by BJ Cavin- VSP Media
BARBERVILLE, FL- After forecasters had predicted doom and gloom, racers and fans who ventured to Volusia Speedway Park found an almost perfect night for racing with temperatures in the 80's and a nice breeze to cool the air. And those conditions lent themselves to a very fast and smooth race track that generated a night of exceptional competition, including several races that were decided in the final few feet of clay before the checkers. And even the kids got in on the action as Volusia Speedway Park declared it "Christmas in July" as Santa took time off from his Florida beach vacation to come and visit with the youngest race fans.
The night also provided a special event for the Quality Brands Budweiser Modifieds, as four of them were invited to enter a quick Dash for Cash sponsored by Murray Ford Superstore in Starke. The dash pitted Jeff Mathews, Jimmy Carter, Buzzie Reutimann, and Kyle Bronson, against each other, and although the battle was brief it was fierce. Bronson handled the competition and collected the $200 top prize, while Buzzie Reutimann was pleased with the $60 for second place. Jeff Mathews was a little off on his setup and wound up with the $40 third place money, while Jimmy Carter collected $25 for fourth place.
The Budweiser Modified feature race created the same sort of aggressive competition as Jeff Mathews rocketed out to an early lead, but Buzzie Reutimann quickly blasted past and assumed the point to the delight of the crowd. But as those two and Larry Burkins squabbled over the top three spots, Kyle Bronson was making quick work of everything in front of him and was heading their way. Bronson's machine was hooked up and turning extremely fast laps, and it wasn't long before he blew by them all and began to build a sizable lead. Kyle Bronson was simply too tough to tame and got the win despite Buzzie Reutimann making a race of it late in a second place effort. Jeff Mathews would claim the third spot followed by Jared Allison and Jimmy Carter.
The Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks also had a big race scheduled, and the planned $750 to win event was upped to $1000 when Absolute Auto of Deleon Springs came on board as an additional sponsor. That attracted 20 competitive racers and their machines to the big half mile and created an all out brawl for the top positions throughout the 20 lap feature event. While Joe Belkey had looked like the man to beat in earlier heats, it was Grady Christian who was on fire in the feature, jumping out front as Mike Tovet gave chase.
What ensued from there was an all out, side-by-side, lead and paint swapping battle that ran the entire 20 laps, as Tovet, Grady Christian, and Bubba Christian, outpaced everyone else and put on quite a show, and different show of the same intensity erupted behind them over the third spot, as Joe Belkey, James Smith, and Bud Chancey, had it out. The race came down to a door-to-door dash out of turn 4 to the checkers as Grady Christian came up about three feet short of Mike Tovet at the flagstand. Tovet got the $1000 celebration in Destination Daytona Victory Lane, plus congratulations from "Shady" Grady who wore a smile after finishing second. Bubba Christian finished third with Joe Belkey and James Smith rounding out the top five.
With the Scott Thompson Memorial rescheduled for next Friday night, the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Fiat Late Models were on hand to tune up for the big event by turning some heated laps under race conditions on the World's Fastest Half Mile. From the start Lawton Minchew used his pole position to assume the lead, and kept his 23 machine out in front through the first 15 laps of the race. Minchew appeared to be on his way to a victory but Darrell Padgett was closing in, and Padgett managed to use a lapped car for a rolling pick to gain an advantage over Minchew and grab the lead in turn two. That was all he needed to seal the win as Minchew's tires gave up on him, forcing him to settle for second place as Darrell Padgett celebrated his victory. Jeff Mathews wheeled his late model to third place while points leader Donnie Chappell fought his way from a 7th starting position to fourth place and Brandon Dewitt followed for fifth.
A "rules are rules for a reason" lesson played a major role in the outcome of the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman feature as race leader Kyle Chappell was busted under caution for failure to wear racing gloves. While Chappell appeared to have the car to beat, that safety violation sent the 66 to the rear and forced him to fight his way back through traffic in order to be competitive. Meanwhile Paul Shead had a rocket ship for the second week in a row, and this time it held together for a dramatic win and an emotional celebration in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane. Kyle Chappell focused himself after his penalty and fought his way all the way to second place, beating out points leader Blaise Hetznecker in the final two laps. Marc Kinley nabbed fourth place while Matt Mcgillivray was fifth.
The All Quality Products Mini Stocks may not have seen a lot of action so far in 2011, but DJ Nobles was determined to extend his extremely narrow points lead by spending a bundle on his 3 machine and making it as competitive as possible. But that went all wrong for him in his heat race as a fire under the hood on the final lap left him scrambling out of the car at the top of turn 4 and ended his night. So with Nobles out, Shirlene Hammond had a virtual lock on the top of the points ladder going into the feature race, and when a lapped car blocked Nick Kerr and cost him several car lengths of distance lost to the leader, Hammond wound up with a sizable victory. Nick Kerr finished second with Travis Staats third and Joe Slighton fourth. Charlie Staats rounded out the top five.
After mechanical issues sent Tom Hughes home last week before the feature race even began, and yet another slow start put him in the third row at the start of the Thunder Stock feature race, the points leader was not going to allow the trend to continue one minute longer. Hughes wasted zero time in asserting his desire to go forward and muscled his 29 car under the competition while Donnie Birdwell and Alan Peacock went door-to-door for the lead in the opening laps. And as Hughes was putting an end to his bad luck streak, Alan Peacock saw his continue as for the second week in a row his 13 machine expired on the track and left him watching from the pits. That set up a fight between Hughes and Birdwell, and it was Tom Hughes who gained the advantage and scored a much needed win. Sammy Dale fought throughout the race within the top three and got the better of Donnie Birdwell for the second spot, and Donnie Nobles followed Birdwell under the checkers for fourth. Brian Schrunk had been strong early in the race, but held on for fifth after fading in the latter laps.
A very familiar face reappeared within the ranks of the Sparkle and Shine Car Wash Challengers on Saturday night, and much to the dismay of the other competitors Tony Laporta found his way from the tail of the starting grid back to Destination Daytona Victory Lane. Meanwhile Hetznecker Racing was forced to haul another heavily damaged 16 car home from the track after a hot lap incident sent "Rowdy" Denica into the turn 2 wall, and after an impressive showing in his earlier heat Mike Butka's 64 machine sputtered to a stop on the backstretch early in the feature. Casey Feaster and Ray Hunter were quick, but fought their battle behind Tony Laporta with Feaster taking second place while Hunter was third. Mark Commitale was fourth and RJ Glaser finished fifth on the night.
Saturday night was also the end of a long standing Volusia Speedway Park tradition as it marked the end of regular Saturday night racing for the remainder of 2011. The World's Fastest Half Mile will begin racing on Friday nights with this coming weekend's Scott Thompson Memorial, featuring the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series. In addition to the huge late model race, fans will see action from the Sportsman division, plus the Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, Thunder Stocks, and Challengers. gates will open at 6:30PM with racing scheduled for 8PM. For more info, please visit
www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com.
Volusia Speedway Park results for 7/16/11
Quality Brands Budweiser Modified
1- 40B Kyle Bronson
2- 00 Buzzie Reutimann
3- 33 Jeff Mathews
4- 18 Jared Allison
5- 75 Jimmy Carter
6- 333 Josh Peacock
7- 56 Dave Barber Jr.
