Grabouski Tops Beatrice Spring Nationals Opener

 On March 13th and 14th, the thirty third annual Spring Nationals was held at the Beatrice Speedway at the Gage County Fairgrounds in Beatrice Nebraska. I had been trying to attend this race for at least the last couple years but they have been plagued by bad Spring weather, having to reschedule the race seemingly every year and that has not worked to my benefit. 

However, 2026 would break the mold on that difficulty as relatively great weather would be the case in the weeks and days leading up to the event and there would be no question this year that the race would be held. 

A reverse problem was in effect this year with a "red flag" warning for the entire area as bone dry conditions and of course, the strong Spring winds in Nebraska have left a very serious fire threat to most of the state. In fact, folks arriving from the North on Thursday for practice night had to be detoured because a large grass fire very near Beatrice caused highway 77, the route off the interstate to Beatrice, to be closed. The blackened remnants of the fire could be seen on Friday but no such repeat occurrences happened, even though it was another breezy day with the wind finally abating after sunset. 

One hundred and ninety seven drivers signed in to race on the opening night in the standard five classes that IMCA typically offers. One nice thing for me is that this race brings a mix of familiar names and teams plus many from the Nebraska and Kansas area that I don't regularly get to see in action. Plus there are always some early season drivers anxious to travel with other drivers on hand from North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin plus a few other areas also. 

J VAN is the promoter for this race and that provides the comforting feeling that this show will be moved along as fast as humanly possible. This year the Race Committee at Beatrice, along with Jerry, have set up two full shows of racing and while that is the fairest and most attractive way of attracting drivers, it is also a strain to get two big shows completed in a reasonable length of time and not be racing until the wee hours of the morning. 

The format used was a bit different for the area drivers but one that was used by Brad Whitfield at the IMCA TV Winter Nationals in Casa Grande in January and is the most fair way of administering the program with such large fields of drivers in each class. Passing points, a rare commodity for IMCA racing, was used plus all heat winners were guaranteed starting spots in the main. The heat winners redrew for their starting spots with the rest of the sixteen from the heats using passing points to line up their starting spots. B Features filled out the rest of the fields and twenty four drivers started each feature. The one spin rule was used for the heats and it would have helped move things along if it were used for the B Features also as they were the trouble spot all night. Still, the show moved along at a brisk clip all night and there were no complaints in that regard. 

With any event at Beatrice, Jordan Grabouski is always the favorite to win one and perhaps two of the feature races. After having bad luck end his challenging run in the Stock Cars, he came back to make a late race pass and win the Modified feature which was the final event on the program. Other winners included Jesse Sobbing in the Stock Cars, Tyler Nerud in the Sport Mods, Branden Stigge in the Hobby Stocks and Carson Black in the Sport Compacts as local competitors did very well indeed in all divisions. 

The only class that didn't require at least one B Feature was the Sport Compacts with all entering the main event. Other classes saw a pair of B Features to determine the twenty four starters for each main with no provisional starters on this night as everyone had to race their way into the show. 

The Modified feature  was very close to providing the biggest upset of the night in what was the only nonstop main to be run. And even though Grabouski started on the pole, he got beat into the first corner by Kaylin Lopez who then took the early lead. 

Lopez was very fast, pulling away from Grabo and the rest of the field and for the longest time it appeared that he might pull off the win. However, the hot pace that he set might have been his undoing though, as he was running the middle groove and we had not seen that line work much for the features with the majority of the drivers running right on the hub against the inside wall while a few were still pounding the cushion against the outside wall. 

By the halfway point of the race, Grabouski was starting to reel in Lopez, who had built up a nice sized lead. Tyler Inman was having a great run in third with Jeremy Mills and Shawn Harker next in line. Lopez started to visibly slow in the corners as the higher line was likely burning off his tires and Grabo knew how to save his rubber. 

Lopez started to slip higher and higher and on lap twelve, Grabouski drove under him in turn four and took over the lead. After that,  Jordan gradually pulled away as Lopez struggled to stay with him. The icy slick track threw many of the drivers off but not Grabouski who drove home for the win with room to spare. Lopez did wrap up a fine run in second nevertheless and Inman, who I believe is a Modified rookie, drove a smooth race to finish third ahead of Mills and Harker. 

Grabouski was also a favorite to win the Stock Car feature until some late race bad luck ended his run during an event that saw some wild goings on. Jesse Sobbing started on the pole and took the early lead as of course, Sobbing was one of the few pounding the cushion as he likes to do and he was making it work. Grabouski had started fourth and by the halfway point of the race that saw the first yellow for a spin, he had moved up to second. Kyle Vanover had moved into fourth behind Damon Murty with Kolby Stegman rounding out the top five. 

As often happens, the restart proved to have a big effect on the race. Grabouski jumped into the lead as the cushion slowed down Sobbing for the restart and Murty tried to get a run off the top side in turn four and that cost him several positions. Sobbing continued to try the outside but it wasn't working and he had to settle back in line behind Grabo with Dillon Richards, who started ninth, showing much speed as he cracked the top five. 

Sobbing went for broke after a lap twelve yellow for a spinner, pounding off the cushion in turns one and two and then diving to the low side in three and four where there was nothing up top to work off of. He was able to gain some momentum using that line and he got a great run down the back chute on lap sixteen and squeezed inside of Grabouski. They were very tight together in turn three but Sobbing got the edge and moved into the lead. 

