Mike Mahaney Sweeps Big Block Modified World Finals Qualifying Thursday

Story By: COLBY GORNIEWICZ / DIRTCAR – CONCORD, NC – In front of a packed grandstands, the Super DIRTcar Series took to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Night One of Textron Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals for their qualifying night. Mike Mahaney had a night to remember, sweeping both qualifying sessions and picking up two heat race victories.

In all there were 48 Big-Block Modifieds that signed in at Textron Off Road World Finals. The Super DIRTcar Series first took to the track for hot laps followed by qualifying to determine the heat race line ups for Friday’s portion of the program. Mike Mahaney out of Kings Ferry, NY timed in quickest with a lap of 15.609-seconds; Mahaney would get the best view in the house for the first heat race.

A little Deja-vu with Mahaney coming out of the third qualifying group knocked Matt Sheppard off the perch of the quickest qualifier and stole five valuable points away from the championship points leader and swept qualifying for the evening.

Starting from the pole in the first heat for Friday’s portion of the show, Mahaney jumped out to an early lead and would continue the streak by picking up the heat race win for Friday’s Nights portion. Joining Mahaney in the Friday heat race winner category was Mat Williamson; Matt Sheppard; Keith Flach and Demetrios Drellos.

In the Saturday Night heat races, a couple repeat winners on the night. First was Drellos in the first heat. Matt Sheppard also picked up another heat race win and five points. Mahaney completed the sweep with a victory in the third heat race. Keith Flach and Tim Fuller were also winners for Saturday Night heat races.

“It couldn’t be any better that’s for sure,” said Mike Mahaney. “We’ve come down here [in the past] and kind of struggled. We gain a lot of fans the one time we came down here and passed everyone in the Last Chance Showdown and everyone got excited. But to come down and feel like we came out of the box with a really good car. We timed first in both sessions and won the heat races; that will set us up great for the weekend. Couldn’t be prouder of our Buzz Chew Racing Team. We’ve just been doing everything perfect.”

Both Jimmy Phelps in the 98H and Brett Hearn both suffered setbacks and were forced to go to backup-cars.

The championship battle in the Super DIRTcar Series which is far from over saw Sheppard come into night one of Textron Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals, Matt Sheppard holding a slim 30-point lead over his closest competitor, Billy Decker. Matt Sheppard from Waterloo, NY put on a driving clinic in his Friday heat and Saturday heat races and picked up five points for each of his wins. Second in points Billy Decker brought his No. 91 home in second for both Friday Night and Saturday Night heat race, earning four points for each race. Throughout the night Matt Sheppard was able to pick up two points on Decker, widening the separation in the championship battle to 32 points.

“We’re just down here to trying to win,” said Matt Sheppard. “Last year we got a little taste of not having point pressure and we just let it all hang out and we were good all weekend. That was a lot more fun so we’re not going to go out there and run the crap out of it and see if we can win some races.”

Decker who didn’t seem as confident in his No. 91 wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
“We want to run good; that’s the bottom line for us,” said Billy Decker. “Yeah we’re points racing but we’re also trying to put ourselves into position to win and I don’t think we’ve done that yet but we’re digging and clawing. We’re off a little bit this year and not as sound as we need to be – I don’t know why; it’s got me confused but we aren’t quitting.”

The five heat race winners from Friday and Saturday’s portion will re-draw for their starting positions while the rest of the field will start from sixth on back. The stars of the Big-Block Modifieds will run their 40-lap Feature.

“I don’t normally draw that well but maybe I’ll have to pick a kid to draw for me,” said Mike Mahaney. “It’s only a five-car draw so it’s not that bad with a 10-12 car draw and you can really set yourself back with that.”

Textron Off Road World of Outlaws World Finals continues Friday with Pit Gates opening at 12 p.m., grandstands at 3 p.m. Opening Ceremonies for the evening begins at 4:45 p.m. with the Super DIRTcar Series two Last Chance Showdowns immediately following. The Super DIRTcar Series will have a 40-lap Feature to conclude night two of Textron Off Road World Finals.

