The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds continued writing new history at the 54th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, with four drivers winning a Golden Gator for the first time and two drivers building on their swamp collection.
Joining the list of new winners at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” included J.P. Roberts Jr, Glenn Styres, Evan Taylor, and Randy Giroux. Cole Falloway added a third gator to his collection on his first trip to Volusia, and David Stremme won his seventh career trophy to move up to seventh on the all-time DIRTcar Nationals wins list in the UMP Modifieds.
FEATURE #1
Tuesday night’s event opened with a Little Gator trophy going to another first-time Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals winner and first-time Volusia Speedway Park winner.
That honor went to J.P. Roberts Jr., who is making his first visit to Volusia this year.
The Gallipolis, OH native started fourth in the first 15-lap Feature of the night, but a stellar start saw him move to second before the field entered Turn 1.
He drove within a car length of leader Bobby Bagley in the opening lap, waiting for the right moment to pounce. And that moment came before Lap 2 was even complete. Sneaking to the inside of Bagley down the front stretch, Roberts used that moment to dive into Turn 1 and take the lead.
Bagley then faded, handing second to Jimmy Lennex Jr. on Lap 3. The new runner-up tried to give a challenge to Roberts, keeping his white No. 9R within reach every lap.
When the white flag was shown, Lennex tried to use up everything he had left in the tank, driving as hard as he could into every corner. It got him to Roberts’ bumper down the backstretch and then to his left quarter panel off Turn 4. But it wasn’t enough as Roberts pulled ahead to his first DIRTcar Nationals win.
“It’s our first week here and it’s been very memorable,” Roberts said. “We broke down with our truck in Georgia… so we had to get towed in by some friends three hours away. Last night, we were looking for some speed in the car, it didn’t feel comfortable to me. Today we made some changes, called some of my buddies back home. It feels a lot better now.
“We had to get the balance in the race car. Once we got the balance in the race car I could hit my marks.”
RESULTS:
Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9R-JP Roberts Jr[4]; 2. 11L-Jimmy Lennex Jr[3]; 3. 3S-Josh Sanford[2]; 4. 32-Chad Roush[9]; 5. 11R-Reece Ogle[7]; 6. 5B-Bobby Bagley[1]; 7. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[5]; 8. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[16]; 9. 2C-Ronnie Chance[6]; 10. 77S-Jim Shipman[11]; 11. 3F-Rob Fuqua[8]; 12. 28C-Jeff Cotterman[10]; 13. 89W-Rick Weitekamp[14]; 14. 81K-Kyle Cole[13]; 15. (DNS) 23-Ray Durrence Jr; 16. (DNS) 81C-Christopher Cole; 17. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine
FEATURE #2
Glenn Styres might be the “Ironman” of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. He’s raced all five nights of the event so far and pulled double duty the first three nights, running with the American Sprint Car Series National Tour and DIRTcar UMP Modifieds.
Initially, his trip was highlighted by his wild flip on Saturday in his Sprint Car, but he changed that Tuesday night by scoring his first DIRTcar Nationals Little Gator trophy – his first victory in 10 years.
“[I] had a rough crash in probably 2017 and I never really recovered,” Styres said. “I’m starting to feel alive now.
“It’s just confidence, right? After finishing outside the top 10 forever and then finally getting a Gator, it builds confidence.”
Styres, who has limited time in a Modified, started on the pole and went unchallenged all 15 laps. Clayton Bryant was on the move early, charging from fifth to second by Lap 5 but couldn’t match Styres’ speed.
RESULTS:
Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 0-Glenn Styres[1]; 2. 114B-Clayton Bryant[5]; 3. 10Y-Trent Young[9]; 4. 51-Dalton Lanich[6]; 5. 11J-Jesse Rupe[3]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[4]; 7. 463-Daniel Sanchez[13]; 8. 18-Miles Beaulieu[12]; 9. T9-Zack Tate[2]; 10. 99-Jimmy Wagner[14]; 11. 8-Dave Pinkerton[10]; 12. 26-Adam Ogle[15]; 13. 72S-Eric Shepherd Jr[17]; 14. 11D-Brian Diveley[16]; 15. 16-Shawn Deering[8]; 16. 60M-James Manka[7]; 17. 70H-Jim Britt[11]
FEATURE # 3
Looking at Cole Falloway’s stats, you might find it hard to believe this year is his first trip to Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals and Volusia Speedway Park. Five races, five top-four finishes, and three wins – his latest coming Tuesday night.
Falloway darted ahead of polesitter George Dixon and tried to pick up where he left off when he last won on Saturday. However, Curt Spalding, who won the first DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature of DIRTcar Nationals last week, was also quick to get by Dixon on the first lap and make his own bid for another win.
Three cautions brought the field together throughout the 15-lap race, including one for current Florida Speedweeks points leader Kyle Stricker who lost the nose of his car after contact with Trevor Neville. But even with Falloway being brought within reach of Spalding, the No. 66 set off for smooth sailing on every restart.
Spalding closed within a car length of Falloway in the final laps, but the young Kentucky kid had the power he needed to earn another Little Gator trophy.
And while Falloway dominated, he admitted he wasn’t sure he would.
“[The racetrack] has a lot more moisture in it than it did last week,” Falloway said. “I’m still trying to get better when it is like this. I’m a lot more comfortable whenever it is cleaned up. But it was nice to get to race with all them guys that have been fast since we got here and see where we stack up whenever it is like this.”
While Falloway pulled away with the win, Strickler put on a show deeper in the field. After going to the back multiple times to get his front nose reattached, he managed to drive up to seventh.
