Category Archives: Uncategorized

CASE No.1 Engine Oil Joining World of Outlaws, Super DIRTcar Series

CONCORD, NC (Feb. 9, 2023) – Already an intricate part of the World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar Series family, CASE Construction Equipment is expanding its involvement in 2023 with CASE No.1 Engine Oil™ joining as a new sponsor.

CASE No.1 Engine Oil™ will be the Official Engine Oil for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and Super DIRTcar Series, along with serving as the sponsor of Heat Race #1 across all three series.

“We’re excited to bring CASE No.1 Engine Oil to the World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar Series, expanding our reach amongst the passionate fanbases and expanding our support of dirt racing,” said Eric Tharp, vice president of parts commercial & operations for CNH Industrial – parent company of the CASE brands. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase the wide variety of engine oil options that can benefit drivers and fans alike in their everyday lives.”

In addition to its main sponsorships with the three series, CASE No.1 Engine Oil™ will join the contingency program for all three series – giving drivers that have the company’s decal on their car the chance to win more money at the end of the night – and will become part of the DIRTcar HP Engine Builder Program.

The World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar Series began its thriving partnership with CNH Industrial’s CASE brand in 2022 when CASE Construction Equipment became the title sponsor of the World of Outlaws Late Models and the Official Construction Equipment Company for all three series. That partnership also continues in 2023 with new and exciting initiatives.

To follow the 2023 World of Outlaws Sprint Car and Late Model tours, CLICK HERE, and to follow the 2023 Super DIRTcar Series season, CLICK HERE.

To learn more about CASE No.1 Engine Oil, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

Yamaha Returns as Official OEM Partner of Progressive AFT in 2023

Signs on as Title Sponsor of Yamaha Senoia Short Track
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 9, 2023) – Progressive American Flat track is excited to confirm that Yamaha Motor Corp., USA will continue as an Official OEM Partner of Progressive AFT for the 2023 season. Yamaha had an extremely strong showing in 2022, scoring race wins and contending for championships up and down the class structure. Most notable was the incredible strides it made in the Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle category. The Estenson Racing Yamaha’s terrific tandem of Dallas Daniels and JD Beach combined to secure six victories, 15 podiums, and 27 top fives. The duo finished a close third and fourth in the final standings after battling for the crown all season long in what was Yamaha’s greatest Championship showing since the days of Kenny Roberts in the mid-‘70s. Yamaha was a genuine powerhouse in Progressive AFT’s additional classes as well where it totaled eight victories among its 32 podiums, with seven different riders standing on the box at least once during the ‘22 campaign. Yamaha is poised to take another step forward in 2023 with Daniels and Beach once again spearheading the bLU cRU’s multi-class title assault. “We’re excited and looking forward to another year of racing and partnership with Progressive American Flat Track,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha Motorsports marketing manager. “The Estenson Yamaha Racing team is encouraged with the progress and resulting success in 2022, but remains motivated and focused on the goals of claiming the Mission SuperTwins championship and regaining the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles title.” As part of Yamaha’s impressive commitment to the series, it will also serve as the title sponsor of the Yamaha Senoia Short Track, which will take place on March 25 at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia, located just down the interstate from Yamaha’s US-based Headquarters in Marietta, Georgia. “We appreciate Yamaha’s continued support of Progressive American Flat Track,” said Gene Crouch, COO of AMA Pro Racing. “We’re looking forward to playing host for the Atlanta-based employees of Yamaha Motor Corp. USA and providing an exciting evening of flat track racing when the series heads to Senoia Raceway for Round 3 on March 25.” For more information about Yamaha visit https://www.yamahamotorsports.com. The 2023 Progressive American Flat Track season will launch with the hugely anticipated return of the DAYTONA Short Track I & II at the Flat Track at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, March 9 and Friday, March 10. For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.comHow to Watch:FOX Sports and FansChoice.tv are the official homes for coverage of Progressive American Flat Track. For the 2023 season, all races will premiere in one-hour telecasts on FS1 during highly desirable weekend time slots. The complete schedule can be viewed at https://www.americanflattrack.com/events-foxsportsFansChoice.tv provides livestreaming coverage of every Progressive AFT round at http://www.FansChoice.tv.

Progressive AFT Announces 2023 Broadcast Schedule

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 9, 2023) – Progressive American Flat Track is proud to present the broadcast schedule for the upcoming Progressive AFT season. All 18 rounds will once again premiere in one-hour telecasts on FS1 during highly desirable weekend time slots that are expected to deliver further viewership increases in 2023. The 2023 campaign marks the second year of the blockbuster multi-year agreement that has already served to expand the visibility of the world’s premier dirt track motorcycle racing series. In 2022, FOX Sports provided a radically increased 150 hours of linear television coverage for the sport, which attracted nearly three million viewers across FS1 and FS2. That total was the highest linear television viewership for the series to date and represented a year-over-year increase of more than a million viewers. “FOX Sports helped us reach millions of fans and delivered incredible coverage of the racing action last season,” said Gene Crouch, Chief Operating Officer of AMA Pro Racing. “With a condensed schedule, the return of fan favorite venues, new teams and the rekindling of some great rivalries, the 2023 Progressive AFT season is shaping up to be one for the record books.” FOX Sports coverage will first air on FS1 the weekend following each round (two weekends later for the Sacramento Mile), followed by re-airings on FS2. The schedule also again strategically leverages FOX Sports’ powerhouse motorsports lineup to maximize viewership and introduce the sport to all-new audiences by regularly leading in and/or out of other highly rated motorsports programming. FOX Sports coverage of the 2023 Progressive AFT season will deliver captivating coverage from all 18 events, starting with the season opening doubleheader at Daytona International Speedway on March 9 and 10 and wrapping up with the Springfield Mile doubleheader on Labor Day weekend. For tickets and more information, please visit https://www.americanflattrack.com. 2023 Television Schedule for Progressive American Flat Track (all premieres on FS1):Saturday, March 18 – DAYTONA Short Track I – 10:30 a.m. ET (7:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, March 19 – DAYTONA Short Track II – 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT)Saturday, April 1 – YamahaSenoia Short Track – 7:00 a.m. ET (4:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, April 9 – Arizona Super TT – 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, April 30 – Mission Dallas Half-Mile – 11:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. PT)Saturday, May 13 – Ventura Short Track – 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT)Saturday, May 27 – Mission Sacramento Mile presented by Law Tigers – 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, June 4 – Red Mile – 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, June 25 – DuQuoin Mile – 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, July 2 – Lima Half-Mile – 2:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT)Saturday, July 8 – West Virginia Half-Mile – 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, July 16 – Orange County Half-Mile – 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, July 30 – Bridgeport Half-Mile – 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, August 6 – SC2Peoria TT presented by Country Saloon – 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT)Sunday, August 13 – Buffalo Chip TT – 11:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, August 20 – CertainTeed Castle Rock TT presented by Law Tigers– 11:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, September 10 – Springfield Mile I – 10:00 a.m. ET (7:00 a.m. PT)Sunday, September 10 – Springfield Mile II – 11:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. PT)How to Watch:FOX Sports and FansChoice.tv are home to Progressive American Flat Track programming. For the 2023 season, all races will premiere in one-hour telecasts on FS1 during highly desirable weekend time slots. The complete schedule can be viewed at https://www.americanflattrack.com/events-foxsportsFansChoice.tv provides livestreaming coverage of every Progressive AFT round at http://www.FansChoice.tv.

JOHN FORCE RACING ANNOUNCES 2023 DRIVERS AND CREW CHIEF CHANGES

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (Feb. 09, 2023) – John Force Racing will once again feature four full-time hot rods in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Driven by their returning roster of 2022 drivers, Brittany Force, Robert Hight, Austin Prock and John Force, the legendary team will be chasing the organization’s 23rd and 24th NHRA world championships.
“The 2022 season was good to us. We all got wins, did the work for our sponsors,” said the founder and CEO of John Force Racing, John Force. “Brittany with the championship and Robert battled all the way to the end. Austin kind of surprised us all with the late surge and I held my own too. We’ll build on that success this year. We’ve promoted from within, made some changes and it makes me, all of us, excited for this season.”
With the retirement of hall of fame crew chief Rahn Tobler off of Austin Prock’s Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, Chris Cunningham will move over from Robert Hight’s Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. Cunningham will be lead crew chief with Joe Barlam remaining as co-crew chief on Prock’s hot rod after leading the team to a third-place finish in 2023.
Filling Cunningham’s spot on the three-time championship Funny Car team of Robert Hight will be Thomas Prock, son of lead crew chief Jimmy Prock, and Nathan Hildahl, promoted from car chief, as co-assistant crew chiefs.
“We’ve worked hard to create an environment here at John Force Racing where our employees are able to learn and grow. It’s all part of our Next Generation Program, it’s not just for drivers,” Force said. “So, when it came time to fill roles, it only made sense to have our own move into the open positions. We have all the confidence that these moves will set our teams up to continue the high level of racing and competitiveness that everyone expects from John Force Racing.”
David Grubnic will continue to make the tuning decisions on two-time and reigning world champion Brittany Force’s Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster. Grubnic will be joined by Brandon Hazelton as car chief coming from John Force’s Funny Car team.
Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant / BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS will continue to be led by crew chiefs Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi with Mac Savage coming from Brittany Force’s Top Fuel team to assist.
John Force Racing is currently conducting pre-season testing at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida where they will return next month for the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Match 10-12.

WEDNESDAY RECAP: Strickler, Mefford, Long, Dotson, Haley, Nicely Net Gators at Volusia

Action continues Thursday night with six Features lined up by points accumulated

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 8, 2023 – The third night of competition for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds in the 52nd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park featured three separate three-peat winners, a dominant force returning to form, and a Victory Lane celebration/interview from a rising teenage star that those watching won’t soon forget.

Wednesday’s events were also the last before the format changes for Thursday’s show, where the six Feature lineups are determined by each driver’s points accumulated over the first three nights. This balances the competition in each Feature and has, historically, created some of the most competitive races seen all week.

Feature #1 – Kyle Strickler

After settling for second Tuesday night, Kyle Strickler rebounded Wednesday to bag his second gator trophy of the week and 11th of his career at DIRTcar Nationals.

Strickler, the two-time Gator Championship Feature winner from Mooresville, NC, led flag-to-flag unchallenged, thanks to a big effort by his team to improve on the car setup from the night before.

“We got our car a lot better than yesterday,” Strickler said. “Yesterday, I thought we were absolutely terrible. We made a big swing at it tonight, and I finally got my nose down where I can steer, so now I feel like we can put some traction back in it.”

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 8A-Austin Holcombe[3]; 3. 4-Mike Learman[7]; 4. 43A-Mark Anderson[11]; 5. 11S-Jared Spalding[12]; 6. 24D-Jesse Dill[8]; 7. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[15]; 8. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[14]; 9. 2C-Ronnie Chance[13]; 10. 9-Ken Schrader[5]; 11. 22B-Austen Becerra[2]; 12. 54-Zachary Hawk[6]; 13. 22K-Dale Kelley[10]; 14. 97-Mitch Thomas[4]; 15. 17C-Coleman Evans[9]

Feature #2 – Charlie Mefford

In what will likely be remembered as one of the most iconic Victory Lane moments in modern DIRTcar Nationals history, 16-year-old Charlie Mefford jumped – literally, jumped – on the roof of his Elite Chassis #13 after winning his first career gator trophy in only his third start, leading the 20-lapper wire-to-wire.

With tears in his eyes and raw emotion aplenty his voice, Mefford gave the Volusia crowd and the DIRTVision cameras one of the most memorable Victory Lane interviews.

“This is a dream, man. Everything me, my mom and dad has ever worked for. We never even thought about coming down here and racing, and here we are in Victory Lane.”

Looking back, it’s been a memory-filled past three months for the Belton, KY-driver, who first rose to prominence in the Modified world for his signature “You can’t park there!” chant coined at the Gateway Dirt Nationals event in St. Louis last December. Ever since that big moment on the microphone, Mefford has had the attention, and gave fans another reason to listen Wednesday night.

