Moyer Holds On For World of Outlaws Late Model Series Victory Friday Night At Volusia Speedway Park
Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Adds To Alltime Record Win Total In UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit
By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director
BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 22, 2013 – Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., added to his alltime record win total in the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, holding on for a hard-fought victory in Friday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at Volusia Speedway.
Righting a frustrating week of action at the half-mile oval, Moyer passed WoO LMS rookie Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., for the lead on lap 11 and never looked back. He repelled repeated late-race challenges from defending tour champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., to secure the $10,200 triumph.
“We’ve had a rough (week) down here,” said Moyer, whose forgettable outings leading up to Friday’s checkered flag included the WoO LMS A-Main the previous evening when he was forced out of action on lap one by a broken tie-rod. “It feels good to finally get this one under our belt.”
Moyer, 55, made the right moves in lapped traffic to put some critical space on Lanigan and crossed the finish line 1.368 seconds ahead of York, Pa.’s Rick Eckert, who slipped by Lanigan on lap 48 to earn the runner-up spot for the second consecutive night. Lanigan settled for a third-place finish after starting from the pole position, Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., started and finished fourth and Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., placed fifth for his fifth top-five run in seven WoO LMS events this season.
The 24-year-old Wells, meanwhile, faded to a sixth-place finish after racing off the outside pole to lead laps 1-10 – one night after pacing the first 36 laps in the week’s WoO LMS opener before settling for a tour career-best fourth-place finish – and World of Outlaws points leader Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., rallied to finish seventh after stopping on the track while running fourth on lap 23 because he had run out of tear-offs and needed to pit to retrieve a new helmet.
Moyer’s 19th career victory during the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit – more than double the total of Mooresburg, Tenn.’s Scott Bloomquist, who sits second on the event’s win list with nine triumphs – came after he turned back a spirited bid from Lanigan.
Lanigan, 42, swapped second place with Erb once after a lap-26 restart but secured the position on lap 29. After the race’s third and final caution flag flew on lap 29 for Bloomquist’s stopped car, Lanigan gradually ratcheted up the pressure on Moyer, catching the leader on lap 38 and using the outside lane to pull alongside Moyer several times during the ensuing circuits.
Lanigan came within inches of nosing out Moyer for the lead at the start/finish line on laps 40, 42 and 44, but Moyer hung tough in his preferred inside lane. Finally, after Moyer put the lapped car driven by Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, between his Victory Circle machine and Lanigan’s Rocket on lap 46, he had the cushion to carry him to Victory Lane.
“I seen him out there a time or two and I heard him out there a lot,” said Moyer, who recorded his fourth career WoO LMS win at Volusia, his 17th on the tour since 2004 and his 39th overall on the series (including the tour’s original 1988-89 seasons). “I just was trying to run my little line there on the bottom. I moved up in the middle on the one end (turns three and four) a couple times and it didn’t feel too bad, but I kind of had the car set up a certain way where I just seemed like I was better right around the bottom.”
The victory marked the record 10th different year in which Moyer has won a dirt Late Model feature during the 42-year history of the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit at Volusia, a track that ranks high on his list of favorites.
“I said the first day we got here (Feb. 18) after hot laps, ‘Man, we’re at a racetrack finally,'” said Moyer, whose first-ever UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit win came in a STARS-sanctioned event in 1985. “We’ve been at these other ones down here in Florida (this month) and none of them come close to as racy as this place is. I’ve always liked this place. It’s a multi-groove deal.”
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Eckert, 47, made a late charge to snatch second place from Lanigan. The race’s sixth starter once again came on a bit too late to grab a victory for his ailing mother back in Pennsylvania.
“We made some changes to our (Team Zero by Bloomquist) car and we were a little better, but we didn’t show it until right there at the end,” said Eckert, who started sixth. “I got to moving around on the racetrack – I was lost down there in (turns) three and four for most of the race – and finally got me a line. I wish there would’ve been 10 more laps because it was starting to get interesting.
“The last couple nights we got better as the night went on. If we make a couple more changes tomorrow night (for Saturday’s WoO LMS finale of the DCN), then maybe I can get going on lap 35 and be able to get to the lead before the end of the race.”
