VSP MEDIA
Barberville, FL (March 14, 2010) Volusia Speedway Park opened their 2010 season with a cool, brisk wind and plenty of racecars and fans. Although it is March, the night air is still cool so jackets, blankets, hot chocolate, and coffee were in order.

Sixteen Modifieds made the trip to Volusia for opening night with Garret Stewart and Jeff Mathews taking the heat wins. Unable to compete in the feature were David Moheng, Chuck Gustafson, Jr., and Kyle Owens due to problems in their heat races.

For their 20 lap feature it was P.J. Wiggins on the pole and Kent Corbin on the outside pole. Wiggins quickly jumped to the lead followed by Corbin, Curt Myers, Jeff Mathews, and Larry Burkins. Caution came out on lap 1, the only caution of the race, for Micheal Phillips and Randy Hecker.

With the green back out, Wiggins once again took the point followed by Myers, Matthews, Carter, and Burkins. Matthews takes over second but not for long as Jamie Carter takes second putting Myers third and Matthews fourth. By lap 6, Wiggins, Carter and Matthews are three wide and all wanting the point but it is Carter who comes out on top followed by Matthews, Myers, Burkins and Wiggins. Burkins puts the heat on Myers and takes over third as Matthews passes Carter for the point.

Lap 10 sees Larry Mott exit the track as Matthews continues to lead the way. Carter tries everything he has but cannot pass Matthews for the win. Matthews takes the checkered followed by Jamie Carter, Larry Burkins, Curt Myers and our newest Modified driver Garret Stewart.

Sportsman saw Paul Shead and Drew Smith take the heat wins. On the pole for their 20 lap feature was Matt McGillivray and Shaun Daugharty. Daugharty takes the early point followed by McGillivray, Shead, Sammy Ashley and Blaise Hetznecker. Shead passes Daugharty and takes over the point as Daugharty settles into second.

The caution comes out on lap 7 for Kyle Chappell who has stopped in turn 3. With Daugharty on the inside and Shead on the outside, Shead takes the point over Aaron Barsness, Daugharty, McGillivray, and Ashely. By lap 8, Barsness is right on Shead for the point but Shead holds him off. However, by lap 10, Barsness has the point and as they say “never looks back” taking the first win of the season in the Sportsman division. Following Barsness to the checkered was Samuel Ashley, Paul Shead, Shaun Daugharty, and Matt McGillivray.

Winning the heat races for the Late Models was Donnie Chappell and Adam Bedenbaugh. On the pole for their 25 lap feature was Jeff Matthews with Jason Davis on the outside pole. But before the race could really get going good, the caution came out for Dillon Wood who exited the track.

Matthews takes the inside, Davis takes the outside for the restart as Matthews takes the point over Davis, Kellum, Kump, and Chappell. Caution comes out again on lap 3 for debris on the track in turn 1. Kellum has exited the track under caution and the debris on the track is from Bobby Richardson’s car. Matthews on the inside, Davis on the outside as Davis puts his hand out the window and the caution is out.

Matthews takes the inside, Davis gets the outside for the restart as Matthews takes the point over Davis, Kump, Bedenbaugh, and Shane Williams. Davis does his best to try and pass Matthews and gets right on his rear-end but Matthews will have nothing to do with it. Top five are now Matthews, Davis, Kump, Clegg and Chappell. Chappell has heavy damage to the right side of his car.

The caution comes out on lap 23 for Jeff Phipps who has spun in turn 1. With two laps left, it is a single file restart for Matthews. Can Davis get the job done in two laps??

Matthews takes the point on the restart followed by Davis, Kump, Clegg and Williams. Darell Padgett puts the heat on Williams and takes fifth as Matthews crosses the checkered for his second win of the night. Following Matthews to the checkered were Jason Davis, Joe Kump, David Clegg, and Darell Padgett.