“This is a dream come true,” Mefford said. “I’m a 16-year-old kid from Kentucky… I don’t even have my intermediate license yet; I just got my permit. I’m out here racing with grown adults and running like this.”

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 13-Charlie Mefford[1]; 2. 145-Kyle Hammer[2]; 3. 7-Evan Taylor[5]; 4. 90R-Raymond Kable[7]; 5. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[9]; 6. 07-Curtis King[12]; 7. 29-Steve Shellenberger[10]; 8. 0H-Dylan Henkins[13]; 9. 35W-Ethan Weber[3]; 10. 21J-Clay Harris[8]; 11. 59-Doug Stine[11]; 12. 40R-Shawn Reiss[15]; 13. 25W-Allen Weisser[4]; 14. 99G-Gavin Graham[6]; 15. 77B-Ray Bollinger[14]

Feature #3 – Michael Long

It had been three whole years since his last trip to Volusia Victory Lane, but Michael Long finally made it back Wednesday night to collect his third career DIRTcar Nationals victory.

Leading all 20 laps, Long proved he’s more than a Missouri-Illinois regional champion of the weekly DIRTcar Racing scene. Accustomed to racing mostly shorter, high-banked bullrings in the Midwest, Long showed his versatility, putting on a clinic and crossing the finish line nearly two full seconds over runner-up Zeke McKenzie.

“We’ve been gradually getting better,” Long said. “Car was a ton better tonight; just been working on getting it to steer around here. We’ve just been off, compared to what we run in the Midwest.”

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long[1]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 3. 21CZ-Benji LaCrosse[7]; 4. 21C-Taylor Cook[2]; 5. 22TW-Tim Ward[5]; 6. 7G-Seth Geary[6]; 7. 21S-Kenny Shaw[10]; 8. 3-Josh Sanford[12]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[8]; 10. 11-Jesse Rupe[15]; 11. 22-Doug Carson[14]; 12. 22J-John Baker[11]; 13. 09-Michael Leach[3]; 14. 49G-Billy Green[9]; 15. 1S-Brian Shaw[13]

Feature #4 – Ethan Dotson

Coming in as one of three drivers with their gator win streak still in-tact, Ethan Dotson kept the streak alive with yet another dominating performance for his third career gator trophy earned in as many starts.

Monday’s margin of victory was 4.869 seconds. On Tuesday, 2.350 was the gap to second. Wednesday marked Dotson’s largest lead of the week – a whole 6.725 seconds ahead at the finish. Now, he prepares for his toughest test of the week on Thursday.

Features will then be lined up by points totals accumulated throughout the week, which will put Dotson in a sea of drivers more at his speed for more 20 laps and another gator trophy up for grabs. Dotson said he’s eager to see exactly where he stacks-up.

“We’re pretty excited just to see how we are,” Dotson said. “Spreading the fast guys out just makes it tough to see if you’re really fast. We can check lap times, but they’re on a different racetrack than you, so you just never really know. But I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 00E-Ethan Dotson[1]; 2. 77-George Dixon[3]; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli[2]; 4. 00EH-Steve Arpin[6]; 5. 49-Brian Ruhlman[4]; 6. 88-Matt Crafton[5]; 7. 60-Shannon Fisk[8]; 8. 2A-Matt Altiers[7]; 9. 33-Kenny Mihalik[13]; 10. M20-Mike Potosky[11]; 11. 77S-Jim Shipman[14]; 12. 3D-Makayla Tyrrell[12]; 13. 91B-Chris Beaulieu[10]; 14. 72X-Todd Neiheiser[9]; 15. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[15]

Feature #5 – Justin Haley

Justin Haley became the second driver to win three-in-a-row Wednesday night, in control the entire distance once again as he netted his fourth career DIRTcar Nationals victory.

Haley needed a good takeoff on the initial start and got it, taking the opportunity for the lead away from Monday night winner Lucas Lee on the opening lap and holding him off the rest of the way to capture the checkered.

“Another great night for us – three in-a-row down here at Volusia,” Haley said. “Awesome team effort by everyone here at Darkhorse Racecars. Matt Smith [crew chief], my brother Quentin, Rich Dawson.

“It’s been a team effort, and it’s pretty cool to come down here. We were a little tight tonight, so we’ll figure out tomorrow with a little different format, and hopefully keep going.”

Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 99-Justin Haley[1]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee[3]; 3. 5CS-Curt Spalding[5]; 4. 51-Dalton Lanich[7]; 5. 51G-Brandon Green[2]; 6. 114-Clayton Bryant[6]; 7. 99M-Mike Mullen[9]; 8. 05-Dave Wietholder[4]; 9. 463-Daniel Sanchez[14]; 10. 12-Robert Gast[13]; 11. 1-Randy Giroux[12]; 12. 32-Chad Roush[8]; 13. 57-Fletcher Mason[10]; 14. 34X-Shane O’Connor[11]; 15. 99W-Wade Olmsted[15]

Feature #6 – Tyler Nicely

Running away from the field for the third night in-a-row, Tyler Nicely shelved his seventh career gator trophy Wednesday night and locked himself into the top Feature event for Thursday.

“It’s gonna be fun to stack-up against all the big guys in one Feature,” Nicely said. “Tomorrow will give us a good judge for Saturday’s $5,000-to-win Feature.”

Nicely, of Owensboro, KY, broke out a brand-new Elite Chassis for this week and is making it count, having won each of the three nights he’s put it on track.

“We’ve just been running the same thing every night,” Nicely said. “Nick Hoffman over at Elite Chassis – this thing’s really balanced, so we’re just taking them as we can get them right now.”

Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 2. 7A-Justin Allgaier[8]; 3. 777-Trevor Neville[6]; 4. 5T-Drake Troutman[2]; 5. 90-Jason Beaulieu[5]; 6. 130-Chase Allen[14]; 7. 10Y-Trent Young[4]; 8. 4S-Craig Shaw[7]; 9. 17T-Tyler Evans[9]; 10. 7M-Steve Maughan[15]; 11. 17-Rob Pitcher[10]; 12. 7D-T J DeHaven[13]; 13. 6B-Dave Baldwin[11]; 14. 100-Dylan Murray[12]; 15. 35-David Stremme[3]

UP NEXT

The UMP Modified action at Volusia Speedway Park continues on day #4 of the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals – Thursday, Feb. 9 – racing alongside the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Hot Laps set for 5:30pm ET. Tickets are available at DIRTcarNationals.com or at the gate. If you can’t be in attendance, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

Gustin Becomes Second First-Time Lucas Oil Winner at East Bay

TAMPA, Fla. (February 8, 2023) – For the second night in a row, a new winner emerged with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series as Ryan Gustin picked up his first career series victory. The 32-year-old Iowa native scored the win in the 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals – presented by Lucas Oil at East Bay Raceway Park. Gustin’s win followed that of Ashton Winger’s on Tuesday night as first-time victors with the series. Tyler Erb, who won Monday night’s race finished in second followed by Kyle Bronson. Brandon Sheppard was fourth with Jonathan Davenport rounding out the top five drivers. Gustin grabbed the lead at the start of the 40-lap A-Main with Bronson and Tyler Erb in tow. After a lap six restart, Gustin still held the point with Erb and Bronson keeping him within their sights. Erb yielded the second spot to Bronson on the eighth lap as Gustin was starting to pull away. A timely caution flew on lap 15 as Gustin was about to pick up the tail end of the field.  On the restart Gustin still led Bronson and Erb at the halfway mark of the race as another caution came out with 21 laps scored. The restart would see Bronson slide underneath Gustin for the lead but exiting turn two on the 23rd lap Gustin powered back around Bronson on the outside to regain the top spot. The trio of drivers then caught traffic as Erb would gain the second spot on lap 36. The final caution with two laps to go allowed both Erb and Bronson to have one last shot at Gustin, but he held his line to pick-up his first ever Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory. Gustin’s win makes him the 88th different winner in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series history and the seventh different winner in nine races thus far in 2023. “This is awesome. Once Kyle [Bronson] got underneath me there man I thought I just messed this up. Luckily, we had a good enough car under us to roll through the middle and got back by him. We got to the lapped cars and I felt like it started to cleanup and those cars were dirtying it up so I had to get back down to the bottom.” “I just wanted to win this for my guys they have been working their tails off,” Gustin added. The only reason we are standing here tonight is because of them. Our car is really, really good when you can roll the middle like that just like that B-Main the other night everybody was circling around the bottom and we were just able to move out and run through there better. I think we have a team that can contend every night. We’ve got a great race car, a great owner, and a great crew chief. I am just the lucky one who gets to drive it. I love East Bay.” Erb who finished second 1.330 seconds behind Gustin at the finish had one last shot at the end as a caution flag set up a green-white-checkered finish. “He [Gustin] was pretty good. He got me on the start. I just stayed out there on the top of three and four for a long time trying to make something happen. It was fun. We qualified good and everybody’s working hard so we needed to be a little bit better to beat Ryan there. If we would have stayed in traffic I might have had a better chance at him. It was awesome and another good run for us and now must get ready for tomorrow.” Bronson, who led one lap during the race came home in third for his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series podium finish of the season. “Our car has been good here. The first day we kind of missed it on the feature set-up and last night I felt like we had a winning car and tonight we passed for the lead. It kind of streaked up through the middle there and he [Gustin] got back by me.” The winner’s David Steine, Tri-Star Promotions-owned, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Mahle Pistons, Tri-Star Engines and Transmissions, Penske Racing Shocks, and VP Fuels. Completing the top ten were Brandon Overton, Tanner English, Spencer Hughes, Devin Moran, and Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals Presented by Lucas OilWednesday, February 8, 2023East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Jensen Ford / 15.001 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Blair Nothdurft / 15.204 seconds 
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 79-Ross Bailes[4]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[5]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 83-Jensen Ford[1]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 7. 1C-Kenny Collins[8]; 8. 81-Jason Riggs[10]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[11]; 10. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 11. 12D-Doug Drown[9]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 4. 19M-Wil Herrington[5]; 5. C4-Freddie Carpenter[7]; 6. 31-Tyler Millwood[9]; 7. 89M-Mike Spatola[4]; 8. S21-Seth Daniels[8]; 9. 47W-Tyler Riggs[10]; 10. 2X-John Henderson[6]; 11. 14W-Dustin Walker[11]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 5. 39-Tim McCreadie[5]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 7. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[6]; 8. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[10]; 9. 29-Larry Grube[9]; 10. 3B-Billy Boyd Sr[11]; 11. (DNS) 22*-Payton Freeman
AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 96V-Tanner English[4]; 3. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs[3]; 5. 111B-Max Blair[5]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[6]; 8. 21K-Kenneth Howell[10]; 9. D8-Dustin Mitchell[8]; 10. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[9]; 11. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin
Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 6. 55-Benji Hicks[8]; 7. 7-Ross Robinson[2]; 8. 187-David McCoy[10]; 9. 75-Daniel Adam[9]; 10. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[6]; 11. (DNS) 5T-John Tweed
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 76-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 89-Logan Roberson[2]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[3]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5]; 5. 212-Josh Putnam[4]; 6. 89J-Mark Whitener[7]; 7. 6-Blake Spencer[8]; 8. 81J-Jack Riggs[10]; 9. 25B-Mike Benedum[6]; 10. 4S-Danny Snyder[9]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 19M-Wil Herrington[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 81-Jason Riggs[9]; 4. 1C-Kenny Collins[7]; 5. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 6. S21-Seth Daniels[10]; 7. 89M-Mike Spatola[8]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[16]; 9. 17SS-Brenden Smith[13]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 11. 12D-Doug Drown[15]; 12. 20B-Todd Brennan[11]; 13. 83-Jensen Ford[3]; 14. C4-Freddie Carpenter[4]; 15. 47W-Tyler Riggs[12]; 16. (DNS) 2X-John Henderson
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[2]; 4. 111B-Max Blair[4]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[5]; 6. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 7. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[9]; 8. 29-Larry Grube[11]; 9. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[14]; 10. 21K-Kenneth Howell[10]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 12. D8-Dustin Mitchell[12]; 13. 3B-Billy Boyd Sr[13]; 14. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[8]; 15. (DNS) 22*-Payton Freeman; 16. (DNS) 1Z-Logan Zarin
MyRacePass B-Main Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 55-Benji Hicks[5]; 3. 89J-Mark Whitener[6]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[3]; 5. 91-Rusty Schlenk[2]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[7]; 7. 187-David McCoy[9]; 8. 75-Daniel Adam[11]; 9. 6-Blake Spencer[8]; 10. 4S-Danny Snyder[14]; 11. 25B-Mike Benedum[12]; 12. 212-Josh Putnam[4]; 13. 81J-Jack Riggs[10]; 14. (DNS) 1H-Hudson O’Neal; 15. (DNS) 5T-John Tweed
Wieland Winternationals Night 3 Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Race Statistics Entrants: 65Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Ryan GustinLap Leaders: Ryan Gustin (Laps 1-40)Wieland Feature Winner: Ryan GustinArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 1.330 secondsStop-Tech Brakes Cautions: Benji Hicks (Lap 6); Ross Bailes (Lap 15); Logan Roberson (Lap 21); Tyler Bruening, Wil Herrington (Lap 38)Series Provisionals: n/aWieland Fast Time Provisionals: Mike Spatola, Ross RobinsonSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ryan Gustin, Tyler Erb, Kyle BronsonPenske Shocks Top 5: Ryan Gustin, Tyler Erb, Kyle Bronson, Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan DavenportTodd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Tim McCreadie (Advanced 12 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Finisher: Tanner EnglishDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Finisher: Garrett SmithEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Ryan Gustin (40 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler Erb       Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/aEtchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Ryan Gustin (Lap 26 – 16.256 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Jensen FordOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Taylon Center (Ryan Gustin)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Overton (14.453 seconds)Time of Race: 23 minutes 20 seconds
About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt SeriesFounded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2023, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 56 events across 16 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap.  The series receives national exposure through a television package streamed live via MAVTV on FloRacing, with select broadcasts on MAVTV Motorsports Network.   The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com.

