{"id":49436,"date":"2025-02-06T02:37:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T07:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/?p=49436"},"modified":"2025-02-06T02:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T07:37:32","slug":"wednesday-winners-mckinney-falloway-deyoung-spalding-krup-long-nab-dirtcar-nationals-gators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/dirtcar-ump\/wednesday-winners-mckinney-falloway-deyoung-spalding-krup-long-nab-dirtcar-nationals-gators\/","title":{"rendered":"WEDNESDAY WINNERS: McKinney, Falloway, Deyoung, Spalding, Krup, Long Nab DIRTcar Nationals Gators"},"content":{"rendered":"
The race to 100 different DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature winners at the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals<\/em> got even closer with two fresh faces in Victory Lane, while four drivers built on previous Gator triumphs.<\/p>\n Mike McKinney and Brad DeYoung won their first Golden Gators to bring the count up to 98 drivers. Cole Falloway, Curt Spalding, Will Krup, and Michael Long built on their points standings on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n FEATURE #1<\/b><\/p>\n After 27 times of trying, Mike McKinney finally added a Golden Gator trophy to his collection Wednesday night.<\/span><\/p>\n The Plainfield, IL driver already had the biggest trophies in DIRTcar UMP Modified racing, including a win at the <\/span>Prairie Dirt Classic<\/span><\/i> and a DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals title. But the Gator trophy at Volusia Speedway Park always eluded him.<\/span><\/p>\n He put that quest to bed after leading all 20 laps of the first <\/span>Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals <\/span><\/i>UMP Modified Feature of the night.<\/span><\/p>\n Starting on pole, next to Volusia-winner Trevor Neville, McKinney had a clean start at the drop of the green flag, pulling away from the field. However, Neville did not. He slid back to third behind George Dixon.<\/span><\/p>\n Once in the runner-up spot, Dixon kept McKinney on his toes every lap. No matter where McKinney ran, Dixon stayed a lane lower, keeping his nose in clean air and his car close enough to the No. 96M for McKinney to hear him.<\/span><\/p>\n The two kept the battle close for the first 10 laps before Dixon started to fade.<\/span><\/p>\n But while he faded, Neville rose. The No. 777 car found new life at the end of the Feature, closing to McKinney\u2019s bumper by Lap 14.<\/span><\/p>\n A multi-car pileup in Turn 1 paused their battle for a few minutes before the green flag flew for the final time of the Feature. McKinney pulled ahead of Neville by a few car lengths on the restart, but then the No. 777 reeled him back in with two laps to go.<\/span><\/p>\n Neville dove underneath McKinney entering Turn 1 on the final lap, but McKinney was not going to let another gator out of his grasp. He charged ahead down the backstretch and piloted his Modified to its first Volusia win.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s awesome,\u201d McKinney said about finally having a Gator trophy in hand. \u201cOne hundred mile per hour, half-mile aero racing is my forte. This isn\u2019t what I grew up doing. We\u2019ve been coming for a long time now, have never been able to get it done.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been working really hard. Kind of had to fight the format the last couple of days, being with those fast groups. Started on the pole last night and learned a lesson. Was able to not make that mistake again tonight and take advantage of it. It\u2019s awesome to come down here. These gators are hard to win.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n RESULTS:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[4]; 3. 77D-George Dixon[3]; 4. 57-Charlie Sandercock[5]; 5. 43A-Mark Anderson[7]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[9]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas[12]; 8. 01-Brayden Weller[8]; 9. 463-Daniel Sanchez[14]; 10. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[15]; 11. 9R-JP Roberts Jr[13]; 12. 321-Denny Schwartz[17]; 13. 05-David Wietholder[10]; 14. 1-Randy Giroux[6]; 15. 77C-Jason Cox[16]; 16. 23-Ray Durrence Jr[18]; 17. (DNS) 45H-Kyle Hammer; 18. (DNS) 91-Chris Beaulieu<\/span><\/p>\n FEATURE #2<\/b><\/p>\n In the 54 years of <\/span>Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, <\/span><\/i>there are currently only 10 drivers with more <\/span>DIRTcar Nationals <\/span><\/i>Modified wins at Volusia Speedway Park than Cole Falloway. And he\u2019s only spent six days racing at the track.<\/span><\/p>\n Falloway, from Owensboro, KY, earned his four Gator trophy Wednesday during the second 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature of the evening.<\/span><\/p>\n But this time, he had to work harder than he\u2019s had to in every other start.<\/span><\/p>\n As Gregory Moore pulled away with the lead from the pole at the start of the race, Falloway had to race his way by Ray Bollinger for second before trying to track down Moore.