Saturday Notebook: February 28, 2015

Brrrr......that will be the common thought for all that who will be in Atlanta for the NASCAR weekend. Look for more empty seats than those that are filled as instead of heading west after Daytona, the teams got their wish and went back to the old days when Atlanta soon followed the 500. Young Iowa drivers Brett Moffitt and Landon Cassill are in the field for Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

Aaron Reutzel continued his strong early season performances by winning the ASCS National Series event at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala last night. Johnny Herrera finished second while last week's big winner at East Bay, Mark Smith was third. Check out this photo as Reutzel takes the checkers and you will see that the crowd was a little on the light side at BRP. The temps were chilly and the event was available live on pay-per-view. Draw your own conclusions and you too can watch tonight's Speedweek finale on RacinBoys.

Robert Ballou bounced off the wall entering turn one on the final lap, but he held on to win the USAC National Sprint Car event at East Bay Friday night. Iowa's Robert Bell got upside down during the semi-main. The current Back Stretch National Sprint Car points can be found at the bottom of this entry.

One of the strongest group of rookies in years have taken the USMTS by storm in the early stages of 2015 and North Dakota's Austin Arneson won his second feature of the young season last night in El Paso. The 23-year-old Arneson started seventeenth on the grid and stormed through the stellar field of drivers to take the lead from Dereck Ramirez with two laps to go. Ramirez leads the Gulf Coast Region points standings over Jason Hughes with Arneson and another RoY contender Jesse Sobbing close behind. Ben Kates from suburban Kansas City has posted a couple of top-five finishes already and Arneson's brother Casey is also chasing the series for the first time in 2015. Action continues tonight and you can watch it live on SpeedShiftTV.

Great to see some of the friendly faces that we enjoy seeing at the track often making the top ten of Ron Hedger's annual SuperFan standings. It is always fun to catch up with Gary Lee, Kevin Babcock, Jack Miles and Bob Litton as they are all very knowledgeable and very passionate about the sport. And speaking of super fans, our own Dick and Joyce Eisele have their first 4dFan Report of the season up after a visit to Cocopah Speedway last weekend.

There is a good possibility that somebody from northwest Iowa will crack the top ten in next year's SuperFan listings as during the summer months fans from that area can now go racing six straight nights a week, each and every week with the announcement that the Nobles County Speedway in Worthington, Minneosta, will spring back to action after sitting idle in 2014. The folks that run the track in Redwood Falls will put on the show at the facility that is just a few miles north of the Iowa border. So now you have Tuesdays in Worthington, Wednesdays in Alta, Thursdays in Algona, Fridays in Rock Rapids, Spencer or Fairmont, Saturdays in Jackson or Britt and Sundays at Husets or Mason City. Take a rest on Monday.

I tried and failed to get to my first official race of 2015 last weekend when the show at Winchester, Tennessee, was snowed out so my next target will be the Friday opener of the IMCA Spring Nationals at Beatrice, Nebraska, especially since their snow cover is minimal right now. Looking out my window it is hard to believe that local racing is only three or four weeks away. After some more snow tonight the extended forecast shows a warming trend. Let's hope it holds true!

		The "Back Stretch"
		Winged 410 Sprint Points	Through 2/14
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Danny Lasoski	Dover MO	21
2	.	Paul McMahan	Memphis TN	16
3	.	Donny Schatz	Minot ND	13
4	.	Joey Saldana	Brownsburg IN	13
5	.	Steve Kinser	Bloomington IN	12
6	.	Greg Hodnett	Thomasville PA	10
7	.	Daryn Pittman	Owasso OK	9
8	.	Kerry Madsen	Knoxville IA	9
9	.	Aaron Reutzel	Clue TX	8
10	.	Stevie Smith	Broken Arrow OK	8
11	.	Dale Blaney	Fowler OH	7
12	.	David Gravel	Watertown CT	7
13	.	Brad Sweet	Grass Valley CA	6
14	.	Kyle Larson	Elk Grove CA	6
15	.	Brian Brown	Grain Valley MO	5
16	.	Roger Crockett	Medford OR	5
17	.	Craig Dollansky	Elk River MN	4
18	.	Logan Schuchart	Hanover PA	3
19	.	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	Sunnyvale TX	3
20	.	Chad Kemenah	Findlay OH	2
21	.	Henry Van Dam	Enumclaw WA	2
22	.	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw WA	2
23	.	Kraig Kinser	Bloomington IN	2
24	.	Christopher Bell	Norman OK	1
25	.	Ryan Smith	Kunkletown PA	1
26	.	Tim Shaffer	Aliquippa PA	1
27	.	Shane Stewart	Bixby OK	1

		The "Back Stretch"
		Winged 360 Sprint Points	Through 2/27
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Aaron Reutzel	Clute TX	10
2	.	Mark Smith	Tower City PA	8
3	.	Johnny Herrera	Albuquerque NM	6
4	.	Brad Loyet	Sunset Hills MO	3
5	.	Jason Sides	Bartlett TN	3
6	.	Terry McCarl	Altoona IA	3
7	.	Matt Kurtz	Jacksonville Beach FL	2
8	.	A.J. Maddox	Tampa FL	1
9	.	Mark Ruel Jr.	Jacksonville FL	1
10	.	Rick Ziehl	Las Cruces NM	1

