Barberville, FL — Is Jared Landers lucky, or is he just that good? He does have triple 7’s on his car, and his 5‐month‐old son Madden seems to bring bring good fortune when he’s in attendance. Whatever the case might be, Landers powered into Victory Lane on the first qualifying night for the Gator Championship during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH.
The win marked the Batesville, Ark., native’s third victory in the past four nights. Landers started sixth in the A‐main. A tangle between leader Mike Long and Matt Goulden on Lap 3 gave Landers a clear track and he put it to good use. He led the rest of the way, holding a consistent advantage over second‐place running Austin Dillon.
Landers, 28, was ecstatic in victory lane, more for drivers who ran well in cars prepared by him than for his victory itself. “I’m just glad to see the guys make the top four with me,” he said. “That makes me more proud than anything.”
Landers victory is his third in four days, falling short of a win on Thursday night. The victory allows Landers to claim pole position in Sunday’s Gator Championship, which boasts a $5,000 payday.
“I don’t know if I can keep outrunning my guys there,” said Landers in Alltel Wireless Victory Lane. “We’re going to give it our best shot.”
Dillon kept the pressure on Landers for most of the 20 lap A‐Main event. Austin Dillon, 18, who also sports a Larry Shaw Race Car prepared by Landers , climbed from the seventh to finish second.
“Jared he drives so hard I don’t know what I will have to do to beat him,” Dillon said.
Rodney Wing, who’s been a model of consistency these Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH claimed his first podium finish of the event by holding off the hard charging Ty Dillon, Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader.
“We’re going to be able to breathe easy knowing we’re in the Sunday show,” Wing said. “The car was real good all night. It was actually a back‐up car, but it fits me good.”
Ty Dillon, Austin’s brother, set fast time of the night in the fourth qualifying group with a fast lap in the 19‐second range. Ty Dillon showed his strength all night long, especially in the A‐Main where he rocketed from eighth to fourth while battling Schrader and Team Dillon teammate Ryan Gifford.
With the field being cut in half to 44 cars entered on the first night of The Gator Championship, heat races featured furious action as drivers tried to gain points throughout the program to earn a spot in the Saturday finale. Michael Long raced to an early lead in heat race, holding off Columbus, Ind., driver Devin Gilpin and Kenny Wallace. Second heat race action saw Rodney Wing fly from the pole and never look back as he bested double dipper and Alltel All‐Star contestant Jared Landers and Ryan Gifford of Welcome, N.C.
The third of four heats saw Tim Karrick of Baschor, Kan., make the long haul worth it as he bested World of Outlaws Late Model Series Alltel Ohio Speedweek All‐Star Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., and Austin Dillon. Matt Goulden beat out Gary Cook Jr. of Deery Creek, Ill., and Ty Dillon in heat four as Jacob Hawkins and John Henry dueled behind them.
Consolation races were claimed by Mike Wedelstadt, with Todd Sherman also transferring from the first B‐main with John Henry claiming the second B‐Main followed by Matt Aukland.
The Gator Championship Night 1 Qualifier
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY
Heat 1:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 10 Michael Long 8 2:36.081 18.722 2 96.144
2 65 Michael Davis 8 2:43.081 7.000 19.190 3 93.799
3 36 Kenny Wallace 8 2:43.577 7.496 19.411 5 92.731
4 1d Chris Smith 8 2:44.418 8.337 19.416 7 92.707
5 1G Devin Gilpin 8 2:45.337 9.256 19.047 2 94.503
6 X Mike Wedelstadt 8 2:46.116 10.035 19.703 8 91.357
7 #1 Terry Hull 8 2:46.443 10.362 19.527 5 92.180
8 55M Alan Mondus 8 2:48.629 12.548 19.808 8 90.872
9 15T Erick Thiesse 7 2:41.096 1 Lap 20.160 3 89.286
10 1M Julie McDermid 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
11 22M Jerry Morgan 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
Heat 2:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 51 Rodney Wing 8 4:28.062 18.773 6 95.882
2 777 Jared Landers 8 4:28.389 0.327 18.557 7 96.998
3 29 Ryan Gifford 8 4:29.564 1.502 18.850 8 95.491
4 9X Kenny Schrader 8 4:31.161 3.099 19.248 4 93.516
5 21 Andy Gordon 8 4:31.673 3.611 19.329 5 93.124
6 O1 Todd Sherman 8 4:32.050 3.988 19.242 3 93.545
7 67 Matthew McDermid 8 4:32.832 4.770 19.360 4 92.975
8 12C Joe Carr 8 4:33.322 5.260 19.583 4 91.916
