2020-02-13

Statement from NASCAR President Steve Phelps

Statement from NASCAR President Steve Phelps

 

NASCAR and NASCAR Cup Series team owners today announced the extension of the Charter agreement through 2024.

 

"The Charter agreement is delivering stability and long-term value to existing team owners while providing a clear path for ownership in the NASCAR Cup Series," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR President. "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the team owners that extends the length of the Charter system until 2024. A healthy ownership structure ensures strong, competitive racing for our fans, which is a goal the industry collectively shares."

 

Contact:                                                                                              

Mike Forde

NASCAR Communications


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NASCAR Cup Series Champion to Receive Bill France Cup Beginning in 2020

NASCAR Cup Series Champion to Receive Bill France Cup Beginning in 2020

NASCAR Honors Founding Family's Legacy with New Championship Trophy

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2020) – To honor the legacy of the sport's founding family, NASCAR today announced that the Bill France Cup will be awarded to the champion of the NASCAR Cup Series, beginning in 2020.

 

The renamed trophy pays tribute to Bill France Sr., who founded NASCAR in 1947, as well as his son, Bill France Jr., who elevated the sport to a national phenomenon as the sanctioning body's chief executive from 1972 to 2003.

 

"As the sport ushers in a new era, it's fitting that my father's name is associated with the highest mark of excellence in our sport," said Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "My father and brother's vision for NASCAR has been realized, many times over, as millions of fans follow and engage each week with the best racing in the world."

 

The Bill France Cup, created by Jostens, will maintain the size and shape of last year's championship trophy and will feature outlines of the 24 NASCAR Cup Series racetracks that comprise the 2020 season schedule. The trophy design will be updated as the race schedule evolves, and new tracks are introduced to NASCAR Cup Series competition.

 

Bill France Sr. spearheaded NASCAR from its beginning and directed it to its current role as the world's largest stock car racing organization. Born in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26, 1909, he came to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1934. In 1947, France became the driving force behind the establishment of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. The new organization was called NASCAR, resulting from a famous meeting at the Streamline Hotel on A1A in Daytona Beach – a structure that stands to this day as a racing landmark.

 

Things moved quickly in the 1950s and 1960s for NASCAR. As the sanctioning body's first president, France built two superspeedways that came to personify the sport – 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Bill Sr. passed away in 1992 at the age of 82.

 

Bill France Jr. is remembered as the man who followed his visionary father at NASCAR's helm, in the process becoming a visionary himself as he guided NASCAR to unprecedented levels of popularity. France, who passed away in June 2007 at the age of 74, grew up in the formative years of stock car racing, living and learning every detail of the sport from his own experiences, and those of his father.

 

Bill Jr. became NASCAR's president in January 1972, replacing his father and becoming only the second president of the world's largest auto racing sanctioning body. His emergence coincided with the sport's emergence, and its eventual ascent to become America's No. 1 form of motorsports.

 

For more information on the NASCAR Cup Series and images of the inaugural Bill France Cup, please visit NASCAR.com.

 

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation's major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series™), three regional series, one local grassroots series, three international series and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, Americrown Service and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, TwitterInstagram, and Snapchat ('NASCAR').

 

Contact:

Pete Stuart

NASCAR Communications


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Michael Long Repeats Opening Night Feat to Kick Off 49th DIRTcar Nationals

DIRTcar


Michael Long Repeats Opening Night Feat to Kick Off 49th DIRTcar Nationals

Posted: 04 Feb 2020 09:54 PM PST

76 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on the property for the DCN opener

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 4, 2020 — The 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford kicked off Tuesday night at Volusia Speedway Park with Michael Long leading the ironmen of the event — DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, which race the first of seven nights over the 12 straight days of racing. The famed half-mile, high-banked dirt oval west of Daytona Beach featured the busiest division in Florida during February, and perhaps the most competitive of all. Over the next week, the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds will race in at least 10 total Features in the chase for the 2020 DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator Trophy.

Opening night featured a stellar field of 76 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds and the results were a mirror image of a year ago as Long took the lead at the drop of the green flag from fellow Prairie State standout, Will Krup. After a brief battle, Long would get away and in the end the Fowler, IL driver would hold off a strong challenge from Kyle Strickler before getting away from him in the waning stages and cruising to the DIRTcar Nationals opening night victory for the second year in a row.

"We just can't do this without everyone that helps us out. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be able to compete against some of the best equipment out there. But we've got some good stuff too and it showed tonight," remarked the 38-year-old driver of the #18 Discount Tire & Service / Rage Chassis entry. "I seen that #8 go up on the scoreboard and that made me nervous a little bit. Once I got going, I was good and as long as we didn't have any more restarts, I knew we'd be ok. I know the wife and kids are watching DirtVision at home and they're probably going crazy right now. Hopefully we can pick up a few more wins this week for them."

Krup and Long led the stellar 28-car field to Chief Starter Dave Farney's green flag, and Long edged Krup going into the first corner to take the early lead. As Strickler, who started eighth, began his charge to the front, Long was pulling away from Krup and the rest of the field. A series of cautions flew, first on lap six, then three straight all on lap seven, with the most serious involving perennial contender, David Stremme who spun and collected NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Justin Haley as well as Austin Holcombe, ended all three of their nights'.

On what turned out to be the final restart, Strickler, who had worked his way up to second, was challenging Long for the race lead. But Long was up to the task and would slowly pull away again, this time from Strickler as well as the remainder of the field. Long would go on to lead the entire distance en route to his second career DIRTcar Nationals victory.

Strickler settled for second over Ryan Cripe who scored a DIRTcar Nationals career-high third place effort to complete the podium finishers. Four-time defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion Nick Hoffman was fourth over Zeke McKenzie, who won one of the four Last Chance Showdowns just to make the show, started scratch on the field in 28th and clawed his way through the field to complete the top five. Curt Spalding was sixth as Donnie Moran was seventh. Brian Ruhlman, who also won a Last Chance Showdown and started 25th and finished eighth as Kenny Wallace and 14-year-old Drake Troutman, who started 20th, completed the top 10.

Strickler started the night by posting quick time over the 76-car field with a 17.975-second lap at 100.139 mph, then won won his Heat Race. Spalding, Cripe, Terry Phillips, Stremme, Krup, Long and Todd Sherman also won Heats. Brenden Rassel and Tony Anderson won the C-Mains while Ruhlman, Christian Thomas, Michael Altobelli and McKenzie all scored Last Chance Showdown victories.

Wednesday, Feb. 5 is Night Two for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds as the teams return for another $1,000 payday on same card as the Ollie's Bargain Outlet All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars presented by Mobil 1.

For more information about the 49th DIRTcar Nationals and to order tickets, visit dirtcarnationals.com or call 1-844-DIRT-TIX. You can also follow the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds portions of the DIRTcar Nationals throughout race week by visiting the DIRTcar Racing Social Media outlets. Just search for "DIRTcar Racing" on both Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates from Volusia Speedway Park and the 49th DIRTcar Nationals.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB 4, 2020

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 18L-Michael Long [2][$1,000]; 2. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [8][$600]; 3. 23-Ryan Cripe [4][$400]; 4. 2-Nick Hoffman [21][$350]; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie [28][$300]; 6. 5-Curt Spalding [3][$275]; 7. 2A-Donnie Moran [12][$250]; 8. 49-Brian Ruhlman [25][$225]; 9. 36-Kenny Wallace [9][$200]; 10. 7-Drake Troutman [20][$200]; 11. 99M-Mike Mullen [23][$175]; 12. 90-Jason Beaulieu [17][$140]; 13. 77-Ray Bollinger [11][$130]; 14. 7A-Shane Sabraski [22][$125]; 15. 95-Michael Altobelli [27][$125]; 16. 45J-Johnny Broking [15][$125]; 17. 22-Dale Kelley [19][$125]; 18. 2J-Troy Johnson [10][$125]; 19. O5-Dave Wietholder [16][$125]; 20. 7F-Bryan Foy [24][$125]; 21. 35-David Stremme [5][$125]; 22. 17TE-Tyler Evans [14][$125]; 23. 11JH-Justin Haley [18][$125]; 24. 7CT-Christian Thomas [26][$125]; 25. 8A-Austin Holcombe [13][$125]; 26. K19-Will Krup [1][$100]; 27. 75-Terry Phillips [7][$100]; 28. 65-Todd Sherman [6][$100]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 24-Zeke McKenzie[+23]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler, 17.975; 2. 90-Jason Beaulieu, 18.063; 3. 8-Steve Stevenson, 18.336; 4. 36-Kenny Wallace, 18.445; 5. 7JA-Justin Allgaier, 18.497; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney, 18.742; 7. 1-Brenden Rassel, 19.463; 8. 82-Gary Dillon, 19.72; 9. 15-Rick Potter, 19.963; 10. A1-Gary Bentley, NT

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 5-Curt Spalding, 18.053; 2. 11JH-Justin Haley, 18.308; 3. 11-Jesse Rupe, 18.479; 4. 2J-Troy Johnson, 18.559; 5. 32-Chad Roush, 18.618; 6. 6A-Ryan Ayers, 18.68; 7. 71L-Dennis Lunger, 18.751; 8. 17T-Michael Tarlton, 18.919; 9. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.077; 10. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt, 19.284

Qualifying Flight-C – 1. 22-Dale Kelley, 18.128; 2. 23-Ryan Cripe, 18.185; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli, 18.426; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger, 18.656; 5. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt, 19.214; 6. 17-Rob Pitcher, 19.241; 7. 11M-Mike McGee, 19.264; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 19.275; 9. O7-Curtis King, 20.178; 10. 3L-Jeff Leka, NT

Qualifying Flight-D – 1. 2A-Donnie Moran, 18.088; 2. 75-Terry Phillips, 18.123; 3. 67-Garret Stewart, 18.129; 4. 12H-Jason Hughes, 18.129; 5. 24-Zeke McKenzie, 18.184; 6. 7-Drake Troutman, 18.198; 7. 25-Tyler Nicely, 18.437; 8. 20-Tyler Hendrix, 19.113; 9. Z06-Larry Mott, 19.187; 10. 12L-Lucas Lee, NT

Qualifying Flight-E – 1. 35-David Stremme, 17.998; 2. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 18.023; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.088; 4. 2-Nick Hoffman, 18.186; 5. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 18.688; 6. 88-Matt Crafton, 18.822; 7. 9-Sheldon Creed, 19.015; 8. 5F-Jerry Foster, 19.532; 9. 89W-Rick Weitekamp, 20.144

