Tim McCreadie In Saturday Night’s DIRTcar Nationals Modified Finale? One Word: Incredible

Column By: DYLAN FRIEBEL / RPW – BARBERVILLE, FL – Tim McCreadie has had, what you would call, an abysmal start to the 2018 season. The tire bug that bit him for the Lucas Oil Late Model Championship at the end of 2017 has seemed to have followed him into the new year.

Once the DIRTcar Nationals came around, however, it seems his luck has turned around. Following Saturday night’s 27th to first performance in the Big Block finale, the Watertown, NY native is walking out of Volusia Speedway Park with a whole lot of Gator trophies, including one big one.

The once Super DIRTcar Series Regular only jumps into a Big Block Modified a handful of times a year, but on Saturday, he proved why he’s still one of the best.

“I don’t really race these enough to give the right feedback to these guys” McCreadie said after the race. “Vic (Coffey, his teammate) and all the guys on this team sure seem to make the right adjustments. All I told him tonight was that we were laying on the right rear too much and the boys went to work on it.”

After having a bad all-around effort on the last night of the DIRTcar Nationals, and only 10 points ahead of ‘The Doctor,’ Danny Johnson, for the championship, Tim needed a good A-Main to turn his 2018 luck around. He got that, and then some.

McCreadie had to use a provisional to start the feature, which lined him up 27th. He was in fourteenth by lap 14 and was marching right to the front. After a pair of cautions with 15 and 13 to go in the 50-lap main, he found himself in fourth and rocketed around Mike Mahaney for second. That left him chasing after leader Stewart Friesen.

A long green-flag run was all he needed.

“That long run at the end really helped us,” Tim remarked. “The longer it went, the better this car got.”

Once McCreadie reached the 44 of Friesen in traffic, he motored around the outside and used the 85 of HJ Bunting as a pick.

“There’s no shame losing to Stewart Friesen,” he said. “He’s one of the best and I’ve said this all along. It’s hard to pass lap cars as the leader. It’s just one of those cases where the lapped car wasn’t in my lane and was in his. It’s always fun racing with Stewart.”

This is McCreadie’s First Big Gator Championship in a Big Block, and when asked about what it felt like lapping the guy he was in a battle with, he was more concentrated on winning the race than the title.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know we were lapping him at the end,” he said. “We have been off for three days, and both me and Vic had a worried look on our faces when we left the pits. But we sure pulled it off. I can’t thank everyone enough, from Vic to everyone here, to the guys at the shop. I’ve been with Vic 12 years now. I’ve only been married for six, and I’m so happy to get him this.”

He also remarked on why he keeps racing Big Blocks.

“All these guys ask why I keep racing these Modifieds for such little money,” McCreadie said. “I think that reaction right there says it all.”

Whenever Tim McCreadie’s straps into a Big Block, he’s sure to turn some heads. If it’s from crashing in practice twice at Super DIRT Week this past October and being the last car out for time trials to lock into the top 6, to the ‘Big Show’ at Albany-Saratoga or Weedsport last year. All of us can’t wait till he straps in one again.

The Super DIRTcar Series will start their regular points season on April 28th at the Fulton Speedway for the High Bank Holdup.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 39-Tim McCreadie [27]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen [6]; 3. 88-Mike Mahaney [5]; 4. 1-Billy Pauch [16]; 5. 5-Ryan Godown [11]; 6. 9s-Matt Sheppard [3]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller [20]; 8. 21-Yan Bussiere [23]; 9. 91-Billy Decker [4]; 10. 9-Ryan Watt [9]; 11. 6h-Max McLaughlin [7]; 12. 32-Jim Rasey [25]; 13. 42p-Pat Ward [15]; 14. 25R-Erick Rudolph [18]; 15. 27J-Danny Johnson [19]; 16. 4-Billy VanInwegen [8]; 17. 20-Brett Hearn [26]; 18. 85-H.J. Bunting [28]; 19. 30M-Joseph Watson [10]; 20. 109-Billy Whittaker [29]; 21. 74-J.R. Heffner [12]; 22. 19k-Brett Kressley [24]; 23. 3-Justin Haers [14]; 24. 5s-Tyler Siri [2]; 25. 96-J-F Corriveau [30]; 26. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [21]; 27. 43-Jimmy Horton [1]; 28. 99L-Larry Wight [22]; 29. 118-Jim Britt [17]; 30. cb3-Chad Brachmann [13]

