What A Week Of Racing For Jimmy Phelps, Max McLaughlin & HBR

Story By: MANDEE PAUCH / HBR – WEEDSPORT, NY – The Heinke-Baldwin race team had an outstanding weekend where they collected three victories in just five races. Jimmy Phelps collected a win at their Friday night home track and his first Super DIRTcar Series victory since 2016 at Utica-Rome Speedway, while Max McLaughlin grabbed an emotional win at Land of Legends Raceway on Saturday.

The Heinke-Baldwin race team had a very busy week in New York.

Their week kicked off on Thursday at Land of Legends Raceway with the Super DIRTcar Series.

Phelps opened the evening with a second-place finish in his heat, placing him in the top-12 redraw.

With luck of the draw, Phelps rolled off on the outside of the third row for the 100-lap main event.

“We didn’t feel good at all,” Phelps said. “We backed up a little bit then gave it enough time and finally had an opportunity under yellow to make a pit stop to make some changes. We came back out, still didn’t feel like we had much to work with then all of a sudden it seemed like the track cleaned off and the tires cycled in right. The last few laps I felt like we had the car to win which was frustrating. I think we had better than a tenth-place car but unfortunately, we had to settle for tenth.”

‘Mad’ Max McLaughlin finished where he started in his heat race, third. Which lined him up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.

“We just missed the setup,” McLaughlin said. “We weren’t as good as we anticipated to be and finished ninth. Another top ten but we should have been a lot better.”

The team continued their weekend trek to their Friday night home track, Brewerton Speedway.

Phelps clicked off a few cars and finished fourth in his heat from sixth.

“We had a phenomenal car in the feature,” added Phelps. “The car was just as good last weekend, it just felt like wherever we went we were in the wrong place. Fortunately, this week we got some track position early that got me up front to move around. The track slowed enough that guys weren’t able to run hard door-to-door like they were the week before. It gave us clear track. Fortunately, we had a good car that could go anywhere. Without yellows, it was tough to know where we were but once we got into the top three we were able to just bide our time to get the lead.”

Phelps put on quite the show, in front of a big crowd, to drive away with the victory.

“It felt good,” he said. “We’ve been really good at Brewerton. It seems like we have the car that should have won every night, just never did. Hopefully we can put that behind us and rack a few more up.”

McLaughlin started fourth and finished fourth in his heat race, which lined him up on the outside of the fourth row for the main event.

“We got to fourth and made a mistake,” added McLaughlin. “We got off the track in three and four and finished seventh. We’ve struggled there all year. We can’t seem to find a good baseline there. We’ve definitely gotten a little better but still not great.”

Due to prior commitments at Weedsport Speedway with the American Flat Track, Phelps stayed back to help run the show, which turned out to be a phenomenal event.

Saturday evening McLaughlin made the trip to Land of Legends Raceway with the no.6h crew.

“We struggled in the heat,” said McLaughlin about his fourth-place finish. “We changed a whole bunch of stuff and started eighth in the feature. We got to the lead by lap five and had an eleven second lead at the end, so we were really good. Hopefully we found something with this car so we can base off of that.”

McLaughlin’s Saturday night win was his third big-block career victory.

“I’ve been wanting to win there really bad,” he said. “That’s where my dad got his first ever win so it’s always been on by bucket list to win there so it was pretty emotional.”

Sunday evening saw the team make their first visit of the year to Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, NY for the Freedom Fighter 100 with the Super DIRTcar Series.

“Utica was one of those really good nights where everything came our way,” Phelps said. “We started on the front row of the heat and won it.”

Phelps heat race win place him into the top-12 redraw. By luck of the draw, Phelps rolled off on the pole for the 100-lap main event.

“We got out front and was able to stay there,” he said. “The car was super good. It was pretty uneventful which is how we like them once in a while. I knew Friesen was probably my number one concern. For him to be on me that quick, I knew he’d be a problem to hold off. All-in-all it’s one of those deals where our car worked good in the best part of the track. If we could manage lapped traffic and not get ourselves off our game plan, we’d be okay.”

Phelps was able to hold off heavy pressure from Stewart Friesen and Danny Johnson to guide his no.98h machine to victory lane for his first Super DIRTcar Series victory since 2016.

McLaughlin and his no.6h team started second in their heat but unfortunately got taken out from behind and was forced to restart at the tail. McLaughlin was able to make some moves and qualify fifth.

McLaughlin’s fifth-place finish had him rolling off on the inside of the tenth row for the 100-lap main event.

“We had a really good car,” he said. “We were able to drive it all the way up through the field and get a fourth-place finish.”

The HBR team capped off their busy weekend Tuesday evening at Outlaw Speedway with the Super DIRTcar Series.

The no.98h team was fast right off the trailer.

“We were good in practice, but I think I missed my marks a little in time trials which put us fifth in our heat,” Phelps said.

Phelps qualified fourth in his heat race, once again placing him into the top-12 redraw.

Phelps rolled off on the outside of the fifth row for the 100-lap main event.

“We were pretty good,” noted Phelps. “By lap 30 we got into the top five. My car was getting better and better. We went to clear a lapped car in turn one and he decided it was time for me to go in the other direction and spun me around in front of the field. A couple cars hit me while I was stopped and broke something in the steering box so that ended our night.”

It was a tough break for the no.98h team.

McLaughlin was leading his heat race but was forced to go pit side after hitting something on the track.

McLaughlin and the team we able to fix the no.6h machine to make it out in time for the 100-lap main event where he rolled off on the outside of then tenth row.

“Since we didn’t have any laps in the heat, we didn’t know what kind of car we had,” noted McLaughlin. “We didn’t make the right adjustments for the feature.”

Despite some bad luck, McLaughlin was able to slice his way through the field and close out the evening with a seventh-place finish.

McLaughlin has been a strong contender on the Super DIRTcar Series and currently sits second in points.

“It feels great to be second in points,” added McLaughlin. “We have fast cars. I feel like we’re very close to winning races on the series.”

Next on tap for the HBR team will be Brewerton Speedway Friday night and Land of Legends Raceway on Sunday. The next Super DIRTcar Series event will be on Thursday, July 19that Orange County Fair Speedway.