Qualifying Flight-F – 1. 17TE-Tyler Evans, 18.1; 2. K19-Will Krup, 18.144; 3. 7CT-Christian Thomas, 18.351; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski, 18.465; 5. 12-Jason Gross, 18.589; 6. 97-Mitch Thomas, 18.808; 7. 11H-Spencer Hughes, 18.886; 8. 52-Colin Green, 19.008; 9. 9PG-Percy Gendreau, 19.535

Qualifying Flight-G – 1. 18L-Michael Long, 18.17; 2. 99M-Mike Mullen, 18.25; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking, 18.295; 4. 19-Chad Bauer, 18.304; 5. 24D-Travis Dickson, 18.361; 6. 1M-Curt Myers, 18.489; 7. 4UW-Bobby Regot, 18.55; 8. 100-Scott Fritz, 19.021; 9. 1S-Brian Shaw, NT

Qualifying Flight-H – 1. 65-Todd Sherman, 18.187; 2. O5-Dave Wietholder, 18.42; 3. 7F-Bryan Foy, 18.481; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum, 18.502; 5. 6-Ryan Fowler, 18.664; 6. 96-Cole Parker, 18.674; 7. OO-Buzzie Reutimann, 19.115; 8. O1-Bryce Nichols, NT; 9. 14J-John Baker, NT

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [1]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace [4]; 3. 90-Jason Beaulieu [2]; 4. 82-Gary Dillon [8]; 5. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [5]; 6. 8-Steve Stevenson [3]; 7. A1-Gary Bentley [10]; 8. 1-Brenden Rassel [7]; 9. 15-Rick Potter [9]; 10. 96M-Mike McKinney [6]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 5-Curt Spalding [1]; 2. 2J-Troy Johnson [4]; 3. 11JH-Justin Haley [2]; 4. 11-Jesse Rupe [3]; 5. 6A-Ryan Ayers [6]; 6. 71L-Dennis Lunger [7]; 7. 17T-Michael Tarlton [8]; 8. 22T-Tony Anderson [9]; 9. 32-Chad Roush [5]; 10. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [10]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 23-Ryan Cripe [2]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger [4]; 3. 22-Dale Kelley [1]; 4. 95-Michael Altobelli [3]; 5. 17-Rob Pitcher [6]; 6. 11M-Mike McGee [7]; 7. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt [5]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas [8]; 9. O7-Curtis King [9]; 10. 3L-Jeff Leka [10]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 75-Terry Phillips [2]; 2. 2A-Donnie Moran [1]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman [6]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie [5]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart [3]; 6. 25-Tyler Nicely [7]; 7. 12H-Jason Hughes [4]; 8. 12L-Lucas Lee [10]; 9. 20-Tyler Hendrix [8]; 10. Z06-Larry Mott [9]

Heat #5 – Flight (E) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 35-David Stremme [1]; 2. 8A-Austin Holcombe [2]; 3. 2-Nick Hoffman [4]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman [3]; 5. 88-Matt Crafton [6]; 6. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [5]; 7. 9-Sheldon Creed [7]; 8. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [9]; 9. 5F-Jerry Foster [8]

Heat #6 – Flight (F) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. K19-Will Krup [2]; 2. 17TE-Tyler Evans [1]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski [4]; 4. 7CT-Christian Thomas [3]; 5. 12-Jason Gross [5]; 6. 97-Mitch Thomas [6]; 7. 11H-Spencer Hughes [7]; 8. 52-Colin Green [8]; 9. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [9]

Heat #7 – Flight (G) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 18L-Michael Long [1]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking [3]; 3. 99M-Mike Mullen [2]; 4. 19-Chad Bauer [4]; 5. 24D-Travis Dickson [5]; 6. 1M-Curt Myers [6]; 7. 4UW-Bobby Regot [7]; 8. 100-Scott Fritz [8]; 9. 1S-Brian Shaw [9]

Heat #8 – Flight (H) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 65-Todd Sherman [1]; 2. O5-Dave Wietholder [2]; 3. 7F-Bryan Foy [3]; 4. 96-Cole Parker [6]; 5. 6-Ryan Fowler [5]; 6. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [7]; 7. 99-Hunt Gossum [4]; 8. 14J-John Baker [9]; 9. O1-Bryce Nichols [8]

C-Main 1 (8 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer – 1. 1-Brenden Rassel [1][-]; 2. 100-Scott Fritz [4][-]; 3. 11N-Gene Nicholas [2][$75]; 4. 5F-Jerry Foster [7][$75]; 5. O7-Curtis King [6][$75]; 6. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [3][$75]; 7. 96M-Mike McKinney [9][$75]; 8. 3L-Jeff Leka [10][$75]; 9. 1S-Brian Shaw [8][$75]; 10. 15-Rick Potter [5][$75]

C-Main 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 22T-Tony Anderson [1][-]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee [2][-]; 3. 52-Colin Green [3][$75]; 4. 32-Chad Roush [5][$75]; 5. O1-Bryce Nichols [8][$75]; 6. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [7][$75]; 7. 14J-John Baker [4][$75]; 8. 20-Tyler Hendrix [6][$75]; 9. Z06-Larry Mott [10][$75]; 10. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [9][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (8 Laps) – Top 1 Transfer – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2][-]; 2. 88-Matt Crafton [4][-]; 3. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [3][-]; 4. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [6][-]; 5. 8-Steve Stevenson [5][$75]; 6. A1-Gary Bentley [7][$75]; 7. 1-Brenden Rassel [9][$75]; 8. 9-Sheldon Creed [8][$75]; 9. 11N-Gene Nicholas [10][$75]; 10. 82-Gary Dillon [1][$75]; 11. O7-Curtis King [11][$75]; 12. 96M-Mike McKinney [12][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 7CT-Christian Thomas [2][-]; 2. 11-Jesse Rupe [1][-]; 3. 71L-Dennis Lunger [5][-]; 4. 6A-Ryan Ayers [3][-]; 5. 97-Mitch Thomas [6][$75]; 6. 100-Scott Fritz [9][$75]; 7. 17T-Michael Tarlton [7][$75]; 8. 12-Jason Gross [4][$75]; 9. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [11][$75]; 10. 11H-Spencer Hughes [8][$75]; 11. 5F-Jerry Foster [10][$75]; 12. 3L-Jeff Leka [12][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 95-Michael Altobelli [1][-]; 2. 24D-Travis Dickson [4][-]; 3. 19-Chad Bauer [2][-]; 4. 1M-Curt Myers [6][-]; 5. 11M-Mike McGee [5][$75]; 6. 52-Colin Green [10][$75]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson [9][$75]; 8. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt [7][$75]; 9. 14J-John Baker [12][$75]; 10. O1-Bryce Nichols [11][$75]; 11. 17-Rob Pitcher [3][$75]; 12. 4UW-Bobby Regot [8][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 4 (8 Laps) – 1. 24-Zeke McKenzie [1][-]; 2. 67-Garret Stewart [3][-]; 3. 96-Cole Parker [2][-]; 4. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [6][-]; 5. 25-Tyler Nicely [5][$75]; 6. 12H-Jason Hughes [7][$75]; 7. 99-Hunt Gossum [8][$75]; 8. 12L-Lucas Lee [9][$75]; 9. 32-Chad Roush [10][$75]; 10. 20-Tyler Hendrix [12][$75]; 11. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [11][$75]; 12. 6-Ryan Fowler [4][$75]


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NASCAR And Penn National Gaming Expand Strategic AllianceWith Wide-Reaching Gaming Partnership

NASCAR And Penn National Gaming Expand Strategic Alliance

With Wide-Reaching Gaming Partnership

Penn National Gaming to Become NASCAR's First Authorized Gaming Operator;

Partnership also Extends Kansas Speedway Race Title Sponsorship Through 2026

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 7, 2020) – NASCAR® and Penn Interactive, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN: NASDAQ) ("Penn National" or the "Company"), announced today a new multi-year partnership that will make Penn National an authorized gaming operator of NASCAR in the United States. The partnership is Penn National's first with a professional sports league and will center around a brand new, free-to-play, mobile game named NASCAR Finish Line, which offers users the chance to win a $50,000 jackpot every race.

 

In addition, NASCAR and Penn National have extended their long-standing race title sponsorship for the "Hollywood Casino 400" at Kansas Speedway through 2026, deepening the connection between the two entertainment companies. The partnership furthers Hollywood Casino's position as the Official Casino Partner of Kansas Speedway and the race title sponsor of the NASCAR Cup SeriesTM race that is scheduled for October 18, 2020.

 

"We're thrilled to have Penn National on board as our first authorized gaming operator to strengthen our effort to increase fan engagement with a platform perfect for in-play experience," said Craig Neeb, Executive Vice President, Innovation, NASCAR.  "Coupled with our landmark deal with Genius Sports in 2019, this partnership also positions NASCAR to take advantage of the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting across the country."

 

"We are very excited to enter this long-term, strategic partnership with NASCAR," said Jennifer Weissman, Chief Marketing Officer for Penn National. "We look forward to the opportunity to provide NASCAR fans multiple outlets for their fandom, including online on a new free-to-play mobile game and at our destination casinos and sportsbooks."

 

The free-to-play NASCAR Finish Line mobile game will be available ahead of the DAYTONA 500 across iOS and Android phones and tablets and can be downloaded on the App Store and Google Play store. Players can win the $50,000 jackpot by accurately predicting the race winner and the highest finishers across six different groupings of six drivers.

 

"I'm excited that we have extended our title race sponsorship agreement with Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway and as a company, that we are expanding our relationship with Penn National," said Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren. "Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway has been able to entertain thousands of their customers, not only from the Kansas City area, but also from around the country during the "Hollywood Casino 400" the last several years. I look forward to continuing to help them entertain and reward their patrons for the next few years."

 

Penn National is the nation's largest regional gaming operator with 41 facilities in 19 states, including the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway that overlooks Turn 2 of the Speedway, which opened in 2012. The partnership with NASCAR reflects the Company's strategy to continue evolving its business, with a focus on becoming a best-in-class omni-channel provider of retail and online gaming and sports betting entertainment. As part of that strategy, Penn National recently announced an exclusive gaming partnership with Barstool Sports to utilize its brand for all of the Company's online and retail sports betting and iCasino products, subject to the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur within the First Quarter. 