Lanigan, who entered Friday’s program after putting in many man-hours overnight and during the afternoon to repair his car that was damaged significantly in a Tuesday-night crash at Volusia, couldn’t quite summon the speed to overtake Moyer.
“I just got to running that middle there and burned my tires up a little bit,” said Lanigan. “We had a good run there though. It was fun to run side-by-side (with Moyer).”
Finishing in positions 8-10 were Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who started 25th after using a provisional to gain entry to the A-Main field; Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.; and Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis.
Fifty-one cars were signed in for the evening’s action.
For the second consecutive night Ohlins Shocks Time Trials were split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups, with the first half competing for starting positions in heats one and two and the second half racing against the clock to align heats three and four. Wells earned his first-ever WoO LMS fast-time honor, registering the fastest overall lap of the evening at 16.164 seconds.
Heat winners were Wells, Bloomquist, Moyer and Richards. The B-Mains were captured by Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla.
A 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main paying $10,000 will headline the final night of the 42nd UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment on Saturday (Feb. 23). The Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds will also contest a 50-lap feature as part of the event’s grand finale. Race time is 7:30 p.m.
Results of World of Outlaws Late Model Series ’42nd UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment’ Night 2 at Volusia Speedway Park (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won):
1. (3) Billy Moyer/50 $10,200
2. (6) Rick Eckert/50 $5,550
3. (1) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,650
4. (4) Dennis Erb Jr./50 $2,500
5. (8) Shane Clanton/50 $2,550
6. (2) Eric Wells/50 $2,250
7. (5) Josh Richards/50 $1,600
8. (25) Tim McCreadie/50 $1,950
9. (10) Steve Francis/50 $1,300
10. (13) Brady Smith/50 $1,100
11. (11) Scott James/50 $1,150
12. (19) Bub McCool/50 $1,550
13. (18) Earl Pearson Jr./50 $950
14. (21) Morgan Bagley/50 $950
15. (15) Billy Ogle Jr./50 $850
16. (26) Tim Fuller/50 $1,350
17. (28) Clint Smith/50 $620
18. (7) Scott Bloomquist/50 $850
19. (23) Donnie Moran/49 $730
20. (14) Ricky Weiss/49 $800
21. (27) Chub Frank/49 $550
22. (24) Tyler Reddick/42 $700
23. (20) Vic Coffey/29 $700
24. (16) Dale McDowell/25 $725
25. (9) Eric Jacobsen/25 $700
26. (17) Casey Roberts/22 $700
27. (12) Shannon Babb/22 $700
28. (22) Eddie Carrier Jr./15 $700
29. (29) Pat Doar/3 $550
* Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses
Time of Race: 27 Mins., 54.037 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 1.368 Secs.
Yellow Flags: 3 (laps 23, 26, 29)
Lap Leaders: Wells (1-10); Moyer (11-50)
Provisional Starters: McCreadie, Fuller (WoO); Frank, C. Smith, Doar (WoO emergency)
WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Wells ($500)
Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap):
Group A
1. 18W-Eric Wells/Hazard, KY 16.164
2. 0-Scott Bloomquist/Mooresburg, TN 16.278
3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr./Carpentersville, IL 16.333
4. 1W-Dillon Wood/New Smyrna Beach, FL 16.345
5. 2-Brady Smith/Solon Springs, WI 16.381
6. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 16.419
7. 101-Casey Roberts/Toccoa, GA 16.436
8. 57J-Bub McCool/Vicksburg, MS 16.444
9. 5J-Eric Jacobsen/Sea Cliff Beach, CA 16.466
10. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 16.467
