His is a moving story
LOUDON, N.H. - Horace Greeley long ago may have counseled the ambitious to "Go west, young man," but Brian Ickler's ambition led him on a different path. The 22-year-old driver from San Diego put his career on a fast track by going from West to East Coast to compete in the Camping World East Series.
While racing full time last year in the Camping World West Series, Ickler made two East Series starts, at Dover, Del., and Mansfield, Ohio, and became enthralled with the notion of moving east to jump-start his career.
The rainout of yesterday's qualifying for today's Heluva Good! 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway wasn't about to dampen Ickler's spirits.
"I found out what a great series it was on the East Coast," said Ickler, who made a splash by winning in his second and third career starts in a Camping World East/West combination race at Iowa Speedway and an East race at South Boston, Va.
"The schedule that they had, they got to go to Dover, New Hampshire, Watkins Glen, so they [went to] great racetracks. That's what brought me out East: the tracks and the exposure it brings you and definitely the competition. There's definitely a lot of higher-quality cars and higher-caliber drivers on the East Coast."
The fact established Sprint Cup teams ran developmental drivers in the series was also a big selling point for Ickler. Austin Dillon, the 18-year-old grandson of Cup owner Richard Childress, is the series points leader, 55 ahead of Ickler (647-592). Jeffrey Earnhardt of the three-car Dale Earnhardt Inc. camp ranks fifth (570), just ahead of teammates Trevor Bayne (sixth, 556) and Jesus Hernandez (eighth, 545), while Marc Davis of Joe Gibbs Racing ranks seventh (552).
"Definitely, for a young driver coming up, what's better than racing against some of these teams?" said Ickler, who will start on the outside pole next to Dillon after the 36-car field was set according to points. "Joe Gibbs has cars here, Childress has cars here, so it definitely made me want to move up. It definitely made me feel like it was the right decision to move back East and race here against these Cup-supported teams."
Steve Park, 40, who ranks third in the points (590), returns to Loudon, where he competed in Whelen Modified Tour races and Busch North events.
"It's a good series to be a part of and it's changed so much since it was known as the Busch North Series," Park said. "There's guys with a lot of talent like Brian, and it's a great steppingstone for that. If you want to be discovered by these Sprint Cup guys, you need to come from the West, where he had a lot of wins, and come to the East Coast and do it in front of the eyes of guys like Childress and Joe Gibbs.
"I applaud him for doing that. When I was his age, if not younger, I had to push myself out there and make myself available and take the chances to try and garner the attention of the guy who's going to promote me and move me up in the series."
Park was noticed by none other than the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., who made the East Northport, N.Y., native one of the first drivers hired at DEI. But none of it would have happened had Park not made his mark in the Busch North Series.
"That's what Brian is doing," Park said. "He's second in the points right now . . . and he's proving to all the eyes who are watching him that he has the talent and deserves a chance at moving up to the next level."
Hossfeld No. 1
Chuck Hossfeld, the Whelen points leader from Ransomville, N.Y., will start today's New England 100 from the pole position after rain canceled qualifying. Unlike the East Series drivers, Whelen drivers were able get on the track for a 26-minute practice session, but it was brought to an abrupt halt by rain. Ed Flemke Jr. of Southington, Conn., turned the fastest practice lap in 126.926 miles per hour, while Reggie Ruggiero of Rocky Hill, Conn. (126.496), and Bobby Grigas of Marshfield, Mass., (126.103) were second and third . . . Jeff Fuller, the 1992 Whelen champion from Auburn, Mass., was tapped to replace Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch, who backed out at the last minute, in the No. 7 Chevrolet fielded by Cup crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion of Boylston, Mass. Fuller landed the 38th and last starting spot . . . Dillon explained why Team Dillon Racing parted ways with Andy Santerre Motorsports in Harrisburg, N.C.: in part to consolidate its race shop and move closer to his grandfather's shop in Welcome, N.C. Dillon said he and his crew had to commute an hour between Harrisburg and Welcome. According to one report on the Internet, Dillon said, "This is going to be a little less stressful for us. We weren't as prepared at the racetrack as we wanted to be." But Dillon refuted that remark, saying yesterday, "I had no problems with Andy and Sue [Santerre]. I saw on the Internet that I took a shot at Andy, but I never said that."
