Garrett Alberson used a strong run and a bit of luck in catching a yellow flag at just the right time to win the thirty five lap World of Outlaws Late Model race on Thursday night, February 13th at the Volusia Speedway Park as the Federated DIRTcar Nationals rolled into its fourth day of Late Model racing.
For the "Beasts of the East", the Big Block Modifieds of the Super DIRTcar series, twenty year old Alex Yankowski, denied a win on Wednesday night after some wheel banging with Matt Sheppard, came back strong to lead all laps and take the thirty lap feature win for that group.
For the first time all week, weather played a factor in the Thursday night racing program and although the rain didn't cancel the event, it certainly played a big part in track conditions and the late hour with which the racing was completed. Showers at mid afternoon rolled through the western Volusia County area and while they weren't especially heavy, they did affect a racing surface that had already been prepped for racing and made both the track and the pits a bit on the muddy side.
However, Mike VanGenderen and his crew of workers, whipped the racing surface back into shape but it required some extensive packing by both the race cars and all equipment on hand with the first racing event not to hit the track until 9 pm. Time was saved by shaving back the track interviews and doing the redraw in the pits, quite frankly something that I believe no one would miss if it was never done on the track as most folks either use the redraw time to head to the bathrooms or concession stands anyway. Redrawing for starting spots after drivers already have earned those positions doesn't seem fair anyway, but that's a discussion for another time.
Previous to all this happening, the two driver's meetings were quite entertaining as not surprisingly, after last night's difficulties getting races started and restarted, along with the considerable contact between drivers just as the racing began, there was plenty to chew on between the drivers and series management. There was plenty of talk and counter talk at the DIRTcar meeting which I happened to attend and while I walked away feeling that they didn't exactly have everything resolved, the starts were much fairer and cleaner on Thursday night for sure.
Fifty eight Late Models signed in to race on Thursday night with South Carolina's Zack Mitchell joining the field while four other drivers likely have called it a week with a variety of car problems.
Outlaw procedures divided the field into two groups for qualifying with Ryan Gustin and Ricky Thornton Jr setting fast times with Thornton Jr quickest overall at 15.430 seconds. They would run six heat races started straight up with the top three making the show. Two drivers each came out of three B Features but the biggest change was that provisional starters were now added for the rest of the week with additional six drivers added to the back of the pack, thus making thirty that took the green flag.
Alberson redrew the pole position for the thirty five lap feature paying twelve grand to the winner and Garrett took off strong, taking the early lead from Mike Marlar who settled in behind him. Thornton Jr, Brandon Sheppard and Pierce moved into the top five.
Eleven laps were completed before Mark Whitener slowed and the yellow waved for the first time. Marlar jumped the cushion as the field returned to green, something that would befall several other drivers before the race was over as the cushion kept getting deeper and deeper.
Thornton Jr. moved into second but Pierce was on the move as he pulled in to challenge Thornton Jr for second and eventually slid past him to take over the second spot. At the halfway point, Pierce was starting to close the gap as Alberson caught the back of the pack and was having some difficulties getting through the traffic.
Pierce smelled the blood in the water and made his move, diving low as Alberson was hung up high in the traffic and Bobby drove into the lead. But before that lap could be completed, Nick Hoffman pulled up lame on the track and the yellow waved, negating Pierce's pass for the lead. Thornton Jr., Ethan Dotson and Sheppard completed the top five at this point.
Alberson did some of his finest driving at this point, as he pulled away from the field and was benefitted by a war for second between Pierce and Thornton Jr. that saw them crisscross each other several times but allowed Alberson to put distance on both of them.
Devin Moran was a driver to watch at this point. Not even scored in the top five at the final yellow, he came on like gangbusters over the last dozen laps after starting eleventh. Thornton Jr. took himself out of contention when he jumped the cushion in turn one and was passed by several cars while Moran continued his charge.
Alberson was doing great work getting through traffic and his lead appeared safe, but the battle for second heated up considerably as Moran threw a slider on Pierce to take over second but Bobby wasn't quite done as he used the same maneuver on the final lap to retake second behind the winning Alberson. Dotson was fourth across the line and Thornton Jr. salvaged fifth. Despite the high speed race and lots of traffic, only three drivers didn't finish the event and only two were a lap down.
For Alberson, it was his second straight Outlaw win at VSP, having won the Sunshine Nationals back in January.
Forty one Modified drivers signed in to race on Thursday with big favorite Stewart Friesen apparently done for the week due to commitments at the "Big Track" down the road and Jim Britt out of motors. Not surprisingly, no new entrants made the late trip from the Northeast.
For the second straight night, one Big Block driver would lead all laps of the Modified feature and Thursday it would be Alex Yankowski. Yankowski was involved in the somewhat controversial start and restart battles with Matt Sheppard on Wednesday night, but he would not allow that to happen on Thursday as he was far enough ahead of the field at most points of the race to make that a moot point.
Yankowski didn't grab the start initially as Peter Britten beat him off the mark on the start but with a big run down the back chute, he took the lead before a single lap was completed. Erick Rudolph moved quickly into second and seemed to be closing on the leader. Rudolph made two charges to take over the top spot, once near the halfway point of the race and again in the last few laps.
In between, Yankowski ran smoothly up front and weathered a couple of restarts, one on lap nine following a more mellow yellow, when a big pile up occurred in turn three that turned into quite the grinder, with five drivers eliminated and much damage to several cars.
Rudolph used the restart to charge up beside the leader, but Yankowski was able to fight him off and continue on the point. Matt Williamson moved into third by the halfway point with Larry Wight and Britten next in line.
The final twelve laps ran off nonstop and Yankowski seemed comfortably in front as he maintained his gap over Rudolph. Meanwhile, Williamson and Wight were putting on a show for third as they battled side by side and then took turns sliding each other. Williamson would eventually prevail but it was entertaining racing.
Just when things looked comfortable for the leader, he jumped the cushion with just a couple laps to go and Rudolph closed dramatically. However, Yankowski regained control and didn't let Rudolph get closer than a couple car lengths as he drove on for his first ever DIRTcar Nationals win. Williamson, Wight and Britten completed the top five.
The two divisions will gather together again on Friday night for another round of racing. The program should be identical in format and laps but will likely see the Late Models put wheels on the track first as these two divisions generally alternate was the week winds down.
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