Volusia Speedway Park
Feb. 15: Clint Smith rallies to $10,000 victory
From staff and series reports
Ryan Newman joined Clint Smith in victory lane. (World Racing Group)
BARBERVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 15) — Clint Smith picked a perfect time to hit his stride in the 37th annual Alltel Dirtcar Nationals. The veteran from Senoia, Ga., was the star of Friday’s show, powering forward from the 15th starting spot to win the week’s 50-lap UMP DirtCar Super Late Model finale at Volusia Speedway Park. | Free video of winning pass
Smith, 42, drove around the outside of Newport, Tenn.’s Jimmy Owens to assume command on lap 39 and never looked back. He pocketed $10,000 for what was not only his first career win at the D-shaped half-mile track, but also his initial triumph in the state of Florida. “My dad (late Southeast star Roscoe Smith) won here and at Lake City (Fla.),” said Smith, who finished third in Wednesday night’s UMP feature. “Back in 1977 he won the Florida State Championship — he won here on Friday night, and then he went up and won at Lake City on Saturday night. I’m glad to win down here where he’s won at. It means a lot — and now I’d like to win a World of Outlaws race in Florida.”
Smith will get his chance for that on Saturday night (Feb. 16), when the 2008 Alltel DirtCar Nationals close out with a 50-lap WoO event. If Smith is able to bottle the speed he flashed with his GRT Race Car, he’ll have a great shot at winning $10,000 two nights in a row.
“I couldn’t ask for a car to be no better than that,” Smith said of his No. 44, a four-bar mount he put back in action on Thursday after repairing the bent rear clip it sustained in a hard crash the previous week at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla. “It just rotated and would leave the corners. I could run full throttle all the way down the front straightaway and about half-throttle down the back.”
In an ultra-competitive race that featured six lead changes among five drivers, Smith cracked the top five within 10 laps and reached second place with a lap-29 pass of Carpentersville, Ill.’s Dennis Erb Jr. He was closing in on Owens, who had controlled the lead since overtaking Erb on lap 23, when the fourth and final caution flag flew on lap 36. Shortly thereafter, on lap 39, Smith steered to the outside of Owens through turns one and two and grabbed the lead for good. He crossed the finish line three-quarters of a second in front of Batesville, Ark.’s Billy Moyer, who won the two UMP features earlier in the week.
Smith dedicated the victory to his late step-father, Clint Roberts, who passed away on Sunday – and he hailed the night’s racing surface. "This is what you call a racetrack tonight,” emphasized Smith. “There were a couple holes here and there, but when you start 15th and drive up to the lead in actually 39 laps, it’s an excellent racetrack.”
Moyer, who started 14th in his Victory Circle M1 Chassis, maintained his Volusia points lead with the runner-up finish. He secured second with a lap-42 pass of Owens but never got close enough to challenge Smith. Owens settled for third place after starting 11th in Mike Reece’s Bloomquist Race Car. He led on three different occasions: laps 9-18, 20-21 and 23-38.
Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., advanced from the 23rd starting spot to finish fourth in Dale Beitler’s Rocket car, and the fifth-starting Erb placed fifth in his Rayburn mount after fading slightly from his single lap (22) spent in the lead. Francis posted his third consecutive fourth-place finish at Volusia.
Terry Casey of New London, Wis., started second and led laps 1-8, but he wasn’t around at the finish. He was bidding for a top-five finish when he retired on lap 43.
Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., meanwhile, appeared primed to run off with his first victory as the hired-gun driver of NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s Dirt Late Model team. The race’s ninth starter, he exploded from fifth to second on lap 14 with a breathtaking outside run around Casey, Erb and Smith, then nosed ahead of Owens to lead lap 19. But smoke wafted from Babb’s car as he was making his move by Owens. Two turns after he was scored the leader, Babb’s Rayburn mount fell off the pace and rolled to a stop in turn four.
Shortly before Babb had taken the lead, he hit a hole in turn one that bent his car’s rack and cut a power-steering line. Trying to press on without power steering, he swept into the lead but then caught a rut again – and this time, it poked a race-ending hole in his radiator.
