Sprinters Blister Volusia’s Clay As Martin Wins

The first appearance of the Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars in 2011 did not disappoint the fans as pole sitter Sport Allen took early control.  The early part of the race was plagued by a string of cautions thanks to some spins further back in the pack, but Allen hung on through that period and held the lead when the first longer green flag run occurred.  But that might not have been the best thing for Allen, as Mark Ruel jumped out in front of him briefly, and then Danny Martin got his machine wound up and passed them both.

Martin would use some green flag laps to his advantage in building a sizable lead, but only to have it erased again by the caution lights.  Sport Allen would slip back to fourth place, but battle his way back up to second within a few laps and then went to work on mastering whatever magic Danny Martin had conjured up.  And for a few laps, Sport Allen had it all working his way as he slipped past Martin and began to build a lead of his own, but Martin recovered and came back, grabbing the lead for good and holding it until the checkered flags waved.

Jesse Teed had a dismal starting position on the next to last row of the grid when the Florida Mini Sprint Association hit the track for their feature race, and after a long layoff with no racing for Teed coming into the night, many thought that he would have to break the rust loose before he could better his position in the field.  But Teed was determined to get to the front, and within the first three laps he had passed virtually everyone on his way to the race lead.  Steve Crabtree had his car hooked up and burning up the track becoming the main threat to Jesse Teed’s lead in the final laps, but the margin Teed had opened up was just too much to overcome, and Crabtree was forced to finish second.  Chris Pacetti was third with David Pleaugh fourth, and Justin Kolves rounded out the top five.

Saturday night saw another top performance out of the Tampa area’s Jeff Mathews as he found his way past the field and to the front of the Budweiser Modifieds.  Larry Burkins was also running strong and looked to challenge Mathews, but simply could not muster the handling to get the job completed as Mathews sealed another win.  Larry Burkins finished second with Jared Allison behind him for third place.  Bruce Harvey hung on for fourth place after running as high as second place in the earlier laps, and Jim Passino rounded out the top five finishers.

Tim Hughes was an early leader when the Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman Division got the green flag, but Blaise Hetznecker quickly found a way to get around him and assume the lead while Hughes got tangled with another machine and wound up propped against the wall at the exit of turn four.  That ended Hughes night as he tossed his steering wheel from the wrecked car and then nailed two others with his helmet, and on the restart Hetznecker was overwhelmed by Kyle Chappell who shot past and jumped out to a sizable lead.

The Amsoil Thunder Stocks provided a three way brawl for first place between Dalton Lanich, Tom Hughes, and Alan Peacock, that went for lap after lap while everyone else was forced to chase them.  Each of those cars managed to lead the race at one time or another in the opening laps, and each time another would rise to the occasion and take the lead away.  The battle raged for the entire race, with Dalton Lanich finally wrestling the lead away in time to get the checkered flags and seal a win.  Tom Hughes wound up second while Alan Peacock was a close third.  Austin Stamper followed in the fourth spot while Robert Donaly rounded out the top five.

Joe Belkey put in some extra time at his personal business and was a late arrival at the speedway on Saturday night, but that had no effect on his racing as he once more took control of the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks and scored yet another win.  Belkey has been dominant so far in 2011, and starting on the rear of the field seemed to only make him more confident and determined to get to the front.  Philip Brown gave it a good fight in his attempts to hold off Belkey, but wound up settling for the second spot while Bubba Christian finished third.  James Smith claimed the fourth spot and Mick Kulak was fifth.

If Casey Feaster thought that the road to yet another Sparkle N Shine Challenger victory was going to be easy, then he should have made sure that RJ Glaser got the memo before starting the race.  It began as a three wide fight that separated when Glaser and Feaster left Denica Hetznecker behind and began going at each other for the lead.  Glaser held it briefly before Feaster managed to get past, but the pesky 004 car would not let Feaster drive away.  Glaser stayed glued to Feaster and challenged him repeatedly, but in the end failed to get back by the 20 machine.  That handed the win to Casey Feaster while RJ Glaser’s efforts resulted in a second place finish.  Denica Hetznecker was third with Jamie Hughes following in the fourth spot. And despite mechanical woes, Daniel Wolf claimed the fifth spot.

Saturday, April 16th marks the return of racing to the World’s Fastest Half Mile as six divisions, including the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Late Models, will hit the clay for another night of exciting action.  The Little Miss VSP contest will pit a bevy of tiny beauties against each other for the 2011 crown, and fans who would like to enter their little girls in the contest should email VSPsales@live.com for an application.  The grandstand will open at 5:30 PM with racing set for 7PM, and for more information please visit VSP online at www.TheVolusiaSpeedway.com, or phone the track office at 386-985-4402.

Volusia Speedway Park Results for 4/9/11

Daytona Harley-Davidson Sprint Cars

1- Danny Martin Jr.
2- 81 Sport Allen
3- 83R Mark Ruel Jr.

Florida Mini Sprint Association

1- 7- Jesse Teed
2- Steve Crabtree
3- 16 Chris Pacetti
4- 711 David Pleaugh

Budweiser Modified

1- 33 Jeff Mathews
2- 54 Larry burkins
3- 18 Jared Allison
4- 27B Bruce Harvey
5- 34 Jim Passino
6- 67 Garret Stewart
7- 66 Dale Murray
8- 10 Scott Mooers
9- 96 Lonnie Wagner Jr.
DNS- 40 James Smith

Daytona Machine Shop Sportsman

1- 66 Kyle Chappell
2- 11 Aaron Barsness
3- 18S David Showers Jr.
4- 11C Corey Holley
5- 18X Shane Williams
6- 17H Blaise Hetznecker
7- 40 Steve Blanton
8- 20 Cheyene Cox
9- 57 Heinz Haas
10- 80 Paul Shead
11- 54 Tim Hughes
DNS- 78 Jason Cole

Daytona Sportswear Street Stock

1- 119 Joe Belkey
2- 13 Philip Brown
3- 04 Bubba Christian
4- 11 James Smith
5- 2S Mick Kulak
6- 7 Jerrid Bennett
7- 77 Marc Maresca
8- 5 Chris Lane
9- V1 Delbert Moyer
10- 34 Pat Buckley
11- 20 Scott Stewart
12- 3 Dean Kinsey

Amsoil Thunder Stock

1- 13 Dalton Lanich
2- 29 Tom Hughes
3- 5 Alan Peacock
4- X Austin Stamper
5- 9R Robert Donaly
6- 31 Donnie Birdwell
7- 32 Jim Shaw
8- 16 Brian Shrunk
9- 118 Ron Adams
10- 05 Alan Lane
11- 44 Jamie Anderson

Sparkle N Shine Challengers

1- 20 Casey Feaster
2- 004 RJ Glaser
3- 16 Denica Hetznecker
4- 15 Jamie Hughes
5- 01 Daniel Wolf
DNS- X Justin Dean