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BARBERVILLE, FL- February 22, 2017- Brandon Sheppard fought his way to Victory Lane during night eight of the 46th annual DIRTcar Nationals in the 30-lap DIRTcar Racing Late Model Feature. It wasn’t an easy path for Sheppard to get to the front of the pack as Brian Shirley tried to fend him off any way possible.
Sheppard started in the fourth position but found his way to second within the first 10 laps. He passed Shane Clanton, who started the feature third, early on and then had to duel with Tyler Erb. Sheppard then began reeling in Shirley and was at his door knocking by lap 10. They ran side-by-side and the lead position was juggled between the No. 1 and No. 3 machines for several laps. Sheppard finally made the pass on lap 13 but Shirley didn’t surrender as they continued to run side-by-side.
“One of the things I’ve struggled with here a lot is knowing where I need to be on the track,” said Sheppard. “Mark [Richards] talked to me a bunch before we went out for that race and he was giving me pointers on where I need to pick up speed, and where I need to be out of the gas, and how to keep my momentum up… I feel like I learned a lot for later in the week.”
https://youtu.be/R1LeRs4HQqA
It was Clanton who next found his way to Shirley’s bumper and also found his way around to claim the second position with only five laps to go. Clanton, with his No.25 Capital Racecars chassis, was then gunning for the lead and for Sheppard. Unfortunately for Clanton, he ran out of laps once he was close enough to pass for the lead.
The 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals continues on Wednesday, Feb. 22 and a ‘Big Gator’ will be up for grabs as the DIRTcar Late Model Swamp King Gator Championship will top off the DIRTcar Late Model portion of the event.
Feature (30-lap): 1. 1- Brandon Sheppard[4]; 2. 25- Shane Clanton[3]; 3. 3s- Brian Shirley[1]; 4. 14- Darrell Lanigan[8]; 5. 20- Rodney Sanders[5]; 6.15s- Donny Schatz[7]; 7. 9- Tyler Erb[2];8. 39- Tim McCreadie[16]; 9. 7F- Jason Fitzgerald[6]; 10. 44- Chris Madden[18]; 11. 17M- Dale McDowell[11]; 12. 18- Eric Wells [13]; 13. 7- Rick Eckert [17]; 14.7W- Ricky Weiss[24]; 15. 11- Austin Hubbard[14]; 16. 9- Devin Moran[15]; 17. 4-D’s- Chad Hollenbeck[10]; 18. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr[22];19. 21- Billy Moyer Jr[20]; 20. 99B- Boom Briggs[9]; 21. 7m- Donald Mcintosh[23]; 22. 18c- Chase Junghans[19]; 23. 40B- Kyle Bronson[12]; 24. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[21]
B-Main 1: 1.18c- Chase Junghans [2]; 2. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr [1]; 3. 14M- Morgan Bagley [9]; 4. 15- Steve Francis [3]; 5. 16T- Tyler Bruening [5]; 6. 6- Blake Spencer [4]; 7. 14r- Reid Millard [8]; 8. 27- Jeff Beyers[6]; 9. 116- Brandon Overton [7];10. 21L- Ivedent Lloyd Jr [DNS]
B-Main 2: 1. 21- Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 7m- Donald Mcintosh[3]; 3. 93- Donald Bradsher[2]; 4. 2c- Joey Coulter[7]; 5. B1- Brent Larson[6]; 6. 0v- Coleby Frye[5]; 7. 11B- Stacy Boles[4]; 8. 2F- Dennis Franklin [10]; 9. 3c-Charles LaPlant[DNS]; 10.72-Mike Norris [DNS]
B-Main 3:1. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[1]; 2. 7W- Ricky Weiss[3]; 3. 99j- Frank Heckenast Jr[4]; 4. 5- Don O’Neal[2]; 5. 16- Jason Jameson[3]; 6. 71- Hudson O’Neal[10]; 7. 22*- G.R. Smith[6]; 8. 1*- Chub Frank [8]; 9. 16H- Mike Hammerle[9]; 10. 2H- Nick Hoffman[7]
Heat 1: 1.20- Rodney Sanders [2]; 2.15s- Donny Schatz [1]; 3.18- Eric Wells [4]; 4.28E- Dennis Erb Jr [7]; 5.15- Steve Francis [5]; 6.16T- Tyler Bruening [6]; 7.116- Brandon Overton [3]; 8.14M- Morgan Bagley [8]
Hoffman Completes Big Gator Triumph; Hawkins, Taylor and Stalder Earn Victories
By Clayton Johns
BARBERVILLE, FL – February 22, 2017 – Jacob Hawkins won the battle, but Nick Hoffman won the war and the Big Gator as the overall 2017 UMP Modified DIRTcar Nationals champion at Volusia Speedway Park on Tuesday night. Hawkins, Jonathan Taylor, and JE Stalder all added Gator trophies to their mantles after winning one of three UMP Modified features on night eight of the 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals.
