FL’s Lloyd Tops DCN Opener

Ivedent Lloyd Jr. Defends Home Turf On Opening Night Of DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit At Volusia Speedway Park

Florida Driver Turns Back National Stars For $7,000 DIRTcar Late Model Triumph

By Kevin Kovac, DIRTcar Racing P.R.

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 17, 2014 – Ivedent Lloyd Jr. did his home state proud on Monday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

The 47-year-old veteran from Ocala, Fla., authored one of the drives of his career, turning back a field filled with national stars to win the 30-lap DIRTcar Late Model A-Main that opened the full-fender portion of the 43rd DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

An accomplished Sunshine State racer who has won often in local and regional competition at the half-mile oval, Lloyd became the first driver from Florida to capture a dirt Late Model feature during the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit since Jacksonville’s Earl Pearson Jr. topped a DIRTcar-sanctioned event on Feb. 10, 2009. He earned $7,000 for his efforts.

“This is the biggest win,” said Lloyd, who has driven Late Models on both dirt and asphalt for three decades. “There’s races that pay more money, but this is by far the career-topper, to win this. To have all these guys here and race these guys, it’s neat.”

Lloyd started from the outside pole and led every circuit but was chased throughout the distance by Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who drew within a couple car lengths of the leader several times in the closing laps before settling for second place.

Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., finished third after starting from the pole position, showing he’s primed to reprise his head-turning DIRTcar Nationals by Summit performance of a year ago. Fifth-starter John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va., slid into fourth place on lap 14 and finished there and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., slipped backward from the third starting spot to finish fifth.

Lloyd’s victory was his first-ever during the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit, an ultra-competitive mid-winter meet that he doesn’t annually enter.

“We usually shy away from here during Speedweeks strictly because I can race for two months on the abuse you put on a motor here in a week,” admitted Lloyd, who operates a machine shop in his hometown of Ocala, about 50 miles west of VSP. “But with the new motor (his partner, J.B. Harris, obtained a Race Engine Design powerplant for the 2014 season) we wanted to come over here and race some.”

The decision to make an assault on Volusia paid off – after Lloyd stuck to his guns on tire choice, of course.

Lloyd’s strategy for the A-Main? “Just not get beat on tires like I have been all weekend,” he said, referring to his runs the previous three nights in World of Outlaws Late Model Series events at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. “We made our decision after the heat race was over based on what happened to us the last three nights. We decided to stay with (the tires) we were on and just go at it and live or die by it.”

Perching his Snow Brothers-built car on the outside of the fast D-shaped track, Lloyd kept the field at bay from start to finish. Smith was well within striking distance over the final 10 laps, but Lloyd didn’t flinch.

“We know this track well as far as where to drive around the track,” said Lloyd. “J.B. was giving me signals, so I knew I had a little bit of room and just tried to make good laps. That’s all you could do – make good laps and not hit a hole wrong and get yourself up in the cushion.”

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Smith, 36, was satisfied to continue his stretch of strong Speedweeks results, adding a runner-up finish to his first-, second- and third-place runs over the previous three nights at Bubba Raceway Park.

“We certainly didn’t change much (for the A-Main), but we made our car just a little bit too tight,” Smith, who started fourth, said of his Rocket machine. “I didn’t expect the conditions to stay this fast either, so maybe we misjudged the racetrack too.

“I could see (Lloyd) was getting tighter down (in turns three and four) and I thought that’s where I might be able to make my move. But the time when he made the biggest mistake I also made a mistake, so we had to settle for second.”

Just one caution flag slowed the event, on lap seven when Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., stopped in turn four with mechanical trouble.

With 40 cars signed in for action, group qualifying was utilized to set the starting lineups for four heat races in the first of three DIRTcar Late Model programs during the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit.

Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., registered the fastest overall qualifying lap at 15.352 seconds.Other group fast-timers were Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla. (15.597), Clanton (15.517) and Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa (15.819).

Heat winners were Wells, Lloyd, Clanton and Smith. Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., captured the B-Mains.

The DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit continues on Tuesday night (Feb. 18) with another DIRTcar Late Model program topped by a 30-lap A-Main. The UMP Modifieds will also compete in triple features to close out the division’s week-long meet.

Race time is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

For more information on the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, log on to www.DIRTcarNationals.com.

