ST. JOHNS, Pa. (Dec. 12, 2002) - In any type of sport the quest for a championship always holds a certain degree of excitement and that was certainly the case at Mountain Speedway this year as seasoned veteran Brian Defebo edged Shaun Carrig for top honors in the Modified division by just a single point.

What really added to the thrilling outcome was nearly each week the point lead continued to swing back and forth among a host of drivers. It wasn’t until the checkered flag waved on the final regular season race that Defebo was officially crowed as champion.

While star drivers like Don Wagner, Matt Hirshman and Mike Adams where collecting multiple wins and others where also making single trip visits to Victory Lane, Defebo and Carrig instead relied on consistency. Neither driver had been able to squeeze out a feature win.

For Defebo he instead capitalized on a string of strong finishes over the final weeks of the year that saw him tally finishes no lower than third, which ultimately enabled him to notch the title.

“I’ve worked real hard the last four or five years with the Modified and winning the championship is just a neat feeling. It’s something that you set your mind to do. What’s very rewarding about this was all it was just my girlfriend and my mom each week and basically that was the crew. To go there and be able to do what we did, be consistent and finish up-front and finally win the championship, it felt good,” said 25-year old Defebo.

For Defebo, wining track titles is nothing new. Twice before he won division crowns. In 1994 and ’96 in the then Thriller class. This time however, the prize package was more gratifying.

“It’s a little bit more satisfying because it was with a Modified. There is a lot more work and time that goes into these cars. Back with the Street Stocks and Thriller cars that was more fun,” said Defebo.

The excitement was peaked going into the final point race. No less than five drivers had a shot at taking division honors.

“It was kind of aggravating because all year long we never had finished outside of the top three or four in qualifying races and you had to finish in the top three in your heat in order to get a good starting spot for the feature.

“It was the first time we finished fifth in a heat and then we started the furthest back in the field for the main out of all the point contenders. I thought my shot was done but we just stayed out of trouble and it worked out good. We kept running our own race and wound up finishing third,” recalled Defebo on his title winning run.

This year’s championship quest was indeed a hard fought journey. The Welsh Racing Team for which he drives for was shorthanded all season. Consisting of his mentor and teammate Ike Iddings, his car owner and mother Sophie Welsh and his girlfriend Brandi Senkus, the foursome made do each week and continued to hold there own.

But when you look back at how successful Defebo has been at the 1/3-mile paved oval over the years it was no surprise to see him as a title contender. In less then ten years he’s motored too nearly 40-career wins in just about every class of car. He credits much of his success from the help of Iddings who actually got him started in the sport.

“He’s just a great person to race against. He helps me no matter what, whether it’s preparing the car or setting up the car. We ran well together this year and it was a good year for us. He won two big races and I was able to win the points,” said Defebo.

Prior to handling the Modifieds, Defebo ran in full-fender cars and did extremely well. After starting out in the Thriller cars and notching two titles, he then moved into Late Models and was as smooth as can be with the transition, again winning handily. Defebo had an uncanny knack for wining all the extra distance events and for awhile was unstoppable during many of the late season big shows.

Later he would take his talent on the road and toured with several Late Model divisions and even had a stint with the NASCAR Busch North Series. Although he had the talent, the success never seemed to come along in that venture.

“The right opportunities just didn’t come along. It was one of those deals just like any other sport where you have 100,000 people that try to do it and only so many can make the grade. It’s like Winston Cup where only 43 drivers get to do it every weekend. It’s a tough business and you keep trying all the time.

“I just got wrapped up in a couple bad deals trying to run other peoples cars. It turns into a problem when you go out with a rookie driver with equipment that isn’t good enough to make a rookie driver look descent and then the whole operation looks bad,” said Defebo.

Afterwards Defebo regrouped and turned to the Modifeds. He returned to Mountain Speedway and was soon back on the winning track. Always looking to advance in his career and showcase his talents, Defebo has made several goes at the NASCAR Modified Tour as well.

“That (Modified Tour) opens your eyes. You’re running with the best Modified drivers in the northeast when you’re there. Everything is so close. When you go to qualify the whole field is separated by just 4/10’s of a second. To be a new driver and go to a new track with your own team that’s never been there it’s tough when you’re running against some very well funded teams who have been doing it the last ten-fifteen years. Their just excellent in what they do,” Defebo noted.

Now that Defebo is savoring another championship trophy in his collection, he is also gearing up for next season and plans are already in place.

“Our plans right now are to run Mountain Speedway again. Maybe not on a weekly basis but we’re going to go back and try to win races. I just got a new car that we are picking up this week and we’ll be busy getting it ready to run. We want to run some NASCAR Tour shows, maybe five or six. This way we can keep our name out there and gain more experience. No matter how much you know there’s always somebody that knows that much more and you just try to learn everyday,” explained Defebo.