Mick Kulak and Trevor Gamble took the Street Stock heat wins. On the pole for the 20 lap feature was Mark Maresca with Phil Brown on the outside pole. Phil Brown takes the point over Tovet, Maresca, Hughes and Hupp. Maresca has problems and falls back as Brown continues to lead the way over Tovet, Hughes, Hupp and now Trevor Gamble. The caution comes out on lap 4 for D.J. Nobles who has lost his rear-end defferential in turn 1. The track goes to the red flag to clean up the track.

Back under yellow now with Brown on the inside and Tovet on the outside for the restart. But it is not to be as the caution comes out again for three cars that have gotten together with Robert Sirmans spinning around on the frontstretch. One more try as Brown takes the inside and Tovet takes the outside. Tovet takes the lead over Brown, Gamble, Sirmons and Mike Eubanks. Gamble looks to pass Brown but Brown holds. However on lap 7 Gamble makes the move work and takes over second now looking on Tovet for the lead.

On lap 9 in turn 4, Gamble makes the move work and passes Tovet taking over the point. There is an entire straightaway between the first, second, third, and fourth cars and the fifith place car of Eubanks. Halfway and Gamble leads over Tovet, Brown, Sirmons, and Eubanks. Gamble is coming very close to lapping the fifth place car.

Tovet slows in turn 3 on lap 14 and is smoking badly and exits the track with only one lap left to go. Also exiting at the same time is Steve Oldaker. Gambles continues to lead the way and takes the checkered for his first win of the year followed by Phil Brown, Robert Sirmons, Mike Eubanks, and Mark Maresca.

There were alot of new 4 cylinder Challengers in the field tonight with Tony Laporta and Larry Langston taking the heat wins. Unable to make the feature race were Jordan Myers, Davey Wolf, and Alan Scott.

James Smith, Sr. had the pole for the feature with Shawn Kosier on the outside pole. Smith takes the early lead over Kosier, Scott Sullivan, Lane and Langston. Kosier puts the heat on Smith and takes the point followed by Scott Sullivan, James Sullivan, Steven Coxx, and Larry Langston. The caution comes out on lap 11 for RJ Glaser and Michael Lane who have gotten together in turns 3 and 4. Lane is able to drive off but Glaser finds himself stuck in the mud. The wrecker comes out to save the day for Glaser and pulls him out of the muddy stuff as Glaser is able to continue on as he throws alittle mud on the track.

Kosier has the point for the restart and takes the point followed by Scott Sullivan, James Sullivan, Steven Coxx, and Larry Langston. Tony Laporta, who won the majority of the 4 Cylinder Challenger races in 2009, has problems on the backstretch and has his hood up which is never a good sign. The wrecker comes to his aide and sadly, Tony Laporta is done for the night which is rarely seen.

Kosier holds on and takes the checkered for his first win at Volusia Speedway Park and the first win for the 4 Cylinder Challengers in 2010. Following Kosier to the checkered was Scott Sullivan, James Smith, Sr., Larry Langston, and Steven Coxx.

Thunder Stocks saw Randy Strehle and Donnie Nobles take the heat wins. However, Strehle’s night ended in a firey wreck as he crossed the checkered in second and ended up rolling over about four times and his car catching on fire. Thank goodness Randy was not hurt however his brand new car was basically toast. Not how Randy Strehle had planned to start the new year. Strehle had a sore arm but luckily was not burned at all.

Luke Sadler had the pole for the feature with our lady driver Courteney Eubanks on the outside pole. Sadler takes the point on the green followed by Richard Calmes, Jr., Scott Mooers, Eubanks, and Wally Douglass. Strehle puts the heat on Douglass and takes over fifth. By lap 4, Mooers has put the heat on Calmes and takes over second as Strehle passes Eubanks and takes over fourth.

On lap 7, as Sadler and Mooers are fighting for the lead, Sadler spins on the frontstretch right in front of all the oncoming cars with alittle help from Mooers. Both cars are sent to the rear for the restart. Strehle stops to have alittle sheet metal removed from the incident and takes the point on the restart followed by Eubanks, Douglass, Nobles, and Mooers. The caution comes back out again on lap 8 for debris on the track.