 

As an authorized gaming operator of NASCAR, Penn National will take an active role in promoting NASCAR across its properties and on its soon-to-launch sports betting app. Genius Sports, NASCAR's exclusive provider of NASCAR data to licensed sportsbooks, rolled out several new in-race bet types in 2019 and is set to expand upon that with an additional eight in time for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

 

Last year, NASCAR announced a series of partnerships to prepare the industry and its fans for the rapidly growing sports betting landscape in the U.S., including an integrity deal with Sportradar, an exclusive data distribution deal with Genius Sports, and content deals with Action Network and VSiN. Additionally, the sanctioning body granted all teams and tracks the ability to sell marketing sponsorships to sports betting companies and licensed sportsbooks.

 

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation's major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series™), three regional series, one local grassroots series, three international series and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, Americrown Service and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and Snapchat ('NASCAR').

 

About Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities and video gaming terminal operations with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company operates 41 facilities in 19 jurisdictions. In total, Penn National Gaming's facilities feature approximately 50,500 gaming machines, 1,300 table games and 8,800 hotel rooms. The Company also offers social online gaming through Penn Interactive and has a leading customer loyalty program with over five million active customers.

 

About Penn Interactive

Penn Interactive (PI), the interactive division of Penn National Gaming,  operates retail sportsbooks at Penn National properties and manages the Company's  portfolio of innovative real-money and social iGaming products, including HollywoodCasino.com and HollywoodRaces.com. Penn Interactive expects to launch its online sports wagering platform under the Barstool Sportsbook brand later this year, subject to the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur within the First Quarter. 

About Kansas Speedway

Kansas Speedway is a premier motorsports facility in the Midwest. The track, which opened in 2001, hosts two NASCAR Cup Series weekends each year, along with approximately 200 other event days each year. The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, which opened in 2012, overlooks Turn 2 of the track.

 

 

Forward-looking Statements

 

All statements included in this press release, other than historical information or statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the transactions with NASCAR and Barstool Sports and the expected financial returns from the transactions with NASCAR and Barstool Sports are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect the Company's future financial results and business. Accordingly, Penn National cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (a) the Company may not be able to achieve the expected financial returns due to fees, costs and taxes in connection with the Company's roll out of its own online and retail sports books and iCasino products; (b) states may not pass legislation approving online and retail sports books and iCasino products;  (c) the closing of the transaction with Barstool Sports may be delayed or may not occur at all, for reasons beyond our control; (d) the ability to satisfy the closing conditions to the transaction with Barstool Sports in a timely basis or at all; (e) the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 related to the Barstool Sports transaction; and (f) other risks, including those as may be detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). For more information on the potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results and business, review the Company's filings with the SEC, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Chris Tropeano

NASCAR Communications

 

Kelly Hale

Kansas Speedway

 

Jeff Morris

Vice President, Public Affairs

Penn National Gaming


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Nick Hoffman Makes It Three Winners in Three Nights at the 49th DIRTcar Nationals

DIRTcar


Nick Hoffman Makes It Three Winners in Three Nights at the 49th DIRTcar Nationals

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 10:18 PM PST

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 6, 2020 — The 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford rolled on at Volusia Speedway Park (FL) as the famed, half-mile, high-banked dirt oval hosted the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on their third of seven nights of action. Four-Time defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion Nick Hoffman took the lead away from pole-sitter Mike McKinney on lap eight and fought off a late charge from his fellow Prairie State driver to score his first feature win of the 2020 DIRTcar Nationals and 16th of his career.

"The car felt really good tonight, but I was a little worried about where we drew in the redraw (sixth), especially with all the good cars in front of me. But early on I found a good lane of rubber early there and went right to the front," explained the 27-year-old Belleville, IL driver who now calls Mooresville, NC home. "Mike (McKinney) caught a lapper, and I was able to get the lead. Then I just tried to stay out in front of everything behind me. This feels pretty good heading into the rest of the week," he added while standing next to his #2 Fox Shox / Elite Chassis machine surrounding by his happy crew.

McKinney and David Stremme brought a stout 32-car field to Chief Starter David Farney's green flag. and McKinney rocketed out to the early race lead as Hoffman, who started sixth, quickly worked his way to third and trailed the two front row starters. After Hoffman slipped past Stremme on lap six, he set his sights on McKinney, and the battle was on for the race lead.

Hoffman got around the racelong leader and started to pull away from the rest of the field. A series of cautions bunched up the field and this allowed McKinney a second chance to get back by Hoffman. Up to the challenge, Hoffman fought off consistent challenges from McKinney to score the win and complete the "Hat Trick" after winning the Fast Qualifier Award and his Heat Race. As a bonus, he also took over the points lead. Last year, Hoffman picked up his first and only Feature win and took over the points lead on the third night of DIRTcar Nationals as well on his way to his fourth consecutive title.

McKinney settled for second for his best finish of the week, while Brian Ruhlman bagged his best finish of the week to complete the podium. NASCAR Xfinity Series star Justin Allgaier also garnered his best finish of the three races so far with a fourth, as Jason Hughes finished off the top five, also his best finish . Zeke McKenzie continues to impress with a solid sixth place effort, and Kenny Wallace, Michael Altobelli, Taylor Cook and 2008 DIRTcar UMP Modified National Champion Jeff Leka completed the top 10.

Hoffman's quick time was an 18.194 (98.934mph) over the impressive 81-car field, and he won his Heat. Allgaier, Tyler Nicely, McKinney, Kyle Strickler, Stremme, Will Krup and Ruhlman also grabbed Heat Race checkers, while Terry Phillips, Jason Gross, Brian Shaw and Curt Spalding all collected Last Chance Showdown wins.

One of the most popular nights of the DIRTcar Nationals for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds is on Friday, February 7 and serves as Night 4 of 12 overall and fourth of seven nights for the Mods. It's the Night of Features; as a Thank You to all the drivers and teams that have supported the DIRTcar Nationals, every DIRTcar UMP Modified team on the property will be divided into features with a maximum of 25 cars and a minimum of 15 in each feature. Each main event will be 15 laps, and the starting fields for each is determined by total points after the first three nights of racing.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series takes over Sprint Week for the rest of the weekend, starting on Friday, February 7 as the "Greatest Show on Dirt" kick off its 42nd year with the first three shows of the new season. For tickets, visit dirtcarnationals.com, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.com.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB. 6, 2020

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [6][$1,000]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney [1][$600]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [5][$400]; 4. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [7][$350]; 5. 12H-Jason Hughes [10][$300]; 6. 24-Zeke McKenzie [16][$275]; 7. 36-Kenny Wallace [18][$250]; 8. 95-Michael Altobelli [14][$225]; 9. 21-Taylor Cook [17][$200]; 10. 3L-Jeff Leka [11][$200]; 11. 7A-Shane Sabraski [30][$175]; 12. 99-Hunt Gossum [22][$140]; 13. 2A-Donnie Moran [21][$130]; 14. 1M-Curt Myers [23][$125]; 15. 67-Garret Stewart [29][$125]; 16. 5-Curt Spalding [28][$125]; 17. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [4][$125]; 18. 88-Matt Crafton [24][$125]; 19. 23-Ryan Cripe [19][$125]; 20. 35-David Stremme [2][$125]; 21. 52-Colin Green [20][$125]; 22. OOD-David Reutimann [13][$125]; 23. 18L-Michael Long [12][$125]; 24. 75-Terry Phillips [25][$125]; 25. 25-Tyler Nicely [3][$125]; 26. K19-Will Krup [8][$100]; 27. 7-Drake Troutman [9][$100]; 28. 11H-Spencer Hughes [15][$100]; 29. 4UW-Bobby Regot [32][$100]; 30. 1S-Brian Shaw [27][$100]; 31. 12-Jason Gross [26][$100]; 32. 45J-Johnny Broking [31][$100]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 7A-Shane Sabraski[+19]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 21-Taylor Cook, 18.58; 2. 7JA-Justin Allgaier, 18.689; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 18.705; 4. 6A-Ryan Ayers, 18.898; 5. 19-Chad Bauer, 18.938; 6. OO-Buzzie Reutimann, 19.256; 7. 75-Terry Phillips, 19.305; 8. 65-Todd Sherman, 19.349; 9. 25P-Robert Poole, 19.418; 10. 9PG-Percy Gendreau, 19.653; 11. 61-Eric Hill, 19.988

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 12H-Jason Hughes, 18.287; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely, 18.58; 3. 67-Garret Stewart, 18.617; 4. 36-Kenny Wallace, 18.641; 5. 12L-Lucas Lee, 18.802; 6. 32-Chad Roush, 18.981; 7. 99M-Mike Mullen, 19.026; 8. 20-Tyler Hendrix, 19.497; 9. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 19.595; 10. 5F-Jerry Foster, 20.353

Qualifying Flight-C – 1. 96M-Mike McKinney, 18.582; 2. 23-Ryan Cripe, 18.657; 3. 3L-Jeff Leka, 18.737; 4. 12-Jason Gross, 18.829; 5. 1-Brenden Rassel, 19.022; 6. 17-Rob Pitcher, 19.607; 7. 89W-Rick Weitekamp, 19.714; 8. 100-Scott Fritz, 19.753; 9. Z06-Larry Mott, 19.789; 10. 14J-John Baker, 20.026

Qualifying Flight-D – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler, 18.409; 2. 8-Steve Stevenson, 18.826; 3. 17TE-Tyler Evans, 18.856; 4. 18L-Michael Long, 18.898; 5. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 19.032; 6. 7A-Shane Sabraski, 19.154; 7. 52-Colin Green, 19.212; 8. 15-Rick Potter, 21.028; 9. 11JH-Justin Haley, NT; 10. 11-Jesse Rupe, NT

Qualifying Flight-E – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman, 18.194; 2. OOD-David Reutimann, 18.338; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking, 18.624; 4. 2A-Donnie Moran, 18.651; 5. 17T-Michael Tarlton, 18.672; 6. 1S-Brian Shaw, 18.863; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.024; 8. 9-Sheldon Creed, 19.116; 9. 6-Ryan Fowler, 19.595; 10. 96-Cole Parker, NT

Qualifying Flight-F – 1. 35-David Stremme, 18.405; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli, 18.582; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger, 18.716; 4. 24D-Travis Dickson, 18.838; 5. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 18.878; 6. O5-Dave Wietholder, 19.045; 7. 11M-Mike McGee, 19.051; 8. 99-Hunt Gossum, 19.068; 9. 97-Mitch Thomas, 19.365; 10. O1-Bryce Nichols, 19.763