One lap later Grabouski had a right front tire go flat and he pulled off. A late yellow set up a two lap sprint to conclude the race and things got mighty physical at this point. While Sobbing was able to slip away as the leader, Vanover, Richards, Murty and others were all over each other for position with lots of banging and squeezing going on. 

Richards was the big loser as he got shuffled to the back with Vanover taking second and Murty climbing back up to third ahead of Johnny Yutterman and Doug Holzmeister  as things really got shuffled up at the end. 

The Sport Mod field was the largest of the five divisions with forty eight of them on hand. Their main event saw Tyler Nerud make the move of the race on the opening lap and then establish that he was indeed the fastest car on this night. 

Nerud started on the outside of row two, but he used the cushion in turns one and two to blow past front row starters Taylor Metz and Steve Swartout and take the lead down the back chute on lap one. And after that, he would lead the final nineteen laps to score the win. 

This race had only one yellow flag and that was just before the halfway point. Brayton Carter, still in the Six car, had worked his way up to second after a good battle with Metz and on the restart, he tried to get a big run on the outside of turn four but his fate was much like that of Murty in the following race as he lost much ground and dropped out of the top five. 

that moved Cam Reimers into second but he had nothing for the leader as Nerud pulled away from him and drove away from the field, not being challenged the rest of the event. Reimers settled for second with Cole Wayman moving up from the fourth row to get third. Carter fought his way back up to fourth and Adam Armstrong came from the seventh row to round out the top five. Only two drivers failed to finish this race and all were still on the lead lap at the checkers. 

The Hobby Stock feature was a tight contest with the top four drivers running in tight formation. Brandon Stigge led from start to finish in the twenty lapper but he was pursued closely the whole event. Stigge started in row two but was able to squeeze past both Anthony Davis and Nick Ronnebaum to take the top spot and he then guarded the inside line for the rest of the race. 

Hobby Stock drivers were not able to make the outside work so they lined up in formation, working the inside line and Stigge was smart in not giving any inside openings. By the halfway point of the race, Austin Jahnz had worked his way up to third as he seemed to be one of the few drivers able to make the second lane work.  Yellow flags, back to back with eleven laps complete, bunched the field and Jahnz tried to steal away the race by moving up the track. He was ever so close to doing so as he raced side by side with Ronnebaum for a couple laps but the second lane just didn't work for him and he got shuffled back in the pack. 

Stigge was very careful at the end, shutting down early in the corners to not give anyone a shot at the inside and to his credit, on a night when many were using the "chrome horn" aggressively, Ronnebaum played it clean. He rode the rear bumper of Stigge but didn't do any banging and at the finish, he was glued to it to finish second with Stigge taking the win. 

Dan Nelson had as much success as anyone using the second lane as late in the race he drove up to third one lane above the pack. Tyler Huss finished fourth with Jahnz salvaging fifth. 

The Sport Compact feature was a patience tester for many, including me. All twenty eight drivers on hand started the feature and that was trouble right from the start. In all, the yellow flew seven times and the race was cut short by one lap after the second flip of the event on the final tour. 

When they were racing, there was an excellent battle for the lead but there was not nearly as much racing as there was circling the track under caution. Brooke Osler started on the outside pole and she took the early lead. She was battling with Brandon Carmichael, Carson and Jackson Black and Gilbert Aldape early. 

The race started crazy with Gage Barton going over the wall in turn three and then returning to the track as if nothing had happened. It occurred so fast that I and many in the crowd totally missed it but the yellow was required. 

While Osler was scored the leader of the first seven laps, she was engaged in a real battle with Carmichael and the Blacks. On lap eight, Carson Black got past Osler, but she returned the favor one lap later. The yellow flew again and on the restart she got too high in turn one and Jackson Black got past her for the lead and after that, things would go downhill for her. 

A hard flip on the front chute by Konnor Moore stopped the action with twelve laps completed with Jackson still in front with Johnny Thomas and Carson trailing as Carmichael had retired to the pit with front end damage. 

The final restart saw another scrum take place as Carson got a very good restart, perhaps a bit too good, but in any case, he was able to pass both Thomas and Jackson Black to take over the lead. On the back chute, Justin Best went for a flip of his own and the race was checkered at this point, rather than backing up to run the final two laps. 

Carson Black was awarded the win over his brother Jackson, Tobey VanLaningham, Thomas and Levi Volkert. Exactly half the starting field was still running at the finish and there will be many with some substantial repair work necessary to return on Saturday. The win was Carson Black's first ever feature win and he picked a big race to accomplish this feat. 

Thirty three races were run off on Friday night in five and a third hours and it would have been even quicker if a little more restraint had been shown by a few of the competitors. With impending weather expected, the start time for Saturday's show has been moved up by an hour with brief hot laps scheduled for 3:20 pm and racing to follow immediately. 

Dillard Wins Revival Series Opener at Boothill

 Our trip to Arizona and Florida ended up with a side bar trip to Louisiana and one more race as we attended the 2026 opener for the Revival  Super Dirt Series for Late Models at historic Boothill Speedway near Shreveport on Friday night, March 6th. Along with the Nutrien Ag sponsored series, all the divisions that race at Boothill would be in action also for their season opener at the track. 

How we got to "The Hill" was a bit of a roundabout journey as our original plan was to head to Texas this week, do some family stuff and, oh by the way, the USMTS was scheduled to begin their 2026 season at the Kennedale Raceway Park this weekend. And while our weather for most of our trip has been good to great, this was a week of rain, storms and threatening weather. 

