Rides Still Open for 2009

In less than two weeks the dirt modified season officially kicks off in 2009 at Volusia Speedway, however, there are still some strong teams who haven't announced their drivers yet, or even if they plan to run in 2009.

First up, the Dick Biever Racing #14 big block modified, who ran in 2008 with Rick Laubach and captured wins at Bridgeport, Selinsgrove, and New Egypt, along with winning the inaugural NJ Dual Track Series title. Recently, the team announced that they had parted ways with driver Laubach, and has yet to announce his replacement. Doug Manmiller will drove the team's small block weekly at the Big Diamond Raceway, and could possibly run the car in big block specials as well, however, Manmiller will run a few big block specials with the Roger Updegrove Racing #00.

Tom Cullen Racing went from an unknown to a top-tier team with driver Willy Decker over the past few years. Together, Decker and Cullen won two Utica Rome Speedway championships, a Brewerton Speedway championship, and picked up two RoC Dirt Tour wins. Cullen had Matt Sheppard take over for Decker at the end of the year specials last season. It's possibly Sheppard could take over aboard the 1x in part-time only duty, or the team could announce a driver to run weekly. There's also been some talk that Cullen may sell off all his equipment.

Wilson Motorsports hasn't been the team they were in the mid-90s, however, they have been a respectable team in the 2000s. The team's highlight came in the late-90s when Ray Swinehart won the Grandview Speedway championship with the team. In 2008, John Willman took to the controls of the #16w as they returned to weekly competition at the Grandview Speedway after running in the big block division at Bridgeport for a few years. After a disappointing season with the team, Willman left the Wilson Motorsports ride at the Freedom 76er. Ray Swinehart could be a possible replacement for Willman in 2009, although, according to Randy Kane, the team may also sit out 2009 if they don't get sponsorship.

Finally, the Nick Noll #6n could still have Billy Pauch Jr behind the wheel, however, with the announcement that Pauch Jr would run big block specials with the Will Brown team, that seems unlikely. Pauch Jr. also has his hands full with the Bob Greene owned #8 modified which he will also be running in big block specials along with weekly action on Friday and Saturday nights. Noll's team became popular after an exceptional run a few years ago in the Rite-Aid 200 with Bobby Varin behind the wheel, before the team for disqualified for being light on the scales. Since Varin, Drew Ricco, and Eric Palmer have driven the cars at Orange County before Pauch Jr. took over late in 2008.