Volusia Speedway Park
Feb. 11: Red-hot Moyer grabs Volusia victory
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Billy Moyer enjoys victory lane. (DirtonDirt.com)
BARBERVILLE, Fla (Feb. 11) — Different Florida Speedweeks track, same Florida Speedweeks results. Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., stayed red-hot in the Sunshine State on Monday with his third consecutive victory and fourth in his last five starts as he picked up $7,000 in the opener of Volusia Speedway Park's Alltel DirtCar Nationals. | Slideshow | Pre-race notebook
Starting outside the front row, Moyer dueled with polesitter Jimmy Owens in a side-by-side battle the first three laps, then slipped into the low groove and pulled away unchallenged the remainder of the 30-lapper sanctioned by the UMP DirtCar Series.
Moyer's previous three victories came in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition at East Bay Raceway Park, where he earned more than $38,000 in winning purses and points bonuses over a six-day stretch.
"Everything's going good, the car's great, the tires, my sponsors involved, all the guys that work on it, you can't do it with all of them guys. We just thank 'em all," Moyer said in victory lane at Volusia, which hosted the first of six nights of racing. "The car just has just got that feeling to it that I like. I could tell it from first time we unloaded up there at Brunswick two weeks ago. We've just fine-tuned on little things and it seems like we continually get it better with small adjustments, and that makes it nice for me."
Owens, who tried the high side on the final restart at lap 26, faded to finish fourth while seventh-starting Earl Pearson Jr. moved up to finish second in a home-state run. Consolation race winner Steve Francis rallied throughout the race and ended up third with Owens and Eddie Carrier Jr. rounding out the top five.
Third-starting Justin Rattliff held the third spot much of the way, but dropped out while running fifth on the 25th lap. Shannon Babb, who started 10th, was running fifth on the final lap when he limped home 14th with a flat tire.
Owens, on the inside, and Moyer, on the outside, battled the first few laps with Moyer officially leading lap one and Owens taking over for laps two and three. But after that, Owens slipped high in turn two and Moyer grabbed the inside groove and a lead he'd never give up.
Moyer was starting to move through lapped traffic by the time Tim McCreadie pulled up in turn four to draw a lap-11 caution with Moyer leading Owens, Rattliff, Billy Decker and Pearson.
On the restart, Rattliff was shuffled back to fifth while Decker's high-side charge appeared to pay dividends. But Decker nearly lost control in turn four on the 13th lap and faded from contention while Francis, who restarted ninth after 11 laps, was quickly into the top five.
With 10 laps remaining, Moyer had a half-straightaway advantage on Owens while Pearson, Francis and Rattliff gave chase. Rattliff's race ended when he stopped in turn two on the 25th lap, setting up the final restart. Owens jumped to a high side that hadn't been productive in the last half of the race, and that allowed Pearson and Francis to slip past in the final laps.
"We tried the high side there at the end," Owens said. "And that was a bad idea."
Moyer's victory gives him four wins overall in the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, one more than Owens, who had three victories at Golden Isles Speedway's Super Bowl of Racing IV in Brunswick, Ga.
Finish: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Earl Pearson Jr., (3) Steve Francis, (4) Jimmy Owens, (5) Eddie Carrier Jr., (6) Steve Shaver, (7) Scott James, (8) Brady Smith, (9) Clint Smith, (10) Darren Miller, (11) Billy Decker, (12) Don O'Neal, (13), Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (14) Shannon Babb, (15) Dennis Erb Jr., (16) Josh Richards, (17) Brandon Kinzer, (18) Vic Coffey, (19) Tim McCreadie, (20) Justin Rattliff, (21) Darrell Lanigan, (22) Terry Casey, (23) Tim Fuller, (24) Wendell Wallace.
Preliminary results with corrected and official finishes:
Third consolation
Polesitter Steve Shaver kept third-starting Brandon Kinzer at bay throughout the race for a victory as the drivers locked up the race's two transfer spots. Finishing third, a straightaway behind the frontrunners, was fourth-starting Wayne Chinn while Billy Faust rallied to finish fourth. Boom Briggs started outside the front row but dropped back early, then pulled out on the seventh lap. Jared Hawkins spun on the second lap to bring out the race's lone caution.
Finish: (1) Steve Shaver, (2) Brandon Kinzer, (3) Wayne Chinn, (4) Billy Faust, (5) Tyler Ivey, (6) Jared Hawkins, (7) Jeff Isabell, (8) Chris Hackett, (9) J.R. Hotovy, (10) Reid Millard, (11) George Scheffler, (12) Peter Mantha, (13) Mike Hammerle, (14) C.J. Rayburn, (15) Don Gordon, (16) Rick Briggs.
Second consolation
Roaring into the lead from outside the front row, Dennis Erb Jr. dominated the 10-lapper as he put memories of a poor qualifying lap behind him. Sixth-starting Vic Coffey moved up early and took the second and final transfer spot from polesitter Dan Schlieper on the fourth lap. Schlieper couldn't keep up with Coffey, who nearly caught Erb, and settled for third with Duke Whiseant fourth. NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer started outside the second row but got too high in turn two on the first lap and finished sixth.
