By Alex Nieten
Add a World Short Track Championship Feature win to Billy Dunn’s résumé.
The Watertown, NY native opted to make his debut in The Dirt Track at Charlotte late season showcase with the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modifieds joining the card this year, and he made the most of his first trip to the event.
Dunn absolutely dominated the 25-lap Feature on Saturday night. The 2013 Super DIRT Weekchampion lined up on the outside pole and rocketed around Chris Curtis on the opening circuit and left the field fighting for second. It didn’t take long for the No. 49 to check out. He quickly built a commanding advantage as the gap stretched to nearly seven seconds over the runner-up.
Lapped traffic slowed Dunn in the closing laps but still not nearly enough to present him with a challenge. The margin never dropped below six seconds as he motored to the finish line and Victory Lane in the “Queen City.”
“It was about as good of a car as you can get,” Dunn said of his machine. “I haven’t been here for World Finals in a Big Block in a while, but I still feel like I kind of knew what to expect with the track. I made just a few changes, and it was on rails.”
The win capped a nearly perfect week for Dunn as he made his first visit to The Dirt Track at Charlotte since 2019 when he competed with the Super DIRTcar Series. His only flaw was not laying down the fastest lap in qualifying by timing in second quickest. After that, it was a Championship Feature win Thursday night, topping Friday’s Heat Race, and finally Saturday’s triumph in the finale.
Johnathon Ferguson closed out his first ever week at Charlotte with a run from fourth to second.
Lance Willix rounded out the VP Racing Fuels 358 Modified podium.
Brian McDonald was the hard charger with a march from 10th to fourth, and polesitter Chris Curtis rounded out the top five.
FEATURE RESULTS:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 49-Billy Dunn[2]; 2. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[4]; 3. 31-Lance Willix[3]; 4. 151KB-Brian McDonald[10]; 5. 35-Chris Curtis[1]; 6. 711X-Connor Crane[7]; 7. 18-Kalen Draper[8]; 8. 92-Andrew Buff[6]; 9. 58-Jessica Power[11]; 10. 47-Kreg Crooker[9]; 11. 21R-RJ Tresidder[5]; 12. 66W-Wallace Stacey[12]; 13. 92S-Dexter Stacey[13]; 14. 31CJ-CJ Castelletti[14]
