Track owners Al Varnadore and Todd Hutto join Don O’Neal  In victory lane after he won the 75-lap $12,000 finale to East BayRaceway Park’s 33^{rd Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Winternationals,} Saturday night. 2-6-10 Photo by RicksDarkRoom.com

TAMPA, FL (February 6, 2010) – Taking the lead on lap 40 when race leader Scott Bloomquist jumped the cushion in turn one, Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN led the remaining 35 circuits to win the final night of the 33rd Annual DART Winternationals for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at East Bay Raceway Park. He earned $12,000 for the win. Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, WI finished second, followed by Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN; Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, IL; and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, WI. Erb tallied the most DART Winternationals Championship Points for the week to earn a $5,000 bonus from DART Machinery.

Red Buck Cigar Fast Qualifier and new track record holder, Chris Wall earned the pole starting position. Alongside Wall was the Zero machine of Scott Bloomquist, who was coming off a win in the afternoon event that preceded the night’s finale. Bloomquist stormed to the point from the drop of the green over Wall, O’Neal and Schlieper. By the seventh lap Bloomquist had opened up a straightaway lead over the field and he began approaching the tail end of the field.

Bloomquist moved into traffic by lap nine. O’Neal was hounding Wall for second as the two went go side-by-side for a lap until O’Neal made the pass on Wall for second on the tenth circuit. Justin Rattliff remained in the thick of things holding the fourth spot followed by tenth place starter, Mike Marlar; who was on the move as a caution came out for debris on the track with 14 laps complete. O’Neal got sideways coming out of turn two on lap 20 as well as Wall, who spun to avoid running into O’Neal. Wall lost five spots in the running order. Mark Andersen slowed on the frontstretch with 21 laps complete to bring out caution number three.

Bloomquist remained in front, followed by O’Neal, Schlieper, Erb and Jimmy Mars. The top five remained the same until Erb got by Schlieper for third on lap 28. Erb then slip out of the groove allowing both top five newcomer Ray Cook and Mars to get by him with 30 laps down. O’Neal was dancing a treacherous top line around the track and on lap 31 he lost three spots, falling from second to fifth in a matter of one lap. Up front, Bloomquist was almost a straightaway ahead of Schlieper, who was now second with Cook running in third followed by Mars and O’Neal. A red flag came out with 39 laps complete for a multi-car pileup on the frontstretch. The incident eliminated the cars of Brady Smith and Ricky Weiss.

On the fateful lap 40 restart, Bloomquist headed into turn one and jump the cushion. Both O’Neal and Schlieper went him as Bloomquist was relegated to third place. O’Neal pounded the gas with Schlieper in tow. Another caution waived, this time for Justin Rattliff, who pulled out of the race. O’Neal jumped at the chance to lead the race; Bloomquist and Schlieper went at it for second. Bloomquist moved back into the runnerup slot on lap 44.

O’Neal stretched his lead to ten car lengths over Bloomquist and Schlieper. Steve Francis was now in the hunt for the first time in the race. He finally climbed from his 19^{th starting spot to run fourth by lap 46. Cook then rebounded; passed Francis for fourth. O’Neal was looking solid and was comfortably in front of Bloomquist when the caution came out for Francis on lap 57. The top five stayed in that running order as O’Neal looked to be on cruise control. Following O’Neal was a terrific battle for second between the cars of Bloomquist, Schlieper and Erb. Bloomquist jumped the cushion in turns one and two again. Schlieper slipped by him on lap 64. Schlieper then started to track down O’Neal who had no traffic in front of him, but Schlieper slowly closed the gap with five laps to go. O’Neal sped on to pick the big check for his not only his 13th career win at East Bay, but his 13th career win on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour.}

In the Lucas Oil Victory Lane the 45-year-old racer who has twice finished runner-up in the Lucas Oil Series; was happy to be there. He thought he had thrown the chance away when he jumped the cushion back on lap 31. “I thought I had really messed up there, we had a really good car from the start and I thought I had lost my chance to win. 75 laps is a lot of laps here, things can happen so quick here; people come and go to the front so often that you lose and gain track position all the time. When I saw Scott jump the cushion up there on that restart, I thought this was my chance to redeem myself,” said O’Neal.

