Right now one bad night, either for Andrew or Jimmie, will take them out of this championship chase." Scheidecker also noted that no one should be overlooking the presence of Tim Morse in this championship picture and added " Tim Morse has probably been the surprise of this season. His consistent move towards the front has been unbelievable. He's done a great job. It's not over by any means."
Scheidecker's assessment of how hard the drivers are racing in the series' mid pack is quite correct. The SuperClean Modified Racing Series' points fund pays end of the season bonuses to the top 15 positions in the standings. Over the course of the final four races look for drivers in positions four through ten in the standings to race hard to improve their rankings. Those drivers include Scott Brown and Chris Gerchman who are tied for fourth with 210 points each. Right behind them are drivers Mike Salm-206, Billy Johanneck-202, Larry Gerchman-198 while Dave Arce and James Cole are in a tie for ninth at 196 points each. Any combination of good and bad racing luck among this group could greatly alter the final outcome of the points standings and the bonus money that comes with it.
In addition to the title sponsor, the SuperClean Modified Racing Series is supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas" which includes Lucas Oil Products Inc,Hoosier Racing Tire, Jim Beam, K&N Performance Filters, Blue Water Resort and Casino, General Tire, Dixie Chopper, Sencon Concrete LLC, Fatheadz Sunglasses, Poly Dome Plastic Products, Sunoco Race Fuels, R&L Carriers, E3 Spark Plugs and Budweiser.