Qualifying Group 1 for Friday — 1. 88, Mike Mahaney, 15.609; 2. 83-Brian Swartzlander, 15.887

3. 27J-Danny Johnson, 15.996; 4. 35c-Frank Cozze, 16.004; 5. 42p-Pat Ward, 16.064; 6. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 16.148; 7. 37m-Jeremiah Shingledecker, 16.211; 8. 71-Pierre Hebert, 16.322; 9. 96-Jean-F Corriveau, 16.422; 10. 18Jr.-Louie Jackson Jr., 16.724

Qualifying Group 2 for Friday — 1. 6m-Mat Williamson, 15.9; 2. 66-Ryan Godown, 15.903; 3. 20-Brett Hearn, 15.934; 4. 5*-Tyler Siri, 15.986; 5. 25R-Erick Rudolph, 16.01; 6. 5H-Chris Hile, 16.093; 7. 43h-Jimmy Horton, 16.123; 8. 1d-Tyler Dippel, 16.186; 9. 66x-Carey Terrence, 16.242; 10. 21g-Kody Graham, 16.281

Qualifying Group 3 for Friday — 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 15.665; 2. 99-Larry Wright, 15.766; 3. 109-Billy Whittaker, 16.025; 4. 84-Gary Tomkins, 16.034; 5. 7m-Michael Maresca, 16.078; 6. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 16.222; 7. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 16.224; 8. 25-Chad Jeseo, 16.295; 9. 21J-Gary Edwards Jr, 16.464

Qualifying Group 4 for Friday — 1. 43-Keith Flach, 15.666; 2. 21Y-Yan Bussiere, 15.785; 3. 3-Justin Haers, 15.828; 4. 19-Tim Fuller, 15.891; 5. 7-Tim Kerr, 15.909; 6. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 15.996; 7. 22-Brandon Walters, 16.266l 8. 48T-Dave Rauscher, 16.34; 9. 26-Rick Richner,

Qualifying Group 5 for Friday — 1. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 15.874; 2. 91-Billy Decker, 15.876; 3. 19w-Justin Wright, 16.035; 4. 18B-Dave Blaney, 16.2; 5. 32-Jim Rasey, 16.247; 6. 21a-Peter Britten, 16.254; 7. 13-Rick Regalski Jr., 16.39; 8. 88A-Joe August Jr., 16.456; 9. 21J-Justin Rasey, 16.866

Heat 1 for Friday — 1. 88-Mike Mahaney, 2. 83-Brian Swartzlander, 3. 27J-Danny Johnson, 4. 42p-Pat Ward, 5. 37m-Jeremiah Shingledecker, 6. 35c-Frank Cozze, 7. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 8. 71-Pierre Hebert, 9. 96-Jean-F Corriveau, 10. 18Jr.-Louie Jackson Jr.

Heat 2 for Friday — 1. 6m-Mat Williamson, 2. 5*-Tyler Siri, 3. 66-Ryan Godown, 4. 43h-Jimmy Horton, 5. 25R-Erick Rudolph, 6. 1d-Tyler Dippel, 7. 20-Brett Hearn, 8. 66x-Carey Terrence, 9. 5H-Chris Hile, 10. 21g-Kody Graham

Heat 3 for Friday — 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 2. 99-Larry Wright, 3. 109-Billy Whittaker, 4. 84-Gary Tomkins, 5. 7m-Michael Maresca, 6. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 7. 21J-Gary Edwards Jr, 8. 25-Chad Jeseo, 9. 17-Marcus Dinkins

Heat 4 for Friday — 1. 43-Keith Flach, 2. 21Y-Yan Bussiere, 3. 3-Justin Haers, 4. 19-Tim Fuller, 5. 7-Tim Kerr, 6. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 7. 48T-Dave Rauscher, 8. 22-Brandon Walters, 9. 26-Rick Richner

Heat 5 for Friday — 1. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 2. 91-Billy Decker, 3. 19w-Justin Wright, 4. 21a-Peter Britten, 5. 32-Jim Rasey, 6. 88A-Joe August Jr., 7. 13-Rick Regalski Jr., 8. 18B-Dave Blaney, 9, 21J-Justin Rasey

