DIRTcar Nationals Night 11 Recap
Fog a First Time Winner at Volusia
BARBERVILLE, FL. – February 25, 2016 – The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series took the track at Volusia Speedway Park for the first time on night 11 of DIRTcar Nationals. During the 40-lap Craftsman Club Feature fans and drivers in attendance witnessed a thick fog roll in after 10pm that was the concoction of two days of heavy rain followed by a third of sunny blue skies. For the drivers’ safety, the feature was called complete with 23 laps in the books due to poor visibility.
Despite the bad luck Mother Nature brought, Shane Clanton was the class of the field all around. He had the fastest lap time during qualifying with 15.861-second lap, won his heat race and led all 23-laps of the feature.
“I hate that Mother Nature brought this fog in, but it’s pretty bad out there,” Clanton said. “Every straightaway you had to pull a tearoff because it’s like rain. I hate it for the fans. They didn’t get to see a full feature here. I think we had the best car tonight, so hopefully we can repeat tomorrow and do it all over.”
https://youtu.be/oQN69i-AMSM
Eric Wells also had a strong night as he claimed the second overall fastest time with a 15.862-second lap. Wells also won his heat race and found his way to second place on the podium.
“The track was really demanding tonight,” Well said. “It’s fast and it takes a lot of manpower. You hook a rut the wrong way and you don’t know which way the car’s going to go. That definitely didn’t help at all, but we’ve got a pretty good package. We’re going to work on ittomorrow and hopefully we’ll be in Shane’s spot.”
Not everybody had as successful a night as the top three. Several drivers battled both the elements and mechanical problems throughout the night and were forced to retire early.
Chris Madden was the first driver forced to retire on lap seven when the third driveshaft of the night broke on the Grey Court, SC native’s No.44.
Don O’Neal suffered a similar fate on lap 16. The Martinsville, Ind. native was running fifth after starting the feature 11th.
“I broke something in the driveline coming off of [turn] two,” O’Neal said following the race. “It’s a shame. I mean, we came up through [the field] a ways and I thought we were going to have a good decent finish.”
Union, Ky driver Darrell Lanigan finished eighth in heat two after he pulled pit side with a miss in the motor. Lanigan’s team was scratched for the remainder of the night after pulling the motor. The team described it as “precautionary” after failing to diagnose the source of the problem.
As fog rolled over Volusia midway through the 40-lap feature, several drivers struggled with vision and ran out of tearoffs before the race was called at lap 23.
“I started way too far back. I had 40 some tearoffs and I used every one of them,” said Brandon Overton. “As soon as I would pull one off, the other one would be fogged up. I just kept yanking them and finally I ran out. I figured I had better pull in before we tear anything up.”
Podium finisher Tim McCreadie of Watertown, NY also struggled with the same vision issues due to fog.
“It wasn’t the easiest to see,” McCreadie said. “I’m not going to sit here and act like we can just fly around here no problem. We were wiping the mist [off our visors] all the way around.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series will close out the last day of the 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals on Saturday.
Feature 40-lap- 1. 25- Shane Clanton[2]; 2. 18-Eric Wells [6];3.39-Tim McCreadie[10]; 4.7-Rick Eckert[4]; 5.3s-Brian Shirley[5]; 6.1-Brandon Sheppard[15]; 7.7F-Jason Fitzgerald[9]; 8.40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 9.99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 10.1P-Earl Pearson Jr[21]; 11.1*-Chub Frank[16]; 12.20-Rodney Sanders[19]; 13.28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 14.4-Ds-Chad Hollenbeck[23]; 15.15s-Donny Schatz[12]; 16.99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr[27]; 17.14M-Morgan Bagley[22]; 18.9-Devin Moran[20]; 19.2c-Joey Coulter[28]; 20.21-Billy Moyer Jr[26]; 21.93-Donald Bradsher[14]; 22.91-Tyler Erb[3]; 23.116-Brandon Overton[25]; 24.21L-Ivedent Lloyd Jr[24]; 25.5-Don O’Neal[11]; 26.17M-Dale McDowell[13]; 27.44-Chris Madden[17]; 28.15-Steve Francis[1]