“That cushion was tough, but after we got out in front I tried to avoid as many of the rough spots as possible and keep the car straight so we wouldn’t lose a tire out there. Man it feels good to get back to victory lane here at East Bay, we’ve always run well here and I have to thank my crew, Tader, Doug, Mark and Tim for all their help. It’s a good win for MasterSbilt and Jay Dickens,” said O’Neal who won before the cameras of SPEED Channel. SPEED was on hand to film the event to be shown at a later date.

The rest of the sponsors on O’Neal’s car include; Superior Cleaning, O’Neal Mulch, Independence Lumber, Jones Core, Hanzo Logistics, Sunoco Race Fuels, Ohlins Shocks, Budda Bert Transmissions and Brownstown Speedway and Hoosier Racing Tires.

Schlieper came across the line in second his Rockstar Energy Drink/DART Machinery/Bloomquist Race Cars Ford Fusion; followed by Bloomquist in his miller Brothers Construction/Vic Hill Racing Engines/Bloomquist Race Cars Monte Carlo SS. The rest of the top finishers were Erb in his Thomason Express LLC/Vic Hill Racing Engines/Rayburn Impala SS and Mars in the Ernie and Connie Davis/Ernie D’s/Rocket Impala SS.

Completing the top ten were Jason Feger of Bloomington, IL who pitted for a flat tire and returned to finish sixth followed by Steve Francis of Ashland, KY; Rick Eckert of York, Pa; Ray Cook of Brasstown, NC; and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL.

By virtue of his fourth place finish, Erb captured the 2010 34th Annual DART Winternationals Championship. Erb took home a $5,000 check for his efforts during the week as won by a 55-point margin over O’Neal.

For the latest breaking news on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, log on to www.lucasdirt.com or call the series office at (951) 532-2503.

After No. 0 Scott Bloomquist led the first 39 laps of the $12,000 East Bay Lucas Oil Late Model Wintenationals Saturday night, a restart set up this three-wide battle for the lead with eventual winner No. 71 Don O’Neal and No. $9 Dan Schlieper showing their muscle.  Photo by Mike Horne

East Bay Raceway Park. Pictured from left to right, track owner Al Varnadore, Crew Chief Heather Lyne, Dennis Erb, DART Representative Ted Keating, and Todd Hutto, track owner. Photo by Mike Horne

Action in the 75-lap Lucas Oil Late Model feature at East Bay Raceway Park shows No. 71W Chris Wall, the new track record holder of 14.022 for  a speed of 96.28mph, running inside eventual winner Don O’Neal. Photo by Mike Horne.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

Race Summary

Saturday Night, February 6th, 2010

“33rd Annual DART Winternationals”

East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL

Red Buck Cigars Fast Time: Chris Wall / 14.022 seconds ***New Track Record***

Wiles Driveshaft’s First Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Chris Wall, Ray Cook, Dennis Erb, Jr., Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Matt Miller, Shannon Babb, Austin Hubbard, Dale McDowell, Kyle Berck, Robert Geiger, Earl Pearson, Jr., Shan Smith

AFCO Racing Products Second Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advances): Don O’Neal, John Blankenship, Rick Eckert, Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Dillan White, Eric Jacobsen, Billy Moyer, Steve Casebolt, Travis Varnadore, Tim Dohm, Lee Thomason

Allstar Performance Third Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Scott Bloomquist, Dan Schlieper, Mike Marlar, Ricky Weiss, Jason McBride, Brad Neat, Tim Fuller, Tim Isenberg, Bub McCool, Jordan Bland, Mike Collins, Leon Henderson