Fastrack Racing to Field Bronson Bauman on KTMs in 2023

Sent on behalf of Fastrack Racing Fastrack Racing is proud to announce its all-new Mission SuperTwins effort featuring Bronson Bauman aboard KTM 890 Duke-based racebikes for the 2023 Progressive American Flat Trackseason. Owned by Arney and Amy Wick, Fastrack Racing has worked in tight collaboration with Latus Motors Racing in recent seasons, contributing to both James Rispoli’s 2020 Mission Production Twins championship and Kody Kopp’s 2021 Rookie of the Year campaign. Fastrack Racing now steps up to front its own premier-class squad in ‘23 with one of the category’s leading stars in Bauman. During his career, Bronson has twice ranked inside the Mission SuperTwins championship top five, including a breakout third-place campaign in 2019, in which he scored his maiden victory at the Laconia Short Track. In all, the native Californian and Illinois resident has tallied up nine premier-class podiums, the most recent of which coming last season with Latus Motors Racing and Fastrack Racing. The team will field KTMs in ‘23 after the Duke platform flashed immense promise in limited action during the 2022 campaign. Matt Krsul will serve as Crew Chief while Dave Bush will work as Technical Support. Bronson Bauman #37: “To be honest, this is one of the most exciting seasons in years. I am surrounded by people who truly believe in me and my capabilities and only want success for me and the team. I got to work with Arney, Amy and Matt during the ’22 season so we all are very familiar with one another and know how each other operates. Everyone involved is aware it will be a bit of a learning curve with these bikes, but we are up for the challenge. We have seen the great success of this motorcycle and plan to add to that success during the 2023 season.” Team Owner Arney Wick: “We are looking forward to the opportunity and challenges that lie ahead,” said Arney Wick. “We have tremendous support from many industry-leading companies and first-class key individuals like Matt Krsul and Dave Bush who continue to spend countless hours in the shop during the preparation and testing phase of the season. As a team, we also want to acknowledge the fact that none of this would be possible if not for the opportunities and equipment provided to us by George Latus of Latus Motors Racing.” Team Owner Amy Wick: “We are incredibly excited to support such a talented rider such as Bronson Bauman and are looking forward to a great season. The KTM 890 provides us a new opportunity to build on the success that multiple teams have seen in the past year.” Crew Chief Matt Krsul: “What an honor it is to be able to work with Bronson and Fastrack Racing. The opportunity to be involved with setting up the new KTM race bikes and to work with a top shelf rider like Bronson is exciting. I have been fortunate to be involved in the motorcycle world my entire life. and the flat track community is one of the best parts of the motorcycle world. Challenges are many but with the dedication of the team and support staff we have assembled that seems to grow daily, we will achieve great results.”

POWERBUILT TOOLS CONTINUES TO BUILD WITH CARUSO IN 2023

MOORESVILLE, NC (February 8, 2023) — Heading into the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season reigning Rookie of the Year Camrie Caruso announced today the renewal of her marketing relationship with Powerbuilt Tools. The marketing program will include primary branding on Caruso’s KB Titan Racing powered Chevrolet Camaro for five national events during the season beginning with the NHRA Winternationals as well as the Arizona Nationals, the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals and the In-N-Out Burgers NHRA Finals in Pomona to close out the season. Powerbuilt Tools will be featured as a major associate the remaining 13 NHRA national events.

“I am excited to continue to grow this marketing program with Powerbuilt Tools,” said Caruso. “I believe these are the best tools in the industry and I have a lot of confidence knowing my race car is being serviced with Powerbuilt Tools. I have been fortunate to talk with so many fans about Powerbuilt Tools and I can’t wait to get the season started.” 

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During her successful rookie season Caruso qualified for every NHRA national event, was the No. 1 qualifier at the Spring Nationals in Houston and raced to a runner-up finish at the same event. The 24-year-old driver finished the regular season in the Top Ten and qualified for the NHRA Countdown playoffs. Caruso began driving in the NHRA Jr. Dragster League before attending Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School and earning her Super Comp license.  She has continued to move up through the NHRA competition classes for over a decade. After three years of competing in the 8.90 index class, she went back to Frank Hawley and obtained her Top Dragster license, successfully competing in both PDRA and NHRA for a couple years before her jump into Top Alcohol Dragster with Randy Meyer Racing where she won her first Wally in only her second start in the class.

“We have enjoyed our relationship with Camrie and the Caruso Racing family over the last two years,” said Greg Livingston, President and CEO of Alltrade Tools. “Being a part of Camrie’s rookie season and her success as 2022 Rookie of the Year. Powerbuilt is excited to be a part of the 2023 season and we wish Camrie the best this year. She has our full support from the entire Powerbuilt team.

Headquartered in Cypress, California, Powerbuilt Tools are recognized for their high quality, innovative and durable tools. They offer best in class tools and equipment that deliver quality, innovation and durability to automotive professionals and enthusiasts. For 40 years they’ve produced consistent quality, performance and value to earn the trust of tool users. 

As a third generation drag racer, Caruso the daughter of former Pro Modified racer Marc Caruso and granddaughter of “Papa Joe” Caruso, who raced in Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Pro Mod, showed in 2022 that she brings much more to the competitive table than just a great racing pedigree. Throughout the season she continued to improve as a driver and NHRA ambassador.

The NHRA Gatornationals will start the NHRA’s season in sunny Gainesville, Florida, on Friday, March 10, the quickest sixteen Pro Stock cars will race on Sunday with the event being televised on FS1 and FOX nationally.

Jade Avedisian to Chase 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Championship with Keith Kunz Motorsports

CONCORD, NC – Feb. 8, 2023 – Jade Avedisian became the winningest driver in Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota history and the first female driver to take the checkered flag in a national Midget race in 2022. This year, she’s poised to make more history, chasing the Series title with one of Midget racing’s most decorated teams.

Avedisian has joined Keith Kunz Motorsports and will run all 35 races on the Xtreme Outlaw Midget schedule in pursuit of her first national championship. Piloting a Bullet by Spike Chassis with Toyota Racing power by Speedway Engine Development, the young Californian will drive KKM’s iconic #71 with sponsorship from Mobil 1 on the full-time Xtreme Midget roster.

“It’s a huge opportunity,” Avedisian said. “Keith and Pete [Willoughby, team co-owner] are giving me a shot, and to have Mobil 1 on this year is going to be really cool.

“There’s a lot of pressure obviously, because I want to win, and everyone wants to win. So, I’m going to give it all I’ve got and see what happens.”

At 16 years old, Avedisian has already begun breaking ground in the Midget world. She became the first female driver to claim the checkered flag in a national Midget race last June, leading the Xtreme Outlaw Feature at Jacksonville Speedway flag-to-flag to bank the $5,000 prize on the historic Sunday night in Illinois.

She backed that win up in October with her second Xtreme Outlaw victory of the year, becoming the current winningest driver in Series history. She beat POWRi National Midget champion Bryant Wiedeman to the line in a near photo-finish to win the season finale at I-44 Riverside Speedway.

Both of her record victories came in cars fielded by team owner Chad Boat, who she drove for in her first full-time Midget season last year. Avedisian first partnered with Boat in 2021 for her rookie Midget campaign on a part-time schedule after several years competing and winning in the Micro Sprint ranks, which she said all has prepared her for her next Midget venture at KKM.

“My year last year with Chad and everyone at [Chad Boat Industries] was really great,” Avedisian said. “I think that really helped me learn and progress into this year to have this opportunity with Mobil 1, Toyota Racing and Keith Kunz Motorsports.”

Kunz has kept a close eye on Avedisian’s racing career for the past several years, watching her rise from Jr. Sprints through the Micro Sprint ranks and into the national Midget scene. After her record-setting season in 2022 and her A-Main appearance as a rookie at the Chili Bowl Nationals in January, Kunz knew Avedisian was going to make a strong addition to his team in 2023.

“She was at the top of Toyota’s and our radar,” Kunz said. “We just eventually gravitated toward each other as her career’s moved along. She was able to get a couple wins last year with Chad Boat and had really solidified herself as a strong competitor.

“We’re all looking to take her to the next level and win more races and chase an Xtreme championship this year.”

In the midst of a remarkable wave of youthful talent sweeping through the national Midget ranks in the past five years came a variety of skilled female racers as well – several of which Kunz has fielded cars for and made defining moments in Midget racing.

From the days of Sarah McCune’s starts in KKM cars in the early 2000s, to Holly Shelton’s multi-season tenure with the team in the 2010s, to Kaylee Bryson’s groundbreaking achievement in becoming the first woman to start the Chili Bowl A-Main last year, Kunz has developed some of the best female racing talent in Midget history and looks to drivers like Avedisian to carry the torch for other female racers into the future.

“For us, it’s been really cool to see that progression and be a part of it,” Kunz said. “I think there’s going to be a day that comes when there’s just as many girls winning races as guys.”

Kunz’s experience, his mechanics’ knowledge and Avedisian’s skill behind the wheel will combine to form what is poised to be one of the most competitive Midget teams in the country.

“That’s what it’s going to take to win the championship – she’s going to have to be a consistent competitor for the win every night,” Kunz said. “I think we can put her in that position. We’re really looking forward to it.”

“I honestly feel like we have a really good chance to win the championship,” Avedisian said. “It’s one of my goals to win the championship, and hopefully, win some races as well.”

Don’t miss Avedisian take on the entire Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota schedule in her first season with Keith Kunz Motorsports. For tickets to events, visit XtremeOutlawSeries.com or stream every lap live on your device with the DIRTVision app.

CARVING A NEW PATH: Brandon Sheppard Navigates Switch to Longhorn Chassis, Prepares for DIRTcar Nationals

The four-time Series champion is searching for his third Big Gator Championship

BARBERVILLE, FL – February 8, 2023 – Brandon Sheppard, the four-time World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model champion, is taking a new path to try and win his fifth title in 2023.

The New Berlin, IL driver announced a switch to Longhorn Chassis in the offseason after more than a decade driving a Rocket.