11. 16-Justin Rattliff/Campbellsville, KY 16.542
12. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 16.578
13. 21d-Dan Stone/Thompson, PA 16.643
14. 7W-Ricky Weiss/Winnipeg, MAN 16.696
15. 25b-Mike Benedum/Salem, WV 16.717
16. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 16.727
17. 5L-Jared Landers/Batesville, AR 16.734
18. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 16.744
19. 14M-Morgan Bagley/Longview, TX 16.772
20. 71d-Ron Davies/Warren, PA 16.780
21. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 16.845
22. 1d-Don O’Neal/Martinsville, IN 16.921
23. 4ds-Chad Hollenbeck/Kingsley, PA 17.085
24. 21F-Todd Frank/Ashland, WI 17.204
25. 7R-Kent Robinson/Bloomington, IN 17.230
26. 77-Jason McBride/Carbondale, IL 17.585
Group B
1. 21-Billy Moyer/Batesville, AR 16.223
2. 1R-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 16.246
3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 16.248
4. 18B-Shannon Babb/Moweaqua, IL 16.258
5. 1G-Scott James/Bright, IN 16.263
6. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 16.338
7. 201-Billy Ogle Jr./Knoxville, TN 16.352
8. 28c-Eddie Carrier Jr./Salt Rock, WV 16.354
9. 38-Kenny Pettyjohn/Millsboro, DE 16.355
10. 32c-Vic Coffey/Caledonia, NY 16.365
11. 44P-Earl Pearson Jr./Jacksonville, FL 16.388
12. 17M-Dale McDowell/Chickamauga, GA 16.394
13. 28M-Jimmy Mars/Menomonie, WI 16.444
14. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 16.456
15. 11-Pat Doar/New Richmond, WI 16.488
16. 20R-Stormy Scott/Las Cruces, NM 16.492
17. 7L-Jerry Lierly/Quincy, IL 16.535
18. 32-Bobby Pierce/Oakwood, IL 16.555
19. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 16.615
20. b5-Brandon Sheppard/New Berlin, IL 16.615
21. 25z-Mason Zeigler/Chalk Hill, PA 16.637
22. 11R-Tyler Reddick/DuQuoin, IL 16.662
23. 72-Michael Norris/Sarver, PA 16.789
24. 21Jr.-Billy Moyer Jr./Batesville, AR 16.911
25. 57-Chuck Julien/Apopka, FL 18.200
Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Wells, Erb, Jacobsen, B. Smith, Roberts, Bagley, Benedum, Rattliff, Landers, Stone, Hollenbeck, C. Frank (DNS) Robinson
Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Bloomquist, Clanton, Francis, Weiss, Satterlee, McCool, Moran, Fuller, O’Neal, Davies, McBride, T. Frank, Wood
Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Moyer, Lanigan, James, Ogle, Pearson, Pettyjohn, McCreadie, Mars, Doar, Zeigler, Lierly, Norris, Julien
Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Richards, Eckert, Babb, McDowell, Carrier, Coffey, Reddick, Pierce, Scott, Sheppard, C. Smith (DNS) Moyer Jr.
B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Roberts, McCool, Bagley, Moran, Benedum, Landers, Stone, Rattliff, Davies, Hollenbeck, Wood, C. Frank, McBride, T. Frank, Satterlee, Fuller (DNS) O’Neal, Robinson
B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Pearson, Coffey, Carrier, Reddick, Pierce, Zeigler, Scott, Mars, Sheppard, McCreadie, C. Smith, Lierly, Doar, Norris, Julien, Pettyjohn
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners (awards presented to noted finisher/qualifier or next highest displaying decal:
Ohlins Shocks ($50 cash to fast qualifier): Billy Moyer
Eibach Springs (one free spring to each B-Main winner): Bub McCool/Pat Doar
VP Race Fuels ‘Nice Jugs’ Award: (One VP 5-gallon container to fastest qualifier who misses A-Main): JerryLierly
Wrisco Aluminum (3 sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner only): Billy Moyer
Armor All (One case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main): Billy Moyer
Comp Cams ($50 certificate to A-Main winner): Dennis Erb Jr.
QuarterMaster ($100 certificate to A-Main winner, $50 certificate to 5th-place finish): Billy Moyer/Billy Ogle Jr.
