Birthday: April 1
Wife: Shannon
Daughters: Ashley, Sadie, Chelsea
Favorite Track: Weedsport Speedway
Favorite Food: Mexican
Favorite TV Show: The Blacklist
Favorite Band: Pearl Jam
Favorite Team: Syracuse Orange
JIMMY PHELPS
Jimmy Phelps was born on April 1st, 1975 to parents Andy and Jeanette Phelps. The Baldwinsville, NY native began his racing career in the 4-cylinder division in 1991, but rapidly advanced up the racing ladder, moving into the 358 Modified division after just a few seasons, picking up the Brewerton Speedway 358 Modified title in 1995. In 1997, Jimmy moved into the Big Block Modified division, quickly finding even more success, picking up his first Modified championship at the Fulton Speedway in 1999. The early years of Phelps’ career saw success at a number of local speedways, with wins at Brewerton, Fulton, Weedsport Speedway, and Rolling Wheels Raceway, along with a Modified championship at Rolling Wheels in 2004, all aboard the family-owned #99J.
2005 saw Jimmy sign with Al Heinke and John Holland of H&H Racing to pilot the Troyer #98h house car. The team took on the full Super DIRTcar Series tour, finishing 9th in the final standings. In 2006, Phelps picked up his first Super DIRTcar Series win aboard the #98h Troyer on August 30th at Brewerton, and quickly backed it up with another 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series win at the famous Williams Grove Speedway. After placing 7th in the 2006 Series points, Phelps continued to improve on the tour, winning one race at Rolling Wheels and taking 4th in points in 2007, along with his second Fulton Speedway title. Jimmy continued his climb the following year, earning a career-best runner up finish in the standings with one win at Merrittville. 2009 saw Phelps finish third in points along with a win at Cornwall.
In 2010, Phelps set a career-high win total, gracing victory lane 16 total times, including wins at Orange County Fair Speedway, Mohawk International Speedway, Weedsport Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Phelps once again took 2nd in the season-long Super DIRTcar Series points battle, along with two track championships at Brewerton and Fulton. A late-race charge in the Syracuse 200 nearly grabbed Phelps his first Super Dirt Week trophy, a year after suffering a flat right rear tire while leading in the final laps of the event. Jimmy backed up his win at Mohawk the following season, along with another 3rd place finish in the standings. Phelps repeated this same performance in 2012, with a third Mohawk victory in a row, and another 3rd place points finish, but added a second Brewerton Speedway track championship.
Weedsport Speedway (then called Cayuga County Fair Speedway) ceased operations in the summer of 2011, with the exception of the yearly Super Dirt Week special in October, but for the remainder of the year, the facility sat dormant. However, this all changed in 2013, as Phelps’ car owner, Al Heinke of HBR, purchased the track and promptly appointed Phelps as promoter of the Speedway. The 358 Modified DIRTcar Series race during Super Dirt Week 2013 was the first event at Weedsport under the Heinke/Phelps reign, and proved to be an absolute success, with a very racy surface and large crowd. On the driving side of things, Phelps grabbed yet another podium finish in the Super DIRTcar Series points, with a 3rd, along with his first triumph in Fulton’s Outlaw 200. Over the winter, Phelps and crew made numerous improvements to the Weedsport Speedway, debuting the revamped Speedway with a 4th of July Sportsman event. Two more events were held at the Speedway in 2014, being the return of the Super DIRTcar Series in August and the annual Super Dirt Week event. Weedsport received rave reviews under Heinke and Phelps, and the team has since continued to upgrade, expand, and improve the track, with new seating, new clay, a new midway, expanded pits, among numerous other things.
Following a 4th place finish in Super DIRTcar Series points in 2014, Phelps and the HBR team decided it was time for a change. In 2015, Jimmy chose to park the family-owned #99J that he had piloted in weekly competition since the beginning of his career to drive the HBR #98h full time, rather than just specials and the Series. With the change, Phelps was able to return to victory lane on the Super DIRTcar Series, taking the checkered at the Albany Saratoga Speedway and 4th in points on the year. 2015 also marked the final year of auto racing at the Syracuse Mile, a track Jimmy had nearly conquered on many occasions, but was always kept from victory lane from a number of misfortunes. 2015 was another story, as Phelps, driving the famed “Mud Buss” #6 throwback paint scheme, was able to score the victory in the Salute To The Troops 150 for the 358 Modified Series. After some changes in the HBR stable during the off-season, Phelps and the HBR team came out of the gate guns blazing in 2016, picking up opening night victories at both Brewerton and Fulton. In July, the Super DIRTcar Series traveled to the Sharon Speedway in Ohio, where Jimmy picked up his first win on the tour in 2016 in dominating fashion. During the summer months, Phelps and team chose to switch up their package, choosing to part ways with Troyer Race Cars, who Phelps had driven for nearly the entirety of his career, in exchange for a brand new Teo Pro Car. Phelps took minimal time adjusting to the new chassis, scoring a victory at Fulton just a few weeks after the switch in August. September saw Phelps take his 3rd Brewerton Speedway title in style, winning the season points finale at the track. Later in the month, Jimmy took paid his first visit to the victory lane of Fonda Speedway, after leading wire-to-wire in the Super DIRTcar Series event. The very next week, Phelps parked it at Fulton for the second time in the prestigious Outlaw 200, rain shortened just 12 laps prior to the finish. Phelps ultimately finish 7th in Super DIRTcar Series points in 2016 with the HBR team.
In 2017, Phelps will compete weekly at the Brewerton and Fulton Speedways, where he has 16 and 23 career wins respectively at the two tracks, along with the full Super DIRTcar Series tour and duties as promoter at the Weedsport Speedway.