		The "Back Stretch"
		Non Wing Sprint Points	Through 2/27
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Dave Darland	Lincoln IN	10
2	.	Brady Bacon	Broken Arrow OK	7
3	.	Robert Ballou	Rocklin CA	6
4	.	Ryan Bernal	Hollister CA	5
5	.	Chase Stockon	Elizabethtown IN	4
6	.	Kevin Thomas Jr.	Cullman AL	4
7	.	Chris Windom	Canton IL	3
8	.	Charles Davis Jr.	Buckeye AZ	1
9	.	Jon Stanbrough	Avon IN	1
10	.	R.J. Johnson	Phoenix AZ	1

Clanton Dominant In Late Model Action; Mark Smith King of the 360's At East Bay

My original plan for today was to get up early, write the story from my first attended race in 2015 and then make the nine hour drive home to then watch the Daytona 500 on the DVR. That was how I was going to wrap up a week long business trip that saw me log more than 1,700 miles going from Indiana to Ohio to Kentucky and I was then going to go to Winterfest at the Winchester Speedway in Tennessee on Saturday. But obviously Mother Nature wiped out those plans well in advance with some of the coldest and snowiest conditions ever for that area.

Instead I got caught up with the Friday ice and snow storm trying to get back home early and when the conditions became just too treacherous I wound up in a motel in rural Missouri that was definitely a step back in time. But I was safe and warm for the night which was all that mattered. Now that first race of 2015 will likely be the weekend of March 20th and hopefully fairly close to home in Memphis, Missouri. Check out the Calendar page at Positively Racing to plan you racing trips for 2105.

There was actually a thread on the iowastockcars.com forum where people were saying where their first race of 2015 was going to be, however it looks like that forum is down for the second time in the past four months. Hopefully it will bounce back again soon!

Who would have predicted the resurgence of Shane Clanton?? The veteran driver from Georgia had not won a World of Outlaws Late Model race since the summer of 2013 before breaking that string at Screven and he then dominated the WoO events at Volusia County winning all three points-paying races. Clanton emerges from Speedweeks solidly on top of our National Late Model point standings that you will find at the bottom of this entry.

The annual King of the 360's Ronald Laney Memorial event at East Bay Raceway was definitely bolstered by making it an ASCS National Series event this year with around seventy drivers taking aim at the $10,000 top prize. Pennsylvania's Mark Smith was a bit of a surprise winner over a much improved Aaron Reutzel. Johnny Herrera finished third, Brad Loyet was fourth and Terry McCarl took fifth. The ASCS will spend the week in Florida before next weekend's doubleheader at Bubba Raceway Park that can be seen on a pay-per-view basis with The Racin' Boys.

Open wheel ace Christopher Bell won the 100-lap Super Late Model feature on the pavement at New Smyrna Speedway Saturday night. Rico Abreu finished tenth in the 27-car field. Bobby Pierce ran the asphalt on Thursday night finishing 16th in the 50-lap feature that was won by Dave Garbo Jr. Bell finished second and Abreu was 14th in that one.

Okay, the Daytona 500 should be about an hour ahead now on the DVR, time to start watching!

		The "Back Stretch"
		Dirt Late Model Points	Through 2/21
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Shane Clanton	Locust Grove GA	42
2	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	29
3	.	Darrell Lanigan	Union KY	27
4	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	24
5	.	Jimmy Owens	Newport TN	22
6	.	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg TN	20
7	.	Earl Pearson Jr.	Jacksonville FL	16
8	.	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville GA	16
9	.	Steve Casebolt	Richmond IN	15
10	.	Frank Heckenast Jr.	Orland Park IL	13
11	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin IL	12
12	.	Dale McDowell	Chickamauga GA	11
13	.	Don O'Neal	Martinsville IN	11
14	.	Jared Landers	Batesville AR	11
15	.	Brandon Overton	Appling GA	10
16	.	Eddie Carrier Jr.	Salt Rock WV	10
17	.	Morgan Bagley	Longview TX	10
18	.	Donald McIntosh	Dawsonville GA	9
19	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	9
20	.	Chub Frank	Sugar Grove PA	8
21	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown NY	8
22	.	Stormy Scott	Las Cruces NM	7
23	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	6
24	.	Rodney Sanders	Happy TX	6
25	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	6
26	.	Dennis Erb Jr.	Carpentersville IL	5
27	.	Devin Moran	Dresden OH	5
28	.	Riley Hickman	Ooletwah TN	5
29	.	Steve Francis	Ashland KY	5
30	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa GA	4
31	.	Chris Simpson	Marion IA	4
32	.	Jason Papich	Santa Maria CA	4
33	.	Mike Benedum	Bristol WV	4
34	.	Tim Roszell	Coldwater AL	4
35	.	Adam Hensel	Barron WI	3
36	.	Jason Fitzgerald	Jacksonville FL	3
37	.	Kent Robinson	Bloomington IN	3
38	.	Russell Brown Jr.	Valdosta GA	3
39	.	William Thomas	Phenix City AL	3
40	.	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville AR	2
41	.	Jeremy Faircloth	Swainsboro GA	2
42	.	Ross Bailes	Clover SC	2
43	.	Walker Arthur	Forest VA	2
44	.	Aaron Ridley	Chatsworth GA	1
45	.	Billy Ogle Jr.	Knoxville TN	1
46	.	Bo Allen	Jacksonville FL	1
47	.	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood IL	1
48	.	Chase Junghans	Manhattan KS	1
49	.	Chris Madden	Gray Court SC	1
50	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	1
51	.	Joe Kump	Hollywood FL	1
52	.	Kyle Bronson	Brandon FL	1
53	.	Larry Damitz	Vallejo CA	1
54	.	Pierce McCarter	Gatlinburg TN	1
55	.	Richard Papenhausen	Chico CA	1
56	.	Scott Johnson	Brunswick GA	1
57	.	Stephen Breeding	Isom KY	1

Fifth-Place Or Last, Either Way I'll Take It!

Ron Hedger's annual SuperFans contest results for the "Pro" division came out today on National Speed Sport News and yours truly finished in the fifth position with my entry of 66 nights of racing in 2014. Of course my race total was 35 nights fewer than fourth-place, so I was nearly a lap behind and since he usually lists the top ten in the Pros and the top twenty in the Amateurs, or more appropriately the ticket buyers, it is likely that my entry was also the lowest of all submitted for my division.

Either way I will take it and I appreciate the manner in which Ron summed up my comments.

I did notice however that somehow I went from being identified as one of the principals of the website Positively Racing, something that I do 365 days a year, to being one of the announcers for the Sprint Invaders, something that I am very proud to be, but only for ten to twelve nights a year.

So am I am just wondering why that would have happened. The champ, good friend Ed Reichert, was properly identified as a writer for All The Dirt and Hawkeye Racing News while the other three place-winners were with Hoseheads.com and, or Hawkeye Racing News. Hearkens me back to a press release a couple of months ago where announcing the new position for our own Ryan Clark it was mentioned that he penned the popular "In Staging" blog, but made no mention of where you might find that popular blog.

I am sure that both instances were just innocent oversights, but who knows maybe we are considered outlaws here at Positively Racing. You will notice that all of the other fine sources for racing information are linked above.

Speaking of Mr. SuperFan, I was proud to have Ed Reichert tell me last October that he ended up at the Darkside Fall Bash in Maquoketa on a Sunday afternoon after checking out the Calendar page at that unmentionable website. In the update that I just sent out today to the webmistress there are now 802 special events listed.

We have a webmistress......hmmmm, maybe that's why we are Outlaws?

I Am Not A Good Announcer

I am not a good announcer anymore, well at least by the standards and expectations in today's dirt track racing world as expressed by a racing media personality that I enjoy listening to on a weekly basis. On his show this past Saturday he stated that he wanted an announcer that does his homework, has the ability to whip the crowd up into a frenzy, provides sharp play-by-play throughout every race and doesn't just set the microphone down during intermission.

Okay, so I'd like to think that I can still satisfy two of those requirements, but frankly this old dog is not willing to make the changes to compete the new requirements. Let's review each of the four.

I'd like to think that my "homework" allows me to speak pretty intelligently about the drivers, their hometowns and their past accomplishments. Can I discuss details about setups, chassis types and engines? No but I can cover the basics and that is all that most of the crowd cares about anyway. With my Sprint Invaders gig I have the advantage of being able to lean on and listen to my partner Bill Wright who knows more about Sprint Car racing than anybody you will meet, but with him perhaps missing a date or two this summer due to his involvement with the National Sprint League I will have to pick up my game a bit.

Whipping the crowd up into a frenzy. I'm not sure exactly to what extent the radio personality expects from this but I do know that one of his colleagues is very well known for hyping the crowd. One night at a track in central Missouri that colleague was one of two announcers working a Sprint Car show and Morgan and I decided to make a tally mark for each time that he either asked the crowd "Are you having fun tonight?" or "Make some noise." We stopped making the marks when we reached seventy-five and we still hadn't made it to feature time. And that was with the guy sharing the microphone with an announcer that perhaps leans more toward my way of thinking. Oh yeah, and when he was busy hyping the crowd he also failed to get the full starting lineup announced before the drop of the green every time but once.

An announcer has to know when to "hype" the crowd, otherwise it is just forced enthusiasm. If you are making hot laps sound like the last lap of the feature, then you are overdoing it. If a six-car heat race has the cars spaced out by mid-race and you are still raising the tone of your voice, or even talking at all, you are overdoing it. I believe that you let the racing create the excitement and then you add to that with your own voice inflection. If anybody thinks that an announcer is going to make a boring race sound exciting to those who are actually watching that race, they are nuts.

Sharp play-by-play throughout every race. Okay, even I see the need for this if the track's PA announcer is being piped through to either a live internet audio or video feed, but if we are talking about an announcer who is only serving the crowd that is actually at the track watching, why in the world do I need to run a constant description of the action to that crowd?? First of all, especially during feature time, the announcer can only barely be heard over the noise in the first place. Yes, those folks who have shelled out the extra cash to sit in the booths can hear you, but that brings me to my second point. If they are actually watching the race, why in the world do I need to provide a play-by-play for it? Watch a college basketball game on TV sometime and notice that there is very little actual description of the play-by-pay action, and the PA announcer is not describing every pass, dribble, shot and rebound are they? Heck no they aren't!

Trying to provide constant play-by-play leads to overhyping and overuse of phrases that eventually go from annoying to comical. Hey, let's face it, it is not easy to provide a constant play-by-play of a six car heat race where nobody passes anybody, so it is no wonder that the same things get said again and again and again and again. I swear that if I hear the phrase "are you kidding me?" one more time I may puke.

