Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Pierce and Friesen Winners on Tuesday at VSP

 The Winter Nationals continued on Tuesday night February 9th at the Volusia Speedway Park west of Daytona Beach and near Barberville Florida. On Tuesday night the UMP Late Models would wrap up their quick two night stand before the World of Outlaws Late Models will take over. Also on Tuesday, the DIRT Series Big Block Modifieds were welcomed to Florida as they arrived for the first of five consecutive nights of racing for this high popular in the Northeast but little seen elsewhere division of racing.

It was a sunny then cloudy and back again sunny day in central Florida and we even had just a few sprinkles during the evening as it doesn't seen like we can get any day completed without just a bit of precipitation although no shows have been rained out so far. 

Fifty one Late Models signed in to race on Tuesday which was the same as Monday although we gained three new drivers while losing that same number. Hudson O'Neal opted to unload and race on Tuesday after having spectated on Monday while both Spencer Hughes and Kyle Strickler ended their UMP Modified duties on Monday and thus turned full attention to their Late Model programs. 

Nick Allen and Ryan Scott aborted their Late Model efforts while Mike Maresca parked his Late Model to focus on his Big Block effort. Thus there turned out to be zero drivers that would try to race in more than one class on the same day which I found to be just a bit surprising. 

The drivers may have been requesting just a bit more moisture in the track surface to make it more resemble the VSP that it usually is as opposed to the slicker and slower track presented earlier during Speed Weeks. In any event, it was a faster track for the second straight day and one where the drivers could use their horsepower more. Brandon Overton was the quickest qualifier at 15,982, the only driver to crack the sixteen second  barrier. Somewhat surprisingly, the other bracket was led by Indiana's Joe Godsey who turned a 16,214 second lap. Godsey did not race quite as well as he qualified and failed to make the main but this team is finally showing some real increases in performance after laboring for over a year at the least driving for Jeff Roth, who by the way, is not racing her this week as this has been the first time that they have been running just the one car for their team out of Arkansas. 

Tuesday night's format would mirror that of Monday with six heats and three Last Chance races setting the grid for the main event. The only change saw two provisional starters added to the field as Ross Bailes and Dennis Erb made it a twenty six car field for the thirty  lap finale. 

Bobby Pierce would lead all thirty laps to go on and win the Late Model feature. While he did lead all laps, things got a bit interesting on several occasions as Devin Moran was able to race his way up to second and put the pressure on Pierce. They had an exciting exchange near the end of the race when Moran slid up past Pierce in turn two to take over the lead but Pierce then crossed him over with inches to spare to regain the top spot. Moran had visions of trying that move one more time in the waning laps as he gained his momentum to make a run but he jumped the cushion and as long as it takes to build up momentum on this big track, his opportunity was sunk and he would settle for second over the happy but somber winner, who had lost a dear family friend earlier in the day. O'Neal would finish a strong third ahead of Brandon Sheppard and Darrell Lanigan who did start all the way back in eighteenth but was helped by several cars that started in front of him and didn't finish the race.

The fast way around the speedway was up against the wall for the second straight night and while that promoted some interesting slide jobs, passing has been a challenging undertaking. Actually, the best racing so far in the Late Models were the three Last Chance races run tonight that were all entertaining. 

If you are keeping score, this is what the format used for the UMP races these last two nights produced. Using a system that starts the fast cars up front and then lines up the features based on heat race finishes except the heat winners redrew, there have been twenty Late Model races(Heat, Last Chance and features) run over the last two nights and nineteen of the twenty races were won right off the front row with only a Last Chance on Monday night being the exception. Could the format use some updating? You be the judge. However, as long as drivers and fans continue to attend the races, the odds of any changes seem slight indeed. 

It was the opening night of five for the Big Blocks and the "Monsters from the East" produces a field of thirty two cars, mostly from New York and environs. It would seen to me that with five straight nights of racing that more than just thirty two cars would show up but to be fair the weather has been miserable in the Northeast which could have affected the number of teams able to attend. Also, it seemed to me that there were more small trailers and pick up trucks towing race cars than the mega bucks gigantic haulers that used to be seen in the Modified pits so maybe things are a little tighter economy wise than they used to be. 

Super star of the Big Blocks Stewart Friesen would lead all thirty laps to win the first feature for this class this week. While he maintained a comfortable lead most of the race, he did have one strong challenge by Peter Britten when Friesen had to fight through lapped traffic and Britten almost got by with a slide job but Friesen was able to cross him over and continue to hold the top spot. 

This race was slowed by six yellow flags, mostly for minor issues. However, the youngest driver in the field, twelve year old Derrick  McGrew, got into the wall and toppled over on his roof, drawing a red flag. He was fine and hopefully the car can be repaired as they need all the cars to be running to fill out fields for four more nights. 

DIRT officials opted to run everyone in the feature so all thirty two started the main and they said they would do this all week as long as a bunch more cars didn't show up, a most unlikely thing to have happen. Big Block officials decided to mimic the Late Models' starting procedures and actually one upped them by not even redrawing the heat race winners. It was simply straight up for the heats and straight up from the heats to line up the feature. This produced a six race program that saw all six winners start in the front row of their respective events. Sound familiar?

I had a chance to talk briefly with Chief Starter Dave Varney who's work is perhaps the most spectacular of anyone here at Speed Weeks. I don't believe I have ever seen a more accomplished and showman like starter than Mr. Varney and it is a pleasure to watch him in action, particularly when you are saddled with mostly lifeless and unexciting starters like we have back home. Mr. Varney gets it right. He told me that he "has the best seat in the house and to keep it, he needs to put on a good show." and believe me, he does. Varney had to block off a couple of weeks from his high school Football refereeing schedule in March and April(this is when New York is going to play their games this year) because he will have the privilege of flagging the Outlaws for two weekends at Bristol and what an exciting honor that must be. 

I'm not sure what is going on but the crowds for the first two nights of Late Model action have been considerably down from the attendance last week. I'm not sure if perhaps folks are waiting until the World of Outlaws Late Models take over or not, perhaps unknowing that it will be the same drivers that have performed earlier in the week. 

But I saved the best moment of Speed Weeks so far for last. On Tuesday there were two Gators swimming in the "Gator Pond" lower pit area. The crew from Dirt Vision, in town to film the races, had an idea. They took their drone, which they use to shoot overhead shots during the races, and tied a long cord on it. They attached a piece of meat to the end of the cord and guess what, they went "Gator hunting." 

Dangling the piece of meat that was carefully placed right in front of the gator out in the middle of the pond by the skilled drone flyer drew just disgust from the gator, who slowly submerged and refused to represent himself. 

So the crew switched their attention to the smaller gator, who was lying by the edge of the weeds closer to shore. They used the same procedure to try and get the gator's attention and after some "sizing up" of the situation by the gator, he quickly moved, leaping forward and snatching the piece of meat right off the cord and chomping it down, to the cheers of a rapidly increasing crowd, most of who were filming the event for posterity on their phones etc. It was a "Kodak Moment" that I was just lucky enough to stumble onto. 

The last four days of racing here at Volusia will involve the same program featuring both Big Block Mods and WoO Late Models with increasing distance races and larger purses as the week winds to a close. 

Things finally worked out as had been planned with a quicker running program that featured more manageable fields of cars and less yellow flags and crashes and the final checkered waved just before 10 pm Eastern. 


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