Austin Dillon, Kenny Wallace pace field early during Volusia Speedway Park opener
BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 11, 2014 — On a night when NASCAR superstars invaded Volusia Speedway Park to race DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, it was Kyle Strickler battling back against Jeff Babcock on Tuesday to claim the first victory of the 43rd Annual DIRTcar Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment.
Austin Dillon and Kenny Wallace paced the field early in the 20-lap main event, but Strickler and Babcock worked their way to the front, swapped the lead back and forth before Strickler finally powered to the lead for good with two laps to go in the opener of the 12-night event.
“Usually on a racetrack this fast you don’t see racing that good,” said Strickler, of Mooresville, N.C. “Jeff and I hung out at Eldora and he’s a hell of a racer. I knew he would race me clean. This is probably one of the fastest racetracks I’ve raced on. It’s an amazing feat for us to come down here and do this well right off the bat.”
As fast as Dillon and Wallace were early in the A-main, it was impressive the way Strickler and Babcock continued to push forward.
“They put their race suits on just like we do,” Strickler said. “The stuff they do on Sunday is completely different. I commend those guys for coming out, Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, the Dillons. If you look at the speed charts they were way out in front of us in the beginning, but the track came to us, the car came to me.”
Of course, winning the opener of this storied event often bodes well, and it doesn’t hurt to collect one of the hugely popular gator trophies.
“It’s awesome, this is a one of a kind, unique trophy,” Strickler said. “I always wanted one, now we have one for the mantel. Hopefully we’ll have a few more by the end of the week.”
Nightly doubleheaders at Volusia run Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 22. Beginning Wednesday night, the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars begin racing in conjunction with the second night of action for DIRTcar UMP Modifieds.
For more information and updates on the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment, click DIRTcarNationals.com or follow on Twitter at Twitter.com/DIRTcarNats.
DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment Statistical Report; Feb. 11, 2014; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville, Fla.
A-Main (20 Laps) – 1. (8) Kyle Strickler ($1,000), 2. (7B) Jeff Babcock, 3. (20) Kody Weisner, 4. (64JR) Billy Workman Jr, 5. (9M) Dale Mathison, 6. (51) Justin Allgaier, 7. (54) Matt Westfall, 8. (3) Austin Dillon, 9. (9) Kenny Schrader, 10. (90) Jason Beaulieu, 11. (49) Brian Ruhlman, 12. (7C) Kent Corbin, 13. (40B) Kyle Bronson, 14. (41) Ty Dillon, 15. (1) Dwight Niehoff, 16. (67) Garret Stewart, 17. (36) Kenny Wallace, 18. (1G) Devin Gilpin, 19. (85) Kent Robinson, 20. (K9) Will Krup, 21. (47) Collin Thirlby, 22. (2) Nick Hoffman, 23. (36X) Darryl Horkstra, 24. (10) Austin Arneson.
Heat 1 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (40B) Kyle Bronson, 2. (9M) Dale Mathison, 3. (1G) Devin Gilpin, 4. (90) Jason Beaulieu, 5. (25) Tyler Nicely, 6. (32Z) Nate Zimmer, 7. (O5) Dave Wiethholder, 8. (89W) Rick Weitekamp, 9. (24JR) Jeffrey Lien Jr, 10. (O1) Mitch O’Patik.
Heat 2 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (3) Austin Dillon, 2. (41) Ty Dillon, 3. (K9) Will Krup, 4. (47) Collin Thirlby, 5. (33) Jeff Mathews, 6. (26) Bobby Gierke, 7. (44) Bob Johnson, 8. (2G) Troy Girolamo, 9. (O9) Rob Underwood, 10. (OO) Shaun Daugharty.
Heat 3 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (36) Kenny Wallace, 2. (85) Kent Robinson, 3. (54) Matt Westfall, 4. (2) Nick Hoffman, 5. (OJ) Bryce Jewell, 6. (17JE) Jack Stalder, 7. (O6) Jeremy Nelson, 8. (2B) David Baxter, 9. (66) Justin Marks, 10. (20) Kody Weisner.
Heat 4 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (8) Kyle Strickler, 2. (67) Garret Stewart, 3. (36X) Darryl Horkstra, 4. (79) Nick Kurtz, 5. (88) Mitt Crafton, 6. (36H) Eugene Hoekstra, 7. (28) Paul Miles, 8. (4) Cody Bauman, 9. (82N) Nick Tharp.
Heat 5 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (51) Justin Allgaier, 2. (64JR) Billy Workman Jr, 3. (49) Brian Ruhlman, 4. (7C) Kent Corbin, 5. (54B) Larry Burkins, 6. (O7) Jeff Thomas, 7. (D4) Dave Jamison, 8. (52) Jordan Bailey, 9. (19) Thomas Sigler, 10. (O8) Jake Griffin.
Heat 6 (8 laps, top three transfer) – 1. (7B) Jeff Babcock, 2. (10) Austin Arneson, 3. (9) Kenny Schrader, 4. (1) Dwight Niehoff, 5. (71) Joel Ortberg, 6. (10M) Scott Mooers, 7. (5B) Steven Brooks, 8. (10G) Jim Gillenwater, 9. (15) Hunter Gustafson, 10. (35) David Stremme.
B-main 1 (8 laps, top two transfer) – 1. (90) Jason Beaulieu, 2. (47) Collin Thirlby, 3. (33) Jeff Mathews, 4. (2G) Troy Girolamo, 5. (32Z) Nate Zimmer, 6. (26) Bobby Gierke, 7. (25) Tyler Nicely, 8. (89W) Rick Weitekamp, 9. (O5) Dave Wiethholder, 10. (44) Bob Johnson, 11. (24JR) Jeffrey Lien Jr, 12. (O9) Rob Underwood, 13. (O1) Mitch O’Patik, 14. (OO) Shaun Daugharty.
B-main 2 (8 laps, top two transfer) – 1. (2) Nick Hoffman, 2. (20) Kody Weisner, 3. (OJ) Bryce Jewell, 4. (28) Paul Miles, 5. (88) Mitt Crafton, 6. (O6) Jeremy Nelson, 7. (82N) Nick Tharp, 8. (66) Justin Marks, 9. (2B) David Baxter, 10. (79) Nick Kurtz, 11. (17JE) Jack Stalder, 12. (4) Cody Bauman, 13. (36H) Eugene Hoekstra.
B-main 3 (8 laps, top two transfer) – 1. (1) Dwight Niehoff, 2. (7C) Kent Corbin, 3. (54B) Larry Burkins, 4. (71) Joel Ortberg, 5. (O7) Jeff Thomas, 6. (19) Thomas Sigler, 7. (5B) Steven Brooks, 8. (10M) Scott Mooers, 9. (52) Jordan Bailey, 10. (15) Hunter Gustafson, 11. (10G) Jim Gillenwater, 12. (D4) Dave Jamison, 13. (O8) Jake Griffin, 14. (35) David Stremme.