Finish: (1) Dennis Erb Jr., (2) Vic Coffey, (3) Dan Schlieper, (4) Duke Whiseant, (5) Lance Matthees, (6) Clint Bowyer, (7) Jeep Van Wormer, (8) Bryan Barber, (9) Dillon Wood, (10) Mike Knight, (11) Rodney Melvin, (12) John Melvin, (13) Frank Heckenast Jr., (14) Andrew McKay, (15) Joe Isabell, (16) John Garvin Jr., (17) Brian Dively.
First consolation
Surviving a near-spin early in the race, Steve Francis gathered up his car and tracked down polesitter Matt Miller to make the winning pass just before the halfway point of the 10-lap feature. That left Miller in a dogfight with Scott James and Ricky Elliott for the second spot, and James inched ahead on the seventh lap then pulled away as Miller dropped to fourth behind Elliott at the finish of the caution-free affair. Miller jumped into the early lead and Francis tried to dive under him in turn three, but got nearly completely sideways before saving the car. Far behind Miller, Francis turned up the wick and tracked down the lead for a lap-four pass exiting turn four.
Finish: (1) Steve Francis, (2) Scott James, (3) Ricky Elliott, (4) Matt Miller, (5) Rick Eckert, (6) Brian Shirley, (7) Dan Stone, (8) Dave Hess Jr., (9) John Blankenship, (10) Michael Kloos, (11) Jason McBride, (12) D.Jay Miller, (13) Jackie Boggs, (14) Danny Johnson, (15) Dave Tyrchniewicz, (16) Audie Swartz, (17) Jeff Alsip.
Sixth heat
Polesitter Josh Richards got the jump heading into turn one, but Tim Fuller pulled alongside Richards on the backstretch and slide under Richards exiting turn four to take command. Fuller pulled away for a victory while Richards struggled after a lap-two restart, dropping to fourth behind Brady Smith and Boom Briggs. Fourth-starting Smith had a firm control on the second spot, but Richards was able to work past Briggs for the third and final transfer spot. Briggs faded to finish a distant fourth. Billy Faust's early spin drew the race's lone caution.
Finish: (1) Tim Fuller, (2) Brady Smith, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Boom Briggs, (5) Wayne Chinn, (6) Jeff Isabell, (7) Billy Faust, (8) Chris Hackett, (9) Tyler Ivey, (10) Reid Millard, (11) George Scheffler, (12) Mike Hammerle, (13) Peter Mantha.
Fifth heat
Polesitter Tim McCreadie, looking better than he's looked any time during Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, cruised to an easy victory over Wendell Wallace in a race highlighted by a Chub Frank-Terry Casey clash. Frank was running a comfortable third when Casey, moments after taking fourth from Steve Shaver, tried a lap-four slide job on Frank. Casey drifted up into the high-running Frank, who spun exiting turn two. The caution waved and as the field came around, Frank drove backwards into turn two and pulled directly in front of Casey. After pausing for a moment, Frank drove over the right side of Casey's nose as he pulled away with a flat tire. Casey went on to finish third.
Finish: (1) Tim McCreadie, (2) Wendell Wallace, (3) Terry Casey, (4) Steve Shaver, (5) Brandon Kinzer, (6) Jared Hawkins, (7) Jason Fitzgerald, (8) J.R. Hotovy, (9) C.J. Rayburn, (10) Don Gordon, (11) Chub Frank (12) Joe Morris.
Fourth heat
Outside front-row starter Billy Decker took command from polesitter Shannon Babb at the outset and held off Babb for the victory. Darrell Lanigan held the third spot throughout the race while Dennis Erb Jr., rebounding from a poor qualifying time, ended up fourth. Babb's teammate, NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer, finished fifth. A lap-four caution appeared when John Melvin stopped in turn two.
Finish: (1) Billy Decker, (2) Shannon Babb, (3) Darrell Lanigan, (4) Dennis Erb Jr., (5) Clint Bowyer, (6) Vic Coffey, (7) Rodney Melvin, (8) Frank Heckenast Jr., (9) Bryan Barber, (10) Andrew McKay, (11) John Melvin, (12) Brian Dively, (13) John Garvin Jr.
Third heat
Billy Moyer got the initial jump on fast qualifier and front-row starter Ivedent Lloyd Jr. and steadily pulled away for an easy victory. Lloyd lost the second spot to Eddie Carrier Jr. on a second-lap restart in turn two, but held on to the final transfer position. Dan Schlieper nearly got the third spot before Lloyd recovered from his battle with Carrier, but ended up settling for fourth. Chris Madden got up into the turn-one wall on the initial start and never completed a lap. Joe Isabell spun in turn three to draw a second-lap caution.
Finish: (1) Billy Moyer, (2) Eddie Carrier Jr, (3) Ivedent Lloyd Jr., (4) Dan Schlieper, (5) Dillon Wood, (6) Lance Matthees, (7) Duke Whiseant, (8) Mike Knight, (9) Jeep Van Wormer, (10) Joe Isabell, (11) Luke Roffers, (12) Chris Madden, (13) Stacy Boles.
Second heat
Polesitter Jimmy Owens, back in form after struggling at East Bay Raceway Park last week, raced to an easy victory over fellow front-row starter Darren Miller. Miller wasn't threatened in collecting the second spot while Don O'Neal took third in the caution-plagued prelim. Fifth-starting Dan Stone was fourth after taking the spot from Dave Hess Jr. with a lap and a half to go. Rick Eckert was running in the third and final transfer spot, but he never got up to speed on a lap-four restart and pulled out. A Brian Shirley-Jackie Boggs collision on the second-lap restart triggered another collision between Michael Kloos and G.R. Smith, who got bound up on the frontstretch heading for turn one. Smith also climbed the frontstretch wall to bring out a lap-six caution and Jeff Alsip brought out two cautions, the first for a lap-two spin in turn three and the second for lap-four spin in turn four.
Finish: (1) Jimmy Owens, (2) Darren Miller, (3) Don O'Neal, (4) Dan Stone, (5) Ricky Elliott, (6) Dave Hess Jr., (7) Dave Tyrchniewicz, (8) Chuck Julien, (9) Jackie Boggs, (10) G.R. Smith, (11) Rick Eckert, (12) Jeff Alsip, (13) Brian Shirley, (14) Michael Kloos.
First heat
Polesitter Justin Rattliff led all the way for an eight-lap victory. Behind him, a battle of 44s developed midway through the race with third-starting Earl Pearson Jr. taking second from Clint Smith on the fifth lap. Smith settled for the third and final transfer spot while Patrick Sheltra was running fourth on the final lap but spun in turn four. Matt Miller moved up to finish fourth. The race was marred by Andrew Reaume's backstretch flip following a lap-two restart. Reaume's car caught the guardrail exiting turn two and his car flipped down the backstretch as a red flag appeared. The car was heavily damage but the Canadian was uninjured. The first caution appeared on the second lap for a Steve Francis spin. A turn-four jumble on the restart saw Scott James and Jake Redetke spin before retaking the green.
Finish: (1) Justin Rattliff, (2) Earl Pearson Jr., (3) Clint Smith, (4) Matt Miller, (5) Steve Francis, (6) Scott James, (7) Jason McBride, (8) John Blankenship, (9) Danny Johnson, (10) D.Jay Miller, (11) Audie Swartz, (12) Patrick Sheltra, (13) Andrew Reaume, (14) Jake Redetzke.
Qualifying
Ivedent Lloyd Jr. of Ocala, Fla., who has turned more laps at Volusia Speedway Park than perhaps any other driver entered, blazed to the fast qualifying time on the opening night of the 37th annual Alltel DirtCar Nationals. Lloyd posted a time of 16.139 seconds at the D-shaped half-mile track to top 79 qualifiers in the UMP DirtCar competition. | Notebook: New tire rule invoked
Lloyd will start on the pole of the third heat race, one of the preliminaries before the night's $7,000-to-win main event. Other drivers topping their qualifying groups and starting on the pole of their heat races: Justin Rattliff (16.339) of Campbellsville, Ky.; Jimmy Owens (16.415) of Newport, Tenn.; Shannon Babb (16.503) of Moweaqua, Ill.; Tim McCreadie (16.429) of Watertown, N.Y.; and Josh Richards (16.533) of Shinnston, W.Va.
Pre-race notebook
Drivers received a single lap of qualifying. ... The event was the first since UMP returned to a four-tire rule, adding LM-10s and LM-30s to the LM-20s and LM-40s. Hoosier rationed the tires for the opener, allowing each team eight tires apiece at $160 a pop. ... Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., withdrew from the event after consulting with car owner Ronnie Dobbins. Clanton said he didn't want to pay for the $160 tires, a price higher than he's usually charged for UMP tires from his Hoosier dealer. ... Scott James fielded the Gerstner Plumbing car fielded part-time last year by Randy Korte and fielded last week at East Bay Raceway Park by Brian Shirley. ... Shirley made his first 2008 start in his Ed Petroff-backed No. 3s at Volusia. ... DirtonDirt.com will provide live updates at Volusia through Thursday night's action. ... Ohio driver Matt Miller, who regularly drives the Illinois-based Moring Motorsports entry, is piloting an M&M Trucking entry as a teammate to Florida driver Jason Fitzgerald. ... Jeff Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y., got into the turn-one wall in qualifying. He was able to drive back to the pits. ... Chassis builder C.J. Rayburn of Whitesville, Ind., made his first Georgia-Florida Speedweeks start. ... The temperature at time trials was about 65 degrees.
