Saldana holds off McMahan in sprint cars during 12-day event at Volusia

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 13, 2014 – Kyle Bronson edged Ty Dillon, and Joey Saldana held off Paul McMahan, during the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment on Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

As the early leaders in the 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified feature found trouble, Bronson kept pushing to the front, eventually moving to the high side of the half-mile oval and edging NASCAR Nationwide driver Ty Dillon by 0.28 at the checkered flag.

“He went with a harder tire and I figured they would be better on the longer runs, but I think my softer tire worked better on the shorter run,” said Bronson, of Brandon, Fla. “Everybody acts like they’ve been given everything, but I’ve raced with them and they’re the best in the business, they should have been in NASCAR a long time ago.”

Earlier in the night, World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series regular Saldana showed off some newfound horsepower as he led the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event from wire-to-wire, topping his good friend, McMahan, in the process. Saldana and his Motter Motorsports team came together quickly before last season and struggled early. Now a year under their belts, Saldana has been one of the fastest cars on the track this February. (more…)

Austin Dillon, Kenny Wallace pace field early during Volusia opener

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Feb. 11, 2014 — On a night when NASCAR superstars invaded Volusia Speedway Park to race DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, it was Kyle Strickler battling back against Jeff Babcock on Tuesday to claim the first victory of the 43rd Annual DIRTcar Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

Austin Dillon and Kenny Wallace paced the field early in the 20-lap main event, but Strickler and Babcock worked their way to the front, swapped the lead back and forth before Strickler finally powered to the lead for good with two laps to go in the opener of the 12-night event.

“Usually on a racetrack this fast you don’t see racing that good,” said Strickler, of Mooresville, N.C. “Jeff and I hung out at Eldora and he’s a hell of a racer. I knew he would race me clean. This is probably one of the fastest racetracks I’ve raced on. It’s an amazing feat for us to come down here and do this well right off the bat.
As fast as Dillon and Wallace were early in the A-main, it was impressive the way Strickler and Babcock continued to push forward.

“They put their race suits on just like we do,” Strickler said. “The stuff they do on Sunday is completely different. I commend those guys for coming out, Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, the Dillons. If you look at the speed charts they were way out in front of us in the beginning, but the track came to us, the car came to me.” (more…)