Strehle once again takes the point on the restart followed by Eubanks, Nobles, Mooers, and Douglass. Nobles and Mooers pass Eubanks taking over second and third as Eubanks settles into fourth. Lap 10 Mooers tries to pass Strehle but Strehle shuts the door on him. Strehle continues to lead the way as he and Mooers are fighting for the win. Coming to the checkered, with a lap car somewhat in the way, Mooers and Strehle touch slightly sending Randy into a wild finish upside down and on fire. Strehle was not happy as Mooers was given the win over Strehle, Donnie Nobles, Courteney Eubanks and Robert Schrunk.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK
MARCH 13, 2010

LATE MODELS

1. #33 Jeff Matthews
2. #145 Jason Davis
3. #J17 Joe Kump
4. #07 David Clegg
5. #46P Darell Padgett
6. #16 Shane Williams
7. #22 Brett Carlton
8. #45 Bobby Richardson
9. #32P Jeff Phipps
10. #25 Donnie Chappell
11. #02 Travis Roden
12. #26 Adam Bedenbaugh
13. #5K John Kellum
14. #26W Dillon Wood
15. #3 Billy Boyd, Jr.
16. #RP1 Bud Rose DNS

MODIFIED

1. #33 Jeff Matthews
2. #15 Jamie Carter
3. #54 Larry Burkins
4. #91 Curt Myers
5. #67 Garret Stewart
6. #1C Chip Owen
7. #410 PJ Wiggins
8. #OK Kent Corbin
9. #96 Randy Hecker
10. #11P Michael Phillips
11. #66 Dale Murray
12. #Z06 Larry Mott
13. #40 James Smith
14. #12 David Moheng DNS
15. #11 Chuck Gustafson, Jr. DNS
16. #2 Kyle Owen DNS

SPORTSMAN

1. #11 Aaron Barsness
2. #88 Samuel Ashley
3. #80 Paul Shead
4. #00 Shaun Daugharty
5. #95 Matt McGillivray
6. #17H Blaise Hetznecker
7. #18M Justin Merry
8. #17K Marc Kinley
9. #38 Collin Wright
10. #57 Karl Haas
11. #29S Drew Smith
12. #10 Steve Shead
13. #66C Kyle Chappell
14. #20 Mitchell Wise
15. #22L Scott Lagasse, Jr. DNS

STREET STOCK

1. #64 Trevor Gamble
2. #13 Phil Brown
3. #94 Robert Sirmons
4. #18E Mike Eubanks
5. #77M Mark Maresca
6. #2S Mick Kulak
7. #98T Mike Tovet
8. #51 Steve Oldaker
9. #54 Tim Hughes
10. #2H Cory Hupp
11. #17 D.J. Nobles
12. #66V Greg Vandergriff DNS

THUNDER STOCK

1. #10 Scott Mooers
2. #24 Randy Strehle
3. #17 Donnie Nobles
4. #81 Courteney Eubanks
5. #03 Robert Schrunk
6. #6 Wally Douglass
7. #22 Kelly Snyder
8. #V1 Delbert Moyer
9. #15 Luke Sadler
10. #07 Richard Calmes, Jr.
11. #9 Jim Geonpel
12. #33H Tom Hughes DNS

4 CYLINDER CHALLENERS

1. #97 Shawn Kosier
2. #31 Scott Sullivan
3. #60 James Smith, Sr.
4. #49 Larry Langston
5. #88 Steven Coxx
6. #6E Gilbert Epsy
7. #004 RJ Glaser
8. #5S Kevin Dugan
9. #126 Robert Graham
10. #20 Casey Feaster
11. #11 David Ladrie
12. #67 Pete Handstein
13. #21S James Sullivan
14. #3T Tony Laporta
15. #911 Michael Lane
16. #37 Steve Danese
17. #XX Jordan Myers DNS
18. #48W Davey Wolf DNS
19. #27S Alan Scott DNS