If you want to pay me a little extra I will provide a radio-type play-by-play "broadcast" for your live audio or video stream on the internet (you are making money on that aren't you?), but otherwise I will continue to do as I always have. I will sneak in comments while the cars are on the back stretch during heat races and I will always provide you with interesting information during a caution period, but otherwise I am going to do the same thing that the fans should be doing; watching the race.

Ever wonder why those announcers set the microphone down during intermission? They are worn out from hyping the crowd and talking non-stop while the green flag racing is going on. No wonder they need a break!! I have always used intermission and caution periods (I prefer no intermissions) to tell the crowd about the sponsors, upcoming events and other items of interest.

It used to make me feel very good to have people tell me what a good announcer that I was, but I guess those days have passed me by. Oh well, it was a good ride.....

Richards Returns To Victory Lane For the 50th Time With The Outlaws; Sweet's Victory Make Him The Point Leader

Josh Richards continued his impressive return to the sport after sitting out nearly a full season by winning the World of Outlaws main event at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala Sunday night. It was the 50th career World of Outlaws win for the driver now known as "The Rocket Man" and his first since nerve damage in his hands required a sabbatical in 2014. Richards win a little over a week ago at Screven, Georgia, came in a non-points paying event for the Outlaws.

Two three-time Outlaws champions, Richards and Darrell Lanigan battled for the lead in the opening laps of the 50-lap headliner before Richards took control . Brandon Overton and Shane Clanton shuffled Lanigan back to fourth, but when Overton caught an inside turn marker on lap six, damage to his nose piece sent him pitside.

Tim McCreadie then became the primary challenger passing Richards for the lead two laps past the mid-race mark, but when McCreadie tried to use the high line in turn four to lap Eric Wells, Richards used the opening to regain the lead on lap thirty-five. Lanigan drew a caution three laps later when he too clipped an inside marker and with clear track ahead of him now Richards cruised the final twelve laps to secure the victory. Shane Clanton's runner-up finish vaulted him into the series point lead headed over to Volusia, McCreadie finished in third while the point leader coming into the night Steve Casebolt came home fourth. Morgan Bagley finished in the fifth position and Billy Ogle Jr. rode the cushion all the way from 21st to sixth.

Six nights of racing now follows at Volusia County Speedway with the first three nights under UMP sanction and the final three counting toward the World of Outlaws season points standings.

Brad Sweet capped off a solid week by winning the Winged 410 Sprint Car finale of Speedweeks, the World of Outlaws show at Volusia County Speedway. Swapping the lead back and forth with Paul McMahan in the first ten laps, Sweet then established himself as the leader and, eventually the race winner cashing the $10,000 top prize. McMahan was second followed by Daryn Pittman, Jason Sides and Kerry Madsen. Iowa's Terry McCarl had his best showing of the week finishing in the ninth position.

With the win Sweet will take the World of Outlaws point lead to Las Vegas for a March 4th and 5th doubleheader.

After qualifying for the Daytona 500 during the afternoon, Austin Dillon made the short trip west to VCS and won the UMP Modified qualifying feature for Monday night's $5,000-to-win Gator Championship. Ken Schrader was the runner-up and Burlington, Iowa's Dugan Thye finished 21st.

In what must have been a thriller at New Smyrna Speedway Austin Hill led all 151 laps in the K&N East Series event to win the season opener. Open wheel star Rico Abreu's debut was not as successful as many hoped as he finished one lap down in seventeenth after starting sixth on the grid. He will get another shot at pounding the pavement on April 4th at Greenville.

I know that a lot of my racing friends hated the new qualifying format for the Daytona 500, but I have to say that it is the first time where I have EVER sat and watched the entire qualifying process for the event. Do you realize that if Martin Truex Jr. would have waited about two more seconds before taking off that the other eleven cars would not have made it back to the start-finish line in time to start a lap? Love it or hate it, it definitely made for some good television! And for you conspiracy theorists out there trying to draw lines from Earnhardt Jr. to Patrick to Jeff Gordon winning the pole position for his final Daytona 500, put your tin foil hat on and think about the logistics of pulling that off and keeping everyone involved, drivers, crews, officials from leaking "the master plan".

Don't forget that you can stay warm by watching the action from Volusia on a pay-per-view basis all week long at Dirt On Dirt!

Moyer Puts A Cherry On Top At East Bay; Heckenast First Time Outlaw Winner; More Saturday Speedweeks

After winning two of the five preliminary events it was no surprise to see Billy Moyer top off the week at East Bay with a $10,000 victory over the Lucas Oil Late Model regulars. Jimmy Owens would fend off pole-sitter Tim Dohm for the early lead in the 50-lap affair and by mid-race Moyer was there to apply the pressure to the leader.

With Owens riding the cushion, Moyer used the rest of the racing surface to edge his way closer to a pass of the leader with each lap until he completed the process on lap 28. "Mr. Smooth" then pulled away from there opening up more than a straightaway lead and often having as many as five-lapped cars between himself and what turned out to be a pretty good race for second.

As Moyer took the checkers in dominating fashion, defending series champion Don O'Neal would prevail in the battle for second followed Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens and Jared Landers. West Virginia veteran Mike Bendum had another good outing finishing in sixth after racing within the top five late in the race and another West Virginia veteran Dohm held on for seventh.

Despite an eleventh-place finish Earl Pearson Jr. leaves the Speedweeks action with a slim five-point advantage over Jonathan Davenport who will likely not even follow the complete Lucas Oil schedule, unless of course he stays in the points battle, and Jared Landers is not far back in third. The next event for the Lucas Oil Late Models will be March 20th at the Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio, so it will now be interesting to see how many of the series regulars will go run the World of Outlaws and UMP sanctioned events the remainder of Speedweeks at Ocala and Volusia County.

