{"id":49506,"date":"2025-02-28T14:36:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/?p=49506"},"modified":"2025-02-28T14:36:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:36:06","slug":"curt-spalding-savoring-first-big-gator-championship-turning-attention-to-sons-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/dirtcar-ump\/curt-spalding-savoring-first-big-gator-championship-turning-attention-to-sons-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Curt Spalding Savoring First Big Gator Championship, Turning Attention to Son\u2019s Career\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
Curt Spalding left <\/span>Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals<\/span><\/i> with about every Gator trophy available to the DIRTcar UMP Modified division this year. But he almost wasn\u2019t there to do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Living over 1,000 miles away in Watervilet, MI and unsatisfied with his overall level of performance in 2024 \u2013 having not won a race at Volusia Speedway Park since 2020 \u2013 making the trip to the Florida track for nine nights of racing wasn\u2019t a sure thing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, his car owners, Chris and Adam Terry, and his son, Tyler, thought otherwise. They believed he could leave Florida with at least one Gator trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeing on the fence, Tyler got fired up and really excited to work even harder cause he wanted us to represent well,\u201d Spalding said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And after those nine nights of racing, the hard work paid off. Spalding left with five Feature win Gator trophies, the Gator Championship Big Gator trophy and the week-long <\/span>DIRTcar Nationals <\/span><\/i>Big Gator Championship trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was surely not our goal at all,\u201d Spalding said about returning home with a farm of Gator trophies. \u201cObviously, we wanted to run good.\u00a0 We were hopeful to come out of there with at least one Gator. So, to come out of there with a handful of them and everything that happened, honestly, it goes back to the last two years where we worked really hard on this program for (Volusia).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe sacrificed a lot of things last season trying to get to a better place in our program, and it\u2019s tough when you\u2019re doing that and you\u2019re running 10-15 places at places where you\u2019re expected to win.\u00a0 But, when things like this come together, it makes it well worthwhile.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Curt Spalding won five DIRTcar Nationals Features in 2025 (Josh James Artwork)<\/p><\/div>\n On top of achieving more than he and his team envisioned, the victories were special for several reasons. Spalding has been a fan of the event and facility for several years, making visits since the 1990s, and to pick up wins there is very special.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery day, it\u2019s pretty unbelievable the amount of people that have reached out,\u201d Spalding said. \u201cIt\u2019s still so surreal. I think Chris Terry has been getting more and more excited as every day passes. You keep hearing more and seeing more and realizing what took place, we\u2019re very happy and fortunate that we got it done.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Focus towards the 2025 season has Curt planning to run UMP Modified events throughout the year, including select races with the DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019ll also turn attention towards Tyler\u2019s racing career as the 23-year-old gains more time behind the wheel of a DIRTcar UMP Modified.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTyler raced his Modified about 20 times locally in 2024, won a couple and now it\u2019s time to expand out,\u201d Curt said.\u00a0 \u201cTyler is focused on the overall program and what\u2019s nice is that he\u2019s learned how to drive and watch a race car. Not a lot of people are good at watching, driving and tuning. A lot of the time, he\u2019ll be telling me stuff before I even get out, when typically it\u2019s the other way around.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s had some good guidance from one of my co-workers and close friend, Dewayne Ragland. He\u2019s passed now, but he talked and worked with (Tyler) to show him things, it definitely parleys to where we\u2019re at today. Thankful for everyone that helps our program and we are all very excited to see what else 2025 brings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The 2025 DIRTcar Summer Nationals season starts in Illinois at the Brownstown Bullring on Tuesday, June 10. For the full \u201cHell Tour\u201d schedule and news, <\/span>CLICK HERE<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>