BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 16, 2011 – Stewart Friesen powered to the inside of Brett Hearn on the final lap and surged to the checkered flag on Wednesday night in the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified opener of 40^th DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio for the second victory of his career at Volusia Speedway Park.

Friesen, the 2010 Super DIRT Week Big-Block Modified champion, kept chipping away at Hearn’s lead, finally getting the front end of his car to the inside of Hearn’s as they came to the white flag. Friesen then held his line into Turns 1 and 2 and drove into the lead down the backstretch and held off a final corner charge by Hearn. Danny Johnson motored from seventh to finish third while Matt Sheppard and Tim Fuller rounded out the top five. (more…)

From Kevin Kovac
DIRTcar Public Relations

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 16, 2011 – Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., gained a dose of redemption with a powerful drive to victory in Wednesday night’s caution-free 30-lap DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main during the 40^th annual DIRTcar Nationals by Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park.

Erasing memories of his heartbreaking last-lap loss 24 hours earlier to Martinsville, Ind.’s Don O’Neal, Mars grabbed the lead from reigning DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., on lap 16 and never looked back en route to his first win since 2000 at the half-mile oval.

“Last night we gave one up on the restart (with three laps remaining), so I was sure hoping we wouldn’t have another one (late in the race),” said Mars, who reached Victory Lane during the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH for the first time since 2000. “But the car was just stuck like suction cups out there. I’m telling you, this thing was unbelievable.”

Feger, 32, settled for a career-best DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH finish of second after surging off the outside pole starting spot to lead laps 1-15 in his Bob Pierce-built machine. He flashed under the checkered flag 7.659 seconds – over a full straightaway – behind Mars’s Deppe Enterprises MB Customs car.

Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., registered his best finish of the week, taking third after his bid to steal the runner-up spot from Feger fell just 0.072 of a second short at the finish line. Two-time defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., emerged from a multi-car position battle to place fourth for the second straight evening and 10^th-starter Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., finished fifth.

Mars, who turns 39 on Feb. 28, raved about the smooth Volusia racing surface, which produced a frenetic, non-stop feature that was completed in 9 minutes, 26.941 seconds.

“The track is beautiful,” said Mars, who is competing in the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH for the first time since 2007. “It’s a lot racier than what it used to be. There’s a lot of good track prep put into it.”

Feger was unable to stay with Mars, but he understood his shortcoming and was seen wearing a broad smile in the pit area following the race.

“We were set up to run the top,” said Feger, the 2009 DIRTcar UMP Late Model national champion. “We went with soft tires. I didn’t even realize those guys like Mars put on harder right-rear tires. I think if we would’ve had on the same combination as Mars I might’ve had a better chance to hold on.

“I know we would’ve been better toward the end of the race. The track definitely went away, but my tire went away too. We tore up the tire pretty good. I could feel it going away.

“I would’ve loved to get a win, but it’s pretty satisfying to have a run like this,” he added. “The best of the best are here, and this is by far our best run here. We struggled last year and Monday and Tuesday this week, so we’re definitely making progress with our program here.”

Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., ran in the top five for much of the distance but was shuffled back to sixth in the final rundown. Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., advanced from the 13^th starting spot to place seventh, while Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., was eighth, WoO LMS Rookie of the Year candidate Ron Davies of Warren, Pa., finished ninth and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., rounded out the top 10.

Seventy-four cars entered Wednesday night’s program.

In the group qualifying sessions that set the starting lineups for the evening’s six heat races, O’Neal established a new track record with a sizzling lap of 15.813 seconds. He surpassed the standard of 15.932 seconds held by Richards since Feb. 10, 2009.

Other group fast-timers were Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn. (16.737 seconds), Davies (16.460), Owens (16.428), Davenport (16.077) and Richards (16.089).

Heat winners were Marlar, Feger, Mars, Francis, Bloomquist and Richards. The B-Mains were captured by Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark.

Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., was victorious in the 12-lap ‘Bulrush Dash’ that closed the night. Back behind the wheel of his Rocket car after parking his new Capital Race Cars mount for the night, the WoO LMS regular earned $300 for topping the short sprint reserved for drivers who haven’t qualified for a DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH A-Main.

The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH continues on Thursday night (Feb. 17) with a doubleheader featuring the season-opening World of Outlaws Late Model Series event. A 50-lap tour A-Main paying $10,000 to win will top the card, which also boasts a 30-lap Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified headliner.

Gates open at 5 p.m. and race time is 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

For more information on the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, log on to www.DIRTcarNationals.com.

DIRTcar UMP Late Model 30-Lap A-Main Finish (Finish Pos./Start Pos./Driver):

1. (3) Jimmy Mars

2. (2) Jason Feger

3. (6) Scott Bloomquist

4. (4) Josh Richards

5. (10) Jonathan Davenport

6. (5) Steve Francis

7. (13) Dan Schlieper

8. (9) Jimmy Owens

9. (8) Ron Davies

10. (15) Earl Pearson Jr.

11. (24) Tim McCreadie

12. (12) Dennis Erb Jr.

13. (11) Don O’Neal

14. (17) Will Vaught

15. (22) John Blankenship

16. (21) Billy Moyer

17. (18) Rick Eckert

18. (16) Casey Roberts

19. (19) Clint Smith

20. (23) Austin Hubbard

21. (20) Jack Sullivan

22. (25) Dillan White

23. (7) Larry Wight

24. (1) Mike Marlar

25. (14) Dale McDowell

Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Larry Wight, 3. Dan Schlieper, 4. John Blankenship, 5. Tommy Kerr, 6. Jon Henry, 7. Vic Coffey, 8. Billy Moyer Jr., 9. Pat Doar, 10. Brian Reese, 11. Brad Neat, 12. Chuck Julien, 13. Brent Robinson

Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jason Feger, 2. Ron Davies, 3. Dale McDowell, 4. Clint Smith, 5. Eric Jacobsen, 6. Justin Ratliff, 7. Freddie Carpenter, 8. Dan Stone, 9. Wendell Wallace, 10. Tyler Bruening, 11. Brandon Sheppard, 12. John Lobb, 13. Tyler Ivey

Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jimmy Mars, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Earl Pearson Jr., 4. Jack Sullivan, 5. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 6. Dillan White, 7. Jason McBride, 8. Brandon Thirlby, 9. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 10. Eddie Carrier Jr., 11. Mason Zeigler, 12. Tim Fuller

Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Steve Francis, 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Casey Roberts, 4. Austin Hubbard, 5. Brady Smith, 6. Ricky Weiss, 7. Jared Landers, 8. Danny Mitchell, 9. Lee DeVasier, 10. Chad Hollenbeck, 11. Joel Callahan, 12. Chris Madden

Heat No. 5 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Scott Bloomquist, 2. Don O’Neal, 3. Will Vaught, 4. Billy Moyer, 5. Tim McCreadie, 6. Eric Wells, 7. Jeff Beyers, 8. Chub Frank, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. John Garvin Jr., 11. Mike Hammerle, 12. Lee Thomason

Heat No. 6 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Josh Richards, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Rick Eckert, 4. Kent Robinson, 5. Russell King, 6. John Mason, 7. Ryan Unzicker, 8. Roger Brickler, 9. Ken Schrader, 10. John Henderson, 11. Jill George, 12. Billy Ogle Jr.

B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Clint Smith, 2. John Blankenship, 3. Justin Ratliff, 4. Tommy Kerr, 5. Dan Stone, 6. Eric Jacobsen, 7. Jon Henry, 8. Pat Doar, 9. Vic Coffey, 10. Billy Moyer Jr., 11. Tyler Bruening, 12. Brandon Sheppard, 13. Wendell Wallace, 14. Tyler Ivey, 15. Brian Reese, 16. Chuck Julien, 17. Freddie Carpenter, 18. John Lobb, 19. Brent Robinson (DNS) Brad Neat

B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Jack Sullivan, 2. Austin Hubbard, 3. Brady Smith, 4. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 5. Jared Landers, 6. Dillan White, 7. Brandon Thirlby, 8. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 9. Jason McBride, 10. Joel Callahan, 11. Chad Hollenbeck, 12. Mason Zeigler, 13. Ricky Weiss, 14. Tim Fuller, 15. Danny Mitchell (DNS) Lee DeVasier, Eddie Carrier Jr., Chris Madden

B-Main No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Billy Moyer, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Kent Robinson, 4. Shane Clanton, 5. John Mason, 6. Ryan Unzicker, 7. Eric Wells, 8. Jeff Beyers, 9. Ken Schrader, 10. Chub Frank, 11. Roger Brickler, 12. John Garvin Jr., 13. John Henderson, 14. Jill George, 15. Mike Hammerle, 16. Lee Thomason (DNS) Russell King, Billy Ogle Jr.

‘Bulrush Dash’ Finish (12 laps): 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Roger Brickler, 3. Brandon Thirlby, 4. Jeff Beyers, 5. Jon Henry, 6. Eric Wells, 7. Brandon Sheppard (DNS) Justin Ratliff, Jared Landers, Eric Jacobsen, Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, Billy Moyer Jr., Jason McBride, Ken Schrader, Joel Callahan

Richards Leads World of Outlaws Regulars With Fourth-Place Finish After Starting 14th

By Kevin Kovac, WoO LMS P.R. Director

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 15, 2011 – Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., turned back the clock with a vintage performance at Volusia Speedway Park.

Flashing the form that made him a perennial star of the DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio from 2002-2004, O’Neal passed Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., on the final circuit to win Tuesday night’s 30-lap DIRTcar UMP Late Model A-Main.

The $7,000 triumph was the eighth of O’Neal’s career in DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH action – tops among all drivers since 1998. But it was his first win at the sweeping half-mile oval since the 2004 edition of the mid-winter racing classic.

“I don’t know if I can ever recapture that again,” O’Neal said of the Volusia magic that carried him to two wins in 2002, three in 2003 and two in 2004. “That was just one of them deals where you can do nothing wrong. But we have won two already this year (in Florida after also capturing Sunday night’s UMP-sanctioned event at Ocala Speedway), so maybe we can get another one this week and leave here feeling like we did back then.”

O’Neal, 46, returned to Volusia’s spotlight in dramatic fashion. He appeared headed to a third-place finish until a lap-27 caution flag – for the stopped car driven by John Blankenship of Williamson, W.Va. – allowed him to vault past Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., and Mars with a memorable outside charge behind the wheel of Larry Moring’s MasterSbilt machine.

Mars, who started second and led laps 1-29, fell to O’Neal’s top-side assault rounding turns three and four for the last time. O’Neal surged ahead off the fourth corner to beat Mars by 0.381 of a second.

Smith, who won the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event that closed last year’s DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, moved forward from the sixth starting spot to place third. Two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., who started 14th, picked up two spots following the race’s final restart to finish fourth and opening-night DIRTcar UMP winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., settled for a quiet fifth-place finish after starting 10th.

O’Neal, who started fifth, climbed up to second by lap 12 before ceding the position to Smith nine circuits later. He was resigned to finishing third until the race’s second and final caution flag was needed on lap 27.

After immediately shooting to the outside of turns one and two on the restart to overtake Smith for second, O’Neal drew close to Mars. Mars slid up to repel O’Neal’s initial challenge off turn two on lap 28, but O’Neal made the outside work the next lap.

“That yellow flag sort of gave me a new life,” said O’Neal, who did not enter the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH for the last two years. “I had never been on that top there (of turns one and two) the whole race, but I thought, ‘Man, I got nothing to lose running third here,’ so I hauled her off in there and that top was pretty good down there in one and two.”

Mars, who turns 39 on Feb. 28, fell short of reaching Victory Lane at Volusia for the first time since the 2000 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.

“A late-race caution kind of sucks, but it is what it is,” said Mars, who is competing in the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH this season after a three-year absence. “Don did a helluva job out there. I came off the corner and I heard him out there, so I did all I could do to get to the top but it just wasn’t there. I just had to let him go.”

Polesitter Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., slipped backward throughout the distance and finished sixth. Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., placed seventh, followed by 17th-starter Dan Schlieper of Sullivan, Wis., Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., who started third and was fifth for the lap-27 restart, and Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn.

With group qualifying utilized to set the starting lineups for the evening’s six heat races, Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., turned the overall fastest lap at 16.117 seconds. But his night ended there because terminal engine problems forced him to scratch from his pole starting spot in the sixth heat.

Other group fast-timers were Davenport (17.916), O’Neal (17.470), Owens (17.240), Mars (16.798) and Brady Smith (16.562).

Heat winners were Davenport, O’Neal, Owens, Mars, Brady Smith and Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ind. The B-Mains were captured by 15-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., defending DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., and Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark.

Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., closed Tuesday night’s card with a victory in the 12-lap ‘Bulrush Dash.’ He earned $300 for topping the short sprint reserved for drivers who haven’t qualified for a DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH A-Main.

The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH continues on Wednesday night (Feb. 16) with a doubleheader featuring 30-lap features for the UMP Late Models and the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds, which begin a four consecutive nights of action at Volusia.

Gates open at 5 p.m. and race time is 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

For more information on the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, log on to www.DIRTcarNationals.com.

DIRTcar UMP Late Model 30-Lap A-Main Finish (Finish Pos./Start Pos./Driver):

1. (5) Don O’Neal
2. (2) Jimmy Mars
3. (6) Brady Smith
4. (14) Josh Richards
5. (10) Billy Moyer
6. (1) Jimmy Owens
7. (8) Dale McDowell
8. (17) Dan Schlieper
9. (3) Jonathan Davenport
10. (11) Scott Bloomquist
11. (19) Tyler Reddick
12. (7) Pat Doar
13. (4) Kent Robinson
14. (21) Jack Sullivan
15. (12) John Mason
16. (20) Jason Feger
17. (25) Dennis Erb Jr.
18. (22) Tommy Kerr
19. (15) John Blankenship
20. (23) Earl Pearson Jr.
21. (9) Chub Frank
22. (16) Tim McCreadie
23. (18) Casey Roberts
24. (13) Rick Eckert
25. (24) Tim Fuller

Heat No. 1 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Pat Doar, 3. Rick Eckert, 4. Ron Davies, 5. Tommy Kerr, 6. Shane Clanton, 7. Eddie Carrier Jr., 8. Steve Francis, 9. Stacy Boles, 10. Jason McBride, 11. Jerry Perine (DNS) Russell King, Billy Ogle Jr.

Heat No. 2 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Don O’Neal, 2. Dale McDowell, 3. Josh Richards, 4. Brad Neat, 5. Tyler Reddick, 6. Jon Henry, 7. Dennis Erb Jr., 8. Aaron Ridley, 9. Brent Robinson, 10. Tyler Bruening, 11. Chuck Julien, 12. Freddie Carpenter (DNS) Wendell Wallace

Heat No. 3 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Chub Frank, 3. John Blankenship, 4. Earl Pearson Jr., 5. Eric Jacobsen, 6. Lee DeVasier, 7. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 8. Jeff Beyers, 9. Chad Hollenbeck, 10. Donald Beyers, 11. Mike Hammerle, 12. Vic Coffey

Heat No. 4 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Jimmy Mars, 2. Billy Moyer, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Jason Feger, 5. Tyler Ivey, 6. Dan Stone, 7. Brandon Thirlby, 8. John Garvin Jr., 9. Billy Moyer Jr., 10. Frankie Heckenast Jr., 11. Brian Reese, 12. Dillan White

Heat No. 5 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Brady Smith, 2. Scott Bloomquist, 3. Dan Schlieper, 4. Jack Sullivan, 5. Will Vaught, 6. Tim Fuller, 7. Larry Wight, 8. Clint Smith, 9. Roger Brickler, 10. John Lobb, 11. Danny Mitchell, 12. Jared Landers

Heat No. 6 (8 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. Kent Robinson, 2. John Mason, 3. Casey Roberts, 4. Ryan Unzicker, 5. Joel Callahan, 6. Mason Zeigler, 7. Ricky Weiss, 8. Jill George, 9. Lee Thomason, 10. Brandon Sheppard (DNS) Chris Madden, Austin Hubbard

B-Main No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Tyler Reddick, 2. Tommy Kerr, 3. Steve Francis, 4. Brent Robinson, 5. Aaron Ridley, 6. Stacy Boles, 7. Jason McBride, 8. Freddie Carpenter, 9. Tyler Bruening, 10. Jerry Perine, 11. Shane Clanton, 12. Eddie Carrier Jr., 13. Ron Davies, 14. Dennis Erb Jr., 15. Jon Henry, 16. Russell King, 17. Wendell Wallace (DNS) Brad Neat, Chuck Julien, Billy Ogle Jr.

B-Main No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Jason Feger, 2. Earl Pearson Jr., 3. Dan Stone, 4. Tyler Ivey, 5. Brandon Thirlby, 6. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 7. Eric Jacobsen, 8. Lee DeVasier, 9. John Garvin, 10. Dillan White, 11. Chad Hollenbeck, 12. Donald Beyers, 13. Brian Reese, 14. Mike Hammerle, 15. Jeff Beyers, 16. Billy Moyer Jr., 17. Frankie Heckenast Jr. (DNS) Vic Coffey

B-Main No. 3 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. Jack Sullivan, 2. Tim Fuller, 3. Will Vaught, 4. Larry Wight, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Roger Brickler, 7. Ricky Weiss, 8. Mason Zeigler, 9. Joel Callahan, 10. Jared Landers, 11. Clint Smith, 12. Lee Thomason, 13. Ryan Unzicker, 14. Jill George, 15. John Lobb, 16. Danny Mitchell (DNS) Chris Madden, Austin Hubbard

‘Bulrush Dash’ Finish (12 laps): 1. Brent Robinson, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Tyler Ivey, 4. Ricky Weiss, 5. Roger Brickler, 6. Larry Wight, 7. Brandon Thirlby, 8. Jason McBride, 9. Stacy Boles, 10. Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs, 11. Mason Zeigler, 12. Freddie Carpenter (DNS) Aaron Ridley, Eric Jacobsen, Lee DeVasier