Wrisco Aluminum Fourth Heat (10 Laps-Top 4 Advance): Justin Rattliff, Brady Smith, Jimmy Mars, Mark Andersen, Eric Wells, Daniel Stone, Russ King, Tyler Reddick, Danny Mitchell, Michael Walker, James O’Hara, Tommy Kerr

Hawk Brake First B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Transfers): Matt Miller, Steve Francis, Shannon Babb, Dillan White, Eric Jacobsen, Billy Moyer, Austin Hubbard, Tim Dohm, Dale McDowell, Travis Varnadore, Steve Casebolt, Robert Geiger, Earl Pearson, Jr., DNS Kyle Berck, Shan Smith

Performance Rod and Custom (PRC) Second B-Main (12 Laps- Top 3 Transfers): Daniel Stone, Eric Wells, Tim Fuller, Bub McCool, Michael Walker, Leon Henderson, Mike Collins, Russ King, Tim Isenberg, Jason McBride, Danny Mitchell, James O’Hara, Lee Thomason, Brad Neat, Tyler Reddick, DNS Jordan Bland, Tommy Kerr

PRC Strawberry Dash (Track Provisional Winner Transfers):, Steve Casebolt, Tim Dohm, Tim Isenberg, Travis Varnadore, DNS Jason McBride, Eric Jacobsen, Dale McDowell, Billy Moyer

33rd Annual DART Winternationals Saturday (Night) Feature Finish (75 Laps):

Don O’Neal, Dan Schlieper, Scott Bloomquist, Dennis Erb, Jr., Jimmy Mars, Jason Feger, Steve Francis, Rick Eckert, Ray Cook, Earl Pearson, Jr., Chris Wall, John Blankenship, Tim Fuller, Eric Wells, Eric Jacobsen, Tim McCreadie, Justin Rattliff, Brady Smith, Matt Miller, Ricky Weiss, Daniel Stone, Shannon Babb, Mark Andersen, Mike Marlar, Steve Casebolt, Jimmy Owens, Dillan White,

Finish (Start) Car Number Driver Name – Hometown

1. (3) Don O’Neal – Martinsville, IN

2. (6) Dan Schlieper – Sullivan, WI

3. (2) Scott Bloomquist – Mooresburg, TN

4. (9) Dennis Erb, Jr. – Carpentersville, IL

5. (12) Jimmy Mars – Menomonie, WI

6. (15) Jason Feger – Bloomington, IL

7. (19) Steve Francis – Ashland, KY

8. (11) Rick Eckert – York, PA

9. (5) Ray Cook – Brasstown, NC

10. (24) Earl Pearson, Jr. – Jacksonville, FL

11. (1) Chris Wall – Holden, LA

12. (7) John Blankenship – Williamson, WV

13. (22) Tim Fuller – Watertown, NY

14. (20) Eric Wells – Hazard, KY

15. (27) Eric Jacobsen – Seacliffe Beach, CA

16. (13) Tim McCreadie – Watertown, NY

17. (4) Justin Rattliff – Campbellsville, KY

18. (8) Brady Smith – Solon Springs, WI

19. (17) Matt Miller – Waterville, OH

20. (14) Ricky Weiss – Winnipeg, Manitoba

21. (18) Daniel Stone – Thompson, PA

22. (21) Shannon Babb – Moweaqua, IL

23. (16) Mark Andersen – Blanchard, MI

24. (10) Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN

25. (26) Steve Casebolt – Richmond, IN

26. (23) Jimmy Owens – Newport, TN

27. (25) Dillan White – Crofton, KY

Race Statistics

Entrants: 49

Lap Leaders: 1-39 Scott Bloomquist, 40-75 Don O’Neal

Caution Flags: (Lap 18) Mike Marlar; (Lap 28) Debris; (Lap 29) Daniel Stone;
(Lap 38) Eric Wells; (Lap 39) Brady Smith, Ricky Weiss, Earl Pearson, Jr.; (Lap 43) Justin Rattliff; (Lap 57) Steve Francis; (Lap 63) Jason Feger

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson, Jr.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: Eric Jacobsen

