Photo credit: Don SimpsonJimmy Phelps a great racing enthusiast
Jimmy Phelps a huge racing fan La
version française ici The small town of Baldwinsville, NY, with only a population of 7,500, is where Jimmy Phelps was born and raised, and he still often calls the House. Located on the outskirts of Syracuse, New York, this small town is surrounded by some of the greatest race tracks in the country such as Fulton, Brewerton Weedsport and the old Moody Mile. Jimmy grew up immersed in the world of motor racing watching his father, Andy and his uncle Roger at some of these tracks. Absorbed by his experiences over those years, helping out on the track on the weekends and working on the cars during the week, that's what shaped Jimmy to who he is today. 
At the age of 16, Jimmy started racing late, by today's standards, but already steeped in a racing atmosphere. The class of choice was the Street Stock 4-cylinder at one of his father's favorite tracks, Brewerton Speedway.
Jimmy quickly graduated from Street Stock to the Sportsman class for three years, when the opportunity came to drive his uncle's Modified in the 'Victoria 200' final. It turned out to be one of Jimmy's most memorable runs and the defining moment on the direction Jimmy would pursue. In 1995, with Jimmy driving the family's second car, he made the move to the 358 class full-time, which proved successful as Jimmy secured the track championship at Brewerton Speedway that year- the. In 1997 Jimmy made the jump to the Big Block class. He drove the family car for the next few years until 2005 when Jimmy got the opportunity to race with HBR on a regular basis in the Super DIRTcar series. Jimmy lived this big break,
The opportunity to race for HBR was beneficial, as it allowed him to improve his driving skills when racing against the best on clay. This would prove true as Jimmy, driving the second car in the #99 family that secured the 2007 track championship at Cayuga County Fair Speedway, heard the call from Weedsport Speedway. For the next 10 years, Jimmy continued to race in the Super DIRTcar series for HBR as well as the family's second car on weekends at Fulton and Brewerton Speedway. He had great success with a track championship at both Fulton and Brewerton Speedway. In 2010, Jimmy visited the winner's circle 16 times. It was a pivotal year for Jimmy. 
In those 10 years, Jimmy has finished in the top five of the Super DIRTcar series 9 times, and he's come close to winning the championship 7 of his 9 chances overall. Unfortunately, Jimmy has eluded that title over the years, sometimes testing his desire to continue racing. "You strive to face the challenges every time you get in the car and you see some successes there, but also some failures along the way. All you can do is learn during those difficult times to improve." In 2015 there were sweeping changes for Jimmy and the family racing team. As Jimmy and his family became more involved in the redevelopment of Weedsport Speedway, after HBR Racing's Al Heinke purchased the track in 2013, the decision was made to disband the Phelps Racing team. This team and HBR merged and they were going to race the 98H car on a regular basis at Fulton and Brewerton Speedway with the Super DIRTcar series. These changes have given Jimmy more time to help develop the racing program at Weedsport, more time for family and work. 
Jimmy took three more wins at the start of 2016, but mid-season saw further changes to his racing schedule, changing his Troyer Race Cars chassis to a Teo Pro. Most teams that had to make such drastic changes did so in the offseason, giving them time to adapt, but with the wealth of knowledge in the HBR stables, Jimmy was back in the circle of winners at Fulton Speedway only weeks away from this drastic change. He went on to pick up another win and the track championship from Brewerton that year. This year, Jimmy had two Finals wins at Fulton and one victory at Brewerton, finishing second in points at both tracks. Currently, the team 98H is ranked 6th in the Super DIRTcar series, as it heads into Super DIRT Week. Getting to know Jimmy over the past few weeks has shown me that he lives for the races and he has a clear vision of what he would like to achieve. One of the most approachable drivers in the Super DIRTcar series, Jimmy truly believes that meeting and interacting with fans is important to the sport and that small-track racing is the future of motorsport. . 
As Jimmy gets more involved in promoting Weedsport Speedway while racing at this track, the 42-year-old shows no signs of slowing down and he's putting in even more effort to secure his next big win.
At the age of 16, Jimmy started racing late, by today's standards, but already steeped in a racing atmosphere. The class of choice was the Street Stock 4-cylinder at one of his father's favorite tracks, Brewerton Speedway.Jimmy quickly graduated from Street Stock to the Sportsman class for three years, when the opportunity came to drive his uncle's Modified in the 'Victoria 200' final. It turned out to be one of Jimmy's most memorable runs and the defining moment on the direction Jimmy would pursue. In 1995, with Jimmy driving the family's second car, he made the move to the 358 class full-time, which proved successful as Jimmy secured the track championship at Brewerton Speedway that year- the. In 1997 Jimmy made the jump to the Big Block class. He drove the family car for the next few years until 2005 when Jimmy got the opportunity to race with HBR on a regular basis in the Super DIRTcar series. Jimmy lived this big break,
The opportunity to race for HBR was beneficial, as it allowed him to improve his driving skills when racing against the best on clay. This would prove true as Jimmy, driving the second car in the #99 family that secured the 2007 track championship at Cayuga County Fair Speedway, heard the call from Weedsport Speedway. For the next 10 years, Jimmy continued to race in the Super DIRTcar series for HBR as well as the family's second car on weekends at Fulton and Brewerton Speedway. He had great success with a track championship at both Fulton and Brewerton Speedway. In 2010, Jimmy visited the winner's circle 16 times. It was a pivotal year for Jimmy. In those 10 years, Jimmy has finished in the top five of the Super DIRTcar series 9 times, and he's come close to winning the championship 7 of his 9 chances overall. Unfortunately, Jimmy has eluded that title over the years, sometimes testing his desire to continue racing. "You strive to face the challenges every time you get in the car and you see some successes there, but also some failures along the way. All you can do is learn during those difficult times to improve." In 2015 there were sweeping changes for Jimmy and the family racing team. As Jimmy and his family became more involved in the redevelopment of Weedsport Speedway, after HBR Racing's Al Heinke purchased the track in 2013, the decision was made to disband the Phelps Racing team. This team and HBR merged and they were going to race the 98H car on a regular basis at Fulton and Brewerton Speedway with the Super DIRTcar series. These changes have given Jimmy more time to help develop the racing program at Weedsport, more time for family and work. Jimmy took three more wins at the start of 2016, but mid-season saw further changes to his racing schedule, changing his Troyer Race Cars chassis to a Teo Pro. Most teams that had to make such drastic changes did so in the offseason, giving them time to adapt, but with the wealth of knowledge in the HBR stables, Jimmy was back in the circle of winners at Fulton Speedway only weeks away from this drastic change. He went on to pick up another win and the track championship from Brewerton that year. This year, Jimmy had two Finals wins at Fulton and one victory at Brewerton, finishing second in points at both tracks. Currently, the team 98H is ranked 6th in the Super DIRTcar series, as it heads into Super DIRT Week. Getting to know Jimmy over the past few weeks has shown me that he lives for the races and he has a clear vision of what he would like to achieve. One of the most approachable drivers in the Super DIRTcar series, Jimmy truly believes that meeting and interacting with fans is important to the sport and that small-track racing is the future of motorsport. . As Jimmy gets more involved in promoting Weedsport Speedway while racing at this track, the 42-year-old shows no signs of slowing down and he's putting in even more effort to secure his next big win.
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