by BJ Cavin- VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL-  Things got hot in more ways than one at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night, as summer weather and aggressive racing produced some unexpected results and even some extra curricular fisticuffs on the frontstretch.  The Florida Mini Sprint Association visited the big half mile and produced a new winner for 2011, and four other regular divisions of feature races saw different faces smiling in Destination Daytona Victory Lane.  The net result was plenty of excitement, and fans left the track excited about what could be in store for the next week of racing action.

Anytime the Florida Mini Sprint Association comes to Volusia Speedway the fans know that these little winged monsters are going to provide an exciting show.  Couple that with the work related injury to Jesse Teed that had this year’s dominant force out of action on the World’s Fastest Half Mile, and the void at the front meant that it was anyone’s race to win.  The net result was plenty of position trading at the front, and racers aggressively fighting to be in position to seal a win late in the race.

David Pleaugh and promoter Ken Sands celebrate Pleaugh’s Florida Mini Sprint win

Brian Penrose, Eddie Moss, and Andy Delton, were among the early aggressors up front, but Paul Lanza quickly snatched the lead away from the front pack and assumed control.  Lanza looked to be off to a victory at first, but lurking behind was Morgan Blanchard, who refused to accept “no” as an answer, and who forced his way through traffic to the front.  Blanchard held the lead from lap ten until his mini sprint’s engine came unglued on the Volusia frontstretch, ending his night and passing the torch to Paul Lanza again.  But just a lap after the restart David Pleagh aggressively went after Lanza and forced his way past in turn 3 for the lead.

And while Pleaugh fought to keep his car in front, quite the battle erupted behind him as Dirk Miller, Lanza, Andy Delton, and Steve Crabtree, all mixed it up for position in the final few laps.  The end result saw David Pleaugh celebrating in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane, while Dirk Miller survived the night and settled for second place.  After fighting his way through traffic from a dismal starting position, Steve Crabtree managed a respectable third place finish, while Paul Lanza wound up fourth and Andy Delton finished fifth.


Corey Holley is all smiles after winning the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman feature

If any division demonstrated that aggression was the theme for the evening at VSP, it was the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division.  No sooner than the green flag waved then David Showers Jr. began a heated tussle for first place with Corey Holley, with Holley gaining control and leaving Showers to battle it out with the rest of the top five. Paul Shead wanted second place and swiped it from Showers cleanly, but Showers and Shead traded a little paint after the fact which got the attention of Steve Shead who was in fourth place at the time. You don’t mess with family, and Steve Shead immediately set his sights on putting his car in between Showers’ and Paul Shead’s machines, which began a series of events that stopped the race and had the crowd on its feet.

During laps 5 and 6 all eyes were on the 10 and 18 cars as Showers and Steve Shead repeatedly rubbed and bumped their way around the track.  That behavior quickly escalated when Shead rebuffed Showers who was rooting underneath him in turn 4, then Showers sent him spinning under the flagstand on the frontstretch.  With the caution waving Steve Shead righted his car while David Showers made another lap, and as the two came back together on the frontstretch again they began deliberately pounding each other under caution.  That wound up with both cars against each other at the pit exit in turn 1, as both drivers exited their machines and went at it hand to hand from that point.  Race officials and track workers quickly separated the combatants, and both were given the old heave ho before racing continued.  Both drivers were penalized to last place for the incident, but more sanctions and/or fines could be leveled during the week after a review by track officials.

Things were much calmer from that point as Corey Holley held on to notch a well deserved win and Kyle Chappell fought his way through the mayhem to place second on the night. Paul Shead hung on for third place and Matt Mcgillivray drove his car to an impressive fourth place finish after some early struggles.  Ken Hall survived some early paint exchanges up front, then raced his way to round out the top five.