DART Fast Pass Provisional: Dillan White

PBM/Erson Cams Hard Charger of the Race: Earl Pearson, Jr. (Started 24th; Finished 10th; Advanced 14 positions)

Ohlin’s Shocks Performer of the Race: Dan Schlieper

K&N Filters Clean Pass of the Race: Don O’Neal

Quarter Master Rookie of the Race: None

Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Jay Dickens Racing Engines

Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award: Dale McDowell

DirtonDirt.com Crew Chief of the Race: Tader Masters (Don O’Neal)

E3 Spark Plugs TV Challenge All stars: Don O’Neal, Dan Schlieper, Scott Bloomquist

Time of Race: 52 minutes, 43 seconds

 By Andy Sandall – FASCAR MEDIA

Day 2 – Saturday, 6th February 2010

The 44TH World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing kicked off in style at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday night, just one day late after heavy rains across central Florida forced the postponement of Friday night’s racing. Cars from all over the United States and Canada made their annual pilgrimage to the high-banked half-mile to take on Florida’s finest racers in six divisions showcasing the cream of the Super Late Model, Late Model and Modified racing worlds.

The packed stands were matched by jam-packed pits both in the infield and all around the track as haulers and trailers squeezed into every available space to camp down for the most anticipated week of the season. Two days of testing, tweaking and tuning finally ended and nearly 120 cars finally got out onto the track in anger for afternoon qualifying and a cold Florida evening of racing. But with much of the country covered in a blanket of snow, the fans that crowded into the stands and huddled together for warmth knew how lucky they were to be out watching racing while the rest of the country froze.

But before the racing could get underway there was an emotional moment for all present as Robert and Jane Hart, along with the other FASCAR officials led a ceremony that dedicated the whole of the 44th World Series to the late Peggy Kincaid, the much missed scorer at New Smyrna Speedway for 45 years who sadly passed away in 2009 and was known to everyone simply as ‘Miss Peggy’.

First up onto the track came the fastest cars on show, the Tour-Type Modifieds. Early evening qualifying had seen #58 Eric Goodale post the fastest time of the day with a quick time of 17.105s, ahead of #59 Matt Hirshman and #19 Rowen Pennick. An invert for the top 6 qualifiers would mean that the field was lead off by #14 John Jensen, #00 Ted Christopher and #22 Chuck Hossfield, but not before a stoppage caused by the #71 of John Zacharia spinning on cold tires out of turn 4 during the hot laps designed to get the cars and their rubber up to optimum racing temperature. Zacharia would become the first retirement of the World Series as he left the track with zero laps on the board strung between two wreckers.

Christopher would be in the lead by the time the cars hit turn 1 although Jensen was not giving up his place without a fight. Behind him there was plenty of contact to shower sparks into the dark night sky as the midfield settled down into line knowing that this race was merely the first battle in a weeklong war, and that bigger races were still to come.

By the 10th lap Christopher had cemented his lead at the front, leaving Jensen the job of fending off the rapidly charging Pennick, while behind him Hirshman was also locked into a battle with Goodale and Silk at the back of the lead group. The crossed flags were soon out but even the sometimes tricky job of navigating through lapped traffic did little to slow Christopher, who continued to pull away from the field and carry on his dominance of this division at New Smyrna.

The checkered flag confirmed Christopher’s first win of the 44th World Series by a couple of car lengths from Jensen, with both cars well ahead of the 3rd place Pennick as the first of what would be many photo sessions and interviews for the drivers on victory lane.

Crate Late Models were next onto the track, with afternoon fast qualifiers #28 Sean Bass relegated back to the 5th row of the 27 car field. The pole position would be handed to #9 Kurt Jett alongside #98 David Wagner with #39 Justin Delaney and #4 Thor Anderson on the second row looking to take advantage of the inversion. Teenage sensation #51 Stephen Nasse impressed in afternoon qualifying to post the third fastest time, putting him back onto the 4th row with #93 Brandon Johnson at the green flag.