<\/span><\/p>\n However, Falloway made quick work of it all. He took second on the first lap and was underneath Moore, looking for the lead on Lap 3.<\/span><\/p>\n Moore wasn\u2019t giving it up easy though. The two put on the show of the night, racing side by side for three straight laps before a caution ended their brawl.<\/span><\/p>\n When the race resumed, their side-by-side battle resumed. Moore high. Falloway low. Moore pulled ahead one lap and then Falloway creeped alongside him the next. But eventually, the bottom prevailed and Falloway cleared Moore for the lead on Lap 13. From there, he ran away with another Volusia win.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was nice getting to race behind some people, I still made a lot of mistakes trying to get by [Moore],\u201d Falloway said. \u201cI got beside him a few times and just took my time. When I got a good enough run, I just slid him. I seen Tyler and Curtis with the sticks and knew I got away pretty good. I just tried to hit my marks after that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n RESULTS:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[3]; 2. 8W-Gregory Moore[1]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 4. 114-Jordan Koehler[6]; 5. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[11]; 6. 23Z-Austin Self[9]; 7. 15X-Justin Stone[5]; 8. 114B-Clayton Bryant[8]; 9. 11-Aidan Hinds[7]; 10. 60M-Jim Manka[12]; 11. 155-Gavin Shaw[13]; 12. 6-Ryan Fowler[14]; 13. 81K-Kyle Cole[17]; 14. 72S-Eric Shepherd Jr[10]; 15. 77S-Jim Shipman[16]; 16. 7C-Christopher Cole[15]; 17. 97-Mitch Thomas[4]<\/span><\/p>\n FEATURE #3<\/b><\/p>\n In 14 starts at Volusia Speedway Park during <\/span>Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i>, Brad DeYoung had never finished in the top five. He fixed that during the third DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature of the night by racing his way to his first <\/span>DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i> win.<\/span><\/p>\n When the race went green, Brian Ruhlman ran away with the lead, while DeYoung tried to keep him in tow.<\/span><\/p>\n The two drivers stayed in line, about three car lengths apart for the first half of the race. Then, DeYoung had enough of that.<\/span><\/p>\n He moved to the top side of the track and seemingly found 10 more horsepower. He threw his No. 7D car to the top side in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 11 and pulled side by side with Ruhlman down the backstretch.<\/span><\/p>\n He performed the same dance entering Turn 3 and launched ahead of Ruhlman by the time they found the front stretch.<\/span><\/p>\n DeYoung then ran away with the lead, letting nothing derail his quest for a Gator trophy. A group of slower cars blocked the top and bottom lanes with two to go, so he split them, leaving no patience for racing slower cars.<\/span><\/p>\n That grit led him to his first top-five and first win at Volusia Speedway Park.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe win is just incredible,\u201d DeYoung said. \u201cI just can\u2019t thank so many people here, so many people back home. On the start, I figured Ruhlman would\u2019ve shot straight to the top. I race against him quite a bit back home. And he stayed on the bottom, stayed on the bottom. I didn\u2019t really have anything for him on the bottom and I though, you know what, I\u2019m going to try it and shoot up to the top and just let it eat. Everything held up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n RESULTS:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 7D-Brad Deyoung[3]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman[1]; 3. 9T-Ryan Thomas[5]; 4. 35A-Michael Altobelli[2]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 6. 1H-Ben Harmon[7]; 7. 11J-Jesse Rupe[6]; 8. 90K-Ray Kable[8]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[12]; 10. 17-Chris Wilson[14]; 11. 70H-Jim Britt[17]; 12. 51-Dalton Lanich[9]; 13. 0K-Damian Kiefer[15]; 14. 21-Scott Ladner[10]; 15. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[11]; 16. 11D-Brian Diveley[13]; 17. 28C-Jeff Cotterman[16]<\/span><\/p>\n FEATURE #4<\/b><\/p>\n Only six days removed from scoring the first 2025 DIRTcar UMP Modified win at Volusia, Curt Spalding returned to Victory Lane by performing a masterclass for the field to witness.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the efforts of former Gator winners Lucas Lee and Justin Allgaier, who gave Spalding a run for his money, the Watervliet, MI driver felt no pressure and extended his lead to as much as five seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n The only caution flew with six laps left, giving the field one final chance at tracking down Spalding for the win.<\/span><\/p>\n Spalding responded with a cannonball restart that pushed his lead towards three seconds to earn his third career DIRTcar Nationals Golden Gator and vital Big Gator points to leave Wednesday night with.