That change is coming with growing pains, as the driver with the most wins in World of Outlaws CASE Late Models history has yet to find Victory Lane in 16 races. Despite struggling, he said he thinks the team is going in the right direction.

“I think we’re starting to turn a curve,” Sheppard said. “We’ve gotten a lot better here the last few days, and everything is starting to click pretty good. It’s a learning curve, and the way we’re going about everything is a lot different than what I’m used to. 

“I’m just getting used to everything again and getting back into the swing of things has been the biggest challenge.”

Those challenges included the season’s opening weekend at Volusia Speedway Park during Sunshine Nationals.

Despite scoring two top 10s, he struggled during Qualifying—a part of his night he said was getting better with more laps during Florida Speedweeks. 

“We’re starting to get our beginning of the nights better,” Sheppard said. “We’ve been racing pretty good but Qualifying has been our struggle so far. We’re starting to get that better. We just have to continue it and get some consistency going. 

“Consistency leads into good runs, and hopefully, we’ll be stringing off some good runs in a row and keep the ball rolling. That’s the hardest part.”

The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models return to Volusia on Feb. 16-18, for the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. 

Sheppard has found success at the event, winning eight times and taking home the Big Gator trophy in 2019 and 2020. 

He said he feels more prepared for what to expect each night after the two Sunshine Nationals Features.

“It’ll be good just being there and having an idea,” Sheppard said. “Just having that little bit of notebook is going to help us going into next week, and like I said, it’s all about taking good notes and remembering the changes we’re going through throughout the nights and getting everything figured out and dialed in.”

While he’s eyeing a fifth World of Outlaws championship in November, his eyes are still on leaving Volusia with another Big Gator title. If he wins the week-long chase, he’d be the first driver to take home three trophies.

“It would mean the world to me, my team, my family, and everyone involved,” Sheppard said. “A lot of stuff has changed for me over the past few months, so the good runs feel really good. So, in order to win that Big Gator, we’re going to have to be consistent and have good runs.”

Sheppard and the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models make their final stop at Volusia Speedway Park of 2023 for the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Feb. 16-18—including a $20,000-to-win finale on Saturday, Feb. 18. FOR TICKETS: CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision – either at DIRTVision.com or by downloading the DIRTVision App.

TUESDAY RECAP: Haley, Nicely, Dotson, Dixon, Thomas, Troutman Visit DIRTcar Nationals Victory Lane

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 7, 2023 – Ninety-five DIRTcar UMP Modifieds answered the bell for Round #2 of the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park Tuesday night and brought three repeat winners from Monday back to Victory Lane, while three first-time winners headlined the second half of the program.

Feature #1 – Justin Haley

Less than 24 hours after scoring his second career DIRTcar Nationals gator trophy, Justin Haley bagged his third with a flag-to-flag victory in Tuesday’s opening UMP Modified Feature.

This one was slightly less dramatic than Monday’s, as Haley came in with a full night’s rest after going around 48 hours straight without sleeping on Sunday-Monday due to his NASCAR obligations in Los Angeles. Though the start to his day was different, the on-track results were the same, as Haley set Quick Time in Qualifying for the second-straight night and went unchallenged for the Feature win.

“Hats off to the whole #99 Darkhorse Racing team, it’s really been fun to come down here,” Haley said. “Matt Smith is crew chief-ing this thing this week. He’s been with me for a few years now. We’ve always come down here trying to win, and they just keep getting easier.”

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 99-Justin Haley[1]; 2. 145-Kyle Hammer[2]; 3. 18L-Michael Long[5]; 4. 21CZ-Benji LaCrosse[3]; 5. 51-Dalton Lanich[9]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[11]; 7. 57-Fletcher Mason[10]; 8. 05-Dave Wietholder[8]; 9. 777-Trevor Neville[4]; 10. 00-Dylan Henkins[14]; 11. 130-Chase Allen[6]; 12. 8X-Cody Brightwell[7]; 13. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[12]; 14. 40R-Shawn Reiss[15]; 15. 463-Daniel Sanchez[13]; 16. 59-Doug Stine[16]

Feature #2 – Tyler Nicely

Tyler Nicely once again showed his prowess around the half-mile of Volusia with his second consecutive flag-to-flag victory in two days. But this one had a bit of extra meaning behind it.

Two of Monday’s Feature winners ended up in his Feature, making it an interesting first half of the race as Nicely tried to run away from fellow frontrunners Lucas Lee and Kyle Strickler. He did so successfully, but not without a hefty challenge from Lee for the lead around the halfway point.

Lee eventually slipped up in traffic and tangled with a lapped car, sending them both around and into the outside wall. Lee was towed back to the pits with front-end damage, while Strickler was unable to catch Nicely in the end and settled for second.

“I knew that tonight, whenever we drew, that Group A was pretty stacked,” Nicely said. “All six Feature winners [from Monday night] were in Group A, and we ended up with three Feature winners from last night in ours.

“I just knew I couldn’t go out there and mess up; they were on my heels. Lucas was right there.”

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[3]; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli[4]; 4. 11S-Jared Spalding[6]; 5. 43A-Mark Anderson[7]; 6. 90R-Raymond Kable[9]; 7. 22K-Dale Kelley[10]; 8. 7D-T J DeHaven[5]; 9. 29-Steve Shellenberger[11]; 10. 2A-Matt Altiers[8]; 11. 1-Randy Giroux[15]; 12. 77S-Jim Shipman[13]; 13. 3-Josh Sanford[16]; 14. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[12]; 15. 12L-Lucas Lee[2]; 16. 24D-Jesse Dill[14]

Feature #3 – Ethan Dotson

Another day, another runaway victory for Ethan Dotson.

Dotson, the Longhorn Chassis UMP Modified house car driver from Bakersfield, CA, bagged his second career gator trophy by way of domination, leading every lap unchallenged and crossing the finish line with a two-second gap over runner-up David Stremme.

“I haven’t gotten into lapped traffic either night, and I’d like to get in just to see if I can move around,” Dotson said. “Hopefully, maybe tomorrow night we can, and we’ll go from there.”

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 00E-Ethan Dotson[1]; 2. 35-David Stremme[2]; 3. 7-Evan Taylor[5]; 4. 5CS-Curt Spalding[3]; 5. 22TW-Tim Ward[8]; 6. 09-Michael Leach[4]; 7. 1S-Brian Shaw[7]; 8. 99M-Mike Mullen[11]; 9. 07-Curtis King[6]; 10. 17-Rob Pitcher[9]; 11. 33-Kenny Mihalik[12]; 12. 4S-Craig Shaw[13]; 13. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[10]; 14. 7M-Steve Maughan[14]; 15. 4M-Tim Monroe[15]; 16. 21S-Kenny Shaw[16]

Feature #4 – George Dixon 

If there was an award given to the most enthusiastic roof dance of the week, George Dixon would certainly be in the running after his dominant performance in the fourth UMP Modified Feature.

Climbing atop his Lethal Chassis #77 in Volusia Victory Lane for the first time in his career, Dixon was ecstatic to claim his first gator trophy after making the long tow south from his home in Shirleysburg, PA. He did it in flag-to-flag style, holding off stout Florida local Clay Harris and 2021 Gator Championship winner Justin Allgaier.

“I just planned on coming down here and maybe running top-five in the Features, hopefully make it in the big show Saturday,” Dixon said. “To come down here, run second [on Monday], set fast time in my [Qualifying] group tonight and to win the Feature, it’s unbelievable for us.

“We’re just a small family team. We don’t have any big backing.”

Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 77-George Dixon[1]; 2. 21J-Clay Harris[2]; 3. 7A-Justin Allgaier[3]; 4. 13-Charlie Mefford[5]; 5. 114-Clayton Bryant[12]; 6. 10Y-Trent Young[8]; 7. 99G-Gavin Graham[4]; 8. 3D-Makayla Tyrrell[15]; 9. 34X-Shane O’Connor[13]; 10. 7B-Brad Deyoung[14]; 11. 22B-Austen Becerra[10]; 12. 51G-Brandon Green[6]; 13. 17T-Tyler Evans[7]; 14. 16C-John Clippinger[9]; 15. 25W-Allen Weisser[11]; 16. 99W-Wade Olmsted[16]

Feature #5 – Mitch Thomas

At 17 years old, Mitch Thomas is taking on a daunting task of racing against so many drivers with decades of experience at Volusia. But he rose to the occasion and put it in Victory Lane Tuesday night, passing two-time DIRTcar Nationals Feature winner Brian Ruhlman for the lead on Lap 14 and carrying the field across the line as one of three first-time event winners that night.

“It’s really exciting,” Thomas said. “We’ve tried down here for three years and we’ve struggled. There’s really good competition down here, so when you win a race here, it really means a lot.”

Thomas pilots a brand-new Elite Chassis, built by seven-time and reigning DIRTcar Nationals champion Nick Hoffman, who was working the stick signals for his Elite customers throughout the night.

“I tried getting up top, but I was driving way over my head,” Thomas said. “I was trying to tell myself to slow down and get to the bottom. I knew I would have a shot at winning it because this car is better at the bottom.”

“I was watching my [stick signal] guy, and he was telling me ‘get down, get down.’ I finally listened to him, and we reeled [Ruhlman] in and I really didn’t have a problem passing him.”

Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 97-Mitch Thomas[4]; 2. 7G-Seth Geary[5]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman[1]; 4. 9-Ken Schrader[6]; 5. 72X-Todd Neiheiser[8]; 6. 60-Shannon Fisk[7]; 7. 32-Chad Roush[13]; 8. 56-Chris Wilson[2]; 9. 24-Zeke McKenzie[10]; 10. 21C-Taylor Cook[16]; 11. 22-Doug Carson[14]; 12. 12-Robert Gast[12]; 13. 91B-Chris Beaulieu[3]; 14. 22J-John Baker[15]; 15. 00EH-Steve Arpin[9]; 16. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[11]

Feature #6 – Drake Troutman

As one of two 17-year-olds to visit Victory Lane Tuesday night, Drake Troutman finally got himself a gator after a wire-to-wire victory in the final Feature of the night.

Troutman, of Hyndman, PA, drove the Jerry Foster Racing Longhorn Chassis #5 to meet his first career gator trophy in Volusia Victory Lane, two years after making his debut at the half-mile.

He settled for second on Monday night, coming in behind Ethan Dotson, whose gap at the checkers stretched nearly five seconds. Troutman took a page out of Dotson’s playbook for Tuesday, checking out in the Feature and crossing the stripe by over four seconds to bag the win.

“Ethan came over and gave us a hand today,” Trouman said. “I’ve definitely got a lot of respect for him and the help. It’s awesome to have him in my corner, and in this team’s corner.

“This car has been awesome. We really haven’t had to mess with it a whole lot; just small tweaks.”

Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 5T-Drake Troutman[1]; 2. 88-Matt Crafton[4]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe[2]; 4. 4-Mike Learman[5]; 5. 77B-Ray Bollinger[8]; 6. 199-Travis Pastrana[12]; 7. 90-Jason Beaulieu[3]; 8. 6B-Dave Baldwin[16]; 9. 17C-Coleman Evans[7]; 10. 11-Jesse Rupe[9]; 11. M20-Mike Potosky[14]; 12. 35W-Ethan Weber[10]; 13. 49G-Billy Green[6]; 14. 07N-Adam Nayler[13]; 15. 100-Dylan Murray[15]; 16. 54-Zachary Hawk[11]

UP NEXT 

The UMP Modified extravaganza at Volusia Speedway Park continues on day #3 of the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals – Wednesday, Feb. 8 – racing alongside the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars.