DIRTcar Late Model 30-Lap A-Main Finish (Finish Pos./Start Pos./Driver/Laps Completed):

1. (2) Ivedent Lloyd Jr./30
2. (4) Brady Smith/30
3. (1) Eric Wells/30
4. (5) John Blankenship/30
5. (3) Shane Clanton/30
6. (10) Scott Bloomquist/30
7. (9) Darrell Lanigan/30
8. (6) Gregg Satterlee/30
9. (12) Brandon Sheppard/30
10. (8) Morgan Bagley/30
11. (16) Brian Shirley/30
12. (20) Frankie Heckenast Jr./30
13. (17) Rick Eckert/30
14. (13) Bobby Pierce/30
15. (19) Kenny Pettyjohn/30
16. (15) Eric Jacobsen/29
17. (24) Tim McCreadie/17
18. (21) Billy Moyer/16
19. (18) Jack Sullivan/16
20. (11) Casey Roberts/14
21. (7) Mike Marlar/7
22. (23) Chase Junghans/7
23. (14) Dan Stone/7
24. (22) John Garvin Jr./4

Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Eric Wells, 2. John Blankenship, 3. Darrell Lanigan, 4. Bobby Pierce, 5. Kenny Pettyjohn, 6. Kyle Bronson, 7. Chase Junghans, 8. Jason Fitzgerald, 9. Jeff Beyers, 10. Chad White

Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Scott Bloomquist, 4. Dan Stone, 5. Rick Eckert, 6. Billy Moyer, 7. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 8. Vic Coffey, 9. Chad Hollenbeck, 10. Chuck Julien

Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Brian Shirley, 5. Jack Sullivan, 6. Stacy Boles, 7. Jeff Babcock, 8. Tim McCreadie, 9. John Winge, 10. David Gibson Jr.

Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Brady Smith, 2. Morgan Bagley, 3. Casey Roberts, 4. Eric Jacobsen, 5. Tyler Bruening, 6. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 7. Chub Frank, 8. John Garvin Jr., 9. Dennis Erb Jr., 10. Mike Hammerle

B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Rick Eckert, 2. Kenny Pettyjohn, 3. Billy Moyer, 4. Chase Junghans, 5. Vic Coffey, 6. Chad Hollenbeck, 7. Jason Fitzgerald, 8. Jeff Beyers, 9. Chad White, 10. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs

B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Jack Sullivan, 2. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 3. John Garvin Jr., 4. Tim McCreadie, 5. Tyler Bruening, 6. Jeff Babcock, 7. Stacy Boles, 8. David Gibson Jr., 9. Mike Hammerle, 10. John Winge

LIVE UPDATES 2/17: DIRTcar Nationals by Summit DIRTcar Late Models Night 1 At Volusia Speedway Park

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 17, 2014 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is idle until Thursday night, but most of the Outlaws are racing tonight in the DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned opener of the 43rd DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park.

A 30-lap A-Main paying $7,000 to win is on tap this evening — and fans can watch all the action live by purchasing a DIRTcar Nationals video subscription at www.DIRTVision.com.

For live updates of news, pit notes and results from tonight’s action, click the ‘Full Story’ link below. Be sure to refresh your browser throughout the night to see the latest information.

Florida’s finest

11:15 p.m. – Ocala, Fla.’s Ivedent Lloyd Jr. did his homestate proud, leading from flag-to-flag to win the 30-lap DIRTcar Late Model feature.

Lloyd was chased throughout the distance by Brady Smith, who drew within a couple car lengths several times but settled for second place, 0.346 of a second behind at the checkered flag.

Eric Wells finished third, John Blankenship was fourth and Shane Clanton placed fifth.

A-Main Finish: 1. Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 2. Brady Smith, 3. Eric Wells, 4. John Blankenship, 5. Shane Clanton, 6. Scott Bloomquist, 7. Darrell Lanigan, 8. Gregg Satterlee, 9. Brandon Sheppard, 10. Morgan Bagley, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 13. Rick Eckert, 14. Bobby Pierce, 15. Kenny Pettyjohn, 16. Eric Jacobsen, 17. Tim McCreadie, 18. Billy Moyer, 19. Jack Sullivan, 20. Casey Roberts, 21. Mike Marlar, 22. Chase Junghans, 23. Dan Stone, 24. John Garvin Jr.

Field set

9 p.m. – Rick Eckert and Jack Sullivan (driving his sponsor Raymond Merrill’s No. 12M) were victorious in the twin 10-lap B-Mains. Kenny Pettyjohn, Billy Moyer and Chase Junghans grabbed the remaining transfer spots in the first B-Main, while Frankie Heckenast Jr., John Garvin Jr. and Tim McCreadie also made the cut in the second consolation.

The 30-lap UMP Modified ‘Gator Championship’ — a race that includes Daytona 500 pole position winner Austin Dillon — will be hitting the track momentarily, with the 30-lap DIRTcar Late Model A-Main to follow.