9 77 Cody Agler 8 4:33.929 5.867 19.451 4 92.540
10 22T Tony Anderson 8 4:34.992 6.930 19.697 5 91.384
11 88G Darrell George 5 2:08.363 3 Laps 20.289 3 88.718
Heat 3:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 1K Tim Karrick 8 3:00.528 18.750 2 96.000
2 3 Austin Dillon 8 3:02.328 1.800 18.834 3 95.572
3 222 Dave Hess Jr 8 3:04.293 3.765 19.073 2 94.374
4 54L Benji Lacrosse 8 3:04.627 4.099 18.836 4 95.562
5 41M Brent Mullins 8 3:08.117 7.589 19.466 4 92.469
6 74 Mark Noble 8 3:08.566 8.038 19.512 5 92.251
7 12A Matt Auckland 8 3:08.592 8.064 19.537 6 92.133
8 0 Les Duellman 8 3:10.410 9.882 19.375 6 92.903
9 18 David McWilliams 8 3:10.719 10.191 19.741 6 91.181
10 211 Richie Ginn 8 3:12.631 12.103 19.880 8 90.543
11 12G Jason Gross 8 3:13.605 13.077 19.966 7 90.153
Heat 4:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 41G Matt Goulden 8 7:07.821 19.144 4 94.024
2 2d Ty Dillon 8 7:08.227 0.406 18.589 7 96.831
3 64 Gary Cook Jr 8 7:10.896 3.075 19.253 3 93.492
4 20 Jacob Hawkins 8 7:11.283 3.462 19.517 7 92.227
5 24 Brad Waits 8 7:11.803 3.982 19.696 7 91.389
6 K12 Scotty Kincaid 8 7:12.950 5.129 19.719 8 91.283
7 7C Ricky Culpepper 8 7:13.332 5.511 19.811 7 90.859
8 N59 Chad Evans 8 7:14.482 6.661 19.834 8 90.753
9 9C James Coil 8 7:14.957 7.136 20.003 3 89.987
10 18H Jon Henry 2 1:21.567 6 Laps 19.705 1 91.347
B-Main 1:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 X Mike Wedelstadt 10 3:48.108 19.166 5 93.916
2 O1 Todd Sherman 10 3:51.782 3.674 19.767 2 91.061
3 55M Alan Mondus 10 3:52.800 4.692 19.818 4 90.827
4 #1 Terry Hull 10 3:54.353 6.245 19.856 3 90.653
5 1M Julie McDermid 10 3:54.587 6.479 19.822 5 90.808
6 67 Matthew McDermid 10 3:55.729 7.621 19.656 6 91.575
7 12C Joe Carr 10 3:55.879 7.771 19.902 3 90.443
8 77 Cody Agler 10 3:56.489 8.381 19.884 9 90.525
9 22T Tony Anderson 10 3:57.971 9.863 20.282 8 88.749
10 15T Erick Thiesse 10 3:59.835 11.727 20.297 8 88.683
11 22M Jerry Morgan 8 3:21.174 2 Laps 20.601 3 87.374
12 88G Darrell George 1 56.544 9 Laps 22.205 1 81.063
B-Main 2:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 18H Jon Henry 10 7:37.092 19.278 3 93.371
2 12A Matt Auckland 10 7:37.499 0.407 19.286 3 93.332
3 0 Les Duellman 10 7:38.465 1.373 19.359 3 92.980
4 N59 Chad Evans 10 7:39.688 2.596 19.708 4 91.333
5 7C Ricky Culpepper 10 7:40.310 3.218 19.858 4 90.644
6 211 Richie Ginn 10 7:40.856 3.764 20.039 9 89.825
7 K12 Scotty Kincaid 10 7:41.746 4.654 19.500 3 92.308
8 12G Jason Gross 10 7:42.620 5.528 20.150 3 89.330
9 74 Mark Noble 8 7:00.943 2 Laps 19.269 3 93.414
10 18 David McWilliams 8 7:01.940 0.997 20.119 3 89.468
11 9C James Coil 1 46.940 9 Laps 20.777 1 86.634
Feature:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 777 Jared Landers 20 30:48.946 18.454 4 97.540
2 3 Austin Dillon 20 30:50.473 1.527 18.707 6 96.221
3 51 Rodney Wing 20 30:51.284 2.338 18.825 6 95.618
4 2d Ty Dillon 20 30:52.781 3.835 19.347 3 93.038
5 36 Kenny Wallace 20 30:53.550 4.604 19.158 8 93.956
6 9X Kenny Schrader 20 30:53.752 4.806 19.623 2 91.729
7 29 Ryan Gifford 20 30:54.135 5.189 19.417 9 92.702
8 222 Dave Hess Jr 20 30:54.354 5.408 19.615 9 91.767
9 64 Gary Cook Jr 20 30:55.065 6.119 19.472 9 92.440
10 18H Jon Henry 20 30:55.687 6.741 19.609 7 91.795
11 65 Michael Davis 20 30:57.454 8.508 19.478 6 92.412
12 24 Brad Waits 20 30:57.512 8.566 19.713 8 91.310
13 O1 Todd Sherman 20 30:57.725 8.779 19.681 7 91.459
14 41M Brent Mullins 20 30:58.000 9.054 19.583 4 91.916
15 12A Matt Auckland 20 30:58.607 9.661 19.855 8 90.657
16 X Mike Wedelstadt 20 30:59.258 10.312 19.755 12 91.116
17 1d Chris Smith 20 30:59.560 10.614 19.692 4 91.408
18 1K Tim Karrick 20 30:59.635 10.689 19.404 12 92.764
19 54L Benji Lacrosse 20 31:00.159 11.213 19.780 11 91.001
20 10 Michael Long 3 5:16.331 17 Laps 18.611 2 96.717
21 41G Matt Goulden 3 5:17.836 1.505 19.119 3 94.147
22 1G Devin Gilpin 3 5:23.592 7.261 20.283 3 88.744
23 21 Andy Gordon 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
DNS 20 Jacob Hawkins 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
For more on the 38th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH please visit: www.dirtcarnationals.com
Through the second night of competition at the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH, the Alltel All‐Star contenders and their text message Letter Codes include:
Sprint Cars — Donny Schatz, Fargo, N.D. (b) Stevie Smith (d)
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds — Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark. (a). Austin Dillon Lewisville,NC (c)
Fans can vote by visiting www.AlltelAllStar.com or texting their drivers code to 247253.