MSD Ignition ($50 cash to A-Main winner): Billy Moyer
STP ($50 cash to 2nd-place finisher in A-Main): Rick Eckert
XS Power ($50 cash to 3rd-place finisher in A-Main): Darrell Lanigan
Roush Yates ($50 cash to 4th-place finisher in A-Main): Josh Richards
JE Pistons ($50 cash to 5th-place finisher in A-Main): Shane Clanton
Dominator ($50 cash to 6th-place finisher in A-Main): Eric Wells
American Race Wheels ($50 cash to 7th-place finisher in A-Main): Josh Richards
VP Race Fuels ($50 cash to 8th-place finisher in A-Main): Tim McCreadie
Edelbrock Manifolds ($50 cash to 9th-finisher in A-Main): Scott James
Comp Cams ($50 cash to 10th-place finisher in A-Main): Scott James
XS Power ($60 product certificate to 11th-place finisher in A-Main): Scott James
Cometic Gasket ($50 cash to 12th-place finisher in A-Main): Bub McCool
JRI Shocks ($50 cash to 13th-place finisher in A-Main): Ricky Weiss
Super Flow Dynos ($50 cash to 14th-place finisher in A-Main): Morgan Bagley
JE Pistons (one complete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 16th-place finisher in A-Main, redeemable w/next purchase of set): Tim Fuller
Klotz Lubricants ($50 cash to 17th-place finisher in A-Main): Ricky Weiss
Roush Yates ($50 gift card to 18th-place finisher in A-Main): Scott Bloomquist
QuarterMaster ($50 certificate to 19th-place finisher in A-Main): Donnie Moran
Arizona Sport Shirts ($100 certificate to 20th-place finisher in A-Main): Dale McDowell
JE Pistons (one complete set of JE Pro Seal rings to 21st-place finisher in A-Main, redeemable w/next purchase of set): Dale McDowell
Roush Yates ($50 gift card to 22nd-place finisher in A-Main): Eric Jacobsen
MSD Ignition ($25 cash to 24th-place finisher in A-Main): Dale McDowell
XS Power ‘Power Move of the Race’ ($60 product certificate): Billy Moyer
Roush Yates ($25 gift card to driver who leads most laps in the A-Main): Billy Moyer
2013 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of Feb. 22 – 7 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader):
1. Josh Richards 1008
2. Shane Clanton 994 (-14)
3. Rick Eckert 954 (-54)
4. Darrell Lanigan 952 (-56)
5. Tim McCreadie 906 (-102)
6. Eric Wells 896 (-112)
7. Scott James 886 (-122)
8. Tim Fuller 872 (-136)
9. Morgan Bagley 868 (-140)
10. Chub Frank 862 (-146)
11. Bub McCool 854 (-154)
12. Clint Smith 834 (-174)
13. Pat Doar 802 (-206)
14. Dillon Wood 744 (-264)
15. Brandon Sheppard 714 (-294)
16. Casey Roberts 710 (-298)
17. Gregg Satterlee 692 (-316)
18. Kent Robinson 682 (-326)
19. Brady Smith 656 (-352)
20. Ron Davies 614 (-394)
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Gravely Tractors (Official Lawn Equipment), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), Vicci (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award) and McCarthy’s One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning (Raye Vest Memorial Pill Draw Award); in addition to contingency sponsors Butlerbuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, QuarterMaster, Roush Yates Performance Parts, Superflow Dynos, Wrisco Aluminum and XS Power Racing Batteries; along with manufacturer sponsors Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, GRT Chassis, Jake’s Carts, Longacre, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis, TNT Rescue, and Warrior Chassis.
LIVE UPDATES 2/22: UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit World of Outlaws Late Model Series Night 2 At Volusia Speedway Park
BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 22, 2013 – The World of Outlaws Late Model Series returns tonight for more action during the 42nd UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented By Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park, contesting the second of three straight evenings of competition.
Another 50-lap A-Main paying $10,000 to win will headline tonight’s WoO LMS program, which fans can watch live by purchasing a DIRTcar Nationals video subscription at www.DIRTVision.com. The 2013 UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit will close Saturday night with a final WoO LMS 50-lapper.
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.
Moyer makes it to Victory Lane
10:55 p.m. – Billy Moyer grabbed the lead from Eric Wells on lap 11 and never looked back en route to scoring his first win of the 2013 UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit in the 50-lap A-Main.