Hot Laps set for 5:30pm ET. Tickets are available at DIRTcarNationals.com or at the gate. If you can’t be in attendance, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

Winger Earns First Career Lucas Oil Victory at East Bay

TAMPA, Fla. (February 7, 2023) – Ashton Winger picked up his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory on Tuesday night during the 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals – presented by Lucas Oil at East Bay Raceway Park. With the win Winger becomes the 87th different driver to win a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event in series history. The 23-year-old Georgia native went to the lead at the start of the 30-lap main event and other than a brief time when Kyle Bronson got by him in turn number two, he officially led every lap after getting back around Bronson at the scoring loop. For the second night in a row Hudson O’Neal finished in second with Brandon Sheppard coming home in third. The remainder of the top five were Brandon Overton and Dennis Erb Jr. Winger took the lead at the start with O’Neal moving into the second spot. Bronson was the car on the move early in the race. After starting in fifth Bronson moved past O’Neal for second on lap six. There were back-to-back cautions that cleared traffic for Winger after he was about to pick up the tail end of the field. After a lap eight restart Bronson kept the pressure on Winger and was able to take the lead briefly after Winger slipped in turn two. However, by the time the two drivers crossed the line Winger was still in front. Bronson continued to hold the second spot until Sheppard was able to get by him with ten laps to go. Bronson, while running third slowed coming off turn two on lap 24 forcing the final caution of the race. On the restart after Bronson had exited the race O’Neal and Sheppard would get Winger in their sightlines, but Winger was able to pull away in the waning laps to secure the victory. “It’s awesome to win in front of these people,” said Winger in Lucas Oil Victory Lane as he became the sixth different winner in eight races so far in 2023. “I felt like we’ve been really close this year. We were really close here last year. It’s hard not to get emotional. My mom and dad gave up everything for me to be here. I know it’s only $5,000 to win, but to beat these guys, Hudson and Sheppy are two of the best in country. I felt like when I got into a rhythm, I was pretty good there, but the track was treacherous and the longer and longer it went I don’t know what was going to happen. Like I said I got into a rhythm, and then on those restarts I messed up bad there that one time and Kyle [Bronson] got by me and going into three and four I pretty much held it to the floor to get the lead back” O’Neal in his first full season piloting the Rocket House car finished 1.833 seconds behind Winger at the finish line. “I gave it all I had. I drove my heart out, but I just couldn’t quite get to him [Winger]. There was one time there the last couple of laps I got around that bottom and I thought ok maybe if I could get to him one time, I could burn it and about that time I was driving back to him I got my tires hot and I just faded back from him.” Sheppard, who owns nine career wins at East Bay, finished in third after not making the feature on Monday night. “I really needed to get by Ashton [Winger] going down the back straightaway and get back to the bottom. The car was good tonight we were glad to be in the hunt and in the race tonight. It was a big turnaround from last night and I can’t thank my guys enough for working their tails off on this thing and not giving up after we missed the show last night.”  The winner’s Jeff Mathews Motorsports, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by Recreational Vehicle Service, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Racing Shocks, Super K Express, Wraptech, FK Rod Ends, Johnny Doan Plumbing, Credit Union Remarketing, and Angry Elephant Tattoos and Piercings. Completing the top ten were Garrett Smith, Ryan Gustin, Tim McCreadie, Mark Whitener, and Devin Moran.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas OilTuesday, February 7, 2023East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Dennis Erb, Jr. / 14.797 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Hudson O’Neal / 14.860 seconds 
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 5. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 7. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[8]; 8. 187-David McCoy[10]; 9. 25B-Mike Benedum[9]; 10. (DNS) 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 22*-Payton Freeman[7]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 7. 1C-Kenny Collins[9]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[10]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[5]; 10. 111B-Max Blair[2]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 89J-Mark Whitener[3]; 3. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[7]; 5. 81J-Jack Riggs[5]; 6. KB-Kerry King[6]; 7. D8-Dustin Mitchell[1]; 8. 4S-Danny Snyder[10]; 9. 6-Blake Spencer[8]; 10. 55-Benji Hicks[9]
AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 4. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[5]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 6. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 7. S21-Seth Daniels[8]; 8. 29-Larry Grube[7]; 9. C4-Freddie Carpenter[9]; 10. 75-Daniel Adam[10]
Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 19M-Wil Herrington[3]; 3. 79-Ross Bailes[2]; 4. 96V-Tanner English[5]; 5. 89M-Mike Spatola[4]; 6. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 7. 47W-Tyler Riggs[7]; 8. 21K-Jimmy Owens[9]; 9. 99B-Boom Briggs[8]; 10. 22B-Perry Brown[10]
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2X-Brandon Overton[2]; 2. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[1]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 89-Logan Roberson[4]; 5. 212-Josh Putnam[6]; 6. 83-Jensen Ford[5]; 7. 86-Kyle Beard[7]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[8]; 9. 5T-John Tweed[9]; 10. (DNS) 3B-Billy Boyd Sr
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[6]; 5. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[7]; 6. 22*-Payton Freeman[4]; 7. 1C-Kenny Collins[8]; 8. 17SS-Brenden Smith[10]; 9. 187-David McCoy[9]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[11]; 11. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 12. 20B-Todd Brennan[12]; 13. (DNS) 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr; 14. (DNS) 111B-Max Blair
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 12D-Doug Drown[6]; 3. 29-Larry Grube[10]; 4. C4-Freddie Carpenter[12]; 5. S21-Seth Daniels[8]; 6. 75-Daniel Adam[14]; 7. 81J-Jack Riggs[3]; 8. 81-Jason Riggs[4]; 9. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[2]; 10. (DNS) KB-Kerry King; 11. (DNS) D8-Dustin Mitchell; 12. (DNS) 4S-Danny Snyder; 13. (DNS) 6-Blake Spencer; 14. (DNS) 55-Benji Hicks
MyRacePass B-Main Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 89-Logan Roberson[2]; 2. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 3. 212-Josh Putnam[4]; 4. 89M-Mike Spatola[3]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[8]; 6. 31-Tyler Millwood[5]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[10]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[11]; 9. 5T-John Tweed[12]; 10. 21K-Jimmy Owens[9]; 11. 47W-Tyler Riggs[7]; 12. 83-Jensen Ford[6]; 13. (DNS) 22B-Perry Brown; 14. (DNS) 3B-Billy Boyd Sr
Wieland Winternationals Night 2 Feature Finish (30 Laps):
Race StatisticsEntrants: 60Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Ashton WingerLap Leaders: Ashton Winger (Laps 1-30)Wieland Feature Winner: Ashton WingerArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 1.833 secondsStop-Tech Brakes Cautions: Dustin Mitchell (Lap 8); Eddie Carrier, Jr. (Lap 21); Kyle Bronson (Lap 24)Series Provisionals: n/aWieland Fast Time Provisional: Dustin Mitchell, Jason RiggsSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Ashton Winger, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon SheppardPenske Shocks Top 5: Ashton Winger, Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Dennis Erb, Jr.Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Logan Roberson (Advanced 9 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Finisher: Ryan GustinDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Finisher: Brian ShirleyEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Ashton Winger (30 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Hudson O’Neal         Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/aEtchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Ashton Winger (Lap 13 – 15.355 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Kyle BronsonOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Gary Winger (Ashton Winger)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Jensen Ford (14.893 seconds)Time of Race: 14 minutes 42 seconds

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: 2023 World of Outlaws Campaign Begins at Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals

Drivers Vying for Big Gator Championship Across Five Nights in Barberville, FL

BARBERVILLE, FL – February 7, 2023 – After 97 agonizing days away from the racetrack, the off-season is finally over and the 2023 season begins this week for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

For the 19th consecutive year, The Greatest Show on Dirt opens the most grueling campaign in dirt racing at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL for the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.

The five-night “Sprint Week” at The World’s Fastest Half-Mile begins with a pair of All Star Circuit of Champions races on Tuesday and Wednesday before the World of Outlaws take center stage Thursday through Saturday. An expected field of nearly 40 competitors will be racing for valuable points across all five shows in the hunt for the prestigious Big Gator Championship.

For those unable to make the trip to Florida in February, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.com.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Let’s preview some of the top storylines entering this week:

DRIVE FOR FIVE: Not one, not two, not three, but four championship rings now don the hand of Brad Sweet, who has built a Hall of Fame career out of strictly the last half-decade. In 2023, “The Big Cat” wants to add one for the thumb with a fifth consecutive title on the line for his Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 Team.

The 37-year-old native of Grass Valley, CA has topped all four of his crowns by a margin of less than 100 points, proving the World of Outlaws championship contenders are consistently tighter than ever before. However, after a lowkey five-win season in 2022, Sweet – along with crew members Eric Prutzman, Tye Wolfgang, and Andrew Bowman – is extra determined to rattle off a big year and leave the points without doubt.

His quest for five consecutive championships begins at Volusia this week – arguably his best track. He owns eight DIRTcar Nationals wins with six of those coming in World of Outlaws action. That ties Volusia with Cedar Lake Speedway as his winningest track through 79 Series victories. He’s going for his third Big Gator Championship this week, something only his former KKR teammate Daryn Pittman has achieved before.

GATOR COLLECTOR: There are nine former DIRTcar Nationals winners in the field this week and leading the way is 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz with an unmatched 22 scores. He and former Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing star, Danny Lasoski (19 wins), are the only drivers to reach double-digit wins at the event.

Schatz, who will embark on his 27th full-time campaign with the Series this year, will split time between a slick blue Carquest Auto Parts look and a flashy yellow Advance Auto Parts design. The #15 will continue fine-tuning the Ford Performance Stewart 410 Engine as the Fargo, ND native eyes his 11th title.

Additional DIRTcar Nationals winners include Brad Sweet (8), Logan Schuchart (3), Sheldon Haudenschild (2), David Gravel (2), Carson Macedo (1), Aaron Reutzel (1), Kraig Kinser (1), and Kasey Kahne (1).

THE GRIND BEGINS: Every year since 2005, the cross-country tour that is the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series always starts at The World’s Fastest Half-Mile. Including a Bike Week stop on March 5-6, Volusia Speedway Park hosts a record-high five races in 2023.

The 87-race schedule will take teams to 36 different tracks in 19 states, testing both man and machine all the way through to November’s World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, where the 46th champion will be crowned.

BIG GATOR CHAMPIONSHIP: The little gators given to all Feature winners are cool and all, but the ultimate goal of DIRTcar Nationals is leaving with the Big Gator Championship – a trophy created for the event in 2012.

Daryn Pittman (‘13, ‘15, ‘19) remains the only driver to earn the trophy on three occasions, while David Gravel (‘17, ‘22) and Brad Sweet (‘16, ‘20) are also multi-time champions. Additional Big Gator conquerors include Logan Schuchart (‘21), Donny Schatz (‘18), Paul McMahan (‘14), and Sammy Swindell (‘12).

Spread across two All Star nights and three World of Outlaws nights, the Big Gator Championship utilizes a points system offering 250 to the winner then 246, 244, 242, etc.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW: It’s a “1v1” match for the 2023 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award as Giovanni Scelzi and Robbie Price square off for the right to call themselves the top newcomer with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Scelzi, a 21-year-old native of Fresno, CA, is no stranger to success with five wins and 81 top-10s to his credit through 152 starts; but he is a stranger to full-time competition. The KCP Racing #18 pilot is committed to all 87 events in 2023 as he chases the World of Outlaws championship for the first time in his career.

Price, a 24-year-old native of Cobble Hill, BC, will take over control of the Sides Motorsports #7S – vying for ROTY honors exactly 20 years after Jason himself earned the award in 2003. Entering his Volusia debut, Price owns 55 career World of Outlaws starts with two top-five finishes coming late last year.

THE OUTSIDERS: Along with the expected cast of 15 full-time World of Outlaws stars, a handful of lethal invaders will be on the scene chasing their own gators.

Brent Marks, of Myerstown, PA, is fresh off a career-year after winning five World of Outlaws Features – including the Historical Big One and Kings Royal – on his way to making more than $600,000. Now, he eyes his first-career win at Volusia Speedway Park.

Anthony Macri, of Dillsburg, PA, was the winningest Sprint Car driver (23 wins) in 2022 and hopes to earn the same title this year with another true outlaw slate. With four-time World of Outlaws champion car chief, Joe Mooney (previously with Brad Sweet), now on the wrenches, the 23-year-old is focused on taking his program to the next level and it begins this week.