The USMTS went down the drain early this week with a stormy forecast so an intriguing back up plan was to instead head to Shreveport for the doubleheader weekend scheduled for the Revival Series for the Ronny Adams Memorial opener. However, that plan was also altered by a bad forecast for Shreveport but to the credit of the track promoters and the series, they reduced the weekend to just a one night show on Friday but at the higher purse that they had planned on offering for the Saturday show which was cancelled. 

So, on a hot and steamy Friday night, the fifth annual Adams Memorial was carried out at Boothill featuring the Revival Late Models plus all the classes that race at Boothill weekly. The competitors were late arriving on a Friday night, but when everyone had signed in, there were one hundred and forty drivers ready to race in a packed pit area in the six classes offered. They actually combined two classes into one as the Sportster division normally races as two classes with one for rookies and another for all other drivers but to expedite things on Friday, they all raced as one. We'll get into Sportsters later. 

The Revival Series is going through a bit of a change this year. They recently announced that they would no longer be affiliated with POWRi and would instead be running their own series with both a North and South division with point funds for both plus an overall point fund too.  Tyler and Jacob Magee out of Kansas are still running the series but  their flagman Chris Loberg, who by the way is originally from Wisconsin and used to drive Modifieds at many of my local tracks, told me that their series is expanding into a number of new tracks for 2026. 

They had nineteen drivers sign in for their first show, likely a disappointment but understandable due to the weather that was even a threat on Friday and hard to justify for some to make a very long tow for just one night of racing. However, the combined point fund clearly didn't excite too many as nine of the top ten in points last year, all of them from the Northern Region, failed to appear with just Chris Bragg on hand. Clearly the overall point champion will come from the Southern region. Thirty drivers had made commitments but various reasons kept some home. 

Some interesting rules for Revival include the fact that both Hoosier and American Racer tires are allowed. There were two drivers on AM including winner Cade Dillard but I wouldn't consider his win revealing since I believe he could have easily been the winner here even if he used solid rubber bicycle tires! That's how fast he is and how well he knows this track. Morgan Bagley did make it interesting though. 

Revival Series qualifies their cars just like most traveling series this day but the fastest six then run a dash to set the running order for the first three rows and they don't have to run a heat. All others run a heat and with Friday night's field, no B Feature was necessary. 

Dillard won the dash so he started on the pole for the feature race and he took and immediate lead. Three yellows slowed the action in the first few laps but then they had a long green flag period of racing. Morgan Bagley and Clay Stuckey had a good battle for second with several slide jobs thrown as they crossed each other over. Then the track started taking rubber rather dramatically and everyone lined up as a speed context broke out. 

By the halfway point of the race, Jon Mitchell had moved into third while Dillard had most of a straightaway lead over the field. During that long green flag run however, Dillard started to get hung up badly behind some slower cars and with the rubber situation,, he was afraid to try and pass them . This gave Bagley a big opportunity and he was able to close up right on Dillard and Morgan even tried to pull off a slider or two but he couldn't quite get the job done. 

With only five laps to go, things changed dramatically when Stuckey clobbered the turn one wall and rolled to a halt. This lined the field up single file, there was no traffic to deal with and Dillard pulled away to take the win with room to spare. Bagley finished second and Mitchell third. Eli Ross and Bragg completed the top five. Dillard is a local boy here and his win was well received. 

The other five classes were a mixture of USRA rules classes and local rules classes. The Factory Stocks are a wildly popular class in this area of the country with seemingly every track having lots of cars and the competition keen. For this regular Friday night of racing, forty of them signed in to race. They look much like Stock Cars with the majority of them nice in appearance and they race hard with a number of big money shows for them at tracks throughout the southern states as it seems that every track has a Factory Stock class. 

Four heats and a B Feature set their twenty car starting field for the main as Boothill doesn't run more than twenty cars in their support classes for mains on the quarter mile. Justin Whitehead is a well known figure in this class and after starting on the outside pole, he went on to win the fifteen lap feature race. Most of the support classes were scheduled for twenty lap features but with weather threatening, the distance on the features was reduced. 

As Whitehead continued to lead, Jace Reid and Daulton Faulkner had a dandy battle for second with several slide jobs breaking out. Three yellow flags in the first five laps kept things interesting with the third eliminating Faulkner. 

Neil Kemp, in one of many Twin City Towing cars on hand, started seventh and kept his nose clean and with others eliminating themselves, he found himself in second and putting the pressure on Whitehead for the lead. 

For the vast majority of the race, those team ran in tandem fashion, with Kemp occasionally tapping the rear bumper of Whitehead but nothing malicious, unlike several of the moves seen in other classes. That's the way they raced to the finish, with Kemp glued to the rear bumper of Whitehead, who refused to make a mistake and took the win. 

The B Mods and Limited Mods were running under USRA rules with good fields in both classes. The B Mods needed a B Feature and other than Dillard's win in the Lates, this was the only class that saw the winner lead from start to finish. In the B Mod case, it was Colby Williams who surprisingly got the jump on local legend Jeremy Haddox and then would lead from start to finish in the fifteen lapper. 