Qualifying Flight-G – 1. K19-Will Krup, 18.38; 2. 1M-Curt Myers, 18.527; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes, 18.571; 4. 4UW-Bobby Regot, 18.917; 5. 2J-Troy Johnson, 18.995; 6. A1-Gary Bentley, 19.056; 7. 7F-Bryan Foy, 19.253; 8. 71L-Dennis Lunger, 19.442; 9. O7-Curtis King, 19.588; 10. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt, 20.073

Qualifying Flight-H – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.249; 2. 5-Curt Spalding, 18.384; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie, 18.683; 4. 90-Jason Beaulieu, 18.697; 5. 7CT-Christian Thomas, 19.028; 6. 22-Dale Kelley, 19.215; 7. 88-Matt Crafton, 19.344; 8. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt, 19.494; 9. 40-Shawn Reiss, 21.248; 10. 27-William Cevaal, 21.33

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [2]; 2. 7-Drake Troutman [3]; 3. 21-Taylor Cook [1]; 4. 75-Terry Phillips [7]; 5. 19-Chad Bauer [5]; 6. 65-Todd Sherman [8]; 7. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [6]; 8. 25P-Robert Poole [9]; 9. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [10]; 10. 61-Eric Hill [11]; 11. 6A-Ryan Ayers [4]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 25-Tyler Nicely [2]; 2. 12H-Jason Hughes [1]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace [4]; 4. 67-Garret Stewart [3]; 5. 99M-Mike Mullen [7]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee [5]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas [9]; 8. 5F-Jerry Foster [10]; 9. 20-Tyler Hendrix [8]; 10. 32-Chad Roush [6]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 96M-Mike McKinney [1]; 2. 3L-Jeff Leka [3]; 3. 23-Ryan Cripe [2]; 4. 12-Jason Gross [4]; 5. 1-Brenden Rassel [5]; 6. 17-Rob Pitcher [6]; 7. 100-Scott Fritz [8]; 8. 14J-John Baker [10]; 9. Z06-Larry Mott [9]; 10. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [7]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [1]; 2. 18L-Michael Long [4]; 3. 52-Colin Green [7]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski [6]; 5. 11-Jesse Rupe [10]; 6. 8-Steve Stevenson [2]; 7. 15-Rick Potter [8]; 8. 17TE-Tyler Evans [3]; 9. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [5]; 10. 11JH-Justin Haley [9]

Heat #5 – Flight (E) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [1]; 2. OOD-David Reutimann [2]; 3. 2A-Donnie Moran [4]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking [3]; 5. 1S-Brian Shaw [6]; 6. 17T-Michael Tarlton [5]; 7. 9-Sheldon Creed [8]; 8. 22T-Tony Anderson [7]; 9. 6-Ryan Fowler [9]; 10. 96-Cole Parker [10]

Heat #6 – Flight (F) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 35-David Stremme [1]; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli [2]; 3. 99-Hunt Gossum [8]; 4. 24D-Travis Dickson [4]; 5. 11M-Mike McGee [7]; 6. O1-Bryce Nichols [10]; 7. 77-Ray Bollinger [3]; 8. 8A-Austin Holcombe [5]; 9. 97-Mitch Thomas [9]; 10. O5-Dave Wietholder [6]

Heat #7 – Flight (G) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. K19-Will Krup [1]; 2. 11H-Spencer Hughes [3]; 3. 1M-Curt Myers [2]; 4. 4UW-Bobby Regot [4]; 5. 2J-Troy Johnson [5]; 6. 7F-Bryan Foy [7]; 7. A1-Gary Bentley [6]; 8. 71L-Dennis Lunger [8]; 9. O7-Curtis King [9]; 10. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt [10]

Heat #8 – Flight (H) (8 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 2. 24-Zeke McKenzie [3]; 3. 88-Matt Crafton [7]; 4. 5-Curt Spalding [2]; 5. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [8]; 6. 22-Dale Kelley [6]; 7. 90-Jason Beaulieu [4]; 8. 27-William Cevaal [10]; 9. 40-Shawn Reiss [9]; 10. 7CT-Christian Thomas [5]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer – 1. 75-Terry Phillips [1][-]; 2. 67-Garret Stewart [2][-]; 3. 19-Chad Bauer [3][-]; 4. 12L-Lucas Lee [6][-]; 5. 65-Todd Sherman [5][$75]; 6. 99M-Mike Mullen [4][$75]; 7. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [7][$75]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas [8][$75]; 9. 5F-Jerry Foster [10][$75]; 10. 25P-Robert Poole [9][$75]; 11. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [11][$75]; 12. 32-Chad Roush [14][$75]; 13. 61-Eric Hill [13][$75]; 14. 20-Tyler Hendrix [12][$75]; 15. 6A-Ryan Ayers [15][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 12-Jason Gross [1][-]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski [2][-]; 3. 1-Brenden Rassel [3][-]; 4. 17TE-Tyler Evans [10][-]; 5. 8-Steve Stevenson [6][$75]; 6. 100-Scott Fritz [7][$75]; 7. 17-Rob Pitcher [5][$75]; 8. 14J-John Baker [9][$75]; 9. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [13][$75]; 10. Z06-Larry Mott [11][$75]; 11. 11-Jesse Rupe [4][$75]; 12. 11JH-Justin Haley [14][$75]; 13. 15-Rick Potter [8][$75]; 14. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [12][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 1S-Brian Shaw [3][-]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking [1][-]; 3. 24D-Travis Dickson [2][-]; 4. 11M-Mike McGee [4][-]; 5. 9-Sheldon Creed [7][$75]; 6. 17T-Michael Tarlton [5][$75]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson [9][$75]; 8. 97-Mitch Thomas [12][$75]; 9. O1-Bryce Nichols [6][$75]; 10. 77-Ray Bollinger [8][$75]; 11. 6-Ryan Fowler [11][$75]; 12. O5-Dave Wietholder [14][$75]; 13. 8A-Austin Holcombe [10][$75]; 14. 96-Cole Parker [13][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 4 (8 Laps) – 1. 5-Curt Spalding [2][-]; 2. 4UW-Bobby Regot [1][-]; 3. 90-Jason Beaulieu [8][-]; 4. 2J-Troy Johnson [3][-]; 5. O7-Curtis King [11][$75]; 6. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [4][$75]; 7. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt [13][$75]; 8. A1-Gary Bentley [7][$75]; 9. 27-William Cevaal [10][$75]; 10. 22-Dale Kelley [6][$75]; 11. 40-Shawn Reiss [12][$75]; 12. 7CT-Christian Thomas [14][$75]; 13. 7F-Bryan Foy [5][$75]; 14. 71L-Dennis Lunger [9][$75]


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Four First Time Winners Highlight Night of Features at 49th DIRTcar Nationals

DIRTcar


Four First Time Winners Highlight Night of Features at 49th DIRTcar Nationals

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 09:09 PM PST

For the second year in a row, new winners emerge on Night of Features in the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 7, 2020 — One of the most popular nights of the 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds is the Night of Features. Night #4 at Volusia Speedway Park (FL) set up every DIRTcar UMP Modified on the property to race in a Feature for a chance at a coveted Gator. The ironmen of the DIRTcar Nationals raced in their fourth of seven nights on the famed half-mile high-banked dirt oval, and all four Feature winners were first-ever winners in the DIRTcar Nationals.

The first of four Features was comprised of the top 20 in the current points standings coming into the night. With an inversion of 10, that placed Curt Spalding and David Stremme on the front row. Spalding jumped out to the early race lead with Stremme in tow. While the two front row starters battled, another war was waging behind them between Jason Hughes and Kyle Strickler.

With five laps to go, Strickler managed to get up to third to battle with Stremme, but by then Spalding was long gone, and the 48-year-old from Watervliet, MI in his #5 Lane Automotive / Lethal Chassis entry went on to win his first career DIRTcar Nationals Feature. Stremme was second as Strickler, Hughes and four-time defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion and current points leader Nick Hoffman completed the top five. Kenny Wallace finished sixth over Justin Allgaier, who started 14th, while Tyler Nicely from 17th, Ryan Cripe and Mike McKinney were the top 10.

The second Feature showcased the drivers in points positions 41-60. Christian Thomas and NASCAR Gander R.V. & Outdoors Truck Series competitor Sheldon Creed led the field to the green flag. Thomas paced the field in the opening laps with Creed trailing. Austin Holcombe joined the battle, but that was short-lived as he spun on lap six to bring out the caution. On the restart, Thomas pulled away, but this time Lucas Lee worked his way up to second trying to mount a challenge at the race leader.

Thomas wasn't to be denied though as the 24-year-old from Wake Forest, NC in his #7 Wakefield Automotive / Elite Chassis ride led all 15 laps to score his first career DIRTcar Nationals Feature win. Lee settled for second as Gary Bentley charged from starting 14th to finish on the podium in third, Steve Stevenson and Michael Tarlton, from 11th, were the top five. Stephen Pedulla was sixth over Brenden Rassel, and Scott Fritz from 12th, Tony Anderson from 16th and Holcombe finished off the top 10.

In the third Feature of the night, for drivers 61st in points on back, Larry Mott and Percy Gendreau started on the front row of their main event, and before a lap was completed a massive pileup occurred in turns one and two. Everyone was able to drive away and continue. On the restart, Gendreau took the race lead with Bryce Nichols in tow. As the two drivers battled, former NASCAR Cup Series driver David Reutimann, who started deep in the field in 15th and only competing in his second night this week, charged his way towards the front, and a three-way battle ensued.

Nichols took the lead away from Gendreau on lap seven only to lose it three laps later, with five to go, to Reutimann, who would keep his #00 Blue Gator Tiki Bar & Restaurant / Beak-Built Chassis ride out front en route to his first-ever Feature win in the DIRTcar Nationals. Nichols settled for second, with Jesse Rupe, Robert Poole from 16th and Jerry Foster completing the top five. Zac Oedewaldt was sixth after starting 11th, while John Baker, Gendreau, Eric Hill, who started 17th, and Ryan Fowler completed the top 10.