RESULTS:
Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[2]; 2. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 3. 72-Todd Neiheiser[11]; 4. 77D-George Dixon[1]; 5. 56-Colton Profitt[12]; 6. 9T-Ryan Thomas[7]; 7. 8S-Kyle Strickler[6]; 8. 8W-Gregory Moore[15]; 9. 45-Chase Holland[14]; 10. 8A-Austin Holcombe[9]; 11. 90K-Ray Kable[16]; 12. 88-Matt Crafton[13]; 13. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 14. 49-Brian Ruhlman[8]; 15. (DNF) 25-Greg Belyea[17]; 16. (DNS) 91-Chris Beaulieu; 17. (DNS) 17T-Tyler Evans
FEATURE #4
On Tuesday night, the 10-year wait of winning a DIRTcar Nationals Feature ended for Evan Taylor.
The Saltsburg, PA native started fifth in the 15-lap shootout by immediately going to work toward the front by reaching a podium position by the end of the fifth lap.
After passing Scott Ladner for second place, Taylor inherited the lead after Jason Garver suffered a mechanical problem that took him out of the race.
Similar to Monday night, a hard-charging Koehler Motorsports driver made ground from ninth place to challenge Taylor for the win. This time, it was Jordan Koehler.
Though Koehler and Ladner cut the distance to Taylor, it was not enough to stop the No.7 from crossing the finish line in first.
“It’s pretty special,” Taylor said. “We’ve been coming here a long time, I’m still learning how to get around this place. It’s a beat of its own. We really enjoy the week. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of frustration, so that makes it worth it for us.”
RESULTS:
Feature 4 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Evan Taylor[5]; 2. 114-Jordan Koehler[9]; 3. 21-Scott Ladner[3]; 4. 155-Gavin Shaw[6]; 5. 01-Brayden Weller[8]; 6. 0K-Damian Kiefer[2]; 7. 07K-Curtis King[11]; 8. S8-Jordan Stotts[7]; 9. 11N-Gene Nicholas[12]; 10. 11-Aidan Hinds[10]; 11. 29C-Joey Cotterman[14]; 12. 321-Denny Schwartz[15]; 13. 05-David Wietholder[1]; 14. 77C-Jason Cox[13]; 15. 99W-Wade Olmsted[16]; 16. 27G-Jason Garver[4]
FEATURE #5
Randy Giroux is feeling an extra sense of school pride after winning the penultimate Feature of Tuesday in breathtaking fashion.
Giroux – a current student at the University of Northwestern Ohio – had to drive the race of his life by defending his lead from defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier for the win. The two raced within three-tenths of a second between each other through the last half of the Feature.
Despite a last-gasp move by Allgaier to cut the distance to a tenth coming to the checkered flag, Giroux captured his first win at DIRTcar Nationals as a dual-degree graduate of the Lima, OH school.
“I’d seen (Allgaier’s) nose peeking out of (Turn 4) a couple times,” Giroux said. “I knew he was there, I could hear his motor the last half of the race and I knew he was coming on the bottom. I was just trying to hold my line, run a clean race, and we pulled it off.”
“I’m real proud of these guys. We’ve been working real hard at this, so it’s well deserved. Being the only university down here, it feels really good, and we’re excited to take this gator back home to Ohio.”
RESULTS:
Feature 5 (15 Laps): 1. 1-Randy Giroux[2]; 2. 7J-Justin Allgaier[4]; 3. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[5]; 4. 35A-Michael Altobelli[9]; 5. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[6]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[11]; 7. 60-Shannon Fisk[10]; 8. 23Z-Austin Self[16]; 9. 17C-Coleman Evans[7]; 10. 114K-Evan Koehler[12]; 11. 9-Ken Schrader[13]; 12. 6-Ryan Fowler[17]; 13. 21B-Hunter Breland[15]; 14. 17-Chris Wilson[8]; 15. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[3]; 16. 65-Matt Miller[1]; 17. 2J-Troy Johnson[14]
FEATURE #6
It was only a matter of time before David Stremme caught a gator at Volusia in 2025.
That moment in the sun came on Tuesday night, as the Lethal Chassis co-owner controlled the final Feature for the UMP Modifieds ahead of some familiar competition.
Starting from fourth place at the start, Stremme got to second by the end of Lap 1, then a slowing Mitch Thomas at the end of the second lap gave the Mifflintown, PA driver the lead.
Stremme was not alone in the chase for a first gator in 2025 as Will Krup found his way up to second place after starting the race in fifth.
Despite Krup’s closing ability to cut a three-second lead down to one second in the final five laps, he was unable to reach Stremme in time to make a winning move.
“I was a little hungry there,” Stremme said. “My dad always says ‘Hey, run up front so I can watch you on TV,’ so I gotta do a little better here. I had fun, the track is getting better, it had a little character there and I enjoy that to where we can move around a bit more.”
RESULTS:
Feature 6 (15 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[4]; 2. K9-Will Krup[5]; 3. 57-Charlie Sandercock[3]; 4. 13-Charlie Mefford[8]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee[6]; 7. 15X-Justin Stone[7]; 8. 18L-Michael Long[11]; 9. 36-Kenny Wallace[12]; 10. 27-Michael Turner[10]; 11. 45H-Kyle Hammer[14]; 12. 1H-Ben Harmon[9]; 13. 24-Zeke McKenzie[15]; 14. 7D-Brad Deyoung[13]; 15. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[17]; 16. 41-Brad Goff[16]; 17. 97-Mitch Thomas[2]
Up Next: The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds ring around Volusia Speedway Park alongside the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series for the third night of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator hunt on Wednesday, February 5. Tickets are available here:
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVIsion – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