While the Lucas crowd was wrapping up their Florida events, the World of Outlaws ran their first one in the sunshine state Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park and at the end of the night there was a brand new face in victory lane.

Teammates Chub Frank and Rick "Boom" Briggs would run one-two in the early laps before defending Outlaw champion Darrell Lanigan spun in turn four on lap four. On the restart Frank Heckenast Jr. would move to second and challenge Frank taking the lead from the long-time Outlaw regular on lap sixth. Chub was not about to give in to the young suburban Chicago driver and he used the cushion off of turn four to regain the lead on lap eight. The two drivers then swapped the lead on the ensuing laps before Chub Frank took control again on lap ten.

The caution waved a lap later four a Tim McCreadie spin and three laps after the restart Frankie Heckenast moved to the lead. Josh Richards and Shane Clanton would then make their way toward the front and after Clanton cleared Richards for second he went to work on the leader easing by Heckenast with nine-laps remaining. Frankie was not to be denied though as he re-passed Clanton a lap later and then held him at bay over the closing laps to win his first-ever World of Outlaws main event. Clanton would hold on to second over Richards, Darrell Lanigan would come from the back after his early spin to finish fourth, Chub Frank took fifth and Brandon Overton continued to impress in sixth.

The Outlaws will be the only Late Model show in the state tonight as they close out the weekend at Bubba's place with the 28-car field likely swelling a bit with some of the drivers from East Bay.

The up-to-date National Dirt Late Model point standings are at the bottom of this entry.

After finishing second to Daryn Pittman the two previous nights, Donny Schatz put himself in victory lane with the World of Outlaws at Volusia County Speedway. The big obstacle on this night for Schatz was a broken valve spring in the final laps of the Dash requiring a quick engine change prior to feature time. Joey Saldana would lead early only to have Schatz and the new powerplant motor by on lap seven for the eventual victory. Danny Lasoski is enjoying his new Big Game Treestands ride as he finished second ahead of a seemingly rejuvenated Steve Kinser. Greg Hodnett is having a solid week as he raced from twelfth to fourth and Brad Sweet completed the top five. The Outlaws close out the Winged 410 portion of Speedweeks tonight at Volusia.

The UMP Modified field was split in two as they run qualifying events Saturday and Sunday for Monday's $5,000-to-win Gator Championship and it was North Carolina's Nick Hoffman taking the win last night. Kyle Strickler was second ahead of Ty Dillon, Jason Beaulieu and Josh Rice.

Down on the pavement in New Smyrna the day started out in dramatic fashion as Jordan Ives hit the wall during a practice session for the Super Late Models and his car burst into flames. Fortunately Ives was able to escape the inferno and the car essentially burned to the ground. Here is a link to the story and photos from Speed51

In racing action Wisconsin's Ty Majeski took the win in the Super Late Model division with Garrett Jones second and Paul Shafer Jr. in third. Rico Abreu showed some improvement by finishing on the lead lap in twelfth as he now makes his NASCAR debut today here in the K&N East Series event.

After running third and second the previous two nights Iowa's Ryan Gustin made his way into victory lane in the USMTS show at Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad, Texas. North Dakota's Austin Arneson gave his Rookie-of-the-Year efforts a good early boost by finishing second ahead of Cade Dillard and Jason Hughes. Another USMTS RoY candidate Glenwood, Iowa's Jesse Sobbing finished in fifth.

		The "Back Stretch"
		Dirt Late Model Points	Through 2/14
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	27
2	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	18
3	.	Darrell Lanigan	Union KY	17
4	.	Jimmy Owens	Newport TN	17
5	.	Earl Pearson Jr.	Jacksonville FL	14
6	.	Frank Heckenast Jr.	Orland Park IL	13
7	.	Shane Clanton	Locust Grove GA	13
8	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin IL	12
9	.	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville GA	12
10	.	Steve Casebolt	Richmond IN	12
11	.	Brandon Overton	Appling GA	10
12	.	Eddie Carrier Jr.	Salt Rock WV	10
13	.	Jared Landers	Batesville AR	10
14	.	Donald McIntosh	Dawsonville GA	9
15	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	9
16	.	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg TN	7
17	.	Stormy Scott	Las Cruces NM	7
18	.	Don O'Neal	Martinsville IN	6
19	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	6
20	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	6
21	.	Dennis Erb Jr.	Carpentersville IL	5
22	.	Devin Moran	Dresden OH	5
23	.	Riley Hickman	Ooletwah TN	5
24	.	Rodney Sanders	Happy TX	5
25	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa GA	4
26	.	Chris Simpson	Marion IA	4
27	.	Chub Frank	Sugar Grove PA	4
28	.	Jason Papich	Santa Maria CA	4
29	.	Mike Benedum	Bristol WV	4
30	.	Morgan Bagley	Longview TX	4
31	.	Tim Roszell	Coldwater AL	4
32	.	Adam Hensel	Barron WI	3
33	.	Jason Fitzgerald	Jacksonville FL	3
34	.	Russell Brown Jr.	Valdosta GA	3
35	.	Steve Francis	Ashland KY	3
36	.	William Thomas	Phenix City AL	3
37	.	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville AR	2
38	.	Jeremy Faircloth	Swainsboro GA	2
39	.	Ross Bailes	Clover SC	2
40	.	Walker Arthur	Forest VA	2
41	.	Aaron Ridley	Chatsworth GA	1
42	.	Bo Allen	Jacksonville FL	1
43	.	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood IL	1
44	.	Chase Junghans	Manhattan KS	1
45	.	Chris Madden	Gray Court SC	1
46	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	1
47	.	Joe Kump	Hollywood FL	1
48	.	Kyle Bronson	Brandon FL	1
49	.	Larry Damitz	Vallejo CA	1
50	.	Pierce McCarter	Gatlinburg TN	1
51	.	Richard Papenhausen	Chico CA	1
52	.	Scott Johnson	Brunswick GA	1
53	.	Stephen Breeding	Isom KY	1
54	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown NY	1

