2015 DIRTcar Nationals Notebook Day Seven
2015 DIRTcar Nationals Notebook Day Seven
By: Brooklyn Kennedy
-What an ending to a great week of racing at Volusia Speedway. Saturday night was by far the most entertaining night of racing of the week. There was the most action in both the Late Models and Modifieds then there had been to date. But it was also Championship Night so there should have been.
-The Late Model feature was just an outstanding feature event. To watch Tim McCreadie, Shane Clanton, Scott Bloomquist, and Jimmy Owens going at it for the lead for the majority of the race was phenomenal. They all were fighting with everything they had to get to the lead without giving the other guy an inch.
-Shane Clanton had the best week out of anyone at the Nationals. In his words after winning his fourth feature of the week on Saturday night, “That was a good old Georgia a** kicking!” Clanton really did whoop up on the field all week taking home four victories and the Late Model Gator Championship.
-Josh Richards had a strong run going until a motor failure on lap 38 put him out of the event. He was running in the 8th position at the time but had made his way up as far as 6th at one point.
-Tyler Dipple created the most excitement of the night. On lap one of the Modified feature his car ended up upside down on the front stretch. Contact with the previous night’s winner Rick Laubach sent him flipping. There was a brief delay in the racing action so medical personnel could tend to a few fans that were injured when I chuck of the concrete wall went flying into the stands. Dipple showed his frustration with Laubach on his way back to the pit area.
-Neal Williams scored his first DIRTcar victory on Saturday night by besting the best of the best. Williams passed his home track rival Billy Pauch to take over the lead and then held off a hard charging Danny Johnson on the final restart to claim the victory. Williams passed Pauch, Johnson, and Brett Hearn who combined have a win total of over 1,800. Look for this victory to be one of many for Williams during the 2015 season and beyond.
-Matt Sheppard had a rough night as he broke while leading the feature early on in the race. With a year under his belt at his new team HBR, I expected a little more out of Sheppard during this weekend. He was strong for the most part but he was unable to capitalize on that strength and translate it into a victory.
-Anthony Perrego had a rough last two days at the Nationals. A blown motor ended his day both Friday and Saturday. Perrego was fast and had great runs going until the engine issues kicked in. Look for Perrego to be tough to beat at his New York home tracks during 2015.
-I have to give a lot of credit to the tract crew at Volusia. Every night the track was consistent. They did a great job of grating, watering, and running in the track to give the drivers the same racetrack all four nights.
-The fan count on Saturday was again a big one. The grandstand bleachers were packed and it looked to be standing room only with many fans gathering in the opening between the turn 1 grandstands and pit grandstands. They got to witness one heck of a night of racing.
-That’s it for our Nationals Notebook. If you like what you’ve read over the past week let us know in the comments or on our fan forum. And be sure to check back into Racersguide.com for all your racing news, notebook, and editorials.
