Rules Rule the Show at Volusia Speedway

by BJ Cavin-VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL- A hot afternoon dissolved into a chilly evening as another strong crowd of racers and fans gathered for a Saturday night of exciting action at Volusia Speedway Park, including two divisions of winged sprint cars and five of Volusia’s other regular racing divisions. And as the night unfolded, and even after all of the fans had gone home and were in bed, it turned out that the rule book may have more to do with the results on the track than some of the actual racing did. The net result was at least one very awkward interview in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane, plus a lot of declarations that ended up scattered on the tech barn floor as the results of one race were overturned.

Before the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks hit the clay for their heat races on Saturday night, virtually everyone in the pit area knew that Joe Belkey had a huge bulls-eye painted on his back. After all, Belkey had won all but one race in 2011 in dominant fashion, and rumors abounded about the legality of the 119 machine as a result. Talk on Saturday night was that Belkey was going to the tech shed after the race for an all night tear down if he finished first, and Belkey defiantly claimed in the Destination Daytona Victory Lane after his race that he and his car were ready if that situation happened. Belkey was first to take the checkers, money exchanged hands as a challenge was issued, and Belkey’s machine was found to be illegal during the wee hours of the morning, thus handing the win to Mike Tovet. Phil Brown got the second spot while Bubba Christian powered his way to third place. Danny Miller Jr. was fourth and Mick Kulak moved up to the fifth spot.

The rule book again affected the outcome of a race as the Sparkle N Shine Car Wash Challengers took checkered flag to end their race. After a heated battle for the lead, Casey Feaster finally managed to cross the stripe only once in front of RJ Glaser before Glaser retook the lead going into turn one. But as luck would have it for Feaster, James Sullivan lost a wheel and slammed the outside barrier in turn 3 just after that, causing a caution. By rule the scoring reverted to the last completed lap, which happened to be the one which Feaster had led, so Feaster’s car was placed in front of RJ Glaser for the restart.

Glaser was undaunted by that development and was all over Feaster as the green flag waved. But while Glaser’s move was gutsy and caught Feaster napping, Glaser actually passed the 20 car on the outside before reaching the flagstand, which constitutes a “jump” on the start and by rule requires a two position penalty in scoring. That handed the win to Casey Feaster and scored Reid Christensen into second place, which left RJ Glaser scored as the third place finisher. Jamie Hughes and Mike Budka were fourth and fifth. And as Casey Feaster metioned in his Destination Daytona Victory Lane interview, it unfortunately will likely result in yet another week of controversy for the defending division champion, while RJ Glaser is left to reflect on how something so good can go so bad so quickly.

The Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars were back for the second Saturday in a row, and as most might expect it was another show of absolute dominance by Danny Martin Jr. Sport Allen held the early lead and looked fairly strong, but Martin was quickly bypassing cars through the first five laps of the race, and as Allen caught up with the tail of the field Martin already had the 81 car in his sights. Martin blew by just one lap later and began building a commanding lead, putting most of the field a lap down in the process.

But while Martin may have been leagues above the rest, AJ Maddox was on the move as well, making his way to third place as he bypassed Mark Ruel Jr. and Tim O’Donnell. And when the caution flag slowed things down on lap 21, Maddox found himself poised to knock Sport Allen out of the second spot, and within reach of Danny Martin as the field restarted the race. Danny Martin launched himself away from everyone else on the restart and scored himself another victory while AJ Maddox took second place and Terry Weatherspoon placed third. Mark Ruel Jr and Sport Allen wrapped up the top five finishers.

The Florida Mini Sprints came to Volusia on Saturday after a nightmarish Friday night race in Putnam County that saw nine cars go rubber side up and only six cars manage to finish the race. The survivors of that carnage, plus some of their friends, brought a competitive field of cars to VSP and put on a top notch show as usual, and saved at least one vicious flip for the Saturday event at the big half mile as Ken Penta took a spectacular tumble down the frontstretch, but managed to walk away.

Paul Lanza held the early lead in the race but Jesse Teed was making quick work of everyone else at the same time, which put him into the top five just three laps into the race. Rookie Austin Jackson had taken the lead by the time Teed found the front two, and Jackson proved to be no match for the wiry old veteran racer. Jessie Teed took control and sped to his second straight victory at Volusia Speedway, followed by a hard charging Steve Crabtree for second place. Chris Pacetti wound up third while Austin Jackson hung tough for fourth place. Joey Spirey followed for the fifth spot.

Jeff Mathews has taken control of the Budweiser Modifieds at VSP and so far no one seems to be able to wrestle it away from him, and for the second week in a row the tandem of two almost identical 33 cars were working together to keep the rest of the field at bay. Devin Dixon was in the 33x, which is also one of Mathews’ back up machines, and Dixon actually had Mathews on the ropes through part of the feature race. So did Larry Burkins and defending champion Jamie Carter, but Mathews rose to the occasion and took control late in the race. So Jeff Mathews scored himself another win as Larry Burkins put on one of his strongest performances of the year but only managed a second place finish. Jamie Carter was also strong but faded late to claim the third spot, followed by Kent Corbin and Devin Dixon to round out the top five finishers.

