Strickler, Rice, Hoffman & Mielke Bag $2,000 Each after Winning DIRTcar UMP Modified Features at Eldora Speedway
DIRTcar Late Models highlight Allstar Performance DIRTcar Fall Nationals
By Matt Prieur
Rossburg, OH — Oct. 6th, 2017 — It was Night I, Take II of the Allstar Performance DIRTcar Fall Nationals at the famed half-mile high-banked dirt oval at Eldora Speedway, located just east of the Indiana/Ohio state line in Rossburg, Ohio. After the originally scheduled first night on Thursday, October 5 was rained out, the forecast looked dreary again for Friday. However, Track Officials waited out Mother Nature, and the fans in attendance were rewarded with 85 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on the property. Kyle Strickler, Josh Rice, Nick Hoffman and David Mielke each collected $2,000 apiece for their Feature wins.
In the first $2,000-to-win, 20-lap Feature, Keystone State-traveler Dan Davies and Buckeye State-native Nathan Loney led the field to the green flag. After a complete restart, Loney grabed the early lead. However, on lap three, Kyle Strickler, who started third, took the top spot, and the Mooresville, NC star made no mistake the rest of the way en route to his third career Eldora Speedway Feature win and first since the 2015 DIRTcar Fall Nationals. Loney settled for second while Ray Bollinger, second in DIRTcar UMP Modified National points coming into the weekend, finished on the podium in third. David Stremme grabbed fourth ahead of fellow former NASCAR star Kenny Wallace, who completed the top five. Brandon Green, Will Krup, Davies, Will Norris and Mark Beard round out the top 10.
The second 20-lap Feature would see Canadian Joel Dick and another Buckeye State native, Jesse Wisecarver, lead the field in search of the second $2,000 payday of the night. Wisecarver rocketed out to the early lead. Josh Rice slowly picked his way through the field from his fifth starting spot and soon found himself on Wisecarver’s back bumper. With four laps to go, Rice made the winning pass, and the Verona, KY standout hung on for his second career Eldora Feature win and first since September 19, 2014. Wisecarver finished second over Dylan Woodling, while NASCAR Camping World Truck Series star Justin Haley and Josh Harris made top five. Mike Learman was sixth as Jared Spalding, Jimmy Lennex Jr., Brandon Vaughan and Blake Spalding completed the top 10.
Evan Taylor and Jordan Conover started on the front row for the third 20-lap, $2,000-to-win main event for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, and Taylor led the first five laps. The Pennsylvania native then had to deal with 2016 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Champion Nick Hoffman, who took the lead on lap six. The Mooresville, NC driver made it two wins for the Tar Heel State on the night. This was Hoffman’s fifth career Eldora Feature win and first since September 30, 2016. Taylor finished second with Eldora points leader and four-time track champion (three of those titles in Modifieds) Jerry Bowersock coming home third. Chad Bauer scored a fourth place showing ahead of Troy Johnson, who finished off the top five. Garret Stewart was sixth ahead of Cody Bauer as Allen Weisser, Earnie Woodard and Jason Brookover were the final top 10.
The final 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature of the night would see Michigan veteran Curt Spalding and Kentucky star Tyler Nicely bring the field down to the green flag for the final shot at a $2,000 payday. Spalding jumped out to the early advantage and set a torrid early pace. Five-time DIRTcar UMP Modified Michigan State Champion David Mielke began his charge from his fifth starting spot and soon found himself on the back bumper of the fellow Great Lakes State competitor. After several laps of battling side by side, Mielke took the lead for the final time with three laps to go, earning the Gladwin, MI star his second career Eldora Feature win and first since April 16, 2016. Spalding settled for second ahead of Ryan Sutter, while Taylor Cook and Nicely wrapped up the top five. Derrick Ramey was sixth ahead of Jamie Carter as Jamie Lomax, Branden Rassell and Bill Keeler were the top 10.
Earlier in the evening, K.C. Burdette out-qualified the 87-car field on the property with an impressive 17.355, at 103.616 mph. Strickler, Trent Young, Jacob Hawkins, Joel Dick. Hoffman, E. Taylor, J. Taylor and Mielke all scored the Heat Race victories that set the four feature fields.
