Volusia Speedway Park
Rainout sets up Friday doubleheader at Volusia
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writerBARBERVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 22) — Wednesday’s third round of Volusia Speedway Park’s UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment has been postponed to Friday afternoon because of thunderstorms at the half-mile oval.
Action for the rescheduled $7,000-to-win UMP DIRTcar event will kick off at 12:30 p.m. Friday and will precede the night’s DIRTcar Nationals fifth round event. | Complete Speedweeks coverage
The first two rounds of the six-race Florida Speedweeks miniseries were won by Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., Monday night and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Tuesday. Along with Friday’s makeup race, the week will include three more events, all paying $10,000 to the winner. Thursday and Saturday’s races will be sanctioned by the World of Outlaws Late Model Series while Friday night’s race will be another UMP event.
Event notes
Drivers who were planning to enter their first event of the week before Wednesday’s rainout included Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., Hunter Peacock of Macon, Ga., Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y. ... Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., experienced problems with his Clements Racing Engine late in Tuesday’s feature in finishing third. The Barry Wright Race Cars house car team repaired what Francis called multiple minor issues with the engine today and plan to stick with the same engine for the remainder of the week. ... Jared Landers’ race-ending woes Tuesday were caused by a busted radiator that caused his Roush Yates engine to overheat. He’s switching cars for the remainder of the week, running the car he ran last week at East Bay Raceway Park. Landers, who has been up-and-down since switching to a Barry Wright car, said he turned a corner in his adjustment to the new car thanks to a new steering rack. It’s “like a completely different car,” Landers said. He was fifth before dropping out of Tuesday’s race. ... Austin Hubbard, who raced a Rocket Chassis last week at East Bay, will compete in his Barry Wright at Volusia. He’s raced the new car once so far in an event at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga. ... After helping Austin and Ty Dillon with their open-wheel modified cars at Volusia for the past week, Dale McDowell plans to drive the Team Dillon Racing Warrior Race Car for the remainder of the week. Thursday’s race will be his first of the year since leaving Clint Bowyer Racing at the end of last season. He plans to race in roughly 45 events this year, including a full slate of action during March.
