DirtonDirt.com exclusive
Numbers tell story after 17 Speedweeks events
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
A by-the-numbers review of 17 Super Late Model races from Georgia-Florida Speedweeks action for Super Late Models, made up of Feb. 1-15 action at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga.; North Florida Speedway in Lake City, Fla.; East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.; Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga.; and Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. (complete Speedweeks coverage):
0: Victories for Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer and Josh Richards, who combined to win 48 races over the previous 10 Speedweeks as three of the four winningest drivers in the decade.
0.06: Seconds in finishing margin between Mason Zeigler and Kyle Bronson on Feb. 7 at East Bay, the tightest of any finish.
1: Driver with multiple fast-qualifying times, Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y.
2: Laps led for Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., in his victory at East Bay, the fewest of any winning driver (the next fewest was Devin Moran's 60 laps led).
3: Drivers who eclipsed the $40,000 earnings mark (Jimmy Owens, Brandon Overton and Brandon Sheppard).
3.1: Average finish for Brandon Sheppard (among 14 starts) of New Berlin, Ill., best of any driver. The next best average for a driver with five or more starts was Devin Moran at 5.9 and only eight drivers with five or more starts averaged below 10th place.
3.53: Average feature starting spot for winners, identical to last winter. Twelve winners started on the front row.
4: Drivers with multiple Speedweeks victories (Tim McCreadie, Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens and Brandon Sheppard), the most since four drivers won multiple races in 2016 (Scott Bloomquist, Shane Clanton, Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Sheppard).
5: Feature victories for Brandon Sheppard, the most of any driver.
6: Provisional starting spots accepted by Earl Pearson Jr. and Stormy Scott, the most of any drivers.
7: Top-five finishes for Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., the second highest total.
8: Drivers winning feature races (Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, Devin Moran, Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Brandon Sheppard, Mark Whitener and Mason Zeigler).
9: Heat race victories for Tim McCreadie, more than any other driver.
10: Events entered for Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, Ky., the most for any driver without a feature start.
12: Top-five finishes for Brandon Sheppard, most of any driver (he also had finishes of sixth and 10th in his 14 starts).
14: Feature starts without using a provisional for Brandon Sheppard and Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., more than any other drivers.
15: Races entered for Dan Stone of Thompson, Pa., more than any other driver and the lone racer to appear at five racetracks.
16: Drivers who led at least one lap in a Speedweeks feature. Three drivers — Tyler Erb, Kyle Strickler and Tim Dohm — led a single lap.
17: Completed feature events (only the opener at Golden Isles was rained out).
18: Drivers who tallied multiple top-five finishes.
19: Drivers who took multiple provisional starting spots.
22: Drivers who entered at least one event without qualifying for a feature.
23: Drivers who won at least one consolation race.
23.1: Win percentage for Tim McCreadie, second among all Speedweeks entrants.
25: Average car count at Screven, 14 fewer than last winter.
26: Drivers who averaged at least $1,000 in earnings per start.
28: Drivers who earned at least $5,000 in base purse earnings.
29: Positions apparent winner Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., dropped when he was penalized for failing to appear for postrace technical inspection at Volusia, leaving him with a 30th-place finish worth $700 instead of a victory worth $10,000.
30: Drivers who entered at least 10 events, six more than last winter.
31: Drivers who tallied multiple top-10 finishes.
35: Drivers who took at least one provisional starting spot.
35.7: Win percentage of Brandon Sheppard, the highest of any driver.
41: Feature-starting drivers who didn't post a single top-10 finish.
48.0: Average car count at Volusia, up 1.4 from last season.
48.8: Average car count for all races combined, up 2.7 from last season.
49: Drivers who competed at a single Speedweeks track.
59.7: Average car count at East Bay, up 10 from last season and the most since averaging 62 cars per race in 2011.
72: Age of Mike Hammerle of St. Charles, Mo., the eldest Speedweeks entrant.
79: Drivers whose total feature earnings were at least $1,000.
85.7: Top-five percentage for Brandon Sheppard, highest of any driver with three or more starts.
93: Number of drivers who made at least one feature start, 20 more than last year.
100: Top-10 percentage for seven drivers, only one of whom made more than two starts (Brandon Sheppard).
112: Laps led for Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., more than any other driver.
114: Drivers who entered at least one event, up 12 from last season.
665: Total feature laps.
4,557: Dollars per race earned by Brandon Sheppard, the most of any driver with five or more starts.
5,333: Dollars per race earned by Ross Bailes, the most of any driver.
20,000: Dollars in single-race winner's earnings, the richest of Speedweeks paid at Screven's Winter Freeze finale.
63,800: Dollars earned by Brandon Sheppard, the most of any driver.
171,020: Dollars in total winner's purses.
628,190: Dollars in total feature payout among 17 races.
Correction: Fixes richest event at Speedweeks.
