2015 DIRTcar Nationals Notebook Day Four

Yesterday’s notebook was cancelled due to rain just like the races. Two inches of rain fell at Volusia Speedway on Tuesday, which forced the cancellation. With that amount of rain the track crew did a fantastic job of getting the track race ready today. The surface was perfect, especially for the Late Model feature.

-The first thing I noticed as I arrived at the track was Rick Laubach working on his car all by himself. It’s great to see a driver taking the extra time to put so much effort into preparing the car. It paid off in the long run as Laubach had a strong top 10 showing.

-It was great to see NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer at the track supporting his Late Model teams. With all the events going on with NASCAR it was encouraging to see Bowyer, along with Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart earlier in the week, being hands on owners.

-Scott Bloomquist dominated the Late Model feature in convincing fashion. He led every lap and lapped close to half the field. It was a testament to the hard work he was putting into getting the car set up properly all afternoon.

-Donny Schatz had another rough night. He again failed to qualify for the Late Model feature. The transition from Sprint to Late Model must be difficult but Schatz really seems to be struggling to get the handle of the Late Model at Volusia.

-There were 49 Late Models in the pits for Wednesday night’s event. That was an increase of six cars from Monday night’s action.

-Lapped traffic was not a friend of Anthony Perrego’s during the Modified feature. After losing the lead to Brett Hearn while navigating through lapped traffic, a lapped car finished Perrego’s charge to retake the lead from Hearn. He managed to hang on for a solid second place finish.

-The best battle of the night was between Hearn and Billy Pauch. It lasted for the first half of the event with Pauch holding off Hearn. In the end Hearn came out the victor, but it is great to see these two legends still fighting for every inch so far into their storied careers.

-Look for Tyler Dipple to only get stronger as the week progresses. At 14 years old he is one of the smoothest drivers I have ever seen. He has talent far beyond his years and that will shine through toward the end of the week.

-There were very few accidents in both divisions over the course of the night. Steve Francis lost a tire in warm ups which caused severe damage and ended his night. Jimmy Phelps spun around in turn 4 during the Modified feature but was able to continue on to finish the event.

-The crowd was again a big one. Despite the plunging temperatures the grandstands were full once again. Tomorrow will be the true test for the crowd, as temperatures are expected to dip into the low 30s.