Volusia’s Thunder Stocks have ramped up the competition over the past few races as Alan Peacock has dominated the show, but on Saturday night more early race aggression backfired on both Peacock and Alan Lane, as their turn 3 fender banging sent both to the pits with flat tires and tagged them onto the rear of the field.  That set the stage for Donnie Birdwell and Tom Hughes to go after race leader Austin Stamper, and both made their way past with Hughes collecting a little front quarter panel damage along the way.  That set Hughes off, and he focused his anger on putting his car in front and winning the race from that point on.

More beating and banging resulted in a rather scary moment as the exhaust from Jim Shaw’s car was knocked loose and wound up inside the cockpit of Brad Fender’s 69 machine.  Fender managed to duck away, but the heavy metal pipe caught the side of his helmet and visor, trashing both but saving his head in the process.  Track workers removed the exhaust system from the inside of the race car and Fender continued to race, saying later that he had an angel riding with him that protected him from harm.

Tom Hughes scored a hard fought Thunder Stock victory

Despite all of the aggressive behavior going on behind him, Tom Hughes remained focused on his goal and won a celebration in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane.  Donnie Birdwell also stayed out of the rough stuff and finished in second place behind Hughes, as Jim Shaw, minus his exhaust system, finished in third place.  Austin Stamper and Alan Lane rounded out the top five finishers.

Aggression continued as the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks hit the clay and began their feature race, but in their case at least the aggression was not directed at each other.  Grady Christian held the early lead from the pole until Bud Chancey put his foot to the floorboard and rocketed past all of the frontrunners.  Meanwhile Bubba Christian bypassed his Uncle Grady and went after Chancey, giving him fits for a couple of laps before making the pass for the lead on lap 7. Chancey refused to go down without a fight, but his attempt at retaking the lead led to a spin in turn 1 as he nosed his machine into the inside concrete barrier and drew a caution flag.

Bubba Christian gets excited after his Daytona Sportswear Street Stock win

Another factor in the outcome was last Saturday’s winner, Philip Brown.  Brown patiently watched the tussle between Christian and Chancey unfold from the third position on the track, then immediately focused on Bubba as soon as Chancey was out of the picture.  A late race shot at Bubba Christian looked quite promising at first, but the 13 car got a bit squirrelly in turn 2 and that allowed Bubba Christian to drive away to a win.  So as Bubba Christian celebrated with his family and friends in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane, Phil Brown slipped off to the scales in second place and will regroup for next week’s races.  Bud Chancey recovered from two spins to take third place, and Grady Christian was the fourth place finisher.  And after suffering some mid race issues that sent him to the pits, Charles McHone finished in fifth place.

Even the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers showed their share of aggression on Saturday night, and in the process ended the winning streak of current points leader, Casey Feaster.  Ray Hunter showed up at the big half mile and wasted zero time in demonstrating that he was the man to beat on the night, taking the lead and repeatedly rebuffing all attempts by Casey Feaster to get past him. But on lap 5 Hunter bobbled slightly in turn 2 and Feaster shot past, but Hunter retook the top spot just half a lap later.

Ray Hunter celebrates after his Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challenger victory

Feaster again grabbed the lead on lap 8, but Reid Christensen stopped at the exit of turn 4 and drew a caution so the lap was never completed, and in a turnabout of events from a few weeks ago, this time it was Feaster who lost the lead due to a caution instead of regaining it, so Ray Hunter restarted the race in front of the 20 car and held on for a victory.  And Feaster’s problems were not over, as RJ Glaser had been watching the whole affair unfold from third place, and now was out to finish in front of Casey Feaster even if it was only for second place in the race.  Glaser did just that, muscling past Feaster to claim second place while the points leader was relegated to a third place finish on the night.  Sonny Espy hung tough and finished in the fourth spot while Daniel Wolf claimed fifth place.