The final Feature of the night was for the drivers currently positioned in 21-40th in DIRTcar Nationals points. 2019 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Ohio State Champion Todd Sherman and Spencer Hughes started on the front row. Before a lap was completed, a massive pileup ensued in turn four. Just like in the previous feature, everyone was able to pull away. On the restart, Hughes beat Sherman to the first corner to grab the lead. Jason Beaulieu, who started sixth, charged his way up to third. After getting to second, he set his sights on Hughes. As the halfway point was reached, Beaulieu drove by Hughes to take the race lead.

From there, the 50-year-old who has travel to the DIRTcar Nationals 3,475 miles, one-way, from Campbell River, British Columbia would reach a milestone after coming to Volusia since 2011 and finally garnered that coveted first Gator Trophy aboard his #90 Coast Island Marine / Lethal Chassis ride. Hughes hung on for second over Ray Bollinger as three-time and defending NASCAR Gander R.V. & Outdoors Truck Series Champion Matt Crafton and 15-year-old Hunt Gossum, who started 13th, were the top five. Travis Dickson finished sixth, while Mike Mullen, Terry Phillips, Johnny Broking from 14th and Ryan Ayers, who started 17th, were the final top 10 of the night.

The first of two Gator Qualifier Nights is next for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on Saturday, February 8, with half of the field racing on Saturday, while the second half of the field will race on Sunday, February 9 in the second and final Gator Qualifier. The next two nights will determine the guaranteed starters for the $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship Feature on Monday, February 10.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series continue with Sprint Week for the rest of the weekend as the Greatest Show on Dirt kicks off its 42nd year with the second of three total shows of the new season as part of the DIRTcar Nationals.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB. 7, 2020

Feature #1 (15 Laps) – 1. 5-Curt Spalding [1]; 2. 35-David Stremme [2]; 3. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [9]; 4. 12H-Jason Hughes [3]; 5. 2-Nick Hoffman [10]; 6. 36-Kenny Wallace [4]; 7. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [14]; 8. 25-Tyler Nicely [17]; 9. 23-Ryan Cripe [5]; 10. 96M-Mike McKinney [12]; 11. K19-Will Krup [18]; 12. 7A-Shane Sabraski [15]; 13. 49-Brian Ruhlman [6]; 14. 2A-Donnie Moran [13]; 15. 67-Garret Stewart [16]; 16. 17TE-Tyler Evans [19]; 17. 7-Drake Troutman [20]; 18. 18L-Michael Long [8]; 19. 95-Michael Altobelli [11]; 20. 24-Zeke McKenzie [7]

Feature #2 (15 Laps) – 1. 90-Jason Beaulieu [6]; 2. 11H-Spencer Hughes [2]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger [3]; 4. 88-Matt Crafton [5]; 5. 99-Hunt Gossum [13]; 6. 24D-Travis Dickson [19]; 7. 99M-Mike Mullen [8]; 8. 75-Terry Phillips [10]; 9. 45J-Johnny Broking [14]; 10. 6A-Ryan Ayers [17]; 11. 52-Colin Green [18]; 12. 19-Chad Bauer [11]; 13. 65-Todd Sherman [1]; 14. 3L-Jeff Leka [9]; 15. 22-Dale Kelley [4]; 16. 21-Taylor Cook [15]; 17. 12-Jason Gross [20]; 18. 1M-Curt Myers [7]; 19. 2J-Troy Johnson [12]; 20. O5-Dave Wietholder [16]

Feature #3 (15 Laps) – 1. 7CT-Christian Thomas [1]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee [5]; 3. A1-Gary Bentley [14]; 4. 8-Steve Stevenson [3]; 5. 17T-Michael Tarlton [11]; 6. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [9]; 7. 1-Brenden Rassel [8]; 8. 100-Scott Fritz [12]; 9. 22T-Tony Anderson [16]; 10. 8A-Austin Holcombe [7]; 11. 17-Rob Pitcher [19]; 12. 4UW-Bobby Regot [18]; 13. 71L-Dennis Lunger [17]; 14. 97-Mitch Thomas [4]; 15. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [15]; 16. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt [20]; 17. 11N-Gene Nicholas [13]; 18. 7F-Bryan Foy [10]; 19. 11M-Mike McGee [6]; 20. 9-Sheldon Creed [2]

Feature #4 (15 Laps) – 1. OOD-David Reutimann [15]; 2. O1-Bryce Nichols [5]; 3. 11-Jesse Rupe [8]; 4. 25P-Robert Poole [16]; 5. 5F-Jerry Foster [7]; 6. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [11]; 7. 14J-John Baker [9]; 8. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [2]; 9. 61-Eric Hill [17]; 10. 6-Ryan Fowler [12]; 11. 27-William Cevaal [18]; 12. O7-Curtis King [10]; 13. 32-Chad Roush [13]; 14. Z06-Larry Mott [1]; 15. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [4]; 16. 15-Rick Potter [14]; 17. 40-Shawn Reiss [19]; 18. 1S-Brian Shaw [6]; 19. 96-Cole Parker [3]

SEE GATOR POINTS


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Four-Time Defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion Scores Victory In Big Gator Qualifier

Four-Time Defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion Scores Victory In Big Gator Qualifier

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 09:48 PM PST

First of Two Gator Qualifiers begins setting the field for Monday's Gator Championship

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 8, 2020 — Current DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified points leader Nick Hoffman scored the win on the first of two Gator Qualifier Nights before one of the biggest crowds in DIRTcar Nationals and Volusia Speedway Park history. The fifth night of DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford competition for the Modified teams began the chase for a coveted starting spot in Monday's $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship.

Starting on the pole and staying out front for all 20 laps in the caution-free event, the four-time defending DIRTcar Nationals champion staked his claim for an unprecedented fifth consecutive title. The 27-year-old standout and 2019 champion scored his second feature win of the week and his all-time career-leading 17th DIRTcar Nationals feature triumph.

"Being able to draw the pole and get out early and control the pace was really nice. Not having a caution during the race really helped as well," said the Mooresville, NC driver in victory lane after his win aboard his potent #2 Fox Shox / Elite Chassis machine. "Didn't have too many issues with the lapped traffic; that was about the only thing that worried me. I just stuck to my lane and took my time with them and it all worked out tonight."

By virtue of the redraw, Hoffman and Spencer Hughes started on the front row of the 20-lap Feature, and as the 28-car field dove into the first corner, Hoffman emerged out in front. As Hoffman slowly pulled away from the pack, a battle for second brewed between Jason Hughes and Brian Ruhlman with both slipping past S. Hughes to jump up into the podium. Before long, 2008 DIRTcar UMP Modified National Champion Jeff Leka joined Ruhlman and J. Hughes as the trio waged a war amongst themselves.

All the while, Hoffman continued to put real estate between himself and the rest of the pack. With seven laps to go, J. Hughes finally got past Ruhlman to take over second. But by then, Hoffman had hidden himself in lapped traffic and faced no pressure winning the Feature in front of the huge crowd on hand.

Hughes settled for second for his best finish of the DIRTcar Nationals over Ruhlman, who tied his best finish of the week in third and completed the podium finishers. Leka also scored his best feature finish of the week in fourth, and S. Hughes recorded his best finish of the week by completing the top five.

Fifteen-year-old Hunt Gossum grabbed his best finish of the week as well, in sixth after starting 13th. Kenny Wallace, Lucas Lee, Michael Long and Garret Stewart, who also recorded his best finish of the week in 10th after starting 17th, as the Top 10 have all earned a guaranteed starting spot in Monday's $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship.

Earlier in the evening, J. Hughes won his first Fast Qualifier Award of the DIRTcar Nationals with an 18.212 = 98.841mph. Ruhlman, Lee, Hoffman and Hughes won the Heat Races. And Jason Gross and Johnny Broking grabbed the wins in the Last Chance Showdowns.

The second and final Gator Qualifier Night for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds is Sunday, February, as the second half of the driver roster returns to the track after taking the night off. The Gator Qualifiers will determine the guaranteed starters for the $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship Feature on Monday, February 10. Meanwhile, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series complete the Sprint Week portion of the 49th DIRTcar Nationals with the Sprint Week Finale tomorrow, crowning the first 2020 DIRTcar Nationals Gator Champion.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB 8, 2020

Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [1][$1,000]; 2. 12H-Jason Hughes [5][$600]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [3][$400]; 4. 3L-Jeff Leka [9][$350]; 5. 11H-Spencer Hughes [2][$300]; 6. 99-Hunt Gossum [13][$275]; 7. 36-Kenny Wallace [6][$250]; 8. 12L-Lucas Lee [4][$225]; 9. 18L-Michael Long [11][$200]; 10. 67-Garret Stewart [17][$200]; 11. 5-Curt Spalding [7][$175]; 12. 21-Taylor Cook [19][$140]; 13. OOD-David Reutimann [8][$130]; 14. 11M-Mike McGee [16][$125]; 15. 12-Jason Gross [21][$125]; 16. 22-Dale Kelley [18][$125]; 17. 45J-Johnny Broking [22][$125]; 18. 1S-Brian Shaw [23][$125]; 19. K19-Will Krup [15][$125]; 20. 17TE-Tyler Evans [10][$125]; 21. 1-Brenden Rassel [12][$125]; 22. 17T-Michael Tarlton [14][$125]; 23. 32-Chad Roush [25][$125]; 24. O1-Bryce Nichols [27][$125]; 25. 22T-Tony Anderson [26][$125]; 26. 100-Scott Fritz [20][$100]; 27. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [24][$100]; 28. 19-Chad Bauer [28][$100]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 99-Hunt Gossum[+7]

Qualifying Flight-A  – 1. 12H-Jason Hughes, 18.212; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.315; 3. 67-Garret Stewart, 18.769; 4. 3L-Jeff Leka, 18.908; 5. 1S-Brian Shaw, 19.053; 6. 99-Hunt Gossum, 19.235; 7. 12-Jason Gross, 19.372; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 19.385; 9. 9PG-Percy Gendreau, 19.503; 10. O1-Bryce Nichols, 19.733

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 12L-Lucas Lee, 18.687; 2. 17T-Michael Tarlton, 19.113; 3. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 19.125; 4. 17TE-Tyler Evans, 19.152; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace, 19.26; 6. 32-Chad Roush, 19.929; 7. 14J-John Baker, 20.413; 8. 22-Dale Kelley, 20.548; 9. 40-Shawn Reiss, NT