Moyer didn’t cruise to victory, however, as Darrell Lanigan pressured him heavily throughout the race’s final laps. Moyer made the right moves in lapped traffic to put some critical space on Lanigan and crossed the finish line 1.368 seconds ahead of Rick Eckert, who slipped by Lanigan on lap 48 to earn the runner-up spot. Lanigan settled for a third-place finish.
A-Main Finish: 1. Billy Moyer, 2. Rick Eckert, 3. Darrell Lanigan, 4. Dennis Erb Jr., 5. Shane Clanton, 6. Eric Wells, 7. Josh Richards, 8. Tim McCreadie, 9. Steve Francis, 10. Brady Smith, 11. Scott James, 12. Bub McCool, 13. Earl Pearson Jr., 14. Morgan Bagley, 15. Billy Ogle Jr., 16. Tim Fuller, 17. Clint Smith, 18. Scott Bloomquist, 19. Donnie Moran, 20. Ricky Weiss, 21. Chub Frank, 22. Tyler Reddick, 23. Vic Coffey, 24. Dale McDowell, 25. Eric Jacobsen, 26. Casey Roberts, 27. Shannon Babb, 28. Eddie Carrier Jr., 29. Pat Doar
Main event set
9:40 p.m. – Casey Roberts and Earl Pearson Jr. won the pair of 12-lap B-Mains, setting the stage for the 50-lap headliner.
WoO LMS points provisional starting spots will go to Tim McCreadie, who slipped backward in the second B-Main, and Tim Fuller, who dropped out of the first last-chance event. Chub Frank, Clint Smith and Pat Doar have the opportunity to use WoO LMS emergency provisionals to start the race if they so choose.
The 30-lap DIRTcar Big-Block Modified feature is currently on the track. The WoO LMS A-Main will hit the track moments after the Modifieds get the checkered flag.
A-Main Lineup:
Row 1: Darrell Lanigan/Eric Wells
Row 2: Billy Moyer/Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 3: Josh Richards/Rick Eckert
Row 4: Scott Bloomquist/Shane Clanton
Row 5: Eric Jacobsen/Steve Francis
Row 6: Scott James/Shannon Babb
Row 7: Brady Smith/Ricky Weiss
Row 8: Billy Ogle Jr./Dale McDowell
Row 9: Casey Roberts/Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 10: Bub McCool/Vic Coffey
Row 11: Morgan Bagley/Eddie Carrier Jr.
Row 12: Donnie Moran/Tyler Reddick
Row 13: Tim McCreadie/Tim Fuller
Heat-race notes
8:50 p.m. – Eric Wells continued to turn heads with a solid victory in the first heat…. Scott Bloomquist positioned himself well for a second consecutive A-Main victory by winning the second heat over Shane Clanton. When asked afterward by DirtonDirt.com pit reporter Ben Shelton whether fans should bet on him to win the headliner, Bloomquist said confidently, “I would.”… Billy Moyer, who dropped out of last night’s A-Main due to a broken right-front tie-rod sustained when he made contact with Dennis Erb Jr. while battling for second on lap one, held off Darrell Lanigan to win the third heat… Josh Richards captured the fourth heat after overtaking Shannon Babb for the lead. Rick Eckert came on late in the distance to place second, passing Babb on lap eight… There were no major incidents during the heats, which were spun off without a caution flag…
Heat-race results can be seen here.
Fast rookie
7:55 p.m. – WoO LMS rookie Eric Wells is showing once again that he’s serious about bidding for a UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit victory. The 24-year-old joined veteran Billy Moyer as the fastest qualifiers in tonight’s two qualifying groups.
With Wells’s lap of 16.164 seconds in Group A topping Moyer’s time of 16.223 seconds in Group B, Wells was the overall fastest qualifier to earn his first career WoO LMS fast-time honor. Wells was a group fast-timer last night and went on to a career-best WoO LMS finish of fourth in the 50-lap A-Main after leading laps 1-36.
Full results from time trials can be seen here.
Bub…McMoyer?
6:40 p.m. – Just about every driver who competed in last night’s WoO LMS A-Main experienced some sort of visibility problems due to the heavy racetrack, which tossed mud throughout the program and had racers ripping through helmet tear-offs with wild abandon.