Triple 15-lap features on the last of eight straight nights of UMP Modified competition were lined up based on DIRTcar Nationals point standings with the bottom third in feature 1, middle third in feature 2 and highest third in the final 15-lap event.
In the final UMP Modified feature of the week, Hawkins of Fairmont, WV went on a tear. He drove the No.13 from the ninth starting spot, passing eight cars in seven laps to take the lead. Hawkins then led the final eight in the same fashion he ran all week – in the top lane, against the cushion – to score his second win of the DIRTcar Nationals.
“That’s my preferred line. I always enjoy it when I can get up there and hustle the car a little bit,” Hawkins said. “I have to congratulate Nick Hoffman on thee [Big Gator] win. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on our part. He definitely was the class of the field all week. I’m glad we were able to pull this last win off.”
Despite Hawkins’ lightning-quick effort, Hoffman of Mooresville, NC turned in a second-place finish. His fourth-straight podium result edged Hawkins by just one point to win the Big Gator for the second straight year.
“We were really dominant last year and to come back this year and do the same thing means a lot,” Hoffman said. “I was a little worried there when he got to second when we had the caution and I was back in sixth. Luckily everybody picked the bottom on the restart and I was able to pick a few of them off right there.”
Stalder of Martins Ferry, Oh. started on the pole for the first 15-lap feature and paced every lap to secure the win. He held off a late surge from Robert Garnes of Ripley, WV who tried to slide to the number one spot in the final two corners.
“It’s great,” Stalder said of his first Volusia win. “I’ve been coming here for a lot of years. I’ve had a lot of bad luck and finally turned it around tonight.”
AJ Fike of Galesburg, Ill. earned a third-place finish ahead of 15-year-old Mooresville, NC native Slater McCray, grandson of former NASCAR racer Ron Hornaday. Jared Spalding of Troy, Penn. representing the University of Northwestern Ohio team rounded out the top-five in feature 1.
In the second feature, Taylor of Saltsburg, Pa. launched from the fourth-starting spot to lead the opening lap. Taylor found the outside groove to his liking, banging his right-rear tire against a small cushion. He opened a convincing lead that was eliminated by a red flag when Blake Spalding hit the front stretch wall and flipped on his roof on lap seven. He was uninjured by the incident.
The short break didn’t seem to both Taylor, as he drove away from former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton on the restart. Taylor’s victory was never in doubt as he crossed the finish line 1.9 seconds ahead of Crafton.
“I’m speechless,” Taylor remarked in Victory Lane. “This is absolutely a dream come true, the highlight of my career.”
“We’ve struggled this week, unfortunately, but the last two nights with a little bit of moisture in the track we’ve really learned a lot. We’ve just tried to keep going and I think tonight it finally paid off,” Taylor said.
Chase Collins of Jacksonville, Fla., Garrett Stewart of Leesburg, Fla. and Austin Holcombe of Elm City, NC rounded out the top-five in feature 2. or by calling 844-DIRT-TIX.
The Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds now take over as the open-wheel component at the 46th DIRTcar Nationals. The “Beasts of the Northeast” join the DIRTcar Late Models on Wednesday night before the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series invades the track for three nights beginning on Thursday. Tickets are available online at www.dirtcar.ticketforce.com.
46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park DIRTcar UMP Modified Notebook – February 21, 2017
* Lineups were set based on the 2017 DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified point standings and inverting the top-10 in each race.
The 2017 DIRTcar Nationalsis supported by Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Hampton Inn-Palm Coast, Parks Toyota, Simpson Performance Products, Ring Power CAT, Performance Motor Oil, and Safety-Kleen.
DIRTcar Racing is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Chevy Performance Parts and NAPA Auto Parts (SDS). Contingency sponsors include: ASI Race Wear (SDS), Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Cometic Gasket (SDS), COMP Cams (SDS), Edelbrock (SDS), Fox Shocks (SDS), Henry’s Exhaust Systems, Intercomp, JE Pistons (SDS), JRi Shocks (SDS), KSE Racing Products (SDS), Mike’s Racing Heads (SDS), Number One Speedway (SDS), MSD (SDS), Pole Position Raceway (SDS), Superflow Dynos (SDS) and Wrisco (Official Aluminum) (SDS); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.