The Late Model portion of the Federated Auto Parks DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park opened up on Monday night, February 13th with Hudson O'Neal winning a thrilling twenty five lap Late Model feature that saw four different leaders in just the twenty five laps of this event while the USAC Sprints made their Volusia start with Jake Swanson dominating that feature race.
The Late Models will run two more nights under UMP DIRTcar sanctioning before the World of Outlaws Late Models take over on Thursday night while the USAC Sprints will run one more non point race on Tuesday before they head West to Bubba Raceway to start their point season and are replaced at Volusia by the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds for the rest of the week.
Under sunny skies but with cool temperatures, the Late Models and Sprints would both begin their runs on Monday. Forty six Late Models would sign in to race on Monday night, just one less that for last year's opening night show. However, along with the forty six on hand racing, there were a number of other drivers on hand, waiting later in the week to reveal their hands, just as was done at East Bay. Having cars on hand but either waiting or doing mechanical maintenance work on their machines were Johnny Scott, Dale McDowell, Gordy Gundaker, Chase Junghans, Jimmy Owens, Tanner English, Ryan Gustin and Kyle Larson so when when everyone gets on the track together there will be somewhere close to sixty cars competing.
The format for opening night would see the Late Models divided into four groups, where they would qualify against each other. Four heat races would move a total of twenty drivers into the main and two each would come out of two Last Chance races. Heat races would be lined straight up off time trials with Brandon Overton the quickest overall at 15.784 seconds. There would be no provisional starters on opening night as you had to race your way into the show or watch from the sidelines, something that seems only eminently fair.
The opening night feature would have a seven grand top prize on the line and since they would be racing for the smaller purse, they only went twenty five laps in the main event. With the track fast and smooth but wide, it seemed like only twenty five laps would not be enough time for much racing to take place and I was fully expecting a very quick race with perhaps not a lead change to be seen in this quick burst of a race.
Boy, was I wrong! Instead we saw what was arguably the best Late Model race since they came to Florida as the drivers put on a fantastic race. There was a total of four lead changes in those short twenty five laps among four different drivers and winner O'Neal came from the third row to take the victory.
Bobby Pierce sat on the pole and my thoughts were before the race that he would lead all twenty five laps after being very quick in his heat. Pierce did lead the opening lap but surprisingly, Nick Hoffman would drive around him on lap two to grab the lead away from Pierce. The top five or six drivers were running tight in front and only four laps later it would be Tim McCreadie that would grab the top spot away from Hoffman.
By the halfway point of the race, McCreadie was under the gun as Pierce was again pushing him hard while O'Neal had worked his way up to third with some big passes on Chris Madden and Hoffman. One lap past halfway, Pierce would dive back under McCreadie to retake the lead as the front running cars started to work through traffic. However, the passing wasn't done yet as just one lap later the charging O'Neal would make the move of the race as he split McCreadie and Pierce while also moving past a lapped car to fly up into the lead from third, one in one swoop.
After that, O'Neal would lead the last ten laps of the race, although when O'Neal had to fight his way through traffic at the end, McCreadie again closed to within a couple of car lengths of the winner. The passing throughout the pack continued, as Madden was also marching forward as he would get by Hoffman to finish third and Ricky Thornton Jr would make a monster rush, coming from twenty second to complete the top five with only a single yellow, on lap five by Frankie Heckenast Jr, to help his charge. Pierce, after leading early, would fade bad the later laps and was passed by Brandon Overton for sixth as the race concluded.
No doubt this was the best Late Model race that I had seen in over a month as it isn't too many times when you will see the race lead change so many times, particularly with different drivers involved on what was a finely prepared racing surface. Only three drivers didn't finish the event and only four weren't on the lead lap.
The USAC Sprints were making their first appearance as a part of the DIRTcar Nationals as last year the non winged Sprints ran under a different sanctioning body. It would be the first appearance for USAC at Volusia in many years and the first time they had been a part of the Nationals. Their two races are special events this year and not points shows but virtually all the drivers that race here the next two nights will be USAC regulars once their season begins.
Twenty eight open wheel drivers would sign in for their portion of the show and while I'm not a fan of multi division shows here, preferring those shows where Late Models, Modifieds or whatever class is the featured division, to get a show of their own, the Sprints did a great job of being ready to be pushed off, getting their portion of the show started quickly and smoothly and most important, running off races without a lot of yellows.
Kyle Cummings would set a new track record in qualifying for the USAC Sprints, turning a lap at 16.398 seconds as all twenty eight cars would take time. The program would see three heats, moving the top five up and then a B Feature with the top seven moving on. This would set up a twenty two car field for their main event.
USAC sets their lineups just a bit different than the rest of the world with B Feature qualifiers getting their time trial spots back and the top six inverted for the main event. So California driver Jake Swanson would start on the pole and would eventually dominate the race, leading all twenty five laps.
He would blast out to a big lead, eventually opening it up to over four seconds as no one could stay with him. Chase Stockon, Brady Bacon and Thomas Meseraull would have a good three car battle for second. Meseraull would move into that spot for awhile but then Stockon would pass him.
On lap seventeen, the lone yellow of the event would wave when Meseraull would roll to a halt with a flat tire and bunch up the field once again, which would cost Swanson a big lead.
However, he didn't let that bother him as he once again pulled away from the field, riding the cushion on the slick track that still had a nice berm on the top side. While Swanson pulled away for the win, the show at the end was Robert Ballou who made a late charge through the field and with a big slider on the last lap, passed Stockon for the second spot. Stockon would hold on for third over Bacon and Justin Grant who started fourteeth. Only two cars wouldn't see the checkered and there was just the one lone yellow to slow the contest.
As usual, the DIRTcar Nationals is favored by its starter Dave Farney who is undoubtedly the best and most entertaining flagman on the scene to day. The announcing team was a strong one too as Chris Stepan was calling the Late Model portion of the show while Chet Christner offered his expertise on the open wheel division. Perhaps the biggest Monday night crowd in track history was on hand on this cool night, lending thoughts to breaking all time attendance records with good weather predicted the rest of this week. And what a smooth show overall on a very nice racing surface. The first green flag flew at 7:02 pm and the final checkered flew at 9:30 pm as everyone on hand did a great job. This was a very strong opening statement for the rest of the week.
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