The 53rd annual Federated Auto Parks DIRTcar Nationals kicked off on Monday night, February 12th at the Volusia Speedway Park near Barberville Florida. This would be the start of the final week of this nearly month long series of races here at Volusia that has seen the World of Outlaws Late Models, World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Modifieds and now in conclusion, three nights of UMP Late Models followed by the World of Outlaws Late Models for another three nights. USAC Sprint Cars will join the UMP Late Models for two nights and then the Big Block Modifieds, "The Beasts from the East" will join the WoO Late Models for the last four nights of racing.
What a grind this must be for all the employees of DIRTcar along with all the employees of the track as there is almost nonstop racing going on for nearly a full month here at VSP. However, the grounds still look good after this much racing and foot traffic and the gator is still looking good as he patrols the "Gator Pond" on the lower level of the pit area.
The pairing of DIRTcar Late Models and USAC Sprint Car seems to be an odd one as the Late Models are a part of DIRT Vision while the Sprint Cars are a FLO property but somehow the business end of this must have been worked out as the Sprint Cars debuted as a part of the series last year and were asked to return for 2024. They have a nice series in Florida also as they race here in between two different series of appearances at Ocala Speedway(note the name change, even though Bubba still roams the grounds).
It would be one of the nicest days of the entire series so far with temperatures in the mid 80's and plenty of sun and even a bit of humidity. However, these conditions would go down hill as the evening progressed but more on that later.
Car counts would be very similar to those of last year with twenty seven Sprint Cars compared to twenty eight last year and forty seven Late Models compared to last year's forty six. With USAC running two points paying programs, everyone that was here would be racing on Monday while there are a number of Late Models that are on hand but did not unload on this night, instead waiting for later in the week when the purses go up and points for the Outlaws start on Thursday night. Among those watching were Jimmy Owens, David McCoy, Ryan Gustin, Matt Cosner, Jeff Mathews and Cory Lawler with Parker Martin using the afternoon to swap out a motor.
One always knows that they are at Volusia when Dave Farney climbs up into the flagman's tower and begins his show. One of the most respected starters in the business, he is not only good at keeping the drivers informed to what is happening on the track, he also puts on a good show for the fans. How some tracks believe that not even having a flagman and instead just using a set of lights to start and end the races adds more to the show is just beyond me.
It was a blazing fast track that the drivers would deal with on Monday but the groove would be just a bit narrow. From the time the drivers hit the track, a quick program was being pushed by all as the radar was already showing that rain was on the way and it was a question not of if, but of when it would hit.
Interestingly, the Sprint Cars would hot lap and then turn right around and do their qualifying first and then the Late Models would hit the track and do the same. Evidence that the track was very fast was quickly confirmed when Logan Seavey would set a new USAC Sprint record at the track with a time of 16.173 seconds. The Sprint Cars and Late Models would be operating under different qualifying formats on Monday with the Sprint Cars inverting six in each of their three heat races with four heats having been called for if they would have had just one more car. Six would come out of their B Feature to set a twenty four car starting field.
The Late Models, on the other hand, would be divided before the time trials started into four groups and drivers would only qualify against drivers in their own group. Time trials would set the running order for the heats with the Late Models starting straight up off qualifying. Five would come out of each heat and the twin B Features would move up a pair of cars each, thus setting a twenty four car field and with this being a DIRTcar only race, there would be no provisional starters with just twenty four running the main.
This would be as proficient a program as one would hope to see all year. When was the last time you went to a race meet and with two classes of cars qualifying, the first green flag would wave exactly at the advertised starting time? But that is exactly what happened on Monday with the rain bearing down on the track.
The program would be run off at a break neck pace and with the drivers cooperating with few yellow flags, the ten preliminary races would be completed in the rapid fashion of one hour and fifteen minutes. In fact, the Sprints would run off their four races without a single yellow flag being waved.
However, as the last Late Model B Feature was being run, it started to mist lightly and then became just a bit heavier. As the Sprints were being pushed to staging for their main, it started to pick up in intensity just a bit, not hard enough to be considered full out rain but just enough to make racing unsafe. The race went into a holding pattern as packing vehicles circled the oval. However, a few minutes later it started to pick up in intensity, the lightning bolts started to flicker and the program was called.
Fortunately, with all qualifying completed, it would be easier to reschedule the rest of the program. The Sprint Cars, with other commitments later this week, will run a program that features double main events on Tuesday night. The Late Models, on the other hand, will run their feature race on Wednesday as a part of the features only night so we will see four main events on Wednesday plus the Big Blocks for their first show of 2024.
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