Nasse made the early moves to get up to 5th place, seeing #91 Patrick Laperle also showing real pace as he looked down the inside of turn 3 on the 5th lap to power his way into 3rd place and quickly make his presence felt behind Jett in 2nd. The first back-marker to be encountered saw the top 3 head into turn 1 three-wide, and also gave Nasse the break he needed to join the lead pack, and as the race ticked over to half-distance Nasse made a blast around the outside of the back straight to threaten 2nd place.

Bass would join the group up at the front as the top 5 cars put on an incredible display, lapping the high-banks three-wide and bringing the crowd to their feet on the 15th lap as all five cars ran within inches of each other around the track. Something had to give and the constant contact between the leaders saw Laperle being the first to break as he dropped back after a hard bump to his rear. Nasse would use this opportunity to make the lead his own, but with Bass breathing VERY hard down his neck.

The fight between Bass and Nasse would dominate the closing laps of the race, albeit with any of the 3 following cars close enough to snatch the lead should the two at the front make a mistake. Bass would make the inside line his home for the closing laps, with each turn giving him the opportunity to push his nose down the side of Nasse’s car, but on each occasion Nasse was able to produce enough speed to pull back ahead down the straight.

The white flag waved with Nasse still holding a slim lead, but with Bass trying everything he could to pressure the youngster into a mistake. Again Bass nudged the #51’s rear quarter into every turn, but the 14yr old Nasse showed maturity beyond his years to hold firm, defend his position and take the checkered flag, shooting past a grandstand filled with spectators on their feet in appreciation at the race they had just witnessed. Nasse led the way ahead of Bass and Jett, and touchingly dedicated his win to the late Eddie Brann, the builder of his car who passed away in 2009, in his victory lane interview.

There was barely time for the crowd to catch their breath before the SK Modifieds were out in the pit lane ready for their first appearance of the week. The #03 of Patrick Emerling would lead the cars out onto the track alongside #55 Nichole Morgillio, and ahead of #59 Dave Crammer, #5 Ronnie Silk and the fast qualifier #88 Keith Rocco. The other story of the line-up was right at the back of the field in the shape of the #33 of Gary Fountain – a car he had purchased in the parking lot during the practice sessions held earlier in the week.

The fast qualifiers were quickly up to the head of the field as Rocco and Silk moved up to 1st and 2nd places by the third lap, both darting up the inside of Morgillio out of turn 2. The two quick qualifiers shot away to get into a race of their own, but this quickly came to an end when the #44 of Jeffrey Gallup span out at the rear of the field coming out of turn 2 on the 7th lap. Seemingly not picked up by spotters or track staff Gallup sat like a sitting duck in the middle of the track and was just starting to limp back to life to get off the racing surface as the leaders turned the corner and headed out.

Both Rocco and Silk had nowhere to go, with Rocco slamming into Gallup at full speed, Silk somehow missing the worst of the crash and making much less serious contact. Such a large pile-up saw other casualties as racers took evasive action as best they could, but the red flags were soon on show to bring the 7 cars not involved in the wreck to a halt on the front stretch. They were soon joined by Morgillio who had luckily avoided serious damage in the incident and was able to continue after changing a flat tire.

The lengthy stoppage eventually saw the damaged cars off the track, leaving #71 Jimmy Zacharias on pole alongside #59 Cramner, and it was Cramner who got the drop from the green flag to take the lead and shoot off into the distance. Silk was left with the job of fighting from the back to get his position up at the front again, and the #5 was quickly slipping through the field to be back up into 3rd place with 14 laps gone. Silk was in an obviously quick car, but was again involved in controversy when his hard move on Zacharias pushed the 2nd place car high up the track in turn 2 and into the wall. The #71 would need a trip on the now overworked wrecker back to the pits, and Silk would again be restarting from the rear of the field, this time having been sent there by the race director for rough driving.