The B Mods behaved themselves with only a single yellow flag that stopped the action before the first lap could be completed. After that, it was Williams who led the rest of the way. Haddox and Chance Haddox moved into second and third but had nothing for the leader. The track was very technical and one slip in the corners would have meant disaster with everyone running the inside line but Williams had the field covered. 

The Limited Mods are USRA's version of the Southern Sport Mods and many race both, just changing tires as required.   Conner Mewhorn led the opening lap of the Limited Mod feature but then Derick Grigsby, the biggest winner at the track in recent years, was able to slip under Mewhorn one lap later and he led the rest of the way for the win. 

He had a late scare when on the last lap and the race seemingly over, the yellow flew for a spinner and they had to redo the last two laps. It was, however, no problem for Grigsby who pulled away again for the win. Steven Guidry moved into second on lap five and he chased Grigsby the rest of the way but had to settle for second with Dustin Henigan third. 

There were fireworks during the Tuner feature. Things got off to a shaky start as on the first corner of the first lap, Jonathan Rodriquez, starting on the outside pole, had a wheel shear off, he slammed into the outside wall and flipped on to his roof. He was OK and was actually out of the car before rescue workers could even get to him. 

The race then turned into a two car battle with some questionable tactics used to get the win. Greyson Wooten moved into the lead on the restart with Tyler Ellis chasing him closely. On lap four, Ellis just nailed Wooten in the rear bumper down the back chute, turning Wooten sideways as he drove by for the lead. Actually Wooten did a great job to not spin out and did indeed retain the second spot. 

There were no more yellows during the race which was unfortunate for Wooten as he likely had revenge on his mind. Not being too good at taking other drivers out, he tried twice on the final lap to return the favor to Ellis but he missed both times and Ellis drove on for the win. I'm guessing the post race fun in the pits was spirted. Actually I was surprised all night by the amount of "fire" between drivers as there were numerous post race bumps and threats displayed and this was just the opening night! I can't imagine what things are like come the hot and humid nights of August!

In the wee hours of the morning, the Sportsters rounded out the racing action. The Sportster class is one that runs at a number of tracks in this area and they are basically tanks on wheels. Full frame cars with plenty of pipe in them, asphalt tire "take offs" from Wisconsin tracks and no front ends, they don't hesitate to nerf and bang and the looks of many reflect that. There were even a couple that had co-pilots in the passenger seats!. 

However, their feature was also the most contested of the night and had a great two car battle for the win between John Tuggle and Jarrett Stricklin. By my unofficial count, the lead changed hands at the line six times in their fifteen lap race between the two as they swapped the top spot time and again and while everyone else was using the "crown horn" plenty, I don't believe these two touched once. 

A couple of big pileups took out several cars and ignited feelings with Stricklin last grabbing the lead on lap nine. However, one lap later Tuggle again got past and held on then for the win. Stricklin finished second and   Brentley Smith, who started twentieth and avoided the wrecks, finished third. 

The final checkers waved at 1 a.m. a downside that I have encountered several times before, unfortunately at this track. A five hour racing program is not unreasonable given the number of events and laps to be run but when hot laps take forever and the first race doesn't hit the track until 8 pm, that is too late on a Friday night. 

Thanks to Loberg for introducing me to the Magee Brothers and Ralo Pilkington, half of the promoter ship team with Bubba Jones of Boothill, and for their help on this night. Boothill has a number of special events coming up on their schedule including a thirty thousand dollar to win Limited Mod race while Revival's next race in the last weekend of March when they pair with Comp Cams, something they will do often this year, for a special at Arrowhead Speedway in Oklahoma. 

And now it is time to head back to Wisconsin. However, J VAN please get the gizzards ready at Beatrice  as the plan is to sample them next weekend! 

 

Bike Week Finale All Anthony Macri

 Monday night, March 2nd, the World Of Outlaws completed a rare Sunday and Monday doubleheader prompted by Bike Week activities in Daytona Beach and it was Anthony Macri that took the WoO regulars to task as he dominated the final half of the feature race to claim his second WoO feature race of the season. 

Monday night saw thirty one drivers again sign in to race, in fact the exact same drivers that raced on Sunday night. The track was considerably slower on Monday with the racing groove slicker but also wider which the drivers liked and it made passing a much more manageable thing than on Sunday night. Instead of flirting with the existing track record, Sheldon Haudenschild, as the third driver out for qualifying, turned a lap just about a full second slower than the track record. 

The program would be the exact same as on Sunday with three heats, the dash, B Feature and then another twenty five lap main for the Sprint Cars. Haudenschild won the dash over David Gravel and he would start on the pole for the feature as he looked for his second straight win. 

However, things would not go nearly as well for him as both he and Gravel got passed on the opening lap by Carson Macedo for the lead and things would just go downhill from that point for Haudenschild with him slipping back to eighth at the finish. 

Macedo held off Gravel until lap ten when David passed him, however Macedo didn't give up and showing lots of speed, one lap later he raced past Gravel to retake the lead. Meanwhile, Macri had started fourth, dropped back just a bit but then the track came to him and he started to march to the front. By the halfway point of the race, he had passed Gravel for second and was closing on Macedo for the lead. Ashton Torgerson and Scotty Thiel, having a good run, were also in the top five at the halfway point. 

Macri continued to press and on lap fourteen he drove past Macedo to take over the lead, but the yellow flew just four laps later and bunched the pack with Macedo and Gravel right behind him. 

