By Don Simpson
For over 50 years, the Fuller family has been an integral part of the racing community in the Northeast. Tim Fuller, who carries on the family legacy, is currently preparing for the upcoming 2024 season. Like last season, Tim will be committed to his home track but will see where things will take him as the season evolves after that.
“I’m planning to race Can-Am weekly, but after that, we will pick and choose where we go—a few races at Airborne and Mohawk, or Cornwall, along with some bigger series shows. We’ll see how the season unfolds,” Tim explained.
Tim, the defending track champion at Can-Am Speedway, is preparing to defend his title, which will begin at the regular division season opener on April 17, 2024. This is the 50th anniversary season of the Speedway.
The Fuller family’s racing legacy dates back to the 1960s, when Wayne Fuller, Tim’s father, started racing. Wayne was a frequent racer at Evans Mills Speedway, located close to their hometown. He raced there for several years and also participated in races at the Watertown Speedway.During the next few years, Wayne raced his local track, Evans Mills, in the Sportsman Division. Wayne picked up his first win at his home track in 1968. He’d go on to achieve 10 top-three finishes, which included three feature wins at Evans Mills. By 1973, the track was transforming from dirt to asphalt, which eventually swayed Wayne to hang up his helmet.
Upon Wayne’s retirement, his brother Doug Fuller picked up the torch to carry on the family race tradition by the mid-70s. Doug had a long career in racing, close to 30 years when, in 2005, he retired from the sport.
But one of the biggest highlights of Doug’s years in racing would be the influence he had on his nephew, Tim Fuller. During those years, Doug was to be one of Tim’s most influential mentors.
Tim started racing at Fulton Speedway in 1988, while Doug was also competing on the same track. Tim participated in the Pure Stock class. Tim won his first race of his career within weeks of his first season of racing.
Tim drove his 74 Pure Stock, which carried the same number as his father’s car, for the next two seasons in the Pure Stock class. Tim campaigned the car at Fulton and Evans Mills Speedways. He later started racing at the Can-Am Speedway as well, just a short drive from his hometown. He won 24 Pure Stock features during those years before moving up into the Sportsman Modified division.
In 1990, Tim moved up into the Sportsman Modified division for just one season. He raced mainly at Can-Am but also at Fulton and Evans Mills. During the annual DIRTcar 358 Modified show at Evans Mills, Tim chose to race his Sportsman car. He won that late June show, beating out the best of the class. That season, Tim managed to secure a total of four feature wins in the Sportsman division, out of which three were at Can-Am Speedway.
The following season, in 1991, Tim moved up into the 358 Modified division, keeping most of his racing efforts to his local tracks at Evans Mills Speedway and Can-Am Speedway. Over the next four years, Tim secured 26 feature events between Evans Mills and Can-Am Speedway.
In 1992 and 1993, Tim won back-to-back track championships at Evans Mills Speedway. That same year, in 1993, he won his first Mr. DIRT 358 Modified title, confirming the talent of this young driver from New York State. He adopted the number 19 on his car in 1992, replacing the family number 74, still displayed on his uncle’s car, Doug Fuller.
During the decade spanning from 1990 to 2000, Tim won a total of 61 feature races. Throughout this period, the tracks and organizations governing the sport increased the lap length from 25 laps in the early 90s to an average of 35 laps by the end of the decade. However, these changes did not hinder Tim’s ability to continue winning races.
The biggest win during this time would come at Fulton Speedway in 1998, when Tim overcame all challenges and won the Victoria 200, fondly known today as the Outlaw 200. The win came at one of Tim’s favorite tracks and remains so to this day.
“I really like Fulton; it’s a racy track, and there is just something about the track I like. Over the years, Fulton has been good to me,” Fuller said.
But the next decade would be even more rewarding for the now-well-honed cagy driver.
Tim’s success to this date goes back to the support of his family, but also to his friend and mentor, Bob McCreadie, who helped steer Tim in the right direction in his early years to become a driver on top of his game.
During the 2000’s, Tim would begin catching the eye of owners who saw his potential. His partnership with Bob Faust was particularly successful, beginning in 2000 and lasting for five years. Tim had some of his best seasons under the wings of Bob and Michele Faust. Tim won the 2003 Mr. DIRT Series in 2003, and he repeated this in 2005.
Fuller soon reached the pinnacle of his capabilities, having spent numerous seasons honing his skills. Tim’s long-time ambition was fulfilled in 2004 when he triumphed over the best in dirt track racing, winning the 2004 Eckerd 200 race at Super DIRT Week with car owners Bob and Michele Faust. Tim also won the Victoria 200 earlier that year at Fulton. Tim captured 19 races that year, with six of the events lasting 50 laps or more—an outstanding season.