Cramner roared away at the resulting green flag but again Silk carved through the pack and with 2 laps to go was already back up to 3rd place. By the exit of turn 2 the #5 had shot past #53 Sazarulo to take 2nd and was looking increasingly likely to snatch an unlikely victory. He seemed to have timed his charge perfectly, coming into turn 3 of the last lap on a wide line before crossing over and shooting down the inside as they headed out of turn 4 to race for the line, but Cramner knew he was coming and slammed the door on his rival to take the checkered flag by a car length for just his second career win, making his long trip down to Samsula from Hanover, NJ a very worthwhile one!

Some familiar faces made their way onto the track next for the first appearance of the week by the Super Late Models, this division pitting the cream of Florida drivers against their rivals from all across North America. The locals had made their presence felt in qualifying as #36 David Russell, #33 Jeff Choquette and #11 David Rogers posted the three fastest times. Even the invert left Florida drivers up at the front, albeit with #23 Lonnie Summerville of New Brunswick on pole position ahead of #78 BJ McLeod, #2 AJ Curreli and #21 Kevin Ingram, all well known names in Florida racing.

The field of 27 cars soon took the green flag and McLeod was quickly up into the lead with Choquette following him and relegating Summerville back down to a distant 3rd place. The two local New Smyrna regulars looked set for a classic battle but their fun was quickly curtailed by 3rd lap contact between #24X Zach Germain and #5 Shane Snipes that put both cars up into the turn 1 wall. Snipes was able to leave the track under his own steam, but Germain was less lucky and became the latest car to take a trip back to the pits on the wrecker’s chains.

Taking advantage of the restart was Choquette who was quickly into the lead and pulling away from the field, but behind him were the ominous figures of Russell and Rogers, both moving rapidly up the field and looking to have their cars well tuned for the track. Again the race was quickly back under caution, this time for contact on the back straight between #63 Austin Pickens and a couple of the much slower back-markers who were circulating well off the pace at the rear of the field. Pickens would skim the outside wall, doing enough damage to his car to justify a visit and tow from the wrecker with just 7 laps down.

The restart saw Russell and Rogers pushing their way around the outside of McLeod and setting off in pursuit of Choquette as the field finally began to settle down and separate. Reaching half-distance without further incident the leaders now set about dealing with lapped traffic, knowing that open spaces on the track were now at a premium, and the blue and yellow flag would be on permanent show from the flagstand as the slower and faster cars were mixed up all throughout the field.

With 10 laps to go Russell was now out on his own in 2nd and finally making some headway in his pursuit of Choquette, leaving Rogers out on his own in 3rd totally unpressured by McLeod in 4th several lengths back. Most of the field were now settling for track time and using the race as preparation for the more important races coming later in the week, concentrating on getting a feel for the track and avoiding the trouble posed by the slower cars cruising around on the inside line. This was successful for the most part, until the white flag was shown and Ingram failed to avoid the traffic, spinning up to the wall in turn 4 after contact with another car and bringing out the caution flags.

This put Choquette and Russell back together for a green-white-checkered shootout for the win, now with Rogers and McLeod back in striking distance right behind them. As the green flag was shown both Russell and Choquette accelerated hard off turn 4, the #33 visibly squirming under the power being pushed to its rear wheels. Although spectacular for the fans this was robbing Choquette of traction and ultimately speed, giving Russell enough of an advantage to get his nose out in front and take the lead. With one trip around the track complete Rogers was now close behind in third and became just enough of a distraction to Choquette to see him drop slightly back in defense of his position, leaving Russell to win, the 2009 Triple Crown Champion taking the checkered flag with his arm aloft through his window net.

More familiar faces came out on track in the next division, this one seeing the Florida/IMCA Modifieds out for their feature. An interesting twist to this race saw the afternoon’s three fastest qualifiers all failing to pass the tech inspection successfully, and so #22 Jason Boyd, #15 Tank Tucker and #23 Mark Chrudimsky would all start the race at the rear. This stroke of luck for the field would see #57 Timothy Moore fortuitously up on pole alongside #13 Kevyn Terry.