However, Macri's car seemed to get stronger as the race  went on and after that last yellow he pulled away from both his challengers and remained in the clear for the last seven laps. Gravel tried to move to the outside to gain some speed but in the last five laps or so the track started to take rubber and the inside line was the place to be. 

Torgerson found the changing track conditions to his liking as he got past Macedo for third and when Gravel continued to try the outside, he was also able to drive past him for second. Finally, Gravel dropped to the inside, cut his loses and settled for third ahead of Macedo and Daryn Pittman. 

Both Torgerson and Pittman's car came alive as the track changed with them moving up from  the third and fifth rows respectively. Only four drivers failed to finish the race but with the well timed yellows,WoO regulars. Donny Schatz was leading a heat race when his car quit and he had to run a B Feature. Bill Balog broke in the B Feature after a poor heat race and he had to rely on a provisional to start the feature. But the worst luck was endured by Buddy Kofoid who broke in both a heat and the B Feature and then, after surrendering one of his provisional starts to race the feature, he couldn't get his back up car to run and sat on pit road as the green flag waved. Running the WoO is not a poor man's game as at least four motors were changed by teams in the last two nights at a monumental expense. 

As they did on Sunday night, the Factory Stocks ran as the support class for the WoO. Sunday was a tough night for them mechanically with a number not returning on Monday and they had only twelve cars to race. 

However, that didn't stop them from putting on their second straight entertaining feature race and proving they deserved to be a part of the show. The lead changed hands officially three times during their twenty lap feature race, much of which was highlighted by a four car pack battling for the lead. 

Tanner Thomas started on the outside pole and he got the early jump on his father Patrick to lead lap one. However, Patrick would have none of that and on the next lap he passed his son to take over the top spot. But neither one of them could hold off Rich Pratt who passed both and took the lead on lap four. 

By the halfway point of the race, Pratt continued to lead over Tanner Thomas, Mikey Kopka, Patruck Thomas and Ron Adams. 

Most of the front runners were now hugging the low line in the corners but Tanner Thomas made the decision to try to move up the track and it worked great for him. He was able to keep his momentum up as he climbed high in the corners and on lap eleven he passed Pratt to retake the lead, the first time he had led since lap one. 

He then pulled away from the field, not hindered by the lone yellow of the race that flew with thirteen laps complete. Tanner would continue to charge and he drove on for the win. Father Patrick made a late race charge and got by Pratt for second with Jason Garver and Sunday night winner Dustin Turnage Sr completing the top five. Ten of the twelve starters were still on the track at the finish. 

Because of the Monday night show, the race schedule was flopped for this night with the Sprint feature coming first and about 90% of the crowd was gone by the time the checkers flew for the Factory Stocks. 

With the conclusion of the show on Monday, this will very likely conclude my appearances at Volusia Speedway Park for 2026 and although the "World's Fastest Half Mile" track is not really the fastest and indeed, not a true half mile either for that matter, the World Racing Group has put on some excellent racing in the month's of January and February for fans from throughout the country. Thanks to all the officials from the World Racing Group's many branches and all the employees of Volusia Speedway Park. 

With things quieting down now at the speedway, the gators have returned to their pond with a nice six footer or so seen swimming serenely as the Sprint Cars made their runs. 

Haudenschild Mows Down Bike Week WoO Competitors

 It is "Bike Week" in Daytona Beach and for the last two years that has brought the World Of Outlaws Sprint Cars back to Florida for a quick second appearance before the long grind of their season takes them across the country. 

And their Sunday night, March 1st appearance at Volusia Speedway Park gave Sheldon Haudenschild the opportunity  to shake off some early season stumbles when they last appeared here as he dominated the field, leading from start to finish in the twenty five lap feature race and never being challenged for the top spot. 

Thirty one drivers signed in to race on Sunday night including all the drivers that routinely run the WoO series along with some Pennsylvania stars that made the early season pull down to Florida. Heavy rain on Friday night had thoroughly saturated the track and when I walked it during the afternoon, it looked untouched from when they finished up after the Late Models a couple of weeks ago. They put just a sprinkling of water on it late in the afternoon and then rolled it in and the track turned out to be blinding fast while still remaining smooth. 

Time trials was a speed fest with driver after driver lowering the quick mark with David Gravel, the twenty second driver to take time, settling the standard with a near track record 12.673 and if you are familiar with Volusia, you know that is a mighty fast time for the size of that track. 

The WoO program would consist of three heats, a dash and B Feature and the twenty five lap main. Six drivers would move up out of the three heats, with everyone else running the B Feature which would move up another six. All three heats were won from the front row, but that was not a surprise. 

The redraw and then running of the Dash was key as with passing tough, track position was everything. Haudenschild redrew the outside pole and then beat Carson Macedo for the win in the dash which gave him the pole for the feature race. 

Haudenschild got the jump on the green and led early over Macedo and Gravel. A flip by Kerry Madsen, while he was running fourth stopped the action with ten laps completed and then Haudenschild caught a big break, the kind you sometimes need to win no matter how fast you are. 

On the restart, Macedo got the jump on Haud, squeezed past him in turn one and looked to be the new leader. However, fourth running Logan Schuchart spun before that lap was completed and Haud got a "do over." 

But not only was it significant in that he got the top spot back, because it was a yellow after a yellow and no laps had been completed, under WoO rules the restart was single file and Haud didn't need Macedo beside him again. This time he didn't bobble and he moved back into the lead.