Qualifying Flight-C – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman, 18.627; 2. 5-Curt Spalding, 18.671; 3. 18L-Michael Long, 18.764; 4. 21-Taylor Cook, 18.858; 5. K19-Will Krup, 18.877; 6. 19-Chad Bauer, 19.199; 7. 45J-Johnny Broking, 19.245; 8. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.487; 9. OO-Buzzie Reutimann, 19.545; 10. Z06-Larry Mott, 20.165

Qualifying Flight-D – 1. 11H-Spencer Hughes, 18.817; 2. OOD-David Reutimann, 19.104; 3. 1-Brenden Rassel, 19.29; 4. 11M-Mike McGee, 19.396; 5. 100-Scott Fritz, 19.52; 6. 65-Todd Sherman, 19.543; 7. 17-Rob Pitcher, 19.843; 8. 6-Ryan Fowler, 19.92; 9. 27-William Cevaal, 20.984; 10. 33-TJ Evans, NT

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 2. 12H-Jason Hughes [1]; 3. 3L-Jeff Leka [4]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum [6]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart [3]; 6. 12-Jason Gross [7]; 7. 1S-Brian Shaw [5]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas [8]; 9. O1-Bryce Nichols [10]; 10. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [9]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 12L-Lucas Lee [1]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace [5]; 3. 17TE-Tyler Evans [4]; 4. 17T-Michael Tarlton [2]; 5. 22-Dale Kelley [8]; 6. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [3]; 7. 32-Chad Roush [6]; 8. 14J-John Baker [7]; 9. 40-Shawn Reiss [9]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [1]; 2. 5-Curt Spalding [2]; 3. 18L-Michael Long [3]; 4. K19-Will Krup [5]; 5. 21-Taylor Cook [4]; 6. 45J-Johnny Broking [7]; 7. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [9]; 8. 22T-Tony Anderson [8]; 9. 19-Chad Bauer [6]; 10. Z06-Larry Mott [10]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 11H-Spencer Hughes [1]; 2. OOD-David Reutimann [2]; 3. 1-Brenden Rassel [3]; 4. 11M-Mike McGee [4]; 5. 100-Scott Fritz [5]; 6. 17-Rob Pitcher [7]; 7. 6-Ryan Fowler [8]; 8. 65-Todd Sherman [6]; 9. 27-William Cevaal [9]; 10. 33-TJ Evans [10]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer – 1. 12-Jason Gross [1][-]; 2. 1S-Brian Shaw [3][-]; 3. 32-Chad Roush [4][-]; 4. O1-Bryce Nichols [7][-]; 5. 14J-John Baker [6][$75]; 6. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [9][$75]; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas [5][$75]; 8. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [2][$75]; 9. 40-Shawn Reiss [8][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 2 ( Laps) – 1. 45J-Johnny Broking [1][-]; 2. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [3][-]; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson [5][-]; 4. 19-Chad Bauer [7][-]; 5. 65-Todd Sherman [6][$75]; 6. 17-Rob Pitcher [2][$75]; 7. 6-Ryan Fowler [4][$75]; 8. 27-William Cevaal [8][$75]; 9. Z06-Larry Mott [9][$75]; 10. 33-TJ Evans [10][$75]

SEE GATOR POINT STANDINGS


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Kyle Strickler Scores Second Feature of the Week in Second Big Gator Qualifier

Kyle Strickler Scores Second Feature of the Week in Second Big Gator Qualifier

Posted: 09 Feb 2020 08:38 PM PST

Monday's $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship field almost set

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 9, 2020 — Night six of the 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford featured the second of two Gator Qualifier Nights for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds at Volusia Speedway Park, setting the field for Monday's $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship. After taking the lead from his outside front row starting spot, Kyle Strickler in his potent #8 Bilstein Shocks / Longhorn Chassis never wavered en route to picking up his second feature win of the week and eighth of his career

This win moves Strickler into a tie for fourth in all-time DIRTcar Nationals wins with 2009 DIRTcar Nationals Champion Jared Landers. Strickler and Landers are both now just a single victory behind two-time (2014 and 2012) DIRTcar Nationals Champion and current NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Dillon.

"I wasn't really sure where to run, and I couldn't see my guys in the infield. They were right by a caution light, and I tried to get them to move around so I could see where I needed to move around," explained the 35-year-old driver, originally from Sinking Spring, PA, but residing in Mooresville, NC, while talking to DIRTVision's Dave Rieff on the winner's stage. "The track really didn't change much. I felt more comfortable at the top, but I was a little faster on the bottom, so I just tried to move around. We still have a chance at Nick (Hoffman), but man, I wish we could take that bad night back. But tomorrow is the big night for all the money. The Redraw is going to be really important."

With 30 cars on the property for the second Gator Qualifier Feature, it was determined that all 30 would start the 20-lap feature with the Heat Races determining the starting lineup. After the Heat Race winners participated in the Redraw to determine the first two rows, Nicely and Strickler led the massive field to Chief Starter Dave Farney's green flag, and as soon as the cloth waved, Strickler was on a mission. He rocketed out to the race lead as the rest of the field scrambled behind him.

A caution flew on lap five when a big pileup involving National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame driver Donnie Moran as well as Austin Holcombe, Curt Myers and Dave Weiteholder forced a red flag. After cleanup was completed, the green flew again with Strickler again jumping out to a big lead. Nicely tried to keep pace with the race-long leader — and a caution with just two to go gave Nicely one last chance — but on the final restart, Strickler again got away from Nicely and the rest of the field and sailed to Victory Lane

Nicely recorded his best finish of the week in second as NASCAR Xfinity Series star Justin Allgaier posted his best finish of the week completing the podium in third. Ryan Cripe was fourth over David Stremme, who finished off the top five. Mike McKinney charged from his 27th starting spot and advanced 21 positions to finish sixth, and Michael Altobelli Jr. grabbed his best finish of the week in seventh. Ray Bollinger also finished in his best spot of the week in eighth, while 14-year-old Drake Troutman and Christian Thomas were the top 10 and are all guaranteed a starting spot in Monday's Big Gator Championship

Nicely collected his first Fast Qualifier Award of the week to give the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds a final total of five different Fast Qualifiers on the week. He also won his Heat Race as Bollinger, Allgaier and Strickler also collected Heat Race triumphs.

The $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship Feature for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on Monday, February 10 will conclude the Ironmen of the DIRTcar Nationals portion of the 49th edition of the event. It's also the start of Late Model Week as the DIRTcar Late Models make their first appearance at Volusia in thier first of two nights of competition before the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series takes over on Wednesday. February 12. They'll finish up the 49th DIRTcar Nationals with the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified, who kick off their DIRTcar Nationals on Tuesday, February 13 and race through the rest of the week.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB 9, 2020

Feature (20 Laps)– 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [2][$1,000]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely [1][$600]; 3. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [4][$400]; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe [9][$350]; 5. 35-David Stremme [7][$300]; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney [27][$275]; 7. 95-Michael Altobelli [5][$250]; 8. 77-Ray Bollinger [3][$225]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman [12][$200]; 10. 7CT-Christian Thomas [8][$200]; 11. 7A-Shane Sabraski [15][$175]; 12. 99M-Mike Mullen [22][$140]; 13. 75-Terry Phillips [26][$130]; 14. 52-Colin Green [14][$125]; 15. 24D-Travis Dickson [29][$125]; 16. A1-Gary Bentley [20][$125]; 17. 9-Sheldon Creed [23][$125]; 18. 4UW-Bobby Regot [24][$125]; 19. 5F-Jerry Foster [25][$125]; 20. O7-Curtis King [28][$125]; 21. 24-Zeke McKenzie [11][$125]; 22. 97-Mitch Thomas [17][$125]; 23. 8-Steve Stevenson [21][$125]; 24. 2A-Donnie Moran [16][$125]; 25. 11-Jesse Rupe [18][$125]; 26. 8A-Austin Holcombe [13][$100]; 27. 1M-Curt Myers [10][$100]; 28. O5-Dave Wietholder [19][$100]; 29. 90-Jason Beaulieu [6][$100]; 30. 88-Matt Crafton [30][$100]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 96M-Mike McKinney[+21]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 25-Tyler Nicely, 18.608; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli, 18.994; 3. 8-Steve Stevenson, 19.195; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe, 19.541; 5. 5F-Jerry Foster, 19.664; 6. 97-Mitch Thomas, 19.733; 7. 24D-Travis Dickson, 19.901; 8. 8A-Austin Holcombe, NT

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 90-Jason Beaulieu, 19.113; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger, 19.129; 3. 1M-Curt Myers, 19.156; 4. 11-Jesse Rupe, 19.17; 5. 88-Matt Crafton, 19.225; 6. 52-Colin Green, 19.297; 7. 75-Terry Phillips, 19.457; 8. 99M-Mike Mullen, 19.544

Qualifying Flight-C – 1. 35-David Stremme, 19.203; 2. 7JA-Justin Allgaier, 19.275; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie, 19.288; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski, 19.341; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney, 19.414; 6. 9-Sheldon Creed, 19.75; 7. O5-Dave Wietholder, 19.881

Qualifying Flight-D – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler, 18.631; 2. 7CT-Christian Thomas, 19.15; 3. 7-Drake Troutman, 19.216; 4. A1-Gary Bentley, 19.242; 5. 2A-Donnie Moran, 19.274; 6. 4UW-Bobby Regot, 19.746; 7. O7-Curtis King, 19.931

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer – 1. 25-Tyler Nicely [1]; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli [2]; 3. 23-Ryan Cripe [4]; 4. 8A-Austin Holcombe [8]; 5. 97-Mitch Thomas [6]; 6. 8-Steve Stevenson [3]; 7. 5F-Jerry Foster [5]; 8. 24D-Travis Dickson [7]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer – 1. 77-Ray Bollinger [2]; 2. 90-Jason Beaulieu [1]; 3. 1M-Curt Myers [3]; 4. 52-Colin Green [6]; 5. 11-Jesse Rupe [4]; 6. 99M-Mike Mullen [8]; 7. 75-Terry Phillips [7]; 8. 88-Matt Crafton [5]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer – 1. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [2]; 2. 35-David Stremme [1]; 3. 24-Zeke McKenzie [3]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski [4]; 5. O5-Dave Wietholder [7]; 6. 9-Sheldon Creed [6]; 7. 96M-Mike McKinney [5]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [1]; 2. 7CT-Christian Thomas [2]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman [3]; 4. 2A-Donnie Moran [5]; 5. A1-Gary Bentley [4]; 6. 4UW-Bobby Regot [6]; 7. O7-Curtis King [7]

SEE GATOR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS


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Sheppard Dominates to Continue His DIRTcar Nationals Mastery

DIRTcar


Sheppard Dominates to Continue His DIRTcar Nationals Mastery

Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:10 PM PST

Defending Gator champ dominates Dirt Late Model opener for fifth consecutive Volusia win

BARBERVILLE, FL – Feb. 10, 2020 – Picking up right where he left off in last year's DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford, Brandon Sheppard ran away with Monday night's DIRTcar Late Model Feature for his fifth consecutive victory at Volusia Speedway Park.

