O-SHOW STOPPER: Owens Doubles Up at Volusia

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 14, 2020 – For never having won a Feature at Volusia Speedway Park in his previous 49 starts before his win on Thursday night, Jimmy Owens made going back-to-back on Friday night look easy as he led 24 laps of the Feature en route to his 17th career victory with the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Owens said. “Our car was flawless last night. We were really good tonight, not as good as we needed to be.”

The O-Show certainly was good, backing up his first-ever victory at the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford with his second in two days, fending off a relentless Mark Whitener in the early going, then going on to survive several restarts in the late stages to collect $10,000 for his efforts across 40 laps.

Kyle Bronson, of Brandon, FL, scored his second podium finish of the week after an amazing charge from 15th, and Darrell Lanigan got hot in the closing laps on the bottom, challenging Bronson after the final restart and coming home third.

At the drop of the green, it looked as though Middleburg, FL-native Mark Whitener was going to have a shot at redemption and Victory Lane, as he immediately grabbed the top spot from the outside pole and jumped out to a sizeable lead in the early going.

As Whitener was maneuvering through lapped traffic, Owens was making significant headway. He caught the rear of Whitener by lap 13 and made the pass down the backstretch the next time by.

But Whitener wasn’t done. He re-gathered his momentum on the top side and came flying by Owens once more to retake the lead on lap 16. Owens continued his pursuit of the lead down low and stole it back on lap 18 as Whitener bulldozed the big cushion in Turn 4.

“We had the cushion up there to hold us in the lead, and we passed Whitener then let him get back by and was able to get back by him. All in all, we held on,” Owens said.

Whitener dug up the cushion again after a restart on lap 20, which cost him dearly, as he fell from second to 10th in a matter of just one corner. He made up some ground in the next few circuits but dropped out of the race five laps later – a 22nd-place result for the Speedweeks hopeful.

“I just had to stay off the cushion, that was the biggest deal, because it was pretty treacherous up there,” Owens said.

Meanwhile, Bronson had been making major progress towards the front of the field. Killer broke into the top-eight from his 15th-place starting spot by the halfway point and had a full head of steam going forward. By the lap 25 restart, Bronson was in the top-three and pounding the cushion, as he’s done effectively so many times at Volusia. He drove around Sheppard on the restart and began his pursuit of leader Owens, playing heavy defense through the final 15 laps.

Lanigan poked his head in the top-five right after halfway and held it there consistently, driving all the way up to third on the low line by the final restart with five laps remaining.

“I knew if I was going to get up there and just follow them guys, I was never going to get around them. So, I was just trying to make the bottom work, so if I at least got to them I could try and get by them,” Lanigan said.

That strategy worked, as he took the green on the final restart and drove underneath Sheppard for third. Quickly setting his sights on Bronson, the Union, KY-veteran went on the attack immediately and caught Bronson in a pinch going into Turn 1 with two laps remaining.

“My car was pretty good up top, and I saw [Lanigan] on that one lap, what happened was I was about out of tear-offs and I couldn’t really see. So, I got over the cushion and let him by me,” Bronson said.

The Bluegrass Bandit rode in second down the backstretch and drove hard into Turn 3, but did not come out of Turn 4 with the spot.

“I overcharged [turn] three too hard, just trying too hard,” Lanigan said. “I missed the bottom a little bit and hung in the middle, then I let [Bronson] get back by me and it was pretty much over with by then.”

Still hooked up on the top side, Owens paraded the field back around to the checkered with Bronson and Lanigan following. Bronson seemed the most impressed with his performance over 40 laps, picking up the night’s Hard Charger honors with 13 positions gained.

“To start where we started and come up there and pass all them cars on a track like that, it says a lot about my program,” Bronson said.

As for the Viper Motorsports entry, the team made a valiant effort to stay up front, despite Lanigan’s thirst for victory.

“I just wish the top wasn’t so dominant tonight because our car was phenomenal around that bottom,” Lanigan said. “We could run with them around there, we just couldn’t get by them.”

UP NEXT

The 49th annual DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford comes to a close on Saturday night with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet and the Super DIRTcar Series both in 50-lap finale Features, where the Big Gator champions will be crowned!

Don’t miss a moment of the action – Hot Laps go live on DIRTVision at 5:30 p.m. ET!

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (click here to see full results)

Morton Buildings Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 20-Jimmy Owens [1][$10,000]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson [15][$5,000]; 3. 29v-Darrell Lanigan [8][$3,000]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard [5][$2,500]; 5. 76-Brandon Overton [10][$2,000]; 6. 0-Scott Bloomquist [11][$1,700]; 7. 7-Ricky Weiss [12][$1,400]; 8. 18-Chase Junghans [3][$1,300]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb [9][$1,200]; 10. 14-Josh Richards [17][$1,100]; 11. 2e-Rick Eckert [14][$1,050]; 12. 97-Cade Dillard [18][$1,000]; 13. 66c-Matt Cosner [21][$950]; 14. 8-Kyle Strickler [22][$900]; 15. B1-Brent Larson [25][$150]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs [23][$800]; 17. 12-Ashton Winger [7][$770]; 18. 0M-Chris Madden [6][$750]; 19. 4G-Kody Evans [24][$730]; 20. 6-Blake Spencer [16][$700]; 21. 6T-Tyler Erb [19][$700]; 22. 5-Mark Whitener [2][$700]; 23. 3s-Brian Shirley [13][$700]; 24. 72-Michael Norris [4][$700]; 25. 36-Logan Martin [20][$700]; 26. 21-Ivedent Lloyd [26][$110]; Lap Leaders: Mark Whitner – 1-14, 17-18; Jimmy Owens – 15-16, 19-40; Hard Charger: 40B-Kyle Bronson[+13]

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DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford
Friday, February 14, 2020
Volusia Speedway Park
1500 East State Road 40
Barberville, Florida 32130 

Event Description
The biggest event in DIRTcar racing kicks off the season as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, World of Outlaws Late Model Series, All Star Circuit of Champions, Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds, DIRTcar Late Models and DIRTcar UMP Modifieds take on the World’s Fastest Half-Mile!