Gravel was on the move and by the halfway point had moved past Macedo for second with Ashton Torgerson and Tanner Holmes in the top five. 

The final laps saw Gravel try to cut into Haud's lead but Sheldon played the slower traffic just right and didn't allow Gravel to close up on him. He crossed the finish line comfortably in front in winning his first feature of 2026. Late rushes by Buddy Kofoid, up from twelfth and Daison Pursley saw them complete the top five. Only two drivers failed to finish the race while Daryn Pittman, scheduled to start sixteenth, scratched out of the event. 

Running with the Outlaws were the local Factory Stocks and twenty Factory Stock drivers signed in to race. They were split into two heats and a twenty lap main event and their feature was actually very good. 

For much of the contest, it was a side by side battle for the top spot. Early on, Willy Cuddy took the lead from the outside pole while Mike Tovet and Dustin Turnage Sr battled for second. There were three yellows in the first six laps which kept the field bunched and while Cuddy continued to lead, Tovet and Turnage Sr went back and forth for second. 

Finally, on lap seven Turnage Sr secured second and he pulled in to challenge Cuddy for the lead. For a number of laps, they put on an entertaining battle with Cuddy riding the cushion while Turnage Sr tried lap after lap to get under him for the lead, even as yellows slowed the action. Once the green flew again, they went right back after it with each other. 

Lap thirteen saw Turnage Sr finally edge under Cuddy for the lead and after that, he pulled away slightly and with no more slow downs, drove on for the win. Tovet settled for third with Justin Reynolds and Bud Chancey completing the top five. The heavy track that pulled hard took its toll on the Factory Stocks with only about half the field finishing as overheating engines and worse struck several of the competitors. 

I was surprised that track officials chose to run the Factory Stock feature first and as the number of yellows began to rise, the Sprint Car fans on hand probably started to get a bit anxious. However, the overall time was quite early so they didn't grumble and mutter too much. Just as the final checkered flag waved at 10:06 pm for the WoO feature, announcer Johnny Gibson alerted us that the rocket launch from The Cape could be seen and as we looked to the Southeast over the grandstands, there it was in full view! What a spectacular conclusion to the evening! I had known but forgot that there was a launch scheduled for Sunday night but thanks to Johnny, we all got to see it. 

I was very surprised to see just how many spectators were on hand Sunday. I seem to remember watching last year's race on tv and not seeing very many people in the stands but Sunday night's crowd would rival any that were on hand for last month's Speed Weeks races. It also seemed the concession planning was a bit underwhelming as there weren't nearly as many stations open on Sunday and the lines for food and drink were long, long, long. 

O'Neal Inherits Lead, Motors On For Twenty Five Grand Victory in Ocala Finale

 After the rainout of Friday night, February 27th for round four of the Winter Nationals at Ocala Speedway, everyone was chomping at the bit to race on Saturday for the finale. However, it proved to not be quite that easy. 

Anywhere from two to third inches of rain had fallen on Friday afternoon and evening, turning the race track and pit area into a sea of mud. There was very little in the way of drying conditions on Saturday either as it remained cloudy and damp most of the day. It was not until after Lunch that the track officials determined that they would be able to get the track in proper racing shape and they gave the "go ahead" to start advertising for the program and start making refunds to those folks that had bought multi day armbands and needed a refund for the non show of Friday. 

In the final analysis, they did a great job getting the track into racing shape. It had just a bit of "character" but nothing unforeseen and it really had no bearing on the racing. What the track was however, was "hammer down" and there was not much they could do about that. It made everybody fast and made it hard to pass but that was certainly better than the alternative and that was to send everyone home disappointed. 

There were several drivers that did bail out after the rainout on Friday though as a mixture of the rain, anticipated racing conditions and poor performance on the part of  some saw seven less drivers on hand for the Saturday night finale and only thirty four on hand, which is quite small given that the Saturday night show paid twenty five grand to win. Car counts have been smaller all week compared to last year and the finale was a full Baker's Dozen less competitors. 

With the number of competitors on hand Saturday, the program was identical to that of the rest of the week with the lone exception that the main event would go fifty laps. Brandon Overton and Drake Troutman were the quickest drivers in their two groups, with Overton quickest overall at 14.338 seconds. As per normal, all six qualifying events saw the winner come off the front row. However, two nasty crashes in the first heat race saw Justin Weaver, Daulton Wilson and Cody Hedgecock all done for the night with major damage. 

With three provisional starters, there would be twenty five drivers to take the green for the start of the fifty lapper. Quite often on Saturday, the inside row has been a bit slower, probably because the moisture bubbling up made the low groove just a big slick. Thus it was that Overton jumped into the early lead from the outside row. O'Neal started fourth but quickly picked off both Brandon Sheppard and Drake Troutman and the battle was on. 

Two spaced out yellow on laps ten and twenty one broke up the race and allowed the number of back markers to be limited, although Overton was having some difficulty that allowed O'Neal to challenge him on two occasions. 

The halfway point saw Troutman still running third with Brandon Sheppard and Devin Moran next in line. Brian Shirley slowed with a flat tire with thirty six laps complete when a shocking development changed the course of the race. Overton developed a flat rear tire and he was forced to pit under yellow, turning the lead over to O'Neal. Sheppard and Moran had worked their way up to second at this point. 

A lap thirty eight yellow for a slowing car bunched the field once again with Moran pushing Sheppard for second as Tim McCreadie slipped into the top five. 