Qualifying Group A: 1.72-Mike Norris, 15.923; 2.91-Tyler Erb, 16.01; 3.7-Rick Eckert,16.201; 4.99B-Boom Briggs, 16.247; 5.14-Darrell Lanigan, 16.281; 6.7F-Jason Fitzgerald, 16.296; 7.15-Steve Francis, 16.35; 8.40B-Kyle Bronson, 16.357; 9.20-Rodney Sanders, 16.36; 10.1-Brandon Sheppard, 16.405; 11.14M-Morgan Bagley , 16.417; 12.7W-Ricky Weiss, 16.419l 13.18c-Chase Junghans, 16.43; 14.17M-Dale McDowell, 16.463; 15.93-Donald Bradsher, 16.468; 16.B1-Brent Larson, 16.5; 17.38s-Kenny Pettyjohn, 16.576; 18.0v-Coleby Frye, 16.694; 19.116-Brandon Overton, 16.699; 20.6- Blake Spencer, 16.861; 21.2c- Joey Coulter, 17.006; 22.9- Devin Moran, 17.115; 23.14r-Reid Millard, 17.436; 24.16- Justin Rattliff, DNS; 25.35- Win Ingersoll, DNS
Qualifying Group B: 1.25- Shane Clanton,15.861; 2.18- Eric Wells, 15.862; 3.3s- Brian Shirley, 15.952; 4.39- Tim McCreadie, 15.956; 5.44- Chris Madden, 15.978; 6.15s- Donny Schatz, 15.997; 7.4-Ds- Chad Hollenbeck, 16.093; 8.5- Don O’Neal, 16.167; 9.28- Dennis Erb Jr, 16.173; 10.22*- G.R. Smith, 16.186; 11.1P- Earl Pearson Jr, 16.27; 12.21L- Ivedent Lloyd Jr, 16.275; 13.1*- Chub Frank, 16.355; 14.2F- Dennis Franklin, 16.463; 15.16T- Tyler Bruening, 16.484; 16.21jr- Billy Moyer Jr, 16.501; 17.99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr, 16.56; 18.71- Hudson O’Neal, 16.565; 19.11- Austin Hubbard, 16.774; 20.2H- Nick Hoffman, 16.826; 21.3c- Charles LaPlant, 17.059; 22.16J- Jason Jameson, 17.263; 23.99- Dylan Thompson, 17.554; 24.16H- Mike Hammerle, 18.557
Heat 1: 1. 15- Steve Francis[3];2. 99B- Boom Briggs[2];3. 17M- Dale McDowell[5];4. 14M- Morgan Bagley[4];5. 38s- Kenny Pettyjohn[6];6. 6-Blake Spencer[7];7.14r- Reid Millard[8];8.72-Mike Norris[DNS];9. 35-Win Ingersoll[DNS]
Heat 2: 1. 91- Tyler Erb[1];2. 40B- Kyle Bronson[3];3. 93-Donald Bradsher[5];4. 20- Rodney Sanders[8];5. 7W- Ricky Weiss[4];6. 0v- Coleby Frye[6];7. 2c- Joey Coulter[7];8. 14-Darrell Lanigan[2];
Heat 3: 1.7- Rick Eckert[1]; 2.7F-Jason Fitzgerald[2]; 3.1- Brandon Sheppard[3]; 4.116-Brandon Overton[6]; 5.9-Devin Moran[7]; 6.18c- Chase Junghans[4]; 7.B1-Brent Larson[5]; 8.16-Justin Rattliff[DNS]
Heat 4: 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1];2. 39- Tim McCreadie[2];3.1*- Chub Frank[5];4. 4-Ds-Chad Hollenbeck[3];5.16J-Jason Jameson[8];6.11-Austin Hubbard[7];7. 22*-G.R. Smith[4];8.21-Billy Moyer Jr[6]
Heat 5: 1.18-Eric Wells[1]; 2. 5-Don O’Neal[3]; 3.44-Chris Madden[2]; 4.1P-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 5.99j-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 6.2H-Nick Hoffman[7];7.99-Dylan Thompson[8];8.2F-Dennis Franklin[DNS]
Heat 6: 1. 3s-Brian Shirley[1];2.15s-Donny Schatz[2];3.28-Dennis Erb Jr[3];4.21L-Ivedent Lloyd Jr[4];5.16T-Tyler Bruening[5];6.71-Hudson O’Neal[6];7.3c-Charles LaPlant[7];8.16H-Mike Hammerle[8];
Last Chance Showdown 1: 1.20-Rodney Sanders[2]; 2.14M-Morgan Bagley[1]; 3.38s-Kenny Pettyjohn[3]; 4.2c-Joey Coulter[8]; 5.7W-Ricky Weiss[4]; 6.6-Blake Spencer[5]; 7.14r-Reid Millard[7]; 8.0v-Coleby Frye[6]; 9.72-Mike Norris[DNS]; 10.14-Darrell Lanigan[DNS]; 11.35-Win Ingersoll[DNS]
Last Chance Showdown 2: 1.9- Devin Moran[3]; 2.4-Ds-Chad Hollenbeck [2]; 3.18c-Chase Junghans[5]; 4.22*-G.R. Smith[8]; 5.16J-Jason Jameson[4]; 6.B1-Brent Larson[7]; 7.21-Billy Moyer Jr[10]; 8.11-Austin Hubbard[6]; 9.116-Brandon Overton[1]; 10.16-Justin Rattliff[DNS]
Last Chance Showdown 3: 1. 1P-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 2.21L-Ivedent Lloyd Jr[2]; 3.16T-Tyler Bruening[4]; 4.2H-Nick Hoffman[5];5.99j-Frank Heckenast Jr[3]; 6.71-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 7.99-Dylan Thompson[7];8.3c-Charles LaPlant[8]; 9.16H-Mike Hammerle[10];10.2F-Dennis Franklin[DNS]
Haers Holds off Sheppard and Claims DIRTcar Nationals Victory
Brings home the first gator of the week for the Super DIRTcar Series
By Mandee Pauch
BARBERVILLE, F.L – Feb. 25, 2017 – The hot shoe out of Phelps, N.Y., Justin Haers, picked up his second career DIRTcar Nationals victory after holding off the 22nd starter, Matt Sheppard in Friday night’s 30-lap Super DIRTcar Series feature event at Volusia Speedway Park.
