Tim Fuller Capitalizes and Delivers a Win in the Desert
Tucson, Arizona (January 17, 2014) After missing the Wednesday night show at Tucson International Raceway’s Winter Extreme, New York’s Tim Fuller knew he had to make some changes to get his Capital Race Car back up front. Fuller took advantage of the day off from racing on Thursday to do just that. And that work paid dividends on Friday night. Fuller moved to second from his third starting spot and then took over the lead on lap 22 when race leader R.C. Whitwell suffered mechanical issues. Full had to fend off a late-race highside charge by Ryan Gustin to claim the $3,000 winner’s purse and his second career win in Tucson International Raceway.
At the drop of the green flag in the A-main Whitwell and Moyer battled it out for the lead over the opening laps with Whitwell taking the advantage by lap two. Fuller moved up to immediately begin challenging for the runner-up spot. Fuller rolled by Moyer down the back straightaway and set after Whitwell. By the next set of corners Fuller had pulled to Whitwell’s rear deck and was looking for the lead. Over the next few laps Fuller would mount a charge on the bottom of turns one and two only to have Whitwell slam the door shut.
A lap five yellow flag for Donny Schatz bunched the field for a restart. Whitwell squirted away at the green and Moyer retook the second spot. Fuller stayed the course and rode the bottom line back around Moyer one lap later. Fuller again stalked Whitwell down and began looking underneath for the lead. The yellow slowed the action again on lap 13 when Rob Sanders ended up stopped sideways on the back straight. Whitwell again moved away when the green reappeared and yet again Moyer went to second. But just as before Fuller rolled back by Wednesday night’s winner for second.
Fuller wasn’t able to get to Whitwell as he did previously and he settled into second through the events middle stages. On lap 23 disaster struck for race leader Whitwell as his #5 machine rolled to a stop in turn 4. Whitwell’s misfortune handed Fuller the race lead but the event was far from over. Ryan Gustin moved past Moyer on the restart and went after Fuller on the top shelf. Gustin pulled alongside Fuller several times and even nosed ahead coming to the white flag. But Fuller countered and rolled in right around the bottom to stay even. Headed to the checkers Gustin again edged ahead down the back straightaway and into turn three. But Gustin carried a little too much momentum and slid high opening the door for Fuller to claim the win.
“With Moyer starting on the pole I basically figured it would be his race to win. So he went up in the middle and the bottom was so good for me. But more and more guys were running there and it kept getting more and more narrow. That was letting the guys running the middle and top keep their momentum and come up and get a better run. So I had to be up on it and try to stay in that brown so I could launch up off of the corners. Ryan ran a great race but I wasn’t giving up. This is a tough deal. There are a lot of cars out here and it’s a little tough to even line-up out here. I didn’t line-up Wednesday night in fact. This is a great win for us and gives us some good momentum for the rest of the week and even for Florida.” Fuller said after his win.
Full Results
NDRL ‘Kings of Dirt’ Winter Extreme – Night Four
Tucson International Raceway
Tucson, Arizona
Friday, January 17, 2014
Feature:
1 (3) 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY $3,000
2 (7) 19R Ryan Gustin Marshalltown, IA $1,500
3 (1) 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR $1,000
4 (13) 28 Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI $800
5 (4) 25 Shane Clanton Fayetteville, GA $750
6 (5) 56 Tony Jackson, Jr. Lebanon, MO $700
7 (11) 58 A.J. Diemel Elk Mound, WI $650
8 (8) 43 Garrett Alberson Las Cruces, NM $600
9 (6) 7 Ricky Weiss Headingley, MB $550
10 (21) 32 Chris Simpson Oxford, IA $500
11 (10) 77 Jordan Yaggy Rochester, MN $350
12 (19) 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV $300
13 (17) 12 Jason Hughes Westville, OK $300
14 (12) 77A Justin Asplin Birch Tree, MO $300
15 (15) 111 Max Blair Titusville, PA $300