A huge development occurred after just five more green flag laps were completed. Sheppard, still running second, slowed with a flat tire of his own and the running order was shuffled once again. This moved Moran up to second and it was up to O'Neal to hold him off. 

O'Neal was plenty quick and he had no trouble keeping Moran behind him as he led the final fourteen laps to score the victory. McCreadie drove the smoothest of races, taking advantage of the opportunities offered him as he ended up with a podium finish. Jonathan Davenport came from ninth to finish fourth and Troutman completed the top five. The race did take its toll on the equipment and there were nine drivers that dropped out before the finish of the race.  

Continuing a week of very promptly run racing programs, the final checkered once again flew before 9 pm and I believe the fans totally enjoyed the one division program that got done at an early hour. Again, I heard no one that complained that the races got done so early even as they were paying a rather premium price for their tickets. Clearly they came to see Late Models and nothing else, at least this week. 

Despite a really gloomy day and evening, a very large crowd was on hand for the program and with the Ocala fan parking lot shrinking more each year, fans found some very inventive ways of parking their vehicles. 

Thanks to the officials of the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series for all their help as well as Bubba and his crew of employees who put in some long hours working at the track. The LOLMS now moves up to Georgia for four more nights of racing next week before they finally get to take some time off. 

Bronson Can't Hold On, O'Neal Takes Ocala Lucas Run

 Thursday night, February 26th brought the best weather of the week so far to the Ocala Speedway for night number three of the Lucas Oil Late Model Series. On a night when the track surface took a back step in providing the kind of racing that everyone was hoping for, Hudson O'Neal nevertheless was pleased with the outcome as he was able to drive under Kyle Bronson near the halfway point and then hide out amongst the slower cars and take the forty lap feature win worth ten grand. 

The biggest story of the night was no doubt the track conditions that led to the kind of racing that we saw for much of the main event, and while I don't want to make too big a deal about it, it was significant in that it affected the style of racing we saw. 

All week the track prep crew has been working very hard, trying to work with  the new dirt applied to the track while mixing in the variables such as temperature, sunshine, wind and humidity, stirring it all up and trying to create a track that has bite, is fast but is not so fast as to prevent passing and certainly also not rubbering up. 

So far, the first two nights have seen a very fast track that has made it a bit hard for passing, even as they cut down the amount of water applied to the track each night. The track was distinctly drier on Thursday as James Essex reported, "they took the keys out of the water truck." Unfortunately, at least on this night, that didn't prove to be the answer either. 

Forty one drivers signed in to race on Thursday for the first night of Lucas point awarded here this week. Four first time drivers were in the pits while three others decided their "fun meters" were pegged and they headed for home or for the beach. However, the four that were new were clearly stronger than the departing three, so the overall strength of the field just increased. And while the overall racing was pretty staid and uneventful, there were several notable things that happened during the course of the racing. 

The first would be the quick time award which was won by rookie driver Dallon Murty as he turned a lap at 14.232 seconds with the vibrations felt all the way down to Florida from all the Hawkeye fans dancing in the streets over that development. And while the quick time was excellent, ultimately the evening proved to be another learning lesson after he pounded the first turn wall on the opening lap of the main event and went off on the hook. This corner was the focal point of much action during the night and the Bruening Team would have two cars to fix as Tyler Bruening pounded that same wall during the first lap of a heat race and went off on the hook also. In fact, Bruening would later take a trip to a local hospital for a CT scan after complaining of neck pain. No further word on his was available. 

Jonathan Davenport was one of four heat winners from the front row after he turned the quickest time in the second group at 14.448 as the track started to slow down quickly, starting showing some slick but still during the heat races didn't widen out as they had hoped. The true lone outside lane pass attempt was made by Brandon Sheppard on a last lap run at Brandon Overton during the final heat race but it didn't work and he had to pull back in line to salvage second. 

A pair of B Features set the final starters for the main and with the provisional positions starting to kick in for this point race, there were fourteen rows of drivers ready for the forty lap main event. 

And there was much craziness in the first few laps, even if the racing itself was less than scintillating. Things started out with a bang on the opening lap with Kyle Bronson and Davenport barreling into turn one, going for the lead. Davenport knew he had to make his move quick because the drivers felt that the track would soon rubber up and go one lane. Unfortunately, as Davenport tried to race around the high side of Bronson he managed to hook his outside quarter panel, sending Bronson spinning and Davenport slamming into that dog gone turn one wall again. Davenport nearly turned over and he reported after the show that his car would have to go back to Longhorn for repairs. Bronson had some nose damage but would restart the race. It was also reported that both drivers talked out the issue, there were no hard feelings as both understood it to be just a racing incident. 

The race was restarted with Bronson again on the pole but turn one spoke up again with both Murty and Garrett Alberson pounding the wall with both off on the hook. This was a strange start to the race for sure. While under yellow three laps later, both Brian Shirley, running second, and Brandon Sheppard, in the top ten, both pitted for new rubber after getting flat tires and the top ten running order was changing rapidly.

With four yellows in the first five laps, this was not a classic way to start a feature but after that, things settled down with over thirty straight laps of racing. Bronson held the lead over Brandon Overton but Overton couldn't hold his car down in the corners as he put the reversers on and faded back. 