NASCAR Sprint Car stars Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer competed in Friday’s program. Newman, who was on hand representing Alltel, drove a Steve Francis-prepared car to a 16th-place finish (three laps down) in the feature. He was added to the event as a promoter’s option. Bowyer, who piloted Babb’s backup car, was also granted a promoter’s option starting spot for the A-Main but scratched from the event. His car sustained damage when he clipped a spinning machine in turn one during the second consolation race. — Kevin Kovac
Finish: (1) Clint Smith, (2) Billy Moyer, (3) Jimmy Owens, (4) Steve Francis, (5) Dennis Erb Jr., (6) Tim Fuller, (7) Darrell Lanigan, (8) Josh Richards, (9) Steve Shaver, (10) Ricky Elliott, (11) Shane Clanton, (12) Earl Pearson Jr., (13) Dan Schlieper, (14) Eddie Carrier Jr., (15) Jeep Van Wormer, (16) Ryan Newman, (17) Terry Casey, (18) Brady Smith, (19) Tim McCreadie, (20) Jason McBride, (21) Jackie Boggs, (22) Justin Rattliff, (23) Michael England, (24) Shannon Babb, (25) Wayne Chinn, (26) Brian Dively, (27) Chub Frank, (28) Don O'Neal.
The evening's preliminary results with unofficial finishes:
Third consolation
World of Outlaws regular Shane Clanton battled door-panel-to-door-panel with Ricky Elliott for the first two laps, before Clanton finally used the top-side of the racetrack to pull away significantly from Elliott. Behind the top two, World of Outlaws regulars Brian Shirley, Rick Eckert, and Chub Frank dueled, but none were able to challenge for a transfer spot.
Finish: (1) Shane Clanton, (2) Ricky Elliott, (3) Brian Shirley, (4) Chub Frank, (5) Rick Eckert, (6) Al Purkey, (7) Dan Stone, (8) Billy Decker, (9) Josh Richards, (10) Jake Redetzke, (11) Ryan Newman, (12) D.Jay Miller, (13) Danny Johnson.
Second consolation
Polesitter Brady Smith got an incredible jump at the start, and ran away from the field. Steve Francis slipped past Boom Briggs on the first lap, and secured the final transfer spot, as the top two drivers would not be challenged the rest of the way.
Finish: (1) Brady Smith, (2) Steve Francis, (3) Matt Miller, (4) Brandon Kinzer, (5) Ivedend Lloyd, (6) Rick Briggs, (7) Scott James (8) Austin Dillon, (9) Brian Diveley, (10) Joe Isabell, (11) Jeff Alsip, (12) Michael Walker, (13) Andrew McKay, (14) Clint Bowyer.
First consolation
Tim Fuller and Darren Miller battled side-by-side for the first five laps of the race, as no clear-cut frontrunner was established at the onset of the race. Midway through, Wayne Chinn used an ultra-high line to take second from Miller, and set his sights on Fuller. A lap-nine caution allowed Chinn to get close, but never close enough.
Finish: (1) Tim Fuller, (2) Wayne Chinn, (3) Vic Coffey, (4) Darren Miller, (5) Jared Hawkins, (6) John Blankenship (7) Chris Hackett, (8) Patrick Sheltra, (9) Mike Knight, (10) Jason Fitzgerald, (11) Dillon Wood, (12) Matt Santel, (13) George Scheffler, (14) Peter Mantha, (15) Reid Millard, (16) Mike Hammerle, (17) John Garvin, (18) Frank Heckenast Jr.
Sixth heat
Polesitter Darrell Lanigan started out front, and finished there, but it wasn't that easy. The Union, Ky. driver held off Earl Pearson Jr. at the stripe, as Steve Shaver was only a car-length behind, essentially making it a three-wide battle for the lead. But Lanigan held strong, and was able to cross the stripe first.
Finish: (1) Darrell Lanigan, (2) Earl Pearson Jr. (3) Steve Shaver, (4) Rick Eckert, (5) Billy Decker, (6) Chub Frank, (7) Ryan Newman, (8) D.Jay. Miller, (9) Lance Matthees, (10) Bart Hartman, (11) Josh Richards
Fifth heat
Outside front-row starter Eddie Carrier Jr. shot past Jimmy Owens on the first lap, and then held off the 20-car from there, as the two captured the top two spots. Behind them, things were more interesting. Don O'Neal launched his way past Shane Clanton and Brian Shirley on a three-wide, lap five restart to move to third, as the No. 3s of Shirley slowed on the backstretch, and then showed his displeasure with Clanton under the caution.