16 (16) 91T Tony Toste Pismo Beach, CA $300
17 (18) 32B Clay Daly Watsonville, CA $300
18 (24) 91P Jason Papich Arroyo Grande, CA $300
19 (2) 5 R.C. Whitwell Tucson, AZ $450
20 (9) 7R Kent Robinson Bloomington, IN $400
21 (20) 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA $300
22 (23) 27 Nick Bartels El Segundo, CA $300
23 (14) 25Z Mason Zeigler Chalk Hill, PA $300
24 (22) 15S Donny Schatz Fargo, ND $300
B-Main 1:
1. 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
2. 15S Donny Schatz Fargo, ND
3. 21JR Billy Moyer, Jr. Batesville, AR
4. 5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
5. 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO
6. 75 Terry Phillips Springfield, MO
7. 23 Brad Williams Tucson, AZ
8. 14Z Zachary McMillan Kilgore, TX
9. 10TT Tyson Turnbull Estevan, SK
10. 40F Dana Fite Tucson, AZ
11. 98D Dave Deetz Las Cruces, NM
B-Main 2:
1. 10N Robert Sanders Bakersfield, CA
2. 27 Nick Bartels El Segundo, CA
3. 90 Lance Matthees Winona, MN
4. 14M Morgan Bagley Longview, TX
5. 15K Justin Kay Wheatland, IA
6. 19 William Thomas Phenix City, AL
7. 06 Dave Smith Edmonton, AB
8. 89 James Laing Tucson, AZ
9. 77 Bill Bartels El Segundo, CA
10. 7K Jason Krohn Slayton, MN
11. 23 Bucky Andrews Tucson, AZ
12. 86 Kyle Beard Trumann, AR
13. 24 Rick Ortega Las Cruces, NM
B-Main 3:
1. 32 Chris Simpson Oxford, IA
2. 91P Jason Papich Arroyo Grande, CA
3. 2T Trevor Glaser Tanqent, OR
4. 18 Chase Junghans Manhattan, KS
5. 11 Pat Doar New Richmond, WI
6. 14M Dean Moore Grand Junction, CO
7. 10 Mike Balcean Winnipeg, MB
8. 8P Lonnie Parker, Jr. El Mirage, AZ
9. 11 Steven Pfeifer Minot, ND
10. 14 Sean Bray Tucson, AZ
11. 88 Matt Crafton Tulare, CA
DNS. 6 Travis Dickes Madison, NE
Heat 1:
1. 25 Shane Clanton
2. 19R Ryan Gustin
3. 28 Jimmy Mars
4. 23 John Blankenship
5. 5 Brandon Sheppard
6. 1V Will Vaught
7. 14Z Zachary McMillan
8. 10TT Tyson Turnbull
9. 40F Dana Fite
10. 23 Bucky Andrews
Heat 2:
1. 56 Tony Jackson, Jr.
2. 43 Garrett Alberson
3. 25Z Mason Zeigler
4. 21JR Billy Moyer, Jr.
5. 15S Donny Schatz
6. 23 Brad Williams
7. 75 Terry Phillips
8. 98D Dave Deetz
DNS. 42 Don Shaw
Heat 3:
1. 21 Billy Moyer
2. 7R Kent Robinson
3. 111 Max Blair
4. 90 Lance Matthees
5. 27 Nick Bartels
6. 06 Dave Smith
7. 14M Morgan Bagley
8. 19 William Thomas
9. 24 Rick Ortega
10. 86 Kyle Beard
Heat 4:
1. 19 Tim Fuller
2. 77 Jordan Yaggy
3. 91T Tony Toste
4. 10N Robert Sanders
5. 7K Jason Krohn
6. 51 Joey Moriarty
7. 89 James Laing
8. 77 Bill Bartels
9. 15K Justin kay
Heat 5:
1. 7 Ricky Weiss
2. 58 A.J. Diemel
3. 12 Jason Hughes
4. 32 Chris Simpson
5. 91P Jason Papich
6. 11 Pat Doar
7. 8P Lonnie Parker, Jr.
8. 14 Sean Bray
9. 14M Dean Moore
Heat 6:
1. 5 R.C. Whitwell
2. 77A Justin Asplin
3. 32B Clay Daly
4. 88 Matt Crafton
5. 2T Trevor Glaser
6. 11 Steven Pfeifer
7. 18 Chase Junghans
8. 6 Travis Dickes
DNS. 10 Mike Balcean
For more information on the National Dirt Racing League including a complete 2014 schedule point your web browsers over to www.thendrl.com You can also keep up with all the latest up-to-the-minute news by following the NDRL on Twitter at @The_NDRL and you can also find us on Facebook located at https://www.facebook.com/nationaldirtracingleague If you have further questions or needs you can also contact NDRL Series Director Kelley Carlton atkcarlton@thendrl.com or call (864) 871-1442.
Official 2014 Winter Extreme Sponsors:
RideNow Powersports, Tucson Harley Davidson, Freedom RV, Hilton Garden Inn Tucson,O’Rielly Chevrolet, Papa John’s Pizza, and Residence Inn Tucson.
Official NDRL 2014 Sponsors:
Hoosier Racing Tires, VP Race Fuels, Arizona Sport Shirts, Keyser Manufacturing, Schaeffer’s Racing Oil and Lubricants, Capital Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, DirtonDirt.com, Bell, DirtWrap, Genesis Shocks, CV Products, Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales, JRi Shocks, and JNJ Motorsports Media.
The list of 2014 partners continues to grow, if you have questions or comments or if you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the NDRL contact Series Director Kelley Carlton at (864) 871-1442 / kcarlton@thendrl.com or NDRL Marketing Director Jason Babyak at (602) 647-0649 / jbabyak@thendrl.com.