O'Neal, who started ninth, had worked his way forward mostly due to others wrecking and disappearing in front of him and suddenly he found himself in second. He began to pressure Bronson who was having his own issues keeping the front end down and on lap fourteen, O'Neal snuck past on the inside down the back chute to take over the lead.

Hudson then pulled away from the pack with O'Neal soon catching the back of the pack. By the halfway point the rubber was building up, everyone "walled up" into a single lane right on the inside of the track and passing came at a premium. For a number of laps Devin Moran challenged Bronson for second as Kyle tried to make his car was wide as possible. 

In front of that battle, O'Neal had managed to lap Ross Robinson but couldn't get past Cory Hedgecock and rode behind him for many laps but as long as he had Robinson for a blocker, he was in good shape. It is strange to see the leader back off from and not be able to pass the tail end cars but that is what was happening as O'Neal had to frequently slow to keep from running up the back of Hedgecock but there was no way he was going to attempt an outside pass at this point. 

Moran finally got past Bronson for second but he still had Robinson blocking him from a challenging effort. A late yellow set up a three lap dash to the finish with the lapped cars finally moved out of the way, but O'Neal was not about to make a mistake and he kept his car nailed to the inside line and drove home for the win. 

Moran finished second with Bronson holding on for third. It has been a couple of trying days for Bronson after having broke a driveshaft while leading on Wednesday followed by his hair raising opening lap incident tonight. 

Ricky Thornton Jr stayed the course and moved up from tenth to fourth while Tim McCreadie used some early race openings to move up as he came from twenty first to complete the top five. Only four drivers failed to finish the feature and all four used up their cars on the first turn wall. 

Racing will continue on Friday night with round four of this week's series. 

Sheppard Turns The Tables With Wednesday Ocala Victory

 Night number two of the Wieland Winternationals at the Ocala Speedway saw another closely fought Late Model feature, and on this night the slower traffic became a friend, not an enemy for Brandon Sheppard as he held off all challenges from Hudson O'Neal to earn a thirty lap feature win and pocket seven grand for his efforts. 

Wednesday night's show was the second and final race for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series that was not a point paying race but despite that, the field of drivers increased by four to forty. While Jonathan Davenport unloaded his car and polished it up, he eventually loaded it back up and became a spectator. First time drivers that did race included Daniel Hilsabeck and Cory Lawler who both watched on Tuesday along with Ricky Thornton Jr and Eli Johnson. A few more drivers are still expected to arrive when the Lucas points begin on Thursday and the purses start to get larger. 

The program would be exactly the same as on Tuesday with time trials to set the running order of the heats, of which there would be four, and then followed by a pair of B Features and the main event, set again for thirty laps. 

As one of the last cars to qualify, Garrett Alberson turned the quick lap at 14.141. Unfortunately for Alberson, after that things went downhill for him and while he would finish eighth in the main, that was not what he was looking for given his qualifying effort. Brandon Overton topped the first group with a lap at 14.288 seconds and later would get a top five finish in the main. 

Not surprisingly, five of the six qualifying events saw the winner come from the front row with the lone exception being one of the B Features that Thornton Jr won from the second row but just the fact that he had to again run a B feature indicates that his early season struggles were continuing. 

The feature race, which again started twenty four drivers because of no provisional openings granted for the non point race, was not quite as smooth as Tuesday night's nonstop main. The yellow waved four times with the third one being the most significant. 

While the track crew put less water on the track than they had done on Tuesday, the cooling temperatures and building humidity kept the racing surface blinding fast with the inside lane occasionally slicking up. Most of the preliminaries saw the outside row provide an advantage and the feature was no different as Kyle Bronson got the jump on Sheppard to take the early lead. 

Bronson was running strong and was very motivated to earn a win in his home state as he led the opening six laps with Sheppard chasing him. By this time, the yellow had already flown twice including a Tyler Erb hammering of the wall that ended his night. 

The green came back out and Bronson again held the edge over Sheppard with O'Neal moving into third. Suddenly, the race changed dramatically as Bronson slowed on the front chute and as he tried to move out of the way, Sheppard and he came together hard. Sheppard lost several spots but the yellow saved him for the restart while Bronson was done with apparent rear end failure. 

Sheppard again took the lead with O'Neal, Overton, Devin Moran and Clay Harris in the top five at the halfway point. Overton briefly got past O'Neal for second but Hudson was able to return the favor and retake second. 

O'Neal began to move in on Sheppard as he closed the distance on the leader. One last yellow flew, bunching the field with a dozen laps to go. Sheppard again pulled away but before long, he had caught some of the slower traffic and O'Neal began to press him again. The laps were running down and O'Neal was looking for an opening to make a pass but on this night, it was Sheppard that worked the lapped traffic the best.

He was able to find an opening and race around the top side past Ross Robinson while O'Neal got stuck on the bottom and Sheppard was able to lengthen his lead on the final circuit and drive home for the win. Moran finished a close third with Overton and a consistent Harris completing the top five. 

While there was just a single car that was lapped, his presence was key to the outcome and there were seven drivers that did not finish. 

While the program did not proceed quite as smoothly as it had on Tuesday night, it was far from a dragged out event with the final checkered waving about a quarter to 9, local time. 

Perhaps because it was a bit warmer than Tuesday or perhaps at least in part because folks saw how fast the Tuesday night program was clicked off and they decided to chance it, the crowd was significantly larger than it had been for the opening show. With good weather promised the next couple of days, the crowds should be even larger for the higher paying shows just ahead.