Qualifying Group 1 for Saturday — 1. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 15.907; 2. 21Y-Yan Bussiere, 15.957; 3. 18B-Dave Blaney, 16.111; 4. 25-Chad Jeseo, 16.171; 5. 27J-Danny Johnson, 16.213; 6. 66x-Carey Terrence, 16.277; 7. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 16.387; 8. 96-Jean-F Corriveau, 16.627; 9. 26-Rick Richner; 10. 20-Brett Hearn

Qualifying Group 2 for Saturday — 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 15.845; 2. 5H-Chris Hile, 15.932; 3. 21a-Peter Britten, 16.117; 4. 5*-Tyler Siri, 16.137; 5. 7m-Michael Maresca, 16.165; 6. 35c-Frank Cozze, 16.23; 7. 22-Brandon Walters 16.377; 8. 18Jr.-Louie Jackson Jr. 16.553; 9. 21J-Justin Rasey 16.775; 10. 48T-Dave Rauscher 16.804

Qualifying Group 3 for Saturday — 1. 88-Mike Mahaney 15.678; 2. 91-Billy Decker 15.897; 3. 25R-Erick Rudolph 15.99; 4. 3-Justin Haers 16.015; 5. 6h-Max McLaughlin 16.162; 6. 1d-Tyler Dippel 16.174; 7. 109-Billy Whittaker 16.192; 8. 32-Jim Rasey 16.331; 9. 98h-Jimmy Phelps

Qualifying Group 4 for Saturday — 1. 43-Keith Flach 15.76; 2. 6m-Mat Williamson 15.82; 3. 84-Gary Tomkins 16.031; 4. 42p-Pat Ward 16.151; 5. 71-Pierre Hebert 16.274; 6. 19w-Justin Wright 16.287; 7. 8-Rich Scagliotta 16.316; 8. 21g-Kody Graham 16.418; 9. 88A-Joe August Jr. 16.518

Qualifying Group 5 for Saturday — 1. 19-Tim Fuller 15.849; 2. 7-Tim Kerr 15.961; 3. 66-Ryan Godown 15.971; 4. 43h-Jimmy Horton 15.997l 5. 37m-Jeremiah Shingledecker 16.064; 6. 99-Larry Wright 16.124; 7. 21J-Gary Edwards Jr 16.131; 8. 83-Brian Swartzlander 16.151; 9. 13-Rick Regalski Jr. 16.672

Heat 1 for Saturday – 1. 111 – Demetrios Drello. 2. 27J – Danny Johnson, 3. 18B – Dave Blaney, 4. 66x – Carey Terrance, 5. 25 – Chad Jeseo, 6. 20 – Brett Hearn, 7. 21Y – Yan Bussiere, 8. 96 JF Corriveau, 9. 17 – Marcus Dinkins, 10. 26- Rick Richner.

Heat 2 for Saturday – 1. 9s – Matt Sheppard, 2. 21a – Peter Britten, 3. 5* – Tyler Siri, 4. 5H – Chris Hile; 5. 7m – Michael Marersca, 6. 35c – Frank Cozze, 7. 18Jr. Louis Jackson Jr. 8. 48T – Dave Rauscher. 9. 22 – Brandon Walters, 10. 21J – Justin Rasey.

Heat 3 for Saturday – 1. 88 – Mike Mahaney, 2. 91 – Billy Decker, 3. 3- Justin Haers, 4. 25R – Erick Rudolph, 5. 1d – Tyler Dippel, 6. 32 – Jim Rasey, 7. 6h – Max McLaughlin, 8. 109 – Billy Whittaker, 9. 98H – Jimmy Phelps.

Heat 4 for Saturday – 1. 43 – Keith Flach, 2. 6m – Mat Williamson, 3. 42p – Pat Ward, 4. 84 – Gary Tomkins, 5. 19w – Justin Wright, 6. 8 – Rich Scagliotta, 7. 71 Pierre Hebert; 8. 21g – Kody Graham, 9. 88A – Joe August Jr.

Heat 5 for Saturday – 1. 19 – Tim Fuller, 2. 66 – Ryan Godown, 3. 99L – Larry Wight, 4. 83 – Swartzlander; 5. – 21J – Gary Edwards Jr. 6. 07 – Tim Kerr, 7. 13 Rick Regalski Jr. 8. 43h – Jimmy Horton, 9. 37m – Jeremiah Shingledecker.