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe got a pretty good hot rod,\u201d Spalding said. \u201cWe never took an offseason and worked our tails off on this thing, and we set Quick Time in five out of the last six. We\u2019re just rolling. The thing\u2019s pretty easy to drive, and it\u2019s not like we’re working on it. We\u2019re still tuning on stuff, and there\u2019s always something to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n RESULTS:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee[3]; 3. 7J-Justin Allgaier[6]; 4. 10Y-Trent Young[7]; 5. 0-Glenn Styres[10]; 6. 17C-Coleman Evans[9]; 7. 18-Miles Beaulieu[12]; 8. 114K-Evan Koehler[14]; 9. 7-Evan Taylor[8]; 10. 16-Shawn Deering[11]; 11. 24-Zeke McKenzie[5]; 12. 21B-Hunter Breland[13]; 13. 3F-Rob Fuqua[16]; 14. 89W-Rick Weitekamp[17]; 15. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[1]; 16. (DNS) 90-Jason Beaulieu; 17. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine<\/span><\/p>\n FEATURE #5<\/b><\/p>\n Will Krup was no longer denied another <\/span>DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i> Gator in 2025 on Wednesday after finishing on the podium in every UMP Modified Feature he participated in since Friday night of the first week.<\/span><\/p>\n The reward came with besting a familiar foe that topped the Mt. Carmel, IL driver in three previous races: Mooresville, NC\u2019s Kyle Strickler.<\/span><\/p>\n Krup found himself in a familiar position at the start of the 20-lap Feature that saw him run behind Strickler in second place.<\/span><\/p>\n This time, Krup found momentum that Strickler could not capture as the race progressed. Noticing that the high line gave him more speed off of Turn 4, Krup used every inch available to compete with Strickler for the lead.<\/span><\/p>\n With six laps remaining, Krup took his chances by gassing up his No.K9 machine to slide around Strickler in Turn 4, then threw the car down to the bottom of Turn 1 to block Strickler\u2019s attempt to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n Once the lead was claimed, Krup extended his bubble to Strickler by three seconds when the twin checkered flags waved to solidify his victory.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been close all week,\u201d Krup said. \u201cWe had a fast car, just ain\u2019t got a gator till now. The car\u2019s really good, I got tight pushing across and felt a little bit of the brown coming off the corner of (Turn 4). It was a bit of a Hail Mary deal, just throwing it off in there and it stuck. We got a good car, and I\u2019m looking forward to the rest of the week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. K9-Will Krup[4]; 2. 8S-Kyle Strickler[3]; 3. 56-Colton Profitt[2]; 4. 88-Matt Crafton[6]; 5. 60-Shannon Fisk[8]; 6. 99-Jimmy Wagner[11]; 7. 07K-Curtis King[16]; 8. 11L-Jimmy Lennex Jr[12]; 9. T9-Zack Tate[17]; 10. 29C-Joey Cotterman[14]; 11. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[5]; 12. 8-Dave Pinkerton[10]; 13. 2J-Troy Johnson[9]; 14. 5B-Bobby Bagley[13]; 15. 27-Michael Turner[1]; 16. 17T-Tyler Evans[7]; 17. (DNS) 2C-Ronnie Chance<\/span><\/p>\n FEATURE #6<\/b><\/p>\n Michael Long knew he had an uphill climb ahead of him at Volusia with the choice of bringing a brand new No.18L Longhorn Chassis to <\/span>DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Fowler, IL driver made the most of his time on track to get the car to his liking, and the work paid off with his fifth career Gator trophy scored on Wednesday night.<\/span><\/p>\n Long took full command of the Feature from the get-go while the action occurred behind him. Charlie Mefford and David Stemme – both racing for second place – made contact that sent Mefford over the cushion and backward to the eleventh position.<\/span><\/p>\n The Belton, KY driver clawed his way back up to third place with five laps to go, while second-place-running Cole Czarneski used anything his No.21CZ offered him to close the gap to Long.<\/span><\/p>\n Steady gains of one-tenth of a second were gained each lap by Czarneski, but it did not block Long from snagging the final checkered flag of the Wednesday night program.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis track, being out front means so much,\u201d Long said. \u201cI had a good car tonight. We had a brand new car that we brought down here. We knew we\u2019d struggle the first couple of nights getting it tuned in, but it was a lot closer tonight and that\u2019ll help us finish out the week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 18L-Michael Long[1]; 2. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[3]; 3. 13-Charlie Mefford[6]; 4. 35-David Stremme[4]; 5. 45-Chase Holland[9]; 6. 8A-Austin Holcombe[5]; 7. 65-Matt Miller[8]; 8. 9-Ken Schrader[10]; 9. 3S-Josh Sanford[14]; 10. 72-Todd Neiheiser[2]; 11. 11R-Reece Ogle[15]; 12. 41-Brad Goff[7]; 13. 25-Greg Belyea[11]; 14. 99W-Wade Olmsted[16]; 15. S8-Jordan Stotts[12]; 16. 32-Chad Roush[13]; 17. 26-Adam Ogle[17]<\/span><\/p>\n Up Next:<\/b> The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds enter the final three nights of the <\/span>Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i> Big Gator points chase with six Feature races on Thursday, Feb. 6. Tickets are available here:<\/span><\/p>\n