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CONCORD, NC - May 31, 2007 - Midwest dirt Late Model veteran Al Purkey has decided to follow the 2007 MARS DIRTcar Series schedule in 2007 for one primary reason.
"We're coming to make a run for the championship," said Purkey, who has never been a regular on the MARS tour. "That's what we want."
Of course, Purkey, 45, of Coffeyville, Kan., is well aware that pursuing the MARS points title means he'll have to unseat Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., and Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo. - the only two champions in the seven-year history of the MARS DIRTcar Series.
But it's a challenge he readily accepts.
"I know that number one, we have Bill and Terry to beat," said Purkey, who fields his own race team. "But I feel like we have our stuff in place to make a run at the championship.
"If I didn't think we had a legitimate shot at it, I wouldn't be doing it."
Purkey, who leads the MARS point standings entering the fourth points race of the season this Saturday night (June 2) at Missouri's Lebanon I-44 Speedway, boasts the type of sparkling credentials that make him arguably the biggest threat Frye and Phillips have ever faced. He's a proven championship racer, with series titles to his credit in seven of the last nine years, including the last four in succession.
After capturing five Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) crowns (1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006) and two National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) titles (2003, 2004), Purkey is in search of a new challenge with MARS. He entered the 2007 campaign with no concrete plans to follow a series, but his strong start with MARS - finishes of second, sixth and ninth in the three points races to date, plus a victory in the non-point, co-sanctioned 'Alphabet Soup' event on May 27 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. - prompted him to commit to the tour that falls under the DIRTcar Racing umbrella.
"It's something new, something different, and the money is better," Purkey said of racing with MARS. "I'm not saying money is what motivates me, but I've been racing professionally as a fulltime job since 1998 and, at the end of the day, I have bills to pay."
The opportunity to do what no one has done before - beat Frye and Phillips for the MARS championship - also got Purkey's competitive juices flowing towards MARS.
"With Terry and Bill having won all (the titles), it's time for somebody to come in and stir the pot up a little bit," Purkey said with a smile. "I think we can do that.
"Before the year's over, they're gonna know we've been there."
Purkey, who drives a self-owned Larry Shaw Race Cars chassis that carries sponsorship from Shaw, Hatfield Racing Engines, Afco Racing Shocks and VP Racing Fuels, has raced against Frye and Phillips many times over the past two decades.
"I know them both well," said Purkey, who has won over 100 features since 1997. "They're both tough, hard racers."
Purkey concedes that he'll have an experience disadvantage to Frye (MARS champ in 2001, '02, '03 and '06) and Phillips (MARS titlist in 2000, '04 and '05) at many of the tracks on this year's MARS tour, including Lebanon I-44 Speedway, which hosts the series five times.
"When I went to the first MARS race of the year at Lebanon (on May 5), it was just the third time I'd ever been there," said Purkey, who finished ninth that night after being slowed by a flat tire. "That's one of the tracks we're gonna concentrate real hard on this year, because the MARS championship will go through that place."
Purkey will have one MARS show on his home turf: a July 4 date at Mid-America Speedway, which is located in his hometown of Coffeyville, Kan.
"That'll be fun for us," he said. "We gotta go race some places where Bill and Terry have run a long time, so it'll be nice to run somewhere we're familiar with."
Purkey is primed for the championship battle that lies ahead.
"We're gonna do whatever it takes to win the big picture," said Purkey. "I want the championship, the big deal at the end.
"I feel that if Bill or Terry win (the title), everyone will be like, 'Well, O.K., they won again," he added. "But if Al Purkey wins it, it'll get more attention. It'll be like, 'He took it away from those guys.'"
For more information on the MARS DIRTcar Series, visit www.midamericaracingseries.com <http://www.midamericaracingseries.com/> .
MARS DIRTcar Series Point Standings:
1. Al Purkey 250
2. Jeremy Payne 248
3. Bill Frye 246
4. Jack Sullivan 243
5. Terry Phillips 238
6. (tie) Joey Mack 226
6. (tie) Brandon McCormick 226
8. Will Vaught 224
9. (tie) John Anderson 216
9. (tie) Billy James 216
11. Steve Rushin 207
12. Brad Looney 188
13. David Turner 181
14. Larry Jones 175
15. Gary Stolba 160
16. Reid Millard 115
17. Scott Drake 97
18. Jason Bodenhammer 59
19. David Barker 58
20. Dewaine Hottinger 57
This ought to be interesting.
God made dirt,man made asphalt.
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