PADUCAH , KY – Sept. 17, 2006 –
By Kevin Kovac
RUBBER MATCH: Bill Frye of Greenbriar , Ark. , and Terry Phillips of Springfield , Mo. , are the only champions the Mid-America Racing Series (MARS) has ever known – and that will remain the case when the DIRT MotorSports-owned Late Model tour’s 2006 season soon comes to a close.
The question is, Which driver will be the first to win four titles?
Each veteran racer owns three MARS crowns. The tie-breaking “Game 7” of their one-on-one series will soon be decided.
Frye, who turns 46 on Sept. 22, holds the upper hand after finishing second in Friday night’s ‘USA World 50’ at Paducah International Raceway. He ended the night leading the MARS standings by 64 points over Phillips, who finished sixth.
Two MARS shows remain this season – the Larry Phillips Memorial on Sept. 22-23 at Missouri ’s Lebanon I-44 Speedway, and a rescheduled event on Oct. 7 at Bolivar ( Mo. ) Speedway .
Frye knows he’s in the driver’s seat, and he wants the $25,000 championship because he’s not sure if he’ll chase another one in 2007.
“My wife and I have been talking about what we’re gonna do next year,” Frye said of his future racing plans. “We haven’t decided anything yet, so I’d like to win (the title) again this year to say we’ve won it four times.”
Frye conceded that family and business commitments will force him to take a long look at how much traveling he’ll face with the ’07 MARS tour.
“Right now I’m just trying to spend more time with my family,” said Frye, whose last MARS crown came in 2003, “and I got so much going on at the (speed/chassis) shop. We were talking this week about how we can close the doors (at GRT by Frye) and not answer the phones -- and still work for two months with what we got sitting there. We’re almost so far behind, we’re either gonna have to throw that business out or start racing more.
“That’s part of the decision we have to make.”
Phillips, meanwhile, faces an uphill battle to run his string of MARS titles to three straight.
“He’s just been running awful good and consistent,” Phillips said of Frye. “I thought we caught up about a month ago, but then we had a bad night at Pevely (a heat-race crash at I-55 Raceway that hampered his effort) and we’ve been playing catch-up ever since.”
Phillips, 40, plans to make one final push to catch Frye. In that vein, after leaving Paducah on Friday night he headed to a regular Saturday-evening program at Lebanon I-44 Speedway.
“We want to get dialed in for next week’s MARS show there,” said Phillips, who won Saturday’s feature at Lebanon I-44.
ALL BUNCHED UP: The most heated battle in the MARS points standings is the chase for fourth place. Five drivers are separated by 50 points.
The final two events will be extremely critical for Steve Rushin (1,337 points), Jeff Floyd (1,328), Justin Wells (1,323), Billy James (1,301) and Will Vaught (1,287). One misstep could be disastrous, one breakout run invaluable.
ALL BLOWN UP: Jeff Taylor of Cave City , Ark. , has a solid hold on third place in the MARS points standings, but that didn’t make his early departure from Friday night’s main any easier to take.
Taylor was running a steady fifth in his Bloomquist-built car when he suddenly darted to the infield on lap 30. A broken motor caused a momentary oil flareup under the machine’s hood, but the flames quickly extinguished themselves.
“It’s the first engine problem we’ve had all year,” said Taylor, who entered a second car in Friday’s action with his sponsor, Royal Jones, behind the wheel.
TOUGH SLEDDING: With a 45-car field on hand, qualifying was hotly contested.
Several MARS racers failed to make the feature, including Will Vaught, Brandon McCormick and Jack Sullivan.
By Kevin Kovac
RUBBER MATCH: Bill Frye of Greenbriar , Ark. , and Terry Phillips of Springfield , Mo. , are the only champions the Mid-America Racing Series (MARS) has ever known – and that will remain the case when the DIRT MotorSports-owned Late Model tour’s 2006 season soon comes to a close.
The question is, Which driver will be the first to win four titles?
Each veteran racer owns three MARS crowns. The tie-breaking “Game 7” of their one-on-one series will soon be decided.
Frye, who turns 46 on Sept. 22, holds the upper hand after finishing second in Friday night’s ‘USA World 50’ at Paducah International Raceway. He ended the night leading the MARS standings by 64 points over Phillips, who finished sixth.
Two MARS shows remain this season – the Larry Phillips Memorial on Sept. 22-23 at Missouri ’s Lebanon I-44 Speedway, and a rescheduled event on Oct. 7 at Bolivar ( Mo. ) Speedway .
Frye knows he’s in the driver’s seat, and he wants the $25,000 championship because he’s not sure if he’ll chase another one in 2007.
“My wife and I have been talking about what we’re gonna do next year,” Frye said of his future racing plans. “We haven’t decided anything yet, so I’d like to win (the title) again this year to say we’ve won it four times.”
Frye conceded that family and business commitments will force him to take a long look at how much traveling he’ll face with the ’07 MARS tour.
“Right now I’m just trying to spend more time with my family,” said Frye, whose last MARS crown came in 2003, “and I got so much going on at the (speed/chassis) shop. We were talking this week about how we can close the doors (at GRT by Frye) and not answer the phones -- and still work for two months with what we got sitting there. We’re almost so far behind, we’re either gonna have to throw that business out or start racing more.
“That’s part of the decision we have to make.”
Phillips, meanwhile, faces an uphill battle to run his string of MARS titles to three straight.
“He’s just been running awful good and consistent,” Phillips said of Frye. “I thought we caught up about a month ago, but then we had a bad night at Pevely (a heat-race crash at I-55 Raceway that hampered his effort) and we’ve been playing catch-up ever since.”
Phillips, 40, plans to make one final push to catch Frye. In that vein, after leaving Paducah on Friday night he headed to a regular Saturday-evening program at Lebanon I-44 Speedway.
“We want to get dialed in for next week’s MARS show there,” said Phillips, who won Saturday’s feature at Lebanon I-44.
ALL BUNCHED UP: The most heated battle in the MARS points standings is the chase for fourth place. Five drivers are separated by 50 points.
The final two events will be extremely critical for Steve Rushin (1,337 points), Jeff Floyd (1,328), Justin Wells (1,323), Billy James (1,301) and Will Vaught (1,287). One misstep could be disastrous, one breakout run invaluable.
ALL BLOWN UP: Jeff Taylor of Cave City , Ark. , has a solid hold on third place in the MARS points standings, but that didn’t make his early departure from Friday night’s main any easier to take.
Taylor was running a steady fifth in his Bloomquist-built car when he suddenly darted to the infield on lap 30. A broken motor caused a momentary oil flareup under the machine’s hood, but the flames quickly extinguished themselves.
“It’s the first engine problem we’ve had all year,” said Taylor, who entered a second car in Friday’s action with his sponsor, Royal Jones, behind the wheel.
TOUGH SLEDDING: With a 45-car field on hand, qualifying was hotly contested.
Several MARS racers failed to make the feature, including Will Vaught, Brandon McCormick and Jack Sullivan.