Buddy Kofoid, of Penngrove, CA, will make his debut at Volusia Speedway Park this week. The highly touted 20-year-old is piloting the Crouch Motorsports #11 as he begins his career’s most extensive Sprint Car schedule.

The All Star Circuit of Champions will be well represented by the likes of Tyler Courtney in the Clauson-Marshall #7BC, Justin Peck in the Buch Motorsports #13, Hunter Schuerenberg in the Vermeer Motorsports #55, Zeb Wise in the Rudeen Racing #26, and Parker Price-Miller in the McCandless #9P.

Additional expected contenders include Alex Bowman, Brian Brown, Danny Dietrich, Cory Eliason, Sam Hafertepe Jr, and Aaron Reutzel, among others.

Julie Nataas and Hunter Green Continue with Randy Meyer Racing in 2023

Feb 7, 2023 | Featured, Julie Nataas, Special Announcements

Julie Nataas and Hunter Green will serve as the full-time drivers for Randy Meyer Racing (RMR) in the 2023 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season, the team announced today. Along with Nataas and Green, Randy Meyer Racing will field its pair of Top Alcohol Dragster entries with new and returning part-time drivers at various races throughout the season 

Nataas is entering her fifth season of full-time competition driving RMR’s Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg (OTG) A/Fuel dragster. She plans to run 17 races between national events and regional races to compete for her first world championship and the team’s fourth in five years. 

“I’m just as focused as last year, but probably even more motivated to get this dragster back on track and where we want it to be this year,” said Nataas. “We had a lot of both ups and downs in 2022, but we need the consistency and the Wallys. I know this team is capable of doing just that.”

Nataas finished sixth in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series national points in 2022 with a pair of national event wins, including a prestigious double-up at the U.S. Nationals and JEGS All-Stars in Indianapolis. She has even bigger goals in mind for 2023, with a repeat win at Indy and a first-time win at the historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip at the top of the list. 

“At this point I’m just really excited to get back at the track for testing and get this year started,” Nataas said. “I’m excited to see where we’re at in testing. I know the team has been working hard in the shop this offseason, so I’m looking forward to starting the year off strong in Belle Rose, LA. The U.S. Nationals is definitely a favorite after we doubled up in 2022, but my favorite racetrack has always been Pomona. Maybe this will be the year we bring home a Wally at my favorite track.”

Nataas will also continue driving Meyer’s new nitro-injected A/Fuel Funny Car, which made its debut in 2022. Nataas will run Funny Car Chaos races with it on weekends that don’t overlap with the team’s prior commitments on the Top Alcohol Dragster schedule. 

“I’m so excited to get back into the Funny Car,” Nataas said. “It’s been way too long since March last year. We quickly realized back then that we had a lot to work on, and with the dragsters being our priority we decided to put it on hold. It’s definitely a fun project, and as a driver, I’m excited and ready to expand my driving skills. The little taste I got from testing it last year just made me want to drive a Funny Car even more. I look forward to getting this A/Fuel Funny Car down the track.”

Green, the son of NHRA Funny Car driver Chad Green, is returning for his second year with RMR. An enjoyable rookie campaign with the team led to a bigger schedule this season. 

“Randy Meyer, me, and my dad have all gotten close over the last year,” Green said. “Randy and my dad particularly have become pretty good friends. We just mesh good with Randy and his family. Julie is a great teammate too. Megan [Meyer-Lingner] is great with everything she does with social media and the marketing. Between the relationship with Randy and the fact that he has what I think are the best cars out there, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

The father-son Green duo will have their hands full this season, with Chad running the full NHRA Camping World Series season in Funny Car and Hunter driving Meyer’s Bond-Coat A/Fuel dragster at 11 races. 

“Seven of those will be national events and four will be regionals, which is basically just enough to make it to where I can be competitive in the points for the championship,” said Green, 28. “It’s going to be crazy. Three of the regionals I’ll be doing will be at the same time my dad is off somewhere else racing, so this is going to be a different year for both of us. It’s going to be our busiest year in racing yet by a long shot. I’m pretty excited to see how it goes.”

While Green already has an ambitious schedule, he hasn’t ruled out running additional races. 

“If things go well at the start of the season, we’re interested in adding more races,” said Green, who also has his Top Fuel license. “Eleven is what we have planned, but we could slip a few more in there if we think we have a shot at being competitive [in the championship].”

RMR will begin testing mid-February before the team’s first NHRA regional race of the season Feb. 24-26 at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA. 

Fans can also stay up to date with Nataas, Green, and the other RMR drivers on the Randy Meyer Racing website and Facebook page

###

ABOUT RANDY MEYER RACING

A highly-respected member of the NHRA Drag Racing family, Randy Meyer has had a successful career spanning over 40 years of drag racing as driver, team owner, and crew chief from AHRA Pro-Comp to IHRA Top Fuel and NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster. Randy Meyer is a multi-time world champion in the sport of drag racing. Together the team has won well over 90 NHRA races and 12 championships. They are the 2019-2021 NHRA world champions.

The Randy Meyer Racing team is proudly supported by: Oslo Tapet & Gulvbelegg (OTG), Lucas Oil, Right Trailers, NGK Spark Plugs, Gunk Cleaners, Jiffy-Tite Quick Connectors, ARP Bolts and Studs, Aeroquip, and Aeromotive.

NIGHT 1 RECAP: Lee, Strickler, Nicely, Haley, Dotson, Stremme Win Monday UMP Modified Features

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 6, 2023 – A grand total 102 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds packed the Volusia Speedway Park pit areas for opening night of the 52nd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Monday night and put the newly refreshed event format on display for the first time, awarding six of the field’s top drivers with the first gator trophies of the week for their Feature wins.

Feature #1 – Lucas Lee

For a driver that has not been fond of Volusia in the past, Lucas Lee made it look like he’d been winning races at the half-mile oval for years with his flag-to-flag performance in the opening Feature.

Lee led all 20 laps, virtually unchallenged for the win, holding off podium finishers George Dixon and Trent Young through several restarts to bag his second career DIRTcar Nationals victory. Despite his speed, Lee said there were still some issues he’s hoping to have fixed asap.

“The car was good, but the motor wasn’t running right,” Lee said. “It was just loading up real hard; not running real well. It wouldn’t get up to temperature, and my car wouldn’t fire-off.”

“Other than that, everything else was decent. I think if I can get the car to pull harder, I might have more traction.”

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 12L-Lucas Lee[1]; 2. 77-George Dixon[3]; 3. 10Y-Trent Young[5]; 4. 13-Charlie Mefford[4]; 5. 90R-Raymond Kable[13]; 6. 60-Shannon Fisk[9]; 7. 8A-Austin Holcombe[8]; 8. 99G-Gavin Graham[16]; 9. 51-Dalton Lanich[7]; 10. 12-Robert Gast[11]; 11. 130-Chase Allen[6]; 12. 07N-Adam Nayler[10]; 13. 29-Steve Shellenberger[12]; 14. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[14]; 15. 16C-John Clippinger[2]; 16. 34X-Shane O’Connor[17]; 17. 463-Daniel Sanchez[15]

Feature #2 – Kyle Strickler

Two-time Gator Championship Feature winner Kyle Strickler added to his collection of small gator trophies with his 10th career DIRTcar Nationals Feature win in exciting fashion.

Strickler sat on the outside pole and jumped out to a nice lead in the opening laps over polesitter Justin Allgaier. Allgaier, the 2021 Gator Championship winner, stayed with Strickler the entire race, and when Strickler got tripped-up by a stray lapped car, Allgaier nearly blew by on the bottom for the lead.

“I just didn’t want to wreck, because that’s been how our luck’s been going lately – if something bad can happen, it’s going to happen to us,” Strickler said. “Ol boy decided to pit right in front of us, and I had to turn hard to the right, got up over the cushion and then was coming back down the racetrack. Got into Allgaier a little bit and had to put it on the fence and blast it around the top.”

However, Strickler was able to recover, get back in front of Allgaier and drive it across the line first to bag the win.

“I love driving the Modifieds,” Strickler said. “The Late Model stuff can be a lot of high pressure and high stress, so it’s fun to come back and just enjoy the week of going back to my roots and running the Modified stuff. They’re so much fun to drive.”

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 2. 7A-Justin Allgaier[1]; 3. 99M-Mike Mullen[5]; 4. 18L-Michael Long[3]; 5. 51G-Brandon Green[4]; 6. 114-Clayton Bryant[7]; 7. 8X-Cody Brightwell[6]; 8. 11S-Jared Spalding[10]; 9. 17-Rob Pitcher[11]; 10. 00EH-Steve Arpin[8]; 11. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[12]; 12. 100-Robert Murray[15]; 13. 21C-Taylor Cook[9]; 14. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[13]; 15. 6B-Dave Baldwin[14]; 16. 12M-John McClure[17]; 17. 24-Zeke McKenzie[16]

Feature #3 – Tyler Nicely

In one of the more dominating performances seen all night, Tyler Nicely bagged the fourth gator trophy of his career, leading all 20 laps unchallenged and adding 80 points to his Florida Speedweeks total.

He broke out a brand-new Elite Chassis that he’d been saving specifically for DIRTcar Nationals, which seemed to pay dividends.

“We tested it two weeks ago at All-Tech [Speedway] and it seemed really good,” Nicely said. “Nick Hoffman and his crew got here today and we changed a few things, and it was pretty spot-on tonight.”

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 2. 88-Matt Crafton[5]; 3. 25W-Allen Weisser[8]; 4. 90-Jason Beaulieu[4]; 5. 9-Ken Schrader[3]; 6. 25A-Jason Altiers[7]; 7. 07-Curtis King[9]; 8. 22J-John Baker[10]; 9. 77B-Ray Bollinger[6]; 10. 7D-T J DeHaven[13]; 11. 1S-Brian Shaw[2]; 12. 77S-Jim Shipman[15]; 13. 57-Fletcher Mason[12]; 14. 4S-Craig Shaw[11]; 15. 59-Doug Stine[14]; 16. 54-Zachary Hawk[16]; 17. 27-Jason Garver[17]

Feature #4 – Justin Haley

Less than 24 hours after competing in NASCAR’s headline Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, Justin Haley showed up at Volusia, running on no sleep and a strong drive to win. He did just that Monday night in an intense battle with Illinois weekly racer Trevor Neville.

Starting on the pole, Haley jumped out to a small advantage over the guy to his right. That gap, however, was quickly dissolved, and Neville got another chance on the outside. He made it stick in the outside lane and took the spot, which was later taken back by Haley with a big dive into Turn 1 on Lap 5.

Haley held onto the spot from that point forward and drove it back across the stripe to bag his second career DIRTcar Nationals Feature win, thanks in part to a certain caffeinated beverage in his arsenal, which sponsors his Cup Series team.

“Yeah, a lot of Celsius,” Haley said. “I’m ready to go to sleep.

“I had a Coke on the plane and then probably three Celsiuses, so I’ve got it all covered. I’m definitely ready for bed; I haven’t been to sleep in 48 hours.”

Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 99-Justin Haley[1]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[2]; 3. 09-Michael Leach[15]; 4. 4-Mike Learman[5]; 5. 22K-Dale Kelley[11]; 6. 72X-Todd Neiheiser[8]; 7. 7G-Seth Geary[4]; 8. 22TW-Tim Ward[9]; 9. M20-Mike Potosky[13]; 10. 17C-Coleman Evans[7]; 11. 00-Dylan Henkins[17]; 12. 3D-Makayla Tyrrell[14]; 13. 11W-Chris Wilson[6]; 14. 199-Travis Pastrana[10]; 15. 21S-Kenny Shaw[16]; 16. 41-Brad Goff[3]; 17. 24D-Jesse Dill[12]

Feature #5 – Ethan Dotson

Only one Feature was decided by more than a two-second gap Monday night, and that was the one won by 24-year-old Modified sensation Ethan Dotson.

Dotson, the 2022 Reutimann Memorial winner from Bakersfield, CA, led all 20 laps unchallenged and beat second-place Drake Troutman to the line by nearly five seconds. With the speed Dotson has showed thus far, it’s going to be one tough task for any driver to try and match him this week.

