Local Headlines

by BJ Cavin- VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL- Saturday night at Volusia Speedway Park will be a bit nostalgic to longtime fans as it will be the last regular Saturday night program at The World's Fastest Half Mile in 2011. VSP will have some two night shows that will bring racing to Saturdays, but regular racing will take place on Friday nights beginning on July 22nd with the rescheduled Scott Thompson Memorial. Volusia Speedway will be celebrating "Christmas in July" this weekend, and kids will delight to know that Santa is going to take an evening out of his Florida summer vacation in Daytona Beach to come and visit his favorite race track.

With the Scott Thompson Memorial headlining the first Friday night show on the 22nd, this Saturday will be the final tune up for the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Fiat Late Models to grab some seat time under real race conditions before the big event. That will open the door of opportunity for some of the racers competing in the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series to come in a week early and take on the big half mile, plus size up Volusia's seemingly invincible Donnie Chappell. Chappell has literally welded a lock on the Late Model points battle so far in 2011, and seems to be heads above the rest of the regular competition. But then again, when he last took to his home track he found himself trailing the likes of David Clegg as "The Sodfather" earned an impressive win.

And saying good-bye to Saturday night racing at VSP will be quite a party, especially for fans of the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks. The schedule had called for the Street Stocks to run a $750 to win feature this Saturday night, but the generous support of Absolute Auto has upped the ante to a $1000 to win payout to the winner. That is excellent news to Philip Brown who as of late seems unbeatable every time the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks hit the clay. But before anyone goes ahead and writes the check out to the driver of the 13 car, fans might want to check and see who else might be planning to chase the $1000 cash carrot, as racers like Grady Christian and James Smith have given Brown about all that he could handle but came up just short of sealing the deal.

The Quality Brands Budweiser Modifieds will be back after a lengthy absence this Saturday, and undoubtedly Jeff Mathews will be ready to reassert his standing on the top rung of the points ladder. Jared Allison and Larry Burkins are battling it out for second place as Allison has the advantage at present, and both are still targeting Mathews despite the lead that the 33 car has built. Mathews has not been unbeatable this season as an accident and a couple of competitors have managed to keep him out of the Destination Daytona Victory Lane at times, so look for the competition to be tough, and look for the 33 to be running at, or very near, the front.

Ronnie Ponce climbed back behind the wheel of the 57P Sportsman last Saturday night and outpaced Aaron Barsness to the checkered flag. That put an end to the winning streak for the dynamic driving duo of Barsness and Scott Lagassee, and it sets the stage for this weekend's Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman feature to see another fresh face in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane. Meanwhile Blaise Hetznecker has returned the 17H to the top three as he finished right behind Barsness on Saturday night, and Stanton Mills wheeled the 99 machine to fourth place right behind Hetznecker. And don't forget that Paul Shead was on his way to making all of them look silly until a mechanical woe stopped him in his tracks. If Shead's car holds together he likely will be the man to beat this time around.

If the fans want to see racing in a division where there is literally no favorite and anyone who shows up could win, then Saturday's All Quality Products Mini Stock race will be a perfect fit. DJ Nobles holds the points lead over Shirlene Hammond, but just barely, and depending on who may be racing it is a total toss up as to who could win. This will only be the third feature race of 2011 for the Mini Stocks, and both previous races featured an almost totally different fields of cars.

Last Saturday saw the top two in the season points battle make early exits before Volusia Speedway's Thunder Stocks could take the green for their feature race, and without Tom Hughes or Alan Peacock out there fighting for the win it was a golden opportunity for DJ Nobles to step up and score one for the home team. Nobles was followed by Alan Lane and Donnie Birdwell who both have their machines running with the front pack and are poised to return to victory as well. Hopefully Hughes and Peacock will be back on track for this weekend, but with or without them the competition has been cranked up a notch.

RJ Glaser may still have the points lead over the rest of the Sparkle and Shine Car Wash Challengers, but so far Glaser has not figured out how to put himself into the Destination Daytona Victory Lane. Mark Commitale climbed into Sony Espy's number 6 on Saturday night and got the win, but right behind him was the brand new version of "Rowdy D" in the 16, as Denica Hetznecker has returned to the track and the front of the pack. Casey Feaster was also back this past Saturday, but failed to crack his way into the top four.

The grandstand gate will open at 5:30PM and the final Saturday night of racing at Volusia Speedway Park will begin with the first heats at 7PM. For more information on the coming switch to Friday night racing, or to check the complete and updated schedule for the remainder of 2011, please visit www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com.

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