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Late Model Series

Support Divisions
Super DIRTcar Series

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Event Schedule
Daily Event Schedule
*Tentative & Subject to Change
10:00 a.m. Pit gates open/team entry/transporter parking
1:00 p.m. Pit pass sales begin / Will Call window opens
3:00 p.m. Pit areas secured/credentials & pit passes required
4:40 p.m. Grandstand/Fan Zone/Midway secured
5:00 p.m. Grandstand gates open
5:00 p.m. Fan Pit Pass gate opens
5:30 p.m. Hot Laps followed by Qualifying
6:50 p.m. Opening Ceremonies
7:00 p.m. Racing
*All times Eastern

Event Hashtag
#FLinFeb

Options And Prices
Tuesday, February 4 – $20 GA, $25 Reserved, $29 Premium Reserved (DIRTcar UMP Modifieds & Sprint Car Open Practice)
• Wednesday, February 5 – $29 GA, $35 Reserved, $39 Premium Reserved (All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP
Modifieds)
• Thursday, February 6 – $29 GA, $35 Reserved, $39 Premium Reserved (All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP
Modifieds)
• Friday, February 7 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds)
• Saturday, February 8 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds)
• Sunday, February 9 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds)
• Monday, February 10 – $35 GA, $40 Reserved, $45 Premium Reserved (DIRTcar Late Models & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds)
• Tuesday, February 11 – $35 GA, $40 Reserved, $45 Premium Reserved (DIRTcar Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series)
• Wednesday, February 12 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series)
• Thursday, February 13 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series)
• Friday, February 14 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series)
• Saturday, February 15 – $39 GA, $45 Reserved, $49 Premium Reserved (World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series)

Grandstand Type
Bleachers, Chairbacks

Reserved Seating
Reserved seating offers the best and highest seats in the house.

Handicapped Seating Location
All Handicap seating is the first rows of each section

Pit Pass Price
Daily pit passes are $35 for DIRTcar members and $40 for non-members. Three-day pit pass packages are available. Package prices are $100 for DIRTcar members and $120 for non-members. Dates of the packages are Feb. 4-6, Feb. 7-9, Feb. 10-12 and Feb. 13-15.

Pit Age Requirement
There is no age restriction in the pits. Anyone 17 years of age or younger will need to fill out a minor waiver form and be accompanied by an adult.

Pit Gate Location
East or West side of the Track.

Parking Cost
General Parking Free

Handicapped Parking Location
Handicap parking spots available. All spots are first come first serve.

Camping Availability
Electric Hookup, Non-Electric, Onsite, Sanitary Facility, Showers

Camping Cost
Single Day Dry Camp $30
Single Day Water/Electric $75 (Special Event $80)
Single Day Full Hook Up $100
Weekend Dry Camp $60
Weekend Electric/Water $150
Weekend Full Hook Up $200

Support Divisions
Super DIRTcar Series

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Reserved Seating
Reserved seating offers the best and highest seats in the house.

Type of Grandstand
Bleachers, Chairbacks

Stadium Seating
Stadium seats are allowed as long as they don't conflict with the aisle behind you.

Handicapped Seating
All Handicap seating is the first rows of each section

Handicapped Parking
Handicap parking spots available. All spots are first come first serve.

Pit Age Limit
There is no age restriction in the pits. Anyone 17 years of age or younger will need to fill out a minor waiver form and be accompanied by an adult.

Pit Gate Location
East or West side of the Track.

Personal Coolers
Six-pack maximum cooler size. No alcohol. No glass.

ATMs
1

Alcohol Sales
Beer is available for purchase at the track.

Smoking Policy
No smoking in the Grandstands.


Parking Cost
General Parking Free

Camping Availability
Electric Hookup, Non-Electric, Onsite, Sanitary Facility, Showers

Camping Cost
Single Day Dry Camp $30
Single Day Water/Electric $75 (Special Event $80)
Single Day Full Hook Up $100
Weekend Dry Camp $60
Weekend Electric/Water $150
Weekend Full Hook Up $200

Volusia Speedway Park
1500 East State Road 40
Barberville, Florida 32130 

Track Phone
(386) 985-4402

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Size
0.482

Track Type
D-shaped oval

Sprint Car Track Record
12.569s by Paul McMahan on 2-10-11; 360 Sprint Car: 14.160 sec. by Brenham Crouch on Jan. 27, 2023; Non-Wing: 16.362s by Thomas Meseraull on Feb. 14, 2023

Late Model Track Record
Super: 15.100 sec. by Bobby Pierce on Jan. 19, 2024

Closest Airport
Daytona International Airport

Other Airport
Orlando Sanford

Pit Gate Location
East or West side of the Track.

Track Map

Competitor Downloads
 https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php