The defending Dirt Late Model Big Gator champion stole the lead from polesitter Tim McCreadie at the drop of the green and never looked back, leading all 30 laps en route to his sixth victory at Volusia in the past seven DIRTcar Nationals Late Model Features.

Joe Grabianowski Photo

If anyone thought it was the Rocket1 Racing show during last year's Florida-Georgia Speedweeks, it's looking like an even more concentrated go-around this year, as Sheppard now tallies four Late Model victories in the past seven days.

"It's been an incredible Speedweeks so far, our consistency has been through the roof all week," Sheppard said. "When you're as consistent as we are, the wins are going to come."

Sheppard led comfortably until the race's second caution on lap 14, when Scott Bloomquist Racing's Chris Madden gave him his strongest challenge of the race on the restart. Using the top side momentum to his advantage, Madden got a great run out of Turn 2 and dove into Turn 3 on the bottom. But The Rocket Shepp was just too strong in the middle and began to pull away again at the flagstand.

Another restart with nine laps remaining put Madden on the top side at the drop of the green, but he stumbled on the cushion as Brian Shirley and Dennis Erb Jr. drove by on the bottom. Madden fell back two spots further before the checkered, leaving the 2018 Big Gator champion with a sixth-place result.

Shirley had a great race going on the top side, using the speed to make several passes as he climbed up into the podium. He fended off Erb's fierce challenges on the bottom in the closing laps to secure the runner-up spot with a car he said was very comfortable to drive. To beat the Rocket1 car ahead of him, however, Shirley believes it's going to take more than just being good in the Feature.

Jim DenHamer Photo

"We've just got to make sure we qualify good and start up front," Shirley said. "I just felt like [Sheppard] was just a little bit better than me out there on the track and could do things that I just couldn't do, so we've just got to get a little better. Hopefully, one night, I can get lucky enough to start on the front row and have a shot."

Erb had a very strong car the whole race, rounding out an all-Illinois top-three from his eighth starting spot. He made his way up into the top-five just before halfway and capitalized on Madden's slip-up on the late restart to grab third and eventually challenge for second.

"On that last restart, Chris just went way high there and I just went right through the middle," Erb said. "Once everybody got settled in there, it was awful fast and hard to pass from there on."

Erb stayed around the bottom for the greater portion of the race, chomping at the bit on Shirley in the late stages.

"[Shirley] would go into the corner and slide from bottom to the top, I'd get a run on him and then he'd come back down. To try and get by him that way really wasn't going to work," Erb said.

Jim DenHamer Photo

Sheppard fended off the fellow Illinois drivers' pressure from behind with ease on the following restarts, leading the field back to the checkers for a $7,000 payday.

Overall, Sheppard said his continued success comes down to he and his crew's workflow in the pit area. Each day, they know exactly what it is they need to do to get the job done, and with car owner Mark Richards' years of experience racing at Volusia, it puts Sheppard at ease behind the wheel.

"It just makes my confidence maxed-out all the time. I know I can drive into Turn 1 however I feel I need to and nothing's going to fall off or break or anything like that because my guys just do such a great job. It's a lot easier to have a lot of confidence whenever you've got a great group of guys pumping you up, and you know your car's gonna be good," Sheppard said.

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Nationals action continues Tuesday night with the second 30-lap, $7,000-to-win Feature for the Late Models alongside the stars and cars of the Big-Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision; Hot Laps are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB. 10, 2020

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard [2][]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley [5][]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb, [8][]; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie [1][]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener [11][]; 6. 0M-Chris Madden [4][]; 7. 72-Michael Norris [3][]; 8. 29V-Darrell Lanigan [14][]; 9. 7W-Ricky Weiss [6][]; 10. 76B-Brandon Overton [22][]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard [20][]; 12. 20-Jimmy Owens [17][]; 13. 12-Ashton Winger [9][]; 14. 15-Donny Schatz [7][]; 15. 17M-Dale McDowell [10][]; 16. 99B-Boom Briggs [16][]; 17. O-Rick Eckert [18][]; 18. 40B-Kyle Bronson [13][]; 19. 21-Ivedent Lloyd, [15][]; 20. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [23][]; 21. 16B-Tyler Bruening [12][]; 22. 6-Blake Spencer [24][]; 23. OOO-Kyle Lear [19][]; 24. 89-GR Smith [21][]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 76B-Brandon Overton[+12]

Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 72-Michael Norris, 16.575; 2. 12-Ashton Winger, 16.59; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, 16.656; 4. 23-John Blankenship, 16.719; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens, 16.761; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 16.803; 7. 1-Vic Hill, 16.9; 8. 16-Justin Rattliff, 17.095; 9. 4G-Kody Evans, 17.223; 10. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 17.655; 11. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 18.317

Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss, 16.232; 2. 1S-Brandon Sheppard, 16.265; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell, 16.285; 4. 29V-Darrell Lanigan, 16.287; 5. 18-Chase Junghans, 16.432; 6. O-Rick Eckert, 16.478; 7. 31-Tyler Millwood, 16.499; 8. 7-Drake Troutman, 16.696; 9. 66C-Matt Cosner, 16.801; 10. 89-GR Smith, 16.867; 11. 2-Dan Stone, 17.39

Qualifying Flight-C – 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 16.267; 2. 21-Ivedent Lloyd,, 16.498; 3. 36-Logan Martin, 16.54; 4. 39-Tim McCreadie, 16.645; 5. 6-Blake Spencer, 16.706; 6. 0B-Scott Bloomquist, 16.722; 7. 5-Mark Whitener, 16.751; 8. 22-Gregg Satterlee, 16.839; 9. 33-Jeff Mathews, 16.84; 10. OOO-Kyle Lear, 17.158; 11. 16H-Mike Hammerle, NT

Qualifying Flight-D – 1. 16B-Tyler Bruening, 16.419; 2. 0M-Chris Madden, 16.498; 3. 97-Cade Dillard, 16.604; 4. 28-Dennis Erb,, 16.635; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs, 16.637; 6. 311-Ken Monahan, 16.671; 7. 25-Shane Clanton, 16.716; 8. 76B-Brandon Overton, 16.736; 9. 2W-Pearson Williams, 16.785; 10. 25W-Allen Weisser, 16.823; 11. 25DC-Donnie Chappell, 16.93

Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 72-Michael Norris [1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley [3]; 3. 12-Ashton Winger [2]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson [6]; 5. 20-Jimmy Owens [5]; 6. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [10]; 7. 16-Justin Rattliff [8]; 8. 1-Vic Hill [7]; 9. 76-Blair Nothdurft [11]; 10. 4G-Kody Evans [9]; 11. 23-John Blankenship [4]

Heat #2 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard [2]; 2. 7W-Ricky Weiss [1]; 3. 17M-Dale McDowell [3]; 4. 29V-Darrell Lanigan [4]; 5. O-Rick Eckert [6]; 6. 89-GR Smith [10]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans [5]; 8. 2-Dan Stone [11]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman [8]; 10. 66C-Matt Cosner [9]; 11. 31-Tyler Millwood [7]

Heat #3 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 39-Tim McCreadie [4]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener [7]; 4. 21-Ivedent Lloyd, [2]; 5. OOO-Kyle Lear [10]; 6. 6-Blake Spencer [5]; 7. 36-Logan Martin [3]; 8. 22-Gregg Satterlee [8]; 9. 33-Jeff Mathews [9]; 10. 16H-Mike Hammerle [11]; 11. 0B-Scott Bloomquist [6]

Heat #4 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer – 1. 0M-Chris Madden [2]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb, [4]; 3. 16B-Tyler Bruening [1]; 4. 99B-Boom Briggs [5]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard [3]; 6. 76B-Brandon Overton [8]; 7. 25W-Allen Weisser [10]; 8. 2W-Pearson Williams [9]; 9. 311-Ken Monahan [6]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton [7]; 11. 25DC-Donnie Chappell [11]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer – 1. 89-GR Smith [2][]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [1][]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans [4][]; 4. 2-Dan Stone [6][]; 5. 16-Justin Rattliff [3][]; 6. 1-Vic Hill [5][]; 7. 7-Drake Troutman [8][]; 8. 23-John Blankenship [11][]; 9. 76-Blair Nothdurft [7][]; 10. 4G-Kody Evans [9][]; 11. 66C-Matt Cosner [10][]; 12. 31-Tyler Millwood [12][]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps) – 1. 76B-Brandon Overton [2][]; 2. 6-Blake Spencer [1][]; 3. 25W-Allen Weisser [4][]; 4. 2W-Pearson Williams [6][]; 5. 311-Ken Monahan [8][]; 6. 33-Jeff Mathews [7][]; 7. 16H-Mike Hammerle [9][]; 8. 36-Logan Martin [3][]; 9. 22-Gregg Satterlee [5][]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton [10][]; 11. 25DC-Donnie Chappell [12][]; 12. 0B-Scott Bloomquist [11][]

SEE GATOR CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS

19-Year-Old Spencer Hughes Bags $5,000 Payday in Big Gator Championship Upset Victory

Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST

Nick Hoffman Secures 2020 DIRTcar Nationals Championship for Fifth straight title

by Matt Prieur

BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 10, 2020 — The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds concluded their week-long battle at the 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford with the $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship, before crowning the 2020 DIRTcar Nationals Champion.  A thrilling last-lap pass for the win by Spencer Hughes, scored the 19-year-old his first-ever Big Gator, while Nick Hoffman took home his fifth straight DIRTcar Nationals championship.

In his #11 B&K Racing / Lethal Chassis machine, Spencer traded the lead with Jason Hughes (no relation) over the final three laps before making the winning final lap pass around the outside lane to take home the biggest win of his career and first-ever victory in the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia.