Finish: (1) Eddie Carrier Jr. (2) Jimmy Owens, (3) Don O'Neal, (4) Shane Clanton, (5) Ricky Elliott, (6) Dan Stone, (7) Brian Shirley, (8) Danny Johnson, (9) Jake Redetzke, (10) Josh McGuire, (11) Al Purkey.
Fourth heat
Terry Casey continued his impressive Speedweeks with a win in heat race number four. He inherited the lead from Floridian Ivedent Lloyd Jr. on lap four, when the 21-machine slowed on the front stretch. Michael England was second, while Illinois driver Jason McBride ended up third.
Finish: (1) Terry Casey, (2) Michael England, (3) Jason McBride, (4) Rick Briggs, (5) Matt Miller, (6) Brian Dively, (7) Duke Whiseant, (8) Audie Swartz, (9) Michael Walker, (10) Jeff Alsip, (11) Ivedent Lloyd Jr.
Third heat
Tim McCreadie won the hole shot with Shannon Babb on the first lap, as the two raced away from the field, and finished in that order. Behind them, Clint Smith was able to wrestle third place away from Brady Smith, to capture the final transfer spot.
Finish: (1) Tim McCreadie, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Clint Smith, (4) Brady Smith, (5) Steve Francis, (6) Brandon Kinzer, (7) Scott James, (8) Austin Dillon, (9) Andrew McKay, (10) Joe Isabell, (11) Clint Bowyer.
Second heat
After looking impressive in qualifying, Jeep Van Wormer backed it up with a wild heat race win that included holding virtually everyone on the field off behind him. VanWormer made contact with a pair of lapped cars, that allowed Billy Moyer and Justin Ratliff to pull on his rear deck, but found his way to the checkered flag first.
Finish: (1) Jeep Van Wormer, (2) Justin Rattliff, (3) Billy Moyer, (4) Darren Miller, (5) Frank Heckenast Jr., (6) Wayne Chinn, (7) John Blankenship, (8) Jason Fitzgerald, (9) Mike Knight, (10) Chris Hackett, (11) Matt Santel, (12) Mike Hammerle.
First heat
Dennis Erb Jr. held off an early charge from Patrick Sheltra, and then a late surge from Jackie Boggs to capture heat race number one. Behind the top two, it was Dan Schlieper in third, and Tim Fuller rounding out the top four.
Finish: (1) Dennis Erb Jr. (2) Jackie Boggs, (3) Dan Schlieper, (4) Tim Fuller, (5) Vic Coffey, (6) Patrick Sheltra, (7) Jared Hawkins, (8) George Scheffler, (9) Dillon Wood, (10) John Garvin, (11) Reid Millard, (12) Peter Mantha.
Time trials
Pre-race Notebook
Rick Eckert has had the unfortunate assignment of being parked next to Billy Moyer all week at Volusia Speedway Park's 37th annual Alltel DirtCar Nationals. So when asked if the red-hot Moyer had talked him into buying a Victory Circle Chassis yet, Eckert could only laugh.
"Ha, that's exactly what I need, another chassis switch so I can have more spare parts," said the York, Pa. driver with a laugh. "He's running good no doubt, but I think we're starting to figure it out as well."
Eckert finally has reason to smile. After a self-described "horrible" Speedweeks without a top-five finish in his first 15 events, Eckert went from 24th-to-second in Thursday night's World of Outlaws Late Model Series opener, and finally appeared like the Eckert of old.
"I'm certainly not a guy that cares what other people think, but lately if I had to guess, I'd say they thought we weren't very good," Eckert said. "We're behind with our early program with qualifying and the heat races, which has put us in a hole, but last night we found something in the feature, and when the track conditions are just right, we have the capability of being very good."
While Eckert is far from worrying about points with more than 50 races remaining on the WoO schedule, he did have to admit that being second this early is better than the alternative. "I've left here 24th and 22nd before, so this ain't all that bad," he said.
Odds and ends
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer has returned to Volusia and will be driving a No. 18 along with teammate and regular driver Shannon Babb after the team ran out of No. 07 decals. ... Ryan Newman will be making his first Dirt Late Model appearance of 2008 in the Alltel-sponsored Rocket chassis No. 12 that's maintained by Steve Francis Racing. ... Among drivers no longer competing at Volusia are Wendell Wallace, Bob Geiger, Dave Tyrchniewicz, Chuck Julien, C.J. Rayburn, Andrew Reaume, Michael Kloos and Donnie Moran. There are 68 drivers entered in Friday's UMP DirtCar Series event, which pays $10,000 to win.
