Super DIRTcar Series Modifieds at Volusia 2/20/16

(Updated throughout the day – Be sure to refresh this page frequently)

What Won the Race: Brett Hearn charged from the 21st starting spot and made a dive to the inside of early leader Stewart Friesen on lap 38 to take the lead.  From there, “The Jet” pulled away from the field for his first win of 2016.

The Finish:

The Skinny: Stewart Friesen jumped out to the early lead, while Tim Fuller powered into the second position.  The yellow flag flew for the first time on lap 3 for an incident involving Tim Fuller, Dave Rauscher, Rich Scagliotta and others.

Friesen jumped back out to the lead on the restart, but the field quickly slowed again for Jessey Mueller’s spin in turn four.

Friesen pulled away once again on the second restart, while Tim Fuller moved into second.  Danny Johnson was the man on the move early on as he made his way from 12^th to sixth with seven laps.

Matt Sheppard began making his charge on lap 10 by passing Rick Labauch for the third position. Mueller slowed again on lap 12 and nearly avoids chaos while pulling the No. 19 into the pit area.

Johnson continued his charge to the front on the restart moving by Sheppard for the fourth spot.  Friesen led Fuller, Laubach, Johnson and Sheppard at the lap 15 mark.

Eldon Payne, Jr. spun down the backstretch on lap 15 and pulled into the pit area with a flat right rear tire.  After another short green flag run, Erick Rudolph slowed on the track with a flat right rear tire.

Friesen led the way at the halfway mark of the 50-lap feature. Top five: Friesen, Sheppard, Fuller, Hearn and Johnson.

Hearn closed in on Sheppard for second on lap 30 and made the pass just a few laps later.  Friesen began to close in on lapped traffic and that allowed Hearn to close the gap. Hearn dived low on Friesen on lap 38 and used a lapped car as a pick to take over the lead after starting 21st.

After taking the lead away from Friesen, Hearn began to pull away from the field and work smoothly through slower traffic. Hearn rocketed under the checkered flag for his first win of the season.

Winning Quote: “I have to think that the satisfying part about it is that we’ve had such a terrible week leading up to this.  We started out rough tonight starting 21^st and coming out of the consi.  Boy we really nailed the setup.  It took us all week to get here, but man we finally got it right.”

Notebook: With some additional backing from Halmar, Jeff Daly & Sons and Bart Contracting, Stewart Friesen will run for the championship on the Super DIRTcar Series this year. 

Brett Hearn and Jessey Mueller’s qualifying times have been disallowed because they both went out for qualifying out of order. Hearn drove from the rear of the field to sixth in his qualifying heat but will miss the re-draw.

Daniel Nadeau went end over end in his No. 64 flipping twice during the third qualifying heat race after contact with C.G. Morey in turn two. He exited the car under his own strength.

Danny Johnson came to life in the final qualifying heat driving all the way from eighth to third. He will miss out on the re-draw but will put himself in a position for a strong run in tonight’s 50-lap feature.

Car Count: 34 Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds are in the pit area at Volusia Speedway Park.

Title Fight: Matt Sheppard clinched the 2016 Big-Block Modified DIRTcar Nationals title with a third-place finish.

Winning Chassis: Teo Chassis

Winning Engine: Performance Technologies

Winning Shocks: Fox Shocks

Starting Line-Up:

Consi Results:

Consi 1

Consi 2

Re-Draw: 

Heat Race Results:

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Qualifying Events: The Big Block Modifieds will have timed hot laps/group qualifying to set the grid for four qualifying heat races. Each qualifying heat race will be eight laps with the top-five finishers advancing.  There will also be two B-Features with the top two advancing from each.  That will set the field for a 26-car A-Main feature that will be 30 laps in distance.

Practice Results: Drivers hit the track for hot laps by groups according to their heat races, which will be held later in the program. Heat race lineups are determined by lap times recorded during hot laps.

Group 1

Group 3

Group 4

Event Schedule: Hot laps and group qualifying for the Super DIRTcar Series begin at 6:30 p.m. ET.  Opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7:20 with qualifying heat races beginning at 7:30.  There will be four qualifying heat races and two B-Features before the 30-lap feature at the end of the night.  The Super DIRTcar Series feature will be the last of the night and will follow the World of Outlaws Dirt Late Model Series.

Who To Watch For: Two of the biggest names in Super DIRTcar Series competition, Brett Hearn and Stewart Friesen, have been held winless thus far during the DIRTcar Nationals. It will be a story to follow throughout the night as the two try to break into victory lane at Volusia.

Entry List:

The Track: Volusia Speedway Park is a half-mile dirt oval.  The track opened as a 1/4 mile dirt oval in 1968, operating through 1969.  It expanded to 3/8 mile (still dirt) in August of 1969, operating through 1971.  It expanded again to 1/2 mile in February 1972, operating through 1989, when it was paved. It operated as a paved oval until 1997, when it was converted back to dirt.

The 3/8 mile dirt oval opened behind turn 4 of the original oval, operating from 1993 until it was paved in 1998, In late 2004 the paved surface was torn up and as of 2015 only the slight footprint of the 3/8 mile paved oval remains. A 1/8 mile dirt karting track is located inside the former 3/8 mile course. (From Wikipedia)

Weather: As hot laps approach, temperatures are in the low 60s with bright blue skies above the race track.  Temperatures are expected to slowly decrease throughout the night, but there’s no precipitation in the forecast.

Friday Night’s Results (30 laps)

Thursday Night’s Results (30 Laps)

Wednesday Night’s Results (30 Laps)

Next Series Race: The Super DIRTcar Series will be back in action on Saturday, April 30 at Fulton Speedway (NY).