"I thought that last caution might've messed me up. I felt like I had a really good run on him (J. Hughes), and I guess we had just enough. I got by him in lapped traffic and darn near knocked the fence down," the elated Meridian, MS driver stated while talking to DIRTVision host Dave Rieff on the victory stage after his thrilling victory.

"I knew we were fast, but I didn't think we'd have enough time to get him on that last restart. He got a little better start than we did, but we were able to get up beside him. I might've pinched down a little bit, but I'm pretty sure he would've done the same to me," Hughes continued. "We came here a year ago, and we've always wanted a Gator ever since. Now we're going to strap it to the hood of the Peterbilt on the way home," he smiled.

Finishing fifth, Nick Hoffman added an unprecedented fifth DIRTcar Nationals Championship to his already staggering resume. The 27-year-old standout, originally from Belleville, IL, came into the 49th DIRTcar Nationals as the four-time defending Gator Champion and 2019 DIRTcar UMP Modified National Champion, as well as two-time and reigning DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals Champion. The now Mooresville, NC resident leads the DIRTcar Nationals All-Time Feature Wins for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds with 17.

"We had a really good week. I think I jinxed myself today as we hadn't used our spare nose all week, and then we whipped it out on the last lap of the whole week. It was very eventful tonight though. Definitely not the way we wanted it to go. Starting 10th, I probably had the best car to win the race but wasn't able to show it. Then we bit the front end early running into Kyle (Strickler), and then it wasn't steering like I needed it to, so we just tried to stay out of trouble," the Mooresville NC resident explained in Victory Lane after climbing from his damaged #2 Fox Shox / Elite Chassis entry.

"I can't thank everyone enough — our really strong product sponsors. To not have a mechanical failure all week is a true testament to the crew and everybody on this team," Hoffman continued. "It was my fault 100 percent. The bottom wasn't quite run in, and the car just went straight, and I drove right into him," he explained regarding the incident on lap seven when Tyler Nicely slowed and the field behind him checked up. "The track conditions were tough tonight, but you can't complain about that. It's got to be different every night, and it's usually like that all week. We'll come back again next year and try for six titles," he smiled.

Going into the Big Gator Championship Feature, Hoffman carried a 16-point advantage over Kyle Strickler. So, Hoffman merely needed to finish fourth or better to secure his fifth consecutive DIRTcar Nationals title. The two started side-by-side in the fifth row, with Strickler at Hoffman's left elbow.

J. Hughes and S. Hughes started on the front row of the stellar 32-car field and took the green flag from Chief Starter, Dave Farney to start the 30-lap, $5,000-to-win main event for the Modifieds. J. Hughes beat S. Hughes to the first corner to take the early race lead as the rest of the field jockeyed for position behind the two Hughes . J. Hughes built up his lead while the two DIRTcar Nationals title contenders, Hoffman and Strickler, began working their way towards the front.

The biggest turning point of the race came on lap seven when Tyler Nicely suddenly slowed and Strickler, with nowhere to go, slammed into the back end of Nicely's machine resulting in heavy front-end damage to Strickler's ride. He was also tagged from behind by Hoffman, who suffered damage to his nose but was able to continue. After a quick pit stop for repairs, Strickler restarted at the rear of the field. The green came out again, but soon afterwards, Strickler steered his mount to pit road again, calling it a night, and handing Hoffman his fifth straight DIRTcar Nationals title.

In the meantime, J. Hughes continued to show the way with S. Hughes not letting J. Hughes, the four-time United States Modified Tour Series (USMTS) Champion, stray too far out in front. As the laps continued to click off, S. Hughes inched closer to the back bumper of the elder Hughes, who made the trip from Westville, OK and was in search of his first career DIRTcar Nationals victory.

S. Hughes overtook J. Hughes with just three laps to go only to lose the lead back to J. Hughes a lap later. With the crowd on their feet, the final caution flew, setting up a final shootout for the $5,000 payday. On the final restart, J. Hughes powered out to the lead, but S. Hughes kept pace and drove around the high side to retake the lead and hang on to score the upset victory and first at Volusia of his career.

Hughes settled for a disappointing runner-up showing, tying his best finish of the week, while reigning 2019 Renegades of Dirt Series Champion Michael Altobelli Jr., who started 14th, recorded his best finish of the week in third, completing the podium. Ryan Cripe completed an impressive week with a fourth-place effort as newly crowned five-time DIRTcar Nationals Champion Hoffman rounded out the top five.

Opening night Feature Winner Michael Long started 17th and worked his way up to sixth over David Stremme as Mike McKinney from 12th, NASCAR Xfinity Series star Justin Allgaier and Will Krup, who started 25th, advanced 15 positions to finish off the final top 10. Curt Spalding, Terry Phillips, former NASCAR driver David Reutimann and Colin Green won the Last Chance Showdowns.

The DIRTcar Late Models make their second and final appearance at Volusia Speedway Park on Tuesday, February 11 on Night #8 of the 49th DIRTcar Nationals before the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series take over starting on Wednesday. February 12. The Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified Series move in tomorrow, Tuesday, February 11, and will race through the rest of the week.

OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK, FEB 10, 2020

Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 11H-Spencer Hughes [2][$5,000]; 2. 12H-Jason Hughes [1][$2,000]; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli [14][$1,250]; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe [8][$1,000]; 5. 2-Nick Hoffman [10][$800]; 6. 18L-Michael Long [17][$700]; 7. 35-David Stremme [5][$600]; 8. 96M-Mike McKinney [12][$575]; 9. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [3][$550]; 10. K19-Will Krup [25][$525]; 11. 77-Ray Bollinger [16][$500]; 12. 36-Kenny Wallace [13][$500]; 13. 5-Curt Spalding [21][$500]; 14. 3L-Jeff Leka [6][$500]; 15. 75-Terry Phillips [22][$450]; 16. OOD-David Reutimann [23][$425]; 17. 7-Drake Troutman [18][$400]; 18. 7CT-Christian Thomas [20][$375]; 19. 99M-Mike Mullen [28][$350]; 20. 99-Hunt Gossum [11][$300]; 21. 67-Garret Stewart [19][$300]; 22. 7A-Shane Sabraski [26][$300]; 23. 52-Colin Green [24][$300]; 24. 90-Jason Beaulieu [29][$300]; 25. 88-Matt Crafton [30][$300]; 26. 12L-Lucas Lee [15][$300]; 27. 22-Dale Kelley [31][$300]; 28. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [9][$300]; 29. 25-Tyler Nicely [4][]; 30. 45J-Johnny Broking [27][]; 31. 49-Brian Ruhlman [7][-]; 32. 65-Todd Sherman [32][-]; KSE Hard Charger Award: K19-Will Krup[+15]

Qualifying Feature 1 – Friday Night (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [1]; 2. 12H-Jason Hughes [2]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [3]; 4. 3L-Jeff Leka [4]; 5. 11H-Spencer Hughes [5]; 6. 99-Hunt Gossum [6]; 7. 36-Kenny Wallace [7]; 8. 12L-Lucas Lee [8]; 9. 18L-Michael Long [9]; 10. 67-Garret Stewart [10]; 11. 5-Curt Spalding [11]; 12. 11M-Mike McGee [14]; 13. 12-Jason Gross [15]; 14. 22-Dale Kelley [16]; 15. 45J-Johnny Broking [17]; 16. K19-Will Krup [19]; 17. 17TE-Tyler Evans [20]; 18. 1-Brenden Rassel [21]; 19. 17T-Michael Tarlton [22]; 20. 32-Chad Roush [23]; 21. O1-Bryce Nichols [24]; 22. 22T-Tony Anderson [25]; 23. 100-Scott Fritz [26]; 24. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [27]; 25. 19-Chad Bauer [28]; 26. 65-Todd Sherman [30]; 27. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [31]; 28. 11N-Gene Nicholas [33]; 29. 27-William Cevaal [36]; 30. Z06-Larry Mott [38]; 31. 33-TJ Evans [39]

Qualifying Feature 2 – Saturday Night (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer – 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [1]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely [2]; 3. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [3]; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe [4]; 5. 35-David Stremme [5]; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney [6]; 7. 95-Michael Altobelli [7]; 8. 77-Ray Bollinger [8]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman [9]; 10. 7CT-Christian Thomas [10]; 11. 7A-Shane Sabraski [11]; 12. 99M-Mike Mullen [12]; 13. 75-Terry Phillips [13]; 14. 52-Colin Green [14]; 15. 24D-Travis Dickson [15]; 16. A1-Gary Bentley [16]; 17. 9-Sheldon Creed [17]; 18. 4UW-Bobby Regot [18]; 19. 5F-Jerry Foster [19]; 20. O7-Curtis King [20]; 21. 97-Mitch Thomas [22]; 22. 8-Steve Stevenson [23]; 23. 90-Jason Beaulieu [29]; 24. 88-Matt Crafton [30]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer – 1. 5-Curt Spalding [1][-]; 2. K19-Will Krup [4][-]; 3. 11M-Mike McGee [2][$75]; 4. 22-Dale Kelley [3][$75]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson [7][$75]; 6. 1-Brenden Rassel [5][$75]; 7. 32-Chad Roush [6][$75]; 8. OO-Buzzie Reutimann [8][$75]; 9. 11N-Gene Nicholas [9][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 75-Terry Phillips [2][-]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski [1][-]; 3. 9-Sheldon Creed [4][$75]; 4. 24D-Travis Dickson [3][$75]; 5. 90-Jason Beaulieu [7][$75]; 6. 5F-Jerry Foster [5][$75]; 7. 19-Chad Bauer [8][$75]; 8. 97-Mitch Thomas [6][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 3 (8 Laps) – 1. OOD-David Reutimann [1][-]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking [3][-]; 3. 12-Jason Gross [2][$75]; 4. 17TE-Tyler Evans [4][$75]; 5. 17T-Michael Tarlton [5][$75]; 6. O1-Bryce Nichols [6][$75]; 7. 100-Scott Fritz [7][$75]; 8. Z06-Larry Mott [9][$75]; 9. 65-Todd Sherman [8][$75]

Last Chance Showdown 4 (8 Laps) – 1. 52-Colin Green [2][-]; 2. 99M-Mike Mullen [1][-]; 3. 8-Steve Stevenson [6][$75]; 4. 4UW-Bobby Regot [4][$75]; 5. A1-Gary Bentley [3][$75]; 6. O7-Curtis King [5][$75]; 7. 88-Matt Crafton [7][$75]; 8. 33-TJ Evans [9][$75]; 9. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [8][$75]

SEE GATOR CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS


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