BARBERVILLE, FL- A huge crowd of fans and nearly 100 racers chose to spend part of their Easter weekend at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night and participate in one of the most exciting nights of racing yet in the 2011 season on the World's Fastest Half Mile. And in addition to excellent racing action, fans and racers participated in several holiday related events at intermission, including a huge Easter Egg Hunt, the second annual Peeps Eating Contest, a children's Bunny Hop Race, and the fan favorite Chicken Dance Contest led by VSP's own Chicken Man. Special thanks go to Sparkle N Shine Car Wash, Cracker Barrel Restaurants, Daytona Lagoon Family Fun Park, Brians Bar-B-Q, and BendinRules.com, for supplying prizes and props for the contests.
Anytime fans see that the Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars are on the Volusia Speedway Park schedule, they know that it will be a night of alcohol fueled, high speed fury. And that is exactly what they got on Saturday as 31 sprinters challenged the track and each other, with 25 cars surviving to take the green in the feature race. And as fans have come to expect, the total domination of Danny Martin Jr. continued as he led the race from flag to flag, lapping the entire field as he blasted his way through traffic to earn another celebration in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane.
But while Martin was making a mockery of everyone else, the rest of the field was mixing it up and going four and five wide in a wild race that went from green to checkers without a caution. The lack of any slowdowns meant that cars were literally all over the track, and passing was going on at virtually every corner at anytime. By the time it shook itself out after 25 exciting laps, Danny Martin Jr. was celebrating, Sport Allen had claimed the second spot, and Johnny Gilbertson had held on for third place. Mark Ruel again managed a top five finish by taking the fourth spot, and Terry Witherspoon claimed fifth place on the night.
Jeff Mathews wasted no time in asserting his perceived dominance over the Budweiser Modifieds on Saturday night, jumping out to an early lead and running away from all challengers on his way to a victory. But other racers were hot on his trail, battling with each other as they chased Mathews toward the checkers for 20 hard fought laps. Jamie Carter kept Mathews in his sights and even managed to get by him for a bit, but Mathews took advantage of a Carter slip up in turn 4 and regained the lead just 3 laps later.
Last week's winner, Rob Underwood, had something break in the rear suspension of his mod, and that mechanical failure caused him to spin as he exited turn four. As he attempted to get the car back under control and avoid the wall, he wound up parked in the middle of the frontstretch where Shawn Cornell plowed into the disabled machine, leading to a red flag and a major clean up. Both drivers were alright, but both cars were severely wadded up and will require major repairs.
Jeff Mathews got another win while Jamie Carter survived a couple of near misses in order to come home in second place. Devin Dixon wheeled one of Mathews' back up cars to third place, and Ronnie Chance fought his way to a fourth place night. And Kyle Bronson broke in his new machine, battling hard in the middle of the pack for most of the race, then finally fighting forward to score a fifth place finish.
Many of the racers in Volusia's Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division would just assume that Danny Vogel Jr. head on off to basic training and get started on protecting freedom instead of complicating their Saturday nights on the World's Fastest Half Mile. But Vogel is still at home and racing, and again he made his way past all challengers to score another night on the Destination Daytona Victory stage. And while Vogel was winning, Aaron Barsness managed to shake the gremlins out of his Incredible 11 machine and again run with the leaders, holding the top spot for a bit before Vogel slipped past. Vogel has now made it two straight victories as Aaron Barsness settled for second place. Ronnie Ponce wheeled the 57P to third place, Kyle Chappell worked his way forward for fourth place, and Corey Holley hung on to take the fifth spot.
The Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks were one strong challenger down when the green flag flew for their feature race, as Bubba Christian's machine came unraveled during hot laps before the sun had even set in the west. Mike Tovet was still at the front of the field at the start, and he was not about to allow anyone to get an easy pass for the lead. But Joe Belkey had spent last Saturday night watching Tovet revel in a win in Destination Daytona Victory Lane, and Belkey figured that Tovet's turn to celebrate was over. Tovet fought hard, but was unable to keep the 119 behind him, as Belkey made the pass early in the race and sped on to victory. Tovet followed for second place and Mick Kulak ran a tough race to claim the third spot. Robert Sirmons and Bruce Birkett rounded out the top five.
The Amsoil Thunder Stocks saw Robert Shrunk jump out to an early lead in their feature race as Brian Shrunk fell in behind him, but Austin Stamper was on the move and had separated the family affair in front by lap 3. While that drama played out, Tom Hughes was making his way forward after some early race contact and entered the top five, and Ron Adams began harassing Brian Shrunk for third place.
Hughes was on a mission, and he kept a relentless drive to the front going as the laps ticked away, moving into the third spot by lap 5 and into second by lap 7. By lap 10 he was all over Robert Shrunk for the lead spot, and wrestled it away with a slick inside move on lap 11. Tom Hughes raced away to a win from that point, with Austin Stamper fighting his way to a second place finish. Robert Shrunk settled for third place and was followed by Brian Shrunk for fourth. And after an early race tangle that sent him to the pits briefly, Philip Brown made his way back up to a fifth place finish.
Much had been exchanged via online message boards about the supposed feud between Casey Feaster and Hetznecker racing over the past week, but as the green flag flew to begin the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challenger Feature, Denica Hetznecker's car sputtered while Feaster's car launched toward the front. The only thing stopping Feaster from getting another win at that point was RJ Glaser, and as Feaster admitted after the race, Glaser had him whipped. But a slip in turn 2 allowed Feaster to get under the 004, and that was enough of a toe hold for Casey Feaster to steal the lead and a win.
Casey Feaster said that this week he was ready and waiting for his round with the tech man, and his car easily passed. Meanwhile, "Rowdy D's" 16 machine lasted a mere one lap in the race before limping off to the pits with a dead battery, more or less ruining the fans' anticipation of a heated battle between the two on the track. And while Feaster managed to get past RJ Glaser midway through the race, in the end the 004 was reeling in the 20 as the checkers flew. So Casey Feaster got another win while RJ Glaser settled for second once more. Danny Wolf placed third and was followed by the 41 for fourth and Jamie Hughes for fifth place.
If one week of alcohol fueled extreme racing was not enough, the Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars will be back for the second consecutive week on Saturday, April 30th, and will be joined by the wildly popular Florida Mini Sprint Association as they blister the clay on the World's Fastest Half Mile. in addition to another night of wild sprint car action, fans will see more excitement from the Budweiser Modifieds, the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, the Amsoil Thunder Stocks, and the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers. For more info on this and other upcoming events, please visit The World's Fastest Half Mile online at
www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com, or phone the track at 386-985-4402.
Volusia Speedway Park Results for 4/23/11
Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars
1- 24 Danny Martin Jr.
2- 81 Sport Allen
3- 15 Johnny Gilbertson
4- 83 Mark Ruel
1- 99 Danny Vogel Jr.
2- 11 Aaron Barsness
3- 57P Ronnie Ponce
4- 66 Kyle Chappell