Qualifying Flight-A: 1. 44-Stewart Friesen, 17.899; 2. 5s-Tyler Siri, 17.95; 3. cb3-Chad Brachmann, 17.993; 4. 19m-Jessey Mueller, 18.025; 5. 118-Jim Britt, 18.11; 6. 9-Ryan Watt, 18.279; 7. 17-Kyle Sheldon, 18.313; 8. 165-Rex King, 18.431; 9. 13-Rick Regalski, 18.556; 10. 35-Francois Bellemare, 19.184; 11. R13-Ralph McBride, 19.677

Qualifying Flight-B: 1. 88-Mike Mahaney, 17.691; 2. 91-Billy Decker, 17.858; 3. 30M-Joseph Watson, 17.958; 4. 3-Justin Haers, 18.084; 5. 99L-Larry Wight, 18.091; 6. 20-Brett Hearn, 18.112; 7. 25R-Erick Rudolph, 18.214; 8. 6d-Dillon Steuer, 18.23; 9. 48t-Dave Rauscher, 18.487; 10. 85-H.J. Bunting, 18.501; 11. 65-Scott Hitchens, 18.753

Qualifying Flight-C: 1. 4-Billy VanInwegen, 17.818; 2. 43-Jimmy Horton, 17.877; 3. 32-Jim Rasey, 17.946; 4. 42p-Pat Ward, 18.039; 5. 27J-Danny Johnson, 18.106; 6. 5-Ryan Godown, 18.137; 7. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 18.162; 8. 21-Yan Bussiere, 18.424; 9. 109-Billy Whittaker, 18.516; 10. 44r-Russell Morseman, 18.541; 11. 1G-Darwin Greene, 18.77

Qualifying Flight-D: 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 17.712; 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 17.761; 3. 19-Tim Fuller, 17.906; 4. 74-J.R. Heffner, 18.051; 5. 96-J-F Corriveau, 18.175; 6. 1-Billy Pauch, 18.25; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie, 18.37; 8. 46-Jeremy Smith, 18.377; 9. 19k-Brett Kressley, 18.402

Heat #1 – Flight (A) – Spon.-1 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 44-Stewart Friesen [1]; 2. 5s-Tyler Siri [2]; 3. 9-Ryan Watt [6]; 4. cb3-Chad Brachmann [3]; 5. 118-Jim Britt [5]; 6. 13-Rick Regalski [9]; 7. 17-Kyle Sheldon [7]; 8. 35-Francois Bellemare [10]; 9. 19m-Jessey Mueller [4]; 10. R13-Ralph McBride [11]; 11. 165-Rex King [8]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) – Spon.-2 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 88-Mike Mahaney [1]; 2. 91-Billy Decker [2]; 3. 30M-Joseph Watson [3]; 4. 3-Justin Haers [4]; 5. 25R-Erick Rudolph [7]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight [5]; 7. 20-Brett Hearn [6]; 8. 48t-Dave Rauscher [9]; 9. 6d-Dillon Steuer [8]; 10. 65-Scott Hitchens [11]; 11. 85-H.J. Bunting [10]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) – Spon.-3 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer: 1. 4-Billy VanInwegen [1]; 2. 43-Jimmy Horton [2]; 3. 5-Ryan Godown [6]; 4. 42p-Pat Ward [4]; 5. 27J-Danny Johnson [5]; 6. 32-Jim Rasey [3]; 7. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [7]; 8. 21-Yan Bussiere [8]; 9. 109-Billy Whittaker [9]; 10. 44r-Russell Morseman [10]; 11. 1G-Darwin Greene [11]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin [1]; 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard [2]; 3. 74-J.R. Heffner [4]; 4. 1-Billy Pauch [6]; 5. 19-Tim Fuller [3]; 6. 19k-Brett Kressley [9]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie [7]; 8. 96-J-F Corriveau [5]; 9. 46-Jeremy Smith [8]

Last Chance Showdown (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 98h-Jimmy Phelps [4]; 2. 21-Yan Bussiere [6]; 3. 32-Jim Rasey [2]; 4. 19m-Jessey Mueller [7]; 5. 85-H.J. Bunting [11]; 6. 109-Billy Whittaker [8]; 7. 44r-Russell Morseman [10]; 8. 13-Rick Regalski [1]; 9. R13-Ralph McBride [9]; 10. 35-Francois Bellemare [5]; 11. 17-Kyle Sheldon [3]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer: 1. 99L-Larry Wight [1]; 2. 19k-Brett Kressley [2]; 3. 20-Brett Hearn [3]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie [4]; 5. 6d-Dillon Steuer [7]; 6. 48t-Dave Rauscher [5]; 7. 46-Jeremy Smith [8]; 8. 1G-Darwin Greene [11]; 9. 96-J-F Corriveau [6]; 10. 65-Scott Hitchens [9]; 11. 165-Rex King [10]