HBR Racing Recap 7/11/17

HBR Racing Recap 7/11/17

Story By: Mandee Pauch/MPR

Photos By: Dave Dalesandro/RacersGuide.com

July 11, 2017 – Heading into the middle of July, both HBR teams combined have produced 23 top-five finishes thus far this season.

The team was able to add three more top-five results to their impressive stats this past weekend.

Jimmy Phelps and Max McLaughlin had a busy three-day weekend that opened Thursday evening at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Thursday evening Phelps finished where he started in his heat race, in fourth, which placed him on the outside of the sixth row for the main event.

“We were a little too good too early,” Phelps said. “Knowing what we know now maybe we would have made a few changes that would have given us a shot.”

Phelps mentioned how tire choices came into play for the feature. “We got snookered by Larry (Wight) on tires,” he said. “He definitely made the right call. For being one of the guys that made the wrong tire call we had a good outcome. We were pretty happy with Thursday.”

Teammate McLaughlin ran second in his heat race, which locked him into the feature redraw.

McLaughlin drew the second-highest number, eleventh, for the main event and was able to maneuver his way to the front to finish second. McLaughlin’s Thursday night results tied his best Super DIRTcar Series finish to date.

“It was a good finish for our first time being there,” McLaughlin said. “We need to be a lot better to beat those guys but we’re getting better, we’re digging.”

The team then went to Brewerton Speedway the following night.

Phelps qualified second in his heat race from his fourth-place starting spot.

Phelps rolled out tenth for the main event.

“Friday was one of those nights where we had ourselves testing a little bit,” he said. “We really got mired in traffic and wasn’t really going anywhere. When I had an opportunity late in the race I pit to make some more changes to see if we would learn something and we did.”

Phelps noted the changes late in the race helped improve the car but ran out of time to get the momentum built back up to gain anymore ground.

Phelps capped off the night with a 13th-place finish.

McLaughlin started second in his heat and fell back a spot, crossing the line in third.

McLaughlin started on the outside of the third row for the main event and was able to pick off a couple of positions and take home a fourth-place finish.

“It was tough on Friday,” he said. “There wasn’t much passing.”

The teams’ weekend continued on to Fulton Speedway on Saturday.

Phelps started the night off strong by picking off a few cars and winning his heat race from fourth-place.

“In the heat we had a really good car,” he said. “We made some adjustments but didn’t go far enough.”

The feature went green to checkered.

“We were decent but not decent enough to make a real hard charge. We settled for sixth from our 11th-place starting spot.”

McLaughlin caught a tough break early in the evening.

“We ran into ignition problems so we had to bring out the backup car for the feature.”

McLaughlin started deep in the field but was able to drive through and finish 13th.

“There wasn’t much we could do about that,” he said. “The race went green to checkered so we did the best we could.”

The team was scheduled to run a four-day weekend but the weekend was cut short when the Super DIRTcar Series race at Cornwall Speedway rained out Sunday evening.

Phelps and McLaughlin currently sit fourth and fifth in the Super DIRTcar Series point standings as they head to the next Series race at Weedsport Speedway Tuesday night for the Hall of Fame 100.
HBR QUICK RESULTS

Jimmy Phelps
July 6 – Airborne Speedway; Heat: 4 (4); Feature: 3 (12)
July 7 – Brewerton Speedway; Heat: 2 (4); Feature: 13 (10)
July 8 – Fulton Speedway; Heat: 1 (4); Feature: 6 (11)

Max McLaughlin
July 6 – Airborne Speedway; Heat: 2 (2); Feature: 2 (11)
July 7 – Brewerton Speedway; Heat: 3 (2); Feature: 4 (6)
July 8 – Fulton Speedway; Heat: DNF; Feature: 13 (21)

HBR SEASON STATS –

Jimmy Phelps
24 races – 13 top fives, 18 top 10’s

Max McLaughlin
24 races – 10 top fives, 15 top 10’s

UP NEXT –

Tuesday, July 11 – Weedsport Speedway
Friday, July 14 – Brewerton Speedway
Saturday, July 15 – Fulton Speedway

MEDIA LINKS –

HBR
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hbrmotorsports
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HBR_Racing
Jimmy Phelps
Website: www.jimmyphelps.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyPhelps
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimmy_phelps
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jimmyphelps

Max McLaughlin
Website: www.maxmclaughlinracing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MaxMcLaughlinRacing
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MaxMcLaughlin_
Instagram: www.instagram.com/maxmclaughlin_

Dave Blaney
Twitter: www.twitter.com/BuckeyeBullet10
APPAREL –

The HBR team has apparel available for sale at their racecar trailer during events they compete in this season.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHTS –

JIMMY PHELPS’ SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Mohawk Northeast, Inc.

Mohawk Northeast, Inc. specialized in heavy construction and marine construction, as well as tugboat transportation. Mohawk Northeast, Inc. is a Connecticut-based construction company that offers its valued clients cost-effective, efficient solutions founded on engineering expertise. Their turnkey construction services also include facilities maintenance and fabrication and coating. For more information, visit www.mohawknortheast.com.

“Mohawk Northeast is the backbone of HBR as well as Weedsport Speedway,” Phelps said. “I can’t thank everybody there enough for all of their hard work that allows us to continue to try and excel here at Weedsport.”

Phelps would also like to thank J&B Installations, Mohawk Northeast, JRI Shocks, Teo Pro Car, Strange Oval, Winters Performance, Bob Bruneau, Simpson Race Products, VP Fuels, Fragola Performance Systems, Jones Racing Products, Wilwood , FK Rod Ends, Cobra Motorhomes, Bert Transmissions, Eibach, Industrial, Tire of CNY, Driven Racing Oil and Arts Radiator for their continued support.

MAX MCLAUGHLIN’S SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Hoosier Racing Tire

Hoosier Racing Tire is the largest race tire manufacturer in the world. For more information on Hoosier Racing Tire, visit www.hoosiertire.com.

“I’d like to thank Hoosier Tire for providing us with the best tires to run on,” McLaughlin said. “They truly stand up to their motto for being ‘tires designed for champions.’”

McLaughlin would also like to thank Textron Off Road, Mohawk Northeast Inc., Simpson Race Products, Wienerschnitzel, Just Let Me Do It Commercial Services, Eibach Springs, Max Papis Inc., HBR, Bob Bruneau, Nitro Manufacturing, Maxima Racing Oils, Winters Performance Products, Hoosier, Cobra, TEO Pro Car, Pro Bar, Strange Oval, JRI Shocks, Absolute Audio, Fragola Performance Systems, Wilwood, Lincoln Electric, VP Racing Fuel, Jones Racing Products, FK Rod Ends, Bert Transmission, ASI Racewear, Swindell Speed Lab, Walker Performance Filtration Systems, HD Designs, Torie Costa Foundation and Butler Built Seats for their continued support.