Super DIRTcar Series driver Jimmy Phelps’ recent lack of success at Weedsport Speedway has been “almost comical” in his opinion.
At the start of Phelps’ modified career during the mid-’90s, Weedsport was one of the tracks where he enjoyed the most success. As a native of Baldwinsville, N.Y., it was also about 20 minutes from home.
In 2013, Phelps became the track promoter at Weedsport to help bring the speedway back to prominence. But despite a series of good runs behind the wheel of his big-block modified, Phelps hadn’t celebrated a win at his home track since 2015.
“It got to the point where it was almost comical. We spend half our life at the property, and then we get to the point where we can’t win anymore,” Phelps said with a laugh.
However, Weedsport had not forgotten the driver. At the Hall of Fame 100 in mid-August of this year, the magic of the speedway returned as Phelps won his first points-paying race in nearly three years.
“It was just a huge relief,” Phelps said. And to have it be a points-paying race was even sweeter. He added, “Those [wins] are getting extremely hard to come by. When you look at the tally at the end of the year, there’s only a handful of guys winning ’em.”
With his victory last month, Phelps also secured a guaranteed spot for the 50th running of the NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week Oct. 3-9 at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway. Another sigh of relief for the Heinke-Baldwin Racing driver.
Phelps is no stranger to Super DIRT Week competition — he’s a 26-year veteran of the series and was a Super DIRT Week champion in 2015 when he won the 358 modified category. But in this day and age, his preparation for the event doesn’t look much different than the younger competition the 47-year-old driver is facing.
“There’s so much information available to even the new teams, you’re definitely in the same boat to some extent,” Phelps said. “Everybody’s working hard to bring the best car, the best maintained car, that’s going to stay together the whole week.”
He keeps his plan for Super DIRT Week simple: make sure the car is fast but comfortable, stay clean through qualifying and secure a good starting position.
It’s not until the green flag waves that the strategy shifts.
With 404 starts and 22 wins to his name, Phelps plans to rely on his past driving experiences to get through the on-track mayhem at Oswego.
“Hopefully that can help us make smarter decisions,” Phelps said. “We’ve lost this race about every way you can lose it, so there’s a lot to be learned from that.”
He’s arrived at Super DIRT Week with a fast car, but came away without much to show for it. He’s had a number of top finishes. He’s survived and he’s struggled.
While Phelps doesn’t believe that his history at the event gives him much of an edge, it’s safe to say that whatever comes his way at Super DIRT Week, he’s probably been through it before. The ability to adapt calmly and confidently during the race may come in handy as he contends for the win — and that’s what he’s shooting for this year.
“We want to win. We’ve come close, but yeah, that’s the goal,” Phelps said.