“Our Longhorn Chassis was super good tonight,” Dotson said. “We were one of the last Features, so it got pretty slick and slow, so that’s good for Saturday. We can put it in our notes and build on that for the big show on Saturday.”

Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 00E-Ethan Dotson[1]; 2. 5T-Drake Troutman[2]; 3. 145-Kyle Hammer[4]; 4. 21CZ-Benji LaCrosse[6]; 5. 43A-Mark Anderson[8]; 6. 21J-Clay Harris[3]; 7. 2A-Matt Altiers[12]; 8. 35W-Ethan Weber[5]; 9. 7B-Brad Deyoung[13]; 10. 7-Evan Taylor[7]; 11. 32-Chad Roush[11]; 12. 2C-Ronnie Chance[14]; 13. 0-Glenn Styres[15]; 14. 40R-Shawn Reiss[16]; 15. 33-Kenny Mihalik[10]; 16. 222-Cory Hupp[17]; 17. 17T-Tyler Evans[9]

Feature #6 – David Stremme

After breaking through last February for his first DIRTcar Nationals Feature win since 2018, David Stremme now has wins in back-to-back years at Volusia.

The Lethal Chassis builder/co-founder led flag-to-flag and fended-off a hungry Michael Altobelli, driving a brand-new Lethal Chassis, in the closing laps. Altobelli came from ninth and was challenging for the lead after the final restart with three-to-go, but Stremme kept him at bay.

“Michael’s a great guy; that’s a brand-new car we built him,” Stremme said. “I’m just happy that he was coming up through. He had some issues in Qualifying. Michael is a great racer.”

Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[1]; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli[9]; 3. 05-Dave Wietholder[7]; 4. 97-Mitch Thomas[2]; 5. 5CS-Curt Spalding[3]; 6. 49-Brian Ruhlman[4]; 7. 22B-Austen Becerra[8]; 8. 49G-Billy Green[10]; 9. 91B-Chris Beaulieu[5]; 10. 1-Randy Giroux[14]; 11. 22-Doug Carson[11]; 12. 99W-Wade Olmsted[17]; 13. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[12]; 14. 11-Jesse Rupe[6]; 15. 3-Josh Sanford[13]; 16. 7M-Steve Maughan[16]; 17. 4M-Tim Monroe[15]

UP NEXT

The UMP Modified bash at Volusia Speedway Park continues on day #2 of the 52nd Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals – Tuesday, Feb. 7 – racing alongside the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars.

Hot Laps set for 5:30pm ET. Tickets are available at DIRTcarNationals.com or at the gate. If you can’t be in attendance, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

Tyler Erb Wins Opening Night of Wieland Winternationals at East Bay

TAMPA, Fla. (February 6, 2023) – Tyler Erb scored his first win of the 2023 season on Monday night, capturing the first night of the 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals – presented by Lucas Oil. Erb took the lead on lap two from Kyle Bronson and led the rest of the way to score his fifth career win at the “Clay by the Bay.” Hudson O’Neal finished in second followed by 20th starting Tyler Millwood who claimed his first career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series podium. Brandon Overton, driving the John Henderson-owned No. 2x, was fourth, with last year’s opening night winner Dennis Erb Jr. rounding out the top five finishers. Bronson led the first two laps from his pole starting spot before Erb passed him on the inside coming off turn number two. O’Neal then moved into second taking the spot away from Bronson. There were back-to-back cautions on lap 11 and 12 which kept the field bunched up behind Erb.  Early in the race the outside line proved beneficial for Brian Shirley who had moved from 12th to sixth and Ashton Winger who after starting sixth climbed to second on lap 12. After the lap 12 caution, Winger had a great restart and went to the outside of Erb entering turn four before losing his momentum and falling several spots in the running order. There were cautions with 18 and 24 laps scored while Erb held the lead. On each of those subsequent restarts Erb kept his car glued to the bottom and went on to pick up the win. In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 20th time in his career, Erb let out a sigh of relief to get to victory lane for the first time since the Gateway Dirt Nationals back in December. “It’s awesome to get this win. We ended last year on such a crazy note at the Dome. We unloaded at Vado with really high expectations and just struggled. I just can’t say enough about everybody that helps me. We complained to Eric [Brock] that we needed a new car, and Mark [Richards] built us a car in two days. Brunswick wasn’t good us; Bubba wasn’t good until the second night. We got things turned around I feel at All-Tech with our finish there.”  “I love East Bay,” Erb added. “I didn’t think it would be too good. The top down there was the only place I thought maybe I should have been in. I could tell, someone was close. I left Winger about as much room as you could. It was literally the wall, Winger, and me. It’s just East Bay you’ve got to know where to start.” O’Neal said he felt good on the restarts. “I was getting caught in his [Erb’s] slime sometimes. I went to the top there for a while when it finally cleaned up there at the end. On that last restart I got clear of Overton and just got back to the bottom. I knew it was safe down there.” Millwood earned the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race after coming to third. “I was running behind those guys, and I just said let’s go up there and see what happens and it worked. It was an awesome night.” The winner’s Eric and Kelly Brock, Best Performance Motorsports-owned, Rocket Chassis is powered by Clements Racing Engines and sponsored by Bulk Material Lift, Lucas Oil Products, Bazell Race Fuels, Anthony’s Pizza, First Class Septic, Roberts Bee Company, Sunoco Race Fuels and Penske Shocks. Completing the top ten ere Mark Whitener, Spencer Hughes, Ryan Gustin, Tanner English, and Eddie Carrier Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary 47th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil Monday, February 6, 2023East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Tanner English / 14.871 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Tyler Erb / 14.909 seconds 
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 7-Ross Robinson[3]; 3. 89J-Mark Whitener[7]; 4. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[8]; 7. S21-Seth Daniels[9]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 9. 22B-Perry Brown[10]; 10. 47W-Tyler Riggs[5]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1H-Hudson O’Neal[2]; 2. 83-Jensen Ford[1]; 3. 2-GR Smith[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 20B-Todd Brennan[8]; 6. 187-David McCoy[3]; 7. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[7]; 9. 12D-Doug Drown[10]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[9]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 2X-Brandon Overton[1]; 2. 11-Spencer Hughes[4]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 4. 31-Tyler Millwood[6]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[7]; 6. 21K-Kenneth Howell[9]; 7. 19M-Wil Herrington[8]; 8. 76B-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 9. 18-Chase Junghans[3]
AP1 Insurance Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 66JR-Eddie Carrier Jr[2]; 4. 89-Logan Roberson[5]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 7. 29-Larry Grube[8]; 8. 89M-Mike Spatola[10]; 9. 75-Daniel Adam[9]; 10. (DNS) 2V-Allen Murray
Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 2. 79-Ross Bailes[3]; 3. 1C-Kenny Collins[6]; 4. 6-Blake Spencer[2]; 5. 55-Benji Hicks[7]; 6. 81-Jason Riggs[8]; 7. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[4]; 8. KB-Kerry King[10]; 9. 81J-Jack Riggs[5]; 10. 5T-John Tweed[9]
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 4. 212-Josh Putnam[6]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 6. D8-Dustin Mitchell[4]; 7. C4-Freddie Carpenter[8]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[9]
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 96V-Tanner English[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 4. 17SS-Brenden Smith[5]; 5. 20B-Todd Brennan[4]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[8]; 7. S21-Seth Daniels[7]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[9]; 9. 12D-Doug Drown[12]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[10]; 11. 25B-Mike Benedum[14]; 12. 22B-Perry Brown[11]; 13. 187-David McCoy[6]; 14. (DNS) 47W-Tyler Riggs
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 31-Tyler Millwood[1]; 2. 89-Logan Roberson[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard[6]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[3]; 6. 89M-Mike Spatola[10]; 7. 75-Daniel Adam[12]; 8. 21K-Kenneth Howell[5]; 9. 29-Larry Grube[8]; 10. (DNS) 19M-Wil Herrington; 11. (DNS) 76B-Blair Nothdurft; 12. (DNS) 18-Chase Junghans; 13. (DNS) 2V-Allen Murray
MyRacePass B-Main Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 2. 55-Benji Hicks[3]; 3. 81-Jason Riggs[5]; 4. D8-Dustin Mitchell[6]; 5. 212-Josh Putnam[2]; 6. C4-Freddie Carpenter[8]; 7. 21M-Billy Moyer Jr[7]; 8. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 9. 1Z-Logan Zarin[10]; 10. 5T-John Tweed[13]; 11. KB-Kerry King[9]; 12. 6-Blake Spencer[1]; 13. (DNS) 81J-Jack Riggs
Wieland Winternationals Feature Finish (30 Laps):
Race Statistics Entrants: 58Terminal Maintenance & Construction Pole Sitter: Kyle BronsonLap Leaders: Kyle Bronson (Laps 1-2); Tyler Erb (Laps 3-30)Wieland Feature Winner: Tyler ErbArizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/aBrandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/aMargin of Victory: 2.604 secondsStop-Tech Brakes Cautions: Ross Robinson (Lap 3); Ross Bailes, Logan Roberson (Lap 11); Daulton Wilson, Ross Bailes, Jensen Ford (Lap 12); GR Smith (Lap 18); Ashton Winger (Lap 24)Series Provisionals: n/aWieland Fast Time Provisional: David McCoy, Daulton WilsonSeries Emergency Provisionals: n/aTrack Provisional: n/aBig River Steel Podium Top 3: Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler MillwoodPenske Shocks Top 5: Tyler Erb, Hudson O’Neal, Tyler Millwood, Brandon Overton, Dennis Erb, Jr.Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Tyler Millwood (Advanced 17 Positions)Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Finisher: Spencer HughesDeatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Finisher: Kyle BronsonEarnhardt Technologies Most Laps Led: Tyler Erb (28 Laps)Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler ErbMidwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/aEtchberger Trucking Fastest Lap of the Race: Tyler Erb (Lap 16 – 16.421 seconds)MD3 Tough Break of the Race: Ashton WingerOuterwears Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Tyler Erb)ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Race EnginesMiller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket ChassisDirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Garrett Smith (14.920 seconds)Time of Race: 23 minutes 24 seconds

1 MONTH ALERT: World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Return to Volusia For Bike Week Doubleheader, March 5-6

The event will kick off the Low-E Insulation FL to PA Spring Showdown six-race battle

BARBERVILLE, FL (Feb. 6, 2023) – The biggest two-wheel event in Florida will collide with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars when the Series returns to Volusia Speedway Park, Sunday-Monday, March 5-6.

The doubleheader weekend at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” will help kickoff Bike Week and commence the Low-E Insulation FL to PA Spring Showdown six-race series – which starts at Volusia and ends at Lincoln Speedway (March 18), paying $10,000 to the overall points earner, $6,000 for second and $4,000 for third.

Drivers will contend for a $10,000 payday each night, along with valuable points toward the prestigious World of Outlaws championship.

TICKETS: CLICK HERE

Event Highlights:

GATOR KING: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series begins its season at Volusia Speedway Park during the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Feb. 9-11, handing out three Feature wins and a Big Gator Championship. The winners of each will have the best momentum going into the Bike Week doubleheader.

Last year, David Gravel won the final race of the event and took home his second Big Gator Championship.

GRAVEL’S HOME: There’s nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating for a driver than being able to race close to home. With Gravel, originally from Watertown, CT, calling Florida home, he gets the benefit of spending the first month of the season a short drive from his house. Paired with his stout record at Volusia, including two Big Gator Championships and two Feature wins, Gravel and his Big Game Motorsports team will be poised to start off the season strong and hunt down their first championship.

DRIVE FOR FIVE: Four-time and defending Series champion Brad Sweet returns with Kasey Kahne Racing to chase their fifth straight World of Outlaws title. Doing so would add his name on another page of the history books with Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz as the only drivers to win five straight titles.

Volusia has been one of Sweet’s best tracks with eight Feature wins there and two Big Gator Championships (2016, 2020).

