DirtonDirt.com Dispatches
Dispatches: Bagley ends his long winless slump
Morgan Bagley celebrates at Old No. 1 Speedway. (Mike Musslin)
Among latest notes and quotes from Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events over the April 5-7 weekend, including Schaeffer's Spring Nationals and Comp Cams Super Dirt Series competition:
Long drought ends
Some tears started leaking from Morgan Bagley’s eyes and his voice began to crack as he stood in victory lane rehashing his $5,000 triumph in Saturday night’s 40-lap Comp Cams Super Dirt Series-sanctioned Cow Patty at Old No. 1 Speedway in Harrisburg, Ark.
The 37-year-old driver from Longview, Texas, simply couldn’t hide his feelings.
“It’s emotional,” he said, “because sometimes you wonder if you’re ever gonna win again.”
Indeed, the 2023 season was a winless one for Bagley, who last tasted the thrill of victory on Sept. 2, 2022, in a Comp Cams event at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. He needed a return to prominence and he finally got it on the eve of his mother’s birthday.
“There ain’t no doubt that the last few years have been tough,” Bagley said after crediting his car owner, Wayman McMillan, and his crew for standing behind him through the rough stretch. “Racing’s getting tougher, and it takes everything you got, every ounce of energy, every dollar, every person involved gotta be committed. Just for it all to finally pay off … nobody gave up here.”
Bailey worked hard for his seventh career Comp Cams victory, which he clinched after some anxious moments over the final circuit. He never relinquished the lead after gaining command from B.J. Robinson on lap 23 but he nearly saw the race slip through his fingers with the white flag flying as he came together off turn four with the lapped car driven by Bryan Glaze.
When Bagley lost momentum exiting the fourth corner, Matt Cooper of McKenzie, Tenn., seized the opportunity to charge to the inside of the leader through turns one and two. But Bagley found enough traction on the top of the track to power ahead down the backstretch while Cooper’s bid ended when he ran out of room outside Glaze and slipped over the banking in turn three, falling to seventh in the finishing order.
“I didn’t want the lapped traffic to be my demise so I was trying to watch that board and time it right to catch ‘em,” said Bagley, who beat Logan Martin to the finish line by 2.396 seconds and left Old No. 1 sitting second behind Martin in the Comp Cams points standings. “I knew this track was getting faster and it kind of took some rubber, so I knew it wasn’t gonna be an easy pass for anybody, but you could also get picked and hung up there.
“I saw a nose (from Glaze) down here (in turn one) and I knew if something happened and I got behind him, the lapped car, and he messed up and somebody was able to get next to me, I’d be picked right there leaving turn four. So I made my mind up going down that back straightaway that I wasn’t gonna lift till we come out in front there.
“It paid off for once,” he added with a smile. “Last night in the heat race (at Missouri’s Poplar Bluff Motorsports Park where he finished third in the feature) I tried to make a move and it didn’t pay off. Tonight it paid off.” — Staff reports
Last-lap winner
While engaged in the very battle every paying dirt-track fan envies to see — the leaders in a back-and-forth slider-fest as the finish nears — Kyle Bronson knew exactly what the moment called for during his battle with Zack Mitchell in Saturday’s 53-lap Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals-sanctioned Jimmy Thomas Memorial at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City.
In order to win the night’s $10,053 top prize, the Brandon, Fla., driver would have to unleash a slider that couldn’t be counteracted. So that’s exactly what Bronson did through the final corner, sliding across Mitchell’s nose to thwart any shot of momentum from his challenger as the two rounded for the checkers.
“I slowed down in the middle (that) last time, not allow him to cross me over and he ass-trunked me,” Bronson told series announcer Cody Earley in victory lane. “I don’t know whose fault it is. We just won $10,000.”
The lap that matters most – the last — turned out as Bronson’s only circuit led. Enoree, S.C.’s Mitchell led every step of the way for the first 52 circuits until Bronson’s daring, race-winning move through the Alabama oval’s final corner.
Bronson, who started sixth, didn’t enter the victory conversation until lap 42 when he made his way into second. Up to that point, the lead battle had mostly featured Mitchell and Carson Ferguson of Lincolnton, N.C., until Ferguson blew a left-rear tire running second on lap 34.
Nonetheless, Bronson was there to capitalize.
“We didn’t take off very good, but we got going good at the end there,” Bronson said. “Yeah, Zack, I slid him pretty clean there a couple laps in a row.”
By DirtonDirt.com's records, Bronson’s win snapped a 54-race winless streak dating back to last July 15’s FALS Cup victory at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway. It also marked Bronson’s first career Spring Nationals victory and he became the fifth winner in as many races to start this year’s miniseries.
And that all might not have come to fruition if not for some timely, tactful advice from Brandon Overton, who raced roughly 400 miles north at Volunteer Speedway’s Spring Thaw in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
“I really got to thank Brandon Overton there,” Bronson started. “He told me to put some hard tires on, and that’s what we did.” — Staff reports
Relieved driver
Finishing second in Friday night’s 40-lap Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals feature at Buckshot Speedway in Clanton, Ala., wasn’t the outcome David Breazeale would have preferred, but the 48-year-old veteran from Four Corners, Miss., couldn’t help expressing a sense of satisfaction with his performance.
“If anybody knows, we’ve had a horrible last four years,” Breazeale said during the post-race ceremonies. “Just to be up here on the front straightaway means a lot.”
Breazeale started from the pole and led laps 1-6 before running second — well behind winner Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga. — for the remainder of the distance. He crossed the finish line with a hefty deficit of 5.102 seconds to the $7,553 victor, but it was his best finish since he recorded his most recent win in a Southern All Star event on June 12, 2020, at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, Ala.
