By Lee Ackerman
Heading into what the MLRA called their “Northern Swing” a four-race weekend which included I-80 Speedway and Sunset Speedway in Nebraska along with the Shelby County Speedway and the Crawford County Speedway in Iowa, Phillips had notched nine MLRA victories in 1996, but nobody was prepared for that weekend when Phillips swept the board on his way to a second MLRA Championship.
On August 7, the CFI Midwest Late Model Racing Series kicked off the “Northern Swing” at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Neb. Phillips started things off by winning the fourth heat followed by Wayne Brooks and Bill Street. This put him on the front row for the feature alongside veteran Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan.
Purkey got the drop at the green flag and lead the first circuit and led until a lap 2 caution waved for Jack Simmons. On the restart, Phillips ducked under Purkey in turn two to take the lead, a lead he would not surrender for the rest of the race. Jeff Floyd followed Phillips lead and also got around Purkey for second. After four laps it was Phillips, Floyd, Purkey, Donnie Barnhard and Joe Kosiski.
On lap 5 the caution waved again, this time for Alan Vaughn who had stopped in turn four. On the restart Kosiski started to march to the front passing Barnhardt on lap 8, then getting past Purkey for third and finally getting under Floyd for second. Meanwhile, Phillips had opened up a straightaway lead while Kosiski and Floyd battled it out side-by-side on lap 12 with Kosiski prevailing.
By lap 15, Phillips was in traffic when the yellow waved again, this time for Al Zeitner, who’s engine let go and he coasted to a stop on the frontstretch. When the green waved again Phillips maintained the point with Kosiski in second while Floyd, Purkey and Barnhardt went three-wide for third. Then Wayne Brooks started his charge getting by Purkey for fifth on lap 18, then Floyd spun in turn two after being hit by a weight that dropped from another car and he lost control.
Phillips would maintain his lead for the rest of the race with Brooks getting by Kosiski for second. At the checkers it was Phillips, Brooks, Kosiski, Johnny Saathoff and Denny Felker.
The next night the track visited the legendary Sunset Speedway in Omaha, Neb. This time Phillips had to settle for a third-place finish in his heat behind two local legends, Joe Kosiski and Kyle Berck. This finish would relegate Phillips to a fourth row starting position in the feature.
Joe and Steve Kosiski would start on the front row for the feature and Joe got the lead when the green waved. Alan Vaughn would get around Steve coming off four on the first lap. Terry Phillips was on the move and was up to fifth by lap 2 and then he passed Denny Felker for fourth before the yellow waved for a stalled John Anderson.
When the green waved again, Berck and Steve Kosiski swapped third back and forth with Steve securing the position. On lap 7, Terry Phillips moved by Denny Felker for fifth while Steve Kosiski took second place back from Alan Vaughn on the backstretch. On the next lap it was Berck passed Vaughn.
Berck and Steve Kosiski were back battling it out for second with Berck taking the spot on lap 10. On lap 16 Phillips got by Vaughn for fourth and on the next lap the caution waved for Wayne Brooks. When the green waved again Joe Kosiski had his hands full fighting off the challenges of Kyle Berck and on lap 26 Phillips moved by Steve Kosiski for third.
After another caution flag on lap 29, Phillips continued his march to the front as he charged under Berck coming out of four on lap 31 to take second. Phillips then moved up to challenge Joe Kosiski. With Phillips up high and Kosiski on the bottom the two battled it out and on lap 35 Phillips went to the front.
Over the last five laps Phillips opened a five-car length lead and took home the victory. At the line it was Phillips, Joe Kosiski, Kyle Berck, Steve Kosiski and Rex McCroskey. “I remember we had a tough time holding on that first night,” recalls Phillips.
Action then moved to the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa, for round three of the MLRA Northern Swing. Heat race wins went to Phillips, Al Purkey and David Gibson. Jewell, Iowa’s Mike Jewell held the pole for the feature with David Gibson to the outside. Gibson grabbed the lead when the green waved with Smith and Donnie Barnhardt battling it out for second.
Barnhardt took second coming off turn four with Phillips going to third past Smith on lap 2. On the next circuit Jeff Floyd got by Smith for fourth. Gibson was able to stretch out his lead to several car lengths over Barnhardt by lap 6. On the next lap Phillips dove under Barnhardt in turn two to wrestle away the second position and before he crossed the line he was in the lead.
By lap 10 Phillips had distanced himself from the field and was into lapped traffic by lap 11. By lap 20, the midway point of the race, Phillips had a straightaway lead and by races’ end in the 40-lap caution free event he had lapped up through seventh place. At the line it was Phillips, Barnhardt, Gibson, McCloskey and Joe Kosiski as Phillips picked up another check of $2,500 plus an additional $150 from GRT race cars.
The final stop on the MLRA Northern Swing was the big 5/8-mile oval of the Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa. Heat race wins went to Joe Kosiski, Phillips, and Mike Smith with Kosiski being the Larry Shaw Race Cars top qualifier and Phillips starting outside the front row.
At the waving of the green flag Phillips immediately grabbed the lead with Kosiski, McCroskey, Gibson and Felker in pursuit. Felker would get by Gibson for fourth as the first lap came to an end and then grabbed third from McCroskey on the next circuit. Up front, Phillips had opened a 20-car lead over Kosiski by lap 5 and by lap 7 was already in lapped traffic.
The first caution waved on lap 10 for Ken Essary, who came to a stop with a broken rear end. On the restart Phillips quickly opened up a 15-car-length lead over Kosiski before the caution waved again on lap 15. When the green waved again, Phillips immediately opened up a similar lead. By lap 20 Phillips had a full straightaway lead over Kosiski and was once again lapping traffic.
A lap 33 yellow for caution seemed to be the only thing that could slow Phillips down. As the race went green again, Phillips distanced himself from the field and drove off with his fourth win of the weekend. “We made some adjustments before the final two races, and we were able to win fairly comfortably,” stated Phillips.
When Phillips headed back to Springfield, he had won over $11,000 for the weekend, had 13 MLRA feature wins on the season and had extended his points lead to 74 over Alan Vaughn on his way to claiming his second MLRA Championship. It was truly a dominating performance by the driver who has dominated the MLRA since he started driving Dirt Late Models.
“Nobody had ever won three MLRA features in a row, so we got a bonus for doing that,” recalls Phillips.
Terry Phillips at Shelby County Speedway. - Jerry Adams Photo
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