{"id":25799,"date":"2019-01-26T17:29:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T17:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/?p=25799"},"modified":"2019-01-26T17:30:06","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T17:30:06","slug":"dirtcar-late-models-kick-off-week-two-of-dirtcar-nationals-to-set-stage-for-world-of-outlaws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/upcoming-events\/dirtcar-late-models-kick-off-week-two-of-dirtcar-nationals-to-set-stage-for-world-of-outlaws\/","title":{"rendered":"DIRTcar Late Models Kick Off Week Two of DIRTcar Nationals to Set Stage for World of Outlaws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BARBERVILLE, FL \u2013 Jan. 25, 2019 \u2013 When\nthose in the motorsports world think about the start of any racing season,\ntheir minds automatically revert to palm trees and warm temperatures of Florida\nin February. Dirt track fans\u2019 minds wander to the famous Gator Pond at the World\u2019s\nFastest Half-mile<\/em>, Volusia Speedway Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first week of DIRTcar Nationals\ncaters to the open-wheel fans, while the second week indulges full-fender fans\nwith two action-packed nights of DIRTcar Late Models followed by four straight\nnights of the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Jonathan Davenport scored his\nfirst career feature win at Volusia in what would be the lone DIRTcar Late\nModel feature. The next night was won by Mother Nature before the World of\nOutlaws Late Models took the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006 World of Outlaws Champion Tim\nMcCreadie kicked things off with his first feature win in a Super Late Model at\nVolusia since 2013 and sixth of his career. It was also his first World of\nOutlaws triumph since 2015. Later in the week, McCreadie would bag a second\nGator with the Super DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds and eventually the 2018\nDIRTcar Nationals crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next night, on February 15, 2018,\nDale McDowell won his first Volusia feature in 19 years (February 13, 1999),\nending the longest drought in DIRTcar Nationals history. His only other\ntriumphs came in 1999 and 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To wrap up the week, 2004 World of\nOutlaws Champion Scott Bloomquist grabbed career win #12 and first since 2016,\nwhile 2017 World of  Outlaws Champion Brandon Sheppard bagged his only\nVolusia triumph of 2018 and second of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With three second place finishes, one\nfourth place, and even one 25th place run, Chris Madden walked away with the\nBig Gator as the 2018 DIRTcar Nationals Champion \u2014 for the first time. The Gray\nCourt, SC star later went on to place third in the chase for the 2018 World of\nOutlaws Late Model Series Championship with eight feature wins, 25 top fives\nand an astounding 33 top 10s in 40 starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premier cars and stars in the\nfull-bodied world mark the month of February as a time to establish their mark\nand show what the future could hold for the rest of the season. Since that\ngame-changing day of February 14, 2005, when York, PA veteran Rick Eckert\ncollected the first-ever DIRTcar Late Model feature win at DIRTcar Nationals,\nthere have been 23 different winners in the 41 races conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1972, there have been 215\noverall dirt Late Model features conducted at Volusia Speedway Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever date you begin from, however,\nthe same name tops the list. Six-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals Champion and\nNational Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Billy Moyer leads the way with 19\noverall career wins at Volusia, including 10 since 2005, with six of those\ncoming in DIRTcar Late Model competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His last DIRTcar Late Model checkered\nflag came in 2012, while his last overall victory at Volusia came in a Word of\nOutlaws Late Model race a year later in 2013. The Batesville, AR legend scored\nhis first victory at Volusia back in 1985. In 2016, his son, Billy Moyer Jr.,\njoined him on the winners list as the second father\/son combination to score\nfeature wins after Jack Boggs (1981) and his son, Jackie Boggs (2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow National Dirt Late Model Hall\nof Famer Scott Bloomquist is second all-time in career wins at Volusia with 12;\nwhile four-time World of Outlaws Champion Josh Richards, also a four-time\nDIRTcar Nationals Champion, has 10 trips to Victory Lane. Four of Richards\u2019\nvictories came in a DIRTcar Late Model, and the last three DIRTcar Nationals\ntitles for Richards propelled the Shinnston, WV superstar to eventual World of\nOutlaws crowns (2016, 2013 & 2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1972 and 1976, Wayne Shugart\nrecorded nine victories, which has stood the test of time all these years later\nat fourth all-time in career feature wins. Jack Boggs and Don O\u2019Neal are tied\nfor fifth at eight victories apiece with O\u2019Neal winning the 2017 finale, a\nWorld of Outlaws event, on February 25 \u2014 his first win at Volusia since\nFebruary 15, 2011. That win broke a tie with 2011 World of Outlaws Champion\nRick Eckert, who last visited the winner\u2019s stage on February 17th, 2006, some\n12 years ago. Eckert stands alone in seventh with seven wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015 World of Outlaws Champion Shane\nClanton has been the one to beat in recent seasons having captured two DIRTcar\nNationals titles in 2015 and again in 2017. Only Richards briefly stopped that\nstring in 2016. The Zebulon, GA standout has scored all six of his DIRTcar\nNationals feature wins since 2015 with one of those coming in a DIRTcar Late\nModel event, while the other five have been in World of Outlaws competition.\nHis first DIRTcar Nationals title in 2015 propelled him to his eventual World\nof Outlaws championship that same year. Clanton is tied for eighth all-time\noverall at Volusia with six, sharing that honor with Larry Moore, Freddie Smith\nand McCreadie who collected win #6 in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With car counts in the 50s and up,\nDIRTcar Nationals sets the tone for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moyer leads all drivers with six\nDIRTcar-only feature wins, while Richards is tied with Bloomquist for second\nall-time in DIRTcar Late Model-only victories with four. McCreadie stands alone\nin fourth with three wins, as five drivers are tied for fifth all with two\nvictories apiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After DIRTcar Nationals, the DIRTcar\nLate Model teams shift focus to the remainder of the 2019 season. Many of the\nteams will look ahead to the 34th annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour\nstarting on Wednesday, June 12 at Peoria Speedway (IL). The schedule features\n28 races over 32 days covering about 3,800 miles from Illinois to Indiana, down\nto Tennessee, back to Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin and Michigan before finally\ncrowning at champion on Saturday, July 13 at Oakshade Speedway (OH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New in 2019, fans will be able to\nfollow the entire tour LIVE on DIRTVision<\/strong><\/a> with a Late Model Fast Pass when the event\nisn\u2019t at their home track. Know the stories before you get to the track by\nfollowing along every night!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BARBERVILLE, FL \u2013 Jan. 25, 2019 \u2013 When those in the motorsports world think about the start of any racing season, their minds automatically revert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118,61,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dirtcar","category-racing-news","category-upcoming-events"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25801,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25799\/revisions\/25801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}