Last season yielded Breazeale just a single podium finish, a third-place run in September’s Cotton Pickin’ 100 — won by Winger — at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. He began 2024 in quiet fashion with just two feature starts in seven attempts during January and February trips to Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
Some technical assistance from veteran wrench Cody Mallory, however, brought Breazeale alive at Buckshot.
“I gotta thank Cody, ‘Coondog,’” Breazeale said. “We’ve been at his place (in Tennessee) all week. He’s helped us out on some stuff and got that car faster.”
The machine Breazeale piloted on Friday was the Rocket Chassis offered as the prize in the long-running Racer for Tots benefit raffle. His wife, Jennifer, purchased 10 raffle tickets at $10 apiece online and her name was pulled out as the winner during last November’s World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.
Breazeale ran the raffle car in the final three DIRTcar Nationals events at Volusia, but it still carried the No. 23 and lettering it sported while being displayed at tracks by the Racers for Tots group. He had it re-imagined in white and blue colors with his familiar No. 54 in red on its doors at Buckshot, where he took a pragmatic view of his run to a morale-boosting finish.
“We just gotta get better, but that’s a young man versus an old man, so he beat us tonight,” Breazeale said, referring to the 24-year-old Winger. “But at least we’re here.” — Staff reports
Stevens rebounds
Tyler Stevens of Searcy, Ark., won his last two starts of 2023, but that didn’t translate to this season's early outings. His first seven appearances of 2024 didn’t provide a single top-five finish and a fractured orbital bone when he was struck by a shock that fell off another car at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park’s Wild West Shootout didn’t make things any easier.
The 37-year-old got back on track Friday in Comp Cams Super Dirt Series action at Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Motorsports Park, regaining the lead on lap 27 and racing to a $5,000 victory, the fifth of his career on the series. Stevens hopes to continue his turnaround Saturday in Comp Cams action at Old No. 1 Speedway in Harrisburg, Ark.
“I think we’ve got a really good shot. The car was really, really good, and felt balanced there. We didn’t really change a whole lot from heat to feature,” Stevens said in victory lane at Poplar Bluff. “And that’s what I’ve been looking for. This week, between (chassis dealer) Eric Wells and Nick and Dennis at Penske — the (thanks) list goes on, a ton of people. I tried some stuff and hit on some stuff, and I’m looking forward to banging off a few more good runs here."
Stevens, who has had four finishes of 19th or worse in 2024, paced the first 12 laps at Poplar Bluff before losing the lead to Logan Martin. But after a midrace restart, Martin’s car began sliding higher in the corners, opening the door for Stevens, who kept his machine glued to the inside groove in regaining the point.
“I ran the bottom there and had (a crew member) telling me to move up down there in (turns) one and two and it started to clean up kinda around the top,” Stevens said. “So, (I) went up there and I got a little bit tight there once getting in (the corner) and Logan (Martin) got a run on me and me and him started racing pretty hard there. He was way up in (the cushion) down there and I was kind of a lane down, but if I could enter straight and keep my car straight, man, it was really, really good. It’s been a long week, we did a chop, cut, rebuild, and it’s definitely paying off though.”
Stevens doesn’t take the success for granted.
“These races are hard to win, no matter where it’s at, or who you’re racing with. Super Late Model racing is tough,” he said. “Any time you can get a win, it’s definitely top tier.” — Staff reports
Top gun at Buckshot
Ashton Winger has certainly bolstered his list of firsts these last few years. His 2022 season had been highlighted by a first Georgia-Florida Speedweeks victory at Volusia Speedway Park. Last year, his 16-victory assault marked his new single-season high, which included a maiden DIRTcar Summer Nationals title and first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph.
On Friday at Buckshot Speedway in Clanton, Ala., the 24-year-old of Hampton, Ga., breezed to his first career Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals victory — a 5.102-second triumph in miniseries round No. 4 of 13 — over a 32-car field that featured southeastern standouts Garrett Smith, Joseph Joiner, Kyle Bronson and Spencer Hughes, among others.
Winger had to come from the sixth-starting spot for the $7,553 victory, but that was an afterthought once he stormed around pole-starting David Breazeale to lead the final 34 of 40 laps.
“Shoot, I felt like we were pretty good all night,” Winger told Spring Nationals announcer Cody Earley in victory lane. “The (qualifying) groups were pretty even tonight. Barely got beat in qualifying there. It’s hard when you start sixth. It’s a 40-lap sprint. Thanks to Ray (Cook) and everybody for giving us a place to race. I actually enjoy coming over here to Buckshot. It’s a different place that we haven’t been to a whole lot.”
Friday’s win is Winger’s second of the season, both of which over his last three races. Winger won last Friday’s opener of the 20th annual Tuckassee Toilet Bowl Classic at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway for a cool $10,000. The night after, he finished runner-up to Max Blair in the Toilet Bowl Classic finale.
“It’s cool to be in such awesome equipment and race good cars, and be competitive,” said Winger, who’s entering his second full season aboard the Jeff Mathews-owned No. 12 Rocket Chassis.
Winger’s lone hurdle of the feature came with six laps remaining when he nearly ran into the back of a slower car trying to exit the racetrack and into the infield rounding backstretch. But even then, that didn’t slow him down.
“I think everybody kind of figured (the groove would) sit around that bottom,” Winger said when asked about his thought process managing traffic. “We came here last year, and I thought it raced pretty good. You can get out over there (where) it crowns a little bit.
“If you can get to where you can leave where it’s wet on the top, you can shoot down the backstretch pretty far. It was cool racing with David there. He’s one of my favorite guys to race in the pits. He’s such a good guy. It’s cool to see him run good there when he does.
“As I said, I can’t say enough about the race car itself and everybody who puts this deal together.” — Staff reports
