Super Clean Modified Series Presented by Lucas Oil

The SuperClean Modified Series will present round number three of their 2008 season this Saturday night, May 17th, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring. The event, presented by Poly Dome Plastic Products, will feature a field of 24 modified race cars running a 75 lap feature race.The big question of the night will be: can Jimmy Dickerson make it three series wins in a row?
 
The El Cajon-California driver has been on fire so far in the early going of the season and has appeared to be virtually unbeatable. On opening night, April 12th at the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe-California, Dickerson led 74 of the 75 laps of the feature race. In the second race, May 3d at the Havasu 95 Speedway in Lake Havasu City-Arizona, he made his winning move on lap 16 and never looked back. When asked if the team can make three for three at L-V, Dickerson smiled and said "that would be nice. The last time we were there it didn't work out too good for us but we've got a better car now and I think we have a pretty good shot at it."
 
Despite two awesome performances in a row, Dickerson isn't exactly running away with the series' points standings. While he currently leads the SuperClean Modified Series rankings with 100 points, there are three high quality drivers only eight points away from his lead. Chris Gerchman, Mike Salm and Andrew Phipps are currently in a three way tie for second with 92 points each. All three of them are looking forward to the opportunity to snap Dickerson's winning streak in Las Vegas this Saturday night.
 
Chris Gerchman's prominence in the series' points standings is based on a second and fourth place finish in the first two races. He will likely be carrying a little extra momentum with him to Las Vegas. While finishing fourth at the Havasu 95 Speedway race, Gerchman also wrapped up the speedway's regular season modified series track championship that night in a points battle that was much too close to call. After that evening he said "we're looking forward to going to Las Vegas with the SuperClean Series and we're going to try to get around that 61, (Dickerson), he's won two in a row now."
 
Mike Salm's 92 points in the SuperClean Modified standings are based on two consecutive third place finishes. Commenting on his upcoming trip to Las Vegas the Baldwin-California driver said "I'm really looking forward to Vegas. I haven't race there in probably ten years but the last race we ran there we had a really good time. I know that they've changed their track configuration a little bit so we might have to step up our motor program a little bit to run there but I also think our current suspension package will work there really good. We're definitely looking forward to it."
 
Andrew Phipps is also a major player in the SuperClean Modified Series' points standings. His accumulated 92 points are based on finishes of fourth and second in the first two events. Modified racing is a major change for the young Simi Valley native. Last year he was racing in the NASCAR sanctioned Super Late Model Series at the Irwindale Speedway but the continuous stress of maintaining such a high dollar effort was taking the fun out of his racing. Phipps seems to be having a good time in his SuperClean Modified and said "this is exactly what I wanted. We're competitive, we're fast and I'm hanging with the top guys in this series and we're going to win one of these races soon."
 
Another big factor in next Saturday night's race will be the track itself. The Las Vegas Bullring is a tightly wound three eighths of a mile semi banked oval that often challenges all drivers who race there. No one is more aware of that than Greg Scheidecker the Technical Director for the SuperClean Modified Series. who said "this track is going to be really new to the series because we have a situation where horsepower can really be a factor there because of the long straightaways. At the other tracks that the SuperClean Series has ran on tires and horsepower hasn't really been the issue that it's going to be at Las Vegas as well as Tuscon when we go there. It's going to be a little interesting, it's going to be educational for the series, the tech officials and the racers to find out just how competitive the racing is going to be on a bigger race track."
 
In addition to the title sponsor, the SuperClean Modified Racing Series is also supported by a well structured marketing concept known as Team Lucas which is comprised of Lucas Oil Products, Jim Beam, K&N Performance Filters, General Tire, Fatheadz Sunglasses, Dixie Chopper, Poly Dome Plastic Products, Hoosier Tire West, Sencon Concrete LLC, Torco Racing Fuels, Blue Water Resort and Casino, R&L Carriers, E3 Spark Plugs and Budweiser.

BY DAVE GRAYSON