B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Rick Eckert, 2. Kenny Pettyjohn, 3. Billy Moyer, 4. Chase Junghans, 5. Vic Coffey, 6. Chad Hollenbeck, 7. Jason Fitzgerald, 8. Jeff Beyers, 9. Chad White, 10. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs

B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Jack Sullivan, 2. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 3. John Garvin Jr., 4. Tim McCreadie, 5. Tyler Bruening, 6. Jeff Babcock, 7. Stacy Boles, 8. David Gibson Jr., 9. Mike Hammerle, 10. John Winge

A-Main Lineup

Row 1: Eric Wells/Ivedent Lloyd Jr.
Row 2: Shane Clanton/Brady Smith
Row 3: John Blankenship/Gregg Satterlee
Row 4: Mike Marlar/Morgan Bagley
Row 5: Darrell Lanigan/Scott Bloomquist
Row 6: Casey Roberts/Brandon Sheppard
Row 7: Bobby Pierce/Dan Stone
Row 8: Don O’Neal/Brian Shirley
Row 9: Rick Eckert/Jack Sullivan
Row 10: Kenny Pettyjohn/Frankie Heckenast Jr.
Row 11: Billy Moyer/John Garvin Jr.
Row 12: Chase Junghans/Tim McCreadie

Heat race notes

8:35 p.m. – Eric Wells, Ivedent Lloyd Jr., Shane Clanton and Brady Smith were victorious in the four heat races. Clanton was the lone group fast-timer to advance forward from the fourth starting spot to capture a heat…. Wells struggled for the past three nights in WoO LMS action at Bubba Raceway Park, but he his triumph in the first heat seemed to indicate that he’s recaptured the form that made him a breakout star of last year’s DIRTcar Nationals. He led two features during last year’s meet and finished as high as fourth…. Ocala, Fla.’s Lloyd was strong in the second heat, beating Pennsylvania’s Gregg Satterlee to the finish line to give his homestate fans something to cheer about…. Brady Smith continued to flex his muscle in the Sunshine State, transferring his strength at Bubba Raceway Park (consecutive finishes of first, second and third, giving him the WoO LMS points lead) to Volusia with a triumph in the fourth heat. His 3.693-second margin of victory was the largest of the heats…. Overall fast qualifier Billy Moyer failed to transfer after hopping the cushion in the second heat and finishing sixth…. Dennis Erb Jr. slowed on the final lap of the fourth heat and missed the cut….

Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Eric Wells, 2. John Blankenship, 3. Darrell Lanigan, 4. Bobby Pierce, 5. Kenny Pettyjohn, 6. Kyle Bronson, 7. Chase Junghans, 8. Jason Fitzgerald, 9. Jeff Beyers, 10. Chad White

Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Ivedent Lloyd Jr., 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Scott Bloomquist, 4. Dan Stone, 5. Rick Eckert, 6. Billy Moyer, 7. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 8. Vic Coffey, 9. Chad Hollenbeck, 10. Chuck Julien

Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Brandon Sheppard, 4. Brian Shirley, 5. Jack Sullivan, 6. Stacy Boles, 7. Jeff Babcock, 8. Tim McCreadie, 9. John Winge, 10. David Gibson Jr.

Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 4 Transfer): 1. Brady Smith, 2. Morgan Bagley, 3. Casey Roberts, 4. Eric Jacobsen, 5. Tyler Bruening, 6. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 7. Chub Frank, 8. John Garvin Jr., 9. Dennis Erb Jr., 10. Mike Hammerle

Time trials complete

7:45 p.m. – Billy Moyer kicked off the Late Model portion of the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit by blazing around the half-mile oval in 15.352 seconds, giving him the fastest overall lap of the group qualifying session. Other group fast-timers were Kyle Bronson (15.597), Shane Clanton (15.517) and Tyler Bruening (15.819).

With a four-car inversion for the four 8-lap heat races, the group fast-timers will start their respective heats from the fourth starting spot. The top four finishers in each prelim will move on to the 30-lap A-Main.

Three B-Mains for the UMP Modifieds, which will run their headline $5,000-to-win ‘Gator Championship’ event tonight, are currently underway. The Late Model heats will follow.

And we’re off….

6:55 p.m. – Hot laps are underway on the half-mile Volusia oval for the first of three consecutive nights of DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned Late Model racing. A total of 40 cars are signed in for tonight’s competition, which will include group qualifying to set the lineups for four heat races.

Eight drivers who have plans to follow the World of Outlaws Late Model Series in 2014 are in action tonight, including Darrell Lanigan, Shane Clanton, Rick Eckert, Tim McCreadie, Eric Wells, Morgan Bagley, Chub Frank and rookie contender Chase Junghans. Four other drivers who could end up being World of Outlaws travelers this season — Brandon Sheppard (subbing for the ailing Josh Richards in the Rocket Chassis house car), current points leader Brady Smith, Jack Sullivan and Frankie Heckenast Jr. — are also among the entrants.

Several drivers are either in the pits and sitting out tonight’s program or plan to go racing later this week, including Clint Bowyer Racing teammates Steve Francis and Don O’Neal; Floridian Mark Whitener, who will drive the Warrior Chassis house car starting on Wednesday night; Clint Smith; Tim Fuller; Jimmy Owens; Dale McDowell; and Raymond Merrill (whose car is actually being driven tonight by Jack Sullivan, whose effort is sponsored by Merrill).

Tonight’s drivers’ roster: