Racing Heats Up as Dog Days Come To Volusia

Jamie Carter now has firm control over the points standings with the Budweiser Modifieds, as second place threat Jeff Mathews was absent from the starting field on July 24th after winning the feature event the previous weekend.  Mathews’ absence allowed a rather large gap of 135 points to form between himself and Carter, while Kent Corbin is the next closest racer at 202 points out of first place.  But Carter is far from home free yet, and anything can happen, especially to those who might least expect it.  Even if Mathews were to be absent again, both Corbin and Larry Burkins are running well enough lately to possibly challenge Carter in a race to the checkers.

Shaun Daugharty showed up in a pristine race car on July 24th and left the track early with that same car wadded up on a trailer.  Such has been the sort of luck that has befallen the early season points leader in the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Division, as he enjoyed great success and then became the victim of lousy luck from mid season on.  Meanwhile Aaron Barsness has taken advantage of Daugharty’s woes and taken over the points lead by 87points as Daugharty relentlessly continues to give chase, and if Daugharty can get his luck back on track he has a legitimate shot at regaining what he lost.  With time off for some healing and repairs, Shaun Daugharty should be refreshed and recharged for another shot at Barsness this Saturday night.

Philip Brown remains in control of the points race with the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, but Tim Hughes still lurks at 70 points behind him despite some misfortunes as of late.  Meanwhile, Cory Hupp is running strong, as is Mike Tovet and Bubba Christian, and though they may not in the lead pack of the points race, they certainly will have an effect on the numbers as the season continues.  And if Hughes can avert further troubles and keep things tight between himself and Brown, he still has a solid shot at a season championship in 2010.

The one division where there may not be any hope of upsetting the status quo looks to be the Amsoil Thunder Stocks, where Scott Mooers has his boot firmly planted on the throat of the entire division.  But while he holds a 168 point advantage over Luke Sadler in the points race, Mooers has not been winning races as Chad Scranton has made himself the man to beat each week.  That is, until Philip Brown jumped into David Whitt’s race car and pulled an exciting upset on July 17th.  Brown will most likely be sticking to the Street Stocks this weekend, so Scranton’s main concerns will be Scott Mooers and Luke Sadler.

Tony Laporta has reportedly done the math, and knows exactly what he must accomplish in order to beat Casey Feaster and defend his 2009 Challenger Championship.  But at 111 points in front of Laporta, Casey Feaster got a hard lesson in Murphy’s Law last Friday night when a broken down tow vehicle kept him from making it to Ocala Speedway, and sent him plummeting down the points ladder there.  That experience reminded Feaster of how fast it can all slip away, and thus refocused his determination to remain at the top at Volusia Speedway Park while he tries to regain what he lost at Ocala.   Laporta is equally determined, so every race now becomes extremely important to both racers at this point in the season.

Fans can enter the Volusia Speedway Park grandstands at 5:30PM this Saturday night, and racing is scheduled to begin at 7:30PM.  For more information on this week’s events, or to see the entire 2010 racing schedule, please visit www.VolusiaSpeedwayPark.net.