Three Late Model Features Friday At Two Florida Venues; Sprint, Mods and Asphalt Too

A doubleheader for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series at East Bay and a UMP-sanctioned tuneup for the World of Outlaws weekend at Bubba Raceway Park highlighted the action in a chilly sunshine state on Friday as Speedweeks is now in full gear.

At East Bay the points-paying $10,000-to-win Lucas Oil program was run first starting with heat races as the sun was settling over the bay. The feature race got off to a wild start as Earl Pearson Jr., Jared Landers and Scott Bloomquist went three-wide down the back stretch on the opening lap. Pearson would lead at the line just before Bloomquist hit the turn one wall hard to stop the action. Back to action Pearson would pace the field until he closed in on the back of Wisconsin's Doug Blashe. Devin Moran took advantage and swept past Pearson for the lead, but when he had his own struggles with the lapper Blashe, Eddie Carrier Jr. was able to drive under Moran with six laps remaining. Carrier would then drive away over the final laps to take his second Speedweeks win as he also won the opener at Golden Isles Speedway on February 5th.

The youngster Moran finished second followed by Jimmy Owens, Jared Landers and Jonathan Davenport. Even though he faded to a twelfth-place finish Earl Pearson Jr. leads the Lucas Oil points headed into tonight's East Bay finale with Davenport and Landers next in line.

The rained out program from Monday was made up on Friday night following the regular program. Well, actually the qualifying took place on Thursday night, but the heats and feature were run on a slicked off race track Friday and it was Billy Moyer who outdragged Brandon Sheppard at the start and then cruised to his second win of the week here. Sheppard and Billy Moyer Jr. ran second and third from start to finish while the race for fourth did get interesting late with Gregg Satterlee getting the position over Devin Moran.

With the World of Outlaws Late Models set to run two points-paying shows on Saturday and Sunday night in Ocala, Bubba Raceway Park ran a "tuneup"30-lap $5,000-to-win event Friday night that saw plenty of action. Morgan Bagley moved from third to first to lead the opening lap and the Texas driver built a full straightaway lead by lap ten. That lead started to shrink rapidly though as Bagley tucked in behind the slower cars of twelve-year-old Tyler Clem and Tennessee veteran Billy Ogle Jr. with the leader apparently thinking that trying to pass the two of them on the outside would not be a good choice.

Darrell Lanigan closed quickly and then went to the cushion to take the lead from Bagley, but then he too tucked in behind Ogle and with nine laps remaining Josh Richards was able to drive into the lead. Traffic would again come into play with four laps to go as Richards made contact with Minnesota's Jordan Yaggy entering turn one and with just a bit of hesitation by Richards, Lanigan stormed around him on the outside to take the lead and soon after the win, his sixth in twelve starts at Ocala.

Richards took second, Chub Frank finished third, Bagley dropped back to fourth and upstart Brandon Overton was fifth. It was as good of a showing that Chub Frank has had in some time and his teammate Boom Briggs also had a good night setting fast time, winning his heat and finishing sixth in the feature.

The updated Back Stretch National Late Model points can be found at the bottom of this entry.

The All Star Sprint car race at Volusia Thursday night came down to the final lap with Daryn Pittman edging Donny Schatz at the line. On Friday night, at the same track but with it now being the season opener for the World of Outlaws the final lap dramatics involved the same two drivers and the outcome was the same with Pittman beating Schatz back to the stripe for the $10,000 win. Greg Hodnett and Joey Saldana both led the race early and finished third and fourth respectively while Brad Sweet completed the top five. Race two on the extensive 2015 Outlaws schedule is tonight at Volusia.

Ty Dillon used lapped traffic on the final lap to pounce on Kyle Strickler and take the UMP Modified win at Volusia Friday night. Nick Hoffman pushed Strickler back to third at the checkers while Jake Hawkins and Austin Dillon were fourth and fifth. Illinois driver Ray Bollinger continued his solid week with a 13th-place finish.

The World Series of Asphalt Racing kicked off at the New Smyrna Speedway and the headline was that Harrison Burton, the 14-year-old son of NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, won his first career Super Late Model feature. Dirt Late Model fans may remember a northwest Indiana based driver who raced a car number "20th" and his son Paul Shafer Jr. finished second to Burton on this night. Rico Abreu finished 22nd in the thirty-five car field as the open wheel racer tries to adapt to the Stock Cars before his K&N Series debut here this weekend.

After South Texas driver Steve Whiteaker won the USMTS Opener at Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad, Texas, on Thursday night it was Oklahoma's Dereck Ramirez winning on Friday. Jason Hughes and Ryan Gustin were next in line for the second night in a row, this time with Gustin as the runner-up while Iowa's Zack VanderBeek was fourth. Todd Staley's road warriors will wrap up the three-race weekend there again tonight.