The only division where things went relatively calmly on Saturday night was the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Late Models.  The scheduled Elimination Race was postponed, so the late models ran their heat and feature race as per the normal schedule on the night, with the Elimination event to be rescheduled for a later date.  Stephen Thompson had the early lead from the pole position, but Lawton Minchew didn’t allow him to keep it but for a few fleeting seconds.  Minchew rocketed past and looked to be ready to drive away, but then pulled up and slowed a lap later on the frontstretch, pulling into the pits via the exit in turn 1.  That handed the lead to Roger Crouse, but Donnie Chappell had Crouse in his sights and by far the fastest car on the track, so Crouse’s lead was as shorted lived as that of the first two guys at the point.

Donnie Chappell gets another Destination Daytona Victory Lane celebration after winning the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Late Model feature

Once Chappell cleared Crouse and got open track in front of him, he left everyone behind and began systematically lapping virtually the entire field.  Crouse tried to keep the 25 car within sight, but Chappell built more than half a lap lead on the second place car and managed to lap Hamp Conley who was currently in third place.  Even a late race caution couldn’t reel in Donnie Chappell, who made it look easy as he sped to another Destination Daytona Victory Lane celebration and a huge points lead for the season so far.  Roger Crouse was the second place finisher as Hamp Conley placed third.  Cecil Martin stuggled but managed the fourth spot while Todd Alexander drove his smoking machine to fifth on the night.

The Quality Brands Budweiser Modifieds will return to action on June 4th at Volusia Speedway in a $1000 to win feature race event that is certain to provide plenty of excitement.  In addition to modified racing, fans will see more action from the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, the Thunder Stocks, the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers, and a Powder Puff event featuring the Street Stocks.  The results of the fan and racer surveys will be ready to announce, and fans can get a look at the updated season schedule at www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com.

Volusia Speedway Park Results for 5/28/11

Florida Mini Sprint Association

1- 711 David Pleaugh
2- 68 Dirk Miller
3- 5 Steve Crabtree
4- 15 Paul Lanza
5- 61 Andy Delton
6- 23 RaeLynn Moss
7- 1M Eddie Moss
8- 22 Andrew Kurjack
9- 67 David Hall
10- 6 Timmy Loveday
11- 14 Brian Penrose
12- 167 Kurtis Hughes
13- 88 Morgan Blanchard
14- 83 Justin Kolves
15- 16 Chris Pacetti
16- 8 Eddie Moss Jr.

Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Late Model

1- 25 Donnie Chappell
2- 15 Roger Crouse
3- 46 Hamp Conley
4- 25M Cecil Martin
5- 0 Todd Alexander
6- 31T Stephen Thompson
7- 23 Lawton Minchew
8- 66 Kyle Chappell

Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman

1- 11C Corey Holley
2- 66 Kyle Chappell
3- 80 Paul Shead
4- 95 Matt Mcgillivray
5- 3 Ken Hall Sr.
6- 78 Jason Cole
7- 8 Chris Day
8- 17K Marc Kinley
9- 2X Brandon Evans
10- 57H Heinz Haas
11- 10 Steve Shead (penalized to last place for fighting)
12- 18 David Showers Jr. (penalized to last place for fighting)

Daytona Sportswear Street Stock

1- 04 Bubba Christian
2- 13 Philip Brown
3- 32 Bud Chancey
4- 36 Grady Christian
5- A2Z Charles McHone
6- 5 Chris Lane
DNS- 21 Will Gardner

Thunder Stock

1- 29 Tom Hughes
2- 31 Donnie Birdwell
3- 32 Jim Shaw
4- 36 Austin Stamper
5- 05 Alan Lane
6- 13 Alan Peacock
7- 16 Brian Schrunk
8- 69 Brad Fender
9- 00 Jason Tovet
10- 03 Robert Schrunk
11- X Justin Dean

Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers

1- 79 Ray Hunter
2- 004 RJ Glaser
3- 20 Casey Feaster
4- 6 Sonny Espy
5- 01 Daniel Wolf
6- 30 Reid Christensen

Photos courtesy of Bob Perran: