Early Trouble Leads to Disappointing End for Jimmy Phelps

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 9, 2010) - Heinke-Baldwin Racing (HBR) driver Jimmy Phelps returned to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park for the Stars and Stripes 100 presented by SUNY Canton on Sunday, July 4. Although his car was strong for much of the race, a blown motor with four laps to go relegated Phelps to a 17th-place finish.

The night did not start out well for Phelps, as he made contact with a car exiting the pits during hot laps, damaging the body of his No. 98H Wave Energy Drink/Mohawk Northeast entry. The HBR team was able to quickly fix the car, and Phelps laid down the second-fastest lap in time trials with a speed of 105.194 mph.

Phelps went on to finish second in his heat race, which allowed him to participate in the qualifying redraw along with the top-three finishers in each of the other heat races. Phelps drew the 12th starting position for Sunday's race.

When the green flag dropped on Sunday, the Super DIRTcar Series veteran quickly began working his way toward the front of the field. Unfortunately, during a red flag period on lap 25, Phelps discovered a radiator issue.

"Under the red flag, coolant was pouring out of the car," Phelps stated. "You could see steam coming out of there. There was a hole in the radiator, which had to be caused by something that flew up off the track. Troyer Racecars are obviously built as good as, or better than, anything else on the track. The radiator is well protected, so this was just a freak thing that happened."

Thanks to quick work by the team, Phelps returned to the track without losing a lap. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native again marched his way forward, but was forced to return to pit road halfway through the race because the radiator was still leaking water.

Following his second pit stop, Phelps set his sights on heading to the front. He picked cars off one by one, working his way into the top-10 by lap 70 and entering the top-five on lap 82. With 10 laps to go, Phelps took over third position, but his night came to an unfortunate end when his motor let go as he battled for second on lap 96.

"We don't know exactly what happened to the motor, but something broke" Phelps explained. "Our hope when we pitted was to get the hole patched up, but apparently we didn't get it all the way fixed because the motor basically overheated and caused whatever damage led to the end of our race. I really think if we had gone straight through without any trouble, we had the car to beat. It's just an unfortunate end to a great race."

Despite his troubles at Rolling Wheels, Phelps still sits third in the Super DIRTcar Series point standings. He is now 81 points behind leader Billy Decker.

Phelps has a busy week ahead, with plans to run the Super DIRTcar Series events at Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 11, Brewerton Speedway on Thursday, July 15 and Cayuga County Fair Speedway on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17.

About Heinke-Baldwin Racing

Heinke-Baldwin Racing was formed in 2009 by H&H Motorsports owner Al Heinke and Tommy Baldwin Racing owner Tommy Baldwin. Both Baldwin and Heinke grew up racing in New England and saw an opportunity to work together to help young drivers pursue their dreams to race.

In 2010, the team's freshman year, HBR is fielding the No. 98H for driver Jimmy Phelps in the Super DIRTcar Series, with sponsorship from Wave Energy Drink. They will also be fielding the No. 98 for driver Erick Rudolph in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, with additional sponsorship from Pizza Logs, Brigham Concrete and PrimeTyme Motorsports.