PONTOON BEACH, IL – Aug. 22, 2007 – Terry Phillips continued his red-hot month of August, winning Wednesday night’s 40-lap MARS DIRTcar Series/UMP DIRTcar Racing Late Model Shootout at Tri-City Speedway.
 
The $5,000 triumph was Phillips’s second consecutive on the MARS tour after he went winless in the first 11 events of the 2007 season. He broke through for his initial victory on Aug. 11 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
 
Phillips, 41, of Springfield, Mo., was the evening’s dominant force. He blasted into the lead from the outside pole when the A-Main began and never looked back, leading every lap around the three-eighths-mile oval.
 
Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., who started fourth, made a late run at the top prize, but Phillips calmly stuck to the inside groove and beat the up-and-coming 20-year-old to the finish line.
 
Vaught, who earned 2006 MARS Rookie of the Year honors, settled for second place. The run elevated the young driver to the MARS points lead for the first time in his career – by three points over four-time tour champion Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., who advanced from the 14th starting spot to finish third, and 15 points over three-time champion Phillips.
 
Two-time UMP DIRTcar Racing Summernationals champion Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., finished fourth and 2006 UMP Late Model national champ Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., placed fifth.
 
Current UMP Late Model national points leader Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., finished sixth.
 
Phillips’s win came behind the wheel of an Andy’s Frozen Custard-sponsored GRT car that he debuted two weeks earlier at Lucas Oil Speedway. He also nearly drove the car to a $46,000 victory on Aug. 18 in the ‘Topless 100’ at Batesville Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark.; he lost the lead with only three laps to go due to a flat tire.
 
Phillips also reached a milestone on the MARS tour Wednesday night, recording his alltime series-leading 60th career win.
 
Springfield, Mo.’s Jeremy Payne, who drives a car from Phillips’s stable, entered the event ranked fourth in the MARS points standings, but he fell to fifth after his involvement in an accident left him with an 18th-place finish.
 
Thirty-six dirt Late Models were signed in for the event.
 
Heat winners were Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Vaught, Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., and Phillips, and Mark Faust of Brees, Ill., and Michael Kloos of Trenton, Ill., captured the B-Mains.
 
Moyer discovered terminal mechanical trouble in his machine after winning the first heat, forcing him to only take the A-Main green flag in his backup machine.
 
A four-race MARS DIRTcar Series swing continues on Thursday night (Aug. 23) at Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Speedway; Friday night (Aug. 24) at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway; and Saturday night (Aug. 25) at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo.
 
MARS DIRTcar Series/UMP Late Model Shootout Results (40 laps):
 
1. Terry Phillips
2. Will Vaught
3. Bill Frye
4. Shannon Babb
5. Randy Korte
6. Wes Steidinger
7. Rodney Melvin
8. Don O’Neal
9. Dennis Erb Jr.
10. Jack Sullivan
11. Kevin Cole
12. Tim Manville
13. Billy Faust
14. Brandon McCormick
15. Mike Hammerle
16. Steve Sheppard Jr.
17. Clay Baumann
18. Jeremy Payne
19. Michael Kloos
20. Peyton Taylor (for Steve Rushin)
21. Mark Faust
22. Jason Feger
23. Reid Millard
24. Billy Moyer
 
MARS DIRTcar Series Points Standings (as of Aug. 22):
 
1. Will Vaught 925
2. Bill Frye 922
3. Terry Phillips 910
4. Jack Sullivan 861
5. Jeremy Payne 850
6. Al Purkey 750
7. Brandon McCormick 734
8. Steve Rushin 638
9. Justin Wells 323
10. David Turner 320