Porter Finishes Third in Delaware Truck Championship
(Dorchester, Ontario) – Darrell Porter and his L-82 / Perth Auto Dismantlers / A & A Sanitation Chevy arrived at Delaware Speedway for the final event of the 2006 Challenger Truck Series on Friday of the Labour Day weekend. Porter entered the night 11 markers behind point leader Paul Fothergil and three back of Todd Powell.
The night started with heat race action and Porter rolled from the back of his qualifier. He made a couple of tremendous moves early and blasted through to a solid fourth-place finish and two bonus championship points, but Fothergil was able to claim second and extend the point lead to 13 heading into the feature. “I got caught in traffic once, and that kind of did me in. We have a good truck, and I think we’re going to be fast in the feature.”
The main event saw Porter start deep in the field, but as the field was coming around to put the first lap on the board; the # 8 machine was involved in a dustup off turn four. The contact flattened a tire and he blasted to the pits. “The guys did a great job. They got the tire changed for me and I didn’t lose a lap.”
He returned to action at the back of the field and by lap ten had cleared the back of the field and was up to sixth. He continued forging ahead, and when Paul Fothergil broke a motor while he was leading, it brought Porter back into the championship picture. Darrell was up to fourth and started to work on the third-place truck in front of him. Powell was fighting for the lead as well, and Darrell had to find a way around Todd, and win the feature to win the title.
With just five laps to go, Porter didn’t get enough bite off turn two and spun his Chevrolet to the infield. “When Paul blew up he might have left some oil on the track. I think I got into that when I spun.”. The caution came out and Darrell would have to restart at the back of the pack again.
In just two and a half miles, he was able to pass all but four trucks, to finish off a solid fifth-place run. “I was mad after I spun, and was determined to get back as many spots as I could. I made a few three-wide passes and still finished fifth. We would have liked to win our fourth feature of the season.”
Powell passed Kathleen Hosang with just five laps left and captured his first feature win of the season and the championship by 10 points over Fothergil. Porter finished one position behind Fothergil in third.
1. Powell, 2. Verberne, 3. Devon Bloemdal, 4. Tom Zagarodny, 5. Darrell Porter.
Points Standings – 1. Powell (973 points), 2. Fothergil (963), 3. Darrell Porter (962), 4. Matt Robblee (936), 5. Verberne (937).
Porter was thrilled with the 2006 season, despite coming up short in the championship chase. “We missed the first race of the season and still just missed on the championship, but I think more about the wins. We won three features, and had four second-place finishes, and a couple of thirds.”
Porter continued, “I really have to thank my crew guys. They gave me a great truck every night. I also have to thank all our sponsors for all their support all season.”
For more information about Darrell Porter, Porter Racing, or Delaware Speedway, please visit
www.team-porter-racing.piczo.com, or
www.delawarespeedway.com.
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