		The "Back Stretch"
		Dirt Late Model Points	Through 2/13
Pos.		Driver	Hometown	Points
1	.	Billy Moyer	Batesville AR	21
2	.	Darrell Lanigan	Union KY	14
3	.	Earl Pearson Jr.	Jacksonville FL	14
4	.	Jimmy Owens	Newport TN	14
5	.	Josh Richards	Shinnston WV	14
6	.	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin IL	12
7	.	Steve Casebolt	Richmond IN	12
8	.	Eddie Carrier Jr.	Salt Rock WV	10
9	.	Brandon Overton	Appling GA	9
10	.	Donald McIntosh	Dawsonville GA	9
11	.	Mark Whitener	Middleburg FL	9
12	.	Jared Landers	Batesville AR	8
13	.	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville GA	8
14	.	Shane Clanton	Locust Grove GA	8
15	.	Frank Heckenast Jr.	Orland Park IL	7
16	.	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg TN	7
17	.	Stormy Scott	Las Cruces NM	7
18	.	Jimmy Mars	Elk Mound WI	6
19	.	Tony Jackson Jr.	Lebanon MO	6
20	.	Dennis Erb Jr.	Carpentersville IL	5
21	.	Devin Moran	Dresden OH	5
22	.	Riley Hickman	Ooletwah TN	5
23	.	Rodney Sanders	Happy TX	5
24	.	Casey Roberts	Toccoa GA	4
25	.	Chris Simpson	Marion IA	4
26	.	Jason Papich	Santa Maria CA	4
27	.	Morgan Bagley	Longview TX	4
28	.	Tim Roszell	Coldwater AL	4
29	.	Adam Hensel	Barron WI	3
30	.	Jason Fitzgerald	Jacksonville FL	3
31	.	Mike Benedum	Bristol WV	3
32	.	Russell Brown Jr.	Valdosta GA	3
33	.	Steve Francis	Ashland KY	3
34	.	William Thomas	Phenix City AL	3
35	.	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville AR	2
36	.	Chub Frank	Sugar Grove PA	2
37	.	Jeremy Faircloth	Swainsboro GA	2
38	.	Ross Bailes	Clover SC	2
39	.	Walker Arthur	Forest VA	2
40	.	Bo Allen	Jacksonville FL	1
41	.	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood IL	1
42	.	Chase Junghans	Manhattan KS	1
43	.	Chris Madden	Gray Court SC	1
44	.	Don O'Neal	Martinsville IN	1
45	.	Gregg Satterlee	Rochester Mills PA	1
46	.	Joe Kump	Hollywood FL	1
47	.	Kyle Bronson	Brandon FL	1
48	.	Larry Damitz	Vallejo CA	1
49	.	Pierce McCarter	Gatlinburg TN	1
50	.	Richard Papenhausen	Chico CA	1
51	.	Scott Johnson	Brunswick GA	1
52	.	Stephen Breeding	Isom KY	1
53	.	Tim McCreadie	Watertown NY	1

Moyer A Familair Face In Victory Lane At East Bay; Pittman Takes A Thriller At Volusia

Billy Moyer scored feature win number 791 of his storied career Thursday night and now 24 of those victories have come at East Bay Raceway south of Tampa. Moyer swapped the lead with young Brandon Sheppard in the early going before pulling away to take the $7,000 top prize. Fifty-year-old Mike Benedum out of Bristol, West Virginia, worked his way up from a third row start to finish second, Sheppard was third, Steve Casebolt finished fourth and Dennis "Rambo" Franklin took fifth.

Some different names in the top five? Several of those that you might expect were involved in a mid-race tangle sending Dennis Erb Jr., Don O'Neal, Earl Pearson Jr. and Steve Francis to the back of the pack or completly out of the race. Erb's 18th-place paycheck was the best of that crew who will now all re-group as tonight's (Friday) program will also count for points in the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series.

One would have to think that Steve Casebolt will be making the trip up Interstate 4 either today or Saturday as the World of Outlaws have a non-points event at Bubba Raceway in Ocala tonight before a points-paying doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday. Casebolt is the unlikely point leader of the Outlaws heading into the weekend.

Missouri's Mark "Fluffy" Dotson joined the field at East Bay for the first time this week, but could not transfer to the A-Main.

Over at the Voluisa County Speedway near Barberville the All Star Circuit of Champion sprint cars sent the crowd home in a frenzy as Donny Schatz worked his way up from an eighth row starting spot to challenge Daryn Pittman for the lead over the final five laps. The two ran side-by-side down the back stretch and into turns three and four on the final circuit and it was Pittman holding on at the checkers to take the win. Brad Sweet and Greg Hodnett were next in line while Kerry Madsen continued his strong Florida campaign with another top-five finish.

Another driver with NASCAR ties went to victory lane in the UMP Modified division with David Stremme taking the win. Austin Dillon, Nick Hoffman and Ty Dillon followed while Kyle Strickler came from the tenth row to finish fifth. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger was seventh.

Speedweeks ramps up to full swing tonight as the World Series of Asphalt starts its nine night run at the New Smyrna Speedway just south of Daytona. Dirt fans will have some interest in how both Rico Abreu and Bobby Pierce perform on the pavement there. Plus the superspeedway action gets underway with the ARCA race on Saturday.

