BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 11, 2015 – Greg Hodnett dominated the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions feature Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park’s DIRTcar Nationals, and then Kyle Strickler held off Ty Dillon to capture the DIRTcar UMP Modified nightcap.
Hodnett, one of Pennsylvania’s fiercest competitors, quickly jumped out front while the rest of the field battled behind him. Hodnett kept up his pace on the high side as Danny Lasoski and Brad Sweet closed to finish second and third.
“I just tried to drive the wheels off of it,” said Hodnett, of Thomasville, Pa. “Fortunately my guys gave me a great racecar to take advantage of a front row starting spot. It doesn’t happen very often so we’ll try to do everything we can to take advantage of it and it worked out for us.
“I was hand-over-hand a couple of times in traffic … when you can’t run your own line you’re trying to do things. It was a little bit of a handful up on the cushion trying to slide guys and do everything. Fortunately for us it worked out and I got one of these beautiful gator trophies.”
Strickler powered through a clean but wild UMP Modified main event, riding the cushion as Ty Dillon applied the pressure. A late caution bunched everybody together but Strickler, of Mooresville, N.C., had a strong restart to keep Ty Dillon behind him. Austin Dillon, who won on Tuesday night, advanced four spots to finish third ahead of hard charger Nick Hoffman, who improved 10 spots.
“That cushion was getting a little rough up there, lapped traffic, that was getting a little crazy,” Strickler said. “I wasn’t sure how close the Dillon boys were there. Those guys, they’ve had rocket ships last night and tonight. I knew they would be coming and if I could pick and choose my way through lapped traffic that was going to help me. Starting up front definitely was very important. If I could get to that cushion I was going to have a good restart because I got some of that moisture off of four here and got to the top.”
Nightly doubleheaders at Volusia run Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 21. Thursday night’s action once again features Tony Stewart’s UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars and DIRTcar UMP Modifieds.
For more information and updates on the DIRTcar Nationals, click DIRTcarNationals.com or follow on Twitter at @DIRTcarNats.
DIRTcar Nationals Statistical Report; Feb. 11, 2015; Volusia Speedway Park; Barberville; Fla.
DIRTcar UMP Modified A-Main (20 Laps) – 1. (8) Kyle Strickler ($1;000) [1]; 2. (41) Ty Dillon [3]; 3. (3) Austin Dillon [7]; 4. (2) Nick Hoffman [14]; 5. (BD4) Jackie Boggs [2]; 6. (64JR) Billy Workman Jr [4]; 7. (13) Jake Hawkins [9]; 8. (36) Kenny Wallace [6]; 9. (51) Justin Allgaier [17]; 10. (9) Ken Schrader [15]; 11. (Z8) Max McLaughlin [8]; 12. (67) Garret Stewart [18]; 13. (88) Matt Crafton [12]; 14. (1G) Devin Gilpin [20]; 15. (77) Ray Bollinger [11]; 16. (85S) Mike Smith [10]; 17. (90) Jason Beaulieu [24]; 18. (72) Todd Neiheiser [19]; 19. (96) Cory Daugherty [22]; 20. (71) Joel Ortberg [21]; 21. (33) Jeff Mathews [5]; 22. (K9) Will Krup [13]; 23. (9M) Dale Mathison [16]; 24. (25) Tyler Nicely [23].
All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series A-Main (30 Laps) – 1. (1) 27-Greg Hodnett [1] ($5;000); 2. 2L-Danny Lasoski [2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 4. 51-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 29-Kerry Madsen [4]; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman [13]; 7. 83-David Gravel [15]; 8. 14K-Dale Blaney [5]; 9. 41-Jason Johnson [14]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 11. 11-Steve Kinser [16]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz [11]; 13. 7-Craig Dollansky [21]; 14. 10H-Chad Kemenah [17]; 15. 71M-Joey Saldana [8]; 16. 4-Cody Darrah [19]; 17. 59-Danny Holtgraver [22]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [18]; 19. 1-Lucas Wolfe [12]; 20. 63-Kody Swanson [10]; 21. 98H-Dave Blaney [9]; 22. 4S-Danny Smith [20]; 23. 45-Tim Shaffer [23]; 24. 77X-Wayne Johnson [24]. Hard Charger: 83-David Gravel [+8]
DIRTcar Nationals Day-by-Day Schedule (Grandstands open at 5 p.m.)
Thursday; Feb. 12 – UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
Friday; Feb. 13 – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
Saturday; Feb. 14 – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
Sunday; Feb. 15 – World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
Monday; Feb. 16 – DIRTcar Late Models & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds ‘Gator Championship’
Tuesday; Feb. 17 – DIRTcar Late Models & DIRTcar UMP Modifieds Triple 20s
Wednesday; Feb. 18 – DIRTcar Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds
Thursday; Feb. 19 – World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds
Friday; Feb. 20 – World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds
Saturday; Feb. 21 – World of Outlaws Late Models & Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds