Volusia Speedway Park wrapped up the short track portion of Speed Weeks on Saturday night, February 15th in front of a huge crowd of fans. After a scare from the weather on Friday night, sunny skies and warm temperatures returned and it was a great night to wrap up the Late Model and Big Block racing in Florida.
Forty five Late Models and thirty two Big Blocks hung around to complete the week of racing with a few of the Late Models heading home early after a week of frustration in most of their cases. But those that remained put on another sterling show. Unlike some years when there has been much parity and a variety of winners, this year would see dominating performances in both of the classes as Jimmy Owens would win his third straight Late Model feature which was quite an accomplishment in and of itself, and Matt Williamson would become a multiple winner in the Big Blocks with only two drivers winning races in that division here at VSP. Both divisions would wrap up the week with fifty lap main events on Saturday night which in some cases required just a bit of a strategy change, particularly by some of the hard chargers that still wanted to be around and competitive at the end of the two events.
The Big Blocks would lead off the show on Saturday and after four heats and a Last Chance race, twenty eight of them would take the green for their fifty lap main. Early in hot laps, Michael Maresca, who had been having some good runs this week, started smoking very badly and was pushed to the pits. Fortunately, the problem proved to be a minor one and he was able to race through the night, but not to the success that he had earlier in the week.
Quite frankly, the Big Block feature was not a race of the scintillating type as Williamson started on the outside pole and led for all fifty laps. He was never really challenged for the top spot either as Jimmy Phelps moved into second quickly and just seemed to ride in that spot, never to provide a challenge to Williamson.
There was only one yellow flag in the main when Billy Pauch rolled to a halt with seventeen laps complete and after the restart, the leaders pretty much got in line and rolled around the track. The last ten or so laps the track started to take rubber and everyone really lined up in the lower groove and stayed there.
Racers that were expected to challenge Williamson like Matt Sheppard, Larry Wight and Stewart Friesen never had anything for the 2019 DIRTcar Big Block champion. Sheppard rode around in third, Wight slipped from third to sixth and Friesen dropped even farther back out of the top ten. Billy Dunn and Billy Decker completed the top five. Wight did gather enough points that he won the Big Gator for the point title for the week though.
The Big Blocks are beautiful machines that are spotlessly maintained by their crews. They have a unique sound to them and very unique handling characteristics but quite frankly, I didn't think that they raced very well here this week. The disparity between the fast cars and slower ones seems profound and there was not much battling for the lead or other positions for most of their shows. They simply got in line and rode around the track. They are dependable with very few cars that don't finish their features and also few yellow flags, but they didn't provide much in the way of excitement either. I have seen them now both here at Volusia and at Charlotte several times and I just don't find them to be very exciting. Eastern folks rave about them and perhaps I just need to see them race at some other track other than the two I've mentioned, because other than the spotless appearance of them, so far they haven't done much for me.
One thing I give the Big Blocks credit for though is that their rules don't allow spotters to hang out over the track with their sticks and give the drivers signals on which lane to go or how to block the fast car trying to overtake their driver. Big Block drivers actually have to figure out on their own where to race the track and what decisions to make. The other divisions here and elsewhere across the country could well take a cue from the Big Blocks in that regard and then we wouldn't have to hear that the first words out of the driver's mouths in victory lane were thanks to crewman "Billy Bob" who signaled me where to race the track on the track so I could block the fast groove.
As the Big Blocks wrapped up their event, the track was starting to take rubber and go one lane and I was really worried that we would see a bad Late Model feature because of them. The track crew came out and watered a big and them "tickled" the surface but I didn't think that quick fix would work. Wrong, wrong and wrong on my part! The track was wide and fast for the Late Models and there was no hint of a rubbered up surface so they definitely knew what they were doing and the few moments they took saved the night.
Counter to the Big Blocks, the Late Models produced an entertaining fifty lap feature that saw multiple leaders, much passing and changing of positions to go along with that and although winner Owens started right on the front row, his path to victory was much tougher than that would make it sound.
In fact, Owens pushed out badly in the very first corner and gave up several positions and spent most of the race trying to fight his way back to the front. Kyle Strickler led the first lap and showed great speed early after struggling mightily most of the week. What he turned around on the last night I'm not sure, but he went from being quite slow to a stiff challenger for the lead.
Darrell Lanigan moved by Strickler to lead a few laps until he was challenged by Jonathan Davenport. Davenport edged into the lead briefly and was still running a strong second when he suddenly slowed and pulled into the infield under yellow as his night was done.
Then the driver that has probably been as spectacular as anyone all week without winning, Kyle Bronson, blew by on the outside to take over the lead with his "hell bent for election" style of driving. He led for nearly half the race but was challenged by Owens who had gradually worked his way up and Ricky Weiss who was married to the bottom but was able to gradually advance into a challenging spot.
Bronson started to slow slightly as he likely had worn out his tires and when he jumped the cushion with ten to go, Owens was right there to take over the top spot. And once in front, he pulled away as the large contingent of fans from the Volunteer state roared their approval while chugging down their 'shine. Weiss made a late charge of his own to edge out Bronson for second with Lanigan and Brandon Sheppard completing the top five. Sheppard seemed to have lost that little edge he had earlier in the week and they will now try to figure out where it escaped to before WoO action continues in March.
For Owens, it was a brilliant end of the week showing for the likable driver and he certainly found the right combination for his car as the week progressed. Handling seemed to be key for him as when others started to struggle with changing track conditions, his car stayed smooth and straight through the corners no matter if it was slick or heavy. Sheppard had the most consistent of weeks as he won the Big Gator for the point title.
We couldn't get through the night without the "droop rule" playing its part in the festivities. For the third straight night, Scott Bloomquist ran afoul of the "droop rule" as he didn't droop enough following a heat race win and he went from being in the redraw to fourth which pretty much ended his chances of a win. A weak link in his restricting chain in the rear end was deeded the culprit. Strickler also had the same sort of issue after qualifying but his infraction wasn't quite as severe and he was only docked three positions in the qualifying order due to the toothless rule and he still started in the front row for a heat and won that and then ultimately drew the pole for the main. Talking about the "droop rule" in Late Model racing is about as uncomfortable as hearing television ads for Peyronie's Disease so hopefully both will be quickly solved so I don't have to talk or hear about either.
The Volusia racing ended on a high note with an excellent final race run in front of a huge crowd and the whole show got done at a very reasonable time on top of that. The amount of work that goes into putting on this long series is astronomical. I was tired after six nights of Late Model racing and they had been going at it for a week by then with Sprint and Modified racing. The track prep crews, all the workers and the officials that put on the show all did a wonderful job and they must be extremely exhausted by now. But all their efforts made this event what it was. And with wonderful weather and not a single rain out over the long course of nearly two weeks, what a great racing vacation for many folks. Thanks to everyone involved for a great show and a great presentation.
The new bleachers were a wonderful addition to the facility and certainly welcomed by just about everyone. Now for me on my wish list for DIRTcar to explore, some lights behind the grandstand so that the stands are lit better and some decent pit bleachers for the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway that are very much needed. Thank you in advance.
Three thousand, seven hundred and forty six point nine miles later, we are home and back to reality. And dang it all, the snow hasn't melted yet!
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