BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Night two of the inaugural DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals was a very telling tale of who the Saturday night finale contenders will be, with two repeat winners Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
Kyle Bronson was one of two drivers to double-up on Friday night, making a big move for the lead underneath Jadon Frame on a restart to get the edge, which he carried all the way back to the checkered flag for his second consecutive DIRTcar Pro Late Model win at the half-mile dirt track.
Likewise, David Showers Jr. went back-to-back in the Florida Late Model division, just one night after scoring his very first win in a late model and Bud Chancey took advantage of an engine malfunction out front to claim his first 602 Late Model victory.
DIRTcar PRO LATE MODELS
It was a case of déjà vu on the podium of the Pro Late Model Feature on Friday night, as Bronson led the final 20 laps and beat out fellow Super Late Model stars Randy Weaver and Max Blair. However, Bronson had to work for it a bit, compared to Thursday night.
Killer jetted out to the runner-up spot within two laps of the race, giving chase to leader Jadon Frame. A restart on lap five put Bronson’s #40B on Frame’s rear bumper as they dove into turn one, Bronson with a big run to Frame’s inside. The two made contact that ended with Frame in the wall and Bronson racing off, unharmed.
“I kept getting under the guy, and he kept turning left on me, but I really didn’t have position to finish him off with the way these Crate motors run around here,” Bronson said. “When I finally got position on him, I felt like I was about a half-car ahead of him. I went to do a slide-job on him and, I don’t really know if he just stayed in the gas or hit a slick spot and hit the fence or whatever happened.”
Frame left the track on the hook as Bronson stayed out and led the rest of the way to collect $2,000 for the win. Bronson admitted he and Frame touched as they battled for the lead out of turn two, but also said what followed was just the product of the drive to win.
“I hate what happened, but in my shoes, if I had to do anything over again, I wouldn’t change nothing I did. I wish the outcome would have been a little bit different, but that’s the way it goes. We come to win these races; I’m driving my butt off to win these races. [My team] are giving me a damn good car, so I’ve just got to do my job,” Bronson said.
“There definitely was contact, 100 percent. It wasn’t anything crazy, just a deal that I feel like on these Crate cars, when someone gets their quarter-panel to your left-front, it’s time to check. Or, stay out there and wreck yourself – kinda what [Frame] did,” Bronson added.
Randy Weaver had another solid drive to a runner-up finish, this time from much further back, starting ninth and dropping back to 12th on the first lap. He made patient moves through the field and used the well-timed yellows to catch the leaders within 15 laps to score his second podium finish of the weekend.
Max Blair held his car inside the top-five for most of the race, dropping back to seventh after the lap five restart, but was able to rebound for another third-place finish. For a short time, the Titusville, Pa.-native held the runner-up spot before Weaver tracked him down and passed him with what could have been the fastest car on the track, next to Bronson.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson [3]; 2. 116-Randy Weaver [9]; 3. 111-Max Blair [6]; 4. 66-Jake Knowles [1]; 5. 17-Nevin Gainey [12]; 6. 7T-Trever Taylor [14]; 7. 7A-Corey Almond [10]; 8. 95-Brandon Williams [5]; 9. 2-Trynt Lloyd [11]; 10. 313-Devin Dixon [22]; 11. 30-Todd Cooney [24]; 12. 5W-David Whitener [16]; 13. 38-Jamie Carter [13]; 14. 14B-John Baker [19]; 15. 11-Cruz Skinner [25]; 16. 33-Jeff Mathews [21]; 17. 7-Jason Fitzgerald [26]; 18. 87-Walker Arthur [8]; 19. 38P-Trey Pearson [23]; 20. 71-Pierce McCarter [17]; 21. 84-Sam Halstead [15]; 22. 5-Mark Whitener [2]; 23. 6-Dillon Brown [20]; 24. 18X-Michael Page [7]; 25. 6H-Clay Harris [18]; 26. J8-Jadon Frame [4]
FLORIDA LATE MODELS
He may have had the win handed to him on Thursday night when leader Bubba Whitener wrecked while leading, but make no mistake, Showers Jr. had to work for his second-ever win in a late model on Friday night.
Taking the lead on lap one, Showers nearly ran away with the show in the early going, but Whitener tracked him down and put the pressure on in the final laps to make it an exciting chase for the finish line. Leading all 25 laps, Showers collected $3,000 for his victorious efforts.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 18-David Showers [1]; 2. 5-Bubba Whitener [5]; 3. 1A-Richard Pratt [8]; 4. 18A-Jared Allison [2]; 5. OO7-Dusty Sparkman [6]; 6. 27-Bruce Harvey [12]; 7. 26B-Adam Bedenbaugh [10]; 8. 5MC-Robert Gast [11]; 9. 98-Johnny Allen [3]; 10. 29-Cameron Saunders [4]; 11. 10S-Steve Shead [16]; 12. 15-John Bledsoe [14]; 13. 33-TJ Evans [9]; 14. 11K-Josh Kunstbeck [13]; 15. 68-Ken Ellefson [18]; 16. 54-Terry Bronson [7]; 17. 45-Chuck Jackson [15]; 18. 17-Richard Ferry [17] Hard Charger: 27-Bruce Harvey[+6]
602 LATE MODELS
In what originally looked to be Cody Overton’s second consecutive win in the Sunshine Nationals 602 Late Model Feature, Thursday night’s runner-up Chancey took advantage of a poorly timed engine failure on Overton’s part to scoop-up the win – his first victory at Volusia.
Overton started on the front row and jetted out to a commanding lead early on before going up in a puff of smoke on lap 12, handing over the lead, and the win, to Chancey. Chancey took no prisoners after getting the lead, out in front by a five-second margin at the checkered flag.
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps) 1. 32-Bud Chauncey [1]; 2. 78-Arthur Conquest [9]; 3. 33-Colton Leyendecker [11]; 4. M51-Mark Steube [3]; 5. 5-Dustin Carter [4]; 6. 25-Wiley McDaniel [8]; 7. 388-Jackson Hise [5]; 8. 3-Raymond Folwell [14]; 9. 31-Donnie Birdwell [25]; 10. 28-Brandon Elwood [16]; 11. O7-Landon Lungren [15]; 12. OO-Louis Ledlow [21]; 13. 98-Cody Allen [13]; 14. 5B-Colby Boyett [10]; 15. 9X-Chad Evans [22]; 16. 97-Cody Overton [2]; 17. 14JR-Trey Mills [6]; 18. 64-Craig Montesi [17]; 19. 22-Jonah Bozeman [7]; 20. 58-Tyler Clem [12]; 21. 27K-Timmie King [23]; 22. O2-Sean Babcock [20]; 23. 97B-Garrett Bullington [18]; 24. 17S-Brenden Smith [24]; 25. 18-Jared Allison