by VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL-  With the Memorial Day Weekend fast approaching race fans are gearing up for the Annual Taylor Racing Products Sportsman spectacular at Volusia Speedway Park this Saturday night.  in addition to the best in Sportsman division action, fans will se the Daytona dodge Chysler Late models back in action on the big half mile, plus racing from the Daytona sportswear Street Stocks, the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks, and the 4 Cylinder Challengers.

Racers had their last bit of seat time before the Taylor Racing Products Sportman Spectacular this past Saturday night in a feature race won by the current points leader, Aaron Barsness.  And While Barsness was winning, he also added to his lead over second place Shaun Daugharty,  Daugharty’s night began with bad luck and finished with a less than stellar performance that earned him a ninth place finish, so Barsness now has a 21 point cushion at the top.  But those roles are reversed in the DIRTcar UMP Sportsman national rankings, as Shaun Daugharty is ranked fourth and Barsness is right behind him in fifth place.

Danny Vogel may not be a factor in the points race, but his brand new machine finished second to Barsness on Saturday, and gave the points leader a few things to consider during the week.  With $1200 going to the winner this Saturday, it is a sure bet that these racers, and others, will bring their “A” game to Volusia Speedway Park this weekend.
On May 15th Tyler Ivey drove a wounded and smoking race car to a Daytona Dodge Chrysler Late Model Feature win as Joe Kump desperately tried to chase him down.  Kump ran out of laps a bit too soon and Ivey prevailed, but he demonstrated the speed that he has found inside the new look J17 machine.  “Chewy” Minchew has also been strong lately, finishing the May 15th race right behind Kump, but David Clegg still holds onto the points lead despite a spate of lousy luck the last couple of times out.  Kump trails Clegg by 43 points going into this weekend’s race, and Donnie Chappell is in the third spot after finishing fourth the last time out.

Things are tight at the top of the Daytona Sportswear Street Stock points rankings with Phillip Brown still holding onto first place.  But Trevor Gamble is a mere 7 points shy of the leader while Tim Hughes is 4 points further back. But while these racers hold onto the top three spots in the points, the current hot shoe belongs to Mike Tovet, who has won two out of the last three outings.  Tovet is holding onto fourth place in the points and climbing, but right now is still 102 points out of the top spot.  While Trevor Gamble may be trailing Phillip Brown in the VSP points race, he is the top dog nationally in the DIRTcar UMP Stock Car standings, while Tim Hughes follows him by a mere 2 points.  Phillip Brown is sixth in the national standings.

When it comes to the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks at Volusia Speedway Park, Scott Mooers reigns supreme.  Not only does he hold the lead in the VSP 2010 points standings by a whopping 154 points over Luke Sadler, but he is also to top man in the DIRTcar UMP Factory Stock national standings as well by 97 points.  But apparently Luke Sadler failed to get the memo about Scott Mooers being a superman because Sadler beat him last Saturday night, and is gunning to do it again this weekend.  And Sadler is no slouch himself, currently ranked fourth in the national standing behind Mooers.

Things have started to scramble a little as some new faces ascend to the front of the field in the Challenger Division.  First it was Shawn Kosier who dominated the division, then Casey Feaster took a turn at the top, now the division is seeing a different winner every weekend as Allen Espy, Tony Laporta, and this Harold Lewis all have enjoyed celebrations in Victory Lane.  Despite recent events, Shawn Kosier still holds onto the VSP 2010 points lead by 51 over R.J. Glaser, and is still hanging in there in tenth place in the DIRTcar UMP Sport Compact national rankings, with R.J. right behind him in the twelfth spot.

The grandstand gates will open at 5:30PM this Saturday with heats scheduled to begin at 7:30PM.  For more information on the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Spectacular, or any other scheduled events at Volusia Speedway Park, please visit www.VolusiaSpeedwayPark.net.