Night II of the Allstar Performance DIRTcar Fall Nationals will see the DIRTcar Late Models join the Modifieds for an action-packed night of racing. The battle for the DIRTcar Late Models National points title will come down to 2010 National Champion Rusty Schlenk and 2011 National Champion Ryan Unzicker, who are separated by a mere nine markers. The 2017 Sunoco American Late Model Series Championship is on the line as Jon Henry merely needs to start the feature to clinch his third Sunoco ALMS title and first since 2011. Meanwhile, Eldora Track Champion Kent Robinson has a slim 10-point lead over Henry, who has a shot at two titles in one night. Jacob Hawkins and Jeff Babcock are third and fourth and have a mathematical chance at the track championship.
In the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, Mike Harrison has already clinched his record sixth DIRTcar UMP Modified National Championship, while the top eight drivers in the Eldora Track standings going into the weekend all had a chance at the title, led by four-time track champion (three of those in a Modified) Jerry Bowersock. Of the top eight still alive in the chase for the championship, only Bowersock (third in the third Feature), Dylan Woodling (third in the second Feature), Ryan Sutter (third in the fourth Feature) and Evan Taylor (second in the third Feature) recorded top-five finishes on opening night of the Allstar Performance DIRTcar Fall Nationals.
Allstar Performance DIRTcar Fall Nationals – Friday, Oct. 6, 2017
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds – 87 cars
Feature 1 – (20 Laps) — 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[3] ; 2. 10L-Nathon Loney[2] ; 3. 77B-Ray Bollinger[8] ; 4. 35S-David Stremme[6] ; 5. 36W-Kenny Wallace[12] ; 6. 51G-Brandon Green[4] ; 7. K9-Will Krup[7] ; 8. 71DD-Dan Davies[1] ; 9. 71-Will Norris[14] ; 10. 28-Mark Beard[11] ; 11. 2M-David Mitchell[15] ; 12. 27-Frank Paladino[18] ; 13. 21-Sean Monaghan[17] ; 14. 47B-Joe Brosseau[13] ; 15. 33-Mike Gemmer[20] ; 16. 28D-Jeff Deckard[9] ; 17. 90-Jason Beaulieu[10] ; 18. 11R-Ed Roley[16] ; 19. 10Y-Trent Young[5] ; 20. 74-Lenny Guyton[21]
Feature 2 – (20 Laps) — 1. 11-Josh Rice[5] ; 2. 101-Jesse Wisecarver[2] ; 3. 3W-Dylan Woodling[4] ; 4. 99-Justin Haley[8] ; 5. 22-Josh Harris[3] ; 6. 4L-Mike Learman[7] ; 7. 11J-Jared Spalding[10] ; 8. 8L-Jimmy Lennex Jr.[11] ; 9. 36-Brandon Vaughan[17] ; 10. 1S-Blake Spalding[15] ; 11. 98P-Patrick Lajeunesse[14] ; 12. 36S-Adam Schaeff[13] ; 13. 22T-Tony Anderson[12] ; 14. 29-Danny Moore[20] ; 15. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[6] ; 16. 09D-Joel Dick[1] ; 17. 1-Scott Williams[9]
