|
"We're going at it wide-open," said Fuller, who will attempt to become the first driver in WoO LMS history to capture the top rookie award and points title in successive seasons. "Look, I think a championship might be a little far out there yet. I know that winning it is gonna take the kind of unbelievable consistency that Steve Francis had last year, and I don't know if we're at that level of consistency yet considering how long I've been running a Late Model.
"But our goal is always a championship, so all you can do is try to win it."
Fuller, 40, of Watertown, N.Y., certainly enters the season-opening WoO LMS events, on Feb. 14 and 16 during the 37th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., with loads more confidence than he did in 2007. That's because he's actually prepared for a grueling season on the road with the Outlaws.
Last year, Fuller entered 37 of 45 WoO LMS programs, won once (on June 12 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D.), captured the $10,000 Rookie of the Year crown and finished eighth in the points standings, but it was all effectively a sideline - an ambitious sideline, but a sideline nonetheless. He was a DIRTcar big-block Modified driver first; even as his dirt Late Model program and activity grew with car owner John Wight and sponsor John Lazore, his primary focus remained the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for the big-block Modifieds.
This year Fuller, who finished second in the overall 2007 Mr. DIRTcar Modified points standings due to an engine malfunction in the season finale that knocked him from the points lead, is a true fulltime dirt Late Model chauffeur for the first time. His only big-block Modified starts will be in events that fit his dirt Late Model schedule.
As a result of his unquestioned concentration on full-fender racing for 2008, Fuller and his chief mechanic, Mike 'Smoke' Countryman, have had a very productive off-season in the shop. Contrast that with the previous winter, when they did little to gear up for dirt Late Model competition.
"When we went to (the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals) last year, we had one car," said Fuller. "Not that it really mattered anyway - we still didn't even know what we were doing with the Late Model.
"It wasn't until after we got back from Florida that we started to get serious about running more Late Model shows. Then, over the course of the summer while we were racing, we basically built a whole Late Model team from scratch.
"This winter we've just accumulated more things, so we're ready to go. We've come a long way in a year."
A former Mr. DIRTcar Modified champion and victor of the $50,000-to-win Rite Aid 200 Modified classic at the Syracuse (N.Y.) Mile, Fuller heads into '08 with two Rocket Chassis cars (one is new), a half-dozen engines constructed by well-known DIRTcar Modified builder Kevin Enders of Phoenix, N.Y., and a Custom powerplant that he obtained from Steve Francis last April.
The particulars of Fuller's dirt Late Model effort are pretty much status-quo from '07 - and "that's a good thing," he said. All the racing equipment is owned by Wight, an upstate New York trucking company magnate who also fields a dirt Late Model for Billy Decker of Unadilla, N.Y., and several DIRTcar Modifieds (including one for his 15-year-old son Larry, who might make his dirt Late Model debut sometime in '08). The hauler and tools used by Fuller, meanwhile, are provided by Lazore, a native American businessman and DIRTcar 358-Modified racer who backs Fuller's DIRTcar Modified operation.
Fuller's cars also remain red and carry the No. 19 and Wight's Gypsum Express/Gypsum Wholesalers logos, but there is one noticeable sponsorship addition. Now displayed on the quarters of Fuller's machines is StreetWise FightWear, which is likely one of the most unique sponsors on the dirt Late Model scene. The central New York-based company is "dedicated to providing customers with the highest quality fightwear available to Boxing, Kickboxing, Jui-Jitsu and Muay Thai students and professionals worldwide" and also provides professional training to fighters and bodyguard services.
It all adds up to a formidable program for Fuller, who is shooting to become the second driver with DIRTcar big-block Modified roots to win the WoO LMS title in the last three years. He is following in the tire tracks of 2006 WoO LMS champ Tim McCreadie, also of Watertown, N.Y., and a racer who turned plenty of big-block Modified laps in competition with Fuller before moving to dirt Late Models.
McCreadie's WoO LMS progression went from the Rookie of the Year crown (without an A-Main win) and a 12th-place points finish in 2004 to a tour-leading eight wins and a third-place points finish in 2005 to two wins and the title in '06. Can Fuller out-do McCreadie by going directly from Rookie of the Year to champion?
Well, if Fuller's performance in the last 23 starts of his '07 WoO LMS season - he had an impressive 11 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes over that span - isn't enough proof enough of his prospects for the upcoming tour, then his early '08 returns should do the trick. He's been very strong in the 'Super Bowl of Racing' at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., racking up four top-five finishes in the five events run to date.
"We're off to a good start," said Fuller, whose daughter, Ainsley, recently turned three. "I'm excited about this season. Last we didn't even know what we were looking for (with the Late Model) when we started, but now we have some notes and I'm more accustomed to the Late Models.
"There's still times when we mess up on tires (selection), but now we at least know what we're doing with the car. I feel like we're at a point now where we can be a contender everywhere we go."
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
Tickets for the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals are available on-line at www.volusiaspeedwaypark.com.
Fans unable to attend the spectacular week at Volusia can still catch all the action on the DIRTVision Cybercast. For just $29.99 fans can purchase the 'Alltel DIRTcar Nationals Racepass' and watch live streaming video of all 12 nights of racing action from Feb. 5-16. Log on to www.dirtvision.com for more information.
|
