by VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL-  Fans arriving at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night may have thought that they has stumbled into a fiesta as Uno De Mayo Night at VSP brought back five divisions of racing action to the fastest half mile in the south.  The Daytona Dodge Chrysler Late Models, Budweiser Modifieds, Taylor Racing Products Sportsman, Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, and the 4 Cylinder Challengers, all took to the festive atmosphere and cranked up the excitement level to maximum.  And the night brought some different faces to Victory Lane celebrations as some of the divisional front runners struggled on the hottest night so far in 2010.

The Budweiser Modifieds were the only regular division to race at Volusia Speedway Park last week, and while Jamie Carter had used that opportunity to solidify his place at the top of the points standings, Jeff Mathews fell short as he had to leave the race early.  This Saturday it was Carter who had some difficulties while Larry Burkins took control and dominated the race, but Burkins still had a hard charging Jeff Mathews right on his tail in the final three laps.  And despite Burkins racing with an intensity that had the crowd cheering wildly, Jeff Mathews managed to get the nose of the 33 car under him in turn 3 on the final lap, then snatch the win away coming out of turn 4.

As exciting as the finish was, Larry Burkins was not pleased.  As Jeff Mathews stood on the Victory Lane stage, Burkins charged up and accosted the race winner in the middle of his winner’s interview.  That incident was very quickly defused by Volusia Speedway Park officials, and the resulting disqualification for bad conduct sent Burkins from a second place finish to the dog house.  Kent Corbin moved into the second spot, followed by Rob Underwood in third place.  Jamie Carter struggled but salvaged a fourth place finish, while Don Rollison Jr. capped off the top five.

As is often the case with Jeff Mathews, he raced again later on, this time challenging the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Late Model Division.  And as had been the case with the Budweiser Modifieds, Mathews found himself starting in the 7th spot on the grid and having to deal with some traffic to get to the front.  But the early part of the race was no picnic as repeated mishaps took some cars out of contention and required three restarts before lap 2.  Mathews avoided the mayhem and used the opportunity to make his way forward, as Jason Kimball led the early laps.

Kimball managed to outrun Mathews for a bit, but the Tampa “Repo Man” was coming fast and was all over Kimball’s car by lap 6.  Joe Kump and David Clegg were also making moves behind Mathews and Kimball, and had a race of their own developing for the third spot.  The earlier confrontation in Victory Lane must have lit a raging fire inside of Jeff Mathews, because he blew past Kimball on lap 7 and opened up an insurmountable lead on his way to his second double divisional win night of 2010 at VSP.  David Clegg managed to get past Kimball as well, grabbing second place and forcing Kimball to third, while Joe Kump and Bobby Richardson rounded out the top five.

The Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Division came into Saturday night with Shaun Daugharty and Aaron Barsness tied at the top of the points standings, and fans knew that the tie would somehow be broken before the race was over.  Complicating matters for both drivers were their starting positions, as Daugharty wound up in the 5th spot on the grid, while Barsness was 7th, and the fact that no one had accounted for the unsponsored car of Chris Day, which shot out to the early lead and became the one to beat.

Both Daugharty and Barsness would be the beneficiaries of six cautions that were fairly evenly dispersed through the race, which kept things close among the leaders and never allowed anyone to run away from the others.  And it was just after one of those cautions when Shaun Daugherty discovered the high line and began using it to his advantage, making four passes in one lap to move to the second spot.  And on lucky lap 13 Daugharty again went high to pass Chris Day and take the lead.

Daugharty may have grabbed the lead, but Day was in no mood to let the front spot go without a fight.  Chris Day kept the 8 car either beside Daugharty, or right under his spoiler, for the final few laps of the race, creating a spectacular battle that had the fans on their feet.  And on the final lap Day positioned himself under Daugharty in turn 3, forcing a drag race to the checkers that Daugharty won by a nose.  Day would be second, with Stanton Mills coming on late in the race to grab third place.  Matt McGillivray finished fourth, while Aaron Barsness came home fifth.

The Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks saw a new face in Victory Lane on Saturday night after a hard fought and exciting race.  Phillip Brown was the early leader, but Mike Tovet was not about to allow a 7th starting position to ruin his night and was rapidly moving forward during the first half of the race.  Tovet would grab the lead after a restart halfway through, but only held it briefly before Tim Hughes cranked up the heat on him and snatched the lead away on lap 12.

While Tim Hughes was finding his grip on success, Trevor Gamble was losing his.  Gamble managed to create a caution as a flat tire sent him to the pits, but he failed to get back out in time to take the green, and thus ended up a lap down to the field and out of contention.  Hughes, on the other hand, was out in front and looking to stay there, as he grabbed his first win.  Mike Tovet was the second place finisher with Phillip Brown following for third.  Steve Oldaker drove his 51 car to fourth place, and D.J. Nobles also notched a top five finish.

Another top racer was having difficulties as the Challenger Division hit the track on Saturday. This time it was Casey Feaster, who has been virtually unbeatable, as his primary racecar developed mechanical issues that forced him into his backup ride.  That looked like a golden opportunity for Shawn Kosier to reclaim his winning ways, but no one accounted for Allen Espy, who climbed into the race car he had prepared for his daughter and showed that he still had a trick or two at his disposal.

At the restart from a late race caution, R.J. Glaser pounced on Espy at the green to steal the lead away, but a spinout in turn 2 forced yet another restart, and Glaser had shown his hand to the veteran racer.  So the second time that the field approached the green, Espy slowed to an absolute crawl, then fired off suddenly which totally snookered Glaser and gave the veteran a lead too big to erase.  Allen Espy got the win as James Sullivan moved ahead of Glaser for second place.  R.J. Glaser finished in the third spot followed by Casey Feaster and Shawn Kosier.

Volusia Speedway Park will take the next week off, but returns to action on May 15th with Fastlane 5 Racing on Military Appreciation Night.  All emebers of our armed forces past and present will be admitted free of charge with their military identification, and will see racing from VSP’s Daytona Dodge Chrysler Late Models, the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks. the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks, and the 4 Cylinder Challengers.

Volusia Speedway Park Results for 5/1/10

Budweiser Modified

1- 33 Jeff Mathews
2- 7 Kent Corbin
3- 09 Rob Underwood
4- 15 Jamie Carter
5- 88 Don Rollison
6- 41D Darron Smith
7- 75 Jimmie Carter
8- 40 James Smith
9- 91 Trevor Boettcher
10- 11P Michael Phillips
DQ (conduct)- 54 Larry Burkins

Daytona Dodge Chrysler Late Models

1- 33 Jeff Mathews
2- 07 David Clegg
3- 79 Jason Kimball
4- J17 Joe Kump
5- 45 Bobby Richardson
6- 23 Lawton Minchew
7- 32P Jeff Phipps
8- 11 Howard Stalls
9- 46 Hamp Conlay
10- RP1 Bug Rose
11- 21Q Chris Freeman
12- 3 Billy Boyd Sr.
13- 41 Barry Sheffield
14- 25 Donnie Chappell

Taylor Racing Products Sportsman

1- 00 Shaun Daugharty
2- 8 Chris Day
3- 57S Stanton Mills
4- 95 Matt McGillivray
5- 11 Aaron Barsness
6- 29S Drew Smith
7- 66C Kyle Chappell
8- 17K Marc Kinley
9- 22 Mike Haney
10- 88 Samuel Ashley
11- 05 Dan Lane Sr.
12- 17H Blaise Hetznecker
13-80 Paul Shead
14- 56 Tony Sansom
15- 18M Justin Merry
16- 2 Jimmie Norman
17-57 Carl Heinz Haas
18- 10 Steve Shead
19- 26 George Lane
DNS- 18S David Showers Jr.

Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks
1- 54 Tim Hughes
2- 98T Mike Tovet
3- 13 Phillip Brown
4- 51 Steve Oldaker
5- 17 D.J. Nobles
6- 11S James Smith
7- 34 Pat Buckley
8- 12 Travis Gamble
9- 77M Mark Maresca
10- 2S Mick Kulak
11- 18 John Rolling
12- 2H Cory Hupp
13- 64 Trevor Gamble
14- 66V Greg Vandergriff
15- 5H Chris Heaney
16- 91 Chris Montgomery
4 Cylinder Challenger

1- 16E Allen Espy
2- 31.5 James Sullivan
3- 004 R.J. Glaser

4- 20G Casey Feaster
5- 97 Shawn Kosier
6- X Justin Dean
7- 6E Gilbert Espy
8- XX Jordan Myers
9- 51 Nathan Rhodes
10- 01 Davy Wolf
11- 5S Thomas Parker
12- 16 Denica Hetznecker
13- 12 Robert Graham
14- 1.4 Anthony Morris
15- 1.5 Hubert Jett
16- 11 David Ladrie
17- 18PAC Michael Stein
18- 27S Alan Scott
DNS- 10 Miguel Hernandez
DNS- 60 James Smith Sr.
DNS- 81C Steven Cox