Crédit photo : Don Simpson
Jimmy Phelps - A Racing Presence on and off the Track
The small town of Baldwinsville, NY, with just a population of 7500 is where Jimmy Phelps was born and raised, and still calls home to this day. Perched on the outskirts of Syracuse, NY, this small town is surrounded by some of the greatest dirt tracks in the country such as Fulton, Brewerton Weedsport and the late great Moody Mile.
Jimmy grew up immersed in race watching his father Andy and uncle Roger race at some of those very tracks. Absorbed by his experiences during those years, helping at the track on the weekends and maintaining the cars during the week, is what molded Jimmy to what he is today.
At the age of 16, Jimmy started racing, late in life compared to today’s standards, but already groomed with a life time of racing. The class of choice was the four-cylinder street stock at one of his father favourite tracks, Brewerton Speedway.
Jimmy soon moved from the street stock into a Sportsman class for three years, when the opportunity to drive his uncle’s modified in the Victoria 200 came up. This proved to be one of Jimmy’s more memorable races and the decisive moment on which direction Jimmy would pursue.
In 1995, with Jimmy behind the wheel of the family backed car, he made the move up into the 358 class full time which proved fruitful as Jimmy captured the track championship at Brewerton Speedway that year.
By 1997, Jimmy had moved up into the Big Block Class.
The family campaigned the car for the next several years until 2005, when Jimmy got the opportunity to race for HBR on a full-time bases In the Super DIRTcar Series. This was the big break that Jimmy was striving for, but at the same time he wanted to keep the family racecar in action as they had done for so many years.
The opportunity to race for HBR was a great move and would mold Jimmy’s driving skills further as he competed against the best in Dirt track racing. This would prove true as Jimmy driving the Family back #99 car captured the 2007 Track championship at Cayuga County Fair Speedway, know call Weedsport Speedway.
For the next 10 years Jimmy would run the Super DIRTcar series for HBR along with running the family backed race car on the weekends at Fulton and Brewerton Speedways. There would be some great successes along the way with a track championship at both Fulton and Brewerton Speedways. In 2010, Jimmy would visit victory lane a total of 16 times, a banner year for Jimmy.
Over those 10 years, Jimmy would finish in the top five of the Super DIRTcar series nine times, coming ever so close to a championship seven of those times. Unfortunately, Jimmy has eluded this award over the years, testing his commitment to racing at times. “You strive hard each and every time you get in the car and you do see some success, but with some low points along the way. All you can do is learn during these harder times to improve your race program.”
2015 saw some sweeping changes for Jimmy and the family race team. As Jimmy and his family became more involved with the redevelopment of Weedsport Speedway, after Al Heinke of HBR Racing purchased the track in 2013, the decision was made to shut down Phelps Racing team. The team would consolidate with HBR and would race the 98H on a weekly basis at Fulton and Brewerton Speedways along with the Super DIRTcar series. These changes gave Jimmy more time to help develop the racing program at Weedsport, more time for family and work.
Jimmy picked up three more wins early on in 2016 but by mid season, saw further changes to their race program, switching from Troyer Race Cars, to Teo Pro. Most teams would make such a drastic change during the off season, giving them time to adjust, but with the wealth of knowledge in the HBR stables, Jimmy was back in victory lane at Fulton Speedway within a few weeks of the change. He would also race on to another win and the Brewerton track championship that year.
This year, Jimmy has picked up two feature wins at Fulton and one win at Brewerton, finishing second in points at both tracks. The 98H team is also sitting currently in sixth place in the Super DIRTcar series, heading into NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week.
Getting to know Jimmy over the last few weeks has shown me that he lives and breathes racing and has a clear vision of where he would like to be. One of the most approachable drivers on the Super DIRTcar series, Jimmy truly believes meeting and engaging with fans is important to the sport and that short track racing is the future of motor sports.
As Jimmy becomes more involved on the promotion side at Weedsport Speedway along with his on track racing, this 42-year-old shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon and still strives for that next big win.
At the age of 16, Jimmy started racing, late in life compared to today’s standards, but already groomed with a life time of racing. The class of choice was the four-cylinder street stock at one of his father favourite tracks, Brewerton Speedway.
Jimmy soon moved from the street stock into a Sportsman class for three years, when the opportunity to drive his uncle’s modified in the Victoria 200 came up. This proved to be one of Jimmy’s more memorable races and the decisive moment on which direction Jimmy would pursue.
In 1995, with Jimmy behind the wheel of the family backed car, he made the move up into the 358 class full time which proved fruitful as Jimmy captured the track championship at Brewerton Speedway that year.
By 1997, Jimmy had moved up into the Big Block Class.
The family campaigned the car for the next several years until 2005, when Jimmy got the opportunity to race for HBR on a full-time bases In the Super DIRTcar Series. This was the big break that Jimmy was striving for, but at the same time he wanted to keep the family racecar in action as they had done for so many years.
The opportunity to race for HBR was a great move and would mold Jimmy’s driving skills further as he competed against the best in Dirt track racing. This would prove true as Jimmy driving the Family back #99 car captured the 2007 Track championship at Cayuga County Fair Speedway, know call Weedsport Speedway.
For the next 10 years Jimmy would run the Super DIRTcar series for HBR along with running the family backed race car on the weekends at Fulton and Brewerton Speedways. There would be some great successes along the way with a track championship at both Fulton and Brewerton Speedways. In 2010, Jimmy would visit victory lane a total of 16 times, a banner year for Jimmy.
Over those 10 years, Jimmy would finish in the top five of the Super DIRTcar series nine times, coming ever so close to a championship seven of those times. Unfortunately, Jimmy has eluded this award over the years, testing his commitment to racing at times. “You strive hard each and every time you get in the car and you do see some success, but with some low points along the way. All you can do is learn during these harder times to improve your race program.”
2015 saw some sweeping changes for Jimmy and the family race team. As Jimmy and his family became more involved with the redevelopment of Weedsport Speedway, after Al Heinke of HBR Racing purchased the track in 2013, the decision was made to shut down Phelps Racing team. The team would consolidate with HBR and would race the 98H on a weekly basis at Fulton and Brewerton Speedways along with the Super DIRTcar series. These changes gave Jimmy more time to help develop the racing program at Weedsport, more time for family and work.
Jimmy picked up three more wins early on in 2016 but by mid season, saw further changes to their race program, switching from Troyer Race Cars, to Teo Pro. Most teams would make such a drastic change during the off season, giving them time to adjust, but with the wealth of knowledge in the HBR stables, Jimmy was back in victory lane at Fulton Speedway within a few weeks of the change. He would also race on to another win and the Brewerton track championship that year.
This year, Jimmy has picked up two feature wins at Fulton and one win at Brewerton, finishing second in points at both tracks. The 98H team is also sitting currently in sixth place in the Super DIRTcar series, heading into NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week.
Getting to know Jimmy over the last few weeks has shown me that he lives and breathes racing and has a clear vision of where he would like to be. One of the most approachable drivers on the Super DIRTcar series, Jimmy truly believes meeting and engaging with fans is important to the sport and that short track racing is the future of motor sports.
As Jimmy becomes more involved on the promotion side at Weedsport Speedway along with his on track racing, this 42-year-old shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon and still strives for that next big win.