The 49th annual DIRTcar Nationals kicked off for the Late Models on Monday night, February 10th at the Volusia Speedway Park located near Barberton Florida. Along with the first night for the Late Models, it was also the wrap up night for the UMP Modifieds as they would be racing for their highest purse of the week with five grand going to the winner of their thirty lap main event.
It has been three or four years since I was last at VSP and the changes have been marked. Rushing to get their new high rise aluminum grandstands done, the work on them was still ongoing as fans and race teams rolled into the grounds on Monday morning. I would say the new grandstands are a huge improvement and one that has been badly needed for years. Not only are the new stands considerably bigger, they are much higher up into the Florida skies and with a nicely planned slope, provide much better viewing for the fans. I sat in the highest row of the general admission seating and my seat was right in line with the top row of the old bleachers, one section of which still remains with the old control tower behind it. A new tower has also been built up behind the newer grandstand and along with providing more fans with quality seating, it gives the place a much more impressive look. Without question, it is the biggest and best improvement in the facility for many years.
The pits also received some much larger and nicer grandstands and the overall facility has been spruced up considerably. The food offerings are wider in variety and much better than previously provided and the whole experience seems to have giving a fine upgrade.
Monday would be the first of three nights of UMP sanctioned Late Models before the World of Outlaws takes over running the show and while many of the same officials will be running things and most of the drivers will be the same, the highly important points won't be a part of the first three nights of racing which will mean that some drivers may take days off, others will be experimenting to find the perfect set up for the WoO shows and many will pull off early and not "point race" if things aren't going well.
For the UMP Modifieds however, this night would be the one that they have been working toward for over a week with everyone racing for both points to get a "gator" trophy as their reward for the week and also to make the final main where the big money of the week would be distributed. Over eighty Mods have hit the track during the last week and just over fifty would still be on hand for Monday's show to take one last shot at the big bucks.
Forty four Late Models would sign in to race on Monday night with a number of others already in the pits but opting not to race in the Monday show for various reasons including the Scott brothers, Jonathan Davenport, Josh Richards, Mike Marlar, Kerry King and perhaps others as well. In my opinion, these other teams could probably use the extra lap time to try and figure out something that will beat Brandon Sheppard for the rest of the week. He has been that dominant.
Four heats and a pair of Last Chance races would set the field for the thirty lap Late Model main and only twenty four cars would start the show on Monday night. And as it would turn out, no one had anything for Sheppard as he cruised to an easy win and seven grand to add to the bank account.
Sheppard would start on the outside pole and get the jump on Tim McCreadie and after that everyone was just chasing the blue #1 car. Chris Madden looked like the strongest challenger and he did get close on a couple of occasions. In fact once Sheppard had to cut down in turn four to keep Madden behind him but then he regained his momentum and once again pulled away. Madden had his own flub on the last restart and gave up a couple of spots and was never a factor again.
Brian Shirley and Dennis Erb both had strong races and their battle for second was exciting and entertaining while Sheppard kind of cruised away from them. Just as it was in Arizona, the top three finishers were Illinois drivers. Mark Whitener continues to impress as he raced hard to get up into the top five at the end. Only three yellows slowed the race but one was a hard hit by Tyler Bruening against the front stretch wall.
One has to feel for Bruening who's experiment in full time racing has started very badly for him. After enduring a hard hit at All Tech on Sunday night that badly ruined a car, he rolled out a brand new car for Monday night action. After being quick qualifier in his group, the night looked promising for him, but on lap thirteen of the feature in heavy traffic he was turned sideways and slammed hard into the inside wall on the front chute. The hit was very hard and the damage was significant to both the front and rear of the car. They did not even attempt to repair it afterward but just removed loose tin and rolled it into their trailer. I believe they are now out of cars and will probably be done for the rest of Speedweeks, with a trip to Capital headquarters for repairs or replacements likely. It would appear that teammate Shane Clanton is on his own for the rest of the week. He himself parked his car after a poor heat to save it for the rest of the week.
Twenty cars had already qualified for the Modified feature, based on their top ten finishes for the last two nights in the main events. The top ten would redraw and the two favorites, Nick Hoffman and Kyle Strickler, would redraw ninth and tenth, thus insuring an interesting event that could produce an upset. Four Last Chance races lined up based on the qualifying feature finishes would add eight more cars to the main and then four provisional starters would complete the huge thirty two car starting field.
The Modified drivers did a great job however, as there were only three cautions in the main and only about a half dozen drivers that didn't finish the entire event. Oklahoma's Jason Hughes led twenty nine laps of the main, only to be passed on the final lap for the win.
Jason Hughes led from the start and maintained his lead over Tyler Nicely and Spencer Hughes in the early going. Nicely would eventually break and Spencer Hughes took over second. Hoffman and Strickler would both have problems during the race, running into each other at one point and also having troubles with the wall and the rough and heavy surface that was tough on the equipment.
Jason Hughes continued to lead but his car appeared to be getting tighter in the corners and he was having to pinch it down to protect the bottom and keep from getting up in the slime. Spencer Hughes used this opportunity to gain ground and as the laps ran down, it got closer and closer. Spencer nearly pulled off the pass but Jason seemed OK to get the win when the yellow was triggered for a car in the wall in turn two. Truly, the leaders were coming out of the last corner and everyone had missed the crashed car so it would have just been easier to wave the checkered and call it a race(USMTS would have) but they chose to back it up fully two laps and restart the race. Jason Hughes would go on rue that decision.
Jason did his best to keep his speed up and still protect the low groove but Spencer got a great run off turn four, made a brilliant move to squeeze past Jason on the high side as they took the white flag and clearly pulled into the lead in turn one. Jason had nothing for him and the Mississippi driver increased his lead as he drove home for the win. Mike Altobelli made a solid run up from fourteenth and nipped Ryan Cripe for third with Hoffman holding on for fourth. His finish gave him the gator as the point champion of the Modified portion of the show. Incredibly, Hoffman kept up his remarkable streak as it was his fifth consecutive gator as the point champion of this series.
National driving stars J. Hughes and Terry Phillips were both racing this event for the first time and while they were driving cars of their own design, it should be noted that neither was driving their own equipment. Phillips was driving a GRT from an area owner while Jason was driving a Hughes chasses that belonged to Tennessee's Lucas Lee who was also racing.
The track was bad fast for Monday night's show(too fast for many of the drivers) and it made for some blinding speeds and some dicey moments. These kind of conditions are really hard on the equipment and make it tough to pass as everyone was just so fast. Many of the cars in both classes looked like they had been in a war at the race's completion and the crews will be scrapping mud off their cars for the foreseeable future. Track crews are trying to find the "sweet spot" when it comes to track prep as if they get it too dry, then the dreaded "lock down" conditions will occur which from a fan's perspective are far worse than a hammer down track. We will see what they come up with for Tuesday.
The show started right on time and was moved through at a very brisk pace with all racing done by 10 pm allowing spectators to mingle in the pits with the crews afterward. For the wildlife enthusiasts , two gators of the live and fully grown variety were spotted in the "gator pond" that is surrounded by the lower pit area. No reports of small children or pets being missing were heard of.
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