But Bub McCool was left unable to see through way too quickly. Just one lap into the race his shield was already covered with mud because a problem with the pin holding tear-offs on his helmet broke, causing all his tear-offs to flap literally in his face. He pitted during a lap-one caution flag, and, thanks to a lucky break, his crew was able to find a solution to his visibility woes: Billy Moyer, who helps design the Victory Circle cars that McCool uses, was in the infield with a broken tie-rod, so one of McCool’s ran to Moyer’s car and asked if he could take off his helmet and let McCool use it for the remainder of the feature. McCool quickly squeezed Moyer’s helmet on his head — “I did all I could to get that thing on!” said Bub — and then went out and scored a lead-lap ninth-place finish.
Another interesting tear-off story was authored by young Mason Zeigler, who has turned heads with his Speedweeks performance. He used up the 15 tear-offs he put on his helmet midway through the race and eventually had to pit during a caution period in hopes of cleaning his shield. His crew chief, Austin Hargrove, sacrificed his shirt, taking it off and handing it to Zeigler, who used it to wipe his shield until the shirt became too muddy to be of any use.
Wheels are turning
6:25 p.m. – Hot laps for tonight’s 51-car field are moments away from getting the green flag. The practice circuits will be followed by hot lap/group qualifying for the DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds and WoO LMS Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, which will once again be conducted in ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups with the first half of the field competing against each other for spots in heats one and two and the second half gunning for positions in heats three and four.
Swappin’ motors
6:20 p.m. – There was plenty of action in the Sweeteners Plus Racing team’s pit area today with both the Tim McCreadie and Vic Coffey crews making engine changes.
McCreadie finished eighth in last night’s A-Main, but he needed a fresh powerplant after breaking a valve early in the event (he was left running on seven cylinders) and then experiencing additional damage on the final lap. Coffey, meanwhile, ran as high as second early in the A-Main before stopping on the track on lap 10 with terminal engine trouble.
Speaking of the Sweeteners Plus team, its owner, Coffey’s step-father Carl Myers, and Myers’s wife Ann (Coffey’s mother) have been on watching their cars in competition. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have a condo in Daytona Beach that they frequent throughout the year.
Change in scenery
6:05 p.m. – After being forced out of last night’s 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main by a significant crash for the second time in three starts this week, defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan decided that he needed to regroup. So the Kentuckian took the unusual step of loading up all his equipment and pulling out of the pit area after last night’s program — an act that certainly raised eyebrows among competing dirt Late Model teams, most of whom spend the entire week camped out in their haulers parked in the pit area.
Frustrated by a Tuesday-night feature trip into the turn-three wall that bent the front clip of his primary car (he slid into the guardrail due to a left-front tire that was cut after he made contact with the rearend of Josh Richards’s car as Richards slid ahead for position) and further agitated by his involvement in last night’s multi-car crash on lap 31 (the right-side bodywork of his newer second car was torn away as he passed through the wreck), Lanigan decided he needed to get away from the racetrack to clear his head. He fixed the car that was damaged on Tuesday night and returned to VSP this afternoon, but he didn’t pull into his pit stall near his longtime traveling companion Mark Richards’s trailer in the upper pit area. Instead, Lanigan drove through the entire dirt Late Model pits and set up shop in the so-called ‘Gator Pond’ (photo below), the auxiliary pit area down the hill behind the backstretch that is filled this week with mostly DIRTcar Big-Block Modified teams.
Lanigan has told visitors to his isolated pit position that he’s “just trying to do my own thing” in hopes of getting back on track. He comes into tonight’s action tied for third in the points standings with Rick Eckert, 64 points behind Richards.
Lots of work
5:40 p.m. – After many man-hours spent by drivers and crewmen to maintenance and/or repair their cars after a rough-and-tumble Thursday-night show, it appears that most of the 53 entries from last night’s program are ready to compete in tonight’s action. The most notable driver to bring an early end to their race week is Jimmy Owens, whose car was heavily damaged in the multi-car crash on lap 31 of last night’s 50-lapper.
Temperatures have soared to about 80 today, with partly cloudly skies prevailing. It’s looking like tonight’s conditions could be the most comfortable of the week here at Volusia.
