BROCKVILLE, Ontario — When Tim Fuller last won at Brockville Ontario Speedway with the Super DIRTcar Series in 1996, he had not yet won his Super DIRTcar Series title, had not yet won at Super DIRT Week and had not yet been inducted into the Northeast DIRT Modified Hall of Fame.
It was also his first series win.
Almost 30 years later, as a series champion, as a Super DIRT Week champion and as a Hall of Famer, he returned to victory lane with the Super DIRTcar Series at the Canadian track Wednesday night — still as happy to win as he was with the first.
“It’s pretty cool, it really is,” Fuller said. “To be able to come back here and do this 27 years later, that’s a long time and a lot of laps. (I’ve had) the support of a lot of good people. They’ve stuck behind me through thick and thin and that’s what keeps everything going.”
The Canadian Classic at Brockville-Ontario Speedway was the Super DIRTcar Series’ first time back at the track since 2019.
Before the 75-lap event commenced, the redraw set the first nine starting spots with Chris Hile drawing the SRI Performance/Stock Car Steel Pole Award. Max McLaughlin started to his outside while current series points leader Matt Sheppard lined up fifth and Fuller seventh.
However, the Watertown, N.Y., driver didn’t stay in his seventh starting position long, making the most of his small block engine on the slick track.
Hile and McLaughlin dueled for the lead at the drop of the green flag with McLaughlin eventually winning the fight. Behind them, Fuller was picking off competitors one by one. He charged up to third place by lap 17.
While he marched, so did Tim Sears Jr. The Clay, N.Y., driver raced his way around McLaughlin for the lead on lap 20. Three laps later, Fuller also made his way past McLaughlin and then focused his energy on running down Sears.
Fuller kept in stride with the leader for the next 25 laps, close enough at times to reach out and touch Sears’ No. 83X. Using his instincts developed after three decades of racing, Fuller read the circumstances wisely, and patiently timed his next move.
“Sears Jr. was running a great race on top, but he was really heating up the right rear,” Fuller said. “The longer the race went, it was catering to me. It was getting more and more slippery and you couldn’t get on that brown on the outside. It was just coming to me because the track was going away. It goes right back to less horsepower and not spinning your tires.
“I got a run on him, and I finally cleared him. As the track went away, I had that advantage.”
After taking the lead on lap 50, Fuller showed no signs of slowing down, going into the final third of the 75-lap matchup full steam ahead.
He wasn’t out of the clear yet, though, as Sheppard, the nine-time and defending series champion, was also on the move, passing Sears for second on lap 55. It looked like the epic battle from Land of Legends Raceway on July 19 all over again where Sheppard finished second to Fuller.
Mat Williamson, currently second in series points battle, later found himself in the hunt as well, moving into third place on lap 58.
Neither Sheppard nor Williamson had the stamina for the No. 19 machine, as he held steady out in front, finishing the final 20 laps error free. He crossed the finish line more than two seconds ahead of Sheppard, his second series win of the season and second at Brockville Ontario Speedway.
Sheppard held on to finish second, his fourth second-place performance in the last six races. Sheppard tacked on five more points to his lead, returning to American soil with a 59-point lead.
“Tim was really good with that small block,” Sheppard said. “No one was beating him tonight. I had nothing for him. Fuller was the class of the field tonight and he deserved to win it.”
After recording two fifth-place finishes at Autodrome Drummond, Williamson finished in third to round out the podium, his seventh top-five finish of the year.
“On my end, I just need to qualify better,” Williamson said. “I need to qualify better, and do better in the heats, not unload back up cars, and I think we maybe would have won one of these races. But hats off to Tim Fuller. He’s won two races this year and he’s not a platinum driver, and he’s in the Hall of Fame now.”
Peter Britten rebounded back after suffering a DNF on Tuesday night at Autodrome Drummond to notch his sixth top-five finish of the season. Jimmy Phelps finished fifth — his fourth top five of the season.
Feature Results (75 Laps)
1. 19-Tim Fuller[7]; 2. 9S-Matt Sheppard[5]; 3. 88-Mat Williamson[10]; 4. 21A-Peter Britten[6]; 5. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[9]; 6. 35-Mike Mahaney[8]; 7. 5H-Chris Hile[1]; 8. 2-Jack Lehner[14]; 9. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[3]; 10. 8H-Max McLaughlin[2]; 11. 17X-Tristan Draper[17]; 12. 54-Steve Bernard[20]; 13. 21-Yan Bussiere[13]; 14. 44F-Johnathon Ferguson[16]; 15. 91-Felix Roy[19]; 16. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[18]; 17. 18-Kalen Draper[25]; 18. 12-Darren Smith[22]; 19. 99L-Larry Wight[12]; 20. 215-Adam Pierson[4]; 21. 52-Jessica Power[21]; 22. (DNF) 17D-Danny O’Brien[27]; 23. (DNF) 3RS-Erick Rudolph[15]; 24. (DNF) 38J-Jarrett Herbison[26]; 25. (DNF) 75J-Joe Banks[23]; 26. (DNF) 88L-Lee Ladouceur[24]; 27. (DNF) 66D-Kyle Dingwall[11]
Keyword: 27 Years Later, Fuller Returns To Brockville Victory Lane