Barberville, FL — The Empire State scored big on Saturday night during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park.
Randy Hall of Olean, N.Y., tailed early leader Jeff Taylor until a lap 15 caution. On the restart, Hall capitalized on Taylor’s weakening engine and drove around him into the lead. Hall, 38, captured his second win this February after a UMP DIRTcar Modified win at Ocala Speedway last week.
“There are so many good guys down here that both fields have good cars,” Hall said. “We drew a good number started up front, the guy got the jump and I really didn’t have anything for him.”
Hall bested a strong field for the victory using an outside pole starting spot, and when the time came to make his move he pounced.
“The longer the run the better we kept getting,” Hall said. “I saw the door open and stuck it in there. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not.”
Hall’s victory netted him $700 but could mean much more by February 28th. Hall is entered into the Alltel All-Star contest, where the grand prize is $10,000 for the top vote-getter at AlltelAllStar.com. Hall pleaded his case in Alltel Wireless Victory Lane. “We came down here from New York on sort of a shoestring budget. Tonight it wasn’t the biggest paying night tonight but maybe down the road it is the biggest paying night.”
After struggling earlier in the week, Midwesterner Mike Spatola rebounded Saturday with a runner-up finish. Spatola started the evening off with qualifying effort that placed him fourth in his group. He then used an outside pole starting position to take the lead on the first lap and claim victory in his heat race.
Spatola redrew the third starting position for the feature and swapped positions with Hall early on. The driver affectionately nicknamed “Opie” was happy with his efforts on the night. “Second place, we’ll take it. Second place is like a win for us right now.” said Spatola, of Manhattan, Ill. “I knew something went wrong with Taylor there (on the last lap). I was having trouble turning. I thought to give it one run and try to get them.”
Jeff Taylor, who has been filling in for driver Chris Smith, had another top-three run as he came home third after leading a majority of the event. “We’ve been struggling all night to get the engine to run. I was doing all I could.” said Taylor. “Just couldn’t run much hard that I was.”
55 UMP DIRTcar Modifieds took qualifying laps for the 2nd night of the 3 night The Gator Championship. 11 new cars signed in at the gate to claim their spot in the qualifying event. Tommie Seets Jr. of Alton, Ill., paced the field with a lap of 19.791, as he was one of only two competitiors to test the 19 second waters.
Spatola led off heat race action with a dominant win. The second heat race saw another Illinois driver in Mike Long claim victory in the same fashion running away from Eddie Martin and Dave Groves who battled for second with Martin claiming it at the line.
Taylor put his own chassis to the front and never looked back in heat three. Three cars battled behind him with Wayne Hammond, Jeff Matthews and Kent Robinson dicing it out. Heat 4 and 5 action saw winners from colder climates as Corky Thomas of Fargo, N.D., nabbed heat four while former Alltel All-Star Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., claimed heat six.
The Gator Championship Night 2 Qualifier
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Heat 1:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 89 Mike Spatola 8 2:32.562 18.712 2 96.195
2 55H Scott Hansen 8 2:38.579 6.017 19.457 3 92.512
3 O7 Jeff Thomas 8 2:38.898 6.336 19.465 7 92.474
4 3L Jeff Leka 8 2:41.383 8.821 19.708 5 91.333
5 39 Kevin Gummere 8 2:44.573 12.011 19.839 3 90.730
6 37J Sean Jerovetz 8 2:45.427 12.865 20.205 5 89.087
7 22b Bruce Belland 8 2:45.614 13.052 20.152 5 89.321
8 18X Chase Junghans 8 2:46.510 13.948 19.965 6 90.158
9 J1JR Dale Jackson 8 2:52.565 20.003 20.608 7 87.345
10 8X Rick Scott 7 2:38.380 1 Lap 21.749 3 82.762
11 23 Lou Krushansky 6 2:00.276 2 Laps 19.557 5 92.039
Heat 2:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 10H Randy Hall 8 2:32.383 18.900 5 95.238
2 51M Eddie Martin 8 2:35.594 3.211 19.041 5 94.533
3 70 Matt Aber 8 2:35.784 3.401 19.078 2 94.350
4 T3 Dave Groves 8 2:36.525 4.142 19.040 4 94.538
5 44N Darrell Nelson 8 2:36.658 4.275 18.899 6 95.243
6 26H Justin Houston 8 2:39.029 6.646 19.261 6 93.453
7 12HX Mike Hansen 8 2:40.108 7.725 19.180 7 93.848
8 26 Bob Gierke 8 2:42.553 10.170 19.279 6 93.366
9 62 Jeremy Newberry 8 2:45.803 13.420 20.155 4 89.308
10 6M Terry McClintock 8 2:47.161 14.778 19.929 5 90.321
11 11 Charlie McNichol 8 2:48.983 16.600 20.322 6 88.574
Heat 3:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 88 Jeff Taylor 8 2:35.650 19.287 1 93.327
2 33 Jeff Matthews 8 2:36.089 0.439 18.977 5 94.852
3 48 Wayne Hammond 8 2:37.441 1.791 19.125 5 94.118
4 7R Kent Robinson 8 2:39.168 3.518 19.344 6 93.052
5 72 Todd Nieheiser 8 2:41.062 5.412 19.778 6 91.010
6 25G Scott Green 8 2:42.242 6.592 19.416 8 92.707
7 12d Scott Drake 8 2:43.169 7.519 19.852 5 90.671
8 21CZ Tim Czarneski 8 2:44.358 8.708 19.722 8 91.269
9 40 James Smjith 8 2:46.065 10.415 19.829 8 90.776
10 66 Dale Murry 8 2:47.017 11.367 20.113 8 89.494
11 2X Grant Junghans 7 2:21.306 1 Lap 19.487 4 92.369
Heat 4:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 6T Corky Thomas 8 2:32.600 18.887 4 95.304
2 71A Ryan Aho 8 2:32.957 0.357 18.858 7 95.450
3 4 Stormy Scott 8 2:33.134 0.534 18.521 5 97.187
4 2J Blake Jegtvig 8 2:36.370 3.770 19.078 5 94.350
5 182 Randle Sweeney 8 2:36.920 4.320 18.921 5 95.132
6 45 Bob Broking 8 2:39.103 6.503 19.289 8 93.317
7 d4 David Jamison 8 2:41.320 8.720 19.647 3 91.617
8 10C Jeff Culpepper 8 2:41.733 9.133 19.639 3 91.654
9 55s Brian Shaw 7 2:25.223 1 Lap 19.320 4 93.168
DNS 8H Chad Hadlick 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
Heat 5:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 *222 Mike Knight 8 2:32.022 18.597 3 96.790
2 17JE J.E. Stalder 8 2:36.643 4.621 19.306 6 93.235
3 1s Tommy Seetz Jr 8 2:37.039 5.017 19.405 5 92.760
4 12H Jason Hughes 8 2:38.199 6.177 19.115 8 94.167
5 O Tim Hancock 8 2:39.132 7.110 19.700 5 91.371
6 17X Rich Michael 8 2:39.330 7.308 19.441 7 92.588
7 145 Jason Davis 8 2:39.704 7.682 19.218 7 93.662
8 99 Corey Partin 8 2:43.161 11.139 19.609 6 91.795
9 41d Darron Smith 8 2:45.096 13.074 19.704 7 91.352
10 22M Charles Milam 8 2:50.849 18.827 20.560 4 87.549
B-Main 1:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 44N Darrell Nelson 10 15:20.967 18.713 6 96.190
2 17X Rich Michael 10 15:22.175 1.208 18.819 4 95.648
3 O Tim Hancock 10 15:22.941 1.974 19.139 7 94.049
4 12d Scott Drake 10 15:24.039 3.072 19.545 10 92.095
5 d4 David Jamison 10 15:25.320 4.353 19.752 5 91.130
6 37J Sean Jerovetz 10 15:25.617 4.650 19.605 4 91.813
7 62 Jeremy Newberry 10 15:26.569 5.602 19.760 6 91.093
8 22M Charles Milam 10 15:27.344 6.377 20.323 7 88.570
9 26 Bob Gierke 10 15:27.409 6.442 19.794 5 90.937
10 41d Darron Smith 10 15:28.581 7.614 20.166 7 89.259
11 8X Rick Scott 10 15:30.007 9.040 20.584 5 87.447
12 45 Bob Broking 7 9:28.944 3 Laps 19.127 6 94.108
13 39 Kevin Gummere 5 8:56.498 5 Laps 19.759 1 91.098
14 J1JR Dale Jackson 2 2:32.991 8 Laps 20.891 1 86.162
DNS 21CZ Tim Czarneski 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
DNS 52 Jeff Babcock 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
DNS 2X Grant Junghans 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
DNS 8H Chad Hadlick 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
B Main 2:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 182 Randle Sweeney 10 4:52.925 18.818 8 95.653
2 26H Justin Houston 10 4:54.150 1.225 19.018 9 94.647
3 12HX Mike Hansen 10 4:54.679 1.754 19.118 9 94.152
4 145 Jason Davis 10 4:55.934 3.009 18.941 4 95.032
5 25G Scott Green 10 4:56.106 3.181 19.165 5 93.921
6 72 Todd Nieheiser 10 4:57.224 4.299 19.086 2 94.310
7 10C Jeff Culpepper 10 4:57.895 4.970 19.327 7 93.134
8 18X Chase Junghans 10 4:58.301 5.376 19.409 7 92.740
9 99 Corey Partin 10 4:58.938 6.013 19.690 4 91.417
10 66 Dale Murry 10 4:59.809 6.884 19.895 4 90.475
11 23 Lou Krushansky 10 5:00.258 7.333 19.748 4 91.148
12 40 James Smjith 10 5:00.635 7.710 20.014 10 89.937
13 22b Bruce Belland 10 5:01.593 8.668 19.590 3 91.884
14 6M Terry McClintock 10 5:01.968 9.043 20.130 6 89.419
15 11 Charlie McNichol 10 5:04.260 11.335 20.181 5 89.193
DNS 55s Brian Shaw 0 –:–:–.— –:–:–.— 0 –
Feature:
Pos No. Name Laps Total time Diff Best time In lap Best speed
1 10H Randy Hall 20 15:50.804 18.940 7 95.037
2 89 Mike Spatola 20 15:52.900 2.096 18.885 10 95.314
3 88 Jeff Taylor 20 15:53.017 2.213 18.817 6 95.658
4 6T Corky Thomas 20 15:53.893 3.089 19.234 5 93.584
5 182 Randle Sweeney 20 15:54.056 3.252 19.237 10 93.570
6 71A Ryan Aho 20 15:55.179 4.375 19.405 4 92.760
7 12H Jason Hughes 20 15:55.435 4.631 19.425 11 92.664
8 48 Wayne Hammond 20 15:56.815 6.011 19.607 20 91.804
9 70 Matt Aber 20 15:57.320 6.516 19.614 20 91.771
10 T3 Dave Groves 20 15:59.179 8.375 19.619 10 91.748
11 44N Darrell Nelson 20 15:59.433 8.629 19.653 3 91.589
12 O7 Jeff Thomas 20 15:59.688 8.884 19.448 9 92.555
13 3L Jeff Leka 20 15:59.966 9.162 19.748 12 91.148
14 7R Kent Robinson 20 16:00.084 9.280 19.568 17 91.987
15 26H Justin Houston 20 16:02.228 11.424 19.665 4 91.533
16 17JE J.E. Stalder 20 16:03.352 12.548 19.859 5 90.639
17 33 Jeff Matthews 20 16:03.654 12.850 19.277 11 93.376
18 55H Scott Hansen 20 16:04.136 13.332 19.663 2 91.542
19 17X Rich Michael 20 16:07.191 16.387 19.487 4 92.369
20 4 Stormy Scott 13 11:17.804 7 Laps 19.512 5 92.251
21 51M Eddie Martin 12 8:28.821 8 Laps 19.429 10 92.645
22 1s Tommy Seetz Jr 7 6:51.801 13 Laps 19.412 4 92.726
23 2J Blake Jegtvig 4 3:42.010 16 Laps 19.705 4 91.347
24 *222 Mike Knight 2 39.853 18 Laps 19.431 2 92.635
UMP DIRTcar Modified action continues Sunday with the finale of The Gator Championship. Action starts at 6 p.m. For information on tickets call (386) 985-4402 or visit Volusia Speedway Park online at: www.volusiaspeedwaypark.net
For more on the 38th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH please visit: www.dirtcarnationals.com
Through the fifth 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 (b); Stevie Smith (d); Joey Saldana (f)
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds — Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark. (a). Austin Dillon Lewisville,NC (c), Randy Hall Olean, NY (e)
Fans can vote by visiting www.AlltelAllStar.com or texting their drivers code to 247253.
