BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Tyler Clem was up to the challenge in winning Friday night’s Battle at Barberville 360 sprint car race at Volusia Speedway Park.
Clem had more than a straightaway lead and half the field lapped with three laps to go, yet nerves still twitched throughout his body.
He was nervous about running out of fuel after a surplus of caution laps slowed the race.
“I was kind of freaking out, I thought we were going to lose that one,” Clem said.
He kept his foot in the throttle until he parked his car in victory lane.
“This is very, very neat,” Clem said. “I’m glad to be here in December racing sprint cars in Florida. We don’t get a lot of 360 stuff down here other than Speedweeks. Obviously, thank you to everyone who put this on. It’s a big win to close out the year.”
The inaugural event opened with an unexpected story.
Brandon Grubaugh came to the event to help crew on Robbie Smith’s car. But, when Smith felt too ill to race, Grubaugh – the 2022 Top Gun Sprint Car Series champion – climbed behind the wheel of the No. 6s car.
He’d never raced a 360 sprint car before, but he set quick time, with a track record lap of 14.909 seconds. He added a heat race victory.
“I went dressed from being a crew guy to a driver,” Grubaugh said. “I went out for Hot Laps and found there was a bolt loose on the Jacob’s Ladder. I said, ‘I don’t know if it’s me or the car.’ They found something, I went out there and just tried to hold it to the wood.”
After the redraw for the top-two Heat Race finishers, Clem drew the pole, Danny Martin Jr. second, Grubaugh third and Mark Ruel Jr.
When the 25-lap feature commenced, Clem took a lap to prove he was a rocket against bullets. By lapf five, he had a straightaway lead over Martin.
Ruel, who was running third, brought out the first caution when he slowed on track with trail of smoke from his car.
When the race resumed, Clem, again, launched ahead of the field. Four more cautions hindered the flow of the race and hindered Clem’s control over his nerves, knowing his limited fuel situation.
However, with no pressure from behind, Clem sliced his way through traffic and claimed the Battle in Barberville victory. Martin finished second and Maddox came from fifth to third.
Garrett Green and Grubaugh rounded out the top five.
Tim Scwartz topped the companion 602 late model feature.
The finish
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14C-Tyler Clem[1]; 2. 24-Danny Martin Jr[2]; 3. 3A-AJ Maddox[5]; 4. 82-Garrett Green[6]; 5. 6S-Brandon Grubaugh[3]; 6. 22-Shawn Murray[7]; 7. 32-Andrew Griffin[11]; 8. 7E-Eric Gunderson[9]; 9. 34-Darren Orth[17]; 10. 4X-Scott Baldwin[14]; 11. (DNF) 20K-Matt Kurtz[15]; 12. (DNF) 99-Tanner Witherspoon[12]; 13. (DNF) 41-Luke Hill[10]; 14. (DNF) 83-Mark Ruel Jr[4]; 15. (DNF) 43-Terry Witherspoon[8]; 16. (DNS) 5-Hayden Campbell; 17. (DNS) 32T-Kurt Taylor