Local Headlines

by BJ Cavin- VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL- The World's Fastest Half Mile will be back in action this Saturday night as five divisions of racing, plus a Powder Puff event, will entertain the fans at Volusia Speedway Park. The Quality Brands Budweiser Modifieds will be back after a week away, and will be motivated by $1000 going to the winner of Saturday's feature race. Other divisions in action include the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman cars, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, the Thunder Stocks, and also the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers.

Things went crazy in a matter of seconds when the Budweiser Mods last raced at Volusia Speedway Park as an incident involving points leader Jeff Matthews took him out along with two other competitors. That opened the door of opportunity for James Smith, who seized the moment and raced his way to his first Destination Daytona Victory Lane celebration at the big half mile. Matthews has since put all of the pieces and parts back together again and will be on hand this weekend, more than ready to re establish his dominance over the division. But with confidence on his side and a $1000 cash carrot dangling in front of him, James Smith will be out to prove that Mathews does not need to wreck for him to grab a win, and tough competitors like Jared Allison and Larry Burkins will be ready to test Mathews once again.

Things got more than a little heated as the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman cars hit the clay (and a couple of racers decided to hit each other) last Saturday night, and it is a sure bet that there may still be a few open sores left from that race stopping incident. Meanwhile Corey Holley returned to the big half mile and went directly to Destination Daytona Victory Lane, while points leader Blaise Hetznecker failed to get his car back together in time and missed yet another start. The net result from that is Hetznecker leads Holley by a mere one point going into this Saturday's race, and it is a sure bet that one or the other will be the top dog when it is over, win or not.

Bubba Christian was one happy camper last Saturday night as he held off a hard charging Philip Brown and earned a Daytona Sportswear Street Stock win at Volusia Speedway. Hopefully that excitement will be strong enough to keep Christian in the running this weekend as his Uncle Grady and others will be out to get their shot at a win as well. And while the Street Stock racers will be there to win, their wives, girlfriends, and any other female acquaintances, will be borrowing the race cars in order to do the same in the Street Stock Powder Puff Race. Maybe the women can settle a few of the scores that the guys established?

Up until this past Saturday night Alan Peacock had been whittling away at Tom Hughes' Thunder Stock points lead. But contact between Peacock and another racer sent both to the pits for new tires, and that allowed Tom Hughes to extend his lead by winning the race. Meanwhile Jumpin' Jim Shaw managed to shake many of the gremlins out of his machine and score a third place finish, giving him confidence going into this week's race and alerting the other racers in the division that the Shaw-Nuff bunch is turning things around and ready to run with the lead pack. Tom Hughes will be out to make it two in a row this weekend and Alan Peacock will be focused on returning to Destination Daytona Victory Lane after a week away, but fans should not forget about Donnie Birdwell as he finished right behind Hughes on Saturday night, and is just as hungry for a win as the other two.

RJ Glaser finally managed to finish in front of Casey Feaster this past Saturday night, and the only thing that could have made Glaser happier was if the finish had been for a Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challenger Division win. But Glaser's pass around the 20 car knocked Feaster back to third on the night, and it leaves just 8 points between the leader and his upstart rival. So now Casey Feaster has some things to think about coming into this weeks' race as RJ Glaser continues to up the pressure on the defending division champion. With the points race so close and Glaser not showing any signs of a let up, Feaster can ill afford any sort of slip up if he wants to be the champion two seasons in a row. And meanwhile Ray Hunter proved that he has what it takes to beat both Glaser and Feaster as he won last week's race, so if Hunter is back this week the two rivals will have a lot more to worry about than each other.

The grandstand gates will open at 5:30PM this Saturday night for the $1000 to win Quality Brands Budweiser Modified feature, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stock Powder Puff Race, plus the rest of the scheduled action at the World's Fastest Half Mile. For more information, current points standings, or to see the complete and updated 2011 season schedule, please visit www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com.

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