The 2005 season was a close repeat of 2004, with 18 feature wins, seven of which were over 50-lap features. A repeat of the 200 at Fulton was the highlight of the season, along with the win at Super DIRT Week in the 358 feature. The partnership with the Faust family ended when Bob decided to retire from racing.
For the next two seasons, 2006 and 2007, Tim drove for John Lazore, and the two collaborated in campaigning the car, where they picked up 25 feature wins. The partnership between John and Tim was more of a friendship than Tim just being a hired gun.
John said, “You could not get a better guy to drive for you. Tim worked with what he was given, never abused the car, and was a clean racer. And if mistakes were made, he was the first to admit them. To this day, I have the utmost respect for Tim. Our working relationship as car owner and driver has become more of a friendship than anything. We just worked well together. Tim was the one who taught me about racing. He was a great teacher. I have so many good memories of racing with Tim that it is hard to describe them all. For me, Tim’s a good friend—the kind of friend if you say you had a problem with your car on the side of the road and needed help, I would call Tim!”
The 2007 season was tough for Tim. He led the points in the Super DIRTcar Series with three feature wins, the most disappointing moment came at Middletown.
“After leading the points battle for a good part of the season,” Lazora recalls, “we had a decent finish the week before, with a feature win at Rolling Wheels and Can-Am and a fourth at Syracuse. But there were a few problems with the car afterward, which Tim noticed once the car was back at the shop. We went into Eastern States leading in points, and all we had to do was finish the race. If I recall, all was going well until lap 120, when the motor went south, handing the championship to Brett Hearn. It was definitely a disappointing moment, but Tim, always professional, acknowledged he had made a bad decision with the motor.”
But the thing that stood out in 2007 was winning the Late Model World of Outlaws race at River Cities, N.D. Car owner John Wight offered Tim the ride mid-season. Tim, of course, jumped at the opportunity. Leading up to this offer, Tim had done some testing with the car months prior, and the gamble paid off by winning. Tim would win the World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year.
This moment led Tim to move up to race in the World of Outlaws with car owner John Wight of Gypsum Racing. The partnership lasted until 2011, when the two went their separate ways. Tim won 18 features racing for Gypsum Racing.
Things would change in 2012 when John Kennedy of Kennedy Motorsports brought Tim on board. The group saw the potential of what Tim could bring to the table and thought it would be a big help to the racing program. Tim drove alongside teammate Shane Clanton.
The partnership at Kennedy Motorsports lasted only two seasons, until the end of 2014. However, during this time, Tim visited Victory Lane eight times. For Tim, the prestige and dream of running with the World of Outlaws were over. It takes deep pockets to run this tour without financial backing.
During the years Tim was racing with the World of Outlaws, he kept his presence known within the Modified ranks, driving for car owners Joe Knoth and Steve Hasting at selected events. Tim wheeled the car number 74 through the years 2009–2014, bringing home four feature wins to add to his then-growing resume.
By 2015, Tim had been racing for 27 seasons in total, and in all that time, he had never missed a visit to victory lane in a season, which is rare if you look at all the stats. Tim returned to his roots of racing Modifieds. For the next two seasons, Tim bounced back and forth between Rauscher Racing and Thompson Motorsports.
In 2017, Michael and Barbra Maresca Racing brought Tim into their stables, and he has raced there since. Over this time, Tim has secured sixty feature wins, along with five track championships.
This past season, 2023, Tim won the hat trick at Can-Am Speedway, taking home his third track championship in a row. Tim picked up 10 feature wins over the season, but the icing on the cake was for Tim to be inducted into the DIRT Hall of Fame.
Tim said, “I didn’t think I was that old because the hall of fame is usually for older drivers, but I guess I’m getting old.”
Having watched Tim race for more than a decade, I can honestly say it was a joy to witness his driving skills and smoothness behind the wheel, which are often unmatched. Tim is a humble person who avoids attention and always arrives at the track well-prepared and ready to race, making him a true professional. He can surprise everyone by challenging out of nowhere for the win at any given track.
I asked Tim about his wins and what was most memorable over the years.
He said, “It is hard to remember all the stats from those days as a lot of the records have since gone missing, plus the fact that a lot of tracks were independent and did not keep their stats. As for the most memorable, it’s hard to explain, as there is just so much. But the one thing was meeting all the people during my travels and the places I got to see. Racing with the World of Outlaws, there is a lot of traveling, and I got the opportunity to see many places that I wouldn’t have been able to visit otherwise.”
This year, Tim will be starting his 37th season of racing. Over those years, Tim has traveled the country doing what he loves: racing. He has achieved 278 victories during this time, leaving a great legacy. But if you consider that Tim is still young and on top of his game, he will without a doubt change the record book in the coming years as he continues to pursue his passion for racing.