Terry quickly took the lead on the green flag as the faster cars at the back soon shot off through the field, but with just two laps completed Boyd’s evening was done as contact between his car and #09 Charlie Barrett saw both cars spinning down the front straight and skimming the outer pit-lane wall. Barrett was able to avoid damage and was quickly back facing the right way and circulating the track ready for the restart.

A bad attempt at a restart meant the cars would take a second go at getting back to green flag conditions, but this time it took just half a lap before Terry felt a hit from #78 Travis Eddy while exiting turn 2, spinning the lead car out and sending both cars to the rear for the subsequent restart. Now Terry was at the back there was space for Moore to take the lead and make it his own, but the New Smyrna regulars were now watching the familiar #4B of Alan Bruns making his way up through the field and around into 4th and then quickly 3rd place.

Between Bruns and the lead was #66 Jerry Symons who was pushing Moore hard, nudging and pushing to create a way past, but with Bruns large in his mirrors and using every bit of his extensive track knowledge to find a gap to exploit. A brief caution period bunched the cars back together and allowed Symons and Moore to swap places at the restart, but this was quickly brought to a halt by big contact between #29 Joe Yarborough and the #09 of Barrett down the back straightaway, Yarborough getting airborne as he hurtled into turn 3 to quickly bring out the track crew to check on the drivers.

The red flag period obviously did little to calm the drivers down as the restart saw Symons, Moore and #99 AJ Winstead barging their way through turn 2, hitting each other hard to cause sparks and spins up high in the corner, and yet another period under the yellow caution flags. This would have the effect of putting the erstwhile leaders all the way to the rear, leaving Bruns up at the front alongside #71 William Skaggs. Yet again the red mist accompanied the green flag and without even reaching the start line Skaggs had moved across Bruns, spinning the popular local driver out and onto the grass on the front straight. With three bad restarts all leading to wrecks now in quick succession, enough was enough for the race director and single file restarts became the order from the tower for the rest of the race.

This had the desired effect as the race finally managed to put another complete lap into the books, ironically now seeing Chrudimsky and Tucker right up to the front after starting at the rear of the field. Finally the race settled down with lap after incident free lap getting the scoreboard ticking over, all the time with Tucker looking for a way around Chrudminsky, probably not wanting to risk a move down the inside that would involve braving the flailing bodywork flapping off the left-side of the #39’s body.

Despite heavy pressure, the Texas-based Chrudminsky was able to hold off Tucker’s advances, both coming home ahead of #41Doc McKinney in 3rd place after a lengthy race not helped by the constant wrecking on the restarts that blighted the middle of the action. As is often the case the race is not necessarily won or lost out on the track, and the customary trip to the tech inspection would have the final word on this result, with Chrudminsky failing to pass the inspection thereby handing the victory to Tucker.

Last but not least the Limited Late Models finally got their chance to take to the track as the clock ticked over to 11.30pm. The hardy fans who stayed late for their racing fix saw plenty more New Smyrna regulars out on the track, the familiar #9 of Zack Donatti leading off from pole ahead of #119 JR McMickle, #55 Todd Allen, #26 Jessica Murphy and #96 Ben Kennedy, the young racer making a rare appearance in a Late Model rather than his usual Pro-Truck.

McMickle made the break for the lead from the green flag but was quickly pulled back after a spin in the first corner for #20 Anthony Sergi, giving a reprieve for Donatti as a full restart in the original order was called from the tower. This proved to be no problem for McMickle and he repeated his feat a second time to be well away in the lead by the 3rd lap, bringing Murphy through into 2nd ahead of a chasing pack led by Donatti.

Murphy was quickly within striking distance, just a car length back and with Donatti also gaining behind them to become a factor in the fight for first place. The half-distance flags saw this 5 car battle staying in order and seemingly settling down for the rest of the race, but the idea that the race would finish incident free literally went up in smoke as Tom Malloy saw the engine of his #119X give up in a big way down the back straight, billowing smoke as he desperately tried to pull off the racing line and prevent a lengthy clean-up. This proved to be in vain as the track still required substantial attention before racing could continue.

