{"id":25935,"date":"2019-08-05T19:54:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T19:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/?p=25935"},"modified":"2019-08-05T19:55:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T19:55:00","slug":"david-whitener-takes-powell-memorial-victory-at-volusia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/tracks\/volusia-speedway-park\/david-whitener-takes-powell-memorial-victory-at-volusia\/","title":{"rendered":"David Whitener Takes Powell Memorial Victory At Volusia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY\u00a0JOE VANHOOSE<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0JULY 23, 2019<\/abbr> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t tell the story of the Powell Memorial without Mark Whitener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitener, known as \u201cThe Magic Man,\u201d rolled into Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida Saturday night looking to win Central Florida\u2019s biggest Pro Dirt Late Model race for the fifth time \u2013 and the fourth time in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the 67-lap feature, a Whitener climbed out of a black No. 5 car in victory lane. But this time, it was brother David Whitener jumping on the roof of his car and waving the checkered flag with gusto. Together, the Whitener Brothers from Middleburg, Florida led every lap of the Powell Memorial, but David led the last 50 circuits in a dominating performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won a Powell! Yeah!\u201d David Whitener exclaimed in victory lane. \u201cI tell you, this is the best race \u2013 this is the best race of the year. This is 100-percent the biggest win of my career!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Whitener led the 26-car field to the green flag, but Mark Whitener quickly moved up from his fourth-place starting spot to grab the lead on lap 10. But on a lap-17 restart, David Whitener banged doors with his brother and got the lead back, a lead that he would not relinquish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most of the race, it seemed that the Whiteners would finish 1-2, even as David Whitener continued to pull away from the field as he pushed the cushion of the track higher and higher, running closer to the outside wall than anyone on the half-mile clay track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering that Mark Whitener, Jr. \u2013 \u201cLil Magic,\u201d as the 16-year-old is known \u2013 had already won the 602 Late Model feature earlier in the evening, the Whitener family looked to have a dream night in hand as the main event progressed. Jason Fitzgerald gave chase to the brothers but could not overtake them. Powell Memorial past champion Ivedent Lloyd started and stayed near the front but suffered a mechanical failure on lap 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late caution brought a new cast of contenders closer to the Whiteners, including Dalton Cook who had passed several cars on the very bottom of the race track to move up from ninth to third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook tangled with Mark Whitener on the restart, the clash sending Whitener\u2019s car spinning down the frontstretch and into the pit side wall. Officials sent Cook to the rear of the field, but not before Whitener spun his car toward Cook as the pack passed by under caution and ultimately retired to the pits \u2013 he finished 15th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(Dalton) could have calmed down on that restart there,\u201d Mark Whitener said afterward. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the final restart, David Whitener again broke free from his chasers and cruised to his first Powell Memorial win. Fitzgerald held onto second, with Trynt Lloyd \u2013 son of Ivedent Lloyd \u2014 finishing third in just his third pro late model start. Trey Pearson and Jamie Carter rounded out the top five, while Cook rallied back through the field to claim sixth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterward, David Whitener was quick to thank his brother, who happens to be his car owner, who joined him after the win in the frontstretch celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy brother, he gives me a good ride and lets me race for him \u2013 our cars are badass,\u201d David said, still excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was the class of the field tonight,\u201d Mark Whitener said. \u201cI\u2019m glad his name gets to be on this trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad my name gets to be on top of his,\u201d David Whitener interjected. \u201cThis is such a good feeling. This is the best feeling in the world!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fans, Friends, Family Come Together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in the face of a rainy forecast and a brief interruption of a pesky Florida summer shower, race fans filled the grandstands at Volusia Speedway Park as race cars filled the pits. In all, 97 cars raced in the four divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $10,000 payday brought out many racers. But everyone came to support the family that has been connected with Central Florida motorsports for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt still gives you chills,\u201d said James Powell III, who won his family\u2019s race in 2003. \u201cWe all come out here and reminisce a little, cry a little and celebrate and go on about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race honors Powell\u2019s his twin daughters, mother and father, aunt and uncle, who died in a plane crash in 1994. The Powell family owned Ocala Speedway in Central Florida for several years and were regularly the drivers to beat at Volusia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, Powell\u2019s RV was parked outside turn 4, his shirt stained from pulling pork for a BBQ dinner with a long receiving line of family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI grew up 10 miles from here \u2013 my dad raced here, my first race was here,\u201d Powell said. \u201cIt\u2019s just awesome how (track promoter) Tom Whipple and his team have gone above and beyond to elevate this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a testament to our family that we\u2019re all still here having this race after 24 years, and it\u2019s getting bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volusia Speedway Park \u2013 Barberville, FL<\/strong>
Powell Memorial \u2013 July 20, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. David Whitener
2. Jason Fitzgerald
3. Trynt Lloyd
4. Trey Pearson
5. Jamie Carter
6. Dalton Cook
7. Richard Ferry
8. Bo Allen
9. Chad Tuten
10. Ryan Halliday
11. Travis Vardadore
12. Ryan Vansickle
13. Howard Stalls
14. John Baker
15. Mark Whitener
16. Ivedent Lloyd
17. Steven Mathis
18. Stanton Mills
19. Joe Kump
20. Brandon Catto
21. Donnie Chappell
22. Nevin Gainey
23. Wayne O\u2019Neal
24. Tyler Crowder
25. Shan Smith
26. Dennis Williams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Thanks to JOE VANHOOSE<\/a> at www.raceweekillustrated.com for the report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0JOE VANHOOSE\u00a0\u2013\u00a0JULY 23, 2019 You can\u2019t tell the story of the Powell Memorial without Mark Whitener. Whitener, known as \u201cThe Magic Man,\u201d rolled into Volusia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25936,"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":[115,61,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-racing-news","category-volusia-speedway-park"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25935","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=25935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25938,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25935\/revisions\/25938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}