“We had a really good car from the drop of the green,” Haers said in Victory Lane. “It seemed like I’d get in the wrong part of the restart wanting to be on the bottom but kept restarting on top. I just found the [bottom groove] in turn three and four and I could just hook it really good. The car was was unbelievable, top, bottom, it didn’t matter where I wanted it.”
Mario Clair and Alan Johnson led the 26-car field to the green flag. Clair showed a dominant lead early on until Jimmy Horton started to put pressure on the No. 96c. Clair and Horton battled back-and-fourth for several laps until Clair suddenly fell off the pace, forfeiting the top spot to Horton on lap 21 due to a broken right-rear shock.
It wasn’t long until Haers was knocking on Horton’s back bumper. As Haers closed in on Horton, the No. 43 machine started to smoke tremendously with just five laps remaining.
Horton’s night expired after coming to a stop on the track on lap 27 due to a loose oil line, giving Haers the top spot.
“I give [Horton] credit. He ran the hell out of that thing,” said Haers. “The smoke was so bad I didn’t want to get behind him and have something break on the motor and come back and hit me or something. So I was trying to just stay below him a little bit.”
Sheppard, the defending Super DIRTcar Series champion, worked his way through the last chance showdown and started 22nd in the feature. With three laps remaining in the feature, Sheppard made his presence known and was soon knocking on Haers doors threatening for the win.
Haers was able to hold off Sheppard and pulled away to take home the first Super DIRTcar Series victory of 2017 during the DIRTcar Nationals.
“This is probably the coolest trophy that’s out there,” Haers said. “I’ve got [one gator] and now I’ve got another one to bring home.”
“These racecars are a matter of just getting some laps,” said runner-up finisher, Matt Sheppard. “Trying to get the track to slow down a little bit, it wasn’t looking good there for a long time. It seemed like the longer the race went the better we got. I thought I may have had a shot at Justin at the end but he was really good and we kind of ran out of tear-offs there but it was nice from where we started to come from the back and get second.”
The 2016 Super DIRTcar Series Rookie of the Year, Max McLaughlin showed his skills as he capped off the night with a podium finish.
“I kind of made a mistake setup wise but I’ll take the blame,” McLaughlin said. “The car was really good all night. I ran out of tear-offs with about five to go so I was driving blind. Luckily we ended up third and will go at it again tomorrow.”
The Super DIRTcar Series will be back in action at Volusia Speedway Park for the DIRTcar Nationals on Saturday, Feb. 25th. Follow the series on Twitter @SuperDIRTcar, or click www.SuperDIRTcarSeries.com.
Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report; Feb. 24, 2017; Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, F.L.