Wish I was there although it sounds like another chilly week ahead in Florida!

Richards Returns To East Bay Victory Lane; Hodnett and Strickler Are Wednesday's Winners At Voluisa

If there was any doubt that Josh Richards would come back from his year-long absence as strong as he was before, that doubt is being erased quickly as Richards became the first repeat winner of Speedweeks Wednesday night by capturing the $5,000 victory at East Bay Raceway. It was the first time that Josh had won at "the clay by the bay" since 2009 when the nickname "Kid Rocket" really suited him well and he won three of the six Winternational races that season.

Last night Richards swapped the lead with veteran Billy Moyer a couple of times in the early going and then when Moyer actually tangled with the slower car of his own son entering turn one, Richards took advantage to steal the lead away for good. For the second night in a row come feature time the Lucas Oil Late Model drivers looked like they were racing around a skating rink, or one of those go kart tracks where they powder the turns to give you the sensation of a slick track. And as the laps wound down nearly all of the competitors were just hugging the bottom and holding their position, so whether it is a symptom of track prep, the new tire rule for the series or a combination of both, I do hope that they can get it figured out soon. East Bay has always been one of my top-five favorite tracks due to the wide and racy surface normally found throughout the entire night, but from what I have seen on video from these first two nights a track that looks fast and racy during the heat races morphs into something completely opposite by showtime.

Florida driver Mark Whitener worked his way into the second position at the finish, the best that a "local" driver has run at East Bay since Keith Nosbisch used to be a threat to win very night out at his home track. Steve Francis and Don O'Neal who had both taken Tuesday night off since it was a non-points event finished third and fourth respectively on Wednesday while Moyer faded to fifth at the checkers.

One more non-points show to go on Thursday night, well two if you count the Monday show that will be made up around the regular programs tonight and tomorrow, before the Lucas Oil series points start counting again on Friday and Saturday.

Greg Hodnett started on the pole and went flag-to-flag in dominating fashion to win the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car feature at the Volusia County Speedway Wednesday night. Danny Lasoski was second followed by Brad Sweet, Paul McMahan and Kerry Madsen. This of course broke the three race win streak that Madsen enjoyed over the weekend at Bubba Raceway Park just a few miles west of here in Ocala. The All Stars will again sanction tonight's racing before the World of Outlaws takeover on Friday.

Kyle Strickler was the best of a nearly 50-car UMP Modified field at Volusia holding off Ty Dillon to take the win. Tuesday's winner Austin Dillon was third, Nick Hoffman was fourth and longtime Late Model competitor Jackie Boggs finished fifth. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger was 15th and Burlington's Dugan Thye did not qualify for the main event.

The forecast is for cool, but dry weather in Florida for the rest of the weekend while in Texas the temps are much closer to normal where the USMTS Modified season will get underway tonight at the Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad.

Erb at East Bay; Austin Dillon At Volusia

After Monday's rainout the racing surface at the East Bay Raceway near Gibsonton, Florida, was even more unpredictable than usual Tuesday night and that, along with the new tire rule this year for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series, left drivers slipping and sliding around the 3/8th-mile oval come feature time.

Front row starters Billy Moyer and Dennis Erb Jr. swapped the lead back and forth three times as four cautions waved in the first ten laps, but once back to green it was Erb who would control the remainder of the 25-lap distance to score the $5,000 victory in a non-point paying event. Earl Pearson Jr. continued his resurgence with his reunited Dunn Benson Ford team by finishing second ahead of Moyer. Bobby Pierce came from an eighth row starting spot to finish fourth and Brandon Sheppard locked down the fifth position at the checkers.

The rain of Monday left standing water and a tall berm of graded clay on the inside of turns three and four and with the preferred groove on that end being right around the bottom one slight miscalculation would catch the nose of a car and send it into a snap spin. That is what happened to Pierce in his heat race causing him to start so deep in the feature lineup and it kept Stormy Scott from posting another impressive top five finish when he caught the berm in turn three with nine laps remaining in the feature.

Gone are the days of car counts in the 60's and 70's at East Bay's Winternationals, although the quality of Tuesday's 42-car field was nothing to scoff at.

Late Model action continues through Saturday at East Bay including a makeup of Monday's rainout with qualifying on Thursday and the racing on Friday.

The UMP Modifieds kicked off two weeks of action at the Volusia County Speedway just west of Daytona Tuesday night with 51 cars in attendance. The feature finish was littered with names that you will also find racing at, or hanging around the superspeedway over the next two weeks headed up by feature winner Austin Dillon. Nick Hoffman was a close second followed by Ty Dillon, Jake Hawkins and Kenny Wallace. Ray Bollinger of Kewanee, Illinois, finished seventh, Ken Schrader was 13th and Justin Allgaier was involved in an early race accident leaving him in 23rd at the pay window. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton came up one spot short of qualifying for the main event finishing third in his B-Main.

Young Dugan Thye of Burlington, Iowa, has made the trip south with his Modified and he finished seventh in his ten car heat and eighth of twelve in the second B-Main. Dugan competes in the IMCA Modified division regularly at both the Lee County Speedway and at 34 Raceway and he is the son of former NKF Tour Modified champion Darin Thye. No doubt that he is taking on some of the best at Volusia and the experience will give him a head start on the local season, hopefully Dugan can make a show or two this week at Volusia.

The All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars join the UMP Modifieds tonight at Volusia.