SHARK ATTACK: The Shark Racing duo of Logan Schuchart and Jacob Allen will be at home during Bike Week, being bikers themselves. They’re both also strong competitors on half-mile tracks. Schuchart has two Feature wins at Volusia and a Big Gator Championship (2021). And while Allen has yet to win at Volusia, he earned a top-five finish last year and is coming off the momentum of a career best season.

EVENT INFO: CLICK HERE

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: UMP Modifieds Set for Six-Straight Nights at Volusia’s DIRTcar Nationals

Pastrana, Dotson, Lee, Troutman and more headline newly reformatted event

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 6, 2023 – The single toughest test of endurance in DIRTcar UMP Modified racing hits the half-mile of Volusia Speedway Park this week in the 52nd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.

Six-straight days of racing. Over 100 cars expected to compete. All in pursuit of the iconic Big Gator trophy and $5,000 check as winner of the Gator Championship Feature Saturday night.

The event format has been completely overhauled for 2023, featuring six separate Features on each of the first five nights of competition. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday’s Features will be lined up by Qualifying laps, while Thursday will set the field according to points accumulated by each driver over the previous three nights. Friday’s field will be split in half for the Gator Qualifier night before Saturday’s Gator Championship.

Read More: Purse Increase, New Format for UMP Modifieds at 52nd DIRTcar Nationals

The driver with the most points at week’s end will be crowned the DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator champion and hoist the iconic Big Gator trophy. Drivers will also be earning points toward the UMP Modified Florida Speedweeks championship chase, which crowns its champion after the conclusion of Saturday’s Feature.

To get your tickets, visit DIRTcarNationals.com. If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch the entire week of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals live on DIRTVision.

Here are the drivers to watch for and storylines to follow this week:

NEW GATOR CHAMP – For the first time in seven years, a driver not named Nick Hoffman will hoist the Big Gator trophy as DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified champion at the conclusion of the week.

Hoffman, who has not missed a DIRTcar Nationals since his Volusia debut in 2009, won the division’s event points title every year from 2016-2022. This week, however, he will sit on the sidelines, with his focus on his World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model ride, and be a resource to the several Elite Chassis drivers in the field.

Hoffman will also have the Tye Twarog Racing, NOS Energy Drink #9 Super Late Model with him as he prepares for competition during week #2 of DIRTcar Nationals with the DIRTcar Late Models and World of Outlaws. Hoffman recorded finishes of fourth and eighth in his first two starts as a full-time World of Outlaws driver in January at the DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals.

HORNS UP – If there’s one driver among the 100-plus UMP Modifieds expected for the week that’s highest amongst the favorites to win the Big Gator trophy, it’s Bakersfield, CA-driver Ethan Dotson.

Dotson, the 24-year-old Longhorn Chassis UMP Modified house driver, won the ninth annual Emil & Dale Reutimann Memorial in his Volusia debut last November – one day after breaking the 11-year-old track record.

He returns to Volusia this week for his DIRTcar Nationals debut, piloting one of the most well-maintained cars in the pits, backed by Longhorn and the knowledge of multi-time DIRTcar Nationals Feature winner Steve Arpin.

A DOLLAR BET – A multi-time motocross and rallycross champion, and a NASCAR Truck Series champion walk into Volusia. No, really – it’s happening. And there’s a big bet on the line.

Travis Pastrana will make his DIRTcar Nationals debut this week in a UMP Modified built by 2007 DIRTcar Nationals champion and fellow ex-rallycross racer Steve Arpin and his Longhorn Chassis brand, backed by his partners at Black Rifle Coffee Company. After being asked if he was “too much of a sissy to drive” by fellow Black Rifle Coffee driver Matt Crafton, Pastrana took on Crafton’s challenge and made a one-dollar bet with him to see who could finish higher in races throughout the week.

Crafton, a regular of the UMP Modified division at DIRTcar Nationals, will pilot his own K1 RaceGear Elite Chassis #88 against Pastrana’s #199, all in pursuit of his first career gator trophy.

POINTS LEADER – Lucas Lee comes into Volusia as the UMP Modified Florida Speedweeks points leader by 17 over second-place Drake Troutman. On the back of three Feature wins and top-10s in all seven races on the Speedweeks trail, Lee now faces his toughest challenge of all at Volusia.

Lee, the defending Speedweeks champion from Paris, TN, historically, has not been as big of a factor at Volusia compared to the other Speedweeks venues. But with a win already at North Florida Speedway (Jan. 29) and two he garnered at East Bay Raceway Park (Feb. 3 and 4) to cap-off Winternationals, he’s the one driver going in with more momentum than any Speedweeks championship chaser.

Lee does have one gator trophy on his mantle at home, having captured one of the Gator Qualifier Features at Volusia in 2019.

ELITE-IST – Tyler Nicely currently holds onto the third spot in Speedweeks points, currently 60 points back from leader Lucas Lee.

Nicely, the 27-year-old Modified standout from Owensboro, KY, has two wins in seven Speedweeks starts, and has consistently been a contender for the win throughout Speedweeks with top-10 finishes in all but two events thus far (East Bay 2/1 [DNF, 21st]; East Bay 2/4 [DNF, 14th).

Prepared special for this week, Nicely will be armed with a brand-new Elite Chassis built by the seven-time DIRTcar Nationals champion Nick Hoffman in pursuit of his first Gator Championship Feature win and second UMP Modified Florida Speedweeks points title.

THE BIG CATCH – Coming off an action-packed week at East Bay, Drake Troutman rides the Jerry Foster Racing, Longhorn Chassis #5, into Volusia with only a 17-point deficit to points leader Lucas Lee.

Troutman, the 17-year-old racer from Hyndman, PA, got the win on the opening night at East Bay, and nearly did it again Friday night if not for a post-race penalty assessment. Despite the blunder, however, he’s the only driver to record top-five finishes in all seven Features thus far.

Doe Run Raceway to Host Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series on July 21 

DOE RUN, MO – Feb. 6, 2023 – Dirt Midgets will race around Doe Run Raceway for the first time in the track’s 29-year history when the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota makes its debut there on Friday, July 21. The 1/6-mile oval in Missouri, more widely known for its weekly racing program of Winged Outlaw Micro Sprints, 206 Cage Karts, Mod Lites, B-Modifieds and the newly added Junior Sprints, will take on the national stars of the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets as part of the Series’ two-day weekend with Southern Illinois Raceway (July 22) in the Midwest. “It’s awesome to have a national series like the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets come to Doe Run Raceway,” said Track Owner & Promoter Tommy Harris. “We’ve always dreamed of it for the last five years since we bought the track. We’ve made it bigger and better to bring something new to the locals around here.” Doe Run fills the last remaining TBA date on the schedule, bringing the Series’ 2023 schedule to a complete 35-race slate. “It’s exciting to form a new relationship with the Doe Run staff and bring Midget racing to a new local fanbase,” said Xtreme Outlaw Series Director Tyler Bachman. “We’re honored that Tommy and his team have chosen the Xtreme Outlaw Series to host their first-ever Midget event, and can’t wait to see what the future holds at the facility.” Catch the rising stars of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota in action at Doe Run Raceway on Friday, July 21. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

Wieland Winternationals Features Six Nights at East Bay Raceway Park

BATAVIA, Ohio (February 6, 2023) – The Wieland Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will take center stage this week in Tampa, Fla. Race Teams are looking forward to a thrilling week of racing at the “Clay by the Bay” for the 47th Annual Wieland East Bay Winternationals – presented by Lucas Oil. The action starts on Sunday, February 5 with an open practice from 6:00PM ET – 9:00PM ET. Monday and Tuesday, February 6 and 7, teams will compete for a $5,000 top prize. Wednesday, February 8 will see drivers gunning for $7,000 in top prize money. On Thursday, February 9 the winner’s prize increases to $10,000 before the stakes get even higher on Friday, February 10, with teams competing for a $12,000 paycheck. The week will end on Saturday, February 11, boasting a $15,000 top prize. A full program is scheduled for each of the six nights, which includes: Dirt Draft Hot Laps, Allstar Performance Time Trials, Heat Races, B-Mains, and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series main event. Each day, Hot Laps will begin at 5:30PM ET. Saturday’s program begins with a Dirt Racing Outreach service at 3:30PM ET in the main grandstands near turn one. You can watch all six nights of the 47th Annual Wieland East Bay Winternationals – presented by Lucas Oil from East Bay Raceway Park via MAVTV on FloRacing. For ticket and camping information, visit www.ebrp.co. For more information about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, visit www.lucasdirt.com.    About Wieland Metal Services:Wieland serves virtually all metalworking sectors with its extensive range of services and products. The inventory includes copper and brass alloys, as well as aluminum alloys and stainless steel, engineered plastics and other niche materials in strip, sheet, rod, bar, profile, coil, and foil forms. In addition, Wieland offers a variety of value added services including, but not limited to, strip slitting, tinning and electroplating, cutting, finishing, metal coatings, and traverse winding. With a broad geographical presence and IT-based service offerings, customers can rely on Wieland’s strong market position to meet their custom needs. To learn more, visit www.wieland-metalservices.com.
Track Information:East Bay Raceway ParkPhone Number: (877) 457-5611Location: 6311 Burts Road, Tampa, FL 33619Website: www.ebrp.coDirections: Directions to Track: I-75 to exit 250, then 2.0 miles west, then 1.2 miles north on US 41, then right 1.3 miles on Old US 41, then right on Burts Road.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rule February 6 – February 8:Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT1Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) LM20 For the A-Main, competitors may use 1 new right rear tire:Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) LM20 *Can cut and/or sipe any tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Tire Rule February 9 – February 11Must use the same set of 4 tires for Time Trials, Heat Races, and B-Mains:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT1Right Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) LM20
For the A-Main, competitors may use 3 new tires:Left Rear/Fronts – Hoosier (90) NLMT1, (90) NLMT2, (90) LM20, (90) NLMT3, (90) LM30sRight Rear – Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) LM20, (92) NLMT3, (92) LM30s
*Can cut and/or sipe any tire.*Flat tire must be replaced with a used tire of the same compound and construction to retain starting position.
Wieland Winternationals Presented by Lucas Oil Purses:Monday and Tuesday – 1. $5,000, 2. $3,000, 3. $2,000, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,000, 6. $800, 7. $750, 8. $700, 9. $650, 10. $600, 11. $550, 12. $500, 13. $500, 14. $500, 15. $500, 16. $500, 17. $500, 18. $500, 19. $500, 20. $500, 21. $500, 22. $500, 23. $500, 24. $500, 25. $500, 26. $500 = $24,050
Wednesday – 1. $7,000, 2. $3,500, 3. $2,000, 4. $1,500, 5. $1,400, 6. $1,300, 7. $1,200, 8. $1,100, 9. $1,000, 10. $950, 11. $900, 12. $850, 13. $800, 14. $750, 15. $725, 16. $700, 17. $700, 18. $700, 19. $650, 20. $625, 21. $625, 22. $600, 23. $600, 24. $600, 25. $600, 26. $600 = $31,975
Thursday – 1. $10,000, 2. $5,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,700, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,000, 15. $950, 16. $925, 17. $900, 18. $875, 19. $850, 20. $825, 21. $800, 22. $800, 23. $800, 24. $800, 25. $800, 26. $800 = $50,175
Friday – 1. $12,000, 2. $6,000, 3. $3,500, 4. $2,800, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,300, 7. $2,200, 8. $2,100, 9. $2,050, 10. $2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,200, 14. $1,100, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000, 25. $1,000, 26. $1,000 = $54,800
Saturday – 1. $15,000, 2. $6,500, 3. $3,500, 4. $3,000, 5. $2,500, 6. $2,400, 7. $2,300, 8. $2,200, 9. $2,100, 10. 2,000, 11. $1,600, 12. $1,400, 13. $1,300, 14. $1,200, 15. $1,050, 16. $1,000, 17. $1,000, 18. $1,000, 19. $1,000, 20. $1,000, 21. $1,000, 22. $1,000, 23. $1,000, 24. $1,000, 25. $1,000, 26. $1,000 = 59,050