Scott Lagasse hopped onto an airplane and flew south from Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, then jumped into the ride that he shares with defending champion Aaron Barsness to take on the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division at VSP. Lagasse built on what Barsness had established over the past few outings, getting the car set up to lead the pack on the World’s Fastest Half Mile, and doing just that as he blasted past Corey Holley for the lead on lap 3. And despite a race that saw multiple cautions for a variety of mishaps, spins, and other assorted misfortunes, that kept the competition close, Lagasse held off all challengers to score an interview in Destination Daytona Victory Lane. Furthermore, that win put a halt to Danny Vogel’s win streak, as the 99 machine finished in second place on the night, followed by Kyle Chappell for third place. Corey Holley was fourth, and Stanton Mills drove the 57P to fifth place.

The Amsoil Thunder Stocks saw a five car breakaway as the lead pack put a big expanse of real estate between themselves and everyone else, going after each other for the top spot. Chad Scranton was back and in the middle of that tussle, as was Tom Hughes who has stepped up and become one of the stronger racers in the division in recent weeks. Donnie Birdwell had a strong night and was in the mix as well, plus Sammy Dale managed to further stir the pot with his 88 machine. But Alan Peacock was behind the wheel of the gray 13 this week, and he used that car to swat away the others as he sped to a victory. Tom Hughes would be in second place as the checkers waved, and Chad Scranton grabbed the third spot. Sammy Dale was fourth and Donnie Birdwell finished fifth.

May 7th will bring the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Late Models back to Volusia Speedway Park after a couple of weeks away, and some Late Model racers will hand their rides over to the ladies for a Late Model Powder Puff Race that is sure to pack some surprises. Fans will also see more exciting action from the Open Wheel Modifieds, Sportsman cars, the Street Stocks, Thunder Stocks, and the Challengers. For more information on upcoming events at the World’s Fastest Half Mile, please visit us online at www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com or phone the track at 386-985-4402.

Volusia Speedway Park Results For 4/30/11

Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars

1- 24 Danny Martin Jr.
2- 3A AJ Maddox
3- 43 Terry Weatherspoon
4- 83R Mark Ruel Jr.
5- 81 Sport Allen
6- 11 Tim O’Donnell
7- 1* Tim George
8- 15 Johnny Gilbertson
9- 14 Ryan Partin
10- 34 Darren Orth
11- 8 Rich Alexander
12- 42 Tim Grubaugh
13- 98 Hal Wilson
14- 27P Otto Scrape
15- 27W Troy Knowles
16- 20 Gary Avera
17- 36 Ken Laureno
18- 83A Chistine Auld
19- 3 Dennis Misuraca
20- 19 Randy Leino
21- 32 Larry Pickett
22- 0 Jimmy Ballew
DNS- W3 Dan Pickett
DNS- 59 Dan Statter

Florida Mini Sprint Association

1- 7 Jesse Teed
2- 5 Steve Crabtree
3- 16 Chris Pacetti
4- X59 Austin Jackson
5- 62 Joey Spirey
6- 88 Morgan Blanchard
7- 83 Justin Kolves
8- 8 Eddie Moss Jr.
9- 68 Dirk Miller
10- 711 David Pleaugh
11- 1M Eddie Moss
12- 21 Lenny Dallman
13- 67 David Hall
14- 14 Brian Penrose
15- 15 Paul Lanza
16- 6 Timmy Loveday
17- 71 John Craddock
18- 23 RaeLynn Moss
19- 24 Ken Penta

Daytona Sportswear Street Stock

1- 98T Mike Tovet
2- 13 Philip Brown

3- 04 Bubba Christian
4- 99 Danny Miller Jr.
5- 2S Mick Kulak
6- V1 Delbert Moyer
7- 57P Zack Permann
8- 77 Marc Maresca
9- 28 Jeff Miller
DNS- 36 Grady Christian
DQ (tech) 119 Joe Belkey

Sparkle N Shine Challenger

1- 20 Casey Feaster
2- 30 Reid Christensen
3- 004 RJ Glaser
4- 15 Jamie Hughes
5- 64 Mike Budka
6- 01 Daniel Wolf
7- 41 Billy Peterson
8- 28 James Sullivan
9- 16 Denica Hetznecker
10- 6 Sonny Espy
11- 21
12- 51 Ashley Taylor
DNS- 48 Mark Comitale

Budweiser Modified

1- 33 Jeff Mathews
2- 54 Larry Burkins
3- 75 Jamie Carter
4- 0K Kent Corbin
5- 33X Devin Dixon
6- 66 Dale Murray
7- 3 PJ Wiggins
8- 10 Scott Mooers
9- 96 Lonnie Wagner Jr.
10- 18 Jared Allison
11- 41 Gary Sexton
DNS- Z06 Larry Mott

Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman

1- 11 Scott Laggasse Jr.
2- 99 Danny Vogel Jr.
3- 66 Kyle Chappell
4- 11C Corey Holley
5- 57P Stanton Mills
6- 17H Blaise Hetznecker
7- 95 Matt Mcgillivray
8- 77A Wayne Allen
9- 54 Tim Hughes

10- 57H Heinz Haas
11- 10 Steve Shead
12- 8 Chris Day
13- 17K Marc Kinley
14- 78 Jason Cole
15- 80 Paul Shead

Amsoil Thunder Stock

1- 13 Alan Peacock
2- 29 tom Hughes
3- 27 Chad Scranton
4- 88 Sammy Dale
5- 31 Donnie Birdwell
6- 05 Alan Lane
7- 118 Ron Adams
8- 0 Jason Tovet
9- 16 Brian Shrunk
10- 03 Robert Shrunk
11- 9 Jim Goempel
12- 36 Austin Stamper
13- 53 Larry Nelson
14- 23 Jim Nichols

Photos courtesy of Bob Perran:

Jesse Teed celebrates his Florida Mini Sprint victory