Feature 3 – (20 Laps) — 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[6] ; 2. 7-Evan Taylor[1] ; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5] ; 4. 19B-Chad Bauer[9] ; 5. 2J-Troy Johnson[7] ; 6. 67GS-Garret Stewart[11] ; 7. 19X-Cody Bauer[18] ; 8. 25w-Allen Weisser[13] ; 9. 01-Earnie Woodard[10] ; 10. 28B-Jason Brookover[8] ; 11. 11N-Gene Nicholas[15] ; 12. 69JR-Jimmy Farris[22] ; 13. 67-Warren Shingleton[16] ; 14. 55-Alyssa Rowe[17] ; 15. 7C-Jordan Conover[2] ; 16. 12C-Jeff Curl[4] ; 17. 71D-Anthony Davis[12] ; 18. 13-Andy Galgoci[3] ; 19. 89-Rodney Morgan[14] ; 20. 115-Mike Knepley[19]
Feature 4 – (20 Laps) — 1. 87-David Mielke[5] ; 2. 111-Curt Spalding[1] ; 3. 18-Ryan Sutter[4] ; 4. 21C-Taylor Cook[7] ; 5. 25N-Tyler Nicely[2] ; 6. 91-Derrick Ramey[11] ; 7. 15-Jamie Carter[13] ; 8. 36L-Jamie Lomax[12] ; 9. 01R-Branden Rassell[15] ; 10. 20K-Bill Keeler[17] ; 11. 24-Zeke McKenzie[9] ; 12. 44-Scott Boyd[14] ; 13. 21S-Danny Schwartz[8] ; 14. 5-Jonathan Taylor[3] ; 15. 44KC-KC Burdette[6] ; 16. 4G-Bill Griffith[18] ; 17. 20M-Josh Morton[10]
Qualifying: 1.44KC-KC Burdette, 17.355; 2.87-David Mielke, 17.401; 3.21C-Taylor Cook, 17.424; 4.12-Rick Aukland, 17.533; 5.99-Justin Haley, 17.539; 6.21S-Danny Schwartz, 17.561; 7.16-Jeff Koz, 17.578; 8.18-Ryan Sutter, 17.607; 9.19B-Chad Bauer, 17.611; 10.13H-Jacob Hawkins, 17.722; 11.5-Jonathan Taylor, 17.723; 12.95J-Jerry Bowersock, 17.735; 13.11-Josh Rice, 17.750; 14.35S-David Stremme, 17.757; 15.36L-Jamie Lomax, 17.768; 16.20M-Josh Morton, 17.771; 17.90-Jason Beaulieu, 17.772; 18.24-Zeke McKenzie, 17.795; 19.111-Curt Spalding, 17.823; 20.7-Evan Taylor, 17.828; 21.3W-Dylan Woodling, 17.834; 22.25N-Tyler Nicely, 17.836; 23.36W-Kenny Wallace, 17.848; 24.28B-Jason Brookover, 17.856; 25.22-Josh Harris, 17.860; 26.10Y-Trent Young, 17.863; 27.101-Jesse Wisecarver, 17.863; 28.25w-Allen Weisser, 17.914; 29.77B-Ray Bollinger, 17.928; 30.91-Derrick Ramey, 17.932; 31.09D-Joel Dick, 17.948; 32.51G-Brandon Green, 17.977; 33.52-Weasel Phlipot, 17.981; 34.01R-Branden Rassell, 18.001; 35.8-Kyle Strickler, 18.004; 36.12C-Jeff Curl, 18.011; 37.10L-Nathon Loney, 18.033; 38.71-Will Norris, 18.040; 39.2J-Troy Johnson, 18.052; 40.36-Brandon Vaughan, 18.063; 41.01-Earnie Woodard, 18.092; 42.1S-Blake Spalding, 18.101; 43.5X-Tim Richardson, 18.118; 44.67GS-Garret Stewart, 18.171; 45.4L-Mike Learman, 18.175; 46.71DD-Dan Davies, 18.206; 47.22T-Tony Anderson, 18.208; 48.11H-Mike Hohlbein, 18.219; 49.13-Andy Galgoci, 18.287; 50.15-Jamie Carter, 18.309; 51.11R-Ed Roley, 18.324; 52.7C-Jordan Conover, 18.361; 53.6B-David Baldwin, 18.414; 54.27-Frank Paladino, 18.436; 55.1-Scott Williams, 18.475; 56.69JR-Jimmy Farris, 18.502; 57.C7-Casey Fritz, 18.508; 58.11J-Jared Spalding, 18.512; 59.11N-Gene Nicholas, 18.529; 60.19X-Cody Bauer, 18.576; 61.33-Mike Gemmer, 18.683; 62.K9-Will Krup, 18.692; 63.8L-Jimmy Lennex Jr., 18.710; 64.67-Warren Shingleton, 18.720; 65.28D-Jeff Deckard, 18.737; 66.29-Danny Moore, 18.780; 67.28-Mark Beard, 18.854; 68.25-Bud Watson, 18.860; 69.71D-Anthony Davis, 18.873; 70.20K-Bill Keeler, 18.891; 71.1R-Rob Williams, 18.901; 72.2M-David Mitchell, 18.963; 73.47B-Joe Brosseau, 18.964; 74.55-Alyssa Rowe, 18.980; 75.98P-Patrick LaJeunesse, 19.141; 76.74-Lenny Guyton, 19.197; 77.4G-Bill Griffith, 19.732; 78.36S-Adam Schaeff, 20.216; 79.44-Scott Boyd, 20.734; 80.76-Brad Smith, 99.991; 81.21-Sean Monaghan, 99.992; 82.17-Nicole Spalding, 99.993; 83.4-Jon Henry, 99.994; 84.115-Mikel Knepley, 99.995; 85.2-Nick Hoffman, 99.996; 86.89-Rodney Morgan, 99.997; 87.51-RJ Otto, 99.998;
Heat 1, Group A – (10 Laps) — 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[5] ; 2. 71DD-Dan Davies[4] ; 3. 35S-David Stremme[6] ; 4. K9-Will Krup[3] ; 5. 28D-Jeff Deckard[2] ; 6. 28-Mark Beard[1] ; 7. 47B-Joe Brosseau[8] ; 8. 2M-David Mitchell[7] ; 9. 21-Sean Monaghan[11] ; 10. 76-Brad Smith[10] ; 11. 74-Lenny Guyton[9]
Heat 2, Group B – (10 Laps) — 1. 10Y-Trent Young[4] ; 2. 51G-Brandon Green[2] ; 3. 10L-Nathon Loney[1] ; 4. 77B-Ray Bollinger[3] ; 5. 90-Jason Beaulieu[6] ; 6. 36W-Kenny Wallace[5] ; 7. 71-Will Norris[7] ; 8. 11R-Ed Roley[8] ; 9. 27-Frank Paladino[9] ; 10. 33-Mike Gemmer[10] ; 11. 25-Bud Watson[11]
Heat 3, Group C – (10 Laps) — 1. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[6] ; 2. 11-Josh Rice[5] ; 3. 3W-Dylan Woodling[4] ; 4. 4L-Mike Learman[1] ; 5. 1-Scott Williams[7] ; 6. 8L-Jimmy Lennex Jr.[9] ; 7. 36S-Adam Schaeff[10] ; 8. 1S-Blake Spalding[2] ; 9. 36-Brandon Vaughan[3] ; 10. C7-Casey Fritz[8]
Heat 4, Group D – (10 Laps) — 1. 09D-Joel Dick[2] ; 2. 101-Jesse Wisecarver[3] ; 3. 22-Josh Harris[4] ; 4. 99-Justin Haley[5] ; 5. 11J-Jared Spalding[7] ; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson[1] ; 7. 98P-Patrick LaJeunesse[10] ; 8. 1R-Rob Williams[9] ; 9. 4-Jon Henry[11] ; 10. 29-Danny Moore[8]
Heat 5, Group E – (10 Laps) — 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[11] ; 2. 7C-Jordan Conover[1] ; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5] ; 4. 2J-Troy Johnson[3] ; 5. 19B-Chad Bauer[6] ; 6. 67GS-Garret Stewart[2] ; 7. 25w-Allen Weisser[4] ; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[8] ; 9. 55-Alyssa Rowe[9] ; 10. 115-Mikel Knepley[10]
Heat 6, Group F – (10 Laps) — 1. 7-Evan Taylor[6] ; 2. 12C-Jeff Curl[4] ; 3. 13-Andy Galgoci[1] ; 4. 28B-Jason Brookover[5] ; 5. 01-Earnie Woodard[3] ; 6. 71D-Anthony Davis[10] ; 7. 89-Rodney Morgan[11] ; 8. 67-Warren Shingleton[9] ; 9. 19X-Cody Bauer[8] ; 10. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[2]
Heat 7, Group G – (10 Laps) — 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor[3] ; 2. 111-Curt Spalding[1] ; 3. 44KC-KC Burdette[6] ; 4. 21C-Taylor Cook[5] ; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie[2] ; 6. 91-Derrick Ramey[7] ; 7. 15-Jamie Carter[10] ; 8. 01R-Branden Rassell[8] ; 9. 20K-Bill Keeler[11] ; 10. 16-Jeff Koz[4] ; 11. 5X-Tim Richardson[9]
Heat 8, Group H – (10 Laps) — 1. 87-David Mielke[6] ; 2. 25N-Tyler Nicely[1] ; 3. 18-Ryan Sutter[4] ; 4. 21S-Danny Schwartz[5] ; 5. 20M-Josh Morton[2] ; 6. 36L-Jamie Lomax[3] ; 7. 44-Scott Boyd[9]