Even with the long caution period waved away the race still took several attempts at a restart, firstly for a bad break from the corner by McMickle and then for a spin by #47 Davey Gibbs down the back straight, this second incident denying Murphy the lead after she had made a break to the front from the green flag. She was able to repeat this feat on the third restart, pulling ahead of McMickle down the front straight. Another 4 laps were in the books before the track crew leapt into action again, this time for contact between Donatti, Kennedy and #4B Alan Bruns, doing his usual double duty for the night and racing in back-to-back races. Donatti and Bruns suffered race-ending damage on this incident in turn 4, but Kennedy was able to return to the race after a quick trip down pit-lane.

Yet another aborted restart, this time for #63 Austin Pickens spinning out on the start line, saw the single file restart order again coming from the tower in a bid to get the night’s racing completed before the day 3 program was scheduled to start, and this did the trick as the race finally got underway again despite McMickle’s hard nudging of Murphy to try and unsettle her as she took the green flag out of turn 4.

The white flag eventually came out and Murphy took what she thought where her final turns around the track, but again the race had a twist in its tail as way down the field a hard race between Kennedy and Gibbs boiled over seeing Gibbs turned in the middle of turn 1, spinning out in a cloud of smoke and bringing out the pace truck yet again.

Just one lap to go from the restart and Murphy was quickly defending her position up at the front, neatly blocking McMickle around the first corner, but the extra pace she needed to keep her place having the effect of sliding her higher up the banking than she would like. McMickle took advantage of this to come alongside Murphy going around turn 3, and in a classic drag race for the line McMickle was able to get his nose ahead to cross the line just inches ahead of the #26 for the win.

And so the first day of racing came to an end – a day that had stretched into a second day, seen some incredible racing only matched by a spectacular amount of caution periods. The highlight of the night’s racing had surely come in the incredible victory by Stephen Nasse, a race that saw some terrific 3-wide clean racing that was not matched in the petulant, incident-filled later races that dragged the long night into the early morning.

1. Stephen Nasse

2. Sean Bass

3. Patrick Laperle

4. Brandon Johnson

5. Dustin Delaney

6. Thor Anderson

7. David Wagner

8. Kurt Jett

9. Austin Kirkpatrick

10. Dustin Dunn

11. Rebecca Kasten

12. Bobby Good

13. Jerick Johnson

14. Erik Jones

15. David Rigan

16. Cardell Potter

17. Cole Powell

18. Shaun McWhirter

19. Chad Atkins

20. James Novak

21. Shane Snipes

22. Michael Pilla

23. Donnie Varcoe

24. Wayne Smith

25. Brandon Sweet

26. Robert Petrus

27. Brandon Watson

1 David Cranmer 59

1. JR McMickle

2. Jessica Murphy

3. Todd Allen

4. Kirk Hooker

5. Ben Kennedy

6. Anthony Sergi

7. David Weaver

8. Carl Thomas

9. Derrick Wood

10. Davey Gibbs

11. Christian Hickman

12. Shawn Thibeault

13. Zachary Donatti

14. Alan Bruns

15. Austin Pickens

16. Merle Diem

17. Tom Bolloy

OFFICIAL FL/IMCA MODIFIED FINISH

1. Tank Tucker

2. Doc McKinney

3. Travis Eddy

4. Johnny Allen

5. Robert Deal

6. Jerry Symons

7. Kevyn Terry

8. Timothy Moore

9. Nevin Gainey

10. David Hite

11. Al Mamande

12. AJ Winstead

13. William Skaggs

14. Art Kunzeman

15. John Zidek

16. Alan Bruns

17. Charlie Barrett

18. Joe Yarborough

19. Denis Pierce

20. Jason Boyd

21. Mark Chrudimsky (DQ)