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 3-Justin Haers, 2. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 4. 99l-Larry Wight, 5. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 6. 20-Brett Hearn, 7. 27j-Danny Johnson, 8. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 9. 5-Billy Vaningewen, 10. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 11. 85-H.J. Bunting, 12. 19-Tim Fuller, 13. 30-Jamie Mills, 14. 14j-Alan Johnson, 15. 43-Jimmy Horton, 16. 88-Mike Mahaney, 17. 96c-Mario Clair, 18. 13-Steve Davis, 19. 22-Brandon Walters, 20. 7-Rick Laubach, 21. 30m-Joseph Watson, 22. 21a-Peter Britten, 23. 71-Mike Bowman, 24. 1g-Dawrin Greene, 25. 1-Billy Pauch, 26. 49-Billy Dunn
Last-Chance Showdown No. 1 (10 Laps): 1. 99l-Larry Wight, 2. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 3. 85-H.J. Bunting, 4. 109-Billy Whittaker, 5. 118-Jim Britt, 6. 28p-Eldon payne, 7. 48t-Dave Rauscher, 8. 27-David Hunt, 9. 96-J.F. Corriveau, 10. 19m-Jessy Mueller, 11. 6d-Dillon Steuer
Last-Chance Showdown No. 2 (10 Laps): 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 2. 13-Steve Davis, 3. 21a-Peter Britten, 4. 27a-Ryan Anderson, 5. 54-Steve Bernard, 6. 14-C.G. Morey, 7. 7m-Mike Maresca, 8. 44r-Russell Morseman, 9. 32c-Vic Coffey, 10. 21k-Randy Chrysler
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – 1. 43-Jimmy Horton, 2. 14J-Alan Johnson, 3. 28p-Eldon Payne, 4. 20-Brett Hearn, 5. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 6. 1g-Darwin Greene, 7. 109-Billy Whittaker, 8. 85-H.J. Bunting, 9. 118-Jim Britt, 10. 48t-Dave Rauscher
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 2. 96c-Mario Clair, 3. 22-Brandon Walters, 17.238, 4. 27-David Hunt, 5. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 6. 99l-Larry Wight, 7. 49-Billy Dunn, 8. 6d-Dillon Steuer, 9. 19m-Jessey Mueller, 10. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 11. 44r-Russell Morseman
Heat 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 7-Rick Laubach, 2. 19-Tim Fuller, 3. 71-Mike Bowman, 4. 30-Jamie Mills, 5. 1-Billy Pauch, 6. 9s-Matt Shepperd, 7. 32c-Vic Coffey, 8. 21-Peter Britten, 9. 21k-Randy Chrysler, 10. 21-Yan Bussiere
Heat 4 (8 Laps) – 1. 3-Justin Haers, 2. 88-Mike Mahaney, 3. 5-Billy Vanigewen, 4. 30m-Joseph Watson, 5. 27j-Danny Johnson, 6. 27a-Ryan Anderson, 7. 13-Steve Davis, 8. 7m-Mike Maresca, 9. 54-Steve Bernard, 10. 14-C.G. Morey
Group 1 Qualifier – 1. 43-Jimmy Horton, 17.888; 2. 14J-Alan Johnson, 17.902; 3. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 17.985; 4. 1g-Darwin Greene, 18.054; 5. 20-Brett Hearn, 18.127; 6. 96-J.F. Corriveau, 18.221; 7. 109-Billy Whittaker, 18.250; 8. 28p-Eldon Payne, 18.296; 9. 118-Jim Britt, 18.427; 10. 85-H.J. Bunting, 18.642
Group 2 Qualifier – 1. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 17.556; 2. 96c-Mario Clair, 17.595; 3. 49-Billy Dun, 17.784; 4. 22-Brandon Walters, 17.956; 5. 27-David Hunt, 17.959; 6. 19m-Jessey Mueller, 18.005; 7. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 18.021; 8. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 18.093; 9. 99l-Larry Wight, 18.454; 10. 6d-Dillon Steuer, 18.724
Group 3 Qualifier – 1. 7-Rick Laubach, 17.342; 2. 19-Tim Fuller, 17.478; 3. 30-Jamie Mills, 17.562; 4. 71-Mike Bowman, 17.621; 5. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 17.639; 6. 1-Billy Pauch, 17.659; 7. 21-Yan Bussiere, 17.665; 8. 21-Peter Britten, 17.847; 9. 32c-Vic Coffey, 17.848; 10. 21k-Randy Chrysler, 18.036
Group 4 Qualifier – 1. 88-Mike Mahaney, 17.411; 2. 3-Justin Haers, 17.572; 3. 5-Billy Vaninwigen, 17.601; 4. 30m-Joseph Watson, 17.680; 5. 5m-Mike Maresca, 17.680; 6. 271-Ryan Anderson, 17.857; 7. 27j-Danny Johnson, 17.893; 8. 14-C.G. Morey, 17.994; 9. 13-Steve Davis, 18.205; 10. 54-Steve Bernard, 18.219
The 2017 DIRTcar Nationals is supported by Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Hampton Inn-Palm Coast, Parks Toyota, Simpson Performance Products, Ring Power CAT, Performance Motor Oil and Safety-Kleen.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Craftsman (Official Tool), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), Textron Off Road (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience), Wrisco Aluminum (Official Aluminum),and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, JRi Shocks, MSD, Penske Shocks, QA1, QuarterMaster, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.
Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, N.C., is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts all World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.
DIRTcar Racing is brought to fans by many important sponsors and partners, including: Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Wrisco Aluminum (Official Aluminum – SDS), 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); along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Beyea Headers, Racing Electronics and TNT Rescue.
Sources: Colby Gorniewicz/World of Outlaws PR